A/N: For Tomoeish. Prompt: Shunsui x Nanao, tea.

Cyclical

It took a soul at peace to truly appreciate a good cup of tea.

Shunsui could always tell how she felt from the way she drank her tea.

One impatient gulp meant he'd pushed her too far, again.

Two put-upon swallows meant she was irritated, but not necessarily with him.

Several thoughtful swallows meant she was calm and in a good mood.

He liked it best, though, when she sipped it so slowly it went cold before she came near finishing it. Those were the days she was happy, and content to sit and drink tea with him.

They were rare, but he lived for them.

Like the cherry blossoms he held such a fondness for, he was fleeting and ever in transition... but also like them, he always returned to grow again on the same branch he'd left just moments ago. Cyclical but ever constant.

Nanao knew her place in his heart and did not question it. It never stopped her from being angry, but sometimes it meant she sat and drank tea with him in companionable silence and smiled if he smiled back at her.

He would never tire of brewing tea for her.

XoxoxoxoxoX