By Mina
Standard disclaimers for Majutsushi Orphen: Revenge apply. Poor, broke, make no money from this, only own plot idea not characters, blah blah blah….
Warnings: Introspection, a little bit of angst, confusion of feelings that might be read as potential shoujo ai, references to shounen ai, and a few random swear words. Sequel to 'Placement' in the scheme of my MO and MO:R fanfics. This part is done in a series of time spaces, beginning with what happened during 'Placement' and leading through what happens in the next two fics: 'Tegami' and 'Quiet Time.' Will only be slightly spoiler-ish, but it felt better to put this one before the next two.
Cleao chewed absently on her thumbnail as she watched Orphen shift nervously in his chair, his face constantly turning to the door of the inn where Majic had slipped out over half an hour earlier. She heard Lycoris shifting in her seat as well, and reached out her other hand to place it on Lycoris' shoulder. "It's okay, this happens sometimes."
"But, what if Majic-san . . . ?"
Cleao smiled, turning to Lycoris. "No, it's really okay. See, Majic gets like this . . . where he thinks so much and doesn't know how to deal with it at all. He likes to go outside to clear his head and stuff."
"But he's by himself!"
Lycoris' wide brown eyes were glossed with tears behind her glasses, and Cleao moved to take the younger girl into a one-armed hug. "Majic really can take care of himself. I mean, sure, he's kinda girly in some respects---girlier than me, even---but he can handle things on his own pretty well."
"But Orphen-san said that Majic still isn't a very good sorcerer. Didn't he yell at him the other day because he said he isn't trained enough to do things like that? How can he take care of himself then?"
Cleao supposed that what Lycoris said made sense…and Orphen had said those things . . . but Lycoris hadn't travelled with them enough yet to realize that they all said things like that about each other, but that they already knew and understood each others strengths and weaknesses, that they knew when to step in and help each other out and when to back off and just let things be.
"Actually, Lycoris, Majic's a very good sorcerer, considering everything he's been through," Cleao said softly. "Majic just can't always access his powers. He's . . . what'd you call it, Orphen?"
"Inhibited."
Cleao ignored his clipped town, smiling for Lycoris. "Yeah! See, some things happened in Majic's past, and he's afraid of his magic, and has a hard time using it. So it's not that he's a bad sorcerer---that grumpy ass over there never would have chosen him as an apprentice if he was! Orphen's one of those elitist guys, you know; always got to have the best."
"Cleao, it's more than that! Gods, make me out to be some damn selfish bastard, why doncha?"
Again, Cleao ignored Orphen, waving him off. "Quit being so pissy, Orphen. I'm trying to explain things to Lycoris. Anyway, so Majic really is a good apprentice at magic. Plus he's really, really smart, even if he has suddenly developed that disgusting habit of having women following him everywhere blushing and stumbling like idiots."
"That's it!"
Cleao grinned as Orphen stood up and stalked towards the door. About damn time, she thought.
"Ne, Cleao, did we make Orphen-san mad?"
"Nah," Cleao reassured her with another quick wave of her hand. "But we should probably head upstairs to bed. It's getting late, and knowing Majic's internal alarm clock and Orphen's sense of roving, we'll be leaving really early."
She pulled Lycoris from the table, smiling indulgently when the girl leaned against her, stifling a yawn. Pamu, too, was stifling a yawn, the pink creature drifting almost drunkenly through the air as it followed them up the stairs. "Come on, Leki," she called to the Deep Dragon cub, who yawned but hurriedly followed after her.
She helped the younger girl into her pyjamas, unbraiding her hair and brushing through it, all the while quietly humming to herself. Leki and Pamu had made themselves at home on the end of the bed and were already sound asleep.
"Ne . . . Cleao?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you . . . do you like Orphen-san?"
