This fic is a gift to LogsMinusPity, who claimed 100th review on So What Happens Next? This fic has been crossposted onto AO3, where most new material from me is now being posted.
I'm working on the principle that Cocoon card games have different but similar rules to that in our world, so attribute any errors to my regional differences or consider them otherwise deliberate.
All In
The first thing that Fang noticed when Snow and Serah's joint came into view was that a great, dirty hoverbike was parked out the front and blocking the footpath leading up to the door. The ride was what Fang had come to know as a standard-issue Guardian Corps vehicle, and it was covered in the sort of off-road muck that Fang tended to associate with the less user-friendly parts of Gran Pulse.
In spite of herself, Fang felt her lips twitch into a small smile. When she'd finally agreed to join Vanille at Serah's for what Vanille had called a 'girls' night in' and Snow had corrected as 'gambling night', she'd had no idea that the ever-elusive Lightning Farron would be back in town, let alone joining them.
The fortnightly gatherings were usually held at Serah's place and the main players, Fang was told by her ever-reliable source, were Vanille, Serah and that Team NORA chick, Lebreau. It was mostly meant to be a few drinks and a few laughs, while Snow got the hell out of there and spent the night at the Team NORA base of operations.
This time, though, Vanille had taken to the idea of Fang actually attending – instead of having to go pick her rather drunken sister up in the early hours of morning – and eventually Fang had capitulated. She'd had to finish her job as hunter-for-hire a little earlier than normal in order to be in New Bodhum at a reasonable hour, but even so, Fang was in great spirits.
Three years of stasis, plus the two since Fang and Vanille had awoken, had seen Cocoon's survivors begin to take to Gran Pulse as the people adapted. But for the occasional whinging about the crystal pillar, Orphan and the l'Cie – l'Cie that had saved all their hides, Fang thought a little bitterly – you could hardly tell that they were the same Cocoon-bred fal'Cie pets that she'd encountered that handful of years before. Etro, Fang was actually a little impressed with the rapidly-developing skills of a few of the freelance hunters she'd pitted herself against recently – not that she'd admit as much aloud.
Lightning herself was one of those people who had taken to Gran Pulse the best. That was probably why Amodar had her scouting – Fang remembered that Snow had mentioned once or twice that Lightning's work often took her a long way from the settlements.
As she knocked on the door, Fang was feeling cautiously optimistic about reconnecting with Lightning. Chances were, Fang reasoned, Lightning wouldn't even be there that night. Back before, while she'd felt some odd combination of lust, admiration, rivalry – tension, Fang simplified – with the other woman, it had faded as they'd dropped out of contact, and-
The door swung open. It was just luckthat it was Lightning who answered, and abruptly Fang was at a loss for words. The other woman looked a little surprised to see her, dressed casually and looking like she'd not been long out of the shower. Fang could smell shampoo and the soap she'd used, and Lightning's slightly damp hair held a stubborn curl around her face.
Fang swallowed, realising that she'd been holding her breath. So perhaps those old feelings weren't quite as faded as Fang had believed, but Etro that woman was attractive.
"Fang? You're -" Lightning hesitated, her hair falling over her shoulder as she looked back into the house at something. Damn. "-early."
"Yeah, Vanille said she was going to meet me here, but I ended up finishing up early today." Fang shrugged, leaning against the door frame, trying to act nonchalant even if she felt like grinning like a damn fool. "Gonna invite me in or what?"
"Invite yourself in. Serah tells me that you and Vanille are around here often enough." Lightning pushed herself away from the door, leaving it ajar so that Fang could follow her in. Closing the door quietly behind her and moving quickly to match Lightning's stride, Fang's eyes strayed down to the old, well-worn jeans Lightning was wearing, admiring the way it hugged her curves. Those old feelings? Definitely still there.
As they arrived in the lounge of Serah and Snow's house, Fang took the first available opportunity to flop herself down on the couches. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Lightning lean forward against one of the kitchen bench tops. Lightning's expression was thoughtful, as if she wanted to say something.
