A/N: So I'm not all that good at writing sexual stuff. It's actually the hardest part of writing for me, including just simple kissing. So I tend to only include it when it comes naturally and I have no other choice but to obey the characters' wishes (that or because I've backed myself into a corner plot/character development wise and it needs to happen, like in my next fic). Which is how I ended up with this chapter. Don't get excited though, it's just making out. And it's probably terrible because I have no fucking clue how to write that shit. But Miko and Magna were in the mood so I had to comply.
As long as Yumiko lived, she would never get used to the sensation of Magna pressed against her, the heat of her skin igniting hers, creating a burning, pounding need in her chest.
She parted her lips, seeking the relief of air, and Magna chose that moment to delve inside, tongue gliding across hers.
Yumiko moaned.
She could remember when such intimacy between them had been impossible. When touching and kissing in this manner had been more than Magna could handle. It had taken time - and patience - for them to build up to this level of comfort, to be at ease with one another sexually.
It had been new ground in their relationship. And they'd stumbled across it blindly.
After they'd finally kissed, after their feelings were tossed out into the air at last, Yumiko had assumed it would be smooth sailing from then on. That the most difficult part was behind them.
(naive of her, really.
When was the most difficult part ever behind them?)
She hadn't predicted that the biggest obstacle to overcome wouldn't be the open acknowledgment of their feelings but, rather, acting on them: giving physical expression to what they'd carried inside for so long; starting the transformation from friends to lovers, platonic to sexual.
Just because the attraction was there, didn't mean it was easy. Far from it.
Yumiko had expected some awkwardness. More than some, really, if she was being honest. They'd been friends for years and, for the majority of those years, any desire between them had been hastily quelled. Yumiko had taken great pains in trying to ensure that all their interactions remained strictly in the realm of platonic, keeping a heavy lid on her own feelings and impulses. And Magna had done something similar, albeit for a shorter time.
They were comfortable with each other as friends.
Had no bloody clue how to be anything more than that.
So, yes. Yumiko had expected some awkwardness.
She had not expected the overwhelming confusion. The fear.
Or the pain those feelings had thrust open the door to.
(nor the conflict that followed)
So, yes, it had been a tough couple of months, fraught with tension and bleeding hearts. Compounded by the loss of Bernie and the arrival of the Whisperers. But they'd come out the other end okay. Better than okay.
Until Magna had started to push her away. Harder than she ever had since the day they'd met.
Harder than Yumiko ever thought she would again.
But here they were, on the other side of hell, and things were looking up.
(Yumiko wondered how long it would be before they started spiraling down)
She was pulled from those darkening thoughts when the mood took a shift, Magna deepening the kiss as hands dropped from Yumiko's face. They pressed into her back, forcing her closer - but somehow not close enough. Parting for breath, she stole less than a second's oxygen before recapturing Magna's lips, pushing forward, almost frantic in her need. Releasing her face without thought, Yumiko fumbled, desperately seeking more.
Her hands were just starting to search beneath the other woman's top when Magna pulled back. For a moment, Yumiko strained to follow the path of her retreating lips but a firm hand against her chest stopped her in her tracks. She looked from that hand to Magna and back again, trying to understand - a task made harder by the arousal still consuming her senses.
Magna's mouth twitched. "Time to get up and start the day."
Yumiko stared for a moment, dumbfounded - before the smirk on her girlfriend's face caught up with her and she sighed, grip sagging. "This is payback for the no-sex stipulation, isn't it?"
She should have known that would come back to bite her in the arse.
Magna rarely missed an opportunity for revenge.
The other woman pursed her lips. "I don't know what you're talking about. I would never be that petty."
Riiiight. "Mm-hmm."
She huffed. "Gee, you find out I killed a guy and suddenly revenge must be my motive for everything." There was a playful smirk on her face but Yumiko could see the nervousness there and knew this was anything but playful. Not in the slightest. No, this was Magna testing the waters. Testing the truth of her earlier promise, the only way she knew how.
By provoking.
('. . . no disagreement could ever make me stop loving you.')
Murder was a little bit more than a disagreement but, more to the point, she still hadn't entirely healed from the wound Magna had carved in her heart by concealing it.
