Hot. It’s always so hot.
Her hair would be sticking uncomfortably to her skin were she any other mage, and though it doesn’t, she feels the urge to sweep it to the side, or tie it up into a bun — besides, having her hair up did come with the added benefit of having a certain someone’s hungry eyes on her nape.
Speaking of that certain someone, she was nowhere to be found. Training again, then.
“It’s your turn to use the bath, Maya-chan,” Nana emerges from the kitchen, running a towel over her damp, shoulder-length, dark-blonde hair. Maya hums in acknowledgement, downing the rest of her tea and setting the cup back down onto the bar as Nana wanders over to the living room’s couch and plops down on it.
“Where’s Kuro-chan?” She asks, glancing around as she continues drying her hair.
“Most likely training,” Maya replies, rising from her chair and taking the cup with her to the sink.
Nana doesn’t respond to that, and Maya knows why — Claudine had a habit of leaving at random times to search for her long-lost father figure, the fire dragon king Igneel, which usually resulted in lengthy periods of her being absent in the guild’s activities, and it served as the main kickstarter to Nana’s worrying streak whenever the guild wasn’t involved in yet another...situation.
“Don’t you feel worried?” Nana asks softly, and Maya could sense her eyes boring holes into her back as she ran the sponge over the cup’s soapy handle. “She leaves for days at a time, and when she returns, she’s no closer to what she’s looking for than the last time.”
Maya lowers the cup in her hands. “If it’s what she wants to do, we are no one to stop her.”
It is what she says, but—
—she recalls one night when Claudine had stumbled through the door, covered in blood from head to toe, shivering from cold that didn’t bother Maya one bit. She had clumsily collapsed into Maya’s trembling arms, choked out something about being ambushed and overpowered by another guild, and passed out with her face buried into Maya’s shoulder.
That night had been the first time she’d actually worried for Claudine’s life. Being a Dragon Slayer, Maya had assumed, would probably be enough to get Claudine out of a pinch — or maybe, that was what she wanted to believe — but it had been made clear to her that day that that wasn’t the case.
To be honest, she didn’t quite know how she should feel about Claudine’s personal quest now. Up till that point, she had been supportive, knowing how much finding Igneel meant to Claudine, but as the days flew past, with every single time Claudine came home empty-handed, Maya was inclined to believe the worst.
What if Igneel was already dead, and Claudine was merely sniffing out a scent that had long been eroded away with time?
She’d have been getting hurt, getting her hopes up thinking that she’d find—find—
The door’s pushed open, and Korosuke’s teasing voice preamps them to who had returned.
“You like her~”
“Shut up, you horrible cat.”
Claudine storms through the doorway, the scarf she always kept around her neck — made of Igneel’s dark crimson scales — billowing in the chill air that follows her. She has her trademark scowl on her lips, one that spilled over into rose-coloured eyes, over the regal arch of her brows, even seeming to ignite her long, wavy, striking blonde hair in flames that crowned her head in golden glory.
Maya feels herself go a little breathless, as she always did whenever she caught sight of Claudine. She always had that sense of pride and purpose around her, one that never failed to get Maya’s attention.
It was practically impossible to stop looking at Saijō Claudine.
Her eye catches Maya’s.
“Oh? Who’re you talking about, Saijō-san?” She joins in, breaking their eye contact to flick the tap on, though she knew full well who they were talking about.
She anticipates the spike in irritation before she feels it.
“Mechanté,” Claudine grumbles under her breath, oddly deciding to not entertain Maya, instead shutting the door behind her and dropping into the same chair Maya had been in beforehand. Korosuke follows, perching himself on her shoulder and folding his white feathery wings behind his back, a Cheshire smile lingering on his face.
“She’s staring, very intently, at your ass—”
“Honestly!” Claudine snaps and swats at him, and Maya laughs when she hears Nana chuckle too. She sets the dried cup into the drainer and turns to face Claudine, who looks up at her through her lashes, chin in hand, still looking very much pissed off, yet still the very definition of beautiful.
Ah, it was getting hot again.
