"All done!" Shamal's cheery voice travelled up from the first floor and Fate hastily dashed away the tears tracking down her face. Tucking the strip of stickers back into the back pages of her calendar, she quickly went to wash away any traces of crying and made her way down.
The doctor had checked up on Fate before heading back to the first level to work on removing Nanoha's casts. Currently, Shamal was using the showerhead in the lower level's bathtub to rinse away the resulting dust and residue around the tub and floor area caused by the electric saw. Poking her head in, Fate had her mouth open to ask if any help was needed. The sight greeting her had the blonde squeaking and doing an about-turn, her ears burning red, "I-I am SO sorry!"
Seated on a chair in the tub was the executive, covered in nothing more than leftover bandages and her underwear. Plaster dust caked her from head to toe and she was blinking eyes blurry from dust that had gotten into them. Shamal hid her grin at the blonde's reaction. "Good timing, Fate," she whispered cheekily, "I was just heading off. I'll leave her in your capable hands." Discarding the sliced up casts into the trash bag she had brought in with her, she patted Nanoha on one dusty shoulder and made her escape, leaving the red-faced royal and blinded executive to their own devices.
"Gods dammit, Shamal, at least get me a fucking towel…" A dampened towel was silently placed into her blindly seeking hands and Nanoha mumbled her thanks, wiping away the dust with relief. Gods, just the freedom of movement felt so good. Looking up at her benefactor, she blinked to see Fate and not the expected doctor standing by the tub. The woman was holding the towel out for her, crimson eyes carefully averted.
Hurt, Nanoha glanced down at her scars, voice small, "Do I really look that bad?"
Eyes widening, Fate yelped, "N-No! I just thought…" Biting her bottom lip, she turned back to study the woman, willing herself to fully drink in what was revealed lest the executive assumed she had an aversion to her body. The weeks Nanoha had spent in casts had stolen some of the Takamachi heir's muscle mass, leaving a pared down body that while weakened, did not detract from a lifetime of fitness training. True, she could afford to put more weight on her bones, but to Fate, she had never looked more desirable. Even the dust coating her legs and shoulders seemed to want to accentuate all the dips and curves the blonde could see, and her hands twitched, itching to explore every inch that was revealed.
Nanoha watched as the blonde ran her eyes over her scarred form and she felt her back stiffen, refusing to shrink away from the woman's sight. She was the Takamachi clan heir by the kami, and damned if she would be ashamed of honourably earned injuries. Catching Nanoha's eyes, warm pools of the finest Bordeaux met her proudly defiant gaze without guile, "You look very nice, Nanoha. I think you have the nicest body I have ever seen." Head tilting slightly, Fate quirked a tiny smile, "Not the cleanest, though."
The blonde's unexpected words pushed her off-kilter and Nanoha felt herself growing a little warm. Refusing to get her hopes up, she sighed when the woman mentioned her state of cleanliness, or lack thereof, "Yea, I could use a thorough wash."
Unsteadily getting to her feet, she made her way to the scrubbing area, Fate quickly moving to help support one arm. Feeling miles lighter without her casts, it took Nanoha some time to adjust her balance moving without them and she was grateful for the blonde's help.
"Want help with your back and hair?" Familiar with the japanese style of wash after time spent living in the Takamachi clan compound, Fate made a quick guess about what all Nanoha would need help with.
Glancing at Fate from over her shoulder, Nanoha finally got a good look at the blonde's mode of dress and she swallowed. The short-sleeved jersey had its top button undone, showing a generous amount of cleavage, and the knee-high socks under the bottom edge of the woman's top only added to Fate's ridiculously sexy and cute aura. "I don't want to get your clothes wet…"
Shrugging, Fate sought out the normal height stool that had been in the bathtub, positioning it comfortably for the executive to sit on. The woman may have been out of her casts, but that did not mean she was up to performing feats of gymnastics immediately, so Fate felt completely justified in offering her help. "I'll take them off so they don't. You can do my back and hair in return? I was going to get my morning shower, too."
