"Patrona."
The playful greeting got V to look up from her feet, and she managed a tired smile when she recognized the speaker at the top of the stairs. She wished the arm she had supported against her shoulder to take the weight of the duffel on her back would make up its mind whether it wanted to go numb or burn with the effort. For now, it seemed to have settled on both, somehow. In her other hand, the enormous bag of food she'd splurged on downstairs steamed away. She dodged a puddle of something she didn't particularly want to identify, and trudged up the remaining few steps feeling like her legs might stop working just about any moment. 'Nother five minutes, it'll kick in…
"Roces," she said by way of greeting when she finally reached the younger man — could hardly call him a kid with the record he had, years notwithstanding. She was halfway convinced she wouldn't be able to get moving again if she stopped now, but she couldn't well just walk on by. She hefted the bag as though it'd make it feel any less like she'd accidentally packed it full of rocks. "Thanks. Listen, I really don't want to put you out with this. Anything you can do if you happen to be around is nova, I know you got your own shit to do."
"No persp," Roces said in turn, shrugging it away with a smile that here, away from their turf, was the only hint to his affiliation if you knew what to look for — the gold and ruby inlay in a titanium tooth. And they said Valentinos didn't do subtle. "Ain't gonna be twenty-four-seven corp huscle, but we gotcha when we can. Between the five of us, good chance somebody's here. 'Sides, don't want Tyger pushing in here anyway. Only a couple days, yeah?"
"Yeah. Might not be even that. But I'll cover you. Just give me some numbers, I'll throw the eddies your way. And I'll owe you a favor."
He grinned, and waved dismissively at her. "You know I ain't never gonna call that in."
"I mean it. You need something, and it's not something stupid, I'll be there," V said after a sharp shake of her head. Then, a small grin in turn. "If it is something stupid, I'll tell you, and we'll call it even."
Roces laughed, and pushed himself off the railing. "Alright, miz V. Your choom's in," he added with a jerk of his chin toward her door, and the subtlest raise of brow. "You good for tonight?"
"Yeah, Roces, thanks. I'll introduce you tomorrow if you're around. See ya," she said, finding to her warmly splashing surprise that she really wanted to answer the politely unasked question. Settling on leaving it ambiguous until she'd talked to Judy, she clapped him on the shoulder before turning about and steeling herself for the last, endless-looking meters to her door.
The ears perking and swiveling the entire small head with them as they honed in on the door spooked Judy for a second before she realized that not running away probably meant the cat had somehow sensed what the door vid would confirm to her in a couple more seconds.
"Your mama coming home, huh?" she asked the now slowly uncurling little creature as she pushed herself off the couch and uselessly tried to fight off the tingle of anticipation she'd had since V's last message blossoming into something a whole lot bigger. She wasn't planning on strapping on an apron or anything, and she was definitely expecting the favor returned, but right now having gotten the table set to wait for V to get home to her felt… real nice. Surreal, but nice.
She followed after the little furry thing darting over to butt his little furry head into V's shin.
"Hey, you," Judy said, not even bothering to fight the feeling anymore, nor the smile tugging at her lips when the lavender eyes turned from the cat to her — just before her heart skipped a beat and she dove in to catch V before the woman could collapse on the floor after dropping the heavy-sounding bag. "Whoah, hey — V… what's wrong, you hurt?"
V gladly took the support though she'd already found her balance, and steadied herself against Judy. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, fighting off the brain zaps of static that fragmented her vision with flickering artifacts in every shade of blue and a flashing warning about the relic restabilizing after malfunctioning on top of everything else. She tried to blink the infernal visual noise away, cursing silently the stupidity and clumsiness that had put that fright in Judy's voice. "Just comin' down too quick, little low on sugar, and carrying way too much. Lost my balance. Already sucked in a bunch of nergs," she added just to reassure more, jerking her chin toward the three squeezed-empty energy goop foils on top of the various containers of still piping hot food in the bag by her leg.
Fatigue not good for the chip, noted.
Judy's face was so close to hers in their little hunched huddle that V could feel the warmth… and from the corner of her now-clearer eye see the lingering concern. "I'm fine, Jude," she said, even more emphatically, and urged the woman to let her straighten back up.
Satisfied that V was not in fact horribly wounded, Judy did let her stand back up… but didn't let go. She draped her forearms over V's shoulders, comfortably just about a handspan taller than hers, and lightly stroked the tight cords of muscle along the back of her lover's neck. "You better be. Not eatin' definitely goin' right up there with driving into a lamppost," she said mock-seriously, the scare fast fading from even memory as she finally, finally got to look into those eyes again. At the ghost in the machine. "C'mere."
V did not resist the gentle pull, letting her arms lightly circle around Judy's waist as she closed the distance… and then tighter, desperately, any distance between them too much the moment Judy's lips brushed against hers for a soft, warm tease before claiming her breathless.
