Work Text:
“...Shining?”
The Sarkaz woman lowered the coffee mug from her lips. “Hmm? What is it?”
Across from her, Nearl leaned over their shared table, one of many plain, metal tables in the crowded cafeteria. Her elbows pressed into the folded newspaper in front of her, and she subtly shifted her eyes left and right before staring down at the space between them.
“...Is it just me, or, have a lot of people been… staring at me, lately?”
Shining narrowed her eyes slightly before raising her mug for another sip, using the opportunity to sneak a glance both left and right around the cafeteria. She put her mug down with a light sigh, tore a piece of her sugary danish off and held it out for her wife, who bit it out of Shining’s fingers after a moment’s pause.
“Well, you haven’t been back for a few months,” Shining said as Nearl chewed and swallowed. “You look different. You’ve changed in attitude and perspective, even grown a little.”
Nearl raised an eyebrow. “Grown? Changed?”
Shining quickly raised her mug for another sip, keeping her stoic look after lowering it to respond. “Don’t worry about it, Margaret. Everyone’s just happy to see you.”
Sighing, Nearl stood up with her palms on the table. “I’m going to go up for more bacon and eggs, would you like anything?”
Shining shook her head, but, seconds after Nearl turned to walk to the counter, she called out, “Actually! Some fresh fruit would be appreciated, please!”
Nearl looked back and nodded, just as Shining added, “A banana, if they have any? I never got to have any in Victoria, they’re quite rare up there.”
Nearl flashed Shining a thumbs-up before resuming her walk to the food counter, but as she did so she passed by Instructors Dobermann and Dur-nar as they returned to their table with trays laden with breakfast. As they passed each other, Nearl saw Dur-nar glance her way, her eyes seemingly concentrated around her midsection. And then, just as their backs were not to each other, Nearl heard a small giggle from behind her.
“What.” Nearl snapped, having wheeled around instantly on her heels to face Dur-nar.
Both instructors froze in place and the entire cafeteria quieted down to barely a peep. Dur-nar seemed to shiver in place, and it took Dobermann angrily pinching at her ear to get her to turn and answer Nearl.
“Y-Yeah?” Dur-nar mumbled anxiously.
Nearl frowned at Dur-nar, but as she glanced around, she saw that nearly all eyes in the cafeteria were now on her, and she sighed, ears flopping down to the sides of her head.
“Sorry, nothing,” Nearl mumbled before turning and weakly waving the two off, who walked away while Dobermann tugged Dur-nar’s ear close and whispered fiercely into it.
By the time Nearl returned to her table with another fresh plate of breakfast, plus an apple, orange, and banana for Shining, her brief moment of embarrassment had returned to open suspicion.
“Something’s up, Shining,” she whispered to her wife, who was now reading the Rhodes Island newspaper Nearl had finished earlier.
Shining turned a page before taking the banana from Nearl and peeling it open. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll pass on its own,” she claimed before taking a bite out of the tip of the fruit. “Best to ignore it, dear, so as not to… unintentionally stroke the flames,” she added.
Nearl paused with cheeks stuffed with scrambled eggs and stared hard at Shining as she took another bite out of the banana, but, after a few seconds of silence, she shook her head and swallowed.
“...You’re probably right. Someone probably just started another rumour train, maybe after getting another of those dastardly tabloids from Kawalerielki…”
…..
Mid-morning spars with Viviana had become a near-daily custom for Nearl ever since she was able to return from Leithania, and that custom had not changed much since she chose to accompany Nearl to Rhodes Island.
Their duels were always informal, and exceedingly casual. No arts, no tricks, no scores, referees, or judges. It was always just a pair of duelling swords and two pairs of feet dancing around the simple tape square that was their arena.
They fought for pleasure and sport, not competition, so conversation was often frequent and spirited even as metal blades loudly clashed against one another. Lack of talk thus became an easy sign of things not being right for the quiet participant. Usually, it resulted from frustration over being hounded by reporters or work, or both. Other times, it was something more personal. Viviana would bring up a salacious ‘article’ written about her, or some other cheap tabloid attack on her past and upbringing. Nearl would talk about how she missed her wives, how she had to cut her visit short to address an urgent matter in Kazimierz, or she would bring up the doubts she occasionally had over whether the work they were doing would last.
In Nearl’s eyes, this seemed like one of those days for both of them.