That betrayal had hurt. And it still did.
Possibly, it was a hurt that would never entirely fade.
Yumiko tried not to let that show on her face. This was a test, and she was determined to pass.
She always passed all her tests.
(well, of the academic variety anyway)
Yumiko couldn't joke about what happened. Not yet, perhaps not ever. But she also knew Magna didn't expect her to. She was simply testing what kind of reaction she would receive if she slipped up in the future - like she had the morning after Hilltop burnt down, when they were both too caught up in revisiting old memories to be cautious with their words - testing now while their cards were out on the table, and things between them were relatively calm.
Even good.
Testing so she wouldn't get too comfortable or secure.
So she would know to remain wary if she had to.
(like she apparently had for the entire course of their relationship)
Yumiko never wanted Magna to be wary of her.
Never.
"Mm, not everything. But I am struggling to think of what other motive there could be."
She couldn't joke about it. But she could move past it.
She had to.
Magna pondered the question with theatrical care for some time. "Maybe I'm just not that into you."
The response shocked Yumiko out of any lingering unease - no doubt as it was intended to - and she had to swallow a laugh at the audacity of the claim.
Her girlfriend had aimed a little too high with that one. "Oh really?"
Magna gave a confident nod and, mouth curving dangerously, Yumiko advanced.
Dipping her head, she touched her lips to the hollow of the other woman's neck, cutting off any future absurdities before they could escape. Magna's breath hitched, her pulse leaping to attention beneath Yumiko's mouth as she traced a path down to her collarbone, lingering for a time before expanding her crusade to the side of Magna's neck. Yumiko could feel the thud of her heart through her skin, felt her own racing to meet it, urging her on.
"Miko. . ."
It took great effort not to reach out then, not to let her hands explore as thoroughly as her mouth - to touch.
All things in good time.
For now, Yumiko contented herself with placing featherlight kisses along the expanse of Magna's throat, up and down, up and down, until she felt her beginning to squirm with impatience.
It wasn't enough. And she'd known it wouldn't be.
Had counted on the fact.
"Miko." It wasn't a breathless exhale this time but a demand.
And Yumiko met it.
Salt tingled on her tongue as she pressed it into heated skin, sucking gently. Her mouth curled as she felt Magna shudder, a hand instinctively coming up to clutch at her shirt. The action caused a rush of heat to course through her and it took everything in Yumiko not to moan in response. She parted briefly, granting Magna a brief reprieve, and the other woman squirmed, chasing the sensation of her lips. Smirking inwardly, she rewarded her pursuit, scraping her teeth across undefended skin and enjoying the shiver it provoked. Yumiko gave a little nip - one that she knew wouldn't be nearly satisfactory enough - and Magna gasped, tugging feebly at her shirt in a clear request for more. "Fuck."
This time, her smirk couldn't be contained.
She knew all of her girlfriend's weak spots.
And this was one of them.
Yumiko had found out back when they were still simply friends that Magna didn't like hands anywhere near her neck. However, after they'd gotten together, she'd discovered that lips were an entirely different matter.
And there was one place she was even more sensitive. . .
Slowly, she moved her mouth up to Magna's jaw, stomach clenching as she felt her shudder in response. Yumiko allowed her hands to wonder now, to run teasingly over the barrier of her underwear. Felt a rush of wet heat between her thighs as Magna arched into the contact, in search of more.
But Yumiko didn't linger for long.
Drawing away - and resisting the urge to laugh at the whine this elicited - she trailed her lips back down, dusting the flaming skin of Magna's throat.
Noting that the other woman's breathing had started to grow shallow, her pulse throbbing against her lips, Yumiko opted to release her victim, confident the point had been made.
(Magna didn't groan at the separation, but it was a near thing)
Yumiko had to bite her lip to withhold a laugh at the aggravated - and somewhat bewildered - look on her girlfriend's face, which had become a little too flushed in the space of a minute. "You were saying?"
Magna was too busy trying to catch her breath to muster up a glare. "You're evil."
She settled her chin on her palm, smirking. "And you're into me."
