First Kiss

Yue remained in low spirits. Clow began to pay special attentions to his companion in an attempt to banish Yue's drifting aloofness. It became a ritual to greet him with a hug or a reassuring touch, and Yue seemed to welcome the attentions. The grave look on his face lightened when Clow put his arms around him. Clow found himself making efforts to make Yue's lighter moments as frequent as he could.

The sorcerer found himself looking forward to the physical contact, too. After breakfast, when Keroberos had trotted off to amuse himself, the magician waited for Yue to finish clearing the table so that he could gather him up in a parting embrace. "What are you doing today?" he asked cheerfully, willing his mood to be catching. Yue looked up at him, the shadow of sadness tinting his eyes still, but not enough to cloud the deep violet-and-silver beauty of them. He was warm in Clow's arms, as satisfying as blankets upon waking.

"I am almost done with the library… for now," answered Yue. "I grouped by type, but I haven't decided how to alphabetized the different languages." He rested the point of his chin against his Master's shoulder. "It doesn't make sense to separate them, since the language is not the primary difference."

Clow smiled as he reluctantly pulled out of the embrace. "As long as it makes sense to one of us." Then he corrected himself. "As long as it makes sense to you. I can never find anything, even in my own desk," he joked untruthfully.

Yue's hand lingered on Clow's wrist for a moment longer before Yue let it fall to his side. "Will you be busy today?"

"For the morning," the sorcerer replied. Belatedly, he added, "Would you like to keep me company while I work?"

"I can find something to keep me occupied," said Yue.

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Clow asked a calm Keroberos, "Where is Yue?" when the silver-haired man was absent at lunch.

"Outside somewhere, I think," shrugged Keroberos. "I saw him heading out earlier." He jumped down from his seat, having finished his meal. "It's not like he needs to eat, Clow," he tossed off over his shoulder.

"I know, I know…" the sorcerer murmured. "I wish I knew what was bothering him."

The golden beast avoided comment, opening his mouth instead for a wide yawn. Yue had definitely missed out, he thought, because the meal had been delicious. Keroberos had enjoyed as much as his belly could take, and now he was ready to lie down somewhere and digest it.

"I think I'll go find him," said Clow decisively.

Clow pat Keroberos distractedly as they parted ways, Keroberos to the sun parlor and Clow to the gardens. When no sign of the winged man appeared near to the house, the magician ventured out further, where the paths opened to the uncultivated spaces. He extended his search until he found Yue, at last, on the slope of a hill.

Yue lay on the ground, motionless and partially hidden at the border of an elm tree's shadow. Clow's alarmed dash toward him slowed to a less concerned trot when he realized that Yue was not injured; he was reading. Yue lay stretched out on the grass, chin on his hands, engrossed in a pocket-sized novel propped open on a square of linen. Yue either did not hear his Master or didn't want to break off from reading. He didn't acknowledge Clow's presence until Clow's shadow connected the space between them.

Looking at Clow with a smile like a cloud break, he pushed himself upright and dusted minute specks of grass off his clothes. He wrapped the book in the handkerchief and set it on his lap. "Hello," he said.

Clow felt a spark of relief at the appearance of Yue's smile. The sorcerer eased himself down on the grass beside Yue. "You're a pretty thing," he joked, playing the fool with a lecherous wiggle of eyebrows. "Can you be safe in these woods, unchaperoned?"

Yue regarded Clow with a considering look before ducking his head and playing his fingers through the grass. "I am well-protected," he said airily, playing along. "A lion fierce in claw and tooth guards my virtue."

"Nay," said Clow. "I have vanquished the Beast with an overly-heavy meal and a place by the window, warmed with the afternoon sun."

Yue laughed, but with a sound that intoned forced merriment. "Blackguard!" he accused. "You are morally insane."

"That I am," answered Clow, "but you're the one stealing my handkerchiefs." Puzzlement skittered across Yue's face until Clow reached forward and tapped the book. "I believe that is my monogram."

Yue looked sheepishly at his Master. "Sorry?" he offered.

Solemnly, Clow shook his head. He struggled to frown with false disappointment. "I'm afraid that's not good enough, Yue."

Clow saw Yue cringe at his tone, and he felt a twinge of guilt at his teasing. Yue silently bared the book of its makeshift cover, folded the square of cloth, and handed it back to his Master. Clow chuckled when Yue proffered the linen. After a moment of sly contemplation, the sorcerer pinned his creation with a weighty gaze.

"I think, for compensation," he said coyly, "that I need something more dear."

"Such… as… ?" hesitated Yue. Dread crossed his face like a dark cloud, quenching the light of his smile.

Without thinking it through, Clow looked at Yue's faltering smile and kissed him. The sorcerer leaned in with deliberate slowness, trying not to grin as he watched disbelief flutter into Yue's expression.

Clow Reed savored taking Yue's first kiss. Yue's surprise was charming, the way he held so unmoving, his beautiful violet eyes watching Clow half-lidded. Yue tasted like peppermints and some desert spice, like cardamom, a natural flavor to him, not from something he had eaten. It was incredibly erotic. Yue's lips were as soft as flower petals. Rather than drawing away, Clow leaned into the kiss more deeply. Their lips slipped past each other's until Clow felt teeth against his tongue and the heat of Yue's trembling breath, finally released.

As Yue began to return the kiss, Clow wondered at his own reaction. This small contact between them was awakening a passion of unanticipated proportions. More than the familiar effect of physical response, he felt a rarely known desire rise from the core of his being. Like a sleepy dragon, it coiled around the concept of Yue.

"That was unexpected," whispered Clow when they separated enough to speak.

Yue sounded more collected than Clow felt. "But not unwelcome," he said.

