Grandeur (Then You thought You Thought You Were)


Tamaki let out a cry "I am ancient now, aren't I?"

"I'd hardly call you ancient. A bit confused maybe." Haruhi shrugged, glancing down at the glass in her hand. She briefly wondered whether it would be enough to get her through the night. If she kept sipping, no one would hand her a refill, and she wouldn't go over. She was confident in her rationing ability, after all, an hour had passed and if anything the wine almost looked topped off.

He held his hand to the light in mock horror "Don't you see? My marble skin has already wrinkled. Soon I'll fade into nothing, consumed my dark spots." He sighed then, shifting his body so his body lounged against the arm of the dramatic daybed. There was a term for it, one she couldn't recall over the wool stuffing her skull. Haruhi thought she should be disappointed in herself, spending all that time learning law and eating textbooks only for her battered skull to become a pillow.

"I think you're lucky." She murmured

"How could I possibly be lucky? Are you not listening, Haruhi? It's awful, how will any woman love me now!" He let out a single tortured sob

She felt herself breathing, and took the time to recognize it as a perfectly surreal experience. "Well not everyone gets old. They're just... gone too soon." She thought for a moment, sifting through fields of cotton. Then Haruhi knelt down and pressed her hands into the cold dirt, dark still from being often turnt. Less so, now, though she doubted that it would ever rest entirely. From there, she dug. Her hands itched with the action, and soil clung to the underside of her neatly trimmed fingernails.

Ah, there it is. Just as she thought.

Yes, she had been right, her mother never had a wrinkle. Not on her face, at least. It seemed freshly into her thirties was just far too young for the woman's body to shift in the way many experienced. Growing and shrinking until the pieces no longer fit quite the same way.

Haruhi was not sure if she could deserve the experience. After all, her Mother had done so much for so many people, and she never got there.

"I think I'd like to be old." The words were whispered, as if Tamaki believed them to be some sort of dirty secret. "Only if everyone is still there though, and I can't look decrepit or anything, just... well aged."

A light laugh slipped past her lips "Like wine?" She asked, hers sloshing slightly in her bouncing hand.

The blond grinned "I'll be a tall glass of wine!"

"Water is just for peasants, then?" Haruhi teased

"Yeah, not you though!" He slid himself off the chair- she remembered then, it's called a fainting chair- and knelt beside her on the hardwood floor. "You're... coffee. Instant coffee, that's the best kind."

"Bitter" She suggested

"Refreshing?" Tamaki offered. Seeing the wrinkle of her nose, he tried again "Addictive, then."

"Coffee doesn't age well. The flavour just leaves."

He laughed, sending his body slouched against hers "Instant coffee should lose its flavour, Haruhi. Not you though."


Which was exactly how the rest of the former host club found them almost an hour later, slouched in the corner of a dimly litten room half asleep. The two had managed to hide away in the obscure room after the game of hide-and-seek which Tamaki 'suggested' to celebrate his birthday. It seemed he knew the house better than even Kyoya, as he managed to tuck the two of them away into the forgotten folds of wall.

"Wow, Haru-chan got drunk? She only had one glass though!"

The twins glanced carefully at each other before Hikaru let out a measured "Yeah, crazy. Such a lightweight!"

"What do you think they were doing?" Kaoru asked

Kyoya sighed "I imagine Haruhi was comforting him, in lew of his rapidly climbing age."

"He's 27" Mori said

"Exactly."


A/N: Been a year since I posted 'Garden of Roses', a story which I still deeply regret. So yeah, my one year anniversary, even if I spent most of it thinking I could sleep off my 'funk' that I was in. My many month long funks. I figured I started as an Ouran writer and it was good to remind myself I still am, even if I'm focussed on some HP stuff at the moment. I actually wrote a miraculous Ladybug fic but who knows if that'll ever see the light of day.

I also dabbled in the Princess Bride fanart, but that was a flop. I considered making an audio read aloud of the 25th anniversary version of the book, but I have the voice of a 11 year old girl, something which I hate. So.

Also, I'd like to clarify that I'm not an 11 year old girl, I'm just short and slightly feminine.

-Lucas_Gilbert