Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on the chapter. I'd told at least one of you that I was going to have a chapter up at least two weeks ago. I'm sorry, Down and I have been fretting over sorting my visa application and then attending the appointment. For anyone waiting for news at home, I get to stay in the UK another 2 1/2 years. Yay!
Now, this chapter was originally just the first half of chapter 3, but it was looking like it would surpass 9,000 words (my current chapter limit), so I cut it in half. Hopefully, this means I will have the next bit up soon, as it will just need a decent edit. But I might wait until I get chapter 5 finished as I need to sort out the plot pivot point, and I might need to get Chapter 4 to lead into it slightly differently. But until then, have some very domestic Clef.
Chapter 3
In which Clef cooks dinner and Umi has an awkward conversation
Umi watched Clef all but run out of the ballroom and leaned back against the bookcase for a moment to finish catching her breath. When she'd gone to kiss him, she hadn't expected that.
Not that she was complaining.
She reached up and touched her neck. The skin was still tingling a little, declaring she hadn't imagined any of it. Her fingers nudged the tie to her dress, which started to slip down her neck - it must have come loose at some point, her dress slithering a few inches lower.
She hadn't even noticed.
Yanking the cord back up she tied a hasty bow in it before it actually managed to fall off. Then she pulled the ribbon out of her hair and combed her fingers through it; there was no way it was still presentable. Rather than take the time to braid it again, she simply tied the ribbon around her head like a headband and went off to find Clef.
He was supposed to be cooking, so it was doubtful that he'd fled the room to hide from her. Even if he had, she wasn't letting him get away without some conversation about what had just happened.
Umi bounced down the stairs, holding onto the rail as she spun around the bottom corner. The kitchen door was close and stood open a little into the corridor; she could hear two people laughing while Clef grumbled at them.
"No really, Clef, you have to tell us," said the first, with a giggle.
"Definitely!" said the second. "We have to know, it's important information."
"What does it matter what I do in my own house?" Clef snapped.
Opening the door the rest of the way, Umi stepped into the room. Clef was the first to see her. He stood up straighter and swallowed, setting his knife back down on the tall kitchen worktable. His cheeks and ears were flushed before he caught her eye. Once he did, he only got pinker.
Across the table from him stood two women who looked about Ferio's age, not that looks meant much around here. Both of them wore robes similar to Clef's current outfit. The woman closest to Umi had curly golden hair twisted into a wild halo about her head and robes a deep shade of forest green, long sleeves pooling on the table as she rested her elbows on it. The other, who had one arm about the first woman's shoulders, had long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and dusky orange clothing. Both of them turned when Clef did, their smiles getting wider.
"You must be Lady Umi!" said the one in orange, rushing forward to grab her hand. "I'm Kalos. I'm the priest here, and Aveo's my mother." She pulled her friend forwards with her free arm. "This is Brisa. She's our judge, and you've arrived right in time. Clef was just telling us about the changes to the house rules."
"No rules have changed!" Clef brandished the long purple root he had been chopping. "I simply said I can do what I like in my own house."
"Sounds like a double standard to me," Brisa hissed to Kalos, just loudly enough for Umi to hear.
"Yeah, definitely a double standard." Kalos snickered. "Why can you do things in the library and we can't, Clef?"
Umi bit back a laugh as Clef picked up his knife again and ignored them, intently chopping the root into fine pieces, muttering about upstarts needing to mind their own dratted business.
"See, the way I hear it," Brisa said, turning to Umi with a grin, "you two were getting a bit friendly in the library. That sort of thing is supposed to be kept to private rooms, with locks." She looked back at Clef. "The library is definitely off limits."
"It certainly was the last time we got yelled at for enthusiastic kissing in there," Kalos added.
Umi gave in and started giggling into her hand.
Clef slammed the knife down and squared himself at them. "If you two aren't going to be helpful, you can get out of my kitchen."
"We are being helpful." Kalos declared, feigning innocence with wide, wide eyes. "We just want to know what the new rules are, so we can tell everyone. If we don't know, how can we all follow them?"
"Out!" Clef insisted.
The two of them cackled and ran for the door to the vegetable garden. Brisa paused in the doorway. "That includes the kitchen! No make-outs while you're cooking! If we can't, you can't."
"I didn't have my hands inside anyone's clothes!" he shouted, throwing the end of the root out the door after them as they vanished.
