Yami To Boushi to Hon no Tabibito: Ever After
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: StrikerS
ONE
Hazuki felt a certain amount of disorientation when they traveled to a new world, and this one was more disorienting than most. Her long black hair swirled around her as she took in the sights, her grip tight on her katana.
Mid-Childa, as their guide called it, was a Earth-like world, but one that seemed very different from home. Several moons hung visible in the daylight sky, while men and women flew through the air without any apparent technological means. There were regular cars and floating vehicles, people and human/animal hybrids and other kinds of strangeness. It was all just a bit overwhelming.
Soon after they had arrived on this world they were taken to Lt. ColonelYagami, who had not been what Hazuki had been expecting to see. Instead of an old guy Hayate Yagami wasn't much older than they were, and the brown haired woman's eyes had twinkled with amusement as they talked, the two of them sitting in chairs in front of her big desk.
"Simply transporting to Mid isn't in violation of our laws," Hayate noted, "though the Time Space Administration Bureau does try to monitor such transits for various reasons."
"I see," Hazuki replied respectfully, mildly awed by the other woman's aura of cool confidence.
"So far," a smile quirked Hayate's lips as she joked, "the only thing I could charge you with would be interrupting my friends' holiday."A bit more seriously she said, "To be frank, my primary concern is your ability to travel undetected by our systems."
Lilith leaned forward in her chair as she pointed out reasonably, "It's not our fault you can't detect my magic."
"True enough," Hayate agreed. She smiled winningly as she asked them, "But I hope you'd be willing to help us out a bit?"
In short order they found themselves in a research lab, tested, then in the custody of a new guide, who was taking them to a unknown destination. "So, uhm," Hazuki tentatively asked her, "where are we going now?"
Shari smiled warmly, the technician at the TSAB having been detached to accompany them, "Well, after Subaru and Teana brought you in, the lab determined that your method of dimensional transport is different than others that we've encountered. I was hoping we could see a expert on the subject, if she's in."
Lilith was looking around at the surroundings in awe, as well as a bit covetously. In the past Lilith had tried to get magic items by taking them, so Hazuki was keeping a eye on her. "So, you do all this," the bosomy blonde gestured to a flying car, "through combining magic and technology?"
"Yes and no," Shari said in answer as they walked down a tree lined road away from the TSAB buildings, "you see, we don't see any distinction between those different forces. It's all energy to us, be it magical or physics based."
"I see," Hazuki nodded as they walked by a shop or two before coming to a group of houses, presumably for base personnel.
"Here we go," Shari lead them up a walk way. "Now to see if she's in..."
"You didn't contact her in advance?" Lilith noted, amused at the idea these advanced people might not have phones, even though she herself was dressed in a old fashioned white and black dress.
"She usually doesn't answer her calls," Shari admitted as she knocked on the door.
After a moment the door opened to reveal a tanned, beautiful young woman wearing casual clothes. A woman that both Lilith and Hazuki recognized as she smiled, "Yes?"
"Quill?!" Hazuki blinked in astonishment. The woman was the spitting image of the primitive girl that she and Lilith had met on their first adventure across the worlds, the young woman whom Hazuki had become friends with and saved from a animal sacrifice.
The woman looked up at Hazuki quizzically, "Yes, I'm Quill Fiat. Have we met?"
"Ah...," Hazuki opened her mouth, unsure how she was going to explain.
"These are Hazuki and Lilith," Shari took over explaining with smooth capability, "they're travelers visiting here from another dimension."
Quill nodded wisely as she said, "I see." She smiled gently up at Hazuki as she conjectured, "You met another 'me' on a different dimension, I suppose?"
"Yes, we did," Lilith confirmed, frowning slightly at how close the good-looking woman was standing by Hazuki. The original Quill had been FAR too interested in her Hazuki, was this twin going to be the same way?
"It happens," Quill chuckled casually. She looked over at Shari, "I'm sure this is interesting, but why bring them to me?"
"However they arrived in our dimension, our normal scanners at headquarters didn't pick it up," Shari explained excitedly, "if two field agents hadn't been nearly right on top of them we wouldn't have even known they had arrived."
