A/N: Hey kids. Guess who really got into this pairing (does that count if it's three of them? Ahahaha)? THAT'S RIGHT BABY, ME. Well, uh, following the hilarious introduction of the 'Neopolitan' concept - if you do not know what this is LOOK IT THE FUCK UP or think about it for a sec, Lightning, Vanille, Fang... ice cream... yeah?
No angst whatsoever, I hope you all enjoy. I'm a terrible, terrible writer for updating so little I know, enjoy what's there my darlings. As always, tell me what you think, it's always appreciated.
Also, just incase anyone has a shitfit about this, it's also posted under the lj community oerbas under the username 'pillowanchor'. Again, enjoy!
Vacillation
Lightning groaned softly and brushed her hair out of her eyes. It needed a cut, she thought, having delayed the prospect of simply going ballistic with a pair of scissors months ago when Serah almost had at her with said pair of scissors after discovering her in the bathroom of their apartment snipping merrily away. Thankfully her hair was naturally quite fine, and her small session of going chop happy hadn't marred its style too terribly. Since then she felt it had grown out an alarming amount however, sprouting about her scalp in abundance. She would cut it, but Serah would go mad. Serah was…
Serah wasn't really around anymore – right now - was she? Maybe she should just cut it…
Her eyes flicked up to the ever-present strand covering her face and she blew it gently so it flipped upwards, before settling back down again.
Serah would actually annihilate her.
She looked at her gunblade, glinting handsomely in the evening sun, propped faithfully next to her. Yeah, she would.
Lightning debated things for a while, eventually deciding against it.
"Light?"
The woman in question glanced to the side, spotting Vanille easily. "Yeah." She responded quietly, looking coolly at the Pulse born girl. "What is it?" Receiving no instant reply, she continued, "Something happen?"
Vanille worried her bottom lip, maintaining eye contact, before smiling, her lip popping out from beneath her – very white – teeth as she did so. Lightning's eyes narrowed just barely, a delicate brow rising unnoticeably.
Her companion rocked on the balls of her feet, still smiling, still looking ever so imploringly into her eyes with her own shockingly bright ones. The wind picked up, tickling the hairs framing the girl's pretty face but making her shiver. She rubbed her arms as if to warm up, but didn't look away. The older woman couldn't help the passing thought that Vanille looked pretty, though in saying that it was not as if she were blind to exactly what appeared to be aesthetically pleasing.
Lightning didn't realise the effect the breeze had on her as well; her hair swayed, a strand gliding easily over her lips, her fringe hiding and revealing her eyes all at once. Vanille stared, still. Additionally to not catching on to her own utter sexiness, she didn't realise that she had removed the (arguably thin) outer coat she always wore, having draped it over the girl's body. The girl in question giggled; Lightning was so kind sometimes, and she didn't even see it.
"…What?" Lightning finally managed, at last getting a little creeped out by the fact that Vanille must have not blinked for about five minutes.
"How do I put this…?" Vanille paused, seeming to be deliberating her next words as though they hanged on something deeply important. She held the coat tighter against her, breathing into it; breathing her in. She blushed a little, praying her companion wouldn't notice. Turns out she had nothing to worry about, as said companion was staring blankly at her, impervious to the cold and her discomfort.
"…Yes?"
"You are…"
Lightning refrained from yelling something like 'FANTASTIC' and instead maintained a very neutral expression.
Vanille fidgeted a little, before quickly coming up to press an impossibly soft kiss to Lightning's cheek. The latter was taller, and she had to step onto her tip-toes.
Lightning blinked at her and it could have been audible for how well she emoted it.
After a moment or maybe several, Lightning spoke in her usual gentle, husky tone, "Oh."
Vanille looked away. "Yeah…"
Lightning frowned ever so slightly, pouting a little without realising, and reached out to gently brush her fingers across Vanille's cheek, tilting it up to face her. Vanille was too busy taking in the gravity of how it felt to have such a strong, kind person touch her so tenderly – apart from Fang – to say anything.
Slowly, surely, the other woman closed the distance, pressing wonderfully soft lips onto her own. The kiss was simple, and yet Vanille's body thrummed with pleasure and want of the woman. Said woman pulled away, not before flicking her tongue quickly over her lips. She tried to chase, but Lightning put a finger to her lips.