"Uh, oh, sure, I suppose." Stiffly shucking out of her underwear, Nanoha dropped it into the laundry basket. Refusing to look behind her, she could hear the rustle of cloth over skin, informing her the blonde was becoming similarly naked. Wishing she dared use the cold setting on her shower without giving herself away, she sat herself on the stool and ran the water. The bandages still wrapped around her torso stuck wetly to her and she cursed. She had been so distracted she had forgotten about them.
Struggling with the bandage clips that had to be awkwardly placed along her back, Nanoha felt soft hands nudge hers away. The sound of the hooks being undone were unaccountably loud even with the water running and Fate licked her lips as she slowly began unwrapping the Japanese woman's chest.
The strongly beautiful lines of her back came into view, Nanoha's skin still holding the fabric's square pattern after being wrapped in it for so long. Fate wondered if this was how artists were inspired, seeing something that they had to create a permanent record of. Unconsciously, she trailed a nail down the length of the executive's spine, eliciting a low gasp from the woman seated on front of her.
"Sorry, I was checking the imprints in case they had blistered and needed some cream. Does it hurt? I won't scrub as hard then."
Nanoha was certainly feeling an ache but not of the sort that Fate was asking about. The woman's arms had to reach around to help unwind the bandages and the warmth and brushes against her back were enough to have her seat feeling slippery. She had not even begun soaping herself down. 'Gods…'
"No…" Nanoha knew her voice had dropped a full register and there was nothing she could do about it, the blonde's naked closeness was testing the limits of her vaunted self-control and it was all she could do not to turn around and kiss the woman senseless. "Scrub h-hard. I wish to feel clean again," she husked and ducked her head under the stinging spray of hot water, wishing she could wash away this hopeless love she had for the sweet-natured woman behind her as easily as she could the dust coating her body.
Dropping the bandages and clips to the side, Fate glanced around the unfamiliar bathroom to find dispensers for soap, shampoo and conditioner installed into the wall they were facing. Reaching one long arm past the woman dousing her head in the shower and incidentally getting splashed herself, Fate froze at the sound of Nanoha's voice. That deep burr, so warm and dark, curled low in her stomach, setting off a chain reaction that tightened the tips of her breasts to painful nubs. 'Gods…'
The woman was not even looking at her and already she could feel her knees turning to jelly. Sternly ordering her libido back into horny jail, Fate kick-started her brain back into some semblance of working order and got to work washing Nanoha's hair. "W-We're both due for a haircut," Fate murmured throatily, desperately grasping for something innocuous to distract herself with. The heavy sheet of auburn hair clung to her bare front while she massaged the Takamachi heir's scalp and she wished she could feel that hair draped over her entire body.
Scrubbing herself until her skin glowed red, Nanoha swallowed against a throat gone dry. She could feel her wet hair dragging and clinging to the form behind her and her seat grew more slippery with each passing second of this glorious torture. "I'm a fair hand with the scissors, I um, could help you now that my casts are off."
Fate nodded, then realised Nanoha could not see her, "Sure. I used to do it for my sis and Alph too, if you do not mind my clumsiness."
The smile in Nanoha's voice was evident and she chuckled lowly, the sound of it sending butterflies to flutter through Fate's every extremity, "Couldn't be any worse than the tragedy that is my hair right now. And I'd get to brag that my princess cut my hair." Fate normally hated being associated with her official title. Somehow, when used by the executive, the word sounded more like an endearment than because she happened to be a Midchildan royal. The curious way the Japanese woman rolled her 'Rs' certainly played a part in that perception.
"Your princess?" Fate couldn't help asking, very much liking the 'my' that the woman had added to the word.
"You're the only one in my life, aren't you?" Fate could imagine one finely arched brow being raised as Nanoha asked the question.
"I'd certainly hope so," she whispered, unable to keep the silly smile off of her face. Nanoha merely nodded, glad that the blonde agreed.
Thinking back to the sticker prints she had found prior to coming down, Fate considered how to go about asking the executive about them. Emulsifying more shampoo between her hands, she worked the lather into the latter half of Nanoha's hair. "When… do you think we'll be allowed back to work?" She asked instead, finding herself fearful of what answer, or reaction, she would get if she asked about the stickers.
