7 Januay 2018: December kind of got away from me. If you know me outside of FFN, you probably know why, if not, well, it's been a rough few months. Anyway, the usual massive thank you to Dragon of Winter Nights for the beta read of this chapter. She always helps smooth out my roughest of edges. Any further mistakes are totally mine.

Content Note: This chapter has been edited for sexual content to keep it within a teen rating. If you want to read the higher rated fic on AO3. As always, the address is in my profile.

Chapter 7
In which Umi finally gets her way

It took a good long shower for Umi to feel almost human the next morning. Wrapped in her towel, she padded across the dark bedroom to the wardrobe. She'd not turned on a light or opened the curtains because of her headache, and the knock on the door made her wince.

"Come in," she said, hopefully making enough noise to be heard. Her voice was far too loud inside her own head, but she wasn't sure that translated to more than a thin whisper.

She wasn't sure who she expected, but it was Clef who opened the door, carrying a small breakfast tray.

"I brought something for your head." His eyes skated down over the towel and her bare legs, and he swallowed, a blush barely visible in the low light. "I'll just leave this - "

"You can stay, Clef." She didn't want to chase him out. Definitely not after the way he'd touched her last night - she blushed too at the desire that flooded through her at that memory.

Thinking as quickly as her hungover brain could manage, she picked up her little white dress from the previous day and wriggled it on over her head, letting the towel drop once she was covered. With determination, she walked calmly over to the bed and sat down, patting the space beside her.

Clef slowly came in, shutting the door behind him. He sat down a little further away than she'd suggested, carefully placing the tray between them before picking up a steaming mug and handing it to her. "For your head."

"Thank you." Umi took it gratefully. Her head was throbbing, and the world was trying its best to spin from time to time. She hadn't intended to get so drunk ever again. The first time had been at one of the parties her parents took her along to where she'd ended up with the other young people - many of them her friends for years - in another part of the house. "I haven't been this hungover since Huki broke out the shochu last winter."

"Was that when you kissed him?" Clef raised an eyebrow at her, and Umi nearly choked on her drink. She'd forgotten telling him about that. "Or was it someone else you were flailing at me about?" He picked up a piece of flatbread off the tray and took a bite.

Umi hadn't exactly planned to confide in Clef about making out with her friend, but when he'd asked her what was wrong she'd let everything out. "Yeah, that was Huki." Umi drank more of her tea, not looking at him.

Just breathing in the steam had started unwinding the knots in her head. It was a strong herbal infusion, with a lingering taste of something rather like ginger. She'd wondered if there was some sort of magic cure or treatment for hangovers. While this did seem to be easing the headache and the upset stomach, she wasn't sure it was going to be a perfect cure-all.

"The way you told it, it sounded like you'd only had a drink or two, not that you were drunk at the time," Clef said, and there was something in his voice that she couldn't quite read, but it made her flush with embarrassment.

"We'd been running out of juice to mix with it, so the drinks were a bit stronger than most of us realised." She pulled a face at him. "And half the drinking was after that happened. What does it matter now? That was nearly eight months ago."

"I still have no idea why you asked me for advice. I haven't had a romantic relationship in over four hundred years, why would I have had any idea what to do?" Clef grumbled, though he'd been the one person who gave her straightforward advice; he told her if she didn't want to kiss Huki again, she didn't have to.

In the end, she hadn't had to worry about Huki. When they finally talked about it, he admitted that he liked someone else, too, and was just as frustrated as Umi that he couldn't be with them. They'd ended up closer friends than before - but with no more kissing.

"You're old. You must have had a few kisses you regret." Umi set down her empty cup. "And don't give me any of that 'it's a learning experience' crap."

"Well, what did you learn? Because if it was 'don't get drunk' I think you failed to apply that knowledge last night."

"It's not my fault they kept filling my glass!"

"You could have switched to something else. There are always jugs of water or juice on the table." He didn't sound judgemental as he said it, just a little exasperated. As Umi had a vague memory of exploding a fountain and then trying to get inside his clothes, repeatedly, she couldn't have blamed him for feeling a lot more strongly about it.

