Sakura's head came up out of her math homework. "Are you kidding?"
"I don't kid," he replied. "Your stomach is rumbling -- make it shut up so I can concentrate." He usually did his homework while he waited for her to finish her math.
She began to smile at him.
He glanced up. "What?"
"Nothing," she replied, laughing. "Do you want some tea?"
"Sure."
She paused at the door to glance back at him, at his steady pencil and the way his brow furrowed in concentration. She admired the neat way his long, lean body folded to kneel at the table.
Smack! He'd closed his eyes and slammed his pencil down flat. "What!?"
"Sorry!" she squeaked and turned to hurry to the kitchen. There, she relaxed, dropping to her knees to scratch Kero behind the ears (he always appeared in the kitchen when she did, trying to get more food out of her) and put out a few pellets of dry catfood for him. "I'm really stupid, Kero." She sighed. "Let's be smarter from now on, okay?" Encouraged, she bounded to her feet and started making tea.
"Do you like sugar?" she asked as Li took his teacup.
"No." He began to drink it right away even though it was still steaming. "Pu'er." He looked at his cup, surprised. Pu'er was a Chinese black tea that he must have been familiar with, being from Hong Kong.
Sakura smiled. "It's one of my favorites. Do you like it?"
He shrugged. "I don't hate it." But he had three cups.
When the tea had cooled off and they had drunk all they wanted, Sakura did something that made even the imperturbable Li stare at her in confusion.
Taking her saucer and teacup, she lifted the cup and poured the dregs of her tea into the saucer. Then she set it on the floor beside her and made a clicking sound toward the door -- the kind of noise used to get the attention of animals.
Within moments, a small, silky streak of gold had trotted into the room. The cat went to the saucer of cold tea and began to lap it up.
"Good boy," Sakura murmured, scratching his head.
"You spoil that cat."
She looked up and met his eyes. "Sometimes," she murmured, "you need to spoil those you love."
Her solemn expression and tone were familiar to Syaoran, but she smiled before he could figure out how. She had such an impish smile, the green of her eyes brilliant in the light from the window behind him. She had her hair pulled back in a short ponytail that seemed to slim her face, though her smile broadened it out again.
For some reason, it made him want to smile back. Unfortunately, she noticed the twitching around his lips.
"What?" she asked, looking befuddled.
He hesitated but gave in. "You have a nice smile. Strong teeth." He picked up his pencil and went back to his homework. He didn't see her expression soften.
Eventually, it dissolved into mischeif. "Don't let my brother hear you say that," she laughed, taking the tea away.
Please review if you enjoy the story!
Tea: Pu'er is a real kind of tea. I searched google for Chinese black teas (I love Twinings' Prince of Wales, a tea made from black Chinese blends, but can't get it easily in the states) and found a few different kinds. Voila.