puzzle; au

Hope was confused.

Given that he was a scientist, that state of mind was to be expected. Things in his field would puzzle or intrigue him, and then he would conduct experiments based on a hypothesis. A feasible answer could almost always be found.

Too bad he couldn't say the same for his girlfriend.

To be fair, Lightning had always intrigued him and he was certain she always would. How he'd gotten her to say yes to being with him would always remain a mystery to him, given that she seemed unreachable…but not untouchable, except, as he was slowly finding out, in certain places.

"You look nice," he said quietly, eyes roaming over her. Lightning dismissed his compliment with a 'hmph', but there was a telltale flush on her cheeks.

Hope smiled to himself. It was true - she did look very nice…

..even with another darn turtleneck.

At first, he'd figured it was just her style. Lightning seemed to have an abundance of cropped turtleneck shirts and skirts, since it seemed to be all she ever wore. While Hope was admittedly extremely appreciative of the sights this offered him - especially since her turtlenecks were usually sleeveless - it also confused him to no end.

It hadn't at first. Given that Hope was a straight male, women's clothing was the least of his concerns. The confusion had started one night a little over a month after they'd gotten together.

What a night that had been. Hope still smiled just thinking about it - the fact that they were actually alone, with no chance of Serah or Snow or anyone interrupting them; the way she'd constantly have little smiles on her face because of him; the obvious tension in the air…

The tension may have been on his part, though sometimes he wondered. She'd definitely had no qualms about the two of them twined together on the couch, their lips meeting in slow, sensual kisses over and over. In fact, it'd been her hands that'd started wandering first - not that much, but just enough to make things sizzle around them. Something about her fingers sliding into his hair and holding on the more passionate their kisses grew drove him crazy.

Up until that point, their physical intimacy had been rather…sedate. They were both fairly new at this, so he supposed that was understandable. But even so, they just…fit. It was as though the world had faded to simply their lips and hands and skin.

Maybe that thinking was where things went wrong. In his instinctive desperation, his lips trailed over Lightning's jaw when they pulled away for breath. Slowly, he reached a hand up to tug the fabric of her turtleneck out of the way, intending for his mouth to explore that territory…

…Only for Lightning to immediately jump and slap his hand away.

At first, Hope could only blink in surprise. His mind was still clouded with desire, so he was extremely confused as to why Lightning was now a foot away from him. "Uh…?"

"Sorry." Her voice sounded incredibly husky, and she cleared her throat. "I just - "

Perhaps it was fortuitous timing, because a second later, Snow and Serah burst through the door, babbling on and on about…well, Hope hadn't really been paying much attention.

Things had stayed just as confusing since that night. Lightning had no problems with kissing him, or even when his hands wandered…as long as they stayed in safe territory. But every single time he tried to move her turtleneck - because she always wore them - she'd jump away and make some kind of excuse.

Honestly, Hope didn't particularly mind not getting to lavish attention on that area of her skin. It was the fact that he had no idea why that was driving him crazy. A bunch of reasons formed in his head as time went on - maybe she didn't like it. Maybe she didn't want the turtlenecks to get stretched out. Maybe she had a…tattoo, or something ridiculous that she didn't want him to see.

Arrrrrrrrguh.

It was only when he arrived at her place one night to pick her up for a date that it occurred to him that maybe he could just ask her.

"Hey, Light - how come I always see you wear turtlenecks?"

She shrugged. "I like them."

Damn it.

"You're not wearing one now, though," Hope pointed out. Much to his surprise, Lightning was wearing simple shorts and a tank top - casual, but still gorgeous in his eyes. His eyes roamed over her neck. Nope, no mystery tattoo.

"Hmm." She slid a hand over her neck, as though confirming that. "Guess I'd better go change."

Hope automatically nodded, but as he watched her head towards the starts, it dawned on him that this could be his own chance. Now there was no turtleneck to get in his way!

As quickly and quietly as he could, he snuck up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist to stop her in her tracks. Immediately, she turned her head towards him in confusion, which gave him the perfect opportunity to lay his lips on her neck, the tip of his tongue flicking over her fluttering pulse. He wasn't sure was he was expecting - perhaps for her to move away or kick him or something.

The reaction got instead was far better.

Lightning let out a sharp, shaky gasp, her body immediately melding against his. Instead of moving away, she tilted her head to expose more of her neck for him. Hope obliged in her silent demand, his lips, teeth, and tongue memorizing what he hadn't been privy to before. He pulled her a little closer to him, suddenly aware that her pulse was absolutely racing…and the pieces of the puzzle came together.

"That's why you wear turtlenecks all the time," he murmured, lips somewhere near her ear. She let out another shaky breath, which was her only verbal response. Hope was a little stunned at that, because Lightning always had something to say…

…unless he happened to find the magic spot that turned her into a pile of mush.

"You know," he said in a low voice, lips traveling down her neck again, taking in her quiet noise of pleasure, "what do you say that instead of going out, we stay in tonight?"

She didn't respond at first, and he wondered if she'd even heard him at all with how completely far gone she seemed, but finally she nodded, a little smirk forming on her face as she turned around in his arms.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and find your weak spot," she murmured, capturing his lips. Hope smiled into the kiss, pulling her closer.

"We have all night."