She could tell her foot and blade work was sloppy. She missed openings, fell for obvious feints, and even outright slipped on her heel. She hardly said a word, except to claim a hit on herself or Viviana, even when there was so much she wanted to talk about with her.
But, if Nearl judged her own performance as poor, Viviana’s was disastrous.
For one, the fearsome Candle Knight could barely keep her eyes on her opponent, the illustrious Radiant Knight, and it translated into the myriad of missteps Viviana made during their duel. She would miss attacks, swiping at nothing but air, or fail to see swings coming her way at all and thus not react to them until metal had already graced her clothing.
Given how lately it felt like nobody could keep their eyes off her, this only raised Nearl’s suspicions of deleterious conduct occurring behind the scenes.
“Vi?”
Viviana had her sword at the ready but there was no movement from her. She still glanced off to the side, not at her.
“Viviana?”
Nearl stepped closer, and Viviana only seemed to look further away. She raised her blade, and Viviana only let hers slip lower.
“Is something wrong, Viviana?”
Viviana blinked and finally made a move, but after easily parrying her half-hearted thrust, Nearl drew her blade down to Viviana’s hilt, knocked it out of her hand, and finished by placing the blunt tip of her blade just under Viviana’s chin.
From there, Viviana gulped nervously while Nearl sighed. She still wouldn’t keep her eyes on her.
Nearl tossed her sword unceremoniously to the side, letting it bounce loudly against the floor as she called out her sparring partner. “Will you talk to me, Vi?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Viviana closed her eyes and sighed.
“It’s… um… you… probably won’t like it…”
…..
Viviana led Nearl by the hand back to her dormitory so they could both huddle around her issued personal computer. Her room was rather plain, owing to her still recent arrival at Rhodes Island, but there were a few Kazimierz Major promotional posters decorating the walls as memorabilia, ones featuring herself, The Blood Knight, Nearl, The Radiant Knight, and also The Black Knight. On the screen of Viviana’s computer were several open tabs of the Rhodes Island Intranet Service, a network linking every personal computer on the landship and which hosted numerous user-created sites with all manner of functions. There were public forums, personal journals open to anyone to read, video-sharing platforms for creators like Click to spread their works, and even informational pages about the numerous support services offered by Rhodes Island or its employees, all of which only scratched at the surface.
The page Viviana had opened was one Nearl had not seen before, but it appeared to be some form of a digital library. The page was a list of what looked like book titles, their summaries, and author names, some that were clearly pseudonyms, some that were Operator codenames that Nearl recognized, and others were just listed as ‘anonymous.’
“Read this, and tell me what you think,” Viviana whispered.
She then clicked on the title named Flames Intertwined and what popped up on the screen looked very much like a novel’s text in digital form.
Nearl leaned closer to read and almost right away the text jumped out at her.
Margaret could feel the dancing fires lick her skin…
She blinked. “Is… that me?” she quietly asked Viviana.
“Keep reading, you’ll see.”
She did so, and the next line made her eyes go wide.
The one in Candle Knight Viviana’s eyes.
Nearl leaned back slowly in her chair, mouth agape.
“This… is us?”
She looked at Viviana, who nodded.
“But… why?”
“...Keep reading, it’ll become apparent.”
And they burned for her.
“Huh.”
During one break in the fight, Margaret realized she was shivering, but not from fear, or chills.
It was excitement.
“Well, Margaret? Were you excited back then?”
“Um…”
Margaret gasped as she struggled to raise her head and utter her final words. “Look, my light... has been swallowed whole…”
“I mean… when I look back on it…”
Margaret sighed and symbolically threw her doubt away by popping the button and rolling her shorts down, which allowed her to finally see and feel the hardness that had been concerning her.
“...”
“Well, we both know from personal how beneficial… stress relief… can be for your mood, don’t we?”
“For you, I have no armour left. You’ve stripped it all away, and for the first time in a long while… I feel vulnerable…” Margaret said softly, sighing into Viviana’s neck again.
Nearl sniffled.
Viviana rubbed her on the shoulder.
Viviana smiled warmly and pulled herself up by Margaret’s shoulders to kiss her on the cheek. “No worries, sweetheart. Besides, as champion, you deserve a grand reward, don’t you?”
“Ok, I’ve seen enough,” Nearl blurted out, turning her head away from the screen. “I need to… have a talk with the person who wrote this.”
