log; complete

[moresake.livejournal.com]

When; 4 August [so backdated]
Rating; G, warning for drunkenness
Characters; i_themagician & moresake
Summary; They'd been at each other's throats all day, but now he was threatening to leave.
Log;

An evening at home wasn't usually this... difficult. Yuuko leaned back on the couch and threw her arm over her eyes, sighing dramatically. Clow seemed rather unimpressed by this, standing over her in a way that she rather disliked. He was always looming at her. It was intentional, she knew. It had to be.

They'd been arguing all day, sniping like strangers who just happened to share living space. And that's almost how Yuuko felt about it-- how did she end up so attached to this ridiculous, irritating man? Why had she agreed to live with him when everything he did seemed to grate upon her nerves? It was no wonder she was complaining a bit.

"Well, you can stop whining about it," he said.

"Or you could just accept it as part of your penance," she returned pointedly, lifting her eyebrows, staring. She didn't have to explain what she meant... they both knew. Bringing something like that up, though, could only increase the tension.

"You were like this before that ever happened," Clow shot back, trying to dismiss what she had brought up.

"What do you remember anyway?" she demanded quickly, not even willing to consider the thought.

"I have an excellent memory, if I do say so myself." He lifted his chin a little as he said this, perhaps preening a bit.

"Obviously not or you would remember how perfect I am," she snarked. Yuuko always tended to be over-dramatic. And she hated it when he started preening.

"You are not perfect."

"Your opinion is unimportant. It's the truth."

"Your opinion is biased."

She sniffed. "That doesn't matter because I'm right."

"Are not, you're just a vain... self-absorbed..." he had to fish around for names to call her, "... bum!"

Yuuko lifted her nose. "Beautiful people aren't vain, they just acknowledge their own qualities. And I think we're looking at the King of Self-Absorbed here." She folded her arms.

"I don't pretend that my opinions are fact, as certain people among us are prone to doing." He gave her a pointed look, one eyebrow raised.

She rolled her eyes. "You just think all your opinions are right because you're Clow Reed, the guy who knows everything." She waved her hands in the air sarcastically. Then she had a thought. "In fact, the very next time you open the door before I touch it, I am going to slam it in your face."

She got up and stalked toward the door. Given that he was standing in front of it, this was perhaps not the best option. She had meant the next time he'd used his foresight to answer the door or to win an argument or just to do something ridiculous, but that didn't mean she would be happy if he opened the door right now. He had known what she meant, of course, but just had to be contrary. She scowled and grabbed the frame, wrenching it from his grasp and attempting to slam it, because she had said she would do it. With a scowl and a flash of magic that she almost didn't see and he probably couldn't quite have explained, the door splintered in her hands like a pane of glass.

"Don't you dare even try that in my house."

"Excuse me." Yuuko stepped out of the way of the door carnage, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "I hope you're fixing that. Did throwing a tantrum make you feel better?" She lifted her eyebrows and continued. "Anyway it's our house. I live here too. For some reason."

"I'm not the one slamming doors in people's faces," he said.

"I warned you. You had to be all snarky about it."

"Yes, because threatening to slam a door in someone's face just because they opened it for you is really mature, Yuuko," he said, eyes narrowing.

Her lips met in a hard line. "It's the attitude, Clow. The attitude that I can't stand."

"Like your attitude is any better. You think you can just boss me around whenever you want, simply because I don't say anything most of the time. Well, I've had it."

She rocked back and forth on her heels, goading. "What have you had?" she says, drawling out the last vowel. "Do tell."

"Oh, don't you even give me that. I've had it with you traipsing around like you own everything you survey and acting as though I'm your servant. I've had it with you not contributing at all to the upkeep of this house."

"And what are you going to do, huh?" she responded, her voice a sing-song.

He gave his answer some thought, although he was seething with rage. "I'm leaving. I'm leaving this house, leaving this City, hopefully leaving you. I have had it up to here with... You."

How dramatic. Yuuko made a noise of disbelief. "And where are you going to go? We're all stuck here, in case you've forgotten."

"I'll find a way."

"Well, good luck with that. I'll be sure to get the locks changed in your absence."

"Fine. I don't care."

"Have a great time looking," she continued. "Alone."

"You, as well. I'm sure ladies who sit around all day and do nothing but complain are really popular."

"Oh, I have plenty of friends. Don't worry about me." She could... she could call Watanuki, if necessary. Not that it would be necessary. She'd be happy alone, just her and Sakura.

He sniffled suddenly, throat tight. He didn't have very many friends who weren't also Yuuko's. Furthermore, they kept leaving. And...

