Title: Not a Date
Universe: XXXHolic
Theme/Topic: Rules of Dating
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: vaguely, lightly DoumekixWatanuki, Himawari, Yuuko in spirit
Warnings/Spoilers: None I can imagine—probably some OOC and stupidity tho.
Word Count: 808
Summary: It's not a date.
Dedication: meme drabble request for jeina. Holic kick, what can I say?
A/N: Haha I think this is kind of dumb, but it was what I came up with? XD;;
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I wish constantly.
Distribution: Just lemme know.

"Hmmm, maybe you should bring him flowers. That would be lovely!" Himawari chirruped, and looked cheerfully thoughtful. "Watanuki seems like the kind of person who would like pansies."

"No kidding," Doumeki said drolly.

Himawari, unblinking, kept right on talking. "Or bring him chocolate, he likes sweet things! That would make for a nice start to the evening, too."

Doumeki eyed her. "This isn't a date, you know."

She beamed. "Well that doesn't mean it has to be unpleasant."

He sighed, but thought that it was probably futile to try and explain to her that tonight was most likely going to end with Watanuki getting bloodied up somehow (or rather, Doumeki getting bloodied up somehow instead, after pushing the idiot out of the way of whatever thing it was tonight that originally wanted to bloody Watanuki up first), and that as such, it was probably going to be an unpleasant evening no matter how many boxes of chocolate and bouquets of flowers Doumeki brought (or didn't bring).

Not that he was a pessimist or anything.

It was just… any of Yuuko's phone calls that began and ended with the words, "be at such and such a place at such and such a time, bring your bow, have fun, bye!" usually swung out of favor of the "pleasant" category and went straight into "downright dangerous" territory.

"Besides, I think he would think it's a nice gesture," Himawari continued, curls of hair bouncing symmetrically as she walked. "I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He's seemed frazzled lately."

"No kidding," Doumeki said again, and managed not to add anything in his tone that belied the fact that he was thinking "Watanuki ALWAYS seems frazzled."

Mostly because he couldn't picture himself (or anything about himself) using a word that sounded like "frazzled," even if it was just in the implied, tone-ish sort of way.

She laughed at that, sweetly. "You two really get along well, don't you?"

He didn't say anything in response to that; mostly because it wasn't something he thought he could argue with in good faith.

Reading his silence correctly, she tugged on his arm in a victorious sort of way then, leading him on a detour just slightly in the opposite direction of his house.

"I know a wonderful bakery nearby with the best chocolate raspberry mousse!" she said, off his mildly confused look. "There's a florist right next door. Convenient, right?"

He sighed and let himself be tugged. "This isn't a date," he reminded her. Checked his pockets. Another sigh. "I probably only have enough for the cake."

Her smile was dazzling.

Later, when he met Watanuki at Yuuko's aforementioned such and such a place at such and such a time with his bow, Doumeki also had a small box of cake, a pair of bottled hot teas, and a single, sad looking potted pansy with him.

Watanuki stared.

Doumeki held out the bag with the teas and the cake box in it. "Here," he said, and handed the stuff to the other boy without even trying to explain what it was or where it had come from.

Watanuki, slightly wider-eyed than normal at the odd gesture, cleared his throat. "I packed us dinner," he said in an awkwardly embarrassed sort of way, and accepted the bag. "For while we wait. Er…we'll probably be waiting for a while, knowing Yuuko-san."

"Sure."

Silence.

Doumeki shifted on his feet and debated whether he ought to hand the pansy over too. Or something.

Watanuki moved first, clearing his throat again as he sat on the ground and motioned for Doumeki to join him so they could eat while they waited for whatever horrible thing was going to happen tonight. He passed Doumeki one of the two impeccably wrapped supper boxes. "This isn't a date," he added after a moment, like an afterthought, eyeing the pansy.

Doumeki put the pot on the ground between them and opened his dinner box. "Yeah. I know."

They began to eat.

After a moment, "Did you bring me a flower?"

Doumeki paused in the shoveling-of-rice-into-his mouth, not quite knowing what to say. The truth was probably best, he concluded. "It reminded me of you," he admitted quietly, after a lengthy silence.

Watanuki stared. Maybe blushed, but it was getting kind of dark and no one could really tell. "What? That doesn't make sense."

Doumeki swallowed his mouthful of rice and washed it down with some tea. "Sure it does. It was all sad and droopy and pathetic looking," he clarified.

A beat.

"W-what?!" Watanuki sputtered, choking on his chicken and seemingly at a loss for any words besides that one, for the moment.

He was probably surprised. Frazzled even.

Doumeki finished his dinner and thought that all in all, it was turning out to be a surprisingly pleasant evening despite his earlier misconceptions.

He'd thank Himawari later.

END