'Lazy Eye'
"We did it. I never thought any of us would live to see this day, but damn, here we are!" Minako sighed happily, dropping her head onto Rei's shoulder.
"She's his problem now." the miko agreed with a grin as the taxi pulled away from the curb. Usagi, all grown up and married now. They had spent so many years of their lives watching over her, protecting her, Rei felt more like an anxious parent during the ceremony than a friend. But now that it was all over, she was hit with a rush of relief. So many close calls, so many hardships, it did feel like some sort of miracle had taken place today.
Rain pattered down the windows as the pair fell into a comfortable silence. What would happen to them now? A relative peace had finally seemed to settle over the planet at last, and now that there were no battles or life and death situations, the miko was confronted with many questions, silenced for far too long under rather hectic circumstances. What now? Where did they go from here? She had been fighting for so long, she had almost forgotten what normal life was supposed to be like.
What good was a warrior with no battles left to fight?
Fingers laced through hers, and violet eyes dropped down to meet half lidded blue.
It's okay, Minako seemed to say, without saying anything at all. It's going to be okay.
It seemed like an unspoken agreement as they staggered together up the steps to the shrine, a bottle of Tequila in Minako's hands, a pair of pumps dangling from Rei's fingertips, neither wanted to be alone right now.
"Jeez, have you thought about getting an escalator?" the blonde half whined, now fully drenched under the heavy downpour.
"Keep your voice down." Rei replied evenly, stumbling as she tried in vain to shake sopping raven locks out of her eyes. "I'm sure this looks bad enough as it is without you causing a ruckus."
"What, a plastered miko bringing home a hot little blonde number?" Minako teased. "Please. You'll get more patrons than you know what to do with."
"You're impossible." the dark haired woman scowled.
"No, I'm tired. Seriously! Were there always this many stairs?"
"Yes." Violet eyes squinted in bleary confusion. The more important question being, did the stairs always move like this? She shook her head again, but it didn't quite clear the away the fuzz. Her skull throbbed dully and she winced, knowing she was in for a full blown hangover tomorrow. Beside her, her former commander was going on (quite vocally) about the number of stairs again. She threw a backwards glance over her shoulder and sighed. "Were you always this loud?"
"How can you be so steady? You had more to drink than I did." the blonde huffed, choosing to ignore the comment.
"I guess I just hold it better than you do." Rei retorted, groaning as soon as the words left her mouth. She half turned to her friend and held up a hand in warning. "And before you twist that into something dirty, shut it."
Minako paused in her great climb, mouth agape. "That's cheating!"
"No, it's not. I've just known you for far too long."
"Blah blah blah." Minako sighed, thrusting the bottle at Rei. "If that were true, you'd know that I hate these stairs, and you would carry me, or build me a grand mechanical device to shuttle me to the top. These cute and perfect little feet aren't used to getting such a workout."
"It'll keep you from getting fat." Rei mumbled back before taking a swift drink, shuddering as the alcohol burned a blazing trail down her throat.
"Then what's your excuse, Pyro?"
"Whatever."
Minako snickered, but the miko refused to fan the flames. A crack of thunder boomed loudly above the pair, catching them both off guard. The blonde began to stumble, but Rei was quicker, darting in and catching hold of her waist with surprisingly steady arms.
Blue eyes blinked slowly as the near severity of the situation became clear, and she cast a glance down the stone steps. "That...that would have sucked."
Rei could only nod dumbly, briefly distracted by the bundle of warm energy that was nearly pressed up against her chest now and whoa, just how much had she been drinking?
"Rei?"
Speaking. Minako was speaking to her.
Hello! A response is due. Any response, at this point.
"Sorry." she said with a smirk. "But I was just thinking about how long it would take me to clean up a mess like that."
"...you are one disturbed individual, you know that?"
"What? It's not like I actually let you fall."
Thunder boomed once more, and Minako jumped again, burrowing closer to the raven haired woman. Rei's heart lurched up into her throat and decided to hang out there for awhile, judging by the odd disconnected feeling she was currently experiencing.
"We better go. Looks like it's going to get worse." the blonde murmured from somewhere beneath her chin.
Worse?
The drunken pair stumbled down the darkened hall, staggering and slipping, and God, it felt like the most fun the miko had had in years. She paused outside her door long enough to try to take another swig from the nearly empty bottle, but her companion was a little quicker, snapping it away and taking a drink before passing it back. Rei quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, focused on finishing the remainder.
Suddenly perfectly glossed lips were near her earlobe with soft words, almost a whisper, her tone light and teasing. "Indirect kissing."
Violet eyes widened and the fire solider felt her face flush as a distinct flavor made itself known. Lipstick? Not hers. Minako's. She ignored the following giggles and slid the bedroom door open, thankful for the encroaching darkness as she attempted to stomp down the raging blush while fumbling for the lights.
"Oh stop. We're not in school anymore."
"That's why you're all flustered, right?"
"Whatever." The lights came on and the bottle clinked hollowly as it was chucked into a nearby trashcan. "And now that I think about it, I'm rather grateful that we didn't go to the same school."