She fans herself with a hand, aware of Claudine’s ever-attentive gaze on her as she gathers all her hair and expertly buns it up with the hair tie she always kept on her wrist.
Still, it was a little too warm for her liking — it always was whenever Claudine was around, she observed.
She couldn’t control the urge anymore, and she watches as Claudine’s attentiveness turns into hesitance when Maya reaches for the hem of the singlet she wore—
—and in one swift motion, pulls it up and over her head.
An even more intense heat consumes her senses almost immediately, a familiar one that sweeps her bearings away entirely, and she knows, in the instant the slightly cooler air touches the skin on her stomach, that—
“Stop stripping all the time!” Claudine roars, and Korosuke’s already hovering a relatively safe distance above them, watching on in amusement as Claudine starts flinging balls of fire in Maya’s direction.
Nana, with hindsight, had already used enhanced speed to swipe all the nearby breakable items and deposited them in her bunker upstairs, and was now supervising the inevitable fight from the stairway.
“Let’s try to control ourselves, yeah?” She laughs weakly, tenting her fingers together and speaking in as gentle of a tone as she could manage as two fireballs incinerate the cabinets above the sink, completely missing their target. If these two were to constantly get into fights like this, the guild would surely go bankrupt using their commissions as reparation funds, and, most of all, her poor kitchen usually sustained the most damage.
“But it’s so hot,” Maya complains, giggling a little at the ticklish sensation of Claudine’s fire licking at her skin, neither woman paying attention to the motherly figure of the guild. Claudine’s flames hadn’t been able to harm her for a long time now, and Maya had come to compare them to little kisses that expressed things the Dragon Slayer herself was unable to in words.
Claudine groans at that, summoning a bunch of thin, flimsy-looking ice crystals and aiming them threateningly at Maya, who was still laughing in her bra and shorts.
“Now, using my own magic against me is just cheat,” Maya smirks, and she freely accepts the crystals that are lobbed heatedly at her, breathing out a little in relief when cold ice hits her skin. The temperature was a little bearable now, but there was still that lingering heat that settled right at the base of her stomach, and she knows Claudine feels it too. After all, it wasn’t what Maya felt, it was what her dear mate felt.
No one needed to actually get a good look at Claudine to see the smoke practically spiralling from her ears, the red that painted her cheeks, and the way her chest heaves up and down with exertion or embarrassment — nobody would ever know which, but they’d be able to make a good guess. It was a regular occurrence at this rate, to have Maya stripping and Claudine reacting violently.
They had known each other for their whole lives, and have loved the other for half of it, so Maya becoming Claudine’s mate wasn’t exactly a surprise to anyone. The two of them were practically inseparable, anyway — when Claudine wasn’t out searching for Igneel, that is. No matter how much Claudine snapped and griped at Maya, and no matter how much Maya loved to tease her to no end, the both of them were still incomplete without the other, and this they both understood.
“She was loud,” Kaoruko had remarked the day after, and it took everything she had to not set that devil’s hair on fire. Still, she remembers how Maya was like — the softness of her skin, the way her body had felt against hers, the low moans that cut through her addled mind like icicles.
“I hate that your own magic doesn’t work on you,” Claudine seethes, dropping her hands and collapsing into her seat again, burrowing her face in her palms. Maya was feeling much more relieved at the ice that now soothed her body, and she leans against the bar now, eyes lingering affectionately on the woman in front of her. “I have to be the one cooling you down instead.”
“Well,” Maya hums. “You’re the only one who can, after all.”
Claudine lifts her head wearily, eyes dropping down to Maya’s chest before angling themselves chivalrously up to meet her amused gaze instead.
“Besides, it’s less destructive too,” Maya turns back to look at the row of smoldering cabinets behind them, pretending to not have noticed the way Claudine’s eyes had glossed over for a moment. “You’re improving. The first time, you blew up the—”
“Blew up the entire place, I know,” Claudine grumbles, sprawling herself over the bar, arms thrown over the edge as she looks up at a smiling Maya. It was then that Maya finally feels the heat quieten down, flickering away into something softer, a comforting warmth. “I’m trying to not...burn everything up, okay?”