An air of contemplation settled over Nanoha whilst she considered the blonde's question, absently rinsing out her scrub sponge, "Shamal wants me taking it easy but she didn't say anything about staying home to do so." She glanced back over her shoulder at Fate, studiously keeping her eyes at neck height and up, "Honestly, my greatest worry is if you were to…" She nibbled at her bottom lip, trying to find the right word.
"Faint? Black out? Keel over?" Fate's flippant choice of words troubled the executive, and a familiar line appeared between her brows that the blonde could see. Rinsing her hand under the shower's spray, she tapped at that line with her index finger to soothe it away, "This is my reality, Nanoha. I'll have Ginga and Edel with me, won't I? I can't be cocooned in here forever."
Once again, Nanoha found her usual aversion to having anyone's hand near her face evaporating around Fate. She bore the touch with almost sanguine humour. She had lost the energy to fight with her own instincts, or lack thereof, around Fate over the past weeks. The blonde was right, but Nanoha did not have to like it. Still, she felt bad to have Fate acting as an extension of her hands and legs and now that she was out of the thrice-damned casts, there really was no acceptable excuse to tie the woman down. 'Other than my own fears, that is.' Fears that only served to diminish the more than capable angel, which was something Fate did not at all deserve.
Turning back to run the sponge down her legs, Nanoha gave Fate a reluctant nod, "I'll check with Dr. Shamal and Haya-chan. Your apartment should be fixed up by now, too."
"I already have a place," Fate objected softly. The woman's hair whipped out of Fate's hands as Nanoha turned around, casting a startled glance back up towards the blonde.
"D-Don't you want your to be back in own apartment?" She asked, blue eyes wide.
"I don't know that place. Not anymore," the blonde explained, quietly detaching the showerhead to begin rinsing the woman's hair. "I'm more comfortable here," With you. She desperately did not want to be sent away, back to an empty apartment that held nothing for her. Something told her that the essence of what she had forgotten lay here, in this condominium and in the woman she had seen holding old Fate in those pictures, smiling at her from the other side of a tiny table in a tiny parfait shop.
Speechless, Nanoha's mind scrambled to think of the hundred and one ways Fate's continued presence in the apartment would be a Bad Idea™, but every reason circled back to the executive's own fears and insecurities. Rein was right, the Takamachi heir was not built to be this yellow-bellied. If this arrangement was what the poor woman, whose memories Nanoha had caused to lose in the first place, felt the most comfortable with, then so be it.
"Do not embarrass our clan by assuming you know what is best at all times. That was my mistake for you to learn from." The echo of her father's words reminded Nanoha of the promise she had made. Another thing to check with Shamal about. The Japanese woman wondered if she could stomach the blonde's expected answer and still remain in the same living space as the woman. She was strong, but not this strong.
All this internal debating was kept off of her face, her expression a mask of cool consideration while she gave the woman the full benefit of the doubt. She could see Fate's shoulders tensing up, readying for a body blow of rejection from Nanoha.
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Turning back to face the tiled walls depicting scenes of Northern Lights in a beautifully clear and frigid night sky, Nanoha cleared her throat, "I'll see if your apartment's lease can be transferred over to TSAB, then."
The fingers that had been combing conditioner through the lower half of her hair froze, the blonde realising the portent of Nanoha's words after a few moments. Without warning, long arms flew around the executive as Fate hugged the woman tightly from behind. Nanoha could feel the intense warmth plastered to her back, her hair providing absolutely no protection against the feel of Fate's naked form pressed up against her.
"Thank you." The profoundly grateful whisper trickled into the reddened ear closest to Fate's lips and Nanoha shivered intensely, biting down hard on her lower lip. The blonde was stronger than she looked and Nanoha was incapable of escaping Fate's wiry grasp, not that she was trying to. Guiltily soaking in the woman's hug, she awkwardly patted one of the arms around her, "It's n-nothing." Cursing her stutter, Nanoha ducked her head down, chin to chest while she willed her breathing to remain slow and even.
