Author's Note: Hey! Glad to hear some of you out there are enjoying the fanfic! The subject material is easy to work with, so here is another chapter, a bit sooner than I anticipated while I concern myself with finishing Magnificent Crescendo and continuing with To. Please note, I'm still keeping in with the humorous nature of this general story, but this chapter might be a tad more on the melancholy side since it deals with Lambda, who in general is a more melancholy character. The lemon will reflect this. Cookie to you if you can correctly categorize all three lemons as they apply to each girl (when Noel's lemon is done being written anyway.)
Ragna's Apartment: Day 1 (cont.)
Ragna stared glumly at a slowly blackening pancake, smoke lifting off its charred surface and swirling around his nose, leaving a strong, acrid smell in the air. He absently flipped the pancake for the sixth or seventh time; behind him, Nu, Lambda and Noel were quietly eating. Nu noticed a visible haze of black smoke billowing out from in front of Ragna and said tentatively, "Um, Ragna? Why are the pancakes burning?"
Ragna snapped out of his daze and threw the pancake into the trash before spooning a fresh one onto the griddle. He said hollowly, "Because I've lost all control of my life."
Nu frowned a bit and continued to eat her pancakes. Lambda finished and began rinsing off her plate before turning to Ragna and softly pushing him out of the way. "Go eat," she said monotonously, "I'll finish making them." Ragna looked dazedly at Lambda, gave a small nod and sat down. He soon found his current state of mind too distracted for eating pancakes; he put half a bottle of syrup on his pancakes, kept dropping the piece he cut onto the floor and eventually managed to cut through the pancakes, through his plate and partially into the table. A mess of syrup, destroyed pancakes and wood shavings now littering the floor and his body, he resigned himself to clumsily drinking a glass of orange juice before standing up and muttering about showering.
Noel called out, rather awkwardly, "D-do you need any help?"
Ragna walked face first into the door and turned around slowly. With an air of deliberation, Ragna said, "Help? Yes, but not showering. Maybe a shrink. A shrink would be really nice actually." He turned around and went into bathroom. The click of a lock turning was heard and the apartment became quiet once again.
Nu finished eating and went into the living room to watch television while Noel decided to help Lambda wash dishes.
Ragna came out of the shower a half hour or so later, towel wrapped around his waist and walked into his room. Noel seemed to have contented herself with a pen and paper, no doubt thinking of a new poem and continued to shiftily glace around the room in hopes that no one noticed what she was doing. Nu was merrily watching television and turned her head to give Ragna a radiant smile before resuming. Lambda, on the other hand was sitting at a small desk, a box in front of her, idly fiddling with what appeared to be leaves. She turned her head in time to see Ragna staring at her; blushing she quickly looked back into the box she was fiddling with. Ragna walked over behind Lambda and peered into the box; it was filled with a variety of slugs. Ragna cocked an eyebrow. "Uhh, Lambda? Why do you have a box full of slugs?" he asked, puzzled. The shower seemed to have brought him to some sort of crushing realization that yes; these three girls were living with him, because his voice had returned to its usual perpetually annoyed state.
Lambda blushed again and said, the faintest trace of timidity in her voice, "I…collect them."
Ragna scratched the back of his head. "Uh, right," he said, slightly off-put, "Why?"
Lambda turned back to the box and idly poked one of the slugs; it squirmed in a way that only Lambda seemed to interpret as joy. "I just…like them," she said softly. As odd a hobby as this was, Ragna couldn't help but feel it was rather cute. Perhaps Lambda's cold exterior made any hints at emotion all that more magnified.
Nonetheless, Ragna remained as tactless as ever and said snidely, "Isn't that kind of weird though, Lambda?"
Lambda inclined her head somewhat; she stopped fiddling with the slug. "Apology routine initiated," she said, sadness beginning to fill out her voice, "Sorry Ragna…"
With these words, Ragna, for the second time this morning, felt like a monumental dick. He felt even more so when he noticed Lambda was rather teary-eyed. 'For the love of…Is everyone in this house that emotional?' he thought exasperatedly. "Look, uh…Lambda…sorry," he said with some difficulty, "I didn't mean to insult your…slug collection…or your hobbies. If you like that then it's perfectly fine." He managed an awkward smile.
