"Fate, we've heard. I've asked Linith to air you and your sister's rooms, it's just how you left them."
Playing back her voicemail, the blonde elegantly cursed in four different languages, words that would have scandalised the voice over the speakers had the owner heard them in person.
They seriously weren't wasting their time trying to dig their claws back in.
Fate had returned home in a conflicted haze, performing the motions by rote as she thought about the scene she had witnessed. Nanoha was single, well-off, and incredibly beautiful. Was it so surprising that she would have suitors vying for her attention? The society they lived in was fairly conservative, but in an international organisation, such things were unimportant in the grand scheme of things. HR's head had just explained to her about company insurance covering same-sex partners the same way a traditional couple would be covered.
This Ginga person had a leg up just by virtue of not being Nanoha's colleague. Wait, why was she viewing the woman as a rival, or having a leg up on her? Did she want Nanoha's hands? There? Again, her mind thought about that sofa in the executive's office, but instead of Ginga, it was her, underneath, doing… things with Nanoha.
Groaning and thumping her head on her steering wheel, she had set her phone to play her voicemails and the message coming through was an immediate ice bucket challenge on her heated brain.
"Regius has your flight booked for next Wednesday so you and Alicia can give up this silly farce and come home to where you belong. I couldn't get through to Alicia. Let her know for me, will you, dear?"
Not in the mood to compose a reply, Fate slammed her car door, her poor Civic shaking from the force. No, she was determined to celebrate properly with her new friend slash boss. Neither family nor lavender-haired hussies were going to get in the way of that. A glance up at the little cuckoo clock in her living room told her she had an hour and a half to get things ready.
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Nanoha emerged from her parked car dressed in a sleeveless soft pink knit top and khaki culottes. On her feet were strappy white sandals that reached just past her ankles. Uncertain of her reception, she collected the neutral non-alcoholic wine she had chosen for their 'celebration' and rang the bell to Fate's apartment at seven sharp.
Hearing the familiar rumble of Nanoha's vehicle below, Fate tore open her door after a single ring to grant the Japanese woman access into her home. Recklessly, she drank in the sight before her, loving how the pink brought out more reddish tints in the woman's hair, now unpinned and flowing freely to below her waist. Her time at home had given the blonde some perspective and while fully aware that she would need to maintain a proper distance with her new boss, it didn't have to mean their friendship ended outside of work.
Holding up the wine bottle like a peace offering, Nanoha offered Fate a crooked smile as she stood awkwardly in the entrance way.
Motionless save for eyes that roamed over the blonde from head to toe, Nanoha took in Fate's otherworldly beauty. A black off-shoulder top contrasted wonderfully with Fate's pale colouring, stopping an inch shy from her hounds tooth shorts and offering teasing flashes of porcelain skin when she moved. Her French braid from before remained. Little tendrils of gold had escaped the confines of her braid, however, framing the woman's heart-shaped face and giving her a casually elegant allure.
Taking absolute advantage of being a foreigner, Fate accepted the wine with a smile of thanks and leaned close to kiss Nanoha's cheeks thrice as was the custom in her home country. "I'm surprised you had time to change," she murmured, drawing back and pulling Nanoha in. "We'll get going as soon as I'm done." Seating her guest, she returned to the kitchen to pack the last few items into a large wicker basket, adding the bottle of wine and two glasses to its contents.
Cheeks tingling where Fate's lips had touched, Nanoha followed the woman inside in a daze. Right, that was a Midchildan thing. "I keep clothes in the office," she explained, lowering herself onto one of the chairs in the living room.
"You look wonderful," Fate complimented, earning her a deprecating shrug, "I clean up all right." Nanoha mumbled, feeling utterly plain next to the statuesque blonde. "You, on the other hand…"
Fate wondered if requisitions would allow her to get a working mirror for Nanoha. "Me?" Fate prompted when the Japanese woman trailed off.
"Exquisite," Nanoha intoned seriously.
This wasn't someone looking for an in with her family, or a sordid lay. This was her boss, who had no reason to sugarcoat or flatter. Fate smiled and handed the basket to her friend, locking up behind her. No, Wednesday's flight was going to be missing one Fate Testarossa when it took off.