Viviana clicked back onto the main page before sighing. “Well, unfortunately, the author of this… story… is anonymous.”
Nearl sighed loudly.
“Are you ok, Margaret?”
“No.”
“...How do you, um… feel about that piece of writing?”
“I am still trying to process it.”
Viviana coughed into her palm while she scrolled down the page. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of even more unwelcome news… but that wasn’t the only piece of writing to feature us.”
It took a couple of seconds, but Nearl coughed loudly. “What?”
“I tried counting and there were at least two dozen works… and… it’s not just us, either.”
“...You mean?”
“There are a few about you with Liz and Shining, but… well…”
Viviana opened a piece of writing and turned the computer slightly to better face Nearl.
She read the work for a few seconds before gasping and almost tumbling backward over her chair. “Platinum!?” Nearl exclaimed while blinking rapidly. “She tried to kill me!”
“Would you believe me if I said you two are more… popular than us, here?”
Nearl continued to blink, but less repeatedly as she sunk into her chair. “I mean… it was her job, and they threatened her life into doing it, and later she even apologised and gave me a box of doughnuts, saying it wasn’t personal…”
“Well, some people are into that dynamic. There are plenty of real novels of the enemies to lovers variety. We fall into that category!”
“We were professional opponents, that’s hardly enemies, Vi.”
“...Well, what about Blaze and Yelena, then? From what I understand they were enemies that tried to kill each other, and now, they’re a couple? An actual, living together, sleeping together couple?”
Nearl sent silent for several seconds. Viviana looked toward her and raised an eyebrow. “Is this beginning to make perhaps too much sense?”
Nearl closed her eyes and took in a long, slow breath, exhaling just as softly. “She can never know.”
“Margaret, it's Platinum. Former Armourless Assassin, Platinum? If I know, she knows.
“...Blast.”
Shifting her chair closer to Nearl, Viviana wrapped one arm around the taller woman’s shoulder while she patted her thigh with the other. “I know it’s awkward, but, this is just a new, recent trend. Give them a few days, a couple weeks at most, and everyone will have moved onto a new story, a new distraction, just like the tabloids.”
Nearl placed her hand over Viviana’s and exhaled. “And what if some don’t?”
Viviana smiled. “Then, they’ll be playing to a smaller and smaller audience over time. Remember the last time someone wrote a book about you? How many people were bringing that up weeks later?”
“That anthology collection?” Nearl snickered. “I got a few people here and there asking for me to sign it, but… that was it.”
“See? It’ll pass! And a month from now I bet most of us will be laughing about it.”
“I see your point…” Nearl muttered, tilting her head down to grip her chin. “But, it does make me a little anxious, worrying about what might come next. First, it was Radiant Knight posters, then Radiant Knight plushies, then bedsheets, action figures, t-shirts and sweaters, and even… Radiant Knight body pillows…”
Viviana blinked a few times as she leaned a little closer to Nearl.
“...Liz has one,” Nearl said quietly, holding onto a small smile. “Says it helped while I was away for so long,” she added, sniffling once and rubbing one of her eyes.
Viviana smiled as she squeezed Nearl’s hand. “So, not all bad, yeah?”
“I suppose, yes.”
Nearl sighed and extended an arm around Viviana’s waist. The two sat side by side, silently holding each other for a few seconds.
“You know…” Viviana leaned toward her personal computer, sliding it close so she could better reach the keyboard and scroll through the site in her position. “I actually read a fair number of these writings and once the initial shock was over, I found myself enjoying most of them!”
Nearl tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah! Some quite talented writers are here, and they aren’t just writing about you, but other Operators here. Doctor Kal’tsit is a popular choice, I’m almost curious to know how she handled the news.
Nearl immediately snickered, just barely holding back full laughter. “Either terribly well, or terribly… un-well. No in between.”
Viviana also chuckled. “Likely… and… if I may be honest…”
“...Yes?”
“...Some of these writings… well… they give me… ideas…”
Nearl saw Viviana start to blush and felt her own cheeks warm up in response. “What… kind of ideas, Vi?”
Viviana smiled and turned to whisper in Nearl’s ear. “Ideas for this later this evening, once we’re both off shift?”
Nearl blinked and looked away briefly before lightly coughing into her hand and returning her attention to Viviana. “I’ll look forward to it,” she quietly replied, and confirmed it with a light kiss on Viviana’s lips.