"I don't get it." Lightning said simply.
Vanille may have had it in her to beat the woman senseless, if not for a (very) rare and slow smile spreading across Lightning's face. The expression was sure, confident, eyes soft and warm. She kissed her again.
"Hey, Light."
Oh here we go.
"Vanille said something about you earlier."
Lightning blinked, not caring one way or the other what anyone said about her, and turned impossibly slowly towards Fang, inch by inch. The latter was a little creeped out by the action but didn't show it exactly.
The way Fang had said 'something' made Lightning wonder. It was not often Fang decided to approach her with casual conversation, despite the woman seeming to take complete delight in ambushing her hapless self with a barrage of seemingly useless questions, designed of course to either get a rise or fluster her in some way or another.
Then there were those times when it would be just the two of them scouting an area of Gran Pulse. Sticking close together, brushing bodily up against each other through the tall grass. Lightning never said anything, but sometimes the touches to get past one another appeared to be a little unnecessary. Inappropriate, would be the word to immediately spring to mind, had she not been enjoying the gentle little pats and subtle caresses to a somewhat unhealthy extent.
And then… there were those times when they'd have to camp out for the evening. Fang would declare passage either back to base camp or onwards too perilous for one reason or another, often relating to poor lighting and the savage, unpredictable weather conditions ever present on Gran Pulse. Lightning would subsequently radio in to the others, reassuring them of their safety and reminding them dutifully of what they could and could not eat (this was more for Snow's benefit).
She would then wordlessly pass her communications device to Fang, who would take it and talk to Vanille for approximately half an hour. Her conversation with the energetic, pretty girl would employ a particular schema. At first she would greet with something fairly generic and possibly charming in nature – i.e. 'Hey trouble, how ya doin'?' – before the pair of them would babble enthusiastically about some fantastic kill or another – 'a behemoth? Score!' – with assorted talk in varying intonations from that point onward. Towards the final five minutes of the conversation (at which point they begin to say goodbye) cue a lasting session of 'hang up', 'no, you hang up' responses.
Absolutely finally though, after all the jokes and events were put aside, Fang would say, with utmost certainty and heartfelt sincerity: 'I love you'.
'I love you too' could come about as well, depending on whether the girl on the other side had initiated the particular exchange or not.
Regardless of subject manner and how it would adhere itself to a particular pattern – but vary in tone and voice – that particular segment of the lasting conversation would always sound as wonderfully powerful as the last, as though those three – or indeed, four – words would never tire.
Lightning actually appreciated that.
Contrary to the stony, unfeeling persona she appeared to delight in presenting to the general populace, she had herself an underlying sense of vulnerability. She cared. She cared so deeply and loyally, being in possession of an unremitting devotion towards those she felt strongly towards – Serah being a prime example. Although really, this care did not extend so much (at all…) to those she did not deem worthy of it.
So when Vanille had kissed her seemingly out of the blue, while she had responded in kind at the time, after the initial pleasure had burned off and the gravity of Vanille's – and her own – actions had sunk in, she had felt guilty.
Incredibly, bone-crushingly guilty.
She and Vanille kissed longer after the first few meetings of lips, and the tenderness of the affectionate exchange had to have clouded over Lightning's perception of right and wrong, fogging over her moral compass.
That had to have been it.
But later on after all was seemingly said and done, Vanille merely smiled, kissed her one final, lingering, achingly sweet time, and pranced off, giggling and blushing all the while. She'd missed what would've been quite a hilarious dumbstruck expression on Lightning's face.
Lightning mulled over the events of the morning in her head and took small pains to avoid being in direct contact with either Fang or Vanille, having sensed the two were in a relationship without them even vaguely needing to verbalise it formally.
She… really liked Vanille, actually. So the kiss was welcome. But Vanille was very much with Fang and Fang was very much with Vanille, and elbowing her way in between the two of them – even if it was less of a shove and more of a gentle coax in by one of the aforementioned parties – was out of the question.
But…
Lightning paused in her musings to look coolly at Fang, realising that she hadn't actually responded to the woman's statement yet.