Umi walked over to the table, still snickering. Clef set the sticks of purple root aside and picked up something that looked rather like a knobbly chunk of ginger, beginning to peel it in one slow continuous spiral. The inside was an unexpected bright green.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely loud enough for her to hear.
"About what?"
He huffed a soft, embarrassed laugh. "Earlier."
There was a blush spreading heat across Umi's cheeks, even though talking about it had been the entire reason she'd followed him, instead of letting him calm down. "I kissed you first."
"But I didn't need to get so carried away with... returning it." He dumped the long bit of skin into the basket of scraps on the corner of the table, still not looking at her.
"I wasn't complaining." Umi shrugged. He was embarrassed, but still talking to her-she probably shouldn't push it by telling him she'd very much like to do it again. Instead, she grinned. "I had my hands inside your robes. Does that mean we were breaking whatever rule they were talking about?"
"For the love of—" Clef set his knife down and pointed at the door. "If you're going to start that too, you can go join them outside."
"Okay, okay!" Umi raised her hands in mock defeat. "What can I do to help?"
Clef picked up another knife and passed it to her, followed by a board and a large orange squash-like thing not too unlike a pumpkin. "This needs to be peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks about the size of—er, the end of your thumb?"
She set to work while Clef minced his root, which smelled a lot like garlic, before chopping up a cut of spent the next half hour or so preparing ingredients, not talking about anything except the task in hand. Not that Umi didn't try, but Clef was intent on preparing the meal, rather than discussing what happened in the library, or anything else remotely relating to their not-a-relationship.
It wasn't a relationship, because that would be illegal. As Clef had told her repeatedly, with little to no detail on what that meant. Though at least now she knew he was working on it… even if she didn't quite know what that meant either. They were just friends. Though Umi wasn't sure friends got that handsy with one another, nor did they go so very quiet and red when you mentioned it afterwards.
Once there were only a few things left for Umi to chop, Clef procured spices from a cupboard and then started pulling down pots and pans and took them around the corner to a large was sautéing meat and frying vegetables when Umi brought him the last of the dark green leaves he'd wanted chopped as thinly as possible. She was pretty sure he hadn't counted on years of helping her mother in the kitchen—at fifteen her mother had decided she ought to know more than just baking, so started teaching her this, too—because his eyes widened at the microscopically thin shred of leaves.
Umi leaned back against the wall out of his way; he seemed to have routine with the cooktop that didn't involve a second set of hands. There was a large pot of something like rice steaming at the back, while he had two others simmering with sauces heavy with tangy fruits and herbs. He was dry frying a selection of vegetables with spices and there were a handful of other things going, all in addition to two salads and the stack of flat breads already on the table.
Clef's shoulders loosened as he pottered about, falling into a comfortable rhythm. After a little while, he even started to hum to himself. Eventually he called her over, holding out a spoon and asking for an opinion on the fruit syrup he'd made. She gave him a dubious look and took a step back.
"I know you don't like sweet things," he said. "Please, try it?"
Timidly, Umi let him feed her the little bit of sticky orange sauce, hoping it wasn't as cloyingly sweet as it looked. It was surprisingly tangy, almost citrus but with a hint of something like peach in it, and not very sweet at all. Actually, she quite liked it. It reminded her of one of the spicy fruit spreads she'd grown fond of.
"It's nice." She leaned forward and took the spoon out of his hand so she could have another taste. "What's it going with?"
He just grinned and picked up a new spoon to stir the pot with as he pulled it off the heat completely. "That's a surprise." He pointed her toward a cupboard for serving dishes and they plated up the food together, Clef holding the pot while Umi made sure it's contents made it safely onto the plate or into the bowl.
When they finished with the last one Clef was put the last pot into the dish sink, and Umi went to pick up the first bowl of what looked and smelled very much like a curry, other voices now audible through in the dining room. Clef's hand brushed her arm as he, too, reached for the dishes. The snap of magic between them made them both jump, pulling away from the table.
Clef whispered "Sorry," hesitating beside her before his other hand found her face. His fingers brushed gently over the skin of her cheek, as softer tingling following the touch, before slipping under her chin. "Thank you for helping." He tilted his head and leaned forward; Umi met him halfway.
This kiss had less heat than the ones in the library, but still left her giddy and breathless as he pulled away. He smiled at her, and Umi ignored the voices from the next room as she drew him back to her.
