This… will probably be a sort of "twoshot," if there ever is a thing like that.
It's… odd. It's got a weird plotline. It may be confusing to follow. But… I'll try.
And some parts of it are light; some are kind of… angst. I think I originally meant this as crack, but now… I don't know.
Take it as crack, though. I beg you.
Two in the morning--
Something golden, Kurogane thought vaguely, and stretched his arms out in the dark. Half-asleep, half-awake, he had woken up from some dream of something--something color-like--
No, he thought suddenly, not golden, but black--
And red? Pink… or sky blue, or golden gold--
Gold, thought Kurogane, yellow like the sun, and he squinted his eyes and tried not to move. Golden and blue and hair and eyes, and he stopped and wondered what and why. Darkness moved around him; he opened his eyes and tried to fight the dull, sake-induced lethargy.
No, not that, just colors, he murmured in his head, and sank back into sleep, his hand moving up and to the side of the bed and touching silky soft--
Kurogane's eyes shot open.
Soft and gentle and silk-like, he cautiously moved his hand, caressing something unfamiliar and… familiar? Hair, he realized, someone's head. Someone was in his bed.
"Mm… Kuro-rin…"
Furiously, red danced its way around Kurogane's face. Three-quarters awake, and--
"What are you doing here, you damn mage?"
An eye propped open in the dark. Without eyes, Kurogane knows it was blue.
"Got… nn… a nightmare…"
Slow reaction. Damn sake. But Kurogane was fully conscious now, anyway.
"Get out! Go back to your room!"
"…nngh… I can't…"
Too late, Kurogane realized too late that his hand was still fingering Fai's hair. As if touching fire, he snatched it back, and almost immediately, a pale hand tugged it back.
"Keep it there, Kuro-sama… it's nice…"
Is he still drunk? Kurogane wondered, and bit back his retort as the mage snuggled closer to him, bed sheets and blanket and all tangled up in the dark, the dark--
"You're warm," sighed Fai, cuddling up to him. "You're warm and I'm so cold."
He turned and flung two careless arms about the ninja's neck.
Kurogane cannot speak.
"Kuro-rin-chan-pii…" The name rode out on a breathy exhale. The mage squirmed and buried his head in the ninja's chest.
Breathe.
"So warm…" murmured the mage, content. Seconds ticked on. Kurogane silently tossed around expletives in his head.
Fuck, shit, move, why don't you move, damn it, just move--
And his swearing intensified as he realized he wasn't sure whether he was cursing Fai or himself.
The awakening--
He opened his eyes and half-expected to see sunlight winking down at him through the window. He moved and half-expected to find a long-legged someone clinging to him with pale skin and pale arms and golden hair and azure eyes.
Instead, the weak outline of a dawn greeted him; there was nobody there.
"What?" he mumbled, and looked around.
Revelation--
As he came down, a vision of Fai in a pink, ruffled apron waved at him.
I, thought Kurogane, am losing my mind. Amazing.
Remembrance--
His golden hair caught the light and twinkled, and suddenly Kurogane remembered everything and yet not everything last night-- something golden, he thought yet again, something golden and soft. And Kurogane felt the urge to beat himself with something preferably hard and sharp as he realized that he had dreamt about the mage's hair.
You've seen nothing like it back then, there, he told himself, thinking of long trailing black hair. Japan. Nihon. Tomoyo. Fai would be a foreigner there.
And he stopped and imagined a smiling Fai twirling gracefully underneath the falling cherry blossoms.
Muttering, Kurogane went off to find his sword.
Distraction--
"Kuro-pii? What's wrong?" A beautifully flushed blonde doll in a lovely ruffled apron peered at him from the doorway, pale fingers caressing the air.
And Kurogane couldn't help staring at the bare curve between head and shoulder, wondering, and his eyes wandered down and wait, there are no breasts, no extra flesh to speak of-- but of course not, this wasn't a woman, this was a guy, this was the mage, this was Fai, for fuck's sake, but then why the hell did the ninja feel the need to grab the intoxicatingly beautiful little idiot and kiss that little pale curve? Kurogane stood up in one flowing motion, grabbed his sword, and then collapsed.
Fai stared at the fallen ninja.
And started laughing.
Avoidance--
"Syaoran-kun, I'm worried about Kurogane-san," Sakura said worriedly to a Syaoran concentrated on forgetting the events of last night. Last night with the--oh dear--that rather large drinking party, and all the oceans of sake and something whiskey-ish and drowning meowing kittens--
"Ah, what?" exclaimed Syaoran, red-faced, while Mokona rolled around the floor singing 'Happy Birthday' rather drunkenly. Poor dear.
"Kurogane-san… he seemed rather down this morning." Sakura looked so very positively crushed Syaoran almost felt jealous. He reached out a comforting hand.
"I'm sure everything's fine, princess. Fai-san could sort things out."
"With that pretty pink apron of his!" added Mokona helpfully from the floor, and giggled through a hiccup. Or perhaps it hiccupped through a giggle. With the great mysterious Mokona, one never knows.