"Hey," V said softly when she opened her eyes again, a gasp for air followed by a longer one to steady herself against a very different sense of falling out of control.
"Hey," Judy breathed back, smiling up at V. Her fingertips brushed along the shaven temples in a gentle caress, and she could not resist dipping in for another kiss, short only for knowing she'd be unable to stop herself if she let it go on any longer than she needed to feel V's lips for again. "How 'bout we get your sweet lil' behind outta all this armor?"
V's smile was half a grimace, every word strumming the deepening need in her and chipping whatever resolve she could've ever hoped to have with Judy in her arms, every shared breath felt in the body pressed against hers. "I gotta clean up. I'm sorry, I'm amazingly unsexy right now… been running around in this suit all day, and it ain't pretty to begin with. And I desperately, desperately have to pee."
Judy grinned up at her, now. "Hey, people are into all kinds of stuff," she said, hoping that the hand she let slowly find its way down V's neck… and then lower… lower… showed how much she truly, very much did not mind. How much she wanted V. Needed V. "'Sides, gonna need a whole lot more'n you showin' me you're real, not somethin' I imagined, to ever not be sexy to me, mi ninfa."
V inhaled sharply when she felt Judy's hand slip between their bodies, tracing along the front of the skin-tight suit. The way the deep brown eyes darkened as they captured hers made the grin so much more than just playful… and the words of reassurance washed away the worry that now seemed foolish, surfaced the same rock they were both clinging to as they clung to one another. That this was real, that the woman in her arms was real, that this was real. A little more real every breath they shared.
Faith, now, not hope.
V knew Judy could feel her tremble under her touch, and she did not care. There was no pretense, no game to play, nothing to hold back. The only deceit was the one to bear just a moment longer. "What is with these names? Witch, vampire, nymph… ok, I'll give you that one," she said, the words aspiring perhaps to lightness, but her voice low, and dark with desire.
"Mhm, you better, Nimuë," Judy said, grateful for even this small distraction from the need that the way she could feel V respond to her in her arms did absolutely nothing to blunt. She let go, finger softly pressing against V's lips to stop any arguments… and to promise something else, very soon. Her hands slipped underneath the high collar of the thick, faux-synthleather jacket that she knew weighed twice what it looked. She raised an inquiring brow. "Let me?"
All it took was a small nod from V to give permission, and Judy's hands snuck deftly deeper under the thick shoulder pads, fingers tracing the uneven surface of the suit along the ridge of her collarbone as wrists pushed the jacket down onto her arms… and then, after little more than a glance down to maybe make sure Pix wasn't underneath, nudged it past her elbows to fall on the floor.
Judy shifted just a little closer, enough that she could feel her hands against her own belly when they settled on the buckle holding up the ink-black, loose-fitting pants that tapered tight below the thigh, and up this close belied their simple yoro looks. "Kicks," she whispered, though she could not resist teasing her thumb along the suit's sealed front seam.
It took a little support from Judy holding onto her belt for V to be able to pick up one foot at a time and hastily nudge off her shoes. Not because it was hard to balance this close, though it was, but because even through the suit feeling Judy's fingers nestled against the crease of her thigh on each side was enough to send butterflies soaring within her before they could be startled into flight by the deep throb of a pulse that the thumb kneading into her tummy shot right through her. "Jude…" V hissed, just barely.
Not that it stopped Judy. On the contrary, hearing the shiver in V's voice only made her want more of it. The shoes gone, she brushed her thumb along the buckle, and felt more than heard the weave tightening the pants to a closer fit from the knees down release its tension to make it a simpler but no less delicious a job to brush the control pad again to release the belt weave itself, and let the pants fall down around V's ankles. She could still feel the brush of V's lips on hers when she looked up at the woman.
The small grin playing on Judy's lips was very nearly V's undoing, the slightly bared teeth that she so adored in her lover's smile now so far from mere cuteness that she could have believed that they were to soon to be at her throat… and that she'd welcome the fate. Though, at this point, a breath might've been enough to topple her over. "I usually just take this off in there…" she managed to say, any indication of what and where lost somewhere in depths of brown.
Another little hum, another stolen moment closer before Judy set her heels back down. Without the obstacle of the suit in her way, she wasn't sure if she could've stopped herself.
Something about the… wasn't hesitance, exactly, but something like it that she saw in the unshakeable, invincible woman. Shyness, maybe? …N-uh. Vulnerability. Not somethin' taken. Given, 'cause it felt like V wanted it, needed it as much as Judy did. And it made her want V even more madly. "Go on, then. Let's get ya in there," she said, softer, waiting, making sure V understood she was asking, not telling.
