Fic: Symbolic
Title: Symbolic
Author: fairymage
Rating: G
Community: 30_kisses
Theme: #8-Our own world; #9-dash
Fandom: Card Captor Sakura
Pairing: Touya/Yukito
Notes: Written for tomoyohime8's 2007 Holiday request. My apologies for the lateness!
Hopefully the mods at 30_kisses will love me and cut me a break... which they do a lot...
He sat, chin resting in his hand, bored out of his mind as Satou went on and on about his girlfriend. He knew that as a friend he should probably care, he just… didn’t. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, actually. He just didn’t care now. Satou had been going on like this for weeks.
“Dammit, man, just do what she wants and get on with it,” Touya grumbled. Thank the gods Yuki wasn’t this complicated. A plate of food and an evening at home with Touya and he was content.
“She wants a ring, Kinomoto. Are you listening? A ring. You know what that means, right?”
“Commitment, future, blah blah blah. I’ve heard it, before. You are not the first of my friends to have girl issues.”
“This is more than an issue, Kinomoto! This is a matter of… of…”
“Great importance is the phrase you’re looking for.”
Satou threw his jacket at Touya, who caught it before the zipper could whip around into his face. “Just because your love life is simple doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t help the rest of us,” Satou pouted.
“Hey, believe me, I would, if I knew what to do.”
“What do you and Tsukishiro do? To, you know, show you’re listening to each other and care and love each other? What do you do when he wants something?”
“You really want to know?” he teased with a sly smile. “Nothing. We just… are. We have dinner together, we watch movies on the couch together, we go grocery shopping together. And whenever Yuki wants something, I give it. He never wants anything too extravagant or ridiculous or overly symbolic.” Touya shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s that I can’t. I’m spoiled rotten and I don’t know how.”
Satou sighed. “The least you could do is help a guy out. You have a little sister. If I decide to go with this ring deal, at least help me pick out a good one.”
“Done,” Touya agreed, tossing Satou’s jacket back. “As long as you promise not to take more than three hours.”
-----
“You look puzzled,” Akizuki noted as he sat down across from her.
“Look, I’d ask Yuki to ask you, but I figured I should man up to my responsibilities as a friend and ask you myself for help.”
“Nah, you just like me and want to spend more time with me,” she purred, grinning.
And money, Touya thought wryly, as the waitress brought Akizuki a full plate of really very good looking desserts.
“So. What is it that’s so important you’d call on me for help?” she asked, licking chocolate icing off her fingers.
“My friend, Satou, is thinking about getting his girlfriend a ring. I guess it’s something she wants. I said I’d help him, but truth is, I don’t know about these kinds of things. What women like and stuff. I buy stuff for my little sister--good stuff-but it’s always stuff she needs or stuff Yuki picks out. And this is, you know. Important.”
Akizuki studied him for a moment. “What’s this ring for?”
That threw Touya for a moment. “What do you mean, for?”
“I mean,” Akizuki explained, turning her spoon over and nibbling the edge thoughtfully. “Is it an engagement ring? A promise of an engagement ring? Or just a way of saying that he loves her?”
“Aren’t they all the same?”
“A little,” she admitted. “But in a nuanced kind of way. One is very simple. The other two are slightly more complicated. It’d be the simplest if she just wanted an engagement ring.”
“I’m not sure…”
“Sometimes women just ask for something pretty, like a ring, because they want something pretty and they know their boyfriend will get it for them. Or they want their boyfriend to think they are worthy of such a gift. It doesn’t have to mean anything beyond, ‘I think you’re wonderful and deserve something beautiful.’ You could look at it that way, instead of always assuming that a ring means two kids and a new house. If that’s what she was thinking, then she probably should have picked a piece of jewelry other than a ring, but…”
“You really think so?”
She shrugged, flipping her hair. “I don't know with this girl. But I know that women like jewelry, and when their boyfriend to give them something shiny and expensive they generally see that as a sign of how much their boyfriend values them, no matter what connotations the ring bears. It doesn’t matter if it seems frivolous. Everyone likes to feel loved. And, I speak for myself here, sometimes one of the nicest ways to be shown affection is via a gift.”
Touya stood and grabbed his jacket, tossing some money on the table.
“If you’re wrong, Akizuki, I will personally stop Yuki from ever buying you a birthday present again.”
Akizuki snorted, but Touya was in such a rush he didn’t hear.
-----
It was really an unnecessary gesture. But, as Akizuki had pointed out, sometimes unnecessary was the best way to go. He hadn’t quite thought through all the implications of his idea (especially the financial ones, surprisingly), but that was okay. He would think about them later. Right now was the time to think about the present.
Touya was pretty sure the man who first tried to help him was very confused as to his request. He didn’t see what was so hard. Engagement rings for men were boring as sin; why would he want two of those? He wanted something a little fancier. And, in retrospect, something that wouldn’t look like they were both engaged to separate women.
The woman who came to help him next was much more understanding. She showed him some slightly fancier flat rings, even some very simple women’s rings that she said might look better on his finger and suit his purposes more. He eventually settled on a ring that was flat, white gold, with a slightly raised band around the middle.
He smiled as he walked out with the two boxes safely in his pocket, his hand resting protectively on top of them. Yuki definitely wouldn’t be expecting this. But Touya was certain he’d like it all the same.