This close to the other woman, Fate felt engulfed by that spicy cinnamon and vanilla scent and it smelt of safety and home. Catching herself before she could begin nuzzling into the firm column of the woman's neck, the blonde bit back a gasp at the full body shiver she felt running through what her arms were around.
The motion had sent a sympathetic shiver through her own form and she gulped, untangling herself from around the woman she had thoughtlessly glomped. Not before catching an unintended glimpse of Nanoha's front, however. Even white teeth had the Japanese woman's lushly full bottom lip caught between them, and the rosy pink of her bosom's tips were drawn tight. She had ducked her head, eyes closed while she remained frozen in the blonde's hold.
Heart thundering, Fate tore her eyes away from the mouth-watering sight and murmured an apology for being too effusive. Inside, the blonde was screaming at the mere possibility that the executive was not as unaffected by Fate as she had appeared to be over the past few weeks.
Daring to hope, Fate tucked the prospect that the woman would not run away from questions about those stickers the blonde had found away safely. Proceeding to clip the mass of auburn hair up to help wash that back she just pasted her naked front to moments before, Fate belatedly blushed, wondering where all that boldness had stemmed from. Perhaps it was her past self watching over her, helping guide her closer to where the both of them wanted to be.
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Showering with the angel was a delicious torment Nanoha knew could never be repeated if she were to survive. Thank the kami that the woman had not suggested that they also soak in the tub together afterwards. That would have meant Nanoha's demise more surely than the four bullets to her chest had attempted to orchestrate.
No, no, she needed to be utterly self-sufficient in the back-scrubbing department or risk losing all semblance of control around the woman. Feverishly skimming through an online store, the executive clicked urgently at a few possible solutions to the back washing problem and checked out her cart. Never had she thrown money faster at an online store in her life.
Fate glanced over to the executive. The woman had hurriedly ensconced herself in her home office once Fate was done drying her hair. All through the drying session, she had seemed vastly preoccupied with something, the line between her auburn brows never quite going away.
The odd look Fate had thrown her when Nanoha had absently handed the blonde a pink scrunchie she had dug out of her drawer had escaped Nanoha's notice entirely as well. Securing thick auburn tresses into a simple high ponytail for the executive, Fate had asked if Nanoha had a spare that she could borrow. Silently, the woman had pulled out yet another and handed it to Fate. It seemed like the woman was the sort to just buy things she used in bulk so that she would have some on hand at all times.
Now the Takamachi heir was in her tortoiseshell glasses and a thick bathrobe, frowning mightily at something on her screen and Fate supposed it was something important to do with work. Climbing back up to her quarters on the second level, shadowed by Edel, Fate greeted Ginga who was putting away the groceries the blonde had asked her to procure.
Slipping into her own bathroom, Fate quietly found the scrunchie she had been using the entire time she had been in Japan, and now in Singapore. Holding that and the one she had just borrowed from Nanoha, she could clearly see they were of the same brand and make, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place for Fate. Nanoha had taken over so many aspects of old Fate's life the blonde wondered if her previous self had even realised it, or had it been a natural progression over a period of time.
Fate could not blame herself. She had felt drawn to the woman from the moment she had first caught sight of the heir, looking so small and fragile, surrounded by tubes and wires, barely recognisable under her respiration mask and all those bandages. And that was without any memory of the woman to begin with.
Pondering her next step, she got to work drying her own hair, visions of what she had stolen glimpses of occupying her mind all throughout.
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Carefully pulling on a simple white tee with an embroidered Calcifer decal from Howl's Moving Castle over her left breast, Nanoha was pleased to feel only the slightest twinge in her shoulder. "Took long enough," she muttered dourly, knowing she was still miles away from being back to what she would have considered an acceptable level of fitness. She reached into her wardrobe to fish out a pair of white boy shorts underwear and over that, a relaxed drawstring shorts in dark blue.