"Oh HO," Quill brightened. She took a small pendant she wore around her neck in her hand and cried, "Cadeus, release!"
There was a bright flash of light and Hazuki reflexively moved to draw her sword, only to blink in surprise. The small pendant seemed to flow outward, 'growing' into a staff with a dark blue jewel, held in place by what looked like a silver mechanical clamp. The steel staff was lined by red metal rings about a foot apart, set all along it's six foot length and it glowed softly.
"Dimensional energies detected," the staff said in a mechanical voice.
Hazuki kept a hand on her sword hilt as she demanded, "What is that thing?"
"It's just her Device," Shari tried to reassure them.
"I'm sorry," Quill tried to hold her staff in a non-threatening way as she said, "I forgot you're not from our dimension." She took on a lecturing tone and explained, "You see, most residents of this world have the ability to use magic, but it's difficult to learn to do on our own. That's why most of us have Devices, artifacts to assist us in channeling energy in various ways. Mine is this staff that I usually store in a pendant form."
Lilith was looking at it with wide eyes, "I want one!"
Quill chuckled as she said, "Cadeus, say hi."
"Hello," Cadeus said in a dry tone, the gem pulsing blue with each word it spoke. It was difficult to guess a gender from the voice, but it mostly came across as male.
"I'd like to use Cadeus to examine you for energies related to your trip here," Quill told them as she waved the staff towards them eagerly, "if you truly used a new method of dimensional transport, it could be very useful to our people."
Lilith took a half step back away from the staff as she asked, "And what's in it for us?"
Quill looked thoughtful, "The betterment of science?"
Lilith snorted with amusement, "Oh come on..."
Soon the two women were down to a serious bargaining session as Shari and Hazuki looked on bemusedly. There was a fair amount of drama and name calling, but both seemed to enjoy it. Quill would insist the energies weren't theirs, Lilith countered that they deserved payment for time and trouble and so on until they finished up.
"All right," Quill said, "we'll provide you with a Device, food and other supplies, but I get to have you as my lab rats until then."
"Lab rats?" Hazuki paled a bit, "I didn't agree to..."
"Hazuki," Lilith pushed herself against Hazuki and batted her eyes sweetly, "this way we'll be better off on the next world." She smiled warmly, "Please...?"
Hazuki tried to muster up a argument, but the big blue eyes gazing at her made it hard to fight. "Oh, all right," she conceded.
"Good," Quill smiled as she addressed Shari, "Thank you for your help, but I think I can take it from here."
"Can I stay and watch?" Shari asked, knowing that if she went back to work she'd just face more filing for Hayate Yagami.
"Sure, if they don't mind," Quill said casually as she nodded towards Lilith and Hazuki.
"It's fine," Lilith waved it away casually.
Quill studied the two of them, then she gave Hazuki a positively predatory look. "Miss Hazuki?" she smiled, "Please disrobe."
"What!?" Hazuki yelped, going beet red in embarrassment.
Quill observed that reaction and smirked, certain evidence adding up in her head. "I was just teasing," Quill smiled, "but you and my counterpart must have been VERY close."
"You could say that," Hazuki said sheepishly.
Lilith didn't like seeing someone else teasing Hazuki like this, but she just couldn't let that by. "They were very close," she told Shari and Quill with a smirk of her own, "that Quill even asked Hazuki to eat her!"
"Oh!" Shari blushed as she murmured, "So they were like Nanoha and Fate!"
Quill was giving Hazuki a look that could be described as very thoughtful. "We;;, I can see why I'd ask," she admitted.
"Argh," Hazuki blushed as she shook her head, "It's kind of complicated."
With that Hazuki, with a generous helping from Lilith, sketched in their adventures with the other Quill. The arrival, fighting the savage tribe, Lilith's temporary Queendom, the natives plan to sacrifice Quill, the arrival of the native's 'God' a jaguar like monster, Hazuki's defeat of it and Hazuki's being declared 'God' by the tribe.
Quill was giggling softly as she ran Cadeus over Lilith and noted, "I can just imagine you throwing yourself in Hazuki's lap shouting 'eat me!' over and over."
"It was fun," Lilith agreed as she thrust her bosom forward for the scan.
