charxelle : ONESHOT!!1one!!1 LOL i made a fanfic! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! skips around
Doctor : 0.o Have you drank one too many bottles of turbojolt?
Elli: See? What did I tell you? Your medicine is too strong for her.
Doctor: I guess you're right. Looks like I have to do the intro.
Elli: Go ahead.
charxelle: sings the campfire song song while jumping on a stretcher
Doctor: ahem Well, this is my patient's fanfic called "Of Boiled Eggs and Hot Spas". Before she drank my medicine, she told me this is a oneshot. Mostly fluff and it's ClairexCliff. She calls it Claiff. sweatdrop And she wanted it to be reviewed so after reading charxelle's fanfic, please click the go button below and review. The characters belong to Natsume Inc. and only the fanfic belongs to her. Thank you.
charxelle: You BELONG to ME too YOU KNOW?! evil laugh
Doctor: o.0
Elli: Doctor, did you know that two of her other fanfics are named after food?
charxelle: MARSHMALLOWS!!111one!
Doctor: I do now. Well, for you readers, I'll read her fanfics for you. Here goes...
'Of Boiled Eggs and Hot Spas
It was rare for Cliff to take breaks other than in Doug's Inn. He always had the same routine everyday, except for Saturdays, when he would have lunch with Duke and Manna.
"Bye, Cliff! We'll see you tomorrow, right? Tomorrow is Saturday, you know?" Manna chimed while waving goodbye to Cliff.
"I know that, Manna." Cliff politely said and smiled at Manna. Then he sighed as he turned his back against the Aja Winery.
This day had been a tiring day for him. It was the middle of autumn; harvest season for the grapes. This year, because of Cliff's special care and the ordered fertilizer, there had been more grapes than usual. Instead of about five and a half baskets of grapes, they needed seven baskets. It was even harder to bring them down carefully to the storage room.
Cliff wiped his forehead with a gloved hand (he always wears only one glove). He held tightly in his hand a bottle of wine that Duke kindly gave him as a reward besides the money.
Cliff arrived at the entrance of the inn. From the chatter he could hear from the outside, there were a lot of people at the inn. Probably partying, Cliff thought. He stared at the big door, wondering what to do next.
He never liked places with lots of noisy strangers. Even if they were his acquaintances, they aren't that close to him. It would seem awkward and strange for him to join a party where no one really knew him.
He decided not to enter the inn. Trying to get to sleep with lots of acquaintances partying will just make him more tired, he thought. Time for a change of plans.
Cliff went in the inn to drop off his wine in the room and then silently slipped through the party. From the looks of it, Ann had baked a cake for a celebrant. A birthday party then.
Cliff went south, passing Saibara's house, then May and Barley's. Cliff headed for Mother's Hill, an otherwise relaxing place. The walk there was okay, except it was far from the inn. He now wished he at least had a bike or a skateboard so he could travel faster. Cliff shrugged.
He shivered slightly. The almost-winter breeze was coming. And it became especially colder in the mountains. Cliff lightly jogged to the Hot Spring. But he decided to make an offering first.
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"Sorry, I have to leave early. Gotta take care of the farm," Claire excused herself from the birthday party. "Bye and happy birthday, Karen!"
She was happy to be invited Karen's birthday party but her farm mattered more, of course, especially now since two of her cows were pregnant, she had more chicks than chicken, and watering had somehow slipped her mind.
Claire ran to the farm. She had to water some plants and fast. It was about 6:00pm, half her farm was covered with crops and her watering can had NOT been upgraded. Claire was close to worrying.
"Naaa!! I have to hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!!1one1!" Claire exclaimed in her usual light and airy voice. She rushed to her house, roughly slapped on some overalls, put away her flowery party dress and went out to water the plants…only to find out she had misplaced her watering can.
"WAAAH! WHERE IS IT!!" Claire frantically ran around the farm like a brainless chicken, glancing this way and that for her green watering can.
"WOOF WOOF!" Brownie was barking at Claire. She glanced at Brownie, hastily scanned the place around him and continued looking around for her watering can.
Brownie was annoyed that his stupid master ignored him. He ran over, bit the leg of her pants, and attempted to drag Claire.
"BROWNIE! Leggof me!" Claire waved her leg in the air, trying to shake Brownie off but he persisted. He barked some more and tried to direct his master to where her watering can was. Claire followed her dog and picked up her watering can. It was hidden somewhere behind the chicken coop.
"Thanks, boy." Claire patted Brownie's head and went to fill up her watering can with pond water. Brownie tilted his head and wondered if he had to stay up late to protect Claire from wild dogs. Brownie yawned.
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One and a half hours later…
"I'm finally done!" Claire raised her hands (and watering can) in triumph. She had finished watering her crops with her little watering can before the 8 o' clock night bell. She was apparently proud of herself.
"And it's all thanks to Brownie!" Claire went over to him and patted the sleeping dog's head lightly. Then she went back to her house and took a quick shower before making dinner.
"So…what to make….what to make…?" Claire tapped her wooden spoon against her chin and crossed her arms over her apron. She wanted something that would give her energy to work the next day.
"Eggs!" Claire clapped her hands together. "I want Spa-Boiled eggs!" Then her expression dropped. "But then I would have to go up to the mountains at night. I'll bring Brownie along!"
So Claire scooped up Brownie, waking him up, and headed for Mother's Hill.
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Cliff relaxed his tired body in the hot spring. He closed his eyes and sank in the water until it was up till his nose. It was around seven now but it was okay with him. Besides, the hot spring had no closing time and it was getting late so no people would come around.