Still smiling, Viviana kissed Nearl back on her cheek before she returned to her computer, looking through the various submissions on the site. “Ah, but, before you go, I wanted to see if you were okay wi-”
“Wait, stop.”
Viviana looked back at Nearl in confusion.
“That one you just went past, can you go back?”
She nodded and scrolled back up, whereupon Nearl leaned forward and looked closely at the screen.
“Vi… how did you find out about these… writings?”
“Oh, Blaze showed me when we ran into each other in the workshop… it’s what gave me the idea for my earlier comment.”
After several seconds of silence, Nearl breathed in slow, but heavily through her nose and then sighed strongly.
“If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go have a chat with… xxx big underscore kitty four-twenty…”
…..
The second she pulled the pale-blue bed screen open, looked down at Blaze in the infirmary bed, and saw her smile, Nearl knew she had expected her arrival.
“Hello, hello, love!” Blaze greeted from her bed, waving with her arm that wasn’t bound in a cast and sling. “You the one on the rounds today who gets to check on my lovely arse?”
Nearl stood silently for a few seconds, lips sealed, eyes blank.
“You do know I’m only a qualified nurse here, right?” she eventually asked. “I’m not an actual doctor, I just help out.”
Blaze blew from her lips and lazily waved her hand. “Yeah, but you’re like, a million times better and prettier than most of the real docs here!”
Nearl stood silent as she took in and let go of a long breath.
“What did you do this time, Blaze?” Nearl asked. She then walked over to her side and lightly tapped Blaze’s cast with her chart clipboard. “Is there a bone in your body you haven’t broken?”
After a couple of seconds, Blaze’s smile turned overtly smug. “Well, despite claims to the contrary, I haven’t actually broken my di-”
“Stop,” Nearl flatly interrupted. “Just cut it out, please. Because I think you know why I’m really here.”
Blaze stuck out her tongue. “Well, so much for having fun,” she muttered.
Nearl narrowed her gaze slightly as she leaned over Blaze’s bed. “Why did you show those… pieces of writing to my girlfriend?” she asked in a low tone.
Blaze began to smile again “Oh, so you and Viviana actually are girlfriends after all?” she replied.
Nearl put a hand on the back of the bed rest, right next to Blaze’s shoulder. “If you are trying to provoke a reaction from me, you may want to reconsider that.”
“Relax, Lady,” Blaze said calmly. “Look, I can explain, but could you pass me my bag, please? It should be right by your feet,” she asked rather politely.
Nearl glanced down and saw a gray backpack leaning against the bed frame. She picked it up and handed it to Blaze, who, instead of taking it, raised an eyebrow at Nearl until she sighed and opened the zipper for her. Blaze took out a tablet and tapped away for a few seconds before showing Nearl the intranet page she had opened.
“There’s a private forum for the people writing these fics, all anonymous,” Blaze explained. “Got popular after that anthology of yours dropped. Some writers got inspired to write fantasies involving themselves or friends, but many of the ones who wrote about you did so out of frustration! They felt that the anthology was a sham and that they could write better stories cataloguing you and your life.”
Nearl seemed unimpressed. “By writing stories where I sleep with the assassin who tried to kill me?”
Blaze started to chuckle quietly before growing into full-blown laughter, covering her face with her free hand as she wailed out loud for a solid minute. “Miss Margaret!” she bellowed. “Who do you think is writing these stories of you? Hmm?”
Slowly, colour began to drain from Nearl’s face, and her piercing look toward Blaze fell low.
“Did the thought ever cross your mind?”
“I… only thought of them in jest.”
“What? The idea that you’re in happy, fulfilling relationships with the people who love and admire you?”
“But, I am in those! I am… was… far away from most of them for months…”
“Same reason I decided to pick up the metaphorical pen. You do know Elite Operators don’t get much off time, right?”
Nearl sighed wearily.
Blaze reached up as best she could to pat her shoulder. “Face it, you’ve made a strong, positive impact on a lot of people. Some of which may even reside in places we can’t even imagine! You better their lives, and so, they want to fantasize about bettering your life as well!”
Nearl groaned before letting go of the bed rest and standing up straight. “Alright, you made your point, but you haven’t answered my question.”
Blaze cupped her cheek as she returned to her earlier, smug smile. “Well, she came back with you, so I know she wasn’t aware of this new trend. I figured it would be a good idea for somebody to break the news to her before she found out on her own.”