Clow reached his hand behind Yue's neck and pulled him close for another intense kiss. He pressed his chest against the other's, pushing Yue onto his back. Yue writhed sideways with a muffled squeak.

"My book!" he gasped, rescuing it from beneath the sorcerer.

Clow rolled to rest on one elbow. "I'll buy you another one," he complained.

"You can't," explained Yue patiently. "It has hand-written annotations and the author is no longer living."

"It's a book," Clow said flatly.

Yue looked insulted. "It's my book," he insisted.

The sorcerer sighed with impatience. "Don't say you didn't feel anything."

"I felt you," Yue said, with a frown that was more uneasy than angry. "Anyway, that's not the point." He gently brushed crumbles of dirt from the book's cover. "I like to keep things… nice. Some things deserve a measure of respect."

Clow didn't think Yue was still just talking about the book. "I know how to take care of things," answered the magician.

"Maybe," said Yue.

Clow elicited a speculative sigh. After a moment's thought, he picked up the folded handkerchief and handed it back to his companion. With a rueful grimace, Yue took it back. He wrapped the little book carefully again and laid it down at arm's distance on a dry spot of grass. While Yue was still turned away, Clow again slipped his arms around Yue's waist and pulled him in for another kiss.

That same feeling, like a high humming, filled him again. Yue was yielding and demanding at the same time; his innocence and passion ebbed and flowed over each other. Clow could sense Yue's soul like a single pure note of sound.

"I have fallen in love with you, Clow," confessed Yue in a single breath. He murmured into Clow's ear. "I love you."

"I love you, Yue," Clow answered him. As he said it, he knew it to be true. It surprised him.

Yue squeezed him closer, snuggling into the sorcerer, rubbing his fair cheek against the smooth cloth on Clow's shoulder. "I am glad," he murmured happily.

The magician ran a hand over the softness of Yue's hair and then let his hand continue on to caress the rising curve of one wing. Yue shivered. Clow lightened his touch; he ran just his fingertips over the feather edges, slowly, until Yue stretched out a the wing with a jolt.

"You're tickling me!" Yue complained, but be didn't push away from their tight embrace.

His protest only incited Clow to do worse. His other hand slipped inside Yue's clothes and found the bare skin curving over his lowest rib. This time Yue did jump and tried to get away. Clow held him fast around the waist. Yue only succeeded in pulling them both down to the turf. Yue lay atop his Master, caught in the sorcerer's strong hands. He fluttered his wings helplessly.

In his own way, Clow, too, was caught. He was fascinated by the way Yue's eyes shined, and how his pale cheeks now flushed a soft rose color. Clow's unplanned declaration worked on Yue like a spell, making his beauty into something new. The magician could not pull his attention away. He ran his hands up his creation's back and down again, over the lean hips and muscular thighs for as far as he could reach. Yue stopped resisting and instead brought his mouth down on Clow's.

Tasting the tentative probing of Yue's tongue, Clow thought of Yue's eagerness to learn, his quick mind and his intense attention. Yue was any teacher's ideal. He dissected and recombined the things that he newly learned with things nearly forgotten, almost matching Clow's own ability with experimentation. Yue was going to be, as Americans would say, a "firecracker". Willingness and creativity were the perfect traits for a bed partner.

With a proud smile on his lips, Yue pulled away from his kiss. His manner was enticingly sensual. But innocent as he was, he slid off of Clow and onto the ground beside him, thwarting Clow's lust. They were no longer even touching, but Clow could feel the radiance of happiness shining off of Yue.

Clow's studied Yue, but Yue looked at the unblemished dome of the sky. A deep, endless blue filled the view. Above their reclined bodies, a light, warm breeze brought a pair of tumbling butterflies near. The sunlight turned Yue's lashes transparent as he watched their aerobatics.

"Today," sighed Yue happily, "everything is perfect." He reached a hand out to finger the edges of the magician's embroidered robe. "You're perfect," he said, his voice full of adoration.

Clow laughed softly. "Hardly," he denied. "But you…" he said, shading Yue with his body and touching Yue's face with one finger. He faltered, lost for the moment in Yue's luminous eyes. It was easier to kiss than to think, so Clow stopped thinking.

Yue reached his arms around Clow's neck, at the same time pushing himself up onto his knees. Clow also crawled to his knees; he was enough taller than Yue to make their position wonderfully comfortable. They fit together well, Clow thought as Yue brought his wings out to shade them both.

Clow's need was starting to feel more insistent. He pressed himself more closely to Yue's body, but Yue was starting to tense. Yue wasn't pushing away, yet he began to hold his back rigidly, and his arms around Clow's neck loosened. Clow was reluctant to acknowledge the signals, but he knew that Yue was becoming afraid.

The sorcerer took the initiative and disentangled himself. He held Yue at a loose arm's distance, still in the circle of the soft wings. "Are you okay?" Clow asked gently. Yue nodded, his eyes closed. Clow resisted the desire to pull him close again. Regretting his next words, he murmured, "We'll stop for now. There is no need to rush."

Yue opened his eyes and met Clow's gaze, and there was an uncertain gratitude in them. They looked at each other without speaking. Finally, the magician stood up and offered his hand. Yue rose and held fast to the hand in his.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Clow suggested.

"I think that would be nice," Yue said.

Clow stole kisses whenever he and Yue were alone, although, truthfully, sometimes it was Yue who initiated a hidden kiss. There was a thrilling appeal to their discretion. Sometimes they shared no more than a hasty brushing of lips behind a half-opened door, and sometimes their kisses were long and slow, but they were always sincere and loving.

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Author's Note: The rest of this story (it gets lemony after this point) can be found on Archive of Our Own or in ebook format. See my bio for more info.