Disclaimer: I don't own MGLN.
Vivio Takamachi had always been in awe of Lutecia. The feeling was something she'd lived with for as long as she could remember, the usual worship of a younger girl to an older girl, one who seemed more experienced in life even if the age difference was only four years. As she'd grown older, the awe had shifted into something a little closer to reality, less of awe itself and more of respect and understanding as she learned that Lutecia was just as flawed as she was, if not more so in some respects.
Still, though, there were times when the summoner inspired nothing but absolute awe.
"Lutecia-chan, what was that you were just doing to Vivio's neck?"
Sitting beside Vivio, Lutecia blinked. She was doing absolutely nothing but meeting Nanoha's gaze; she wasn't even exuding an aura of innocence. Vivio lightly nuzzled Lutecia's shoulder with her cheek, amused, and watched the expressions change on both her mothers' faces, her arm still in its place around the shorter woman's waist.
After a moment, Lutecia blinked again. "I'm sorry, Nanoha-san, my eyes are still adjusting to the light. What did you see me doing?"
Vivio choked back a laugh. Lutecia's voice was just like her face: bland, emotionless, devoid of tone or emotion. Nanoha raised a brow. "Looked to me like you were nibbling her neck," the brunette mumbled. At her side, Fate hastily raised her hands in a defensive, 'leave me the hell out of this' gesture.
"Ah, yes, that." Lutecia shifted slightly as Vivio pulled her closer. "Well, actually, you see, that's a Shadow technique."
"… Technique."
"Mm-hmm. It's a discreet way of checking your partner's pulse on a mission to make sure they aren't panicking and going to blow your cover." Lutecia's voice stayed perfectly straight, her voice completely flat. "It works amazingly well, especially if you're disguised as a couple."
Interestingly, Nanoha had gone pale at the mention of pulse checking, while Fate had flushed the deepest shade of red Vivio had ever seen. She blinked. "Nanoha-mama? Fate-mama? What's wrong?" she asked.
"N-nothing." Still blushing, Fate grabbed Nanoha by the collar of her shirt. "Sorry to interrupt the movie, girls, I just remembered we have some, ah, reports to finish. Yeah. Reports. Bye."
With that, Fate hauled Nanoha through the door and slammed it shut, flicking off the light so the room was dark except for the glow of the television screen, the movie on pause. Lutecia raised a brow, glancing up at Vivio. "What did I say?" she whispered.
Grinning suddenly, Vivio giggled helplessly and dropped her forehead to Lutecia's shoulder, her body shaking with laughter. "Cia, I really love you," she gasped out between bouts of laughter.
"I love you too, but what does that have to do with what just happened?"
"When I was fourteen, I walked in on Fate-mama and Nanoha-mama getting a little… ahem… heated before dinner. Fate-mama used the exact same excuse you just used!"
Those of you who know the order I posted these on AnimeSuki may notice I skipped the two shorts before this, but that was because they were directly related to Miranda's death and I plan to incoperate those scenes into one larger one-shot.