Nearl remained quiet, having returned to her interrogative look toward Blaze.
“I was going to tell you as well, but then I ended up here after a freak accident involving my unsuccessful rocket-propelled chainsaw experiment in the workshop.”
“Rocket-propelled chainsaw?”
“Yeah! I’ve had the idea for a while, so I decided to ask Zumama and your sis if they could hook me up!” Blaze stated, smiling with pride. “We put together a prototype through the morning but then uhh… it kinda exploded and… made a huge mess of the place everywhere… in addition to the mess we made putting the darn thing together…” she explained, scratching her head afterwards. “Poor girls, probably still cleaning up and facing the wrath of Ada while I’m stuck here…”
Nearl frowned. “And why aren’t you there?” she asked. “You don’t look too badly hurt.”
Blaze raised an eyebrow. “How much help can I really be with one arm?” she asked, waving said arm for Nearl. “Not to mention all the cuts and bruises I got which like hell…”
Nearl groaned loudly. “So,” she paused once more to sigh. “You telling Viviana was you being… courteous? And helpful?” she asked.
Blaze flashed a toothy smile and a finger gun at Nearl. “Bingo.”
“Well, I don’t believe you,” Nearl interjected. “I respect your extreme dedication to Rhodes’ cause, but, your penchant for messing with colleagues is matched only by your sheer recklessness on the field of battle. And, while I believe your reasoning that informing Viviana was beneficial, I know you must have had an additional, ulterior motive. So, please tell me, Blaze.”
“Or what?” Blaze countered. “What’s a goody-two-shoes like you got to threaten me with? A Full-Victorian breakfast and a stern reminder to go to bed at a reasonable time?”
Nearl leaned forward slightly and put her hand on Blaze’s cast, waiting to see the Feline’s eyes dart between her broken arm and back up at her face. Throughout this, Blaze kept her grin for several seconds before closing her eyes and shrugging her free shoulder.
“Fine, I had to get your attention.”
Nearl took her hand off Blaze’s cast and raised an eyebrow. “My attention?”
“Yes,” Blaze answered, looking down at her bag. “To answer a question of utmost importance to me.”
“Great,” Nearl rolled her eyes. “So, all this for something ridiculous? Might as well not keep me in suspense.”
“I needed to find out…” Blaze trailed off as she fished through her bag. “...If this is accurate.”
Nearl watched as Blaze pulled out a box from her backpack. The very second the top came out and Nearl recognized her own golden hair printed onto the packaging, her stomach sank with dread. Past that came her head, then the rest of her body, and then Nearl swallowed loudly as a highly visible tagline inscribed near the bottom: ‘The People’s Champion brings you, The People’s Pleasure.’
Once the package was free, Blaze looked at it with a smug smile before turning it around to show the front to Nearl.
“...”
“Well, are these measurements accurate? It’s pretty big, but, I got faith in you!”
“...”
“Come on! You know how much it cost me to import this from Kazimierz? Just a yes or no will suffice!”
“...This is a fake,” Nearl claimed, pointing at the boxed toy.
Blaze blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes and briefly inspecting the box. “What, it’s not accurate?”
“I mean, it’s not real,” Nearl repeated.
“It’s got the K.G.C.C. seal of product assurance on it!”
“I saw all manner of merchandise featuring me in Kawalerielki and I would have remembered something like that.”
“Oh,” Blaze frowned briefly before turning up a mischievous grin. “But… I didn’t import this from Kawalerielki… but from one of the other cities…”
Nearl swiped the package from Blaze’s hand and examined it closely. Several seconds of silence ensued before Nearl took in a deep breath. “Those… grimy… dastards…”
Blaze raised an eyebrow. “So?”
Nearl quietly returned her eyes to Blaze.
“You bigger, smaller, or is this basically perfect?”
Nearl exhaled slowly, she knew before asking her question that it would lead only to more frustration. “Why do you need to know so badly?”
Blaze leaned back against her pillows. “Because Gavial and I made a bet.”
“...”
“We needed to know the grandest competitor on Rhodes Island, and you were marked early on as a contender.”
“...”
“And while we’re more than willing to compare with each other, we knew getting any info out of you would require some tricky thinking.”
“...”