“You’re learning,” Maya says in approval, leaning down, gently pushing up the soft tufts of hair that fall over Claudine’s forehead, and kissing the skin there. She straightens, her smile widening at the blush that taints Claudine’s cheeks. “I’ll be waiting for you in the bath.”
The blush amplifies, and Maya’s lips twitch, happy to have accomplished her goal, and she turns to head to the showers, leaving a stunned, flustered Claudine in her wake.
“We’re back!” Karen bursts through the front door, raring with energy, and Hikari follows afterwards, in a manner not unlike some sort of spirit. Karen catches sight of Claudine, cheeks still a brighter shade of red than the scarf wrapped around her neck, and backtracks. “What did we miss?”
Nana smiles by the stairway, straightening and veering into the now-unoccupied kitchen. “Maya-chan and Kuro-chan just got—”
“Nothing happened,” Claudine breathes, embarrassed, and Korosuke snickers from above.
“You’d better not keep the fine lady waiting~”
“What took you so long?”
Claudine freezes. Around her, the showers glow a dim orange, shrouding Maya’s pale, muscled back soaking in the water. Steam rises from the bath in columns that hang low — just a little past Maya’s tense shoulders — and Claudine could see the slight shift in Maya’s usually stoic expression, one that she wore more often than her teasing smirks and grins, and she had been starting to display that tight-lipped look around her more often. If she had more time to think about it, it’d concern her, but she was inclined to believe that it was just Maya going through some phase.
“Had to take Korosuke down a peg,” she replies nonchalantly, but her trembling voice gives her away completely. Maya chuckles softly, maybe even a little weakly, and moves slightly in the water — Claudine tries not to pay attention to the way her body cuts through it so delicately — to make room for her.
Holding her breath, Claudine sinks into the warm water and leans against the edge of the bath. “How long have you been here?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
Claudine breathes out slowly, feeling her aching muscles relax. “Tell me when it gets too hot, yeah? I can’t have you collapsing on me again.”
Maya doesn’t reply to that, and Claudine feels a wash of...something heavy over her chest.
“Maya?”
“Oh—sorry, ma Claudine, I didn’t mean to...” Maya trails off, looking down into the steam-blanketed water, not meeting Claudine’s eye, “I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
Claudine jolts up. “No—no, you didn’t! Don’t worry about it.”
She offers a small, reassuring smile to back it up, and only then does Maya tilt her head to face her.
Gentle, saddened lilac eyes meet hers, and instantly, a strong, gripping emotion takes hold of her, easing into her chest and squeezing and constricting her heart, weighing her shoulders down — but why? Was this...was this what Maya was feeling right now?
“Maya, what’s going on?” She asks softly, lifting her hands to cup Maya’s face, not missing the way Maya’s eyes widen in slight surprise. What happened to her flirty mannerisms from earlier? The Maya that now tenderly, hesitantly leans her forehead against hers, the Maya that now releases a shaky, needy breath against her lips, the Maya that was feeling like this — it was as if a switch had been turned off, and what was before Claudine was something that Maya had been keeping under wraps, afraid to make itself known.
“I’m sorry,” Maya exhales slowly and closes her eyes, “this is not what I’ve been intending to—this was not what I wanted to show you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s,” Maya sighs, “it’s nothing.”
“You’re a terrible liar, you know,” Claudine scoffs lightly, affectionately, and she runs her thumbs over the smooth expanse of skin in her grasp. “I can feel what you feel, remember?”
Maya nods, breathing in carefully. The two of them keep this peaceful silence for a little while longer, and Claudine takes the time to appreciate just having Maya around, her presence a comfort, a sanctuary for Claudine to relax in — a home. The only other time she had ever felt like this was when...when she had spent her days as Igneel’s adoptive daughter. They had been her happiest days, sunny afternoons toiled away in training her magic and starry nights filled with hoarse, off-key lullabies and bedtime stories from before she had even been born.
She misses Igneel.
The only comfort she got, one that was even softer and warmer than what Igneel provided, was Maya.
Maya.
Her Maya.