The thing that was even more disturbing was that she really liked Fang too, in fact.
That realisation on its own was enough to topple her the first time she stumbled – quite literally, it seemed back then – upon it. She'd even been hunting with the woman at the time, about to sink the steel of her blade deep into the neck of a King Behemoth when comprehension smacked her right in between the eyes with all the tenderness of a runaway dump truck. Stumbling, she all but impaled herself on the end of her gunblade, and Fang was actually torn for a moment between killing the poor creature – not Lightning – or laughing/smacking the woman. Fortunately for the pair she had eventually decided to lop the thing's head off – not Lightning – before acknowledging what would have been her other option by presenting Lightning with a particularly incredulous look.
Incidentally, Lightning's initial reaction to liking Vanille actually came about just before it was made abundantly clear that she was in a relationship of some description. That on its own, despite the possibility of Vanille being single was fairly traumatic in and of itself, especially seeing as how the girl derived much joy from clinging onto her and attempting to harass her in some way or another randomly.
However, she'd been far too distracted with the looming threat of becoming a Cie'th, and was in the frame of mind to dismiss such notions with moderate ease.
But then came the realisation with Fang, which did not help in calming Lightning's already very addled brain, although to her credit she did not get remotely jealous, which would be surprising for any other person in her position. She even handled the whole thing quite well, not showing any outward feelings of affection or even reacting so much to either female's presence.
But then came this morning.
Which brings her to the here and now.
Lightning sighed, deciding at last she may as well face the music. "Did she?" She asked, affecting a fairly bored tone as usual, her husky voice somehow making the menial question sound terribly important.
"Yes, actually." Fang replied, putting together a foundation of large, thick sticks as the basis for a fire. She was grinning in that sexy, irritating little way of hers, but there was a gleam in her eye this time, reflected by the moonlight, as though she had a secret.
Fang placed several wads of dry grass in the small, currently open structure she'd made, before reaching over to a pile of thinner sticks to start layering on top. Lightning helped, adjusting the arrangement to make for a more lucrative flame once they'd lit the wood. Fang smiled companionably to show her thanks, and their hands touched, fingertips grazing briefly.
After several moments they'd finished getting an ideal formation consisting of wood and straw, and Lightning cast a low-level fire spell to provide light and warmth. They sat at opposite sides of the fire on makeshift rolled out mats they'd made from ripping out the patterned upholstery of a worn out airship.
Lightning stared at the bright, magic born flame, distracting herself from the clusterfuck she was sure to happen imminently.
As though reading her mind, Fang abruptly chuckled. Lightning lifted her head up, strawberry blonde strands shifting airily across her face and over her eyes. Their gazes met, and Lightning found that while she liked the both of them, they had their own way of affecting her. Vanille made her feel more confident, assured, and it was as though the two of them fit together, sharing in warmth produced only by two people being together. Fang on the other hand rubbed her the wrong way a lot of the time, being somewhat prideful at times and downright stubborn, but in these ways they were actually eerily similar. Lightning and Vanille complimented each other in a way that was similar but very much different to how the redhead complimented Fang, but how Lightning and Fang fit was completely different.
She would say that Fang intimidated her, but that wouldn't be accurate. She was not intimidated; she respected the woman and her skills, very much so. Fang just had a way of saying what you didn't want to hear but needed to, a way of crawling under your skin and then deciding to roll about under it just because she knew it would irritate you.
But then Fang and Vanille would be really similar, both offering a hand to steady her should the cliffs they traverse give trouble, asking if she was okay, offering alternative, more entertaining methods with dealing with life than the simple systematic approach that she was fond of.
Fang regarded her, gaze piercing and strong in the hot, golden light given off by the fire. "You gonna stay over there the whole night, Light?"
At this point Lightning would have had no qualms about saying something to the effect of 'well, duh' as they would usually stay on opposite sides of the makeshift camp so that keeping an eye out for creatures would be easier. But this time, there was a hint of something else in how Fang looked at her. Like she was good enough to eat, but – and if this could even be conveyed in a gaze – good enough to take out to a nice place to eat all at once.