She groaned, shoving her away, and Yumiko laughed. Magna should have known that she couldn't beat her in a game like this.
"No, I'm fucking horny. There's a difference."
Still chuckling, she rolled back onto her side. "Oh yeah. Sure. What's that saying about what goes around comes around?"
Magna grunted, staring up at the ceiling mutinously.
They lay in silence for a time, Yumiko thoroughly enjoying the sight of her girlfriend struggling to regain her breath, the harsh rise and fall of her chest.
Point definitely made.
And she couldn't bring herself to feel any ounce of guilt for it.
"So we've crossed out lack of attraction and revenge. . ." Shifting closer, Yumiko trailed a finger along the other woman's neck. "You know, I think you're just worried you might pass out again."
Magna stiffened, a strangled noise escaping her throat as she whirled to face her. "That is not it."
"Mm-hmm."
Yumiko's smugness was interrupted by the force of lips against hers, a little too clumsy and wet to be enticing, and she laughed as they broke apart. "Was that supposed to convince me?"
Magna huffed, slumping onto her back. She was still breathing heavily from the last kiss attack - the one Yumiko had pulled off to far greater success. "I really hate you sometimes."
She snorted. "Well, that you definitely won't be convincing me of."
"I could hate you," she protested.
Yumiko rolled onto her, enjoying the way Magna's breath caught, trapped between them. Her pupils were still blown wide, tempting Yumiko to forgo her teasing. Or rather, trade it in for a different kind.
"No, sweetie. You couldn't. But it's cute that you think so." Giving her cheek a pat, Yumiko rolled off, smirking at the frustrated exhale she left in her wake.
"You can be attracted to people you hate," Magna grumbled as she admired the flush in her cheeks. The fruits of her labor.
Yumiko suspected she'd pay for the crime later. It was something to look forward to.
"Of course you can, sweetie." She laid on the condescension a little too thickly, struggling to keep her face straight.
Magna rolled her eyes and shoved her away, earning a cackle. "Stop, sweetie-ing me."
This was so much better than getting up.
Yumiko took a breath, settling back down. "So, now that we've sorted that out, will you finally admit that your heart was set on revenge?"
"Nope." Magna's lips popped. "My actions were actually entirely selfless. As a matter of fact, you should be thanking me for putting a stop to your lewd advances. For being strong enough to resist."
Weren't so strong the second time around.
Yumiko raised a brow at this bold claim. "Is that so?"
"Mm. I was just looking out for you." The curve of her eyebrow grew ever more skeptical at this and Magna's mouth twitched. "What? You can't sleep in until noon every day. Imagine what that would do to your reputation."
Yumiko rolled her eyes. "What reputation?"
This oughta be good.
By now, Magna's breathing had recovered, though there was still a noticeable flush to her glistening neck that tempted Yumiko to give in to some more evil. "Your reputation as the responsible one. I mean, Kelly, Luke and I all know it's a lie, but this lot doesn't. A least not yet."
Yumiko's mouth drew up, amusement overpowering the temptation of Magna's skin. "Who says I'm not responsible?"
She was, in fact, very responsible.
If there was an award for responsibility, she would have been handed it when she was five. Possibly even four. An argument could be made for three-and-a-half.
Magna snorted, as if she'd never heard anything so ridiculous. "Connie's responsible. You're 'let's move the ex-con I barely know into my spare bedroom the week after she gets out of prison. The spare bedroom in the apartment I share with more animals than the New York Zoo.'"
Yumiko shrugged. "And? That all sounds perfectly responsible to me."
After all, she'd bought an apartment far too big for only one person just so she would have enough room for every four-legged creature she let pass the threshold - and, as it turned out, more than a few two-legged ones as well. As for opening her door to Magna, well, that had turned out fine. More than fine, actually. . .
Yumiko's gaze lowered to Magna's neck once more, biting her lip. Perhaps her little moment of revenge had been too hasty. She'd made her point, but at what cost?
She could have been in a tangle of limbs and moans by now, instead of enduring the brunt of Magna's judgment when it came to her self-preservation instincts (or lack thereof).