Strolling towards where her Audi was parked, Nanoha's forward progress was stayed by a gentle hand on her arm. She glanced over at the taller woman.
"Allow me, tonight?" Not built to deny the request, she nodded and followed Fate to her fiery red but modestly appointed Honda instead. Basket secured behind, she slipped into the passenger side, content to let the blonde take the lead tonight.
The haunting lilt of Enya's voice filled the car as Fate began the drive, the Irish songstress' painting of emerald isles bathed in mystery and magic weaving a spell around the women. To Nanoha, it seemed suited to the ethereal beauty of the woman seated next to her.
Using the chance to watch Fate, Nanoha enjoyed the confident way that she handled her vehicle. The sporty little manual car had a verve to how it drove, and the Japanese woman discovered she found it very attractive to see the blonde driving stick. There were facets to this Principessa that were never mentioned in the info package Tea had delivered.
It took all of Fate's focus to stay the course and get them safely to their destination. Really, did Nanoha have to stare at her like that? Throwing the car into park, she turned off the engine and smiled at the far too distracting executive, "Get the basket?" Nanoha nodded and did so while Fate busied herself with the boot behind.
Emerging with a tiny foldable camping table, she shut the boot and engaged the vehicle's locks. Nanoha was divested of her burden then, "I think you've carried enough for now," stated Fate, only to get a cheeky grin thrown back at her, "Part of the job."
"Yes, well, it will be mine to carry some of that, I would like you to remember."
This gave Nanoha pause, and she dipped her head momentarily as they walked, considering whether to say what she felt needed said. At last, she raised a guarded gaze to meet Fate's, "I'm bad at delegating; force me."
Fate would have given the woman a reassuring hug if she could. Lips curling upwards, the smile she gave Nanoha held an obvious challenge, "Try and stop me. Oh, good, we're early."
Curious, Nanoha scanned the surroundings. A large screen dominated the green landscape of the park Fate had brought them to. Neat rows of leg-less chairs lined the space facing the screen. About a third of the seats were taken, leaving them ample choices left to choose from. Soft strains of bossa nova drifted over the area and the clink of cutlery and drink could be heard over the music. She hadn't even known this place existed.
A soft hand slipped into her own, gently drawing her to a pair of seats situated at the very back, set somewhat apart from the surrounding chairs and offering a little bit of privacy, as much as one might have in an open air theatre.
Happy to offer her friend a new experience, Fate urged Nanoha to sit. Her burdens were set to the side on the grass and with a playful smirk, the blonde pulled on a plastic glove.
Eyeing the blonde's gloved hand, more so that adorable smile, Nanoha merely raised a querying brow at her companion. "Repellent," Fate explained succinctly. Spraying her plastic-covered hand, she leaned close and began spreading the faintly-perfumed chemical over Nanoha's arms. The executive held still, unwilling to ruin the moment with some inappropriate word or sound. The logical side of her mind knew Fate was just being thorough, but boy was she glad she wore shorter culottes today.
Fate was done all too soon and handed Nanoha her own glove to pull on. "Do me." Facing her back to her friend, Fate felt her skin come alive under the clinical touch of the plastic glove. It was the hand within said glove that made all the difference, she discovered. That touch wandered across her bare shoulders, up her exposed neck and down both arms. Ah, she had definitely picked the right top to wear tonight.
2, 3, 5, 7… Nanoha decided that she must have been guilty of some truly heinous crimes in her previous life to be put through this torture. She gulped when Fate turned back to face her, delicately lifting one, then the other leg, to drape both across her lap. "I'm going to need more…" Fate coughed against the sudden husk in her voice, "Repellent." A secret smile that appeared to be meant only for Nanoha played across softly pink lips, and the blonde was adding further sprays to the executive's gloved hand.
"Be thorough," the blonde told her, the mellifluous voice sounding throaty to Nanoha. 'Ye gods…'
The blare of a movie's trailer broke Nanoha out of her intense focus. She had been concentrating on ensuring every bit of delicate skin behind Fate's knees was covered. Pulling her legs back with a shaky breath, Fate murmured her thanks, not quite trusting herself to say more.