For that reason, Lightning made movements to suggest she was about to roll up her mat. Fang shook her head, gesturing with a hand that she ought to just bring the furs they use as blankets, not the mat. Lightning complied wordlessly.
She sat on the opposite side of Fang's resting place, the fur blanket curled at her feet. Fang tutted at where she chose to sit in relation to her, but didn't say anything.
The fire crackled in the silence, and insects chirped as trees rustled with a warm breeze that was ubiquitous to Gran Pulse.
"Vanille said, Lightning." Fang was looking at her, in fact she'd been looking in her direction for almost the entire time they'd set up camp, even when talking to Vanille. "She said."
Lightning would've replied with 'she said what?' but knew that wasn't what Fang was getting at. She blinked gently, throwing a bit of yellowed grass into the campfire.
"Oh."
"Yeah…"
Lightning was reminded of an earlier exchange. Déjà vu, she thought ruefully.
Sensing a predictable plummet in the conversation, Fang sighed, though it didn't sound particularly down-trodden, just expectant in a way, and closed the distance between them. Lightning didn't so much as flinch when the Pulse-born woman sidled up next to her and draped an easy arm across her shoulders. Lightning even leaned into her, allowing herself a small moment to appreciate her warmth.
And then, just like that, Fang used her hand that was around her to gently tilt her head, and she kissed her. Lightning caught the woman's expression just before their lips met, and it wasn't mocking or amused – she was sure of herself, passionate and with a measure of tenderness.
They pulled away a little, lips separating with a soft smacking sound, before coming together again, tongues gently parting glistening lips, exploring one another. They kissed languidly, without a care in the world, and yet the slow, unrelenting sureness of it served to stoke a fire in Lightning's belly, not unlike the flame they'd built earlier. Fang brought her other hand up to tenderly cup Lightning's face, and in turn Lightning moved her own hand to gently eclipse the one over her cheek.
Slowly, Fang leaned down, and Lightning followed the motion, allowing herself to become pliant to her moving hands and lips and gently nipping teeth, resting on her back against the fur blanket. Fang made a move to straddle her and she welcomed it, wrapping her arms around the strong body above her and not breaking the kiss that had started to grow in heat and momentum.
Fang was strong, muscular even, but not in an obvious way. Her strength did not rob her of her femininity, and her muscles moved, iron-like in their power beneath impossibly smooth skin with all the grace and ease of a panther. Lightning was similar to her in some ways with regard to body shape; however she was much more compact, built for speed and agility – a runner or a swimmer's body. A cheetah.
Fang nipped and pulled at Lightning's bottom lip and the strawberry blonde moaned without being able to help it. Fang chuckled, but it was swallowed by Lightning slanting her mouth over her own, arching into her, wrapping her long, lithe legs around her hips and then rolling them over so she was on top. Lightning grasped her by the wrists, and although Fang was stronger she found herself overwhelmed by the sensations given unto her. She would later reflect that she could not be blamed; many would have a similar reaction to being flipped and pinned whilst making out with Sergeant Lightning Farron.
After the minutes eventually rolled into hours and articles of clothing had fallen, they fell still. All things considered they were still decent: Lightning still possessed a pair of underwear on her person but aside from that was entirely nude, and Fang was in a similar state of affairs with just her black shorts on.
They were panting heavily, palming and groping and grabbing at each other's flesh – whatever they could touch – and arching eagerly into one another's bodies. Lightning bit gently on a nipple and Fang moaned, body curving into her touch as her companion then tongued her.
And then someone's hand moved deftly towards the waistband of whoever's underwear, and they both stopped, looking sharply and deeply into one another's eyes.
"I think…" Someone began.
"Yeah."
"Right."
The hand detracted, both parties chuckling ruefully to themselves and each other, before Lightning relaxed on top of Fang's delightfully warm body, and Fang's arms came around her. Their breaths expelled quickly, falling onto one another's ears, as they had their faces pressed side by side. Eventually they slowed, and Lightning tucked her head into the crook of Fang's neck, her cheek pressed against her chest, and listened to her heartbeat. It was strong and soothing in her ears.
Fang chuckled again, running a gentle hand through Lightning's pinkish locks. "Vanille does know, just in case you weren't entirely sure about what just happened there."