"Cadeus, compare data with records of anomalous dimension transports," Quill ordered as she ran the staff over Hazuki's sword.
"Working," Cadeus noted calmly then added, "match found. A disappearance some months ago matches energy signature."
Lilith and Hazuki exchanged a look. "Was the person who disappeared about our age, with blond hair and blue eyes?" Hazuki asked eagerly.
"Description matches," Cadeus said as it projected a hologram of the girl.
"Eve!" Lilith growled.
"Hatsumi," Hazuki corrected with a sigh. At the questioning looks from Shari and Quill she explained the rough details of their quest, leaving out the more unusual bits.
"Interesting," Quill mused, "very interesting."
To be continued...
Notes: 'Quill Fiat' is a tip of the hat to Nanoha characters often carrying car related names. I'm assuming Shari knows about Nanoha and Fate's relationship, considering both women live together, sleep in one bed and are raising a daughter together.
Yami To Boushi to Hon no Tabibito: Ever After
Five: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: StrikerS
TWO
"So they're from my home world?" Hayate Yagami blinked, the brown haired woman leaning forward in her chair. The colonel of the Time Space Administration Bureau was in her office, sitting behind a desk that was neatly organized, in part from help by her partner, Reinforce Zwei.
"The energy signatures match," Shari cautioned her superior, "but it could still be some kind of alternate version. Miss Fiat is still investigating."
"What do you think of Quill's proposal?" Hayate wondered, studying the young woman. Shari had volunteered to help out with the first day of testing the two women, as well as having talked to Quill about the whole situation.
Shari frowned as she admitted, "I'm not entirely happy about it, but it could be a great opportunity to learn." She looked at Hayate, "Have you decided to approve it?"
"I don't really have a lot of choice," Hayate noted mildly, "Quill isn't a TSAB employee. If she decides to do this, the most I can do is advise her it's a bad idea."
"I see," Shari nodded slightly.
Hayate smiled faintly as she added, "And in her shoes and in her profession, I'd probably jump at the chance."
Shari smiled, "Right!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, in the dimensional physics lab in the sub-basement of Quill Fiat's home, a decidedly embarrassed looking Hazuki had been stripped down to bra and panties as disks of light moved up and down her body. This was the second day she had been the test subject, and she was getting rather tired of it.
"Why can't you analyze me and my clothes at the same time, Ms Fiat?" Hazuki asked, her long black hair nearly reaching her butt.
"Call me Quill," she murmured, reading. "Clothing and flesh respond differently to the sorts of energies we're scanning for," Quill answered seriously as she studied the control panel in front of her. "This is fascinating!"
"Oh?" Hazuki asked.
"Your cellular structure has been... strengthened, somehow," Quill noted excitedly. "It's completely different from how our mages to protect themselves from damage, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."
Hazuki frowned wondering how that could have happened. "Is it from the dimensional travel," she asked, "or something else?"
"No idea," Quill answered cheerfully. "But it's terrific data!" she added.
"Ugh," Hazuki rubbed her face with her hand, her legs stiff from standing nearly a half hour. "How much longer?" she asked with a sigh.
"Not too much," Quill promised, copying and archiving data, as well as bouncing a copy to the TSAB labs and her friend Shari. "I was wondering," she said as she took a small wand and ran it over Hazuki's back, "why are you and Lilith traveling across worlds?" Hazuki had answered that question earlier, but Quill was hoping for more details, now.
"I'm looking for my sister, Hatsumi," Hazuki admitted, "though Lilith claims her name is Eve. From what I've been able to tell Hatsumi spends a certain amount of time on a world, then on her sixteenth birthday disappears, starting the cycle over on another world as a babe."
"Sort of a serial reincarnation effect?" Quill sounded intrigued. She softly mused, "I wonder if she retains the experiences of her multiple lifetimes?"
"I encountered her once in a place outside normal reality," Hazuki admitted, "she seemed to have more than one lifetime's experience there."
"Interesting," Quill finished her scanning with the wand, then shut down the device. "You can step down now, but don't get dressed yet."
"Why not?" Hazuki asked plaintively.
