[xxxholic drabbles] "April Fool", "Gluttony", and "Cold Hands"
Drabble time!! These are a few drabbles that I wrote, whether in response to a challenge, in thanks for a drabble received or simply because a prompt caught my attention.
I decided to write these because I need practice in being concise (I'm too verbose for my own good) and to kick-start my muses, which were getting way too lazy for my taste.
I polished them a bit and sent them to my lovely betas Beboots and Product Of A Sick Society, who did a wonderful job, as usual.
Also: each of these drabbles is exactly three-hundred words in length!
Drabble: April Fool
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Note: originally written as a response to challenge in the DouWata section of the Clamp’s Anon Meme.
Watanuki hated his birthday. Or rather, he liked his birthday, but hated the holiday that was celebrated on his birthday.
The funny thing was, he wouldn’t have had reason to hate it if he hadn’t had reason to like it in the first place.
For, you see, Watanuki had always been a very lonely child. Growing up without your parents or any close relatives will do that to you.
This state of affairs had lasted until the exact moment he set foot on a certain drunken woman’s shop. From that moment on, he had come to be in the company of so many people that he sometimes couldn’t even hear his own thoughts. Bellowing at the top of your lungs for Mokona to stop stealing food from the kitchen, Yuuko to stop drinking like a fish, and you started eating without waiting for the others again, you damn impatient glutton of an archer wannabe! will do that to you, too.
Fortunately for him, knowing that many people meant that he had a lot of people to celebrate his birthday with. Having other people around to share in the beauty of the coming of spring and the promise of new life and new opportunities was a simple pleasure that he would never tire of.
Unfortunately for him, knowing that many people also meant that he now had a lot of people willing to give him hell for having been born on the one day of the year when people were supposed to forgive their friends, rivals, evil drunken employers, and maddening black buns when they decided to play practical jokes on them.
The irony of it all was that it wasn’t even a Japanese holiday.
Trust Yuuko to import a foreign holiday when it was the perfect excuse to torture him.
Drabble: Gluttony
Rating: G
Pairing: none, or very light Doumeki/Watanuki
Notes: Written as thanks to astrokender for the lovely drabble she wrote for me
Most people that cook will tell you that it’s one of the greatest pleasures in the world to have somebody else eat your food. Even if it is rather frustrating to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen only to have the fruit of your labour inhaled in less than ten minutes, there is something really satisfying in seeing that not a single scrap of food was spared in the culinary massacre. It makes doing the dishes an easier task, too.
However, there comes a point in any cook’s life when the lack of appreciative words -even the lack of appreciative sounds- in reference to their food will send them into an irrational rage. For Watanuki, this happened once or twice a day.
Not surprisingly, most of his rage attacks were brought on by the lack of appreciation from a certain inexpressive, ungrateful, glutton of a permanently bored-looking teenager.
He thought it his duty to educate the rude jerk on proper table manners. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Doumeki’s mother if this was the way he behaved every time he took a meal.
However, the first time Watanuki was invited to the Doumeki family temple for a home-made meal -that wasn’t actually prepared by him- he made a mind-boggling discovery, which was only confirmed on the few occasions that they dined out. When it came to food prepared by anybody else, Doumeki was actually able to eat at a more reserved pace, never failed to say the proper prayers, and even indulged in polite conversation.
It turns out, it was only his food that was able to reduce Doumeki to voracious, impolite gluttony. For some reason, this failed to make Watanuki angry. He attributed it to spring and let Doumeki’s lack of table manners go from then on.
Note: in Japan, “spring” (as in, the season) is often used in literature instead of “love”, “youth”, and (my, my!) “sex”. ;)
Drabble: Cold hands
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Watanuki/Doumeki
Note: And this one begged to be written even as I gave the same prompt ("cold hands") to astrokender .
Watanuki had cold hands. He wasn’t entirely sure why, though he suspected that all the time he spent with his arms sunk to the elbows in soapy water -doing the dishes, washing Yuuko’s most delicate clothes or wringing cleaning rags- had something to do with it. Maybe he simply had poor blood circulation, which would also explain why he was so pale. Anyway, it didn’t really matter why, the fact remained that his hands seemed stuck at glacial-cold temperatures all year round. While this was a very nice feature to have when Yuuko’s antics or Doumeki’s absurd food requests threatened to make him develop the mother of all migraines and he wanted something cool over his eyes, it also had its disadvantages.
When it was time to knead bread, for instance, it was very discouraging to realize that, instead of helping it rise, his cold hands actually deflated the dough, which needed the warmth to grow big and fluffy.
The first time he tried to give Doumeki a handjob, he discovered that there was one other thing that needed warmth to rise properly. The startled yelp that escaped the lips of the otherwise impassive teenager when Watanuki’s hands found their target was extremely satisfying. The natural physiological reaction to having cold hands in contact with a very sensitive body part, was not quite. Turns out it wasn’t only bread dough that deflated pathetically when kneaded with freezing hands.
Watanuki took offence. It was weeks before he took the initiative to venture past the waistline of Doumeki’s trousers again. When he did, he warmed his hands in the stove first, to much more satisfying results this time.
Of course, that gave Doumeki the bright idea of proposing they have sex in the kitchen from then on. Watanuki bought hand warmers instead.
Note: "hand warmers" (also called “pocket warmers”) are these handy little palm-sized bags of a jelly-like substance that heats up almost magically when you press them for a few seconds (actually it's because of a chemical reaction). You keep them in your pockets or inside your mittens, and presto! instant warm hands. They’re very common in Japan, so much so that I forgot that, even if you can get them almost anywhere (if you know where to look), not many people have heard of them outside of the country of the rising sun.