The sun was setting in the horizon and the apartment smelled amazing. All due to the blonde, who had shyly informed the rest of the women that she would be making dinner tonight. The woman had looked so adorable in her yellow apron covered with Peeps in different colours that Nanoha had wanted to smother her in kisses. The memory of being hugged by her in the shower was still taking over her senses and Nanoha had wisely just nodded and smiled, from the safety of her chair behind her workstation.
The sound of a wok being employed trickled down from the upper level and Nanoha took the chance to grab her phone to make some calls.
"Nanoha? Is everything all right?" Shamal sounded worried over the line. Seeing that the woman had only just removed Nanoha's casts earlier today, the executive could see why the woman would be worried about getting a call from the Takamachi heir so soon.
"Hey, Shamal. I'm fine. I just wanted to check with you about Fate."
Voice shading to censorious, Nanoha could sense the woman frowning at her enquiry, "Hun, you know doctor-patient confidentiality won't let me…"
"No, I get that, Shamal. I just wanted to know about the risks if… if I spoke to her about, you know, before." 'What a lame arse question,' Nanoha griped to herself. It was so difficult to find the right words when it came to the distracting blonde. Her own voice pained, Nanoha forced herself to continue, "W-Would it be safe?"
The doctor took pity on the executive and gentled her voice, "Nanoha, there is no guarantee. The fact that she hasn't had a major episode for weeks is a good indication that she will be fine. But you know the brain is a malleable thing - There's still so much we don't know, and all the studies we've run on the concoction she was injected with haven't yielded any results so far."
Nanoha sighed, eyes darkened to a worried violet, "I hate the thought of her in pain."
"I know, hun. Personally, I think she's as 'recovered' as she'll ever be. She's adjusted remarkably well all things considered, which also bodes well for her ability to absorb any possible shocks. Just make sure she's seated and there's nothing hard that she might injure herself against nearby."
"That doesn't sound very reassuring, Shamal," alto almost a growl, Nanoha fought to keep her irritation in check. She wasn't mad at the doctor, so much as she was at this cruel joke being played on Fate.
"There's more than a zero percent chance we could fall asleep and never wake, too, Nanoha. There are no absolutes here. I'm just giving you the best medical guess I can, with all the information I have."
Nanoha ground her teeth quietly, "I know, Shamal. I just hate that she has to pay for my… Whatever, there's no sense beating a dead horse." Hugging her left knee to her chest now that she could again, Nanoha spun on her chair to stare unseeingly out over the ocean. Tiny waves lapped at the beach, and the yachts in the distance hardly bobbed in waters far calmer than the turmoil swirling within the Takamachi heir.
"Anyway, I also called to ask if we had a clean bill of health to go back to work."
"Mmm, I would say yes. Whether my cousin-in-law agrees is another thing entirely."
"That'll be my next call," Nanoha admitted. "Thanks Shamal. Sorry to be such a shit patient."
"When aren't you, m'dear?" Voice warmly amused, Shamal shook a verbal finger at her worst patient, "Remember, no high impact activities, and your first PT is tomorrow at 9AM."
"...Fine. Night, Shamal." Rolling her eyes at the continued restrictions, Nanoha ended the call and proceeded to dial the tanuki's number.
"Nano-chan." Swift sounds of typing could be heard over the call and Hayate's distracted greeting told Nanoha that the woman was still working at almost seven in the evening on a Friday night.
"Haya-chan, let me and Fate get back to work."
The typing stopped, and Nanoha's phone buzzed, indicating that her friend was switching the call to a video call. The brunette peered at the screen, her oversized glasses falling down her pert nose, "What? Are you out of your casts?"
Nanoha lifted an arm for Hayate to see, "Mmmhmm, sling is optional, only when it aches." Nanoha eyed another island resident jogging by with some toy dog in tow. The poor thing's stumpy legs barely had it off the ground. Damn it, she missed working out. Scratch that. She missed working out with Fate. How many Saturdays had it been already?
Hayate studied the shadows under her friend's eyes, the faraway, yearning look bringing her next question to the subject most likely on her friend's mind. "What about Fate-san?"