Cleao's first reaction was to say 'Ick!' but then she thought for a moment. "At first . . . yeah. I liked Orphen a lot. Back then, I had a lot of fairytale dreams, and I thought that Orphen could be my Prince on a White Horse, riding off with me into the sunset to his Castle. But I grew up, and I got over that. I mean, I'm not exactly cut out to a fairytale princess after all, and Orphen's most certainly no prince on a white horse. Orphen's just a very good friend, which is probably why we annoy each other so much, you know? We're a lot alike in the ways that we do things."
"Kind of like a brother and sister?"
"Mmmm, kind of, I guess. Orphen and I don't really talk about things like what we are to each other that way. We just know that we're all family."
"Family?"
"Yeah!"
"And Majic-san? What is he to you, Cleao?"
Tucking Lycoris into bed, fingers trailing through the waves of brown hair, Cleao flicked her gently on the nose with a grin. "My little brother, of course. Which is why I know that Orphen will make sure Majic's okay, and things will be better in the morning."
Lycoris smiled, another yawn escaping as Cleao removed her glasses. Getting into her own pyjamas, she heard Lycoris shift around, her breathing eventually evening out into that of sleep. Cleao climbed into the other side of the bed, turning off the light.
A small hand covered hers in the darkness, clutching convulsively, and Cleao smiled as Lycoris murmured in her sleep, "Wish I had a big sister . . . just like . . . you . . . Cleao."
"I'll be your big sister too, Lycoris," Cleao promised into the darkness. She closed her eyes, clutching back at Lycoris' hand as she heard the sound of soft feet coming up the stairs. Two sets of feet. Good. Then everything was all right with her family now, and she could sleep easily.
"Ne ne, Majic, what're you doing?"
Cleao was bored, Leki on her heels, and she'd finally managed to stumble across Majic, secluded in his room and huddled over something on the desk in front of him.
"I'm writing letters," Majic said, voice muffled because of the way he was leaned over.
"To who, to who?"
Majic turned, a smile that seemed a cross between exasperation and actual amusement on his face. "To Leticia-sensei and Stephanie-san."
"Really?" Cleao plopped down the on the bed, Leki joining her by climbing into her lap and demanding to be coddled. She complied easily enough, head cocked to the side as she studied Majic. "I didn't know that you wrote to them."
"I write to Stephanie-san about once a month or so, and I write to Leticia-sensei about the same. But it's been nearly two months since I wrote either one, and with all the things going on . . . ."
"Ah, I see. So you keep them updated on what Orphen's doing and whatnot."
Majic turned in his chair, and she smiled as she noticed a smudge of ink across his cheek. "No, it's not just that. Leticia-sensei was a very close teacher to me, Cleao…she helped me to get better at the things that Stephanie-san already taught me. And Orphen…Oshou-sama is her little brother, after all, and since he can't be bothered to write home and tell her how things are going, I do it for him."
Cleao's eyes widened. "Orphen has an older sister? Are you sure it's not just some really screwed up relationship like that things with You Know Who a couple years back?"
Majic laughed at her wording, and Cleao scowled. Majic still thought it was funny that she didn't like to say Azalea's name, huh? Well, she'd show him!
Majic's laughter abruptly stopped once she'd thrown the pillow. However, he still snickered as he tossed the pillow back onto the bed. "No, actually, Leticia really is Orphen's older sister. They were separated . . . Orphen sent to the orphanage in Raindust, where he met Azalea, and Leticia was sent to an uncle in Urban Lama. They didn't meet again until after they'd both joined the Tower of Fangs, and Leticia was already a class ahead. Plus…she didn't find out until just before the Azalea Incident that Orphen was her real little brother."
"Ah, I see. So you just basically write to them to let them know what's going on, that we're all okay, that Orphen hasn't gotten any crazier, and whatnot?"
Majic smiled. "Yes, basically."
"Hmmm . . . ." Cleao frowned in thought for a moment, then jumped to her feet, grabbing Leki before he could fall. "Well, no offence, otouto-chan, but this is still boring. Guess I'd better find something else to do!" She paused to ruffle his hair, grinning when he yowled like a cat in protest, then dashed from the room to her own. Lycoris was sitting in the corner, reading a book, Pamu hovering half-asleep beside her head. Pausing to put Leki on the bed, Cleao headed over to her pack and began to dig around.