Not that she could talk. If Yumiko's self-preservation instincts were hard to find, most days it seemed like her girlfriend's were located at the bottom of a well on a planet not even registered in their solar system.
Magna's eye twitched. "You jumped in front of a bullet like you were goddamn superman!"
As though Yumiko could ever forget. Not her smartest moment, but hardly something she could bring herself to regret when it had saved the life of the woman beside her.
"Does that make you Lois lane?" she wondered, enjoying the way her girlfriend was growing more and more flustered with each word that parted her lips.
She could never let Magna in on the fact that the sight of her fired up like this was a turn-on. She'd lose all leveraging power in their arguments henceforth.
"I'm not fucking Lois Lane," Magna hissed.
Her offense at the implication was unsurprising. She'd held nothing but disdain for journalists ever since that first year out of prison, and had been somewhat antagonistic towards Connie in the beginning as a result. Incredibly antagonistic.
"I said that you were her, not that you're fucking her. Otherwise, we might have a problem."
That was apparently the last straw.
Magna yanked the pillow out from under her head - the one Yumiko had stolen from her at some point during the night - and whacked her in the face. She gasped, floundering for a moment, before the force of the other woman's laugh hit her and she scowled, grabbing the pillow off her face and returning the attack in kind. Magna yelped, wriggling away from the assault whilst fumbling for another weapon.
Good luck with that. All the pillows were happily located on Yumiko's side of the bed.
She reached back for one-
Only to be halted by the sound of someone clearing their throat - rather loudly - and, startled, the pair broke from combat, whipping around to see Kelly standing awkwardly in the doorway of their room.
"I knocked like ten times." They continued to stare, eyes wide, and as the seconds ticked by some of the awkwardness faded into amusement. "You know you guys are fulfilling like every straight guy's wet dream right now, yeah?"
Magna's face twisted in a grimace whilst Yumiko snorted, enjoying the way their little duel had reduced the other woman to an even greater state of hot and bothered, hair sticking out at all ends as her breasts heaved with every breath. It was a shame Kelly had interrupted because Yumiko was almost certain she and Magna would have eventually decided to 'sleep in' this morning after all.
Perhaps, if Kelly left. . .
Their friend crushed that dream. "Miko, get the hell up. You and I are on kitchen duty, remember? We were supposed to be there like twenty minutes ago."
The lawyer groaned, covering her face. "Fuck, I forgot."
With the scarcity of food lately, it seemed particularly unjust that the roster for kitchen duty hadn't grown any less demanding.
Yumiko hated cooking.
(even if she'd been obsessed with it as a teenager.
But then, that was one of the reasons why she hated it)
An amused voice roused Yumiko from her dismay. "How very responsible of you."
She took her hands away to narrow her eyes at Magna, whose far-too-kissable lips had curled into a shit-eating grin. Scowling, Yumiko seized the pillow once more and threw it at her gloating face.
Maybe it was a good thing sex was no longer on the table.
Yumiko had always been against rewarding bad behavior.
"I'm not used to this." Magna had confessed to her once, a small smile on her face that held more than a little warmth and just a touch of nervousness. Nervousness that normally would have been hidden, protected, but which she was choosing to let her see now.
(she'd been choosing to let her see a lot of things lately)
Yumiko quietened at the vulnerability, stomach still trembling with the aftershocks of her amusement.
What had started out as a heated round of foreplay had quickly devolved into rolling around on their bed, teasing and snorting at one another - all other plans completely forgotten.
"What?" she asked, tracing a finger up Magna's arm, around the curving rim of a mandala.
"Laughing."
Yumiko tilted her head to the side, not understanding. Magna didn't laugh as much as some people but she'd certainly heard the wonderful sound enough times in their relationship to be satisfied. Every time she did, a little more of Yumiko fell in love. A little more of her heart crept away from her.
But that was alright.
She knew it wasn't going far.
"I didn't know you could laugh when doing this shit. Have fun, you know? It's weird." Magna's smile drew higher. "But I like it."
"Yeah?" Yumiko's own cheeks rose to meet hers, even as something painful tiptoed across her chest.
"Yeah."
