The girl with the Behemoth Tattoo – Chapter One
A/N: It's finally here, the first chapter of the TGBT's series. I'm planning to stretch this out a bit for a while but this update is really just to set the groundwork as I'm planning to tie up Brass before I dive into this fully. So the next update may be a little while.
Zander staggered as he mimicked a zombie. "Fang, coffee, coffee" He said as he lurched over towards the brunette.
Fang rolled her eyes and pushed the coffee hungry undead away before he could bite her. "Zander cut it dude. I need coffee too. Anyway ain't it your shout?" Fang asked with her brows raised.
"Pfft, really Fang? I bought coffee the last four damn times." Zander complained and looked over at the crappy diner across the road from them. "Ahem..." Zander flashed her a grin as he counted the times he bought her coffee.
"Fine." Fang threw her arms in the air and gave in. "I'll buy you coffee, but as your future boss I'm taking it out of your paycheck."
"Awww thanks babe." Zander chuckled and latched onto Fang, only for the woman to shove him off.
"Thanks babe..." Fang grumbled to herself as she stormed over towards the diner.
The small bell above the door rung as she stepped inside with Zander celebrating his victory behind her. "You know I could also use some food too. I mean I can't draw on an empty stomach now can I?"
"Don't push it. Now find us a seat." She growled. Zander had a dickish way of annoying her and always had. Even back in high school when they first met he managed to get on her nerves. If not for their shared passion for ink then she probably would have never put up with him. She rolled her eyes as she looked over to where he was making dumb faces. Ignoring her idiot best friend, she walked along the counter. With a tap the little bell on the counter sounded, a cute pink-haired woman in a red uniform appeared just a moment later.
"How can I help you?" The woman said in a displeased tone. Although her eyes said otherwise as they looked Fang up and down. She liked.
Fang gulped and couldn't help but stare at her either. Taken in by the sharp features of her face and her pale skin. The woman's cheeks reddened as she spoke again.
"How can I help you?" She said, this time slightly less irritated than usual. Another customer had chosen to ogle her again instead of just ordering. At least this customer was at least somewhat attractive however. The tanned woman was even her type, not that she would ever admit to having a type. Her eyes latched onto the tattoos on the woman's forearms and threatened to make her lips spill into a smile. She was really attractive.
"Oh shit, sorry for staring. Just can't help myself when I see someone so cute" Fang chuckled and saw the blushes forming on the woman's face. She dropped her eyes and scanned over the menu quickly. "What's good?"
"The door, if I didn't have bills." Lightning groaned and rolled her eyes. "The coffee, it's okay."
"Alright then, gay boy over there will have a decaf cappuccino and I'll get a bisexual white." Fang said with a grin that grew a little wider as the woman nearly laughed.
"Alright it won't be long." She said cheerfully and hurried over to the coffee machine so that the tanned woman wouldn't see the blushes on her face.
Fang watched the woman with a smile as she hurried about the coffee machine. There was something about her that made Fang unable to take her eyes off of her. Fang continued to stare at her for a moment before Zander called out to her. Turning around she moved over to the table Zander was sitting at.
"So she's cute." Zander said and cast his eyes over to the waitress. "Give her your number yet?"
"What, no. Zander she's... I can't just throw it at her you know." Fang huffed and snuck in another glance over at Lightning, her eyes softening as she watched the woman work.
"Really Fang, I mean really? Well if you won't go for her..." Zander grinned as he stood up and tucked his hands in his pockets.
"Zander you mother fucker." Fang whispered angrily to not cause a scene for the scarce few customers in the diner. Her brows narrowed and she glared at him as he cockily walked over to the counter.
"Hey." Zander said and winked at Lightning who just ignored him and continued making Fang's coffee. "So do you have a pen I could borrow?"
Lightning looked up as she finished making Fang's coffee and frowned. Here it goes again, may I have a pen? Here's my number. Thanks, now please fuck off. Lightning wished she could just blurt out the last bit unfortunately her bosses didn't see eye to eye with her on that. Instead she sucked up her breath and forced a smile like she practised. Setting the two cups of coffee down, she did her best not to bore her glare into the guy and grabbed him a pen. Setting it down a little more aggressively than she had wanted.