“Plus, I have a thousand LMD riding on this, so if you could be as kind as to-”
Blaze instantly quieted as Nearl surged forward, leaning heavily over Blaze as she sunk as deep as possible into her bed, their noses almost touching.
Shivering only slightly, Blaze eventually blinked and whispered, “C-Come on… you wouldn’t do anything to a bird with a busted wing like me?”
After a few more seconds of intimidation, Nearl stood back up and sighed. “You’re right, I wouldn’t.”
Blaze audibly sighed in relief.
“Which is why I healed your broken arm earlier.”
Blaze opened her lips and blinked for a few seconds, eventually taking her arm out of the sling and waving it around. “B-Bloody hell?! You really went and fixed it?!” she cried in joy, at least, before the realization struck her. “W-Wait…”
Nearl leaned forward again, instantly wiping off Blaze’s joyous expression.
And then, Nearl smiled.
“Doctor! This one is alright! She can be discharged… and can return to work!”
As she began to walk away, Blaze reached over and grabbed her forearm. “Don’t do this!” she whispered anxiously.
“Rocket-propelled chainsaw?” Nearl muttered, tapping her chin. “I hope that didn’t make too much of a mess when it blew up in your face? I’d hate to be the one responsible for cleaning that up.”
Nearl then wrested her arm back from Blaze, who continued to plead with her as she left. “At least give me back my toy!”
…..
“I’m back, Liz.”
“...Welcome home, dear.”
Instantly upon hearing her voice and seeing Nightingale laying in their large, shared bed, back propped up with numerous fluffy pillows, lounging in one of her spare t-shirts and pairs of sweatpants, and with a book in hand, Nearl let out a relaxed sigh.
She was home.
She smiled as she hung her coat on one of the nearby hangers and put the package she took from Blaze on the nightstand before leaping onto their bed. There, on her knees, Nearl hovered over her wife for a few seconds, savouring the moment before closing the distance for a gentle kiss.
“How was your day?” Nightingale asked as Nearl kicked her boots off the front of the bed.
“Oh… it was complicated,” Nearl answered hesitantly. Once she had removed her boots, she cozied herself up closer to Nightingale, who extended her arm to allow Nearl to snuggle right up against her bosom, sighing as her head came to rest atop Nightingale’s chest. “It seems I’ve become quite the celebrity here, not just in Kazimierz.”
Smiling, Nightingale closed her book and put it to her side before leaning forward to kiss the top of Nearl’s head. “So, you saw the stories?” she asked, now using her free hand to gently rub Nearl’s ears while her other remained loosely wrapped around her waist.
“Yes, from Vi,” she replied.
Nearl smiled, both from the comfort offered from her wife as well as the answer she expected to hear from her momentarily. “Did you write some, Liz?”
“I did,” Nightingale answered without hesitation. She then switched from rubbing Nearl’s ears to stroking her cheek, enjoying how she seemed to sink further into her with each touch. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Nearl softly added, sighing again into Nightingale’s chest as she further relaxed. “But… barring a ‘small-c’ catastrophe, you’ve got me back for good,” she whispered with a smile.
“Good,” Nightingale said. Now, she massaged Nearl’s collar, who hummed away gently, always picking up in intensity briefly whenever Nightingale found a new spot on her wife to rub. “So, what’s in that box you brought?” she asked after a minute of near silence.
“Ah, a gift,” Nearl stated, and she briefly broke away from Nightingale, rolling onto her back so she could reach over to the nightstand and grab the package. “I thought you’d like it,” she said as she passed the box to Nightingale, trying not to chuckle as she returned to her earlier position.
Nightingale turned over, examined, and read the printing on the toy package for several seconds before erupting into quiet laughter. “I love it,” she cooed, opening the top of the box and taking out the glittering, glass toy inside. “So realistic, too.”
Nearl choked briefly. “W-Well, I mean…”
“Hush,” Nightingale interjected, lightly tapping the side of Nearl’s head with the toy. “No need to be so modest, my love,” she added before placing the box and toy to her side. “Or, are you still embarrassed over that one time where-”
“Ok, ok…” Nearl conceded, chuckling softly. “Just, be careful with it, alright?”
There was a short pause before Nightingale responded. “On me, or on you?”
There was more silence. Nearl laughed softly as she turned her head inward, burying her face fully within Nightingale’s chest.