Author: fairymage
Rating: G
Community: 30_kisses
Theme: #8-Our own world; #9-dash
Fandom: Card Captor Sakura
Pairing: Touya/Yukito
Notes: Written for tomoyohime8's 2007 Holiday request. My apologies for the lateness!
Hopefully the mods at 30_kisses will love me and cut me a break... which they do a lot...
He sat, chin resting in his hand, bored out of his mind as Satou went on and on about his girlfriend. He knew that as a friend he should probably care, he just… didn’t. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, actually. He just didn’t care now. Satou had been going on like this for weeks.
“Dammit, man, just do what she wants and get on with it,” Touya grumbled. Thank the gods Yuki wasn’t this complicated. A plate of food and an evening at home with Touya and he was content.
“She wants a ring, Kinomoto. Are you listening? A ring. You know what that means, right?”
“Commitment, future, blah blah blah. I’ve heard it, before. You are not the first of my friends to have girl issues.”
“This is more than an issue, Kinomoto! This is a matter of… of…”
“Great importance is the phrase you’re looking for.”
Satou threw his jacket at Touya, who caught it before the zipper could whip around into his face. “Just because your love life is simple doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t help the rest of us,” Satou pouted.
“Hey, believe me, I would, if I knew what to do.”
“What do you and Tsukishiro do? To, you know, show you’re listening to each other and care and love each other? What do you do when he wants something?”
“You really want to know?” he teased with a sly smile. “Nothing. We just… are. We have dinner together, we watch movies on the couch together, we go grocery shopping together. And whenever Yuki wants something, I give it. He never wants anything too extravagant or ridiculous or overly symbolic.” Touya shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s that I can’t. I’m spoiled rotten and I don’t know how.”
Satou sighed. “The least you could do is help a guy out. You have a little sister. If I decide to go with this ring deal, at least help me pick out a good one.”
“Done,” Touya agreed, tossing Satou’s jacket back. “As long as you promise not to take more than three hours.”
-----
“You look puzzled,” Akizuki noted as he sat down across from her.
“Look, I’d ask Yuki to ask you, but I figured I should man up to my responsibilities as a friend and ask you myself for help.”
“Nah, you just like me and want to spend more time with me,” she purred, grinning.
And money, Touya thought wryly, as the waitress brought Akizuki a full plate of really very good looking desserts.
“So. What is it that’s so important you’d call on me for help?” she asked, licking chocolate icing off her fingers.
“My friend, Satou, is thinking about getting his girlfriend a ring. I guess it’s something she wants. I said I’d help him, but truth is, I don’t know about these kinds of things. What women like and stuff. I buy stuff for my little sister--good stuff-but it’s always stuff she needs or stuff Yuki picks out. And this is, you know. Important.”
Akizuki studied him for a moment. “What’s this ring for?”
That threw Touya for a moment. “What do you mean, for?”
“I mean,” Akizuki explained, turning her spoon over and nibbling the edge thoughtfully. “Is it an engagement ring? A promise of an engagement ring? Or just a way of saying that he loves her?”
“Aren’t they all the same?”
“A little,” she admitted. “But in a nuanced kind of way. One is very simple. The other two are slightly more complicated. It’d be the simplest if she just wanted an engagement ring.”
“I’m not sure…”
“Sometimes women just ask for something pretty, like a ring, because they want something pretty and they know their boyfriend will get it for them. Or they want their boyfriend to think they are worthy of such a gift. It doesn’t have to mean anything beyond, ‘I think you’re wonderful and deserve something beautiful.’ You could look at it that way, instead of always assuming that a ring means two kids and a new house. If that’s what she was thinking, then she probably should have picked a piece of jewelry other than a ring, but…”
“You really think so?”
She shrugged, flipping her hair. “I don't know with this girl. But I know that women like jewelry, and when their boyfriend to give them something shiny and expensive they generally see that as a sign of how much their boyfriend values them, no matter what connotations the ring bears. It doesn’t matter if it seems frivolous. Everyone likes to feel loved. And, I speak for myself here, sometimes one of the nicest ways to be shown affection is via a gift.”
Touya stood and grabbed his jacket, tossing some money on the table.
“If you’re wrong, Akizuki, I will personally stop Yuki from ever buying you a birthday present again.”
Akizuki snorted, but Touya was in such a rush he didn’t hear.
-----
It was really an unnecessary gesture. But, as Akizuki had pointed out, sometimes unnecessary was the best way to go. He hadn’t quite thought through all the implications of his idea (especially the financial ones, surprisingly), but that was okay. He would think about them later. Right now was the time to think about the present.
Touya was pretty sure the man who first tried to help him was very confused as to his request. He didn’t see what was so hard. Engagement rings for men were boring as sin; why would he want two of those? He wanted something a little fancier. And, in retrospect, something that wouldn’t look like they were both engaged to separate women.
The woman who came to help him next was much more understanding. She showed him some slightly fancier flat rings, even some very simple women’s rings that she said might look better on his finger and suit his purposes more. He eventually settled on a ring that was flat, white gold, with a slightly raised band around the middle.
He smiled as he walked out with the two boxes safely in his pocket, his hand resting protectively on top of them. Yuki definitely wouldn’t be expecting this. But Touya was certain he’d like it all the same.