Safely sheltered under the curved roof of the Hikawa Jinja, tail curled around her paws, Luna watched the falling rain. Every once in a while, the damp wind would find a way to ruffle her fur. Barely acknowledging the nuisance, she would resettle herself on her feet, lost once again in the music of the raindrops. It was a pleasant downpour, smelling of spring.
A sliding door opened and closed behind her. On quiet sock covered feet, Rei walked over to sit down next to her, crossing her long legs. She gently touched the back of Luna's head. Luna slanted her eyes up to look at her.
"Watching the rain, huh?" Rei turned her head to the courtyard, removing her hand. "It is nice doing that once in a while."
Luna smiled. "Even if you are warrior of fire?"
Rei smiled back, dipping her head slightly in agreement, "Even if you are a warrior of fire. I wonder what Ami-chan would have to say about it."
A strong gust of wind interrupted Luna's answer, and she leaned against it, whiskers trembling. A gentle mist of droplets slid down her face and nose, making her sneeze, "She'd probably, ah! Excuse me." The black feline shook her head and rubbed the water away with the back of her paw. Snuffling a little to make sure no water had entered her nose, she continued, "She'd probably be able to predict the weather."
"Hey, you're right." Hiding the giggle behind a grin, Rei took a white handkerchief from somewhere inside her kimono and offered it to her, "She did know that it would rain that day we had the picnic. Even when everyone said she was crazy. None of the weather channels had predicted it. And yet, the rain came."
Luna snuffled again, leaning back on her back legs to grasp the handkerchief between her two front paws, concentrating on not dropping it. "Yeah," she mumbled, jerking her head up and down in conjunction to her paws moving down and up, sliding the white cloth over her nose and mouth. Paws really weren't meant for things that needed thumbs and ball and socket joint shoulders, she thought, gritting her teeth. When that wasn't working, she tried to hold the handkerchief still as she shook her head back and forth against it. "We shouldn't take your Senshi powers… Er, ugh. That tickles. Grr, annoying, come on! …Senshi powers lightly," she sneezed again.
Muffled snickers finally caught the attention of her ears, which she had laid flat in consternation. Raising her eyes to look at the girl next to her, Luna sweatdropped. She dropped her paws, making sure to still hold the handkerchief tightly, and lowered her head in a cough, red heating the fur on her cheeks.
"Hah, hah, I'm sorry, Luna. I just automatically pulled it out, and oh, hah hah, that's the funniest thing I've seen in ages! Ohhh." Rei wiped tears from her eyes, mouth wide with laughter. She hugged one of her arms around her waist, the red hakama crinkling under the force. Using her free hand, she reached over and took the white cloth back, plucking it smoothly from between the cat's paws. She shook it out before folding it to put back into her kimono, the sides of her mouth twitching up and down.
To add insult to injury, another drop of water trickled down, following the laws of gravity. Having gained size from the pockets of moisture resting on top of her fur, it was highly effective. It tickled the sensitive skin of her nose, making her sneeze again. Again, she swiped the back of her paw over her nose. "I hope I'm not getting sick," she groused.
"Me too," Rei agreed, reaching over and sliding her hands under Luna's armpits, "What would we do with our guardian stuck in bed and recuperating?" Without preamble, the small black cat was cradled in the crook of her right arm. It felt nice. The princess of Mars had a naturally high temperature, and heat radiated out from her body to stop the chills the wind had caused. A purr started deep in her chest, and she lazily bat at strands of long black hair that hung in front of her.
"Luna, stop that," Rei chided. Bringing her left arm up, the cat could see that she had grabbed the end of her kimono's long sleeve, moving her wrist down and back and to the side to get a secure hold on the fabric with her index finger and thumb. "Now hold still, okay? I promise not to poke out your eyes."
"Okay." Luna obligingly closed her eyes and tried to keep still. "But if it tickles, you can't blame me," she added, opening one eye briefly to catch the miko's small amused smile. Closing it again, she shifted, making herself comfortable. Rei really was being very nice to her.
Tenderly, as another gust of wind blew past them, Rei blotted most of the water on her head. It was a nice feeling, even when the gentle pressure caused some water to slip to her skin and make her shiver. The miko even paid special attention to her whiskers.
As the white cloth softly scraped across her nose, Luna started to feel sleepy; Rei's body heat had completely soaked into her. The girl smelled sweetly of jasmine, the subtle scent drawing her into a fragrant dream.
"Luna-chan?" Rei's voice was quiet.
"Mmrrrrew?"
"Do you need to talk?" The sleeve moved to rub between her ears.
Luna forced herself to open her eyes, to give an answer. "Why do you ask?" she yawned. Her ear twitched involuntarily.
Rei made a small noise as she resettled herself, letting go of her sleeve to switch her crossed legs. Once that was completed, she lightly ran her fingers through the black fur on the cat's stomach, "C'mon, turn over; I'll do your back." Luna, who felt like warm butter, gladly let the girl do all the work, oozing towards whatever direction she was nudged in. Finally, Rei, realizing what was going on, sighed and swung her right arm out to slide the unresisting feline over onto her lap. "I don't really know why I'm bothering," she grumbled ruefully, "Since I imagine you're just going give yourself a tongue bath right after, anyway."
Her chin and front paws resting on the miko's right thigh, Luna smiled. She figured she wouldn't tell Rei that she was correct. The black haired girl had wonderfully understanding fingers, strong and intuitive. It wasn't often that Luna got to experience her brand of affection, so she wanted to savor it as long as she could. Sailor Mars was one of the highest Senshi on the Senshi scale of petting skill.
Pretty soon after the heat started warming her belly and the smell of jasmine filled her nose again, the smooth, quick strokes of a kimono sleeve began again. Ah yes, this was ni-i-i-i-ice… While her head was nice and full of pleasure nerves, her back had a much larger area to collect sensation. Her purr rumbled through her chest again, at full force.
"Luna," Rei warned, pausing at her shoulder, "I still want to talk to you."
Oh yeah. Groaning, Luna flicked her ears towards the girl's voice, moving her tail to curl it around the side of her body. "I'm not going anywhere," she finally replied.
"I bet." Luna could hear the smile in the black haired girl's voice. The gentle petting started up, the sleeve replaced by a slightly rough palm, and accompanied by Rei's low voice, "I've seen you praying to the jinja kami several times this past week." Suddenly shifting underneath her body, Rei dropped her hand and slid it under Luna's chest.
Feeling her paws become weightless, Luna opened her eyes and realized that the miko had picked her up and was holding her in front of her face. She saw her reflection in the girl's soft purple eyes.
But what could she say?