Like Burning
The plan—not that it could even be called a plan; it was more like a sudden whimsical impulse, really—was for Rose to hide up in the tree until Alisha was settled beneath it, then jump down and land right beside her. A simple, harmless little stunt, meant to spook Alisha a bit before the princess settled down to read her book under the tree. It was a stupid joke, yes, Rose knew that, but there's always been something about Alisha's adorable squeal when she gets scared and her pouting face when she gets teased that brings out all the most immature sides of Rose.
Unfortunately, Rose lost her footing on the high branch way before Alisha even got close, hitting the ground shoulder-first with a sickening thud.
Which leads Rose to where she is now: on the ground, moaning, left arm throbbing as she rolls onto her back.
…Okay, this might not have been one of Rose's better ideas.
From a ways away, Alisha gives a startled cry, and Rose groans as she hears the princess rush over. She bends down at Rose's side and then gasps, hands flying to her open mouth, and Rose winces at the spike of pain that shoots up her arm when she shifts to take a look at the damage for herself. A single glance and she winces again, this time from the sight: her arm probably shouldn't be bending that way.
Yeah. This idea actually sucked balls.
"Rose, how did—?!" Alisha's gaze trails up the tall tree, and Rose sees the pieces click together in her head. "What in the hells were you doing up there?!"
"Hoping to get a scream out of you when I came down," Rose fesses up, managing a half-shrug with her good shoulder and forcing a laugh through clenched teeth. "Guess it worked. Just listen to you."
"That's not funny!" Alisha cries, pounding a gloved fist down on the grass, scarcely an inch from Rose's injured shoulder.
Rose decides to hold her tongue.
"Lady Lailah!" Alisha calls up towards the top floor of their newest makeshift headquarters, where Rose knows all the seraphim are currently resting. "We need some help down here!"
"Alisha?" Lailah's voice replies, and Rose has to crane her neck, somewhat painfully, so that she can see her other girlfriend appear in the third story window. "Is something the matt—Oh my!"
Lailah's hand flies to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock, and Rose watches as the form in the window vanishes into thin air to then reappear right beside her and Alisha. Before Lailah's knees even hit the ground, her hands are already outstretched towards Rose's twisted arm, glowing with the light of a familiar healing spell, and Alisha shifts to Rose's other side to give Lailah full access to the injured one.
"What happened?" Lailah breathes, panic in her face and voice, but already her arte is swallowing up the pain, replacing it with an alleviating warmth as her bones and muscles realign, so Rose exhales a sigh of relief and shoots her a reassuring grin. Or, what's supposed to be one, anyway. Lailah doesn't actually look all that reassured.
"Rose tried to scare me by jumping down from the tree," Alisha tells Lailah, her voice practically a whine, and Rose can't help but snort at how much that makes her sound like a five-year-old ratting out her sibling to their mom.
…Rose is going to hit the brakes on this train of thought before that analogical depiction of both her girlfriends gets any weirder.
Lailah gapes at Rose. "You did this to yourself?!"
In response, Rose can only offer a weak attempt at a joke. "Yeah, I did not stick that landing."
"Rose, honestly!"
But by now, the pain has mostly subsided and her arm no longer bends back like a door missing a hinge, so Rose moves to push herself up. She's cautious, at first, but there's no sudden jolt of pain in her arm when she applies pressure to it, and she shifts into a sitting position without a hitch. Rose grins, flexes her arm twice to demonstrate that it's perfectly fine, and declares cheerily, "Great, all better now! Thanks, Lailah."
Rose bends over, pecks her cheek in what is both genuine gratitude and an (admittedly underhanded) attempt to soften Lailah up—but before she can pull away, Lailah hooks an arm around her neck and gently tugs her back in. Rose blinks in surprise, but once she sees the sheer relief flooding Lailah's features, understanding dawns, and she leans in until Lailah's lips are pressed up against her own. Rose reaches up to cup Lailah's face; her cheeks radiate warmth against Rose's palms, blazing even hotter when Rose starts sucking at the other's bottom lip, and Lailah eagerly accommodates her, parting her lips slightly with a contented sigh.
Finally, Rose stills, letting the kiss linger for a moment longer before pulling away, and Lailah blinks back at her as if in a daze, before her gaze suddenly sharpens, as if she just remembered that she ought to be upset.
"Geez, Rose!" Lailah chides, though Rose finds it somewhat undermined by the fact that she's still smiling. "You shouldn't be so reckless. What would you have done if I wasn't around?"
"Aw, come on. I'll always have you around to patch me up after I do stupid shit, right?" Rose's grin isn't nearly as carefree as she tries to make it look, though—and Lailah pouts, clearly not buying into it. Rose sighs in defeat as that sends a pang of guilt shooting through her; dammit, deflection never seems to work on anyone anymore. "Look, I get it, okay? I'll be more careful from now on, promise."
"Well," Alisha huffs at her other side, and Rose turns her head just as the princess delivers a light punch to her other, unharmed arm. "I do hope you'll keep this in mind the next time you feel like playing some foolish joke on me."
Rose laughs. "Oh please. Like hell I'm ever gonna give up messing with you. It's way too much fun." She winks cheekily. "I just gotta watch my step next time."
"Unbelievable," Alisha mutters sulkily, shaking her head, causing Rose to snicker—but the next thing Rose knows, Alisha is on her, straddling her legs and grabbing her by the strings of her bolero, the princess's expression fierce as she stares Rose straight in the face.