"Maybe it was the party last night?" mused Sakura thoughtfully. At this, Syaoran looked away, blushing fiercely, and Mokona gave a raucous cheer.
"Yes, it must have been," continued Sakura, so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice Sayoran's discrete coughs. "Maybe…?"
"Kuro-rin got so drunk!" squealed Mokona, waving its stubby little arms all around. "Drunk like I've never seen him drunk before! And he dragged Fai upstairs, and then Syaoran--"
"Details, details," interrupts Syaoran hastily, gathering the little pork bun in his arms and effectively shushing him up, "but there was an awful lot of sake last night. Everyone got so drunk."
"Yes…" murmured Sakura pensively.
"Um." Syaoran felt like he was falling apart at the seams, all the while attempting to jug glass plates on fire. "Please, princess, we should start cleaning up before they get down."
Sakura snapped out of her reverie, and, shooting a startled smile towards Syaoran, started washing the dishes.
Self-deceit, it is easy--
"Moko-chan, you really shouldn't bring that up in front of the princess," sighed Syaoran, prodding the tipsy creature onto its small makeshift bed of cotton and cloth.
"The party, Syaoran?" giggled Mokona, spinning around. "You kissed her, I remember!"
Syaoran blushed once more. "W-well," he stammered, "it wasn't necessarily a kiss under the circumstances… she was drunk! And she couldn't remember anything… that… that was taking advantage of her…"
Mokona nodded wisely, and sang, "And Ol' Smokey climbed the mountain with a little white lamb," while nodding off into a dream of soft white cloth and prancing sheep.
A short conversation--
"Nngh…"
"Kuro-rin?"
"Ugh…"
"You all right?"
"Nn…umuguhfk… get…the hell away… and take off… that apron…"
"I will most certainly not, Kuro-daddy! My, you must have drunk an amazing amount of sake last night, to still be affected like this, O Kuro-sama Who Has Never Been Drunk Before in his Life."
"Guh… only… human… damn… mage…"
"Well, certainly you're only human, but indeed, someone needs to stay sober to keep the children in line. Lucky Sakura-chan never remembers anything when she's drunk."
"Ugh… what 'bout… you?"
"Me?" Pause. "Well… I'm special."
"…hn."
"But still, this is sad. You're sick, obviously. You drank too much."
"How the hell… did you…?"
"Hm? Kuro-puu?"
"You snuck… into my room last night… bastard… locked door…"
A laugh. "Oh, Kuro-woof, you must have been dreaming! I wasn't that drunk. It may not seem like it, but I am perfectly aware of my surroundings and what I'm doing when I am…" Whisper. "…intoxicated."
Shiver.
"Ah, maybe Kuro-daddy's got a cold?"
"You're…lying…"
"Oh, you look so pale, Kuro-rin. Maybe a drink of water…?" Cold. The coolness of glass and a finger beneath the ninja's chin.
"No… go, just go away, mage… Fai."
A drop. Fai froze.
"…fine. I…" He closed the door, anyway.
In the room, Kurogane hid his face and blushed.
Presently (as in, intermission)--
As of right now, Kurogane is up in his room blushing uncharacteristically, Fai is heading downstairs in a thoughtful reverie tinged with angst, Sakura is merrily cleaning her way through the kitchen, and Syaoran is helping her while attempting to deflect any questions on last night.
Where, oh where--
"Oh, Syaoran-kun? Do you know where Moko-chan is?"
Syaoran looked up from the odd green stain he was determinedly trying to scrub from the table. "I put him to bed awhile ago. Still drunk, I think…"
Fai gave a smile, and went off, humming and playing with a bit of ribbon and lace at the edge of his pink apron.
What--
"Moko-chan?" Prod went the finger. Mokona woke up with a startled squeak.
"Fai? Hi!" The creature attempted to stand up, but fell back with a small, soft thud on the cloth. "How's Kuro-daddy?"
"He's… well, he is…"
"Did it work?"
Fai chuckled. "Mm, in a way. But it's not really as much fun as it's turning out to be."
"Kuro-chan got so drunk, though! So it worked, didn't it?"
"I need to talk to the Witch, Moko-chan," said Fai, smiling gently. "Perhaps our little trick has gone too far."
Mokona gave a nod and closed its eyes.
Yuuko's advice--
"The problem is," Fai declared, "there was too much whiskey. He's still drunk. Probably."
"Hm," observed the witch. "you fear attachment, Fai. That's the only problem." She peered at him. "That was really an enjoyable prank, you know. And those pictures!" She gave a shriek of laughter.
Fai gave a weak chuckle. "It was… funny. But…" He searched for the right words, and murmured softly, "He called my name."
"And a lovely name it is," Yuuko said gently. "You were the one who asked for this." And here she gave a smirk. "Besides, it's not only you… who's got things to sort out. Right now that ninja is probably busy attempting to figure out his sexual orientation."
She whisked away into smoke before Fai had time to fully comprehend her words.
What did happen last night? Oh, nothing really terrible, I can assure you. I'll explain everything in the next chapter.