Like any other person who likes long warm baths, Cliff thought of his life.
"My job at the winery's fine…" he said in his mind. "…and Ann and Doug let me stay at the inn all the time. They're nice…and good cooks…Doug should let Ann study to become a professional chef…ah well."
Cliff changed his position in the hot spring. He sat up, making the water only go up to his stomach. Then he removed his ponytail and let his long brown hair down. He leaned on the side of the spring and closed his eyes again.
"Where was I?" he shifted through his thoughts for something to ponder on. "Yeah…the new farmer girl Claire. Everyone seems to be talking about her…what's so special about her anyway? Maybe I could meet her? Nah…" Cliff's eyebrows scrunched as he thought of it. "She's been here for quite a while now…over a year I think…"
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"There it is!" Claire said as the hot spring came into view. She held 3 eggs in her basket. She approached the sign near the hot spring.
The sign read: "To make spa-boiled eggs, drop your egg into the spa and in a few minutes, it should pop out done."
Claire nodded and went to the hole in the hot spring's fence.
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Cliff's eyes fluttered open as he heard an audible 'ploop' of something dropping into the water. He scanned the area and to his surprise, Claire was standing on the opposite side of the hot spring, in the hole in the fence.
Claire made an audible gasp and her face turned strawberry red, visibly contrasting the blue of her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand; staring at Cliff with wide eyes.
Cliff's face turned different shades of red and pink, seeing Claire stare at him like that. He only just realized he was naked in the hot spring but he couldn't move an inch. He was too stunned to move and he just stared back at Claire with a shocked expression plastered on his face.
Claire kept staring at him. She thanked the Goddess the Hot Spring was very steamy and half of Cliff's body was underwater but she still saw Cliff's bare chest and shoulder-length chocolate hair.
"I…I-I….I'm s-s-s-sorry!" Claire stuttered after about a minute of staring. She turned her face away from Cliff but remained in the spot. Cliff wished he could say something but he couldn't. Feelings shuffled through Cliff and Claire's minds.
"Oh my gosh, C-Cliff is here! Usually when I go here, nobody else is here but now Cliff is here and he doesn't usually go here but he's here and I'm here and he's staring at me and I was staring at him and he's naked and in the hot spring and OMG he looks so cute without the ponytail I wanna hug him but he's naked and I'm here at the hole in the fence some perverts must've made here OMG this is sooo awkward!"
"W-what the?! C-Claire!? T-That's Claire right? What in the world is she doing here late at night? And why is she there in the hole in the fence? Why is there even a hole?! Why did I pick this time to go in the Hot Spring? Oh no oh no oh no! She probably saw me naked! Of course she saw me! I have to get out of here when she's not looking!!"
Cliff inched nearer to the exit of the hot spring. He decided to make a run for the door and dress up as quickly as possible. He glanced at Claire. She wasn't looking but it seemed like she couldn't move from the spot where the hole was. She was blushing like mad, Cliff thought.
Claire heard a small splash of water and she quickly turned her face to look at Cliff. He was gone and sh saw the door slide shut.
"GAH! Why did I look?! I could've seen Cliff naked!" she almost screamed to herself, hoping a split second after that Cliff didn't hear that. Brownie just looked at his master and tilted his head, not making a sound.
Cliff quickly wrapped his lower body in a towel and now he was panting and leaning against the door to the hot spring. He wanted to see if Claire was still there and he wanted to know if she saw him get out! Then again, maybe not. He tried peering through the paper paneled door and he could make out the hot spring but not Claire.
Feeling conscious, Cliff quickly put on his white inner shirt, brown vest and pants and his single glove. He slowly headed for the exit and went outside. It had become really dark out and there was no light except for the few fireflies that were flying about.
Cliff looked around but he couldn't see to find Claire. "She must've left" Cliff said to himself. His face was still shifting through red shades. He jogged to the inn, hoping its doors weren't locked yet.
Meanwhile, Claire was running as fast as she could to her house. Her face was as red as hell and she couldn't believe the fact she saw Cliff naked. As soon as she entered her house, she threw her red face into a pillow and screamed into it.
"I didn't know Cliff could look that hot!" she said into the pillow. Brownie just shook its head in shame. Claire stood and dressed herself into a thin white nightgown and a few minutes later, she fell asleep.
About 2 hours later…
Knock knock knock
"Mffnmmm…" Claire mumbled. She stumbled to the light then opened the door.
"Um….s-sorry to bother y-you but…is it okay if I sleep in here for the n-night?" Cliff was at the door, still blushing and fumbling with his fingers.
Claire was instantly awakened at the sight of Cliff. Then she gave his request some thought. "It must've took him all of his courage to ask someone to let him sleep in their house, especially a girl….considering how terribly shy this guy is."
"Why? Aren't you staying at the inn?"
"The door were locked when I got there. No one could hear me knock." Cliff managed to say without stuttering. "A-and I'm sorry for earlier…I should've picked an-n-nother time to-"
"No, it's ok. You can stay here for the night, Cliff."
"T-thank you, Claire."
Claire wondered what had become of her dinner…'
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Elli: That was a wonderful fanfic!
charxelle: sane and in a straight jacket Thankies! I would hug you if I could.
Doctor: Is this fanfic real? Did this really happen to Claire and Cliff?
charxelle: Stupid! It ain't real! That's why it's called a fanfic, doofus.
Elli: giggles
Doctor: sighs