It was ridiculous how difficult it was to leave the blonde and get to her own car. Knowing Hayate was still waiting, the executive sighed and banged her head on her steering wheel only once before heading over to pick the CEO up.
Nanoha hadn't thought that she had taken an overly long time to get back to Hayate, so the silent, knowing looks the brunette kept throwing her was getting on her nerves. The Audi's engine roared powerfully as she sped them down empty streets to the Shangri-La where the CEO was staying during her time in Singapore.
"You can tell she was raised to be the perfect princess."
Nanoha didn't need to ask about whom Hayate was speaking of.
The auburn haired woman sighed, "I know, and I'm sorry for yelling at you when you suggested we use her. Anyone on the outside is thinking the same thing." Nanoha shook her head, wearily raking back the forelock in her eye, "You would think I'd have had all the naiveté bled out of me by now. It never even crossed my mind until after I closed Signum's posting."
Hayate watched her friend's hands twist convulsively around the steering wheel.
"Usually I'd catch that before taking any action. You were right to question me. I'm questioning myself."
"You don't give your instincts enough credit, Nano-chan."
Knuckles grew white as the engine revved louder, the executive almost running a red light. The passing street lights loomed and faded as she slowed, winding the car up the small side road to pull into the hotel's drop-off area. She engaged the handbrake roughly.
"My instincts got me sweet fuck-all, Hayate." Nanoha growled, "You were well within your rights to fire me on the spot back then."
"I don't like exercising my rights for stupid causes." Hayate argued. Covering the shaking hand still strangling the handbrake, she squeezed, "Nanoha."
Her normally stoically cool friend looked a wreck, and she squeezed again, "She told me to fuck off." Hayate giggled softly, "Well, she used words as pretty as herself, but that's what she did. Told me to shove it where the sun don't shine and she'd quit if I got rid of you."
It was as if Nanoha had been a balloon, overfilled with air, and someone had pricked her too-tight surface. Collapsing, her head fell forward, face buried in her arms now resting on the steering wheel. 'Thank you… Feito-chan.'
Nanoha's entire body shook as the tension drained out of her. It had taken every ounce of herself to remain calm.
This was Shari's handiwork, and Hayate's lips thinned as she silently cursed that woman for the nth time. How dare that strumpet reduce her friend to… to this? Not even Ginga had… Well, that was neither here nor there.
"She passed with flying colours, Nano-chan. I will bring the hammer down on anyone questioning her hiring."
Lifting suspiciously bright eyes to stare at her old friend, Nanoha nodded.
"Your instincts found you a good one there." Hayate continued. She needed to rebuild what Nanoha had lost, but it was such a difficult thing when her friend was so fiercely independent. "She broke a lavatory door when someone insulted you at work."
Blinking, Nanoha was taken aback, "She what? Wait, are we still talking about…"
"Mmmhmm. She took it up with Sig-chan, off the record. I think the words used were 'unnatural dyke'. She took great issue with that, apparently."
Mouth working, words failed the auburn haired woman but her lips twitched into a small smile. 'Feito-chan…'
The brunette could see the slightest mending of the gaping holes in her friend's confidence. It was almost as if there were invisible hands, encircling protectively around the surprisingly vulnerable woman. She really needed to find ways to rub the two Operations executives together to see what happened, especially now that she knew the blonde wouldn't cast Nanoha aside for some tawdry rewards.
One final squeeze and Hayate popped the passenger door open. "It was good seeing you, Nano-chan, we'll catch up more, yea?" With that, the tanuki was gone.
----------------------------------------
Nanoha had driven around in a daze. The warm feeling in the pit of her stomach wouldn't go away and visions of the blonde beauty occupied her all through her aimless drive. Aimless as it was, she still found herself under Fate's apartment building. It was as if her body knew, even if her mind didn't.
Arms folded over her steering wheel, she leaned over, peering up at the blonde's window. Dim lights lit the interior and she looked at her dashboard. 11:02PM.
'She said she slept late…'
Feeling reckless and urged on by a fresh feeling of confidence, Nanoha raised her voice slightly, "Call, Testarossa, F."
Two rings, and her call was answered.
"Nanoha?" The auburn-haired woman shivered. Even just her sweet voice was enough to give her chills. Fate's dulcet tones sounded lower, throaty.
"Hey… hope I'm not disturbing you."
Fate had just stepped out of the shower, a rather long one, since she had a lot of fuel for her fantasies from today. Her cheeks felt hot to hear the object of said fantasies over the phone just after she had… worked out some tension. Cradling the phone in the crook of her neck, she turned off her shower to better hear her boss.