"Because after I tested them I sent your clothes out to be cleaned," Quill winked as she added impishly, "you were starting to stink."
The door to the lab slammed open, Lilith striding in also dressed in just bra and panties. "Where are my clothes?" the busty blonde demanded.
"They're being cleaned," Hazuki answered, gulping at the... lush beauty being presented to her. It wasn't that she didn't notice Lilith was good looking, but they had been around each other long enough it didn't register as much.
Lilith noticed her reaction, of course, and hid a smile.
Quill bit her lip not to laugh, clearing her throat to get their attention again. "I suppose you won't let me test your sword, too?" she asked.
"I...," Hazuki hesitated a moment. While her instinct was to trust Quill, she had only known her for a day or so. "As long as I'm there," she offered, "and no damage is done to it."
"That'll limit the tests I can do," Quill made a face, "but I understand."
"Mistress," Cadeus said, the device hanging around her neck glowing as it spoke, "the clothing delivery has arrived. Shall I let them in?"
"Please do," Quill told it.
"Those devices must come ion handy," Lilith said a bit enviously.
Quill smiled wryly and answered, "When they aren't nagging me about getting enough rest or eating properly or that sort of thing."
"That reminds me, Mistress," Cadeus noted almost smugly, "you have not had lunch yet."
"See what I mean?" Quill sighed as they tromped upstairs to get the clothes.
The young delivery boy looked rather stunned to see two half naked women walking towards him, not to mention the lovely Quill of tanned breasts and hourglass figure. He stammered thanks for his tip then fled, to the three women's amusement.
"They're kind of cute at that age," Lilith noted with a smile.
Hazuki and Lilith got dressed even as Quill went into the kitchen, preparing a quick lunch for them all, mostly to get Cadeus off her back. They gathered around the dining table and ate, the mostly 'instant' food still quite savory and filling. The containers were all recycled, leaving only the knives and forks to be cleaned.
"Thank you," Hazuki smiled warmly as she helped clean up.
Lilith rather comfortably lounged at the table, studying Quill thoughtfully. "So," she asked, "when am I going to get that device you promised me?"
"I have a question to ask in return," Quill said as she washed the knives swiftly, drying them and putting them away, "how long are you willing to delay moving on to learn to use one?"
"They don't come with a instruction manual?" Hazuki asked, sighing.
"To a limited extent," Quill answered, "it can teach you the basics, step by step, but unless you are a prodigy like Nanoha, your chances of developing advanced skills are much more limited."
Lilith made a mental note to ask about Nanoha later. "You don't seem the type to break a bargain, so what are you suggesting?" she asked.
Quill smiled slightly, "Instead of talking just a device, why not take it's user along as well?"
"No!" Hazuki yelped, Lilith following a little quieter, her expression thoughtful.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next day Quill hid her self satisfied smile as she, Hazuki and Lilith prepared to go. Unlike the street clothes that the other women wore she had on trousers and a military style jacket, sort of resembling the clothes the TSAB wore. All three women were also carrying backpacks with long lasting provisions, extra clothes and other gear.
"Thank you for agreeing to bring me along," Quill smiled sweetly.
Hazuki shook her head wryly, having been out-argued by Quill from the start. It wasn't that she was stubborn and smart, though she was both, it was that she was so sweetly good natured it made it impossible to fight with her. She had decided she was going along and that was that, their arguments barely made a dent in her cheerful resolve.
Deciding she had to try one more time Hazuki said, "You need to understand this is very dangerous, Ms Fiat."
"Quill," she corrected."
"Quill," Hazuki gave in, "the last world we were in had been taken over by a army of vampires. One before that was wrecked by a war between giant robots. Another we saw was in the past with ninja-crows and monstrous overlords. I have no idea if we'll be able to keep you safe if you are determined to come along."
Lilith frowned at how concerned Hazuki was about this women, then she sighed. She supposed it was just Hazuki's nature to be like this, and she wouldn't be drawn to her if she changed.
"All you're doing is making me more curious about coming with you," Quill smiled warmly. They had left the house and were out in one of the local parks, early in the morning with few people around. She looked at Lilith, "Ready to go?"
"Do I have to carry a back pack too?" Lilith complained.