"So my friend over there thinks you're pretty cute..." Zander said and watched the woman's eyes lighten as she looked over to Fang. Bingo, Zander thought as he scribbled down Fang's number. Lightning bit her lip and looked away. Wait, it was her that thought she was cute? Lightning looked up with a smile across her lips. When they're eyes met she quickly averted her gaze as fast as she could. Her face felt like it was on fire. Out of nowhere heat flooded to her cheeks and she felt her heart pounding in her chest. Zander grinned as he watched her blush. "And she's a huge freakin' dork so here, it's her number. It would make her year if you called." Zander said as he slid the paper across and smiled. "Oh and thanks for the coffee." Zander said and smiled as he picked up their order. "Well have a good night. Come on dork, let's get going yeah? My ass is freezing." He said and gave Lightning a wink as he hurried back over to Fang. The brunette looked up from the doorway and met her gaze. She smiled. Oh god her smile. Lightning's heart sank as the door closed. She was gone. Biting her lip, she scoffed and glared at the clock.
Fang tossed her keys on her kitchen counter and collapsed in her bed, letting out a groan as her mind dragged her through the events of the day. First coffee with Vanille and then accompanying her to her appointment to get holes poked in her skin. Her little sister had been really getting into piercings. Fang just shuddered as she remembered watching it. She was fine with putting ink under her skin but piercings just didn't do it for her. Maybe it was the needles and how they were actually putting holes in themselves. And then there was Zander, her high school buddy who had gotten her into her current job. Mixed opinions on that, and Fang had lots of them but at least it paid the bills. But then was the highlight of her day, hard to forget when it came in a shade of fairyfloss pink. She grinned idiotically and pulled out her phone, looking to see if the woman had called her yet... nothing. Like a cat she readied herself to pounce and watched it, glancing over to the clock every few moments. It was 10:34, surely she had finished her shift by now. The moment if flashed she threw her hand over, flicked the call to accept and pressed it to her ear in one fluid motion. "Hi."
"Pfft nice pickup line Fang." Zander snickered on the other end of the line.
"Urgh, it's you..." Fang groaned as she dragged herself to her kitchen for something to drink. After all it was this late then the pink-haired woman was definitely not going to call her and she'd probably just tossed her number. Fang couldn't do anything either since she'd forgotten the place where she'd gotten her coffee.
"Yes it's me. Did your cutie call you yet?" Zander asked.
"What do you think?" Fang said not bothering to hide her disappointment as she cracked open a beer and took a welcome mouthful of the beverage. Taking another one right after, she sat the can down on the counter beside her. "Who cares anyway, I mean at least I'll have more time for work right?"
"Fang, it's been four hours, four. Hold your horses girl." Zander said and rolled his eyes, letting himself laugh at Fang's lovey-dovey mode. Girl got hasty when she had the hots for someone. "She'll call, I mean did you see the way she looked at you? Until I started writing down your number it felt like she was going to just tell me to straight up fuck off. Then I mention you and boom, she smiled. Like actually smiled. That girl probably never smiled in her life before then."
"God you're an idiot. But she smiled at me?" Fang asked and her heart fluttered.
"Yes dumbass, it was dope. Shame she was checking you out like a bloody billboard. Trust me, she'll call." Zander reassured her and laughed.
"Serah I'm home." Lightning called out as she got home. All too happy to be away from the lecherous stares of every guy she ran into during work. Moving to the kitchen, she dropped her bag on the bench and poured herself a cup of the much, much-needed caffeine. Pressing her lips against the rim of her mug, she let out a moan as a wave of energy washed through her. Never again would she cover for Jihl's lunch shift again, ever. At least her night shift wasn't so bad. The cold had scared away most of the regular sleazy assholes leaving her with a pleasant stream of regular customers. Suddenly reminded of one of the not so regular customers, in particular, the tanned woman that she had seen for the first time. She sat down her coffee and rushed over to her bag. Her frown deepened as she dug through her things. Had she forgotten it? Shit. "Where is it?" Lightning cursed as she emptied the contents of her bag over the counter.
Serah looked in surprise at the sight of her sister panicking as she came into the kitchen. "What's you got you all riled up Claire?" She asked and rushed to her sister's side. Suddenly Lightning tensed up at her presence.