.*.*.*.
Clef paid no attention to the taunts Kalos and Brisa were calling from the dining room as Umi pressed her lips to his. Her fingers curled around the back of his neck as she pushed closer, and he completely forgot about the food.
"Told you they'd gotten distracted," Kalos cackled to Brisa in the doorway, before sweeping past them for the dishes.
Umi pulled away, hand still on his neck as she smiled at him. The temptation to tilt his head and taste that smile grew stronger every second they stood there, still looking at each other.
"Either take it upstairs or get out here and eat," Getz complained, walking out with more food.
Clef's breath caught in his throat as Umi tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. He swatted her hand away. "Stop that."
"Sorry." She smiled, not the least bit apologetic. Her hands ran down his neck across his shoulders and down his arms, lingering to brush over his wrists. He wavered towards her and she bit her lip, watching him with intent. "Dinner…"
"Can wait?" he found himself saying wistfully as he reached to stroke her cheek, again.
"Clef!" Umi grinned at him.
With a soft laugh, he took a step back. "Right. Dinner." Turning abruptly, he picked up one of the last dishes of food and passed it to Umi, who was standing there biting her lower lip and giggling at him. "I'll be through in a moment," he said, propelling her gently in the direction of the dining room.
He leaned against the table and tried to compose himself a little. He adjusted and readjusted his robes, knowing full well it wasn't going to help much until he'd properly calmed down, and his household would find a reason to poke fun at him about this regardless.
Picking up the final dish, he walked into the dining room as Umi was being introduced to Kalos and Brisa's young apprentices, Uruvan and Ciel. The only empty place left was beside her. He set the dish of vegetables down, and Getz declared "Let's eat!" before everyone else started passing food around.
Not one person brought up the kissing. No one returned to the argument about house rules. The only conversations were about the food, lessons, and things that needed doing about the house in the coming week.
The distinct lack of teasing was more suspicious that anything. At least three of the four other adults at the table were watching his interactions with Umi with great interest. Brisa whispered something to Kalos when he helped Umi serve herself some food, then Getz winked back at them as Umi poured a drink for Clef.
Aveo's voice snapped his attention back to the far end of the table. "I've left a report on your desk for you to read."
"I'll try to get that tonight," Clef said. "Anything that needs looking at immediately?"
"Not at the moment." Aveo smiled at him, the same dratted smile he saw far too often on Kalos's face. "I think it can even wait until morning."
Kalos coughed a bit too enthusiastically and Brisa jabbed her in the side with an elbow. Clef ignored the lot of them and focused his attention on his food, letting the conversation flow past him. As Kalos and Brisa were telling Umi about their roles in running the Ward, he didn't even have to entertain her.
After everyone was finished eating, Clef got up from the table and went back into the kitchen, slipping into the larder for the dessert. He'd spent the past few months tweaking the recipe after getting the basic idea from asking Umi rather a lot of questions about her hobby, and the last attempt had almost been right. He'd have liked to have spent a bit more time on the project, but he had only so many free hours. He carried the confection out, picking up the bowl with his syrup on the way, carrying them back to the dining room.
Umi's eyes went wide as he walked in. "That's a cake!" Umi gasped, going from sitting up straight to standing, her chair squealing across the tile floor. "You—when did—how?"
"We baked it," Brisa laughed. "While you two were busy in the library."
"It's Clef's recipe, though." Kalos admitted.
He set both of the dishes down on the table, and by the time he'd got back to his seat, Aveo was taking a fairly sharp knife to the cake.
"Now, it's not quite the same as what you make, but—" He didn't get to finish explaining, because Umi threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Oh! Do we get a thank you like that?" Kalos teased. "We baked it after all."
Umi hid her face against his neck for a moment, laughing, while he pulled a face at Kalos and Brisa. They were far worse together than they had ever been apart. It had been bad enough when they were simply pupils he had the training of, years ago, and well before they'd started seeing one another.
He stroked Umi's hair and then murmured, "Don't you want to try it?"
She dropped back down into her seat, face flushed, and took a fork to the slice someone had already set in her place.
"It's good!" she announced, and Clef grinned at her, pleased to hear that.
Dessert ended with the usual arguments when it was one of the children's turns to tidy up. "It's Aygo's turn to do the washing up!" Urvan declared, shoving himself away from the table, his chair letting out a loud squeal across the tile floor as he did so.