Feeling satisfied with how much she had teased her wife, Nightingale returned to physically comforting her, now massaging Nearl’s strong and broad shoulders as her turn inwards had exposed more of her back. Nearl occasionally sighed, hummed, and even yawned as she occasionally wiggled in place, or kissed the inside of Nightingale’s cleavage.
“...I promised Vi we’d get together for some fun later tonight…” Nearl mumbled, her voice somewhat muffled by her position. “But… I think I’d like to have a nap beforehand…”
“That’s wonderful. I hope you two have a good time,” Nightingale said joyfully. “Do you want to bring the toy with you?”
“...I’ll think about it,” Nearl answered, smiling into her wife’s chest.
Nightingale smiled and hummed to herself as she ruffled Nearl’s hair with one hand, watching her ears twitch in anticipation before giving them another rub. Meanwhile, her other hand rubbed Nearl’s bare back muscles and sides below her crop top.
“I missed getting to hold you like this,” she whispered.
“I missed being held like this,” Nearl whispered back to her. “I missed the gentle feel of your hands… and they’re shaking a lot less, too.”
“Mhmm… my new regimen has been helping a lot.”
“I’m glad… I love you, Liz…”
“And I love you too, Margaret,” Nightingale cooed quietly, leaning over for a kiss on Nearl’s head. “And… I also love that I have more of you to hold and snuggle, now,” she added, giving Nearl’s side a light squeeze as she rubbed.
Nearl hummed briefly. “...Oh, that’s what Shining meant, ha…”
“You disapprove?”
“No…” Nearl wiggled her face upward, just enough to lock eyes with her wife. “I never noticed, and I don’t mind… I was just often busy, and I was often missing you and Shining.”
“Oh, Margaret…”
Nightingale reached down to kiss Nearl’s forehead, who then reached up to better share a kiss with her upon her lips. There, they remained tender and locked with each other until Margaret eventually cozied back up to her earlier resting site atop her wife’s bosom.
“Ah…” Nearl mumbled, drawing Nightingale’s attention back downwards. “Was that a new book you were reading?”
“Oh, yes,” Nightingale answered, bringing the book back into her hands. “I started attending a Rhodes book club a few months ago after we all returned from Victoria… but, this one really intrigues me, because it was written by one of the members.”
“That is quite intriguing,” Nearl commented. “What’s it about?”
“When I started reading, it seemed like a very typical fantasy plot, where a brave knight in shining armour embarks on a quest from her Emperor. She must breach a castle in order to rescue a princess by slaying the slumbering dragon that keeps her imprisoned there… only it turns out the princess and the dragon are one and the same. And then, the knight and the princess team up with the castle’s commander, who chooses to switch sides after being the actual person responsible for keeping the dragon-princess imprisoned, and now, they’re in the middle of trying to defeat the Emperor responsible for all and save the country.”
Nearl rolled her head to the side and blinked for a few seconds. “Huh… hey, Liz… can you tell me… who exactly wrote this book?”
…..
“Oh! Good morning, Margaret!”
“Good morning, Doctor Majalis.”
The Doctor frowned at her doorway. “Ah, please… Lady Nearl… it’s my day off!”
Nearl raised a hand to hide her short chuckle. “Alright… how are you doing, Mari?”
“Fine, very fine!” The Doctor answered. She then stepped aside. “Please, come in!”
“Thank you,” Nearl thanked as she followed The Doctor inside her dormitory.
“So, can I help you with something, Margaret?”
“Ah, yes,” Margaret answered just as the two entered the living room. Inside the modest living space was a long couch against the wall, in front of which stood a small table with a few books on top, and flanked by two armchairs, each of which had a small end table accompanying them. One such armchair was occupied by a tall, blond, horned person with a long, black and red tail draped across the armrests and their legs, upon which sat a small, personal computer they typed away at. Nearl immediately took notice of the individual sitting with their computer and nodded. “I was actually hoping to speak with Operator Reed if that was alright,” she stated.
Reed instantly look up at the two upon hearing their name spoken aloud, with the very tip of their tail flicking against the armchair. “Yes?” they answered.
The Doctor hummed loudly to get Nearl’s attention. “I’m going into the kitchen to fix up a pot of coffee, would you like a cup? Or something else to drink?”
“A cup would be lovely, thank you,” Nearl answered, watching as The Doctor nodded and turned away. However, she did look back briefly before reaching the kitchen, though, Nearl guessed what she wanted to ask. “Lots of cream and sugar, please.”
