Disclaimer: I don't own any ccs characters. :( They all belong to CLAMP.
Eriol was stumped. He could not figure out this Phoenix character. In his conversations with her when they meet by chance at the Jester were always the same. She wasn't on any of the nets and no one was willing to talk about her. When they did, they never said anything about her that he couldn't already have guessed from kind of talking to her.
His mother had started to ask where he was going everyday, so he went to the Underground less often. A delegation from the Interstellar Congress visited and stayed for two weeks, so it was his obligation as the governor's son to help show the representatives Commerce. When he went to the Underground again, he discovered that tongues were wagging about the whereabouts of Phoenix.
She had not been seen for three weeks and all of a sudden, she started coming back, coincidentally, the day before Eriol went back, but Eriol wasn't important enough to notice, at least, not in the Underground. He walked into the Jester and saw Phoenix there, sitting at her usual spot, drinking her usual root beer. He sat down in the vacant spot next to her. "Rumors are flying," he commented.
Tomoyo turned her head to look. "You again."
"It's Eli, remember?"
"Yes, we've had this part of the conversation about a dozen times before," She paused, "You've been asking around about me." Tomoyo said, concentrating on her drink again.
"So what if I have?"
"Why?"
"Why have I been asking about you?" Eriol shrugged. "You intrigue me."
"No body's talking though."
"They're talking about how you haven't shown your face in the Underground for the last three weeks."
"Tell me then, what are they saying?" Tomoyo was genuinely curious, but she managed to turn that curiosity into sarcasm.
"They think you went off world. They think maybe you got caught and were in jail. They also think you were abducted by the Interstellar Congress, which is absolutely ridiculous," he said with no hesitation.
Tomoyo raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" Eriol nodded. "You're joking me."
"Why would I?" Eriol asked.
Tomoyo looked thoughtful. "No, no, you have no reason to be joking with me."
"Exactly."
She got up and left. Eriol watched her leave. He also watched two men leave very soon after her, a big one and a skinny one. He had seen them leave after her every time she left. At first, he had thought that they were her body guards. After all, why shouldn't someone like Phoenix have them? But then he started noticing that those two men were there long before Phoenix arrived and long after she left. He also saw then at the Jester on days the Phoenix wasn't there. They were obviously someone else's people and they were obviously following Phoenix. Sometimes, he saw Spiral talking to them, but Spiral talked to everyone, so Eriol couldn't be sure Spiral was the one who's hired them.
Eriol worried for Phoenix's safety. In the two months he had known her, he had fallen in love with her. He was careful not to show it though; he didn't want to ruin any chance he had with her, however small it seemed to be at that moment. Eriol wanted to follow the two men, but he realized that Phoenix could take care of herself and if he followed them, it would be showing her that he cared. He knew that if Phoenix found out now about his affections, he would loose all hope of winning her, so he left her alone.
What was so attractive about her? She was beautiful, but her personality was something else. This was a woman he would never find among the Elite. She had spunk and he loved it. Oh my, oh my. If she was Elite, what a woman she would be. And he could pursue her publicly as well. But then he remembered that he was betrothed. Betrothed to a woman he didn't know. If only Phoenix were Elite.
Tomoyo lost the two spies very easily and flew home. She had never looked very closely at those two, but she knew they were the same people who had followed her from the beginning. They probably had orders not to try to kill her, or else the certainly would have tried already. After all, there had been more than a few opportunities if that had been their goal.
On her way home, her mind drifted to Eli. This dismayed her. What was so special about him? Why was he on her mind so often lately? She never trusted anyone she meet in the Underground. Their backgrounds and motives were way to questionable for her. Yet Eli was a charmer. Tomoyo hated admitting it to herself, Eli was a charmer. She had to remind herself not to get too carried away. She was betrothed to some Elite man already. Which really was a shame, because seeing how thing would turn out between herself and Eli would be fun. What?! What am I thinking! Bad Tomoyo! Bad Phoenix! she admonished herself.
She checked her vidcom to see if anyone had been looking for her again. No, nothing. It seemed, after that one day, whoever was looking for her simply stopped. Which was very good for her. She still wanted to know who it was, but as long as the person wasn't looking for her anymore, she would leave it alone.
For the last two months, Spiral had watched Phoenix and Eli very closely. She trusted Eli more than him and he had known her for five years! The injustice of the situation! What did Eli have that he didn't? Spiral watched as Eli tried to charm Phoenix, and even if it wasn't very obvious, she was crumbling. If things kept going the way they were, Phoenix would be Eli's!
Spiral sighed. His little fetish for Phoenix had ruined him these last months. He had hired spies to find out where she lived, but she always eluded them. It was frustrating. He had tried to hire new spies, but he never had enough money. His current spies had raised their rates when they figured out that Phoenix would always disappear. He could save money by letting them go, the thought had crossed his mind more than once, but he might need them unexpectedly one day. He had to keep them. He had to.
He rubbed his temples. He had been drinking more lately and was suffering constant headaches. There was still the possibility that Eli was just a customer and Phoenix was only putting up with his attitude because he was paying her. That could always be a possibility.
a/n: short, I know, but review anyways....(or else the chopsticks of doom will come and get you! *evil laughter*) p.s. to the Great One - you are reminding me scarily of myself ;)