"In that case, I have no choice but to unleash a preemptive strike."
Before Rose can even realize what's happening, Alisha has yanked her close, arms clamping around her shoulders as a seeking mouth latches onto her exposed collarbone. Since Lailah healed everything over, it doesn't hurt, not like it surely would have mere minutes ago, but even so, Rose yelps aloud at the force of Alisha's grip. That sound morphs into a breathy gasp when Alisha's teeth starts scraping over skin, though, and Rose throws her head back as a low, shuddering moan escapes her lips.
Shit. Alisha's got her good.
Rose tries to get away, tries to bring her arms up to push at Alisha's head or pound fists against her back or do something that will get her off, but Alisha doesn't even flinch and Rose knows it's no use. Alisha can get intense, and when she does, she's unstoppable.
That won't stop Rose from at least struggling, though—her pride won't let her give in without a fight—so she fumbles her hands back along the grass in search of purchase, attempts to scoot backwards on her palms…
Only to collide right smack into what feels like a chest, and the next moment, arms curl around her abdomen and legs fold around her hips and Lailah's telltale giggle rings in her ear, making Rose gape with shock. Oh, she's familiar with sudden surprise ambushes from Alisha—constantly keeping each other on their toes is kind of a core part of their relationship, actually—but from Lailah?
"H-hey, lemme go!" Rose gasps, shoving Alisha's stomach and squirming in Lailah's vice grip because dammit, this is not fair. "Two on one is cheating!"
"Sorry, Rose," Lailah singsongs, and flutters her lips over that one spot on the column of Rose's neck that she knows always drives her up the wall. "But I think I need to side with the Squire on this one."
Whatever protest Rose was about to voice dies in her throat as Lailah trails soft kisses along her neck, and what little breath Rose has left after that is stolen away entirely when Alisha's mouth captures her own, taking Rose's lower lip between her teeth and nibbling on it. As much as Rose's own competitive streak flares up at Alisha's aggression, urges her to retaliate with equally forceful passion, the compulsion fades away when Lailah starts to tease, hands sliding beneath the fabric of Rose's shirt to skim up her sides.
Lailah's fingertips are hot—abnormally so, in a way that can only be the result of purposeful spell casting—not nearly enough to burn but more than enough to leave Rose's flesh tingling pleasurably everywhere they touch. Lailah traces patterns into her skin, plays with the bumps of her ribs like they're piano keys, until those hands suddenly find the whole of her breasts and Rose gives a muffled squeal against Alisha's lips as they gently squeeze her through her bra. Must be payback, Rose figures, for all those times Rose would sneak up on Lailah and grope her chest for a laugh.
One of Alisha's own hands drifts down to Rose's hip, hooks a finger into the hem of her pants to tug lightly at the fabric, and Rose finally melts, yielding entirely to the power of both her girlfriends' combined heat. Her mind enveloped in a pleasured haze, Rose moans into Alisha's wet mouth, twitches needfully in Lailah's grasp, arches her body between them in eager anticipation of both her girlfriends possibly just ravishing her right here…
"Hey. Shameless hormonal trio down there."
Rose feels the other two freeze up against her at the familiar deadpan tone, their ministrations ceasing entirely, and Rose glances up to see Edna and Zaveid watching them from that same window: Edna looking rather bored, Zaveid looking like this is a dream come true.
"Could you three get a room?" Edna continues to address them, dryly. "Or at least be quieter. We can hear you all the way up here."
"Seriously!" Mikleo's voice calls from within the room, and even though he's not in Rose's line of vision, she can still practically see him with his head in his hands as he moans, "Have some decency, people!"
"Speak for yourself, Mickey-boy!" Zaveid drawls. "I say, let the show go on!"
That destroys the mood faster than anything else, and within seconds, Lailah disentangles herself from Rose and stands, sounding eternally done as she calls up to the window, "Show's over, Zaveid."
Alisha blushes hard before pulling back too, getting back onto her feet and brushing at her leggings-armor as if to wipe it of dust. "Y-yes," she agrees. "We're finished here."
Zaveid pouts but apparently gets the message, disappearing back inside the room. Rose, her lips now kiss-bruised and her whole body still flushed hot, groans aloud and fires a glare up at Edna; the insufferable little shrimp merely shrugs before calmly retreating back inside as well.
Dammit. Just when Rose was getting into it.
Her enthusiasm now faded to disappointed resignation, Rose moves to stand, too, and when Lailah proffers a hand down to help her up, Rose takes it without a second thought. Once she gets on her feet and tries to reclaim her hand, though, Rose is met with resistance, Lailah evidently refusing to let go. Rose blinks at her, confused, but before she has the chance to gather herself, her other hand is trapped in an unyielding vice grip as well, and Rose whirls her head to lock gazes with Alisha.
"Don't think this means you're getting away from us," Alisha proclaims determinedly.
"Indeed." Lailah chimes from her right side, smiling sweetly. "You still have yet to learn your lesson about being more careful with yourself."
Rose furrows her brow, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "So…what? You're both gonna hold my hands all day? Is that it?"
Lailah nods. "If that's what it will take keep you out of trouble."
"So now you're stuck with us." Alisha nudges Rose's shoulder with her own. "Capisce?"
Rose just stares for a while, contemplative, before allowing herself a smirk and giving each of their hands a quick, amenable squeeze. "Sure. Got it."
After all, if their intent is to keep Rose out of trouble, best to keep them close so that she can drag them both into it instead.