"Yes," Hazuki said firmly.
Lilith looked back at Quill, "Then I guess I'm ready."
"Just a moment, then," Quill said as she removed her device from around her neck. "Cadeus," she ordered, "release!"
Just like the first time they saw it, the small pendant seemed to flow outward, 'growing' into a staff with a dark blue jewel, held in place by what looked like a silver mechanical clamp at one end. The steel staff was lined by bolted on red metal rings about a foot apart, set all along it's six foot length and it glowed softly.
"Yes, Mistress?" Cadeus asked politely.
"We're about to attempt dimensional transit," Quill told her Device, "I want full spectrum data recording, with relays to my lab and TSAB headquarters. Understood?"
"Of course," Cadeus replied calmly.
Lilith gestured dramatically, that same shimmering green light rising up around them... then they were gone.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The wind whistled around them, making all three women's hair flow like banners. Hazuki instinctively braced herself as she grabbed at the others, making sure the surprisingly stiff breeze didn't knock them down while everyone got their bearings. They were standing on what looked like a small island or pillar of rock, the edges dropping off into the air.
Quill shook off the confusion quickly, looking down at her staff as she asked, "Cadeus, status? And where are we?"
"Status nominal," Cadeus reported, "data link was severed by transit, proximately .001 seconds into the passage. We have traveled a unknown distance along both the x and y axis of dimensional travel, attempting to determine location now."
"Wow," Lilith murmured, pointing out from the island they found themselves on, "whales!"
"I've seen whales before," Quill frowned as she talked quietly to her device.
"How about flying ones?" Hazuki asked, resting her hand on the katana she carried warily.
"Eh?" Quill looked up, blinking. Yes, there were whales off in the distance, and as best as she could tell they were flying under their own power.
Hazuki tentatively made her way to the edge of the island, peering around only to gulp. They were on a island, all right, one that was somehow hanging in the air. Below them she could see land but a long, LONG ways down. She pulled back, peering around them to see more flying... critters, as well as other floating islands.
"Incredible," Quill said, shaking her head. "According to Cadeus the magical background level here is nearly two hundred that of Mid. Almost anyone could do magic with the level of power floating around here."
"I can feel it," Lilith agreed, smiling wickedly, probably thinking of the sort of trouble she could cause using it.
More practically Hazuki asked, "Any idea how we can get down from here?"
"I could fly us down using my device," Quill said confidently. She hesitated then added, "well, assuming the excess magic doesn't overload Cadeus and cause him to explode."
"Oh, that's comforting," Lilith grumbled.
"Incoming!" Hazuki hissed as a small shape zipped up from a flying whale, reaching their island in less than a moment.
"A kid?" Quill muttered.
The brown haired boy was possibly a bit older than ten, but not much. He 'rode' on a wooden staff that he balanced on expertly, and he wore fine clothes of a expensive weave. He leaped down with a easy smile as he said in a welsh accent, "Hello, my name is Negi Springfield." Curiously he asked, "how did you get all the way up here?"
"It's... a long story," Hazuki sighed.
To be continued...
Yami To Boushi to Hon no Tabibito: Ever After
Christmas
The transit between worlds was different, every time they experienced it. Sometimes it was a almost unnoticed shift, sometimes a sudden, jarring change. This transit was sadly one of the later, the group of women materializing in midair then dropping as Lilith yelped in alarm.
"Cadeus, staff mode!" Quill yelled, the dusky skinned woman grabbing at her device then extending a field to slow their fall. She was from the planet Mid-Childa, and used the magical Device she carried to study travel between the worlds. Hazuki was often bewildered by the older woman, remembering a different Quill she met on her first travel between worlds.
Hazuki's long school-girl's skirt swirled around her legs as she hit the snow, yelping in alarm at the cold. "Damn it," she cried, snow reaching right up to her bare ankles.
"Aagh!" Lilith sounded equally annoyed as the busty blonde haired woman scowled, stomping her feet in the cold snow. She wore a sexy, almost maid like outfit, her impressive bosom straining against the white blouse.
"Heating field," Quill ordered, the staff glowing as it generated a bubble of warmth around them all. Her violet eyes were concerned as she looked at Hazuki, "Are you all right?"