"N-No, I was just going to dry my hair…"
Nanoha's hands gripped at her steering wheel. "Need help?" The words left her lips before she could think, and she snapped her mouth closed. What was she doing?! Well, there was no taking back what she said now. The executive shook her head at herself, this was her losing her mind.
"I… wh… I don't mind but you're on Sentosa?"
"Look out your window."
Nanoha could hear the soft pad of footsteps over the line, and then the willowy figure of the blonde appeared at the window she was staring at. The executive gave a small wave.
"Why…?"
"I couldn't sleep," which was true. She would've just gone home and stared at the sea. "Things have been piling up and… I apologise. I wanted to be sure you got home safe." Also true. "I'll head off now," she pushed off from her steering wheel to start the engine.
This extraordinarily accomplished woman couldn't sleep, and came looking for her? Pushing away her doubts, Fate shook her head, then realised the woman wouldn't be able to see from where she was. "No, it's fine. My shoulders do hurt from today's workout, I would like the help."
This was Nanoha. Everything about her was to help, to improve the lives of those around her. How had Fate ever thought the woman was a destroyer, a harbinger of doom? What a difference a few weeks or months made, the blonde mused.
"Come on up." Fate imagined she could see the brilliant smile directed up at her from inside the car.
Fate gave her apartment a quick once over. She usually used her Friday nights to tidy up since she was a dateless loser, so there wasn't too much that needed straightening up. Deciding it would pass muster, she realised too late that she, and her hair, were still in towels when there was a knock on her door.
It took Nanoha a long moment to find her tongue, it having been swallowed when Fate opened the door dressed in nothing but towels. The pale beauty was flushed pink from head to toe from the hot shower she'd just taken. Strands of gold had escaped the towel on her head to frame her elegantly beautiful face and the towel around her body was barely containing the woman's chest. "I'm sorry, I caught you at a bad time," Nanoha began, trying not to think too hard about how the woman was completely naked under that one sheet of cloth.
Fate's impossibly warm hand closed about her wrist and drew her in, "Nonsense," face aflame, the blonde closed the door, wondering how this scene might look to the casual observer. Her, almost naked, and pulling her gorgeous boss into her home this late at night.
In the distance, a glint of light flickered, the reflection of a street lamp against some sort of glass. Neither woman noticed.
"J-Just let me get dressed…" Hurrying back to her bedroom, Fate quickly pulled on an oversized sleep shirt and shorts, buttoning the shirt up in a rush and getting it askew in the process, not that she noticed.
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It wasn't Nanoha's first time in Fate's apartment. She knew her address from dropping Fate off that first Monday, 'and memorised it,' her mind scoffed, but hadn't had a chance to really explore inside. There were obvious attempts to make the place more homely. Little potted plants hung from the ceiling in the balcony, vines and tendrils dangling to give a sense of privacy from the outside.
The television was a modest 45-inch affair, likely something provided by the landlord. The couch too, was fairly small to fit the apartment, just large enough for three if they squeezed. Cushions with lily decals gave the area a cosy feel, and matched the bouquet of fresh lilies holding court in the middle of the coffee table.
An e-Reader sat on the table, next to the lilies, and it made Nanoha curious what the blonde enjoyed reading. Wandering into the kitchen, Nanoha smiled, seeing a blender she had recommended to Fate holding pride of place on the countertop.
Pictures of various gatherings littered the blonde's fridge, taken locally or overseas. Curiously, Nanoha noted that Fate herself wasn't in any of the pictures displayed. It seemed as though Fate was always on the outside looking in on other's lives.
Hair still in a towel, Fate re-emerged, wondering where her guest had gone off to, "Nanoha-chan?"
The auburn haired woman poked her head around the entrance to her kitchen, "I want a selfie with Feito-chan," she declared with no context, the rest of her following as she exited the kitchen to rejoin Fate in the living area proper.
Fate blinked. She had always avoided being in front of the camera whenever possible. She hated how she looked, how she smiled, everything about herself.
Sensing the blonde's hesitation, Nanoha persisted, "Friends take selfies. We're friends, aren't we, Feito-chan?" She drew Fate's hands into her own and unleashed the full force of her Puss-in-Boots eyes on the blonde.
"O-Of course we're friends," Fate whispered, helpless in the face of such overwhelming levels of cuteness. "I think of you as my… as my… b… best friend." She forced the words out in a stammered rush before her courage could fail her.
Warmed to her very toes, Nanoha smiled that devastatingly brilliant smile that robbed Fate of all thought, "I think the same of Feito-chan. Ne, let's take a selfie after I do your hair?"