Aygo brandished his fork. "Hey! It's not my night."
"Is so." Ciel crossed her arms and glared at Aygo. "You can't get out of it every time your name comes up. Urvan may have done it for you last week when we were here, but we're not doing it this week."
Aygo looked over at Elysion and batted his eyelashes in a ridiculous manner.
She looked at him with narrowed eyes and a simple "No," looking very like both Aveo and Kalos right then, though she was generally the least forceful of Aveo's children.
"Fine." Aygo stood and picked up the pile of plates before skulking out of the room.
There was a loud clunk and rattle as he thumped them in the sink, and Aveo shouted, "Hey!"
"Sorry!"
Clef shook his head. Time to escape, before he could compound the errors of the day so far by offering to lick the last of the sauce from Umi's lips, or something equally unwise. He rose from the table. "Good night, everyone."
"Where are you going?" Umi asked, confused.
Oh. "My um.."
"Master Clef likes to have a bath every night before bed," Brisa said, smirking. "You should ask him to show you where the bathroom is."
Clef blinked and looked down at Umi. "Has no one shown you the bath?" He suddenly felt like a failure of a host, realising he hadn't actually shown her any of the house. They'd only taken a walk about the grounds. He'd shown her nothing indoors at all, not even the basic amenities. "I supposed, if you wanted to come with me—"
Kalos let out a howl, and Umi blushed scarlet.
"That is not an invitation to join me!" he found himself declaring as all eyes at the table focused on him. Heat ran up his neck and across his cheeks as he flailed a hand. "I was just going to show you where it is."
"Sure you were," Getz murmured.
Clef ignored him, despite the temptation to do otherwise. "Remind me tomorrow, Umi, and I can give you a tour of the house."
Umi nodded. "I'll hold you to that."
He turned away from the table entirely before anyone could start openly laughing at him. A little time alone would hopefully be good for clearing his head.
.*.*.*.
Umi picked up the empty cake plate from the table, smiling. She still couldn't believe he'd actually baked her a cake. Well, maybe he hadn't actually baked this one, but to get something that close he must have spent weeks working on the recipe. The instructions she'd given him when he'd asked were the bare basics at most. She carried the plate out to the main part of the kitchen, passing it to Aygo at the sink. She had just turned back to the dining room when Aveo appeared at her side and looped an arm through hers.
"I think that you and I ought to have a talk," Aveo said. Her voice carried no accusation, but something about the tone sent Umi's mind back to the earlier declarations about house rules being broken.
"I'm sorry," she breathed. "I won't— we won't—"
How could she promise that it wouldn't happen again? She hadn't expected Clef to be so receptive earlier, let alone instigate another kiss a mere hour later, and it was rather hard to remember where she was or anything at all when he was kissing her. Not that kissing should be happening anywhere, but-
"Oh, don't worry about that." Aveo chuckled and tugged her out through the dining room and up a different short staircase into a different wing of the house. It didn't have the murals or the paintings and collection of random artifacts which decorated the other part, Clef's part. Instead the walls were left simple and clean but every windowsill had at least one plant happily thriving, a profusion of green.
They walked through a corridor and into the second door, which led to a large study. Rather than Clef's wild piles of paperwork strewn about, this one had a wall of cubbie holes and shelves with neatly written labels. The only sheets of paper on the table were in a single tidy stack, filled with neat rows and columns. Umi recognised some of the squiggles as numbers, she'd just about gotten a handle on those. With the multiple sets of figures on each line and text around them, she guessed they must be accounts of some sort.
She took step forward in curiosity. Aveo dropped her arm and turned to the little cabinet by the door; Umi followed her, leaving the paperwork.
"Clef has been very adamant that nothing is going to happen between you this week, but you do seem to be very bad for his common sense." Aveo opened the cupboard and picked something up off the shelf. "While I know he wouldn't intentionally put you in an uncomfortable position, it's probably best if you have something." Aveo pressed two small phials into Umi's palm. "Do you know how to use it?"
Umi couldn't stop the flush rising up her neck and across her cheeks as she looked down at the two bottles containing what she knew was one of the more common contraceptive potions. Each was about the size of her thumb, with a small mouthful of a light-green liquid inside.
