Title: Sweet Seduction
Fandom: xxxHolic
Characters: Doumeki and Watanuki
Warnings: FLUFF. Also teh happy boi love, aka 104 or Doumeki/Watanuki. Out of character-ness is highly likely.
Words: 1872
Disclaimer: CLAMP owns.
Dedication: To Steve, who was this fic's inspiration.

You know he's up to something. And frankly, you can't bring yourself to care. Ever since he showed up on your doorstep in a dark burgundy button down dress shirt (no tie, but the first button flipped open, that cool bastard), black slacks, dress shoes, and his hair looking a touch tidier than usual, you haven't been able to care about his motives, try as you might.

He pretty much took you out by force. You hadn't actually wanted to. You had dinner planned, your bed was ready and waiting for an early night of relaxing with a book, because for once you have a night off. You didn't want to go anywhere. But then he had to show up looking that good, requesting you go with him for dinner. You still could have said no at that point (honestly, what kind of arrogant person just shows up like that expecting you to be available), but he leaned in a little and you caught a small whiff of the cologne he was wearing and you kind of turned accommodating.

He smelled really good.

So you went out. And now he sits across from you at a restaurant that he probably shouldn't be able to afford, looking at you with eyes that seem to consume you. He makes a comment about how nicely your black tie goes with your eyes and you find yourself blushing, looking down. He reaches over and rests his hand almost over your own on the table and your blush deepens.

"Are you okay?" He asks sounding all concerned.

"Of course I'm not okay," you grind out. "Seriously, you can't just say things like that."

His hand moves over a little more and curls around your fingers. You watch as you turn your hand slightly to catch his fingertips with your own, enjoying how his hand feels against your own. He has really nice hands.

He seems to like watching your hands together too, but flicks his gaze back to your face. You try and ignore it, but the intensity of his eyes on you is intoxicating, and you keep your head down, bringing only your eyes back to look at him over the frames of your glasses.

Eyes widening fractionally, he leans over the table some, giving your hand a slight squeeze as he does. "You know, your eyes look a lot darker from that angle."

Your heart kind of skips painfully. It's barely a compliment, but coming from him in that timbre, with that look on his face, it comes off a lot better. Damn him and his stupid, sexy-sounding voice. But yeah, you feel a little like putty now and offer him a slightly abashed smile.

"Doumeki," you start. "I don't know…" You really have nothing much to say and give him another mental curse for being able to render you stupid.

"I got you this," he says then, pulling something from his pocket and offering it to you.

You pull your hand back from his to take the small package with both hands. You unroll the rice paper wrapping carefully and discover a small bundle of incense sticks. You blink back up at him. He's looking at you with those eyes that flicker gold in the dim restaurant lights and you can't really look away.

"It's sage," he says. "It helps get rid of negative energy and ward off bad spirits."

It's such a seemingly pointless gift, anyone else would have probably scoffed at it. But to you. To you it means something so much more. You bring it to your nose and breathe in the scent deeply, and realize that it's not just the cologne that Doumeki's wearing, but some of this sage incense that compliments the scent so well you hadn't noticed before. The more you think about that, the more you realize that this is one of the smells permanently etched into his clothes. The gift means a lot more now.

"Thanks," you breathe, unable to bring your voice any higher.

"You're welcome," his response is just as quiet and he reaches out to clasp your hand again, brushing his thumb across the back of your hand, and sending a shiver down your back. "Cold?"

You feel cold, even at the same time that you feel like you're about to burn. "I'm fine."

He keeps his eyes on you, blinking slowly, keeping your hand in his. You almost gasp as you feel his knee brush against yours under the table, but keep it in. His leg inches closer and starts a slow caress against the inside of your knee, sending shivers up your back this time.

Your dinners arrive and you both eat quietly, him finally releasing your hand so you can both use your chopsticks appropriately. You sneak glances up to him now and again, watching how he's not inhaling the food like he usually does with your bento. You hardly have a chance to make note of that when he looks up and catches you looking at him.

"It's not nearly as good as yours," he says, punctuating it with a slight tap to your knee with his own.

Now you're really blushing. He never compliments your food other than a very clean plate. This he says with all seriousness, no trace of a come-on in his voice.