Umi picked up one of the flatbreads with her free hand and nibbled it tentatively. It was rich with the flavour of the cheese-fruit and herbs. "Oh! This is nice."

"It's something I like after a late night."

Umi stared at him. "I didn't think you drank?"

"Not much, anymore," He smiled, ruefully. "But it did take me a while to work out that intoxication can lead to, well, explosions."

"What sort of explosions?" Umi grinned at him over her bit of bread. "Do you have stories of a rebellious youth?"

"Nothing that exciting." He rolled his eyes when she pouted at him and waved at the jug on her dressing table. "I should get you another glass of water too. Don't drink that, I'm pretty sure you dropped the fountain-water in it."

Umi followed his gesture only to realise Clef's robe was draped over the back of the chair, under her dress. Her hazy memories of coming back to her room last night were of kissing Clef, taking off her clothes, and dragging him into bed with her. Everything else was more gone than a little fuzzy. She didn't think Clef would have let them do anything, even if she had been... enthusiastic. But how far had she managed to get?

Wiping her hands with a folded cloth from the tray, Umi turned to Clef as he came back with a fresh glass. "When we got back, we didn't actually have sex, did we?"

"No, we didn't." Clef smiled and shook his head. "Despite your best efforts to undress me."

"I doubt they were my best efforts." Umi took the glass from him and pulled a face at it.

"Darling, as sloshed as you were last night, I don't think you could have tried any harder unless you actually pinned me down on the bed." He sat back down beside her, cheeks getting a touch brighter. "You may have had a chance of managing it then."

Umi sat up straighter and stared at him. Was he giving her tips on how to seduce him? And since when did he call her 'darling'? She bit her lip, watching him carefully. "Do you want me to pin you to the bed?"

His face went so red it looked painful, but he didn't say no.

Picking up where they left off had half been on her mind when she asked him to come in, but she hadn't expected him to be inclined to, especially after witnessing her drunken antics.

"Umi…" he said slowly.

"I know. Potions, consequences, etcetera…" She waved all of that off, they'd had that conversation. "I already said that I'm willing to accept the risks, Clef. Do you want to have sex with me or not?"

The edges of his lips curled up. "I believe I answered this question yesterday."

"Yeah, but you might have changed your mind. And anyway, just because you said you wanted to then doesn't mean you want to do it now." Setting down her glass Umi pushed the tray up the bed and out of the way as she slid over to him. "I do. So you're clear on that-"

Clef met her halfway, turning towards her. Their mouths met in an electric kiss as she tangled her fingers in his hair. The spark sent a shiver down her spine and she wormed her way closer still.

Clef pulled back with a soft gasp for air. "They'll never let me live it down if we break any of the crockery," he murmured, his expression apologetic as he set the tray carefully on the floor. Once it was safely out of the way, he pulled her close and kissed her again. His hands slid around her and guided her back into his lap, exactly where she'd been maybe twelve hours ago.

It seemed she wasn't the only one wanting to finish what they started last night.

.*.*.*.

It was a little while later when Clef shifted slightly beneath Umi as her breath started to tickle his ear. He stroked her back absently, mind drifting across the reasons this had been unwise.

One week of intimacy was already probably crossing the line into 'relationship' territory, but even if he put a stop to things when Umi went back home, it wasn't going to stop him breaking the second law. It never had. He'd been in breach of it for months, and he refused to fret about emotions he couldn't control.

Putting things on hold would make it less obvious. He was really, really struggling to care about that.

Though Ferio was right that actually getting called into court on it would be an incredible nuisance. Well, at least it was his predicament, not Umi's. He was the one bound under the law.

But, honestly, if he was already breaking it, what difference did it make if he did so more decisively? It was a pointless, impossible law. Everything which had been wrong about the Pillar system rolled into a few poisonous statutes still lurking in the books. Anyone who thought otherwise was someone he would be happy to argue with.