"I had no idea that you'd be joining Serah tonight," Lightning said quietly. "It's been a while."
Fang rolled her shoulders, feeling the joints crack as she stretched. She shot Lightning a narrow and slightly annoyed look. "Don't think that I don't know it. It is as easy as calling me up and saying, 'hey Fang, I'm in town, how about we hang out'. Haven't heard so much as a whimper from you."
It was a bit of a hint and a bit of a reprimand, and if either of them hit their proper mark, Fang would count it as a victory. Lightning, however, didn't seem to see it that way, and took that as her cue to vacate the kitchen.
Fang listened to the other woman move about the house, before sighing and grabbing a beer can from the back that she'd brought. If she strained her senses, she could hear the soft murmur of conversation, but she wasn't quite good enough to make out head or tail of what was being said.
Lightning eventually resurfaced with one Snow Villiers on her heels, and Fang tried not to feel a little disappointed. Sure, it was his house, but she could hardly be blamed for wanting to talk with Lightning for a change. Maybe she'd gone a bit too hard-ball with the accusations, Fang decided moodily as she took a large mouthful of her beer. Maybe she should have apologised. Fang eyed the other woman, trying to decide what to do, as Snow took up the space on the couch next to Fang.
"Fang," Snow grunted by way of greeting, grabbing one of Fang's beer cans and opening it before she could raise a proper protest. "How's things?"
Fang shrugged, toying with the tab on her can absently. "Same as always. Monsters to hunt and border towns to save, but people don't seem to remember their favourite monster-hunter-for-hire was a 'wretched Pulse l'Cie'."
Fang's lip curled a little – if she summoned Bahamut, she'd bet her left eye-tooth that people would be jolted into remembering her role in crashing Eden's races.
"You're lucky they don't," Lightning said from over the other side of the couch, her lips pressed into a flat line. "Stable job, and you can even work in town if you like. Some of us can't have that."
Fang felt the most overwhelming urge to argue the point with the other woman, about pride, heritage and hypocrisy, by she paused. Back during the Focus, Fang's face hadn't been properly broadcast out to thirty million fearful Cocoon inhabitants glued to their television sets. The races had been chaotic, fast-paced and while Cocoon began to get swallowed by Pulsian monsters. Fang supposed that that was by Amodar tried to keep Lightning away from the towns and instead set her to scouting, what with its shitty hours and lonely work.
Fang's irritation toward Lightning's inability to keep in contact faded abruptly into something that felt a lot like guilt.
"I s'pose its a bit of a blessing," Fang said, but it didn't feel right at all to leave it at that. "Whole thing pisses me off though. After all we did for them..."
Snow tilted his head back, grinning and mouthing something to Lightning that Fang couldn't make out. Lightning frowned down at him and swatted him on the shoulder in an easy, practiced motion that had to have been repeated a hundred times to have become so effortlessly familiar. Fang suddenly felt awkward and a little isolated, and she cleared her throat.
"Farron Junior around? I could sear this thing was her idea..." It was a feeble topic, but it was enough to dispel Fang's unease.
"Gone out to get supplies," Snow said lazily, waving his can toward the door. "Drinks, food, and replacement cards for those poker games she's so fond of."
"Cards?" Lightning asked, slowly, as if testing the word out for its truthfulness. Fang felt as if a sudden coldness had descended on the room, and Lightning's eyes narrowed. "Serah plays poker at these... nights, then?"
"Sure, why not? Isn't that the whole point of these girls' nights in?" Snow looked a little perplexed at the glare that Lightning was pinning him with. "I mean, it's no big deal, right?"
Finally, Lightning relaxed, looking up into somewhere in the distance.
"I suppose she's old enough to make her own choices," Lightning said, and Fang didn't have time to contemplate that rather strange answer when the front door of the house banged open.