Unfolding the table, she set it between them and covered it with the red chequered picnic cloth she had pulled from the basket. The bottle of wine and glasses were entrusted to Nanoha while Fate focused on setting up her little makeshift charcuterie board. Crackers, mango chutney, yuzu preserve and apple jam populated one side of the table. In the middle, a dip consisting of salad cream, mayonnaise and icing sugar took centrestage, surrounded then by various cold cuts, cheeses and fruits.
Handing Nanoha a wet wipe and accepting the glass of wine the woman had poured for her, she raised her glass to her new friend and boss, "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu, Nanoha-chan~." The japanese phrase commonly spoken at the start of new relationships or beginnings at all levels felt like the most fitting thing to say. I'm looking forward to having good work relations with you.
Smile rivalling the sun setting behind the line of raintrees in the distance, Nanoha toasted the blonde, "To new friends, and your new job. Congratulations, Feito-chan." Rewarded with a breathtakingly beautiful smile in return, Nanoha surmised that this had to be the most perfect night she'd ever had.
Needing some distance between them before she forgot her place and did something she might regret, Fate took a sip of her wine, "I hope you like dildo jokes." She covered her smile with another sip.
"Love them… wait, what?" The bell-like quality of the blonde's laugh heralded the start of the recent cult hit, 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'.
At times laughing, at times crying, the women took every opportunity to glance over at their companion, wanting to see their reaction to a particular line or scene playing out on screen. The predicament of the lead's daughter struggling for her and her girlfriend's acceptance struck a chord in both women, and at some point, the table had been moved aside for Nanoha to curl up into Fate's side.
This was the second time Fate was watching the movie, and so the need to pay full attention wasn't required. Instead, she allowed her fingers to bury themselves in her companion's thick tresses, breath held until Nanoha made no indication to want her to stop. This was a friend thing, right? Good friends could do this with each other. The scent of the rainforest blanketed the area, lending a peace to their surroundings, "Penny."
The body against her shook with a silent, mirthless laugh, Fate's mimicry of Nanoha's own probe in the past not at all lost on the auburn-haired woman, "That woman's daughter… Been there." Holding the revelation close like so much fragile spun glass, Fate gave the shared tidbit all the gravitas it deserved, pondering silently for long moments.
Nanoha hadn't expected Fate to say anything. She wasn't even certain why she felt all right to share the intensely personal disappointments she had wrought on her family back home. But that gentle voice, a Balm of Gilead to her soul, cut through the uproarious laughter of their fellow audience members to dip into her ears alone, "It is difficult for parents to break out of that prison of expectations placed on their children," the blonde replied quietly, "Regret is easiest to manifest in the second chance your child gets."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The arm wrapped around her middle tightened momentarily, "...It's why you're here, Principessa."
Fate was unsurprised. Nanoha's entire job was about information, the gathering, the control, the use. Operations was but a general term that did the department's work no justice, but she knew it was deliberately dressed up that way. Not disputing the woman's words, Fate pressed a bold kiss to Nanoha's hair, "I'm where I should be," it was a soul-deep belief that took corporeal form the moment the words were spoken. The hold around her middle tightened, this time, the pressure never let up.
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Incoming video call, Yagami, H.
"Answer."
A curious tanuki peered through the screen, brown hair bobbing in anticipation, "Soooo? How was it?"
"Good evening to you too, Haya-chan."
"Yes, evening, tip top cheerio and all that jazz. Now tell me, how was she?"
Signum sighed, her cousin was too gifted for her own good, allowing her to skip multiple grades and graduate long before she could properly build a solid foundation for her EQ.
"Ginga? She was being a Ginga." The stolid woman was not above tweaking her demanding and nosy CEO.
"I'm gonna invent a way to strangle you through video calls, Sig-chan," the brunette threatened.
"Excuse me, if there's anyone doing any strangling, it would be me," called Shamal's voice from the kitchen where dinner was being prepared.
Face aflame, Signum growled at her wife, "Shamal! It's a work call!"
"Are you sure, Sweetums? Sounds more like Haya-chan just wanting hot goss."
Sighing, Signum scrubbed impatiently at her warm face before crossing her arms and throwing her weight back into her chair, "I was planning to send you my report in the morning. Something someone said about 'work-life balance'..."