"No need to be so cold." Minako drawled, squinting under the harsh lighting conditions as she pulled the door shut behind her. "It was such a pity, really. You looked so cute in that little catholic getup."
"Right." Rei mumbled, tossing the blonde a dry towel and a clean t-shirt. "I don't need you getting sick. Just give me your dress when you're done, and I'll go hang it up."
What am I doing?
"And when did Rei-chan become so thoughtful of others?" Minako teased, politely directing her attention elsewhere as her friend changed out of her now thoroughly soaked, (and probably ruined) dress.
"Always a comment with you, isn't there?" the miko huffed, flipping her dark mane out of the collar of her dry shirt.
"Mm." the blonde murmured noncommittally, tossing politeness aside and taking a moment to admire the soldier's slender legs. It was a miracle they had made it through so many long battles with so few scars. She caught the faintest ghost of a particularly long one running up Rei's thigh, ending at the hem of her t-shirt. Now that had been a rough night, she reflected, lips twitching up into a grin at the memory. To think that a miko would know that many curse words...
"Problem?"
The blonde started. "Uh...yeah." She pivoted on her heels, showing her back to Rei as she swept damp golden locks up. "Help me with the zipper?"
A hand rested on her bare shoulder blade, slightly chilled from their cold walk in the rain, and Minako couldn't help the light tremor that ran through her.
"You okay?"
"Your hands are cold."
"Sorry." Rei mumbled back, eyes fixed on the slender line of her neck. She really was beauty incarnate, all curves and golden spun hair. As she tugged lightly at the zipper with numb fingertips, she idly wondered why the blonde had yet to find a nice boyfriend.
"You know what they say," Minako breathed, "cold hands, warm heart."
"Do they?"
How long have I been alone?
The zipper gave way, and time slowed to a crawl. Dark eyebrows furrowed as she watched the bit of metal slide down, revealing creamy skin beneath the lines of her dress. She felt ungodly warm, and chalked it up to the bottle the pair had passed back and forth on the way home. Unconsciously, she took a small step forward, sliding her hand from Minako's shoulder and down to her waist.
Unperturbed by the tickle of the miko's breath against the back of her neck and the sudden hand on her hip, soft lips curled into a grin. "You tell me. You're all fire and passion, right?"
I'm not ready.
The soldier of fire felt her skull pound once more as her heart hammered against her ribcage relentlessly. Violet eyes dropped down to the hold she had on Minako while her brain struggled to play catch up. What was she doing? She shook her head, dropping her hands to her sides and desperately tried to ignore the fact that her fingertips still burned from the contact. "Heart cooks brain."
"Hm?" Minako cast a backwards glance over her shoulder.
"Fire and passion." the miko mumbled. "The heart takes over. Cooks the brain. All that's left is the moment you're in. Usually leads to something stupid."
"Stupid, huh? Is that how it works?"
The hands holding up blonde locks released, and her hair tumbled down her back like a golden waterfall. Rei felt a knot she wasn't comfortable with settle in her chest when Minako's dark satin dress slid down her figure, pooling around her ankles.
"Sometimes." the dark haired woman replied shakily, her throat suddenly bone dry.
Stupid…
And there it was. A stolen sideways glance, soft blue eyes drilling into her from underneath impossibly long lashes. The finishing blow, so to speak. The miko had seen the self proclaimed goddess throw it at more than one hapless boy in the many years that she had known the blonde, and here it was, now directed at her.
"You ever get that feeling like you've waited your whole life for one perfect moment?" Minako asked quietly.
Something, something just wasn't quite right, and dark eyebrows furrowed in a state of slightly buzzed confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Yeah. Her brain was certainly cooked. She must be hallucinating.
"I wonder."
That settled it. She was dreaming. She had to be. She'd wake up, any second now, confused and secretly thrilled but horribly mortified with a really bad hangover but everything would be nice and normal.
But what was normal for them? Always bantering, borderline flirting, just scratching the surface of something way too raw.
There was another crack of thunder and the lights flickered off, but neither one of them jumped this time, and damn the rain was loud, pounding against the roof and the windows and her bones and her ever loving sanity as her pulse quickened at the sight of a scantily clad Venus making her way to Rei's bed, and why for the love of God couldn't she find a damn thing to say?
Minako seemed to say it all however, as she crawled onto the mattress wearing almost nothing and held up a hand, crooking two fingers together and motioning for Rei to come closer. Time did slam to a grinding halt now, and the miko wished to any higher power that would listen for another drink. She was shaking. Why was she shaking? She saw this coming, didn't she?
Maybe if it had been a little warmer, and maybe, maybe if it hadn't been raining and dreary and if she hadn't felt so damned useless anymore and a little more sober, she could get control of herself, of this.
Rei found herself in front of the bed, and she opened her mouth to say something, anything, but warm arms tugged her down and now it was really hard to think of anything at all, much less speak, when burning lips caught her own.
Notes:
Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye.
Why do I always find myself up at three in the morning writing slaaaaaaaaash?