Lightning stopped. The last thing she needed was Serah knowing that she had kept someone's number. "Oh, it's... nothing." Lightning said and began packing up her things. Her hands grabbed onto the first thing she was and she smiled as she shook her head. "I thought I forgot my... phone." Lightning said and held up her mobile device. Moving away from her phone, she leant back beside her coffee. "Want a coffee?"
"God yes." Serah said and watched Lightning closely. Something was off. Usually her sister was down in the dumps and completely exhausted after work but now she moved over to the coffee machine with a little skip that she herself probably didn't notice. Her years of living with her sister made it so that the little skips stood out as clear as day. "So work was good?" The younger Farron asked curious as to her sister's pleasant attitude, Her smile widening as her eyes dropped down to the piece of paper which added to her smile. Carefully, she lowered her fingers down while Lightning was making her a coffee and very slowly pulled it out. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the number on the paper with 'xoxo hot babe, call me' scribbled underneath. The handwriting was really girly too. Fighting the urge to squeal and ruin her plan, she moved over to the phone like a shinobi,
"It was fine. I'm never covering for Jihl again though." Lightning turned around and stared in horror. She nearly dropped the cup of coffee as her brain processed what was happening. Serah was punching in that woman's number. "Wait Serah don't-"
"It's ringing, here." Serah offered her sister the phone with a pleased little grin.
"Serah you..." Lightning groaned and glared at her little sister. The younger woman just giggled and took her coffee.
"You can thank me later, Lightning. You had to call her." Serah said and pushed herself up on her toes to reinforce her authority. "Besides if you didn't like her you wouldn't have kept her number."
"I..." Lightning sighed in defeat. Serah was right. She just hadn't thought of what to say just yet.
"Hey, this is Fang." A voice called out through the phone. It made Lightning's skin crawl in a very good way. Lightning took a deep breath and glared at Serah. Her meaning was clear as Serah smiled and hurried out, leaving Lightning with her hot babe xoxo. "God this shit is the last thing I-"
"Hi." Lightning said as she pressed the phone to her ear. Silence, it only made her doubt all the worse. Those two were probably screwing with her after all. As if someone would just walk into her life. Especially someone so attractive and-
"Hi. I'm Fang."
Lightning leant back against the counter and grinned from ear to ear. So what if they were screwing with her. She'd at least enjoy herself while she could. "I know, you just introduced yourself."
"Ah right, I guess I did huh Sunshine." Fang chuckled and carried her beer over to her bed. Her mind scrabbling to find the words to say. "So you gotta name?"
"I do." Lightning said and bit her lip. The woman's accent was so pleasant as it fell on Lightning's ears. "But first, why Sunshine?"
"Huh?" Fang asked, dumbfounded.
"You called me Sunshine, why?" Lightning asked and held the phone with her shoulder as she grabbed her things. She would prefer to hold the conversation without Serah listening in.
"Oh that's easy. You just looked like a Sunshine with the charming glare of yours. Your smile was pretty cute too."
"My smile?" Lightning asked and cursed herself for blushing. Suddenly she was all too conscious of her smile. She was doing it right now too damn it. Pressing her hand over her chest, her heat was beating like never before. Shutting the door to her room, she dropped her things and collapsed in her bed.
"Mmhm, you should smile more often. I think it suits you." Fang said and listened as Lightning gave her silence on the other end. Idiot, of course she'd take flirting badly. "So uh, how was your day?" Fang asked. Hopefully Sunshine would take the bait and give her more time to think of something actually intelligible to say.
"It was terrible. I had to cover a friend's lunch shift." Lightning exhaled all her frustration before she shot out a death beam or something. "I'm never working a lunch shift again." She complained and puffed up her cheeks.
"That bad huh?" Fang asked curious and chuckled as she imagined Sunshine in her uniform.
"Oh god... Never become a waitress Fang, it's not worth it." Lightning groaned and pulled off her work uniform. Eager to be rid of any reminder of her dead-end job. "Hey can you call me back? I really need to shower. I worked a double shift back to back and god all those sleazy pricks have me feeling dirty." Fang chuckled and a contagious one too.
"Sure thing Sunshine." Fang said and bit her lip so Sunshine didn't hear how much of a dumbass she was being right now. "So like in twenty minutes or so?"
"Yeah." Lightning gulped and savoured the sound of Fang's accent. She had a small thing for Pulsian accents and Fang's was the sexiest one she'd ever heard, and that was from over the phone. "One second, I'll give you my phone number." Lightning grabbed her mobile and gave Fang her number.