Lightning smiled not entirely noticeably, lips barely curving – though she was content – and moving slightly to kiss Fang at a spot in between her breasts before returning to her original position. Fang sighed a little at the action.
"I gathered." She replied tonelessly, though her arms hugged tighter around the body beneath her.
Fang moved a hand to finger the waistband of Lightning's underwear from the back thoughtfully. They had to have stopped for a reason before, so the latter wasn't particularly concerned about Fang's actions.
"Vanille… We'd talked about this, Light." Fang's hand slipped under, pleasantly warm and moved to feel a cheek appreciatively. Lightning almost reddened at the sensation, unconsciously pressing closer. Fang smiled like the cat that ate the canary at Lightning's reaction. "We talked about this." She continued, rubbing in circles. "We… we really like you, Lightning." Here she sounded a little sheepish, not quite nervous because that wouldn't be Fang, but sheepish. "We thought we'd test the waters out, see if you were interested. I like how things turned out, right? But…"
Lightning mused that Fang must have not realised she was slowly getting closer and closer to touching her in a very intimate place, and found this somewhat amusing. She shifted her hips and Fang actually jumped the tiniest bit, suddenly feeling Lightning red hot and wet on her fingers. Fang's eyes glazed over for a bit and she was staring down at her hand, and Lightning almost laughed because the poor thing looked like she was faced with the toughest decision in the entire universe.
"But," Lightning started for her, shifting a bit and this time they both moaned at the sheer feel of each other. Steadying herself and breathing a little hard, she continued, "you want to wait for Vanille."
Fang looked at her with a deeply pained expression.
Lightning smirked.
Clearing her throat to regain some sense (though Lightning noticed she still hadn't moved her hand) she replied, "Yes. We agreed that if this particular… situation," Lightning visibly saw the difficulty Fang had in resisting the urge to flex her fingers in emphasis, "were to occur, we would wait 'til we could do it together, unless this situation was entirely impromptu and we couldn't help it. It's more preference, but I doubt anyone'd be too miffed if I'm honest." Fang smiled crookedly, "I think we can just about restrain ourselves, don't you?"
The situation, in all honesty, was something she would never have seen herself fall into, much less embrace with any measure of enthusiasm. Then again, she would not have considered the possibility of becoming a l'Cie – a pulse l'Cie at that – either. Of all people in the ragtag group they'd unwittingly fashioned, she was the one who had seemed to naturally rise to the position of leader, essentially being consistently at the forefront of each battle, moral or no, and being a key component in eventually deciding whatever path they would take.
"Restrain ourselves, huh?"
It was difficult. Lightning was used to having very few individuals to take care of emotionally, having been limited essentially to just two, and if she were brutally honest with herself, just the one – Serah. Being a naturally independent person combined with a general dislike in entertaining the mostly ignorant notions of everybody in the universe getting along with everybody (said notions often came from breeds of people such as Snow) made for friction in a situation were everybody had to get along with everybody – particularly within their group, where a lack of solidarity could very well mean death. In addition, she was a deeply logical person when it came to most things, basing her way of handling with either people or objects in terms of usefulness and the quickest solution.
Vanille and Fang…
Noticing Lightning had become quiet once more, Fang kissed her on the forehead, prompting the woman in question to look up at her in acknowledgement. She seemed to snap out of a daze, confirming Fang's suspicions as to what she had been doing before being interrupted. She smiled tenderly.
"You think too much, love."
Lightning smiled her small, easy smile in response, looking as innocent as ever, up until her eyes gradually became heavily lidded, and she propped herself up above the woman, making sure their bodies were still pressed tightly together. She gave Fang a look that bordered on smouldering, and eased her hips down, rolling her body painfully slowly and sensuously against her.
Fang's eyes widened just barely, and she closed her eyes and gave a low moan in response to Lightning's higher one, her fingers easing hotly, wetly inside her.
Trembling and grinding, rocking softly and brow dotted with sweat, Lightning couldn't help but agree.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Also, please contribute to the yuri fiction for this fandom, as it's sorely lacking on all fronts. Please leave feedback, loves. It totally makes my month!
Keep safe all.