Overly bright azure eyes blinked hard, focusing back onto the brunette in the video call. Nanoha's lips twitched into a vague facsimile of a smile, "I've prepped her as much as I could outside of the office." Pulling off her glasses to toss them onto her desk, the Takamachi heir rubbed one eye. "She's re-done all of the HR busywork slides and videos, too." Sensing her CEO's reticence, she added, "I'm not asking for full days right away. Just mornings, until we get into the swing of things."
Stretching out her left arm, Nanoha took in its thinner form. "My stamina is shot, Haya-chan. It'll take me a while to rebuild what I've lost." Her quietly candid admission had shocked her friend, judging by the woman's expression.
Nanoha gave a dry chuckle, "You don't have to look at me like that. I'd like to think I've gotten a little less stupid in the decade since my last stay in the hospital." Voice droll, she propped her chin on her raised knee, "If your mouth stays open any longer, a fly is gonna find its way in, you know."
Snapping her mouth closed, Hayate humphed, "And Fate-san's memories? Are we still pretending you guys aren't..."
Smile gone as quickly as it arrived, the woman shrugged, not liking how the fitted tee felt loose on her frame now, "Shamal says she may be as healed as she's going to be. I might… talk to her over the weekend. Enough that people won't have to… to lie to her face." Inhaling deeply, she added, "Also, Fate-san is requesting not to move back to her apartment. I said I'd check if we could switch her lease over to TSAB. We could use it to put up any out-of-towners."
The brunette blinked, "Where's she gonna stay then?" Rubbing an old ache in her neck, Nanoha shrugged, "The second level you guys prepped for her here."
Squealing internally that maybe not all was lost, Hayate kept herself outwardly calm, "Well, all right, I'll talk to Suzu-chan to see what we can do. My uncle in the force tells me things are wrapping up with those involved in Fate-san's kidnapping. We should be able to dismiss your bodyguards soon, too." That last drew a big sigh of relief from Nanoha. Having an extra encroaching on her privacy was bad enough, let alone four additional people.
Hayate had taken a chance to refill her pot of genmaicha since Nanoha had called, needing the break from all the extra work she had been shouldering in her EVP's absence. While she missed having the woman's steady hand steering the ship in Singapore, she hated the thought of her friend rushing herself back to work just to lessen her workload, too. Especially after that admission about her own stamina.
Propping the phone up to continue the video call whilst she set her water to boil, she took off her own glasses, hooking it into the top of her home tee with some Pokémon creature decal on it. "I'll give you both four hours tops a day. If," She held up a hand, "Shamal tells me you've been overdoing it, I'll bump it back down to ZERO hours, you hear me?"
Hayate could see the fiery glint in her friend's blue eyes, shaded to violet in the light of the setting sun. Bracing herself for a blasting, it never came, and that only worried the CEO more. "I suppose it'll help keep me honest," she muttered instead with a heavy sigh.
"Nano-chan… If I were there, I wouldn't be able ta decide between screaming and hitting you, or hugging the stuffing out of you." Nanoha felt a pang of guilt to see her oldest friend's lower lip tremble. "You scared the motherfucking shit out of me," Hayate whispered, impatiently wiping suddenly wet eyes with her sleeve.
"I'm sorry, Haya-chan," Nanoha said, voice heavy with regret, "It… wasn't part of the plan." Hayate could tell there were other things that had not been part of her meticulous friend's plans and knew she had to derail the woman or the guilt would haunt her for another decade. "Shit happens, Nano-chan. I know you didn't plan any of this."
"Heh. You sound like Rein."
"Nanoha? Dinner's ready." Hayate stared at the beautiful silver haired woman appearing in the video call. She had poked her head into Nanoha's office, the angle of the phone's camera catching the doorway behind the Takamachi heir's shoulder.
"Sure Rein, thanks. I'll talk to you soon, Haya-chan. Don't overwork yourself."
The brunette snorted, quickly recovering from the stupor the sight of the bodyguard had sent her into, "That's rich coming from you." The executive shook her head at her friend's saucy reply and ended the call.