The more he thought about how little he cared, the closer he came to laughing. This certainly wasn't how he'd imagined their first time together. Then again, he wasn't the only one involved in this relationship. As Umi had been pushing him for months now, he supposed it was a given she had a few ideas of her own.

"Was that what you wanted?" he asked, amusement colouring his voice.

"Yeah." Umi's breath was warm on his face, and she turned to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

Perhaps it was the way she thanked him like he'd given her some sort of gift, or the general absurdity of the situation. Either way, Clef burst out laughing.

Umi pushed herself upright - still straddling him - and looked down with a slightly confused expression. "What?"

"It's nothing?" He shook his head, still chuckling.

Her eyebrows narrowed and her lips drew together, staring harder at him. "Was I no good?"

"No, it's certainly not that." He rubbed her leg reassuringly, biting back a new wave of laughter. "It's just-"

"Not what you wanted?" Umi tilted her head.

Clef pushed himself up on his elbows and grinned. "Let's just say it wasn't what I had planned."

"Oh, you had plans, huh?" She moved again, and the bare skin of her legs against his sides was even more noticeable than before. "What sort of plans?"

"Just a few things. I'll show you if you'll let me this time." Grinning, Clef tipped her sideways - more gently than she had him earlier. Umi dropped into the pillows with a laugh, and he leaned in and kissed her, slowly and lingeringly.

.*.*.*.

Clef woke Umi from her drowse when he lifted the bed covers and let in a small draft of cooler air that made her shiver. She rolled over to see him slide off the bed completely. Sitting up, she clutched the bedclothes, wanting him back curled close and warm with her.

"Where are you going?"

Clef leaned over the bed and pressed a feather-light kiss to her forehead. "I still have appointments this afternoon." His smile was apologetic and maybe a bit wistful. "I should have a shower and eat something before I meet with anyone." Bending to pick up his trousers, he wrinkled his nose at the state of them and just threw them over his arm as he picked up the rest of his clothing.

Umi pulled her knees up to her chest, watching him. "All afternoon?" She hoped her disappointment wasn't too obvious in her voice.

Clef nodded, ruefully. "I won't be free until dinner, I think." He ran a free hand through his hair. "If you want to, after dinner, you could- um-" His hand moved in a vague gesture, and he let out a soft huff of a laugh. "I have done a miserable job of actually showing you around. I haven't even shown you where the bath is. I thought, if you would like to join me…"

"That could be nice," Umi said, a little too quickly. Clef bent to kiss her again - this time on the mouth - then turned toward the door. Umi hugged her knees tighter, feeling very unsure about what she should do. "Clef?"

"Yes?" He looked back, pausing halfway through turning the handle.

"Do you want me to come eat with you?"

"I would like that." The smile on his face made her breath catch and her heart race, and it took all her willpower not to try tempting him back into bed so she could hold him longer.

After her second shower of the day, Umi went back to the wardrobe to pick a proper outfit. Reaching for one of the hangers, her hand faltered as realisation struck her. Casting a glance back at the rumpled bedclothes, she laughed. They'd actually had sex. Not just once. Not even just today, if she was counting what they'd done last night at Ouran's house. (She was definitely counting that.)

Swallowing back another laugh, she pulled out a little frilly blue dress her mother had picked for her last summer; she had packed it because it showed off her legs. Her hand stalled again on her underwear drawer as she realised whatever she was about to pick, Clef would possibly see that night, at least when she changed for a bath. A flush of heat rushed into her cheeks as she thought about it.

It was silly to be embarrassed by the idea when he'd had his hands all over her just a little while before, but it was a startlingly new thing to think of.

Clef was waiting by the window between their rooms when she stepped out, looking down into the gardens. He was wearing lavender robes, his hair still damp.

Her face got hotter when he held out a hand, because her very first thought was just where that hand had been before. She bit her lip and took it, linking her fingers through his and glancing over to see Clef quirking an eyebrow at her.