Yuuko's angry facade deflated a bit. She wasn't sure what to do when he grew maudlin like that in the middle of an argument. "What, you're crying now?" she asked, but there was little goading in her tone.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, turning away from her in embarrassment.

She snorted in disbelief. "Well, goodbye, then," she said, sort of quietly.

He hesitated, just a little.

"You're always the one who leaves," she said. Her tone was resigned, now. "I shouldn't be surprised."

Clow just didn't say anything because he couldn't seem to say it without sounding horribly selfish. Which... it probably was, anyway. She turned away, setting her shoulders, saying nothing. The silence said enough.

"...I hate it when other people leave," he said finally.

She sighed. "You think I don't?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing. Whatever you think you're supposed to do. You'll do it anyway."

He looked back over at her. "...I'm incredibly selfish."

She didn't turn, but she lowered her head, crossing her arms again. "Yeah, I know. So am I."

He looked down at his feet. When he didn't respond, she walked out of the room. There was nothing else to say. She heard the front door shut as she went. So he was gone too.

*****

The house was oddly quiet without him in it, and empty, even with Sakura around. After a while, she found a nice bottle of alcohol in the cabinet and went out onto the porch alone. Yuuko ran her thumb along the rim of her cup and took a long sip. It was strange, she thought, that he'd chosen to leave her here, in a house that was technically his. They'd always had their spaces defined and separate when they'd been alive. Even now they didn't share a bedroom regularly. He'd left her in his house, in his place. The Chair was mocking her, she thought, drinking more to ease her irritation. She'd never be free of him, would she?

She leaned back on the porch and shut her eyes, slightly tipsy. After a while, she must have dozed off, because the sound of her device ringing with a call startled her. Without opening her eyes, she thumbed the button to answer it.

*****

Clow was ready to apologize not long after he left. He didn't know why that argument had started in the first place. It wasn't as though he really minded that she didn't do anything. Or even that she whined. In fact, he thought she was cute and he enjoyed spoiling her. What had happened?

Deep in thought, and with few answers, he found a tent and went camping in the forest for the night. He didn't think it was her fault, even though she had provoked the argument. Had he just suddenly gone crazy from stress?

The tent had no answer for him, and he felt a little claustrophobic lying there. After a while, he took the bottle he'd purchased along with his tent outside. He made short work of it... drinking probably faster than he should have been, to be honest... and then lay down on the ground and stared up at the stars. He liked how the sky made him feel small. But it also made him feel lonely. He dialed Yuuko's number.

*****

"Hmm?" she said drowsily. It had to be after midnight. Who would be calling her?

Clow's speech was a little slurred. "M'sorry, Yuuko. I didn't mean... any of that..."

She sighed. "You're drunk." And so was she, but she didn't know if she could buy a drunken apology. Though she sort of wanted to. What had they really been fighting about, anyway?

That was true, so he didn't deny it. "And I miss you." He sighed. Being drunk alone wasn't half as fun.

"...Then why did you leave, you silly mage?" she asked, sitting up, playing with her liquor bottle.

"I-- I don't know!" He really didn't. "I thought you wanted me to..."

"I didn't say anything about leaving. You wanted to leave. You said so," she pointed out.

"I didn't want you to leave, because I wanted to come back..." His voice trailed off.

She bit her lip. Even in his anger, Clow knew her all too well. So that was his reason. "I didn't actually change the locks," she said finally.

There was a rustle of bushes as Clow attempted to find his feet. Apparently, they were lost too. "... I'm very drunk."

"You have no stamina, you know. You shouldn't drink alone or you end up passed out somewhere. By yourself," she answered. She didn't add, instead of with me, though the thought crossed her mind. She shook her head. "Where are you anyway? I assume you didn't find your way out of the City or I wouldn't be talking to you."

"I'm in the forest," he admitted.

She blinked. "What are you doing there?"

"Camping."

"You shouldn't go camping when you're drunk."

"I wasn't drunk when I started camping." (It was difficult enough to set up a tent when you were sober.)

Yuuko sighed. Well, drunk or not, she wasn't going into the forest after him. It was dark outside, and the forest was large, and she had absolutely no desire to wander through the trees and hope she'd find one stupid camper. He was an adult. He'd be all right.

"Sleep it off."

"I think I will," he said, a smile in his voice. The words weren't much, but he could feel her care in them.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, taking a breath.

"Yes, you will," he promised. "...I love you."

She smiled a little, privately. "I know. Good night, Clow."

"Good night."