"Cleao, what are you doing?"
Cleao smiled as she produced her stationary set, holding it up in the air. "Writing home!"
Lycoris blinked, slowly smiling in return. "Home, huh? Wish I had family to write home to. It'd be better then writing boring reports."
Cleao frowned, thinking. "Well, why don't you help me write these letters then? See, the one I send to Okaasan has to be a little edited, because if she knew about some of the things I do, she'd bring me home and lock me up. And the one for Oneesan has to be spelled right, or she'll send it back to me all corrected, and that drives me nuts. So, wanna help me out?"
She watched Lycoris' eyes go wide, the girl tentatively pointing a finger at her nose. "Myself?"
"Yep!"
Slowly Lycoris nodded, a shy smile crossing her face. "Thank you."
"No," Cleao said with a shake of her head and a sincere smile, "thank you."
"Eh, Cleao, what was the real reason for us going out today?"
"The real reason?" Cleao repeated, looking up from sorting through her newest acquisitions.
"Well, I know that you wanted to go shopping…you really seem to like shopping." A slight blush dusted Lycoris' fair cheeks. "And I kind of liked shopping with you today, too, but it seemed like there was some other reason. You know, how when Orphen suggested we go shopping…you seemed really quick to go. And you didn't try to drag Majic along this time, like usual."
"Hey, I can't always use Majic as a pack mule to carry everything," Cleao said with a grin. "Besides, those too don't really get much alone time, you know?"
"Alone time?"
"Yeah. Time with just the two of them, not all of us hanging around."
"So you give them time alone for magic lessons sometimes?"
Cleao wrinkled her nose, and wondered how to reply. How did she tell Lycoris that Orphen and Majic had a different relationship too, one that wasn't just master and apprentice? She didn't want to offend the girl's sensibilities if she didn't think that sort of thing was appropriate.
"Cleao? You okay? Myself didn't say anything to make you upset, did I?"
"No, no!" Cleao flushed, thoughts flying in rapid circles as she tried to think of a response. "It's just that . . . . Oh, I don't really know how to say it, and I don't want to make you mad or anything, and I don't want you to change your opinions of Orphen and Majic, so---"
A small finger against her lips stilled her babbling, and Cleao looked up to find Lycoris' face mere inches from her own. "Whatever it is, Cleao, it can't be bad. Not if you're okay with it. And you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"But I want to!" Cleao knew that her voice was earnest as she grabbed the other girl's hand, still struggling with what to say, how much to say. "It's just that . . . precious things are hard to explain."
"Precious things?" Lycoris cocked her head to the side, absently raising her other hand to touch her hair band. "Like this?"
"Um, sort of. Like precious people."
"Family? Like friends?"
"Close. Precious people sometimes need alone time…to remember why they're precious to each other."
"Like when myself and Cleao go shopping alone?"
Cleao felt her cheeks heat. "Kind of like that."
Lycoris frowned thoughtfully. "So Orphen-san and Majic-san are precious people to you, so you let them have time to themselves."
Cleao fidgeted. "Well, that's part of it. But, you see, while Orphen and Majic are precious to me, they aren't that kind of precious person to me outside of family. Sometimes you have a precious person that means everything, you know?"
"Mmmm?"
"And, well . . . ." Cleao paused, then decided to simply seize the bull by the horns, as the old saying went. "Well, Orphen and Majic have precious people. They have each other. And so they sometimes need to be alone to remember why they are precious to each other."
Lycoris frowned, and Cleao held her breath. But then Lycoris slowly smiled. "I see."
"You're not…mad or anything, are you? About Orphen and Majic?"
"If Cleao doesn't mind then why should myself? And if Cleao still loves them as her family, why shouldn't I? You accept them for who they are, and you admire their love. Love is precious."
"Yes." Cleao relaxed, gently squeezing Lycoris' hand again as she and the girl shared a smile of understanding. "Love and family are very precious."