"Alright, Sunshine." Fang said and was about to hang up before Lightning cut her off.
"My name is Lightning." Lightning said and eagerly waited for Fang's response.
"Hmm it fits pretty well, Lightning. Lightning... Light-"
"God stop, you really are a dork." Lightning laughed as Fang repeated her name on her end. It was starting to sound weird. "Alright, I'm gonna go shower."
"Sure thing." Fang said and waited for Lightning to hang up. She dropped her phone beside her. Lightning. She exhaled slowly and covered her mouth as to not wake the neighbours as she was overwhelmed by the intense feeling of happiness. She had her number and she had her name. She'd only seen the woman once but the image of her pale skin and those striking cerulean blue eyes was burned permanently into her mind. She wanted to call someone and chew their ear off, Zander or Vanille or anyone. But instead she reigned in her feelings and focused. First she needed to shower too and then think of something to talk about.
Fang stretched her arms over her head and collapsed down onto her bed. Taking a sip of warm beer, she picked up her phone. Pushing one hand through her messy wet hair, she brushed the spiky wet mess out of her eyes and stared at her phone. Quickly punching in Lightning's number she went to press the call button but she froze. Suddenly gripped by hesitation. She bit her lip as her mind struggled to pull itself free. She'd only talked to Lightning once and sure it went well but what if she screwed up or something. She wanted to do this right and right now she was currently tired and drinking. Before her mind could run in circles any further over the issue, her phone lit up. An unknown number but Fang's heart told her who it was. Before she knew it, she'd already pressed the answer button and put her phone against her ear.
"Hey Fang. I uhh... Well I wanted to talk some more, if that's okay with you of course?" Fang melted under the sound of Lightning's voice. The little tremors as she spoke just made Fang go crazy. "So uhh, do you want to keep talking?"
Fang's lips parted and she spoke. "Yeah sure. I jumped in the shower and lost track of time. So Lightning, you work as a waitress?"
Lightning huffed and bit down into her knee. Fang purring her name affected her more than she had thought it would. The sound of her voice and the image that had stuck in her mind was stirring things in her chest. "Yeah, it's just something part-time to cover the bills." Lightning said. It had been a very long while since someone made her feel this way. She had this feeling growing inside of her. Like the bubbly happiness that Serah always seemed to have in spare. "And you?"
"I work at a tattoo parlour. You might have guessed from my tattoos huh?" Fang said and smiled.
"They were nice." Lightning said softly as her mind remembered the lines of ink on Fang's arms.
Fang sighed in relief. She was proud of her tattoos. She learnt quickly that her tanned skin combined with her athleticism and tattoos made her quite attractive to women and men. She left the guys to Zander's care despite his constant warnings that he was sick of guys going to hit on him. But Lightning enjoyed them, or at least she said they were nice. "Well I could show 'em to you if we ever meet up."
"I'd like that." Lightning said, immediately slapping herself mentally. She'd only just seen the woman, this was the first time they were talking and she was already hinting at seeing her again.
Fang collapsed from Lightning's response. The way she spoke softly just tore right through Fang. Looking over to the time, she groaned as it was nearly midnight. "Shit."
"What's up?" Lightning asked.
"Oh, it's nearly midnight and I gotta get up in the morning for work. I wish I didn't." Fang groaned as she rolled her eyes. Lightning chuckled, actually bloody chuckled in response.
"Right, I have to get up and drive my sister to her morning classes." Lightning said, sharing Fang's annoyance. "But you have my number now so..."
"Text you?" Fang asked hopeful.
"Mmm or you could call me." Lightning said softly with a smile. She'd been so focused on Fang's voice that she'd forgotten about the time too. Not that she minded because every moment felt well spent. Her body tomorrow however would disagree. "So I'll text you tomorrow?" Lightning asked and bit her lip. Somewhat annoyed that she had to let Fang go.
Fang gulped, quiet as she listened to the softness in Lightning's voice. Her face was bright red as she remembered to give her an answer. "Umm yeah, sure thing. Goodnight Light." She purred.
"Night!" Lightning quickly bid the sexy Pulsian goodnight and tossed her phone aside. With a sigh of relief she pulled her pillow against her and buried her face in it. She'd talk to Fang again. The thought made her heart go crazy.