It had been a full year since Caldina had sat all three of them down and given them an embarrassingly thorough talk about sex and safety in Cephiro, but she was pretty sure she remembered the basics of this potion, so she nodded.
"Tell me." Aveo closed Umi's fingers over the little bottles, not letting go of her hand. "Tell me how it works."
"You have to take it every day for at least five days, after..." Why was her face so hot? Why did this have to be so embarrassing? If she wanted to sleep with him she ought to be prepared. "It stops anything happening while you're taking it, and after five doses, the effects last seven days more or so, right?"
"Good girl." Aveo nodded approvingly and let go of her hand.
"But—" Umi started. She had five days now, but her next visits would be much shorter, usually just Sunday afternoons for a few hours. "After this week—"
"I don't care what he says, he should be taking something too." Aveo waved toward the cabinet. "Just remind him if he hasn't started soon. It'll take a couple of days for his to come into effect, but between the two of you, this week, you should be covered."
Umi clutched the bottles to her chest and backed toward the door. "Thank you."
"There's more when you need it. This is always open, so anyone who needs to can get in." Aveo tapped the cupboard door. She must have noticed Umi's fidgeting. "Go on, you don't need to stick around here"
Not needing to be told twice, Umi shot from the room. Having no pockets, there was no place to tuck the bottles out of the way, so she just gripped them tightly in her hand. She hoped to slip through the kitchen unnoticed, and head back up to her room, but she was stopped by Brisa calling out to her from the worktable.
"Hey! We're going to play a game, if you want to join us." Brisa was pouring hot water into the teapot, and smiled up at her.
Kalos came around the corner from the dining room and added. "It's really easy to learn."
Umi shook her head and crept closer to the door.
Kalos glanced down at her hands, then back up to her face. Her lips twitched, but she looked more understanding than amused. "Ah. Mum did talk to you, then."
Brisa's smile was gentle. "If you want to put that away, the offer still stands. It'll take us a few minutes to set up. If you want to come back down, we'll probably still be setting the cards out, and we'd be happy to wait for you?"
"No. Thank you, but I'm fine." Umi bowed to both of them and then scurried out of the room.
Running up the stairs and into her bedroom, she shut the door firmly behind her and leaned back against it, trying to catch her breath as she looked down at the two phials in her hand and laughed hysterically at herself. Why was she so flustered? It wasn't like she didn't want to sleep with him. Just… everyone knowing was...
Umi shook her head. She knew perfectly well that if her mother had any idea that she had a serious boyfriend (and Clef wasn't exactly her boyfriend, but her feelings about him were pretty serious,) that she'd have been given a box of condoms and another very awkward conversation about responsibility. How was this any different?
Aside from the fact the person giving it to her was practically a stranger, and worked with Clef.
Two deep breaths, and Umi managed to compose herself enough to cross the room and shove the bottles into one of her drawers, then slam it shut again. She paced across the room to sit on the bed and turned around to stare at the drawer.
With another shake of her head, she got up and walked back, ignoring the drawer and going for the wardrobe instead. She chose a book randomly from the bottom of her bag. All of them were new, so it didn't make much of a difference which she started with.
Flopping back on the bed she thumbed through the first few pages of the book, absently. Her mind was still whirring with the past few hours. She clutched the book to her chest and stared up at the ceiling.
It wasn't like they hadn't kissed before, but never with that sort of intent. And never that public…
Suddenly wide eyed, Umi sat up realising that she had not only kissed Clef multiple times that afternoon, but that she'd done it with witnesses-one of them a judge! Clef wasn't supposed to be in a relationship at all, which probably included kissing people, so had she just gotten him a whole heap of trouble over a silly dance and some cake?
He hadn't seemed worried, not in the kitchens, but they'd already been seen by then. He couldn't have decided he was already in trouble so he might as well earn it, could he?
Umi would have, if it was her.
But Clef was more sensible than that. Wasn't he? Even with her encouraging him into being nothing of the sort?
.*.*.*.
End Chapter 3
.*.
Author's Note: All question, comments, and happy thoughts welcome and appreciated.
If you can't comment here because you've commented on the old version, feel free to PM me or come find this fic on ArchiveOfOurOwn and comment all you like. I would be happy to chat U/C or fic with you!
[Lulu H, if you found Clef's reaction frustrating in the first two chapters, you're going to like the ending of the next even less. ;) ]