Title: Ramparts
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: Teen
Length: 1500 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Clef's view from the start of Umi and Tarta also being a thing.
Summary: Two times Clef's day was interrupted.

oOo
The door to Clef’s study thumped shut, and he didn’t bother looking up from the report he was reviewing - if he’d been in any doubt about who had crashed in, the theatrically loud sigh would have sealed it. As it was, he smiled to himself, and kept turning pages. “Good morning, Umi.”

“See, if you had still been in bed when I woke up, you wouldn’t be saying ‘good morning’ to me in the middle of the day. You could have woken me up!”

Clef looked up at that, and found himself being glared at across the paper ramparts built up on the desk. Given he would normally have found himself on the end of that look if he woke Umi on her rest day, something was… off.

He set his pen down.

“Is anything wrong?”

“Besides you abandoning me every morning?” Umi pouted, then sighed, scrubbed her hands over her face, and flopped down in the chair beside his desk. “Yeah, I know, I don’t usually care about that, I just - I woke up all fidgety and everything is bothering me today, sorry. Plus I got confused yesterday, thought this was your free morning, so I went to sleep looking forward to that, I guess, and…”

Clef watched her, trying to decide if she was in one of the moods where she found touch more irritating than anything, or if a hug would be a good idea. Her arms were dangling over the edges of the chair, so he reached out and patted the closer one. Umi tangled her fingers with his, but didn’t tug him closer, so he stayed in his own chair. As for what was bothering her…

“…You’re spending the afternoon with Princess Tarta, yes?” he asked, and Umi flinched, gripping his hand tighter. “…Umi, you do know - it’s okay that you like her.”

Umi stared at him as if he’d turned green all of a sudden. “Of course I like Tarta, she’s my friend!”

“No, I mean - you’re attracted to her.”

Umi blinked at him.

“…Watching you the past week, I’m fairly certain of it. And she likes you the same way.” More blinking, and a slow flush going across Umi’s cheeks. She started to pull her hand away, and he moved, coming to kneel beside her chair. “It’s okay.”

“Clef- what-”

He caught her other hand, held on to both. “I love you, and I know you love me. If you also have feelings for someone else - I want you to be happy, Umi. I don’t need a monopoly on your time, or your heart, I just want to have a place there. If you want to have a relationship with someone else, as well, that’s fine! I think… that might be why you’re feeling anxious. I could be wrong, but if I’m right, whatever you want to do or don’t want to do, that’s fine.”

“…Clef.” Umi pulled her hands away so she could flail both of them, wordlessly, then slid off the chair and onto his lap, wrapping her arms about his waist and hiding her face against his shoulder. He lay his head against hers and held on. When she finally spoke, her voice was muffled by his robes, and small. “I don’t- I think- maybe?”

He stroked her back. “Maybe just think about it sometime?”

Umi huffed. “Well, now I’m going to be thinking about it as soon as I see her! So thanks for that!” She pulled back far enough to look at him. “…I don’t feel so fidgety, though, so… but did you really mean that? You don’t mind if I- said something about it?” She paused. “Do you like her?”

“Not the way I think you do?” He grinned, and she hit him on the shoulder. “No, Umi, I have no desire for any relationship with your princess, either romantic or sexual. But if you want something along those lines, and she does too, then I certainly like her well enough to cope with her being in your life, and therefore crossing over into mine.”

“…Maybe.” Umi dropped her head to his shoulder again, and he held her tighter for a while.

When she finally left, he watched the door closing, and hoped he hadn’t just created a mess… but he recognised the way Tarta looked at Umi. It was the same expression he felt on his own face, fond and rueful and wanting all at the same time.

Well, knowing Umi, it wouldn’t be long before they found out if he was right or not.

oOo

For the second time that day, Clef looked up from his work to find a woman glaring at him over the stacks of paper on his desk. Tarta had her arms crossed, and was tapping a foot - he could hear the soft jingling of the anklet she wore. He set his pen down, and waited.

“What did you mean by it?” Tarta demanded, gripping her arms tighter.

Clef raised an eyebrow at her. “Umi didn’t explain? I didn’t think she’d get very far without telling you what was happening, but it’s certainly been a while if nothing did happen. Or did it take a while for her to find you?”

Tarta glared harder. “…What, you think you can hide behind these ramparts and be safe pissing me off? After you-”

“After I what? Told the woman I love that I want her to be happy, and if that involves you, that’s okay with me?” Clef pushed back from the desk and stood. “ What did I do, Princess, to bring you storming in here?”

“You-” she faltered, and her voice turned plaintive. “What do you want?”

“I want Umi to be happy!” His voice got a bit too sharp on that, and he stopped himself, took a deep breath. “If it’s my intentions towards yourself you’re concerned about, then please don’t. I have no need or wish for any relationship more than the one I already have.”

Tarta dropped down into the chair on the other side of the desk, and he sat down again too, warily. “Because I’m not interested in you at all, old man-”

“I’m shocked,” Clef muttered, and was completely ignored.

“So if you think you and Umi should come as some kind of package deal-”

“My existence in the same dimension might be part of the deal, but if you don’t want me around when you’re intimate with Umi, that’s fine! How many times do I have to say it? I have no interest in you either! I don’t know you nearly well enough for that, and unless you suddenly find an interest in men, I think we’re going to be fine keeping our hands off each other!”

Tarta blinked. “…Huh. So you only go for people you already know really well?”

Leaning back in his chair, Clef started to relax again now she didn’t look like she was about to murder him and steal Umi away to Chizeta. “To be perfectly frank, I don’t normally ‘go’ for anyone at all. In seven centuries there have been perhaps a dozen people I have been attracted to. Umi is…” he waved a hand, and Tarta sighed in agreement.

“Yeah, isn’t she?”

The urge to explain himself was battling a warning at the back of his mind which didn’t want to frighten Tarta away, both for Umi’s sake. But Tarta looked less angry, and still somewhat confused, so he went on. “Sex is fine, I’ve never minded it; I -like making people feel good. But it’s not something that I’m usually bothered by, either. My relationship with Umi is… it’s already more than enough for me. At times it’s almost overwhelming - I’m not going to be jealous of you spending time with her, or even of my spending less time with her. I might manage to catch up on my work!” Tarta stared at him a moment, and he started to laugh, just a little, at her expression. “I mean it! Getting distracted this often is irritating, which Umi thinks is hilarious. However much or little you want to include me, that’s fine, but I would welcome you in Umi’s life.”

“…You actually mean that,” Tarta said, slowly, and it wasn’t a question. “That’s… I thought you would be more… possessive? You always seem so protective of her - when she isn’t looking, anyway-”

“I’ll defend what I have with Umi from anyone, but you’re not a threat, Tarta. She has already loved you for years, and it hasn’t stopped her loving me. I think being with you would make her happy, too, and happiness shouldn’t be wasted. Love- shouldn’t be wasted.” He shut up and took another deep breath. Tarta looked at him closely. He knew she’d heard the full story of Emeraude’s fate from Umi, of course. In vague detail at first, and then in greater depth as time went by; she obviously knew enough to make the connection there, but didn’t push him on it.

“…Okay.”

He blinked. “…Okay?”

“Okay! What, I have to say it a dozen times? I’m - in. With Umi.” She waved a hand. “I’m not interested in taking your clothes off, but I guess I don’t mind you being around, y’know?”

Clef grinned at her. “Likewise.”