"Who? They must have been a total moron," quipped Hayate, blithely ignoring the fact that it had been part of her AGM speech just last year. "C'moooon, Sig-chan, I hafta know!"
"She's sheltered but not naive. Knows what she's signed up for. Brilliant, just hasn't been pushed yet. Aaaand…" She smirked, the brunette leaning forward predictably with bated breath.
"Shamal saw them both at her clinic last Friday."
The squeal Hayate emitted threatened to blow out the tweeters on her surround speakers and Signum winced.
"Oh my god, whaaaat?! I'm so jealous! Were they hurt? What happened?" Hayate had the screen her webcam was attached to between her hands as she shook it, as if she could shake her head of HR down for information this way.
"Seems she got hurt while Takamachi was near, and you know how that goes. Shamal patched her up, wasn't more than a sprain and some stitches," Signum elaborated with one palm held out.
"She is such a white prince when she's not the White Devil." Hayate sighed, setting her screen down before she broke something, "All the girls on campus wanted to date her, all the guys wanted to fight her for stealing their girlfriends. I had girls coming after me for being her friend!"
"In any case, Shamal used it to get her on our volleyball team." Signum concluded smugly, "Those pencil necks in Marketing won't know what hit them."
Hayate swooned, "I could kiss you both! Buncha varsity wannabes can sit on their thumbs and spin this year."
Signum shared Hayate's sentiments, not that she would put it in quite that way. "Anyway, all signs point to 'yes' on the Nanoha front. Testarossa admires her, but not in that starry-eyed, fresh grad sort of way."
Serious for a moment, Hayate asked, "Think she'll pull a Shari?"
Signum scratched absently at an old scar on her chin, accepting her plate of food and a kiss from Shamal while she pondered the CEO's question, "Gut says no, but it's still early days." She chewed thoughtfully, "I think she comes from better stock than that."
An inelegant snort punctuated Signum's observation, "Raw sewage is better stock than that one," the brunette growled bluntly.
"Won't argue with you there. Wish I'd caught on sooner," the pink-haired woman muttered with old regret.
"You and all the rest of us. Vita-chan was in danger of multiple HR violations that day. Best we can do is make sure it doesn't happen again."
Signum gave a grunt of assent as she made steady inroads into her dinner.
"Give Shamal all my love, I'll see you guys next month." The screen shifted back to the moving geometric figures of Signum's screensaver.
Shamal settled into the seat next to her wife, "You'll watch over them, won't you, Love?"
Clasping the doctor's free hand, Signum pressed it to her cheek, "It's the least I can do."
"Soo, about that strangling…" The HR executive learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of a Heimlich manoeuvre that evening.
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It was absurdly difficult for Fate to bid Nanoha good night after the… celebration. 'That's right, Fate, don't get your hopes up. She's your direct report starting on the morrow.'
The auburn-haired beauty had helped tidy up their picnic site in pensive silence, the deep pools of her azure gaze darkened to an inscrutable violet while hands performed the routine task of cleaning up. She was probably contemplating the heartfelt themes and messages in the movie they had just seen, and the taller woman was loath to intrude upon Nanoha's thoughts. Not that the woman had neglected Fate. The blonde could tell when the executive made a conscious choice to push aside any lingering ennui to pay attention to her companion. It was just such a Nanoha thing to do. Always deliberate, mindful and purposeful.
"I can't… be like this, at work," Nanoha's hesitant words littered the quiet confines of Fate's Honda. "I don't want you to think…"
Emboldened from their time cuddling, Fate laced her fingers over Nanoha's, lifting both hands to rest on the gear stick between them. "They'll use me to get to you," the elegant blonde pronounced plainly.
"There's a reason the office next to mine hasn't been filled for a long time." Nanoha had never felt the target on her back burn worse than at this very moment. 'Fate could be a plant. My preferences aren't a secret. It could all be a set-up like before.' All worries Nanoha knew she should've been focused on. Instead, here she was, afraid to lose this new friend that had come to mean so much to her in such a short span of time.
The executive's silence spoke volumes and the blonde felt, of all things, the faintest tremor in the hand captured beneath hers.