Red-faced, the blonde could only nod mutely. If it was Nanoha asking, she would turn the very fabric of reality on its head for her.
Leading Nanoha to her bedroom, she handed the auburn-haired woman her dryer and sat awkwardly in front of her dresser. She tugged off the towel over her head, releasing her damp hair from its confines, "Mmmf." Muscles tight from the morning's exercise twinged and she winced.
The warm lights in the bedroom softened the princess' classically sharp features, shrouding her in an enticing, yielding aura that called to the executive. 'Well? You offered to help. Start helping.'
Silently repeating the mantra about 'just helping', Nanoha dug her fingers into the heavy flaxen tresses before her and began. As always, what started as a purely clinical endeavour took on a more leaden meaning the longer they spent time alone together.
Stiffly formal fingers began to curl and caress Fate's scalp, the executive ensuring that not a hint of dampness remained to risk the blonde a headache if she slept with wet hair. Special attention was paid to the hair near her temples, the blunt claws of the executive's fingers combing gently through the strands to separate and blow on them.
Gooseflesh spread over Fate's body at the touch, more so when Nanoha's fingers trailed through her hair to brush sensitive areas behind her ears. Unbidden, a soft gasp escaped past wetly pink lips, and Fate's eyes, heavy and lidded in animal pleasure from the pampering, watched the gorgeous woman beside her, so focused on drying her hair. Fate didn't need to look to know her nipples were drawn tight, twin aches brushing deliciously against the inside of her sleep shirt each time she shifted. She should have worn a bra.
It was hypnotic playing with Fate's hair, to feel the warmth of the woman's scalp against the sensitive pads of her fingers, to comb through its luxurious length repeatedly. It felt incredibly intimate and comforting to be trusted this much. She could see her eyes, fully dilated in the mirror, as she studied the beauty in the mirror. Her own traced over the blonde's perfect brows, that gently aquiline nose, the delicately aristocratic curve of her jaw. All to frame those deep crimson pools that seemed to stare right into her soul, quietly accepting of everything they saw.
The gasp gave her pause, and Nanoha wondered if she had inadvertently caused the blonde some pain. Glancing down at the woman, her breath caught. Fate's chest was rising and falling swiftly, the woman's breath coming faster than expected, and… oh gods. She could see the tips of Fate's breasts straining against the thin material of her sleep shirt and felt a sympathetic ache in her own. They felt heavy and warm. Too warm.
"Feito-chan…"
It took Fate a moment to collect herself, that husky alto in her ear was turning her insides to goo. "Y-Yes?"
"...Do you have a clip?"
Soundlessly, she dug into a drawer and passed Nanoha the requested hair clip.
The auburn haired woman set aside the dryer to accept the clip. Movements painfully careful, she swallowed and twisted the now-dry mane of gold, clipping it up in a messy up-do. "Tell me where it hurts," she whispered, trailing fingers down one side of the blonde's neck. She remembered which muscle groups they'd worked on today and had a fair idea where the hurt would be, but needed Fate to confirm it for her.
Gathering the tatters of her composure around her, Fate's throat bobbed and pointed out the various spots. "This will hurt before it gets better," Nanoha warned. Fate nodded, made inarticulate by the woman's closeness as she ran a firm touch over the problem spots, feeling out the knots that laid under soft skin.
"It will be a good hurt," the blonde whispered with utmost confidence, earning her a lopsided smile from the auburn-haired woman. Without warning, Nanoha dug strong fingers into the blonde's flesh, immediately targeting the first knot right where the shoulder met neck. There was a shuddering gasp and Nanoha felt her own heart rate pick up. The sounds this woman made…
"Breathe," she instructed quietly. Fate sucked in a sharp breath as instructed. It wasn't enough. Nanoha had snaked an arm around her shoulders, bracing her as her fingers dug in once more, deeper, harder. Fate gave a soft cry, feeling the knot melt under the executive's commanding touch, and her hands flew up to clasp around the auburn haired woman's strong forearm. She was surrounded by the woman's scent, the softness of her flannel, the heavy fall of her hair, that voice. It was beyond heaven, and Fate clung on for dear life.
Muscles tensed to iron rigidness, Nanoha frowned in concentration as she employed her mother's arts to knead out the points of pain Fate had shown her. Her fingers traced the soft line of Fate's shoulder and dug in once more. "Nnnh! Nanoha!"
"Shh, I've got you. Feito-chan has been trying too hard." Their positions aside, the noises Fate was making, it was all pushed to the background when Nanoha realised how close Fate had come to overdoing it. When it came to pressure point work, the root of pain frequently originated further away from the problem areas. Calling up her memory of the paths blood circulated through, the executive traced corresponding lines down Fate's sides and dug into the next closest cluster of nerves.