Serah looked a frazzled as she came into view, her hair in disarray and she was precariously balancing an armload of bags from her trip to the New Bodhum markets. Fang watched Snow leap to his feet to aid his fiancee, listening as Serah said,
"Well, that market was unbelievably busy, Snow, I don't know what you were thinking -" Serah's exasperated lecture to Snow cut short as she noticed her sister's presence. Dumping her backs into Snow's waiting arms, Serah moved quickly to Lightning's side and threw her arms around Lightning's neck.
"Lightning!" Serah exclaimed when she pulled away, giving her sister's shoulders another squeeze. "I saw your cycle outside, but I didn't think you'd be home for another day or so!"
Of course Serah sounded happy to see Lightning, but there was something a little weird about it – was it what was being said, or how? Fang watched them, trying to pin it down.
"I pushed it pretty hard to be back here," Lightning admitted, and was it just Fang's imagination, or did Lightning look a little like someone who'd caught a kid with their hand in a lolly jar? "I'd rather be here, than sleeping in a ditch in the middle of nowhere."
Serah frowned. "You know you're always welcome to stay... but will you be going out with Snow and the rest of Team NORA tonight, or would you rather stay and rest? We'll be quiet, I promise."
Serah looked hopeful, maybe hoping that Lightning would stay on for a while and play a few games with them. Fang had to admit that she was a little hopeful herself, and she tried not to look too interested in learning the answer. Lightning seemed to consider her options, before nodding.
"No, I'll stay and play a few hands with you all. You could say that I'm feeling lucky." Lightning's lips quirked into a smile, while Serah, strangely enough, let out a long sigh. "It's been a while since I played, after all."
Fang took another long swallow of beer, attempting to stifle her victorious smirk. Food, games and beer with Lightning? Lady Luck had sure been on Fang's side that night, and Fang was not about to waste this golden opportunity.
An hour and three games later, and Fang couldn't believe she'd ever thought that Lady Luck had been on her side. Her mouth hung slightly agape as Lightning laid down her cards with a shrug and an apologetic murmur – apologetic or not, it didn't change the fact that Fang was now handing over at least a behemoth's pelt worth of her pay! The woman had a poker face that would have made a Pulsework soldier proud.
Serah, on the other hand, was looking more than a little put out with her sister, and she grumbled something to Lebreau that Fang couldn't catch.
"So this is why you've never invited Lightning before," Lebreau drawled, nudging Vanille lazily to get her to pass the bowl of crisps over. "I'm a little shocked."
Fang kept a steady eye glued to Lightning, as the other woman reached over to take a sip of her drink. That black top had no sleeves, so there was no way that Lightning was hiding a few select cards there. Even so, Fang still felt more than a little annoyed with the other woman, because nobody was as lucky as Lightning had been, not even with Lady Luck breathing a love song in their ear. The woman knew when to fold, when to press her advantage – it was unreal!
Someone lightly kicked Fang's shin from under the table, and she glared across at Vanille. Her sister smiled brightly back at her, seeming to take some kind of joy at the fact that Fang was the one getting ticked off this time, not her. Fang muttered rebelliously into her beer as Lebreau began to deal again.
"How'd you get so good, Light?" Vanille asked, shaking her head at Lebreau so she could sit the next round out. She smiled sweetly at Lightning, as if she hadn't just lost a bundle of her own cash.
"Can't imagine a law-abiding stiff like you would go out of her way to gamble all that much," Fang added casually, her eyes cutting back to the other woman suspiciously. Lightning didn't even pretend to look sorry that she was whipping their arses like some sort of conman.
"I had my reasons." Lightning's response was carefully non-committal, and her expression completely neutral, while Serah looked very much like she wanted to strangle her sister.
They continued to trade banter back and forth as they played. Vanille kept shooting Fang discreet and knowing glances, and Lebreau only looked amused as she dealt out the cards. Fang supposed that was fair – Lebreau was dealing, and hadn't just lost a bloody week's worth of pay to Lightning, had she? Another three short games later, Fang was not much better off in the financial department, but she was certain of the hand that she'd landed. A small smile crossed her lips, and she raised her eyes challengingly at Lightning.