"We shall take it one day at a time," the blonde stated with confidence the suddenly fearful executive didn't feel. There was something there. Something that had eroded this preposterously competent woman, and Fate meant to find out what.
'We.' Relieved to see lush lips curling in the direction she had wanted, Fate knew she had found the right words, for now. There was a steel core to the willowy blonde that gave Nanoha faint hope that maybe things would work out this time. Deciding for safety's sake that she should leave her hand right where it was, the executive basked in the sensation of no-longer cold fingers laced with hers.
Seeing Fate to her door, the Japanese woman shuffled her sandaled feet, needing to convey gratitude to the blonde for… so many things, and unable to find the words. 'Get it together, Takamachi. You've faced screaming shareholders without issue, what is wrong with you?!'
Similarly tongue-tied, the blonde decided to go for broke. After tonight, they would need to be superior and subordinate more often than not. Lowering her empty wicker basket the taller woman drew Nanoha in for a full-bodied hug.
'Ah,' Fate thought, 'So this was what Plato meant, when he said humans would ever seek their other half.'
Nanoha tucked herself perfectly against Fate, and both women felt their hearts beating in rhythm to the other. Time stood still and the world faded away.
"See you tomorrow, Feito-chan." The whispered breath that tickled her clavicle was so agonisingly sweet, it sent a shiver down the blonde's form.
"Thank you… for celebrating with me," the slight hoarseness in her voice belied how difficult it was for the tall blonde to speak past the lump in her throat.
She felt Nanoha's calloused fingers trailing softly down her cheek, and the Japanese goddess was gone.
'Tomorrow is going to be so difficult,' both women thought.
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"Nanoha, the meeting is starting in ten!"
Ignoring her irate E.A., the Japanese executive breathed literally and figuratively down a russet-haired woman's neck. Said woman was sweating up a waterfall under a freshly installed standing desk.
"You need better zip-ties, Tea, why are you using such tiny ones? I'll get Stores to send up longer ones..."
"Boss, for the love of all that's holy, I got this!"
Nanoha ignored her staff, "Has Subaru updated her security clearance? Oh, but I don't want to overwhelm her on day one. You know what, channel everything to me first, but get her laptop set up…"
Nanoha adjusted the angle at which the squirt water bottle sat on the window ledge behind the desk's chair for the third time. The Aeron mesh chair was one of the best money could buy, and a match for the one Vita and herself used in their little corner of the office.
Studying the sturdy little plant cuttings arrayed along the window ledge, the executive pondered if they needed another watering before their new owner arrived.
"They'll drown if you squirt any more water at them," Vita stood in the doorway, arms akimbo and scowling at her suddenly addlepated boss, "I turned off your camera and muted you, but you have to show your face sometime, Nanoha!"
Reluctantly allowing the redhead to drag her back to her own office, Nanoha threw in a final few desperate instructions, "Vita, get her at reception. Show her the ladies, and the pantry, and the cafes on the 20th. Actually, have lunch with her. Tea, you and Subaru go too. That place with the nice subs. Let her know about the corporate packages we have with Planet Fitness…"
Shoving Nanoha back into her office, Vita slammed the door behind her and exchanged looks with Teana, whose eyes were goggling at the spectacle she'd just witnessed.
"Subaru's not gonna believe me," Teana muttered, earning her a snort from the petite redhead, "I don't believe me, and I was here!"
Shutting the door labelled, 'Assistant Vice President, Operations' in embossed black and gold behind her, Teana shook her head, her twin ponytails swaying with the motion, "Guess I'll get those ties or I'll never hear the end of it. Vita?"
"I'll go fetch the princess, not like I don't have a tonne of work to get through or anything." The redhead's gripe held no rancour, the woman secretly hoping that whatever had her boss in such a state might help jolt her out of the day-to-day funk she had been in.
Taking Nanoha's cue from the first time they'd met, Fate clipped through the lobby in low-heeled black pumps. Her rust-red pencil skirt tapered past her knees, and tucked into it was a satin blouse of rose-gold, soft ruffles nestled in the hollow of her throat and the ends of her long sleeves. Thrown over her slim shoulders was a black business jacket, and in her hands, a worn leather folio. Her golden tresses were tamed near the ends by her borrowed pink scrunchie that somehow complimented Fate's look.
