InsaneJournal

Nesa banged the door shut on arriving back at her apartment, officially shutting ShinRa out of her life for the weekend. She shared the mid-priced flat with a computer programmer, and most of the time, it worked out pretty well for the two of them.

"Whew, you wouldn't believe the day I had today," she said, looking over at the figure hunched over the keyboard.

The dark head didn't move.

"Started off, I had to argue with Newnham in supplies to get him to replace some of the bedframes in the third class quarters - he was busy saying we'd only replaced 'em last month, which is true, but he replaced them with aluminium ones, which means the minute one of the three-cees has a nightmare, there goes another bedframe. I told him - cast iron costs more in the short term, but by all the gods, it stays in one piece longer and saves the company money in the long term." Nesa made her way into the kitchen, noting the coffee pot had nearly boiled itself dry.

"Mm." A brief flurry of clicks over the keyboard. Nesa grinned to herself, and filled up the kettle.

"Then they had broccoli at the canteen at lunch, and just like usual, they'd boiled it until it just about slithered off the fork - I will never understand why they do that. I mean, yeah, steam it a bit until it's not biting back, but boiling it to that extent? The place reeks, every single SOLDIER in the building complains about it - usually to me - and nobody wants to eat it." Connect up the cord, switch the kettle on, and get out the tea and her favourite mug.

"Yup." Still no reaction from her housemate.

"And then you would not believe what happened later," Nesa said, watching for a reaction.

"Mm-hmm."

Yup, Nesa realised. Sarai was deep in programming trance mode, and probably hadn't heard more than about one word in three. Time to ramp up her tactics. She moved out of the kitchen, manouvring to see what was showing on the screen.

"Doctor Hollander got caught using a purple pen," Nesa said. Hollander's idiosyncrasy of using only a particular type of orange pen was well known, and she was sure she'd mentioned it to her housemate at some stage. No reaction. Okay, next level.

"General Sephiroth summoned a pink hippopotamus into the middle of Mr Lazard's desk."

"Mm-hmm."

No reaction from stage two. Nesa kept moving, until she could see what was on the screen. Ah. The newest game in Sarai's rather comprehensive repetoire. Safe to interrupt. Time to move to stage three.

"I invited your mother to stay."

"That's nice," Sarai said absently, then her head jerked up. "My mother?!"

"Now that I have your attention, love," Nesa said, reaching over to ruffle her partner's hair, "shall I start over?" The click of the kettle turning itself off in the kitchen pulled her back to the cup waiting for her. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Yeah," Sarai said, getting up and stretching.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Nesa asked.

The dark-haired woman stopped and thought. "At least an hour or two." She smiled ruefully. "You know how I get with games."

"And programming. And a good book. And just about everything else that interests you," Nesa said, pouring water into the pot.

Sarai came around the counter into the kitchen to embrace her lover, nuzzling into the other woman's neck. "Are you complaining?" she asked, breathing gently on the area just behind Nesa's ear, and enjoying the small shiver of pleasure she could feel in the other woman.

Nesa turned around, and kissed her partner, open-mouthed, lingering. "Of course not, love," she said, turning back to the teapot. "Although I do have to wonder whether some day I'll come home and find the house emptied by thieves." A grin. "I suppose so long as they leave the table, the chair you're sitting on, the computer and the coffeepot, you wouldn't even notice."

Sarai took the cup of tea Nesa handed her. "So, what was that about my mother?"

"Don't worry," Nesa said, looking fondly at the other woman. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"Hmph. Just because your parents are safely out in the sticks in some village nobody's ever heard of." The programmer took a sip of the tea. "No fair threatening me."

"It's hardly my fault your mother lives on the other side of town, love," Nesa said, sipping her own tea. "Although I will admit to it possibly being my fault she's sulking about you not settling down with some nice boy and raising her a batch of grandchildren."

Sarai gave a wry smile. "Mother never understood any of my choices," she said. "You should hear her on the subject of what I do for a living!"

"No, I thank you. I already heard that one, remember?" The two of them exchanged glances.

Sarai's mother was an entirely-too-traditional woman of the Midgar upper classes, and believed any daughter of hers should be interested in flower arranging, fashionable clothing, jewellery, the latest gossip, and the rapid procurement of a husband who would keep her in the style to which her mother was accustomed. Having a child who was allergic to flowers, fur and feathers, as well as preferring computers to people, and having absolutely no sense of style or taste had been a big shock for Bibi. Discovering that Sarai wasn't interested in the budding young executive she'd lined up for the girl to marry, and was instead lavishing her attentions on, of all things, a clerk... well, that had sent the woman off on a tirade their neighbours still talked about.

"So what happened this afternoon?" Sarai asked. "Aside from the hippo, I mean."