Across the table, Lightning studied her for a moment, before placing a small stack of gil on the table with a nod even as Vanille and Serah folded. So, Lightning was in, and Fang was looking forward to seeing the shock on her face as -
Fang froze as Lightning tossed her cards to the table, completely unbelieving. Somehow, somehow, Lightning had managed to get herself a better hand. The boundary of probability abruptly ran out, and Fang openly glared at Lightning.
"You are cheating," Fang bit out, tossing her cards to the table.
Lightning's eyebrow rose just a fraction.
"Is that right?" Lightning asked, grabbing the whole wad of gil that Fang had bet on her hand. "Aren't you the one who keeps swearing to Lady Luck? Or are you just feeling a little insecure?"
"No, no. You are cheating." Fang leaned across the table, right into Lightning's personal space. She ignored Vanille's scandalised protests, Lebreau's chuckles and Serah's sighs, intent on Lightning. "I don't care how, I don't care why, but I swear to Etro and Lady Luck that this ends now."
Lightning was a little flushed as she resolutely leaned in, not buying into Fang's intimidation tactics at all. Fang could smell that perfume and could feel her warmth – suddenly the mental picture of Lady Luck breathing that love song into Lightning's ear was a little too much. Fang settled back into her chair, taking another long swig from her beer in order to mask her hasty retreat.
"You are going down." Fang bared her teeth in a somewhat threatening way as Lebreau began to prepare for the next game. "Hard."
Things, of course, had escalated quickly. Neither of them would stomach backing down or admitting defeat, so battling it out until the bitter end seemed like the only possible outcome to the whole thing. Having long since grown bored of the battle of wills going on at the kitchen table, Vanille, Serah and Lebreau had moved the drinks and chat off into another part of the house. If Fang listened, she could occasionally hear laughter and the sound of Vanille animatedly telling another story, but Fang ignored it in favour of staring Lightning down.
The win-loss ratio had slowly evened out after Fang had started to take the games more seriously and they'd had a few more drinks, but it still wasn't enough.
The fact that Fang was on her seventh can for the night and that Lightning had tossed back just as much alcohol in shots was probably why the stakes had increased so dramatically. Of course Fang had shot her mouth off when she'd finally run out of gil. Of course Fang had been so impulsive as to bet her shirt.
She hadn't exactly been expecting Lightning to accept that bet, though, and as Fang looked across the table at her, she wasn't sure if the woman was serious or just trying to call a bluff. Lightning was smiling though, a little unsteady and still a little flushed from all the shots she'd downed. Fang had to admire her, and even if the whole night had been one seriously frustrating fiasco, it had been fun.
Etro, Fang groaned internally. She really hadn't realised how much she'd missed having Lightning around.
"You're just delaying the inevitable," Lightning told Fang, her blue eyes narrowed and a smirk tugging at her lips. Fang let her own smile widen in response, letting it become just a little feral.
"Fine, have it your way." Fang kept her voice even and casual, enjoying the surprise that flashed across Lightning's face as Fang quickly unbuttoned her shirt. She tossed the garment onto the table without a flourish, and propping herself up on one elbow, she leaned forward.
"All in, Light."
Lightning cleared her throat, casting an eye up and down Fang's body so quickly that Fang would have missed it if she hadn't been watching for it.
"New tattoos, huh?" Lightning's voice was carefully controlled, and she was only a tiny bit redder than she'd been before. Fang's smile widened.
"I always like a chance to show them off," Fang said, lounging back in her chair in an untidy sprawl. "Come on then. We playing this, or are you just delaying the inevitable?"
Lightning nodded a little stiffly, and placed her own gil next to the pot and crossed her arms, looking just a little impatient. Fang shrugged, dealing out the cards, and they fell into a rhythm as they began their last round. Lightning was distracted, though – maybe it was the shots, maybe it was Fang's lack of shirt, but that same level of calm calculation Fang had come to expect was not there. Fang was nearly crowing with delight at how the tables had turned.
