Title: Ostensible relationship
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 900 words
Content notes:
Author notes: Umi/Clef, spies!au, established relationship
Summary: Umi might be an international intelligence agent of some significant skill and a growing reputation, but that didn’t stop her mother from organising her life anyway.


oOo

Ryuuzaki Umi hadn’t been expecting any deliveries on her day off – she had, in fact, been expecting to sleep in, catch up on watching whatever show it was Fuu and Hikaru had been sending her emails about last week while she was on assignment, and spending some time with her – significant other, once he arrived, which wasn’t meant to be for several hours yet: not until lunch, when she’d insisted he take her on a lunch date somewhere mundane enough there would be no unexpected work interruptions. (So far they’d managed one evening date which hadn’t ended up turning into a work event, and that one was the only one which had been intended to be a stake-out. Lunch seemed potentially… safer.)

So when the door alert buzzed and the video from downstairs showed a guy in a delivery uniform with a suspiciously large box – well. She almost called for back-up instantly, but the guy shifted just enough she could see the logo on the box, and she scrolled a little further down her contacts and hit another option instead.

“Umi! How nice to hear from you, dear. How are you after your trip last week?”

“Mama, have you ordered any deliveries to my apartment?” Umi asked, rubbing at her face with one hand as the buzzer rang again. “Ones which might turn up in large boxes from ‘La Maison Eliot’?”

“Oh, good! It arrived in time. You’ll have to tell me before this evening if the outfit for your nice young man needs any alterations, I can have someone on hand to help baste things in place for the evening-“

“Mama!” Umi thumped her head onto her hand.

“I sent you an email,” her mother said, unmoved by the wail. “Several, in fact, which mentioned the party tonight, two of which you replied to saying you would look at the details later. It’s later now, dear. Best get your delivery now. I’ll see you later!”

Umi might be an international intelligence agent of some significant skill and a growing reputation, but that didn’t stop her mother from organising her life anyway.

After going down to fetch the delivery, she sent a grouchy message to Clef about changing their plans for the day, and then went looking for those emails she’d been sent – and found them, but really, the last few weeks had been so busy, and one of her parent’s get-togethers wasn’t a matter of life and death.

Looking at the dress her mother had procured, however – and the tuxedo for Clef, whose measurements her mother must somehow have also procured as that looked like it would fit him exactly – this was obviously a bit more than a ‘casual get-together with some family friends’.

She spent long enough hissing to herself that Clef arrived just as she called her mother back, carrying a bag of lunch – and yes, her apartment was a safe place, but she’d been looking forward to a lunch out! Umi opened the door just as her mother picked up, and was inspecting the clothing with far too much amusement as Umi began to talk. “What kind of ‘little party’ is this, Mama? And why do you need us?”

“Is it too much to ask to show-off my lovely daughter and her lovely fiancé to our acquaintances?” her mother said, voice full of mirth.

“I haven’t agreed to marry him!” Umi hissed, and heard Clef laugh from behind her.

“You’re still wearing that nice ring he gave you, aren’t you?” her mother asked, and there was no reply Umi could make. She’d been refusing to give him the title for a month, now; she was pretty sure they could plan most of a wedding without her having to give him the satisfaction of formally accepting his proposal.

“I could propose again tonight, if you think this get-up and a bunch of witnesses would make it more like a proper proposal?” Clef offered, setting out the food, and she eyed him for a moment – but no, if Mama had managed to persuade him to conspire in arranging this, she would have made sure the fit of his clothing was perfect.

“All those people. It would be social pressure to accept, therefore invalidating anything I might say,” she told him, winning a still-brighter laugh, and went back to quizzing her mother on just who was invited to this thing, scrawling down a list of names so they could at least do a quick background check on those she hadn’t come across since she’d started this job.

Half an hour later, she hung up, and stomped over to the sofa where the shimmering new dress lay in all its glory and about three trees worth of tissue paper. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I know we had plans today-“

“I don’t mind your family including me in their plans,” he said, voice softening. “No matter what you chose to introduce me as.”

Umi flushed, and turned to the clothing. “Well, you’d best try all this on, in case we need to find you something else.” She pulled his intended outfit from yet more tissue paper, hand lingering on the fabric.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. A fancy evening, and a lot of security which they didn’t have to be part of, plus a sit-down meal…

…It might even count as a second date.