Magna's grin was impossible not to fall prey to. Smile growing, Yumiko leant in, stopping only as their noses drew to touch. Her senses narrowed to the smooth press of Magna's skin against hers, the heat of her breath, hovering between them. There was an intimacy in the contact, one that might even surpass the caress of lips, of hands. She'd never done this with anyone but Magna. Never delighted in the simple closeness of another human being the way she did her.
"I like it too."
The other woman's eyes creased, any trace of nervousness fleeing at the birth of those words, and Magna closed the gap, sealing them together in a kiss. It was gentle, light - and leading utterly nowhere. It was a kiss Yumiko would carry in her memory for a long time, the warmth of it something she'd strain to hold onto during the nights Magna was gone. Lost.
It was a kiss that said 'I love you', before the words could ever be spoken. The syllables threaded their way between each slow movement of their lips, wrapping around the hand that came to cradle her face.
(Yumiko had never missed an opportunity to make either of them laugh after that. To turn things playful, light.
And neither had Magna)
"Warning, warning," Kelly muttered under her breath, entering the room with her head down.
Yumiko looked up from her book in confusion. Oh god, what now?
The other woman just shook her head. "Magna's on a warpath."
Damn.
And with such a promising start to the day, too.
True enough, she was followed not twenty seconds later by an overly flushed Magna - a sight which wasn't quite as welcome as it had been that morning. Mostly because, by Yumiko's calculations, she looked mere seconds away from starting a fight with everyone in the room - and more than some of the furniture too.
Oh no.
Yumiko frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Someone stole my fucking knife," Magna snapped, before anxiously scanning the room as if said knife might be hiding somewhere within its quarters.
Yumiko closed her eyes, pursing her lips as she looked down in an attempt to thwart the beginnings of a smile. "Oh."
So apparently Daryl had taken her advice and decided to engage Magna in her own game.
Just like Bernie.
It was exactly what Yumiko had hoped for and it took a little too much effort to put a lid on the smug satisfaction rising up inside her. She had to at least pretend to be sympathetic to Magna's plight. Though it was growing increasingly hard with how flustered and befuddled her girlfriend appeared in this moment.
For a second, the years disappeared and Yumiko was sitting opposite Magna as she ranted about Bernie's 'grubby little thieving hands', after the first time he'd chosen to gamble his life away and steal something from her - a highly prized container of hair dye that Magna had risked life and limb to obtain.
A blessing, in Yumiko's opinion. That shit was well and truly past its expiry date. Unfortunately, with how distressed Magna had gotten after its disappearance, she'd had to pull Bernie aside for a little chat.
The hair dye had been returned in short order.
For the bargain of one missing knife, snatched from her girlfriend's sacred stash.
(shockingly, Magna hadn't been nearly as distressed by that particular steal)
After this minor altercation, the hostility between Magna and Bernie had eased, the two growing almost amicable in their dealings - though, they'd still maintained a rather volatile relationship filled with a little too much excitement for Yumiko's tired brain to keep up with.
Whilst she didn't like her odds, she could only hope that this was a sign that things between Magna and Daryl would now follow a similar route.
Or at least a nearby path. Perhaps a stepping stone?
Magna stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean 'oh'? This is an emergency."
Kelly covered a snort. "Don't you have like fifty of them?"
Her brow furrowed. "Seventeen. What's your point?"
Thirteen too many, by Yumiko's estimation. Things were difficult enough without having to compete for Magna's affections with seventeen other suitors - and she wasn't entirely convinced that her girlfriend wouldn't pick more than one of those knives over her (they had a very intimate relationship).
No, Daryl could take as many knives as he wanted. Their absence might just turn out to be a long-awaited blessing.
(Yumiko may still be feeling a little sore about the time Magna rejected all attempts at seduction on her part so that she could spend the night sharpening her ever-growing collection of knives instead)
Like her, Kelly didn't appear to see the problem, though for different reasons. "Well, can't you survive without one?"
Yumiko grimaced.
Magna looked at the younger woman as though she'd just suggested she feed one of her newborn children to a ravenous crocodile. "How could you ask me that?"
Kelly blinked.
