For: OZ7UP
Prompt: Elizabeth/Tomoko
It had become a weekly occurrence. Like clockwork, Beurling would slip into the open side of Tomoko's bed, and they would spend some of the night talking about their current situation or the Neuroi or the state of their equipment.
The conversation would end, sometimes on a few minutes, sometimes a few hours after Beurling's initial intrusion, and the pair would go to sleep in their own rooms, with no one the wiser.
For a long time, that was it. They never pressed for personal details, and they hardly spoke to each other when the sun was out. Their interaction stopped at their nighttime conferences.
Tomoko valued the idea of having a comrade who she could trust in her bed without worrying about being molested. The thought of not waking to a traumatized Elma was an incredibly pleasing one, and she could always tell how a day would turn out simply based on whether she could fight Haruka or Guiseppina's hands off of her the night before.
It wasn't a surprise, then, considering what she normally put up with when the sun set, that Tomoko occasionally wondered what it would feel like if it was Beurling's hands that stroked her in the most inappropriate ways. Would she still think it was a nuisance, or would she welcome the feeling?
(It was around this time in that particular train of thought that Tomoko would turn to her constant bedfellow and accuse her of perverting her thoughts.)
Other times she would find herself staring at Beurling, her mind wandering from how the Spitfire units performed compared to the Hurricane, to how rough those hands must be from flicking a flint wheel so frequently, to how it would feel to have those lips wrapped around her like they're so often wrapped around a cigarette.
It only took a few months before Tomoko was sure she'd snap from the (she would vehemently, and mentally, deny that it was sexual) tension. Night time quickly became more and more unbearable when Beurling didn't visit, and Tomoko was sorely tempted to turn the tables and sneak into the other's bed instead.
She snapped, eventually, when Beurling calmly asked her why she seemed so distracted one night. She acted so quickly in fact, that when her brain finally caught up with her actions, her hands were already tangled in silver hair and her mouth pushed against tobacco-stained lips. Beurling, who seemed frustratingly calm despite the situation, responded, matched the pressure but with arms that resolutely stayed by her sides.
The kiss ended as suddenly as it began, the steam of their panting breaths clearly visible in the frozen temperatures of Suomus. Beurling, with an expression as impassive as always, murmured something akin to "So that's what's bothering you," before reaching out for the first time and pulling Tomoko close.
Tomoko, still reeling from the kiss, sunk into the embrace. She fell asleep in seconds.
The next morning, when Tomoko awoke, Beurling was nowhere to be found. Tomoko shot out of bed and inspected her room. The small space was devoid of anyone else, Haruka included.
Feeling somewhat disappointed, Tomoko dressed and left the deserted room, making her way to the dining area. On her way there, however, she was tugged into a well-hidden corner of their base.
"Worried I wasn't there when you woke up?" Beurling whispered in Tomoko's ear, well aware of the way Tomoko shivered from both the warm breath on her ear and the closeness of Beurling's body.
She still leaned into the warmth, despite how tense with surprise she had been not but a moment earlier.
"Not really," she answered, enjoying how Beurling's slightly larger body felt against hers.
Beurling gripped Tomoko's chin and turned her head so she could see Beurling's smirk and half-lidded eyes. "You should really be more honest," she muttered, dragging Tomoko's face closer to hers.
Before Tomoko could blink, Beurling's mouth was on hers, arms tightly wrapped around her. Tomoko could feel her strength leave her as a tongue forced through her lips, and she was glad she was being held so securely.
It didn't take long for Beurling to pull away, leaving Tomoko dazed.
"That was payback for last night," she explained, rather simply. She leaned Tomoko against the wall, the corner of her mouth angled up slightly, and pulled her pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. "See you at breakfast."
A/N: Times like these make me wish I knew Japanese and had the complete raws to the Suomus Misfits novels. On a more interesting/amusing/alright-get-on-with-it note, MSWord disliked the spellings of Beurling, Haruka, Guiseppina, and Suomus... yet had no problem with Tomoko or Elma. I'll never understand word processors.
I think this may be the first actually kissing I've written for this series, but I guess I've got to live up to my "T" rating somehow. At any rate, I hope you folks enjoyed it.