“When are you leaving again?”
Claudine draws back at Maya’s question. That tightening feeling around her chest had gotten worse now — once, Claudine would have been glad that mates could feel what their other half did; Maya did have the emotional expression of a rock, but now, to know that Maya could feel this way — Claudine was certain that she had never detected this from Maya before. Had she been keeping it carefully tucked away beneath teasing quips and lingering touches?
The look in Maya’s eyes spoke volumes. Claudine needn’t ask her exactly what she was feeling, now. Though, given, she still wanted to beat herself up for not realising it sooner. She should have the very night that she had returned horribly injured from a failed search, that Maya would have worried so much, and now it struck her—
“I can’t ask you to choose me,” Maya croaks, looking away. “I know I can’t. I know how much he means to you, but—but a small, small part of me just wishes that—” her voice turns desperate, frustrated, her fists curling by her side, “—that you’d choose me instead.”
Was that...really what Maya thought of her?
Claudine wants to exclaim, wants to say that no, there was no way that she’d ever choose anything over Maya, her mate, but she knew that even thinking that would make her a hypocrite. After all, finding Igneel was still very much a priority to her, so much so that she spent more time out searching for him than she did with Maya, or with the guild, even. A hypocrite, she was. But Igneel—if Igneel was still alive, if he was still out there, she had to find him.
Find him...
...and then what?
“Claudine?” Maya calls softly.
“Maya...” Her hands fall. Her quest had cost Maya so much pain, so much loneliness. She had been selfish, and how was she a good mate if she constantly left Maya behind? If she constantly left her friends behind? She had been so, so selfish.
“Claudine, ma cherie, don’t cry,” Maya’s urgently yet gently rubbing her thumbs across her cheeks to quell the tears she didn’t even know were falling. “I shouldn’t have—I’m sorry—”
Claudine shakes her head rapidly, and she grabs onto Maya’s wrists, swallowing. “No, I should be the one apologising. I’ve been neglecting you. I’ve...I’ve not been a good mate to you at all. I’m sorry, Maya.”
Maya smiles at her, her eyes staring down at her lovingly. Even now, Maya was still so patient, so kind. What had she done to deserve her? Absolutely nothing.
“I understand, mon amour,” Maya wipes away the last of her tears with the same tenderness. “I apologise. I was just being selfish.”
I’m the selfish one, Claudine wants to choke out. She does, she really does, but she’s overwhelmed with another emotion this time, and she recognises it immediately.
Maya’s love for her — she remembered it being the first strong emotion she felt after their being bonded as mates, and the true force of it had been enough for her to break down into tears on the spot after awaking in bed next to her the morning after; to have Maya gazing down at her with such open, unguarded affection, Claudine had been glad that she had experienced it in private, lest Kurosuke teased her about it to no end.
She had taken it for granted.
Why was she searching far and wide for someone that could — possibly — be dead?
Why was she searching for someone else to fill that lonely hole in her heart—
—when she had someone right here, right now? Someone who she could touch, kiss and hold? Someone who had given so much to her and expecting nothing to return?
She was the selfish one.
Overwhelmed, Claudine tugs Maya forward and throws her arms around her neck, bringing her as close as she possibly could, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume, enjoying the feeling of their bare skin against each other.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles again, tightening her hold when Maya’s arms delicately circle around her waist. “Please, give me a bit more time. I promise, promise, just a little bit more time. I just—I just need to sort a few things out—”
A placating kiss is pressed to her hair, and Maya’s voice, strong and comforting rings in an echo that carries throughout the showers in its deep, soothing timbre. “Anything you need, ma Claudine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be here. I’ll be here for you. I promise.”
“Merci,” Claudine whispers, and she holds a kiss to Maya’s naked shoulder, over the mating bite painted over the slope of her collarbone. It was a step towards a big decision she’d have to make soon, and even she knew that she couldn’t hang on to the past for her entire life. She had...She had Maya now, for better or worse.
Maya’s shoulders finally relax, and Claudine is able to meld into her body better, taking comfort in soft curves and a gentle, loving embrace.
Just a little more time.