Lambda turned her head away from him, blushing again, though this time, her face was painted with rather embarrassed affection. "Apology accepted…Ragna," she said quietly.
"Uh, right," he said, somewhat awkwardly, "Well, I'm gonna get dressed and…take a walk to clear my head." He went into his room, this time noticing that Lambda's massive sword-armor was sitting next to Nu's. On the other bed stand lay Noel's own Nox Nyctores. Ragna looked about the room. Nu's clothing was for the most part, in a small pile, but there were random articles of clothing littered about here and there, mostly panties. He moved aside his sword and opened the bed stand drawer; instead of finding his boxers, he instead found meticulously folded undergarments: they belonged to Lambda. Sighing, he opened the drawer the underneath and found that his boxers had been moved there, and so had some of Nu's panties. Ragna rubbed his face. "For the love of..." he muttered. He snatched a pair out and began to dress; at this moment, Lambda came inside, and blushed a brilliant scarlet at Ragna's naked form. "FOR THE LOVE OF…" shouted Ragna. He stopped himself and sighed. "What is it Lambda?" he asked, resigned.
"I need to get dressed also," she said quietly. She walked over to his closet and opened it; Ragna owned precious little clothing; the rest of the closet was filled with the same outfit Noel wore daily. Towards the end of the closet were Lambda's one-piece suit and, bizarrely, a few summer dresses. She pulled out the dress and walked over to a small dressing screen. She unfolded it and walked behind it.
Irritated, Ragna called out, "So there's no problem with you seeing me naked, huh?" Lambda peeked out from behind the screen, an apologetic look on her face. She slid the screen aside and looked away from Ragna blushing; she was totally nude.
"Is this fine, Ragna?" she asked shyly. She shifted idly where stood, not daring to make eye contact with Ragna. Now it was Ragna's turn to blush; she looked almost exactly like Nu, but had much more tanned skin. The overall effect was quite pleasant.
Not wishing to give away these feelings, Ragna turned abruptly around and pulled his jacket out of the closet. "You can get dressed behind the screen," he said, "I was just…making a point." Lambda pulled the screen out again and got dressed. Ragna adjusted the collar to his jacket and picked up his sword, locking it onto his back. He made for the door when the screen pulled aside again and Lambda called out, "Query."
Ragna turned his head towards Lambda. She was wearing a simple yellow dress and was blushing softly. "What?" he said, although he figured he knew what she was going to ask.
"Can I accompany you?" she asked apprehensively. She bit her bottom lip and stared intently at Ragna; she was almost scared to hear the answer. The effect was tremendous; not only did Ragna find this incredibly cute, but he also felt like a magnificent douche without having said anything negative. Nevertheless, he reluctantly nodded his head and set off to the front door of his apartment.
"I'll be out for an hour or two," he said. He opened the door and closed it behind him; he regretted this immediately.
From behind the door was Lambda's voice, which said rather monotonously, "Ouch." Ragna sighed and opened the door, pulled Lambda across the threshold and closed the door behind her. Still holding onto her hand, he pulled her down the hallway and out into the sun.
After getting out onto the main road, he let go of her hand and said simply, "Keep up, alright?" Lambda nodded and the two walked in silence. After a short walk, Ragna and Lambda had arrived at Ragna's intended destination, a forest on the edge of one of the lower levels of Kagutsuchi. He let out a low whistle and walked off towards the forest; Lambda picked up her pace to catch up.
"What are we doing out here?" she asked softly.
Ragna regarded her with interest. "I like coming out here when the whole, 'Fate has damned you to destroy the world' business gets to me," he said conversationally, "Or when really stressful shit happens."
Lambda looked at the ground and felt a twang of sadness. "I'm sorry that I'm troubling you so much," she mumbled. Ragna, once again, felt like an asshole.
"N-no," he said quickly, gesticulating wildly, "It's not that. It's not…any of you really. I'm just…I'm used to doing shit on my own, ok? It doesn't help that…" He sighed. "Look, don't feel bad, alright? I'll get used to it. Eventually. I've just had…a long time to dwell on what made me rather…I guess hot-headed is a good way to put it."