He really is up to something after all, that sneaky jerk, and you cling to that thought desperately, trying to keep yourself levelheaded. The rest of the meal eaten, he settles the bill without even letting you see what the damage was, saying it was his treat, and it would be rude to show the guest the bill.

You're pretty shocked by this, since he's hardly shown these manners before. But you know he does have some suave tendencies since he exhibited them those times with the twins. You'd never have thought he'd display them to you.

He takes your hand then, barely letting your fingers trail together, and leads you out the door. He doesn't keep your hand the whole way, but he does stay close to you, your shoulders brushing from time to time.

You're not sure how you're feeling anymore. The food has made you very complacent, his slight touches are keeping you off balance, and that scent from him is making you light-headed. You have no trust in your judgment anymore. But you can't really find enough irritation to care.

You find yourself at the door to your apartment before you realize it, and turn your head to look at him. Since you're completely unsure what to do, you don't know if you should just say good bye before you open the door, invite him in for tea or something, or…or…

"Do you," you start. Stop. Swallow that lump in your throat. "Do you want to come in?" His expression is unreadable, and you duck your head slightly. "For a while?"

Slightly rough fingertips trail lightly up the side of your jaw and to the stray wisps of hair behind your ear, making you shiver again. Seriously, how does he do that?

"If you don't mind," he says.

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded," you shake your head and fumble with the door until it opens. You go in and step from your shoes. He follows suit and you lead him to the kitchen where you put a pot on for tea. You're not even sure if he wants tea, but at least it's something to keep your hands busy.

Because you've decided that all they really want to do is touch him.

You give yourself a mental shake. Honestly, this is Doumeki. You steal a glance at him to see that he's found that picture of you, himself, and Yuuko, all of you covered in snow from that snowball fight from last winter that you have tacked to the refrigerator. You've never seen that smile on his face before.

You turn back to the tea water before he looks over at you, feeling your face color a little.

"Hey."

It's quiet and barely a breath at the side of your neck and you jerk away, stumble on your own feet and feel gravity start to take you to the floor.

Doumeki catches your arm before you go very far though, putting the two of you close. Very close. You can see the green flecks of his irises. His breath ghosts over your cheek as you stare at him.

"Are you okay?" He asks, voice hardly any louder than a murmur.

A bare nod is all you can give him right then. There's a hand bracing your lower back and right now all you can think is how good it feels there. You don't really want him to let go.

He doesn't.

"Hey," he tries again and this time, you can't fall anymore. "Thanks. For coming with me tonight."

You feel your pulse flutter and you take a stuttering breath. "I…I had fun."

"You look really good too," he continues. The hand that initially caught you no longer has to keep a hold of you and it moves up the remaining length of your arm, over your shoulder, and brushes across the smooth expanse of your neck.

You seem to have forgotten how to breath as he leans forward a little more, pausing just as your lips brush together, almost waiting for some kind of permission.

You wouldn't have stopped him even if you could, and let your eyes fall closed and tilt your head just slightly. He closes the distance and your world narrows to this one moment. And now all you can feel are his lips, soft and warm, just feeling yours out. You shudder in his arms, feeling as if this is the only place you ever wanted to be, and part your lips slightly.

He takes the opportunity to nudge his tongue gently at your mouth, and you can hardly stop yourself from inviting it in. The hand at your back pulls you closer until your hips are pressed together tightly, his pushing into yours just slightly. The hand at your neck tilts your head a touch more and the kiss deepens more and you whimper slightly into his mouth.

He backs off a little then, still staying close and watching you catch your breath. You find that your arms are looped around the back of his neck, one hand buried in his hair, the other just clinging to his shoulder. Your brain is still something akin to mush, but you can tell he's a little unsure of himself right then, even for all that charmingly suave attitude.

"Thanks again," he says, and you can see him trying to decide whether to just leave, or…

"Can you stay?" You all but blurt out, letting your hand drift from his hair to his shirt, hanging onto a good bit of the garment, not wanting to let him go at all.

His smile is so soft you can hardly see it, but it warms his eyes and you succumb a little more to that oddly elated feeling in your chest. His hold around your back tightens and he leans in to take another kiss from you.

You take that as a yes.