"I will be," Hazuki answered ruefully as she quickly warmed up.
Lilith didn't look terribly happy, then she visibly shook herself. "Is there a change of clothes in our emergency gear?" she asked, even as they took in the snow covered land around them.
"I think so," Quill said as she helped everyone take off their backpacks and root around in the supplies. Compact boots were soon found and slipped on, then the group headed out to find some shelter and change into something more warm.
The strange, snow covered land seemed deserted as they trudged onward, but finally the three saw a light off in the distance. Guided by that beacon they continued on, eventually coming over a rise and seeing laid out below them what almost looked like a quaint village.
"That's so cute," Lilith noted, smiling at the old fashioned buildings.
"Something seems...," Hazuki frowned slightly, "off, somehow."
"We need to get to cover," Quill stressed, "Cadeus can't do this forever."
"Yes Sir," the staff said blandly.
Lilith took the decision out of their hands by boldly heading down the hill, Hazuki and Quill scampering to follow. The town in the valley had no street signs, though honestly the thirty or so buildings didn't really need one, and seemed split between several factories and cottages for the workers.
"Who would be building things somewhere so cold?" Hazuki muttered, looking around warily.
Just then a group of young women emerged from one of the cottages, chattering happily. They were all attractive, with various hair colors and looks, but all wore distinctive red dresses, black leather boots and red caps, all lined in white fur.
The white haired leader visibly gaped when she saw the three travelers, then rubbed at her eyes as if she was seeing things. "Hi there," Lilith waved at them cheerfully.
She touched Lilith's arm, then visibly shook her head. "Sorry," she said, "just had to see if you were real."
"Hmm?" Quill looked amused.
The strange woman smiled, "My name is Christine Claus, what are you doing up at the North Pole on Christmas Eve?"
There was a long moment of silence as Hazuki digested that, then she groaned aloud, "You have GOT to be kidding me!"
Some minutes later and they were inside one of the larger buildings, surrounded by the young women whom Christine claimed were Elves. A older but still handsome woman named Mrs. Claus was heating up some mulled wine for them, even as the elves readied some food.
"So where's Santa Claus?" Hazuki had to ask, she, Lilith and Quill sitting by the fire holding mugs of the hot wine.
"Oh, Nicky retired years ago," the still handsome older woman noted, her firm breasts straining her red dress, "but his daughters are carrying on the tradition."
"Fascinating," Quill noted, her device glowing as it recorded data.
Lilith, meanwhile, was visibly bristling as several elves and Christine were giving Hazuki admiring glances. It was bad enough fending off Quill's subtle interest without dealing with this mob of cute women too!
Hazuki sipped the wine, feeling it warming her body as she began to relax a bit. "My friends and I came here looking for someone, a blond haired woman," and she described Eve.
"She was here last year," Mrs. Claus told her gently, "but she just... disappeared from the dorms one night. I'm sorry."
"Damn it," Hazuki sighed, shoulders slumping a bit.
Lilith put her arm around Hazuki's shoulders, patting her arm with one hand. "We'll catch up to her," she promised.
Christine looked at the three bedraggled women and came to a quick decision. "You three must be exhausted," she said, "why don't we put you up in the dorms tonight? You can start fresh looking for your friend in the morning."
Hazuki wanted to protest, but Quill was also nodding. "She's right," she told Hazuki, "besides, we're all tired. In the morning our heads will be clearer."
Thankfully there were single rooms in the dorms, however there were only two left. Lilith quickly volunteered to share with Hazuki, which left Quill in the other single. All three women settled into bed, even as the soft sounds of Elves and the industrious Clause daughters echoed in the background.
Quill dozed for a bit, then the young woman decided to get up and get a snack. Slipping on a surprisingly warm red dress and boots she headed out, walking from the dorm to the main building they were in before. Women bustled about as busy as ever, but one was willing to stop and direct her to the kitchen where food was being kept warm.
"Welcome back," Mrs Claus smiled, the still vigorous older woman stirring some kind of stew.
The fragrant smell made Quill's mouth water, not to mention her stomach rumble. "Sorry," she blushed as the older woman laughed.