V held Judy's gaze for just a moment before doing as she was told. Just a moment to try to recompose herself from the mess of desire the woman had reduced her to, the self-consciousness that was only amplified by the cold tiles under her bare feet when she turned around in the small shower compartment and watched Judy follow her in. A shyness that she maybe only felt because it was Judy, a shyness that was okay because it was Judy. Style was everything, attitude was everything, cred was everything. Always been. Even in this small way, she wasn't sure anybody else had ever gotten this close to her. So close that no defense remained in the way, no façade. So close that she did not run away even when there was nowhere left to hide.
"How does this work?" Judy asked, her low, soft voice barely sharpened even by hard tile as she closed the distance to V, and ran her fingers lightly along the seam at the front of the body-hugging, almost void-black jumpsuit that resembled the netrunner suits she'd seen, but… more. More armor. More tech. Weirder. Hacky. Definitely not off the peg. She caught V's eyes again. Waited until they surrendered to her. Let me do at least this much for you.
V clung to what she knew to not drown. "This isn't pretty…" she said, the soft warning met with nothing but a resolute shake of the head from Judy. V bit her teeth together, the desire storming through her taking her mind of what the love in Judy's eyes could not shelter her from, and for the first time after the first time, she thought she could bear what would follow the command she issued with her eyes hopelessly captured by Judy's.
She was no stranger to 'ware, nobody was, but Judy could not stop her gaze breaking away, turning to stare at the… she couldn't imagine what they were underneath sheaths rising from the suit. Rising out of V. Maybe needle probes, rods longer, wider than she'd ever wanted to imagine could exist… eight pairs she could see, behind the neck, on the chest, the inner thighs, each arm. She could not, until a soft grunt made her tear her eyes away. She saw the pained snarl on V's lips, as bravely as the woman was trying to fight showing the discomfort Judy couldn't begin to imagine what it would've even felt like if just seeing it was making her bones ache. "V…" she said softly, reaching out to cup the woman's cheek with no idea what else she could possibly do to help, and breathing more easily again when she saw the grimace soften into a tired smile almost the instant her thumb brushed over the corner of V's lip.
"'S okay," V breathed out still a little shakily, and planted a kiss on Judy's palm. "I'm sorry. It's only a couple seconds it feels bad. C'mon, I think I interrupted something I was liking a whole lot more," she added to take Judy's mind off the extremes she had to go to to manage her temps, and hoping the nausea of the bone anchors grinding and her circulation returning to the pulsing throb of heartbeats would pass quick. Just looking at Judy looking back at her was doing an amazing job of soothing the discomfort, at least, even if the very different kind of discomfort swirled right back in — if it ever even left — and threatened to pick her up like a leaf in a storm.
"Don't ever say you're sorry 'bout hurting," Judy said, more sternly than she'd meant to… and tried to fix that by dipping in close on her toes, eyes unflinching now on V's, begging her to understand as she kissed V as softly as her words had sounded harsh. Softly, for a moment, before the fire within rose again and she found herself almost forcing V back into the wall to be closer, to feel her, touch her, have her.
Judy broke off with a gasp, and lightly pushed herself back to finish what she'd started and get V out of this nanocarbon-aramid-chrome horrorshow and make sure she felt clean, and good, and perfect like she was. Somewhere in the back of her mind, way back, Judy made a note to ask how to get the suit off from the outside 'case she ever had to… but for now, she merely watched some internal command send a faintly glowing white dot down across V's front to split the seam open. Judy's fingers traced back up along the narrow gap that almost made her laugh at how wild seeing that thin, innocent strip of skin drove her.
She tugged lightly at the collar, pushed it aside. The tips of her fingers on the collarbones for real, now, she held V's gaze, asking silently if she could continue. If the suit allowed it, now. If V wanted to let her, still.
She could feel V's eyes on her, see in her mind the small smile gettin' less uncertain even as she looked down and gently peeled the suit away from skin. She could feel the heat released, the friction of the still damp skin, the deeper, darker scent, and none of it made V a single bit less attractive to her. She pushed the suit over the shoulders, careful to make sure there was nothing underneath where the awful rods had sat against V's neck and chest. She saw them now, the slits in skin concealed in the hearts of beautiful marigolds on both sides of the sternum. Soft and gentle were the kisses she placed on each of them as though to soothe away the pain, the taste of salt still on her lips when she looked up at the lavender eyes.
Her fingers, deft and careful, slid further down her lover's arms along the hard muscle underneath only the slightest softness to help as V pulled her hands free of the sleeves and let the top half of the suit fall around her waist. Having denied herself long enough, she gave V a small grin every ounce full of the need in her, and finally let herself drink in the sight waiting for her, the gorgeously painted skin, marigolds and roses and lilacs and poppies weaving together pieces of art, portraits, icons, dappled here and there by butterflies and bees, even a little bird.