By the time everything was dealt, they both had remained stubbornly in the game and it was time to see who Lady Luck really loved, and this time, Fang had a good feeling.
"Head-hunter's hand," Fang drawled, laying her cards on the wooden table with a smirk. She didn't know what this hand was termed in Cocoon, but from the frozen look on Lightning's face? She'd just won her shirt back.
Lightning snorted softly, tossing her own cards to the table face-down. Fang's smile grew, and she grabbed her shirt from off the table. It might have taken her all bloody night, Fang thought in satisfaction as she buttoned up her clothing, but she'd finally pulled a resounding victory over Lightning. All was well in the world.
The table jostled as Lightning pushed herself slowly to her feet, and she murmured something about needing a coffee. Fang shook her head at Lightning's questioning look, and she absently watched the clock tick over as she listened to Lightning move around Snow and Serah's kitchen. To be fair, it was getting pretty late. She was actually pretty glad she'd had the forethought to take the next day off, but a big part of her was sorry that it was going to be over soon. She had no idea of when she'd next cross paths with Lightning, let alone spend any quality time with her.
Fang moodily drummed her fingers on the table, her good spirits fading a little.
Lightning made her way back to the kitchen table, ignoring the seat she'd previously taken opposite Fang and instead claimed the one next to her. They were quiet for a time, Lightning sipping on coffee, and Fang feeling far too aware of Lightning's close proximity, warmth and the fact that her chances at rekindling anything were quickly dwindling.
"Where did you learn to play like that?" Fang finally asked, sick of the silence. "Etro. Do casinos have you blacklisted or something?"
Lightning shot Fang a look out the corner of her eye. "It's not a story I usually recount on demand. But after tonight's performance, I suppose I owe you one."
"You don't say," Fang muttered, letting herself smile a little. Lightning snorted softly at Fang's half-hearted jab, and looked down into her mug, thoughtful.
"When we were younger, maybe a year or two after our parents died... Serah managed to fall in with a... well. Less than desirable crowd. A bunch of older kids. Drugs. Vandalism. Gambling." Lightning's mouth gave a bitter twist at that last one. That revelation on Serah's past made Lightning's surprise at the 'girls' nights in' make a little more sense. Fang frankly couldn't picture it, but simply nodded.
"Our father was a gambler, at least 'til he passed on. Spent all his pay at the machines, wracked up a huge debt, nearly bankrupted us all. When he died, he left us in a huge debt. As a kid, I was devastated, but as I grew older, I hated him for it. I admit I saw a little red when I heard what Serah was up to."
"Still not seeing how you went from hating it to whipping our arses tonight," Fang pointed out mildly. Serah's old crowd and Lightning's dad were not the point of the story, and Lightning well knew it.
"I decided to learn about it, what made people tick. It went beyond just knowing the enemy – it was hard. I'm not saying that it wasn't, or that I'm some sort of brilliant master of the game, but I took the time to live and breathe it for nearly a year. Every rule, every underhanded tactic, every system, every tell. Serah and her crowd made the mistake of playing a few games with me, and..."
"They had such a bad time if it that they all went on the straight and narrow?" Fang asked, a little unbelieving.
"Of course not. Serah found herself grounded for a few months after my plan had no effect at all, but eventually grew the hell up. She knows my feelings on the topic, though." Lightning sounded amused, and Fang exhaled sharply and leaned back against Lightning's shoulder.
"It was just a little harmless fun, Light. You didn't need to go and make examples of us all."
"I didn't," Lightning told her, and at Fang's pointed look, amended quickly, "Well, not as much as I could have done. You all have such poor game faces that the state of your hands were obvious, even to an idiot. I hardly needed to bring out the cheats and tricks."
"You're unreal." Fang sighed, rubbing her forehead to ease the growing headache. Trust Lightning to take what was meant to be a night of fun and turn it into something serious and competitive.