She laughed and shook her head.

"Come on," he said, tugging her toward the stairs. "I haven't got much time for lunch."

It turned out that they were just late enough that everything had been tidied up. Aveo was just putting the last of the flatbreads into a large container on the countertop when they entered the kitchen. She closed it and reached for the kettle just as it started to whistle, filling a waiting teapot.

"Good afternoon," she greeted them, a little too brightly. "Glad to see you two made it out of bed. We didn't think we'd even see you before supper."

Umi's face went very hot, but Clef just rolled his eyes. "I do still have work I need to be doing," he said. "I haven't taken a holiday from both of my positions this week, just the Guru part."

"Well if you hadn't been away nearly a fortnight last month, you wouldn't have so much to catch up on here." Aveo grinned at him as she picked up the little tea tray.

"I had a lot to get done at the castle!"

"Of course you did." She winked at Umi and walked out towards her wing.

Clef shook his head and muttered something about nosy people as he headed for the larder. Umi followed him and stood in the doorway while Clef was picking things up off the shelves.

"I didn't think it would feel so…" She waved a hand vaguely in the air, trying to find the word she wanted. She wasn't exactly embarrassed. Maybe a little self-conscious but that didn't seem like the right word either. "…weird, I guess, that other people know."

Clef smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried. I just -" Umi ran a hand through her hair and laughed. "I don't even know."

"Hey." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll tell them to quit it if you want. They'll keep teasing me, of course, but they'll wait until you're not about to do it if it's making you uncomfortable."

"No, I don't - it'll be alright? I think?"

"Well, if not, I can get them to stop. Or you could get your own back by asking Kalos why the 'no public rooms' rule exists…"

Umi snickered. "Was that something to do with the library?"

"Well, the library's one of the reasons." He kissed her head again, then headed to the bread bin. "If you do ask, do it when Getz is in the room, you'll get to watch him turn bright red too. But what do you want for lunch? Most of the normal things are around here somewhere."

They ate in the little dining room, and Clef sighed reluctantly when he finished, before kissing her properly one last time and heading off to his meetings. Umi watched him go, trying not to pout, and then slumped in her seat.

Well, first things first - she grabbed all the crockery they'd used and took it back to wash it. She'd figure out what to do next when that was done.

Ten minutes later Getz came galumphing through the kitchen door, scraping dirty boots off on the mat in front of the door before grabbing for the ever-present pot of tea on the edge of the hob. "Oh! Hey," he greeted Umi. Giving her a speculative look, he asked, "What are you doing right now?"

"Um…" Umi glanced down at the now-empty sink and shrugged. "Nothing, I guess?"

"Well, if you're going to keep Clef from procrastinating by fiddling with the garden, you wanna help me out this afternoon?"

Umi tried her best not to blush at the implication of his words. Despite having no idea what it was he wanted help with, she nodded.

"Good!" Getz set his cup back down and led the way out into the herb garden. As it turned out, he wanted some help with one of the recently turned over plots. Aygo was already on one side with a tray of seedlings that he was planting out in a mostly straight line, whereas Getz presented her with a paper envelope of seeds and a little stick.

"About that deep," Getz said, demonstrating the length of the first joint of his thumb. He crouched down beside her to demonstrate. A moment later, he turned and looked at her, a smirk playing across his lips. "Do you want me to do something about that?" he asked, tapping his fingers lightly on the side of his neck with a grin.

"What?" Umi touched her neck, and it twinged slightly. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the rush of heat to her cheeks as she realised she must be bruised from Clef biting her. "I - Um -"

"I've seen worse," Getz smiled. He brushed off his hands and reached out toward her, and she blinked in confusion. When she leaned away, he dropped his hand and looked apologetic. "Sorry. I am actually a healer, not just a herbalist. I just like gardening; plants don't talk back as often."

"He really is," Aygo confirmed, not looking away from his task and apparently happily oblivious to the reason Getz was offering to heal her. "Not just a healer, he's our Head Healer. Which is why he should be living closer to town like Kalos and Brisa!"