The Doctor gave her thumbs up, and Nearl walked over to Reed’s chair, extending her hand just as Reed slowly closed their computer. “I don’t believe we’ve met yet, I’m Margaret Nearl.”
Reed flashed their eyes wide open momentarily before nodding. “Ah, good to meet you, Lady Nearl, I’m Reed,” they greeted.
A few seconds later they realized Nearl was offering them a handshake, and after a nervous smile and muttered, “Oh,” they reached back to accept it. “Just Reed, that’s all,” they added.
“May I sit?” Nearl asked, gesturing to the couch beside Reed.
Reed gestured toward it as well. “By all means.”
Nearl smiled and sat down as Reed took a long sip from their glass of iced tea.
“Mari has told me all about you, Lady Nearl,” Reed stated, “Your exploits, how you two met, what you’ve done for the Infected, for Rhodes, and now, for Kazimierz… it’s all quite incredible,” they praised, smiling afterwards as they put their hands together. “I’m honoured to be in your presence.”
“Praise isn’t necessary,” Nearl replied on instinct. But, soon, she briefly closed her eyes and lightly shook her head. “But it is appreciated, thank you.”
Reed nodded. “You’re welcome… is there something I can help you with, Lady Nearl? I am just a humble writer, and part-time schoolteacher here.”
“Just Margaret is fine,” Nearl said, pausing as Reed nodded. “And, actually, it’s your writing that I wanted to discuss, your book, in particular.”
“...My book…?” Reed replied, leaning backward ever so slightly in their chair.
Nearl smiled and pulled the novel from her coat pocket to show to Reed. “I found it very interesting. Liz, my wife, lent it to me after she finished reading it. I spent the next couple of days going through the whole thing! Could hardly put it down!”
Reed blinked a few times before smiling. “Ah, thank you very much! I’m so glad you enjoyed my book!”
Nearl then leaned forward in her seat, folding her arms atop her knees. “I was wondering… how did you come up with the idea? It was… quite unique, very deconstructionist,” she asked.
“The idea…?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“I uh…” Reed paused as their tail tip flicked about a few times. “Based it off my own life experiences… partially…”
Nearl tilted her head to the side. “Partially?”
Reed coughed into their hand lightly. “Well… some people here… appear to be convinced that I am part of some ancient, royal lineage,” they explained quietly.
“And… are you?” Nearl asked, narrowing her gaze slightly.
Reed shook their head. “I’m just plain, simple Reed,” they stated. They then perked back up a few seconds later. “Actually, you can thank Mari for this story, I wouldn’t have written it without her input,” they added, having resumed smiling.
Nearl leaned back on the couch. “Really? How so?”
“She’s… very encouraging, very motivating, loves giving me new ideas to write about during conversations.”
“...You said ideas?” Nearl asked. “You’ve written other stories?”
Reed froze momentarily, with their tail visibly constricting atop their lap. “Ah… just some… short stories and poems… nothing that’s been published… sadly…”
Nearl closed her eyes and smiled. “Well… I’m sure lots of people would love them… if you chose to do so.”
At this point, The Doctor returned to the living room with two mugs of steaming coffee, whereupon Nearl decided to abruptly change the topic once she took a seat next to her.
“Are you two-?”
The Doctor blurted out a strong, “Yes,” just as Reed answered with an equally strong, “No.”
They then both flinched, blinked and looked at each other.
“I mean, not exactly,” “What I meant was it’s complicated.”
Nearl raised an eyebrow as she went for a sip of the coffee The Doctor had given her.
“It’s complicated for us because-” “Kal’tsit disapproves, so we’ve been-”
“I’m not a cop,” Nearl stated, trying her hardest not to smile. “And, I sympathize.”
Reed and The Doctor looked at each other briefly before each relaxed.
“Maybe…” Reed muttered.
“We should start at the beginning?” The Doctor finished.
…..
Nearl ended up visiting all the way past breakfast, Full-Victorian Breakfast platters for the three of them, and they laughed through the meal while talking about misadventures with their romantic endeavours.
But, after Nearl had left, and while The Doctor put away the last of the dishes, Reed pulled out their computer and set it up at the table.
“Inspiration hit?” The Doctor asked.
Reed nodded. “I think I’ve got the perfect new idea for an amazing story…”