Nesa grinned. "One of the two-cees got himself into a bit of a pickle last night."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say it involved him, one of the troopers, and a rather sticky situation, and leave it at that."

"I take it your boss won his bet, then?"

"Ooh yeah." Nesa looked over at Sarai. "So, how about your day?"

"Oh, nothing so exciting. Finished the job for the emporium in Junon, sent it off by courier. Did some preliminary costing for another bit of work for some locals, played TwoSai for a bit." Sarai shrugged. "Nothing much. What's for dinner?"

"Depends on what's in the refrigerator. Which, I note, you are standing in front of."

"I'll get out of your way," Sarai said, grinning.

~

Nesa had to admit she enjoyed cooking as a way of shedding the stresses of a long day. The tactile sensations, smells and flavours of preparing food were an ideal reward for someone who had to spend the working day in a rather sterile environment. She could understand why the SOLDIER levels in ShinRa were as they were - after all, for someone with an enhanced sense of smell, even a small amount of perfume was too much, and with enhanced hearing, even a little noise could rapidly become too much. That didn't make it any the easier for those few people who weren't enhanced, however. It meant coming home at the end of the day was a time for her to indulge her under-stimulated senses, rather than deferring to the over-amped ones of the SOLDIERs.

Thankfully, tomorrow was the first day of the weekend, so she could indulge herself with a spicier meal than she would normally have cooked. She'd learned to avoid garlic in her cooking on the nights before work, as well as keeping stronger flavours to a minimum (she had plans for her first vacation leave which involved a week of nothing but chilli dishes), but weekends were a chance to splash out a bit. She envied Sarai, in a way - her partner didn't have to worry about whether her food was going to smell on her breath, or whether the flavour would be detectable on her skin the next day.

Tonight's dinner had been a wonderful change from the weekday fare - vegetables, and a spicy sauce, served with steamed grain. After they'd finished eating, she cleaned up, and joined Sarai on the couch.

"So," she said to the other woman, "what shall we do tonight?"

Sarai looked at her, a wicked glint in the depths of her dark brown eyes. "I was thinking of having a night in," she said. "Any objections?"

"Hmmm..," Nesa said, pretending to consider the notion. "I suppose I might be open to persuasion."

"Back rub?" Sarai offered. "Or would you prefer another sort of persuasion?"

"What did you have in mind?" Nesa asked, cuddling up to her lover.

"Well, I was thinking of taking you into the bedroom."

"Oh, and then?"

"Well, I'd start by kissing your lovely little mouth, and nibbling that beautiful neck of yours," Sarai said. "Then I'd open that blouse you're wearing, button by button, slowly as I could."

"Mmmm."

"I'd lick all around the edges of your bra - you are wearing a bra, aren't you, sweetness?"

"Oh yes. The one with the flowers."

"Ooh, nice. Well, in that case, I'd also lick and suck all over that tiny, skimpy bra of yours, and tease your nipples until they were lovely and hard. Then I'd take that bra off you, and tease those beautiful little rosebuds some more, until you were whimpering."

"And then?"

"Then, I'd work my way down your body, and take that oh-so-prim skirt you're wearing off you. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, yes."

"It's a workday, so you'll be wearing knickers under the skirt, won't you? I'll have to take those off you - you don't have the right sort of body for knickers. You shouldn't wear them - and you shouldn't be wearing those skirts, so prim and straight."

"What did you have in mind?" Nesa asked, arching into the caresses her lover was already lavishing on her body.

"Well... let's see... a lovely long skirt falling all the way to the ground. Wide and flowing, hiding what lies underneath. It's too good for the common herd, after all. But I'd be able to see it. I'd be hiding there, under your skirt. You wouldn't be wearing knickers, of course, so I'd be able to see your cunt, and smell it, touch it, taste it. I could stay hidden under your skirt all day, just me and your cunt, enjoying one another."

There was a pause while the pair exchanged a kiss, open-mouthed, wet and passionate, then Sarai took up her description again. "Anyway, what I'd do once I'd taken those prudish knickers and that prissy skirt of yours away is I'd give that gorgeous cunt of yours a thorough airing. Of course, I'd need to open up the lips of it to do that, so I'd probably start by giving it a lovely, wet kiss."

"Sounds lovely."

"Yes, but you know me - I get distracted. I'd get all caught up by the taste and the smell of your cunt, and keep kissing it and licking it, and sucking at it, until you came, all wet and juicy all over my face."

"Ah, but then you'd come up to my mouth," Nesa said, "and I'd lick my juices from you, taste myself on your skin."

"Oh yes, I suppose we could do that," Sarai said, grinning, "but then I'd have to go back to that beautiful cunt of yours, and get some more. What would you be doing in the meantime?"

"I'm sure I could think of something," Nesa said. "So, when do we start?"