"Here," Mrs. Claus filled up a bowl of the stew and passed it over with some warm bread, "you sound like you could use this."
"Sorry," Quill repeated as she dug in, "Hazuki can be very driven in her quest, she doesn't always think to stop and eat."
"Have you been traveling together long?" Mrs Claus asked gently.
"A few months," Quill admitted thoughtfully, blowing on the stew then swallowing. She dipped the bread in the thick, brown gravy and munched, sighing happily. "Oh, this is good," she muttered.
Mrs. Claus seemed pleased as she beamed, "Thank you." She looked at Quill thoughtfully, "I hope the trip hasn't been too difficult."
"No, no too bad," Quill admitted. She flashed a smile, "The researcher in me is fascinated, even though I occasionally feel like a third wheel."
"Are Lilith and Hazuki together then?" Mrs. Claus asked curiously.
"I think Lilith would like to be," Quill mused, smiling, "Hazuki can be a little... blind, to that sort of thing."
Mrs. Claus snickered softly, "I know how that feels, I had to practically lead my poor Nicky into proposing to me."
The two women laughed and talked while young women filed in to get fed, then returned to their work, until finally Quill yawned tiredly. "Excuse me," she smiled slightly as she said, "it's been a long day."
"That it has," Mrs. Claus agreed, getting up as well. "You'd best run off to bed," she told her, "before I do something I'll regret."
"Oh?" Quill looked at her curiously, taking in her fine figure in the tight red dress. It had been a few months, and to be honest she found she liked the older woman.
Mrs. Clause winked, "I wasn't always old and married, dear girl."
"You're not old," Quill answered firmly. She moved forward and kissed the slightly taller woman, letting her lips linger a moment.
Mrs. Claus kissed her back, then tilted her head as Quill pulled back. "You had best not be teasing," she cautioned, "or I'll have to put you on the naughty list."
"I don't tease," Quill promised, looking into her eyes warmly.
Mrs. Claus chuckled softly, "We'll see."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hazuki woke up in Lilith's arms, her face pressed up against the blond's much more bountiful chest. It was a surprisingly comfortable place to rest, too comfortable in Hazuki's opinion. She started to wiggle free only to have Lilith sleepily coo, "Oh, Hazuki!"
"Hmmph!" Hazuki made a soft sound as Lilith wrapped more firmly around her, hugging her snugly not to mention pressing her face more tightly to her chest.
"Ooh, that's nice Hazuki," Lilith cooed, apparently wrapped in a very nice dream.
Deciding to stop being nice Hazuki ticked Lilith along the ribs, jerking the woman to wakefulness as she gasped and giggled. She scooted away from Hazuki, even as she gave the black haired woman a slightly hurt look.
"And I was having a nice dream too," Lilith pouted.
"I know," Hazuki said dryly, getting up from the too small bed.
Someone had washed and dried their old clothes overnight, so both women got changed back into their regular gear before heading out. Emerging from their room they moved to knock on Quill's door, but the door opened before they could do so.
"Excuse me," Mrs Claus smiled warmly, leaving Quill's room with just a robe wrapped around her. She turned back to look into Quill's room, "Thank you for a wonderful night, dear."
Quill came out a moment later, wrapped in another robe and several visible hickeys on her neck. "No, thank you," she answered, watching fondly as Mrs Claus walked off. She noticed Hazuki giving her the oddest look and asked, "What?"
"You slept with Mrs. Santa Claus?" Hazuki yelped.
"Yes, and...?" Quill clearly didn't get it, and for that matter neither did Lilith.
"Argh," Hazuki threw her hands in the air, shaking her head.
"What?" Quill pressed innocently, trotting after her.
In the end they found no traces of Hatsumi, or Eve as Lilith likes to call her. They spent a few days at the North Pole resting up, and Quill continued to scandalize poor Hazuki by sleeping with Mrs. Claus. Worse, Lilith seemed to think this was time for her and Hazuki to do something too. A very cross Hazuki finally insisted they move on, and once more they traveled the worlds...
To be continued...
Notes: this is a tie in to my fic, a Miyuki-chan in Wonderland Christmas.