Remember that any kind of feedback is highly appreciated, treasured, and used for future inspiration. :)
I decided to write these because I need practice in being concise (I'm too verbose for my own good) and to kick-start my muses, which were getting way too lazy for my taste.
I polished them a bit and sent them to my lovely betas Beboots and Product Of A Sick Society, who did a wonderful job, as usual.
Also: each of these drabbles is exactly three-hundred words in length!
Drabble: April Fool
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Note: originally written as a response to challenge in the DouWata section of the Clamp’s Anon Meme.
Watanuki hated his birthday. Or rather, he liked his birthday, but hated the holiday that was celebrated on his birthday.
The funny thing was, he wouldn’t have had reason to hate it if he hadn’t had reason to like it in the first place.
For, you see, Watanuki had always been a very lonely child. Growing up without your parents or any close relatives will do that to you.
This state of affairs had lasted until the exact moment he set foot on a certain drunken woman’s shop. From that moment on, he had come to be in the company of so many people that he sometimes couldn’t even hear his own thoughts. Bellowing at the top of your lungs for Mokona to stop stealing food from the kitchen, Yuuko to stop drinking like a fish, and you started eating without waiting for the others again, you damn impatient glutton of an archer wannabe! will do that to you, too.
Fortunately for him, knowing that many people meant that he had a lot of people to celebrate his birthday with. Having other people around to share in the beauty of the coming of spring and the promise of new life and new opportunities was a simple pleasure that he would never tire of.
Unfortunately for him, knowing that many people also meant that he now had a lot of people willing to give him hell for having been born on the one day of the year when people were supposed to forgive their friends, rivals, evil drunken employers, and maddening black buns when they decided to play practical jokes on them.
The irony of it all was that it wasn’t even a Japanese holiday.
Trust Yuuko to import a foreign holiday when it was the perfect excuse to torture him.
Drabble: Gluttony
Rating: G
Pairing: none, or very light Doumeki/Watanuki
Notes: Written as thanks to astrokender for the lovely drabble she wrote for me
Most people that cook will tell you that it’s one of the greatest pleasures in the world to have somebody else eat your food. Even if it is rather frustrating to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen only to have the fruit of your labour inhaled in less than ten minutes, there is something really satisfying in seeing that not a single scrap of food was spared in the culinary massacre. It makes doing the dishes an easier task, too.
However, there comes a point in any cook’s life when the lack of appreciative words -even the lack of appreciative sounds- in reference to their food will send them into an irrational rage. For Watanuki, this happened once or twice a day.
Not surprisingly, most of his rage attacks were brought on by the lack of appreciation from a certain inexpressive, ungrateful, glutton of a permanently bored-looking teenager.
He thought it his duty to educate the rude jerk on proper table manners. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Doumeki’s mother if this was the way he behaved every time he took a meal.
However, the first time Watanuki was invited to the Doumeki family temple for a home-made meal -that wasn’t actually prepared by him- he made a mind-boggling discovery, which was only confirmed on the few occasions that they dined out. When it came to food prepared by anybody else, Doumeki was actually able to eat at a more reserved pace, never failed to say the proper prayers, and even indulged in polite conversation.
It turns out, it was only his food that was able to reduce Doumeki to voracious, impolite gluttony. For some reason, this failed to make Watanuki angry. He attributed it to spring and let Doumeki’s lack of table manners go from then on.
Note: in Japan, “spring” (as in, the season) is often used in literature instead of “love”, “youth”, and (my, my!) “sex”. ;)
Drabble: Cold hands
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Watanuki/Doumeki
Note: And this one begged to be written even as I gave the same prompt ("cold hands") to astrokender .
Watanuki had cold hands. He wasn’t entirely sure why, though he suspected that all the time he spent with his arms sunk to the elbows in soapy water -doing the dishes, washing Yuuko’s most delicate clothes or wringing cleaning rags- had something to do with it. Maybe he simply had poor blood circulation, which would also explain why he was so pale. Anyway, it didn’t really matter why, the fact remained that his hands seemed stuck at glacial-cold temperatures all year round. While this was a very nice feature to have when Yuuko’s antics or Doumeki’s absurd food requests threatened to make him develop the mother of all migraines and he wanted something cool over his eyes, it also had its disadvantages.
When it was time to knead bread, for instance, it was very discouraging to realize that, instead of helping it rise, his cold hands actually deflated the dough, which needed the warmth to grow big and fluffy.
The first time he tried to give Doumeki a handjob, he discovered that there was one other thing that needed warmth to rise properly. The startled yelp that escaped the lips of the otherwise impassive teenager when Watanuki’s hands found their target was extremely satisfying. The natural physiological reaction to having cold hands in contact with a very sensitive body part, was not quite. Turns out it wasn’t only bread dough that deflated pathetically when kneaded with freezing hands.
Watanuki took offence. It was weeks before he took the initiative to venture past the waistline of Doumeki’s trousers again. When he did, he warmed his hands in the stove first, to much more satisfying results this time.
Of course, that gave Doumeki the bright idea of proposing they have sex in the kitchen from then on. Watanuki bought hand warmers instead.
Note: "hand warmers" (also called “pocket warmers”) are these handy little palm-sized bags of a jelly-like substance that heats up almost magically when you press them for a few seconds (actually it's because of a chemical reaction). You keep them in your pockets or inside your mittens, and presto! instant warm hands. They’re very common in Japan, so much so that I forgot that, even if you can get them almost anywhere (if you know where to look), not many people have heard of them outside of the country of the rising sun.
Remember that any kind of feedback is highly appreciated, treasured, and used for future inspiration. :)