Yumiko placed a hand over her mouth, swallowing down the rising mirth. She decided to take pity on her friend, though, and intervene. Kelly clearly had no idea what she was up against. The depth of Magna's devotion. "Which knife is it?"
"The Gerber Mark II," Magna muttered, crossing her arms and looking worryingly close to pouting.
She winced. Daryl really knew how to pick them.
That one had been in Magna's top five for years. She slept with it under her pillow, much to Yumiko's exasperation - especially since she knew it had nothing to do with them being surrounded by deadly sickos, no matter what Magna claimed. She loved that knife the way a child loved their baby blanket, clutching it to their chest long after they'd outgrown its use.
Kelly leaned closer, whispering out of the corner of her mouth. "Is this your work?"
"Maybe?" She kept her eyes on Magna, who'd abandoned all interest in them for the sake of searching the room for her precious knife. Yumiko cringed at the rather rough treatment the couch cushions were suffering, hoping she wouldn't turn on the piano next.
"I thought the plan was to stop them from killing each other."
"I didn't think he'd steal that particular knife," she hissed, low enough that it only earned a cursory glance of suspicion from her girlfriend.
A part of Yumiko wondered if maybe she'd done the wrong thing with Magna and Daryl, if she shouldn't have just let them sort it out themselves - rather than swooping in and taking charge (as was her default). But she hadn't sorted things out, not really. She'd just greased the wheels and left the ball firmly in Magna and Daryl's court. It was up to them what they did with it.
All she'd hoped to do was create more understanding between the pair for, without understanding, conflict was almost impossible to dispense with.
And she didn't have the patience to see this particular conflict stick around any longer than necessary.
"It'll be fine."
Kelly grunted. "You're the one who gets to tell Connie that your brilliant plan got her boyfriend dead. And that your girlfriend did the killing."
Yumiko sent her a scowl.
She stared back at her innocently. "What? I'm not taking that on."
Traitor.
Yumiko rolled her eyes, turning away and watching as said girlfriend gave up on trying to receive a sympathetic audience - having also apparently come up empty for any knives - and stormed out of the room.
She was going to be in a foul mood tonight.
Probably shouldn't expect too many cuddles.
Or much of anything else.
Yumiko sighed inwardly, the events of that morning replaying in her mind - events that had left her in a fluctuating state of hot and bothered all day. She'd never regretted signing up for kitchen duty more in her life.
"You're assuming that Magna would win that fight," Yumiko muttered, trying to distract from her disappointed libido.
It was a fair point.
Daryl was far more capable than Bernie of holding his own.
Bernie once lost a fight with a raccoon.
(though, in his defense, it had been a highly intelligent raccoon who'd spent weeks pilfering their food supply in such a subtle manner that it had taken them nearly a month to work out that said food was even being stolen, let alone who the culprit was.
Magna had displayed more respect for that raccoon than Yumiko had seen her bestow on most humans.
She'd named it God.
Something that had, unfortunately, caught on with the rest of them. Yumiko wasn't sure she'd ever forget being awoken to shouts of 'God, don't you dare take off with my panties!' and 'Oh shit, God's got the tequila!'
This apocalypse had certainly brought with it some difficult times)
Kelly stared at her. "It's Magna. That boy doesn't stand a chance."
She had a point.
Sighing, Yumiko resigned herself to the fact that she should probably start working on her condolence speech to Connie, because there was no way Daryl was going to survive until her return.
This is what you get for leaving the comfort of your own bed before noon.
"So I'm guessing that hickey on her neck was also your work?"
Yumiko's mouth curled. There were some unexpected benefits to having to rush out of said bed - and her girlfriend's enduring amnesia when it came to the existence of mirrors. "Don't tell her."
Kelly shook her head with a wry smile. "It's your funeral. But don't come crying to me when she kicks your ass out. I'm finally getting sleep again."
She decided it was best not to inform Kelly that, when Magna was pissed about things like this, kicking Yumiko out of bed was the last thing on her mind - not unless she intended to press her up against a wall instead.
Maybe this day would turn out alright, after all.
"I'll take my chances."
A/N: so this is the last chapter of fluff. The remaining ones are a bit heavier.