"They live right on the square! Far too many people," Getz grumbled. "Plus Clef'd mess up the gardens here if I left…" He turned back to Umi and tilted his head. "If you'll just turn like this, I can-"

Umi tucked her hair back behind her ear, blushing profusely, then angled her head the way Getz demonstrated. He didn't even touch her. He held a hand a few inches away from her and a warmth spread under her skin before dissipating just as quickly.

"Clef can probably do something about it next time, if you'd rather ask him. He's not very good at healing spells. Well, he's actually kind of terrible. It stings like fire, but he should be able to fix a little bruising."

And with that, the subject was dropped, and they went back to planting.

.*.*.*.

It was getting close to dinner time when Clef came to find Umi out in the garden with Getz and Aygo, sitting on the low wall around one of the vegetable patches. Her hand paused as she plucked out one of the weeds when she laughed at something Getz was telling her. He smiled when she caught sight of him, ignoring the knowing smirk crossing Getz's face.

"I figured if she was going to be taking up your free time, she could help out in your place," Getz said, standing and stretching.

Clef rolled his eyes at Getz and turned to Umi. "You're a guest, you know. You don't have to earn your keep like he does."

"I know," Umi said, leaving dirty streaks down her dress as she wiped her hands on it. "It's not like I had anything better to be doing."

"Well, now that I'm free, why don't I give you that tour I promised." He held out a hand that Umi happily took.

"You two shouldn't disappear for too long." Getz motioned back toward the sun, low on the horizon. "It's almost dinner time, and you know how Aveo feels about you skipping meals, Clef."

"You're as bad as she is!" Clef called, leading Umi up the path and around the side of the house to a different door to avoid the kitchen, as he was pretty certain Kalos and Brisa were both in there helping Aveo, dinner promised to be rowdy.

As soon as they were safely alone in the corridor, he turned to Umi and cupped her cheek with his hand as he leaned in for a kiss. When he finally pulled back, Clef admitted, "I've been wanting to do that all afternoon."

"You don't have to stop," Umi said, closing the distance again.

When they broke the kiss that time, Clef shook his head at Umi leaning in toward him. "We ought to get moving."

Umi opened her mouth - presumably to argue - and Clef just laughed and took her hand, towing her down the corridor with him. There was nothing in this area but offices and workrooms for Mazda's ward Circle, so he just waved at the doors and said who they belonged to. Not that the names meant anything to her yet.

When they reached the public rooms, he started opening any closed doors and showing her inside. When he showed her the smaller formal dining room and explained that it was used more often as a meeting room for the Circle than for eating, Umi laughed at him.

"Is that because all of you eat in the kitchen most nights?" Umi asked. "Or because you don't like inviting people here?"

"I invite people!" he declared, then blinked at her, realising she was actually the only person he'd invited in at least a year. "Well, I could."

She was still giggling at him when he tugged her on. They looped around the outer corridors of the house, and Umi paused with more and more interest when they got to the wing with teaching rooms.

She stood in the doorway of the potion room for a good five minutes staring at the tables with their bowls and measures and the selection of herbs hanging from the rafters above. "If there's a potion room, why did everyone use the kitchen yesterday?"

"Aveo prefers the kitchen equipment. It hasn't been broken over a dozen times by students who've gotten things wrong, and it's mostly student stuff in here. The more dangerous ingredients are locked away in the pantry."

When they reached what should be a large banqueting hall - yet another in the line of rooms he wasn't exactly using to purpose - Umi reached out and touched the walls, before turning back to him. "Is this shielded?"

Clef smiled. She was definitely getting better at sensing magic. "Yes. It's warded for magic training. It may even be strong enough to stand up to sparring, but the shields haven't been tested against that yet."

At the mention of sparring, Umi bounced on her feet and looked over at him expectantly.

"Oh, no," he shook his head. "Not today."