Vita eyed the blonde gliding into the building from her perch next to security, noting how everyone's eyes seemed to be following her boss' new AVP. From the various expressions, half had found their new love, and the other half, their new target. "Well, not much different from how they look at Nanoha," she muttered to herself. Waving Fate over, she greeted the blonde, "Miss Testarossa, the boss sent me. Hans here is gonna set up your security access. It'll be about ten minutes, then I can show you around."
Recognising the redhead from yesterday evening, Fate remembered the utter shock of seeing Nanoha's hands on another woman's chest. The uncomfortable memory was easily chased away by the evening that had followed, however. Finding an easy smile for the short woman, she nodded graciously, "Fate is fine, Miss… Vita?"
"Just Vita. I'll help you hold your things."
Vita read the blonde's confusion at not being handed an ID card. "Everything's biometric on our side." Our, meaning Operations, "You'll get a wearable with an RFID chip for more mundane stuff in a few days."
Strolling alongside the much shorter woman, Fate subtly adjusted the length of her stride to avoid outpacing her guide. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she drew on her natural colouring and projected an icy demeanour towards anyone meeting her gaze.
"You're used to it," not a question, but a statement of fact. The redhead studied her new colleague in the privacy of the elevator. She'd seen the package Teana had delivered to her boss, and had an inkling of the kind of life the blonde had led in the past.
Fate gave Vita a quietly amused glace, "Hopefully, that makes me a good fit." She extended long fingers to offer a hand to Nanoha's E.A., certain Vita wouldn't have lasted in her role if she hadn't been on the auburn-haired executive's side. "It's nice to meet you, Vita. I'll be in your care for the foreseeable future."
Deciding she liked this blonde who didn't seem as cold as she thought, Vita shook the proffered hand. "Let's get you settled in your office. Ask me about anything you're not sure of." The muffled sounds of someone yelling trickled past the door of Nanoha's office as Vita led Fate past it to the door adjacent to it. Her name, and position, stared silently back at her from the door's surface.
"You wouldn't believe how much the boss was harassing us all morning," Vita grumbled as she showed Fate into her new office. Where the length of Nanoha's office followed the huge glass panes of the building's side, Fate's floor space was angled so the width of her office laid flush against the window.
It was palatial compared to her last job, and the blonde ducked her head to hide the smile that threatened to break across her features at the thought of her boss taking a personal hand in getting the room prepared. She wondered who had gotten the plants, noting that all were of the sort that would weather office conditions well.
The sound of something crashing pricked both women's ears, and Vita rolled her eyes, displaying not one whit of surprise. Curiously following Vita's exit from her office, she saw the redhead move to a small attached kitchenette to pull out a white, unmarked ceramic mug from a cupboard filled with the same. Grabbing a small broom and dustpan, Fate watched as the E.A. let herself into Nanoha's office.
Nanoha, in a sleeveless beige button down and pressed linen slacks, prowled the length of her office, cellphone pressed to one ear and exuding a feral quality that had Fate swallowing. Warm shafts of molten gold brought out scarlet highlights in auburn tresses gathered up into a French twist and threw the toned dips and curves of Nanoha's arms in sharp contrast. A classic Burberry trench in midnight blue had been tossed carelessly over the back of her chair, forgotten while she paced restlessly around her office. So this was Nanoha in her natural environment.
The growl of the executive's alto clearly indicated she had run out of patience a long time ago. "If Jingfa would get his head out of his bunghole long enough to read the fucking reports my people sent…" Overriding the placating whine dribbling in from the other end of the line, the irate executive sliced the air with the knife of one hand, "Your people, your playground, your problem. Get that shit sorted. You have two hours."
Nanoha's weighted door swung closed, slowly cutting Fate out of the conversation that had sprung up between the executive and her assistant who was busying herself with the remains of a shattered mug strewn about the executive's office floor, "Goddamned twit hired tits on sticks and wants to blame her for his mistake..." Another call and the voices quieted, Nanoha obviously having answered. Not wanting to bother her new boss, Fate slipped back into her office and logged into her terminal.