Judy captured V's wrists, just long enough that she could kiss each of the slits in skin inside her elbows, concealed there in green globes of grapes, or berries maybe. But that was as long as she could hold herself back, fingers finding themselves on the taut, hard grooves of the tummy that quivered under her touch. V was all wire, all lithe strength you wouldn't notice till it was too late. Even the beautiful colors and shades on her skin seemed to do their best to conceal the sharp contours underneath… but Judy's fingers found them, one by one.
Almost all wire. Judy felt breaths grow shallower as her hands slid up along the serrated sides, and she treated herself to another glance at V even as her thumbs lightly, teasingly traced the softer curves. No more smile. Just darkened eyes, and parted lips waiting to gasp. Took just about all the willpower Judy had to look away, and to dip down to only to leave a trail of lingering kisses… on the little dip just below V's neck, between the breasts she lightly raked her nails over as she lowered herself down. Last just below the navel, the abdomen tensing under her lips.
"Jude…"
She only grinned up at the squirming woman, but couldn't resist another kiss just a little lower even as she settled on her knees. Her fingers slipped back underneath the suit, and with a little force she pulled it down over the curve of V's hips. There'd been little doubt that what she was doing was working… and none when she kissed lower along the valley between the abdomen and thigh that would have led her between her lover's legs. She'd meant to stop and continue her tease all the way down to the toes, but this close, the scent bewitching her, the tremble as she nuzzled along the center of the bowl of her lover's hips…
V might not have survived a single teasing kiss or grin more even with her hands pressing into the wall behind her for support. Whatever self-consciousness had remained had been driven out one kiss at a time, the depth of desire in the brown eyes returning to hers to reassure leaving her feeling like the center of the universe. Had Judy not sat back on her heels just then, a single touch might have sent her over the edge. The soft whimper that escaped her when that touch was denied to her would've been embarrassing if not for the way Judy looked up at her.
"One leg at a time," Judy said, the touch of playfulness not there just for V.
If otherwise V might have hesitated, the shamelessness in the gaze Judy turned up to her after grabbing a hold of the suit around her left ankle did away with hers, too. She did as she was told, raising the leg enough for Judy to slip the suit off over her foot… and then the other, unable to look away from the way Judy watched her, the way Judy's lips parted, the way they curled…
The suit left discarded in as much of a heap as it formed into, Judy rose back onto her feet, and cupped V's face, caressed the temple even as she pressed against her bared lover. She did not have to wait for the kiss. V's lips crashed into hers almost bruisingly hard, and she did not care as she claimed V's in turn, desperately needing to be closer, needing to be one.
Judy couldn't have said how long she'd had her face buried in V's neck when the waves of pleasure began to retreat and she was able to catch her breath, her hips still twitching helplessly every time she shifted against the thigh between her legs. She gently eased her hand from between V's, letting her lover come down however slowly she needed to. A little reluctantly, she let go of the wrist she'd pinned into the wall, and placed a soft kiss into the bared, exposed neck before pulling her head back just enough to look at V. "If this is unsexy, mi amor…" she said with a small grin, lightly brushing the slickness from her fingers onto V's tummy before reaching up to push the crashed magenta wave of hair out of V's face.
Back against the cold wall, V let her arm fall on Judy's shoulder to caress her, in turn, fingers lightly tracing along the neck, the ear, the jaw. She smiled back tiredly, trying to come up with something clever before whispering the only words she had. "I love you."
It still did not come naturally to her, no matter how impossibly strongly she felt it. But for V, for the way she smiled down at her… "I love you, V," she said, a little stronger, a little louder, her small grin returning when V rested her forehead against hers.
"Don't think I'm done with you yet," Judy said when, after contentedly just nestling against one another for a little while, V shifted her hips and with them the leg still halfway captured between Judy's. A little reluctantly, Judy did let it go… but not before that slightest reminder stirred up all of the desire that had for a moment been driven back beneath the deeper, all-encompassing emotion. "Even more desperate now?"
V nodded, her smile a little sheepish.
Judy lingered a moment in the warmth of the embrace, and reached up to kiss the uncertainty away before finally taking a step back and nodding her head to the side, toward the smaller compartment behind the bead curtain. "Go on. But ya better be quick about it. Gonna get you cleaned up, and fed… and then dirty again," she added with a wicked smile before turning her back to give V a bit of privacy. And herself a reason to tear her eyes away from her gorgeous lover.
Urgency might've won over modesty, anyway, but seeing the grin, and the shoulder strap falling off when Judy started to get rid of her clothes was incentive enough for V to do as she was told, again.
CW: cyberware (body modification, may trip body horror, needles), …and then there's smut. A little.
AN: Happy Valentine's!
