Characters and lyrics belong to CLAMP and The Cure, respectively.

Lyrics in italics.

Smile

It was night, and it was raining, and it was the first time that Kurogane saw the mage drunk. I think it's dark and it looks like rain, you said. He was leaning on the railing of their tenth-floor apartment with a bottle that smelled greatly of strong alcohol –though he wasn't directly familiar with it- clasped loosely in his hand. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem to notice that he was getting drenched in the icy rain. And the wind is blowing like the end of the world, you said.

Kurogane sighed, grabbing a blanket, and went to join the other man. The kids would be upset if he got sick.

He opened the balcony door as the blonde took another swig from the bottle, keeping his eyes closed. If he heard Kurogane approaching, he didn't give any indication.

Wordlessly, Kurogane draped the blanket around the magician's shoulders, letting it absorb some of the moisture. And only then did the other man give Kurogane recognition, eyes moving over to Kurogane's taller figure.

"You'll get sick." Kurogane said gruffly, simply.

The other man didn't respond, taking another large gulp from the mysterious bottle.

"Are you planning to finish that whole bottle?" Kurogane attempted again.

And again, the mage did not respond, simply putting the bottle to his lips once more.

"You'll have a hangover tomorrow."

"I'll live." The mage said, finally, in a quiet sort of voice he had scarcely heard before.

Kurogane snorted. "Yea, but you'll be pretty miserable about it." He meant to refer to the hangover, but he realized the magician took it another way, by the wiry smile that formed on the pale face.

The mage's eyes half-closed and he leaned further over the railing, bottle hanging loosely in one of his almost-limp arms.

After a minute or so of silence the mage turned to Kurogane with the usual smile on his face. A flare of annoyance lit up at the back of Kurogane's mind. And it's so cold like the cold if you were dead.

"The rain is really cold tonight, isn't it, Kuro-pon?"

Kurogane nodded. "That's why you should go back inside."

"It was really cold there too." The blonde continued, ignoring the man's comment. His voice was quiet, and he had turned back to stare into the distance. "Cold as death." It was a murmur; almost nonexistent with the pitter-patter of the rain, And then you smiled for a second but Kurogane caught it.

It was Kurogane's turn not to respond.

"It hurts," The mage continued "so much." He straightened his stance a bit, looking at Kurogane,and put a hand over his heart. "I think." The magician frowned slightly in self-contemplation, "But I can't know for sure, because I don't know what pain is to other people, right?" He laughed weakly.

Kurogane frowned, and as he didn't respond, the blonde once again turned to look into the distance, slouching back on the railing. I think I'm old and I'm in pain, you said. And then closed his eyes.

"I'm running out of time, aren't I?" A pause. "No matter how much I need to continue. For the four of them, soon, he'll come to get me, and..."

The bottle slipped out of his hands and plummeted ten stories to the concrete below. And it's all running out like the end of the world, you said It seemed to sober him, if only a little bit. His sapphire eyes widened in surprise. And it's so cold like the cold if you were dead. Then he turned to Kurogane and smiled. And then you smiled for a moment.

"Oops."

Kurogane's frown deepened and the flare of annoyance rushed to the forefront of his mind. Sometimes you make me feel like I'm living at the edge of the world. And it wasn't just annoyance. It made Kurogane feel helpless sometimes; out of control, because he couldn't help the other man, he couldn't wipe the smile from his face which reflected the pain and desperation and inner-chaos of the magician more than anything else. Like I'm living at the edge of the world.

"Why do you keep smiling like that? Especially when you don't feel like it."

Resting his head in one of his hands, elbows leaning on the railing, the mage continued smiling.

"It's just the way I smile."

The blanket had soaked through with icy water.

It's just the way I smile, you said.

Fin

I never knew it would be this much fun writing an overused idea such as this.

And kudos to those who can figure out who 'the four of them' are.