Fate was reeling. It was clear she'd bitten off more than she could chew when she had asked for help. This woman never went with half-measures, the blonde should have realised that by now. She shuddered and arched when the new spot was found. "I… I just wanted you to be proud," Fate explained through a panted breath.
A soft sigh answered her, "Would I be proud if Feito-chan hurt herself for me?" The blonde shook her head, looking chastised. She felt soft lips on her temple, offering the blonde swift forgiveness. "This will take more than I planned. Sorry, Feito-chan." The arm around her shifted, the other slipping under her knees to lift her up. Nanoha carried Fate to her queen-sized bed, her one luxury in the apartment. The blonde blushed hotly, her self-castigation utterly waylaid by lurid thoughts. She'd imagined this happening many times, each time proceeding to things that made her have to touch herself.
"Nanoha, wh…" The auburn haired woman laid her gently on her bed, "Roll over, I need more access." Nanoha's face held a slight frown of concern. The blonde licked her lips and did as instructed, unsure of what was happening, only that she'd do anything the gorgeous executive asked of her.
It was a challenge having to work through the long sleep shirt, it dulled Nanoha's sense of touch and impeded her ability to see what was where. "Arms up," she instructed, and Fate complied. Grasping the bottoms of the blonde's shirt, the executive lifted it up and off of the princess' body.
'Just helping,' the executive firmly reminded herself, averting her eyes so Fate could lie face down after her shirt was removed. "Feito-chan, I'm sorry, I should have noticed. Please, you must pace yourself."
Fate had no compunctions about having Nanoha remove her shirt. She was blushing madly but there was a rock solid belief that the other woman had no doubt that it was for Fate's own good. What a contrast to… other experiences. Crossing her arms under her head, Fate laid her head down and eyed the auburn haired woman out of the corner of one eye. "I promise," she murmured, "I just didn't want to be a burden."
"You hurting yourself burdens me," Nanoha shared with raw honesty. Fate had no answer to that, but none was expected, not when she felt Nanoha straddling her bottom. She buried her burning face into her arms. A good thing, since the executive had begun mirroring her first massages on Fate's other side. The sensation of long-niggling aches the blonde hadn't even noticed were there, slowly melting away under the executive's knowing hands, was a sort of bliss she never imagined she would ever experience.
She was becoming putty in Nanoha's calloused hands and there was nowhere else she would rather be. Firm sweeps interspersed with digging kneads chased every ounce of tension from her back and arms, and when the touches moved to her neck, she bit the sheets under her to muffle her groan. "You're so good at this…" She mumbled.
She could hear the smile in the woman's warm alto, "I had a lot of practice on myself," Nanoha switched to using her knuckles, and Fate tensed when a particularly problematic spot was worked firmly on, "Nngh…"
"Here?" She felt the bed shift, the auburn haired woman straddling her back as she moved up higher. The burning heat even through the woman's jeans was incredible. "I don't want this to end…" Fate unknowingly whispered aloud. It had been a long day and she was nodding off from all the pampering. Nanoha smiled as she kneaded and rolled each shoulder, careful of the rotator cuffs the blonde had been straining. That smile faded back into a frown as Nanoha considered her delinquency.
'Idiot. She was relying on you to make sure she stayed safe, and you let your damned libido run off like a bunny on speed. Get your shit together, Takamachi, before someone really gets hurt.'
Switching her massages to soothe on purpose, she gentled her touch, soaking in the feel of Fate's velvet soft skin, the supple curve of her back under her thighs. She exhaled in a silent sigh. 'Principessa… how I ache for you.' Carefully lifting herself off of the bed with minimal movements, she pulled the covers over the sleeping beauty's shoulders, tucking the ends of them under the woman's delicate chin. Unable to resist, she leaned close and brushed her lips to the corner of Fate's, all that she dared take. "Sweet dreams, Feito-chan." She unclipped the blonde's hair, allowing it to spill in a golden pool beside her. Memorising the painting that was this moment, Nanoha left and turned off the lights.
…Nanoha covered her eyes with one hand. She couldn't leave without leaving the door unlocked. 'Well, you certainly thought that through, didn't you?' She asked herself acidly. At least tomorrow was a Sunday. Kicking off her jeans, she dropped a text to Erio to update him on her run schedule and settled on the couch to try to get comfortable. Everything smelled like Fate, which immediately helped her relax. With a slight smile, Nanoha curled up on her side and closed her eyes, one lilac and rose scented cushion for her pillow.