Lambda placed a hand tenderly on Ragna's cheek. "That's alright Ragna," she said softly, "Healing takes…time." Ragna was under the impression that Lambda was saying this more for herself than for him. His suspicions were confirmed when she added, "I would know."
Ragna almost instinctively embraced Lambda, clumsily patting her head. He felt her body begin to shiver somewhat. 'Oh boy…' he thought. His right shoulder began to feel moist. 'Yep. I knew it. She's crying.' Ragna stood there, in the forest clearing, holding on to Lambda, feeling markedly awkward and markedly upset. He pulled her head back and looked into her streaming eyes. "It's alright Lambda," he said apologetically. Always a man of action, he was terrible with words, and so he did what came naturally: he kissed her. It was always easier for him to just do, as opposed to say, and perhaps Lambda realized this, because that kiss meant much more to her than it might have to another. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms behind Ragna's neck as Ragna drew her closer, his arms clasping together in the small of her back. Their kissing grew fiercer, and Lambda began to make soft, muffled moans of arousal; interpreting this correctly, Ragna pushed Lambda away slightly to unzip his pants. He lifted Lambda, and holding her steady, her legs bent and clasped behind his back, slipped a throbbing erection free of his boxers. He felt around under Lambda's dress for her panties and tugged cloth that covered her groin aside.
So, for an hour, the two stood there, slowly making love in the wilderness. Lambda drew herself closer to Ragna, panting and groaning over his shoulder; whenever she opened her eyes, the forest around her seemed to be ebbing and swaying, it's rhythm keeping in time with her own bobbing. The feelings of ecstasy and happiness that welled up inside her burst spasmodically out, seemingly manifesting themselves as soft rumblings within the earth; their lovemaking seemed to distort her very reality. Lambda threw her head back and moaned loudly into the open air. "R-Ragna," she managed between gasps, "Please. Don't stop." She reached down with one hand and pulled her dress up over her breasts; she kept it in place by biting onto the fabric, which also served to muffle her groans. Ragna leaned his head forward and began softly sucking on Lambda's nipple. His thrusting grew steadily faster, until finally, he felt himself on the verge of orgasm.
"Lambda," he said, thrusting still faster, "Lambda…Lambda…Lambda Lambda Lambda!" Lambda clutched Ragna's shoulders tightly, her nails digging into the flesh. Her moans grew louder in pitch, until they reached her paramount, until she at last let loose a long moan of pure bliss. Ragna continued to thrust wildly through his orgasm, the sensation of his own seed swirling and mixing with Lambda's fluid within her. He slowly lost steam and finally withdrew from her still pulsing womanhood; the products of the lovemaking dripped softly to the ground. Lambda embraced Ragna and whispered something inaudible. "What?" asked Ragna.
"N-nothing," muttered Lambda. He could not see her silently mouthing something: I love you.
Ragna didn't say much as they walked home, and neither did Lambda, who seemed content to just hold his arm and lean her head on his shoulder. As the pair walked slowly back to his apartment, Lambda suddenly said quietly in Ragna's ear, "Can we hurry? I don't want to impose, but I'm starting to drip…"
Ragna felt his face turn very red and said shakily, "Y-yeah, that might be a good idea. In fact, that's a great idea!" He lifted up Lambda, clutched her close to her body and took off, full pelt towards his apartment. Within a few minutes, the duo had reached his front door; unlocked it and let Lambda inside. She gave him a swift peck on the lips before walking off towards the bathroom. He barely stepped across the threshold when Noel walked quickly past him and caught hold of his arm, tugging him back out again.
"What the hell? Let go of me Noel!" he said, firing up at once.
"We need more groceries!" she said testily, "We ran out!"
Ragna stared intently at Noel. "We…ran out? You just bought some! What the fuck happened to them?" he asked. Nu chose this moment to walk out of the kitchen wearing an apron and covered from head to toe in…everything it would seem.
"Ragna? Nu had a little accident…" she said sheepishly. "Nu tried to make a smoothie…but…Nu doesn't think the blender could take it."
Ragna opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but no sound would issue forth. He resigned himself to Noel's tugging, and let himself be led away to the market.
"Can I go back to the woods?" he asked aloud. Noel cocked an eyebrow at him.
"What are you talking about?" she inquired.
"Does it even matter anymore?" muttered Ragna.