"I'm glad you're impressed," Lightning said softly, and Fang glanced sideways at her, trying to decide whether that remark had been a sarcastic one or not.
"It was kind of an arsehole thing to do, though." Fang watched Lightning's jaw tighten a little at the rebuke, but decided to ignore it. "We were playing for fun, not for the world title. Shits and giggles, that sort of thing."
"The money was never going to leave with me." Lightning looked down at her, her blue eyes openly challenging, and Fang felt a small shiver go through her. "And you didn't have fun?"
"Well," Fang started, nudging the other woman with her elbow. "I suppose we're square for tonight, if you're really not going to take your ill-gotten gains. Was a bit of a shock when you agreed to let me bet my shirt, though."
"I didn't think you'd win, either," Lightning admitted with a soft laugh, and Fang felt the corners of her mouth tug into a small smile.
"Oh, I see how it was. You wanted me to flash a little skin? For shame, Lightning." Fang laughed, feeling Lightning go rigid a little through the warm contact against her back.
"No, I just-" Lightning began, sounding a little alarmed by Fang's accusations, but Fang cut her off.
"All a part of your grand plan, then." Fang leaned back a little more, settling further against Lightning's arm and just enjoying the warmth, scent, feel of Lightning relaxing into Fang's own closeness. The close proximity of the woman was intoxicating, and sooner or later, Fang was going to have to go home, or Lightning would take her leave, and the easy familiarity they'd fallen into would be lost again.
"Can't say you're putting up a convincing argument otherwise, Light." Fang wet her lips, casting a quick look over her shoulder to Lightning. She could practically count her own heartbeats as they pounded in her ears, and she watched Lightning's blue eyes flicker from the coffee cup to Fang, and then back down again as Lightning began to toy with the ceramic rim.
"Maybe it's true... just a little," Lightning said, her voice low and uncertain, her eyes flickering back to Fang's in a moment of complete seriousness.
Fang blinked, a little surprised by the concession, and her mouth suddenly felt completely dry. "You... you for real?"
She felt Lightning hesitate – Etro damn it – and suddenly Lightning was rising to her feet and that warm presence at Fang's back was gone. Why? What in Etro's name was wrong with what Fang had said? She quickly put it together as Lightning was speaking, saying something about calling it a night and Amodar and scouting -
"Light," Fang cut in as she rose to her feet, and miracle of miracles, Lightning actually listened and stopped. Fang didn't need to think as she moved forward and pressed her lips against Lightning's, hesitant at first, gentle and unsure if it would be welcome at all. She felt Lightning suck in an unsteady breath, her hands curling into Fang's shirt as she responded with short and lingering kisses that gave just enough that heat began somewhere in Fang's stomach and spread quickly.
Somewhere between one breath and the next, Lightning's kisses grew heavier and faster, spurring Fang on until she was flush against the other woman, pressing her back against the kitchen's counter top. Lightning's fingers were buried in Fang's hair, tangled in and pulling her closer, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she pressed her lips against the exposed skin of Fang's collarbone. Fang braced her hands on the bench either side of Lightning, pulling away just slightly.
"You sure you want to stay in Serah's spare bedroom tonight?" Fang asked a little breathlessly against Lightning's ear, enjoying how the other woman shivered at the sensation. Lightning slowly detangled her fingers from Fang's hair, running her hands up the front of Fang's thighs and travelling up under her shirt a little, pressing flat against the jut of her hips.
"If I get your shirt off for real tonight, have I won?" Lightning asked with a low laugh, toying with a button as Fang leaned forward to kiss her again.
"I'm game to try my luck." Fang let Lightning go to scribble a quick note to let Serah know she'd gone out for the night. Vanille would be able to take care of herself, Fang reasoned, especially after realising where Lightning had nicked off to so late at night.
All in, that's for sure, Fang thought with a little satisfaction as she grabbed Lightning's wrist and towed her toward the door.
A/N: Lightning, you flirt in some really odd ways. Consider yourself lucky Fang still liked you and didn't deck you for your efforts.