Happy Valentine's Day!
"Hey, sis!"
The rose-haired woman spared a glance in the direction of her ever elated brother-in-law, joyful as usual as he leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen. Her main focus was on the cake in front of her and its lack of strawberries placed on the top of it, so she simply asked, without looking at the blond, "What, Snow?"
Just as she reached for another strawberry from the small carton of strawberries placed next to the dessert, a sudden warmth was pressed against her right cheek, and her immediate reaction was to jerk away and stare wide-eyed at the blue-eyed idiot. The blood rushed to her face, and while her face was surely as red as a tomato, she demanded, with a hand to her cheek, "What the hell, Villiers?!"
The man simply laughed, ruffling her hair before running off down the hall and up the stairs, leaving a very confused Lightning to glare after him, the strawberries long forgotten.
After cooling down over the incident between herself and Snow, Lightning retired to the living room owned by Serah and her husband, grabbing a book for a quick read from their shelf. It was warm and very cozy inside the large living room, and as the soldier settled into one of the love seats, flipping the book open to its first few pages, she failed to notice the presence creeping up behind her.
"Hey, Light!"
Falling for the oldest trick in the book, she turned towards the voice and her cheek met another source warmth, and, just as before, she jerked away, nearly hitting the person with the book in her hands. Instead, she bolted from the love seat and glared at the culprit: Noel.
Her cheeks burned once more, almost reaching her ears as she hissed, "Don't do that, Kreiss!"
The brune only bit his lip to suppress a laugh and dashed from the living room, a trail of laughter leaving his lips. A very frazzled Lightning plopped back down on her spot, wiping at the area she had been assaulted.
Now a bit wary, the soldier roamed about the house with eyes in the back of her head. She could not afford to let anyone else embarrass her beyond belief and make her face turn several shades of red. It confused the woman to no end, these pecks of affection, especially from Snow. She felt her stomach turn and flop, bile threatening to rise in her throat – she was so going to consult Serah about Snow's ways of showing affection towards family. Honestly, the nerve of that guy-!
Not just the idiot, but Noel as well. The two were friends, yes, and close, however it was odd to receive just a peck and have him dash off giggling. Yes, giggling. Their friends were visiting Serah and Snow for their one year anniversary, and it had been okay so far – so why the sudden assault?
As the soldier rounded a corner to enter the hallway leading to the study, her steps were halted as she bumped into Fang, fresh out of the shower with hair dripping wet and skin feeling cool. Light only rolled her eyes; no need to apologize seeing as it was Fang's fault they bumped into each other, apparently. Voice laced with sarcasm, she voiced her slight irritation, "Excuse me, Fa–"
The darker skinned woman only grinned and cut her sentence off as she planted a kiss on her right cheek, before ruffling the mop of pink hair on Light's head and dashing off, laughing.
Too stunned for words, the woman only blinked and rubbed at her cheek in annoyance before huffing and storming off to find refuge in her guest room.
The book she had left in the study room seemed to be the best choice of passing the time, so the soldier ventured into the hallways to reach the room. Lightning didn;t forget to look over her shoulder as she walked and check each corner she needed pass, hellbent on not getting into any more embarrassing situations for the rest of the day. She just needed to get to the study and get back to the safety of her room without any problems.
Reaching the study, she found Yeul trying to reach one of the books on the top shelf, and while it was adorable to Lightning, suddenly remembering Serah in this same position when she was younger, the woman stepped in to help the young girl. "Need some help?"
Slightly startled, the smaller girl turned to face Lightning with a sigh and nodded, stepping to the side as Lightning stepped forward and simply reached up to grab the book from the shelf.
"Thank you, Light," Yeul smiled warmly as she took the book from her and held it to her chest.
"No probl–" Her reply was cut short when Yeul reached up with her tippy-toes to plant a quick peck on Light's cheek, proceeding to run off giggling.
Forgetting the shock and just going straight to embarrassment, Light grabbed her own book from the shelf and quickly returned to her room, where she hoped to stay for the rest of the day.
This was seriously starting to worry Lightning.
She sat cross legged on her guest bed, the same book from before in her hands as she tried to calm herself down and actually get to read the story. Her thoughts were more jumbled and confused than before, and she couldn't stand that everyone seemed to know something she didn't. Light knew she shouldn't have let it get to her, but the fact that her friends were being so...icky with her irked her to no end. She was never one for hugs and especially not kisses, having only ever hugged Hope and Serah after her parents died.
"Hey, Light?" A feminine voice– Vanille, she guessed– called from the hallway, possibly from the living room.
Her eyes didn't leave the book in her hands. "Yes?"
"Can you come here for a second? I need some help with something!" The slight urgency in her voice was enough to make the rose-haired woman slide off her bed and pad her way through the hallway, looking for the cheery redhead once she reached the living room.
"Vanille? What did you–" Her sentence was cut short when she felt two lips pressed to both of her cheeks, and as she jerked away quickly, she managed to get a look of the culprits– Vanille, as she suspected, and also Hope, whose face was just as red as hers was at this point– before they ran off laughing. Well, Vanille was laughing, Hope seemed to be too embarrassed to say anything as she dragged him away.
Storming off and rubbing her cheek angrily, the door to her room remained closed for the rest of the day as she tried to forget all of the affection she had received.
Lightning poked her head into the hallway, as it was now a bit later into the evening and her stomach refused to be neglected. The coast seemed to be clear of anyone else besides herself, so she quickly and quietly made her way down the carpeted hallway and into the kitchen, where her now decorated cake lay in its container.
Hopefully I can grab a piece of cake without being attacked again, the rose-haired woman thought to herself as she uncovered the dessert, grabbing a plate from the cabinet above her to set her piece on.
"Hey, sis!" a cheerful voice behind her nearly sent the knife in her hand flying, along with the cake. Looking over her shoulder, Light sighed when she saw that it was only Serah, in a night shirt and shorts and ready for bed, it seemed.
The woman slid her piece of cake onto her plate, replying, "Hey, Serah."
"How's the cake?" The younger Farron asked, leaning against the counter next to Lightning.
"Haven't tried it yet, but I decorated it, so it should be great," She half-smiled in return and reached for a fork in the drawer below her, popping a piece of cake into her mouth.
As she chewed, temporarily getting lost in the skills of Serah's baking, her senses were snapped back into her when she felt a pair of lips peck her cheek, followed by laughing– Serah!
"What is with you guys and kissing?" Light demanded as she set her cake down, rubbing at her cheek, even if it was from her actual family member. "Even you!"
"Sis," Serah said in between laughs, shaking her head, "It's Valentine's day, how else are we gonna show our love for you?"
"With cards or food, obviously!" Lightning shook her head as well, throwing her hands up in defeat. "You guys are such saps."
Serah smiled warmly, holding her arms out for a hug– her way of making sure Lightning wasn't truly angry. And, of course, the woman accepted the hug albeit reluctantly. There was no way she'd pass up a hug from her sister, even if there was no threat to take her away again, she tried to relish the fact of having her sister with her again.
And, for the first time since their parents' death, Light planted a kiss on Serah's cheek, laughing when the younger cried out in mock disgust and rubbed her cheek.
Anyone else enjoying Lightning Returns? owo
Drop a review if you liked (◕‿-)