Reactive Power in the circuit
'Both inductor and capacitor absorb power' - NO

They both store energy (the integral of power).

In an AC circuit, a simple one where there's only one capacitor and one inductor,  doesn't matter whether series or parallel connection, one will be accumulating energy while the other is discharging energy. One will be taking power, the other will be generating power.

The net change in total energy storage seen at the terminals will be the algebraic sum of the changes at the L and at the C. As one is the opposite sign to the other, the sum is the difference in their magnitudes.