kinkfest | For You (Magic Knight Rayearth, Ascot/Umi, G)

Title: For You
Author/Artist:

leviathanmirror
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Word count: 725
Prompt: Magic Knight Rayearth, Ascot/Umi: awkwardness/being shy - I did it all for you
A/N: Originally for July 16th. I apologize for the lateness. It goes a little astray from the prompt, too. Un-beta'd, all mistakes ~~and comma abuse~~ are mine.

She's intent on the cake, cutting carefully measured pieces with a sharp knife he'd hunted down for her. Her fingers shake just a little with her focus. After each cut she dips the knife in warm water and wipes it down to preserve the tiny sugar decorations and the smoothness of the icing, wanting every piece to be perfect - she wouldn't offer anything less to her friends.

He watches her instead of the cupboard he's bringing teacups down from. He's seen people less intense during battles. He imagines her looking at him with that kind of depth and focus and heat creeps across his cheeks. It seems somehow unfair to her for him to even imagine it and he turns back to the teacups feeling ashamed.

"Finished!"

He pivots on his heel, twisting hastily at the sound of her voice. The teacup he'd been holding slips from his relaxed grip and splinters against the hard floor. An embarrassed blush stains his skin as he stares wide-eyed at the slivers of what used to be a teacup.

"I'm sorry, Ascot! I didn't mean to startle you," she's already kneeling down to pick up the pieces.

"N-no, don't apologize! It was my fault," the words feel thick in his mouth when he speaks, "I should have been more careful."

He crouches at her side and begins collecting bits of the ruined teacup, dropping them into his cupped palm. He keeps his head bowed to hide his anxious expression and dismayed flush.

"It's just a cup," she says, and he can hear the warm smile in her voice, "It's no big deal."

He pulls back in surprise when she puts her hand casually on his shoulder, falling back from his crouched position. Any embarrassment is forgotten when he instinctively tries to catch himself with the hand full of broken glass.

He exhales sharply at the pain; he barely has time to feel it before Umi is reaching for his hand, apologizing and asking if he's hurt in the same breath.

He tries to tell her he's fine but she isn't listening, she's tugging at his hand to inspect it. He can feel his cheeks heating up again when she touches him.

"Oh, you're bleeding. Here," she begins carefully removing the few shards that got stuck in his hand and dabbing at the blood with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry, I just keep scaring you today."

"It's not your fault. I-I'm sort of jumpy, I guess."

She gives him a wry look, "Obviously."

The wryness melts into concern as she looks at his hand. "None of these look too deep but there are a lot of them. Maybe I should get Fuu."

"You don't need to do that," he starts to add 'it's not that bad' and 'I'm fine' but can't finish when she looks at him so full of apprehension. He looks away, uncomfortable. "I can --" he starts, voice hoarse, "I can heal it."

"Really?" There's awe mixed in with the worry in her voice, his blush burns more hotly.

"Yes, I..." he casts the spell, watching the green light swirl around his hand closing all the little cuts, "I asked Clef to teach me."

"That's incredible! I didn't know anyone but Fuu could use healing magic."

He wants to look at her, she's always so pretty when she's happy or excited, but shame keeps him facing away. He doesn't want to tell her that so few people know it because it's harder to learn to heal than it is to learn to hurt.

"Y-yeah...we uh, we should clean up that teacup. You, you don't have to help if you don't want to, it was my fault after all."

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I'll help."

There are no mishaps this time and in a few short minutes they've collected and disposed of all the shards and set two trays with teacups, plates, silverware, a teapot nearly spilling over with tea, and Umi's cake.

As they carry everything towards the garden, she looks up at him, smiling sweetly and says, "I think it's really great that you're learning to heal. People can still get hurt, even though things are peaceful, so it's still important to have people who can heal, right?"

"Y-yeah," he swallows hard, and whispers after she's passed him, "But I only learned for you."