"But -"

"We can test it later this week, if you want." Clef took her hand and pulled her out the other side and into a new corridor.

"I'm going to hold you to that!" Umi declared, happily trailing behind him.

"Up here are the student bedrooms," Clef said, opening a door to reveal a small staircase.

Umi peered in around him, leaning back precariously to look up at the landing above. "Bedrooms for overnight stays, or to actually live here?"

"Whichever they need." He didn't want anyone in his ward to suffer the same fate as Ascot, because that should never have happened. He would spend the rest of his life making sure that no child was left without a place to go because people didn't know how to deal with them. "Aygo's living up there right now, but the others are used on and off."

Changing the subject he waved a hand down the corridor. "There are also workshops down there for metalworking, and beyond that is Getz's clinic, and a small infirmary."

The first peal of the dinner bell reverberated through the house then.

"I guess we should head back?" Umi looked down both ends of the corridor and back at Clef.

Choosing yet another path through the house, Clef pulled her into the vestibule that Getz had taken over and turned into a garden room. It was two stories tall, with an arched crystal roof that let the light pour in. With the sun setting, the light was more golden than bright. It was steamed and heated to mimic the environment of some of the great Chizetan gardens, making it easier to grow their plants; there were a few small fruit trees in the centre and flowering vines growing up along the walls, behind a variety of other flowers and shrubs.

"Oh!" Umi exclaimed, turning in a circle.

"This is Getz's pet project. I'm allowed the come in and enjoy it, but he won't let me touch anything."

"It's beautiful."

Everyone else was already sitting at the table when they made it down to the kitchen. Dinner began with a bit more sniggering than usual, but it was Getz who actually broached the subject.

"So, as you two have obviously stopped dancing around and gotten on with things, do you want to share when that actually happened? Because we -" Getz waved around the table (ignoring Clef's grumble of 'it was illegal before last night') "- need to settle a bet."

Clef asked "What counts?" at the same time as Umi's startled, "There was a bet?"

"If you have to ask what counts, then that's when it happened," Kalos said. All of them ignored Aygo, who had shoved his hands over his ears and was humming loudly to drown out the conversation.

Clef rolled his eyes. "I meant what were the terms of the bet. I'm not going to give anyone information enough to argue technicalities for a week."

Brisa grinned. "Oh, one-sided or mutual. It counts either way, as long as one of you got to very happy."

"I put my money on ten minutes after it was legal," Aveo said, lifting her fork to her mouth.

Memories of the night before in the alcove flashed across Clef's mind and he couldn't stop the rush of heat to his cheeks. He cast his glance to Umi who had also gone an even brighter red.

Getz let out a loud groan of annoyance. "How did you know?" he demanded of Aveo, who just grinned at him around a mouthful of food.

After a bit of grumbling around the table about who owed whom what, the topic was mostly dropped and dinner went on as it usually did. Well, as usual as it could be with Umi sat close enough beside him that her knee brushed against his more times than could possibly be accidental. The third time it happened he stole the last of the flatbread from her plate and pulled a face at her.

"Mean," Umi said, eyes dancing.

"Fair," he retorted. "You distracted me while Aygo got the last bread, so I'll have this bit."

"Well, if that's how it goes…" Umi promptly ran her foot right up his calf and stole the last of the fruit from his plate while he squawked.

It was a good thing there wasn't much left, or escalation would probably have ended up in a food fight, but instead, they just finished the last of their meals very fast.

Clef hesitated, glancing at everyone else, but it wasn't as though they were even pretending to not know what was going on. "If you wanted," he said, softly, "my earlier offer still stands?"

Umi set her cup down, a high flush on her cheeks that he really wanted to kiss, and nodded. "Yes," she told him, and he ignored Kalos snickering and being elbowed by Brisa to stand and take Umi's hand, leading her away from the table - and the audience - and heading for the corridor back to the bath.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I did have a lot of fun writing it. The next chapter should see Umi and Clef having a few conversations about what they will be doing after this week, and where this relationship is going.