"Must be the smoke." He whispered to himself, wondering if he would have been better off working in his house rather than spend his time with the Witch of Dimensions.
The sting of the smoke got worse, as Yuuko peeked at whatever magic texts Clow was trying to rewrite. And as usual, she was in quite the sarcastic mood and decided to taunt the magician while at work.
"Wrong Character there." She pointed at the parchment with the hand that held her pipe. Clow almost gagged.
"Do you mind?" He started, annoyingly.
"Ooh... Clow's in a bad mood today." She smiled wryly. She just loved teasing that blunt wizard. Over the distance, Yuuko's assistants began chanting what she had just said merrily.
Clow closed his eyes for a moment and placed his hand on his forhead. Rubbing the bony plate gently, he spoke softly "My head hurts..."
"What was that?" Yuuko had a very acute sense of hearing. She put down her pipe and ran her thin arms around the magician's neck. She then whispered "Nothing a good bottle of sake can't fix."
Clow sighed. Yuuko was impossible. "Listen, thanks for the offer but I don't need a hangover right now."
"Then, how about a nice massage?" She suggested, sqeezing his shoulders with his hands. Clow let out a soft gasp as she hit a tense spot, but shortly returned to his stoicism afterwards, pushing away her hands.
"I'm realy busy, okay? Maybe later." He let out a small smile, a fake one to mask his annoyance.
Yuuko jeered. It was so fun teasing him when he was annoyed. But something was amiss. Normally Clow was the one teasing, not with his perpetual smirk and his sly remarks about almost everything. But now he was cranky and too indulged in his work. It seemed too out of character for him. Something wasn't right. Yuuko knew this, and began to worry, glancing at the magician often as if wondering what will happen next.
Clow fanned the air around him with his hand to clear some of the smoke from Yuuko's pipe. Odd, Yuuko thought. Clow could have used wind magic to cleanse the shop air if he badly wanted to. So either he didn't, ort couldn't. Didn't would be very insane. Who'd like opium and tobacco smoke in your working space? Unless he liked the stench, of course. Couldn't would mean he totally respected Yuuko's smoking... That too, seemed awfully odd.
Yuuko began to suspect the magician now, all hunched up and absorbed at his work.She put down her pipe and peeked.
"Why are you translating western magic into eastern, anyway? it's not like you can't use both...right?" She asked.
Clow did not remove his eyes from his translation. "Because."
"Because?" Yuuko was now mad. She was so seriously curious about what the hell Clow Reed was doing and he wasn't giving the slightest semblance of a clue. However, it was beyond her power to do anything more. Sh sighed loudly, and gave up. Violently throwing herself into the sofa and pouring herself a cup of sake.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity clow stood up and stretched. He put a couple more characters into his script, finishishing it. He rolled the papers up, and put it in his pocket. He then marched over to where Yuuko was lounging and poured the witch some sake.
"No thanks." Yuuko pushed away the cup, clutching her head. She'd downed a dozen bottles in two hours, and now she felt very, very sick.
"Would you like some juice instead?" Clow smiled brightly, putting his hand over the cup, transforming the wine into juice.
yuuko, however, was not in the mood for anything. She heaved a really big sigh and buried her head in a pillow. Clow Reed found it extremely amusing and giggled.
"What the hell is your problem?" Yuuko asked.
"You're just too cute today, that's what."
"So, what was that magic you were doing earlier?"
"I'm glad you asked."
Clow lead Yuuko into the porch, with some difficulty considering Yuuko's drunken state. He then produced the papers he was working on, and handing them to Yuuko.
"I can't read." She said, shoving them back into the wizard violently. It made him laugh once more.
"Get it over with. I want to lie down."
With a magic circle summoning and a couple of gestures later, Clow held Yuuko's hand, and they started drifting slowly upwards, floating a few feet off the ground. The Sky burst open, showering the two with blossoms, and a strange presence filled the air, numbing Yuuko's pain. She felt woozy, and clung into the fabric of Clow's clothing.
"That... is so old-fashioned. Even for you."
"I know."
"So, why the translation?"
"I thought you'd like it better if it was this way."
"Sometimes you fail at being sweet." She said, clinging to the magician even more, almost embracing him. Almost falling asleep into him. And as their feet touched the ground and the smoke and mirrors stopped, She did fall asleep, into his arms.
He sat down opn the balcony, gently stroking her hair as she lay disturbingly peacefully on his lap.
...And as she slept, Clow smiled mischievously, and then went on to press his lips against hers, which were slightly parted in her bliss.
...She tasted like opium and sake. It didn't taste pleasant to him. But at least it was pleasurable.