Work Text:
.
.
Personal space is an issue.
Well, for Gura it isn’t an issue. Typically she doesn’t mind it. She’d love to lean her head against someone's shoulder. She doesn’t mind sharing her space with someone. She gets in a cuddly mood sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with a little touch.
She just wishes it wasn’t an issue with Amelia.
It’s not Amelia herself that seems to be an issue. Amelia doesn’t mind physical affection. She’ll often give it out as much as she receives it. Gura should have been comfortable leaning her head on Amelia’s shoulder, but every time she does her whole face gets sweaty. Her palms are clammy and her pulse is thundering in her ears the whole time. She doesn’t lay her head there for long.
Amelia glances at her, “What’s wrong?”
“Why is your shoulder so boney?” Gura complains though that’s far from the issue.
Amelia snorts.
Walking together in the rain should be a nonissue. An umbrella is just typical especially if there's a torrential downpour around them. They’d been out shopping. It wasn’t a big deal to walk shoulder to shoulder like this.
Her skin was prickling. Every step they took Gura felt where Amelia’s skin brushed hers. Everything fell into the background except for this minor thing. Her shoes were soaked with water, her tail was getting a nice little pleasant rinse, it was starting to smell musty out- but no, none of that could hold her attention for even a moment in comparison to a single touch from Amelia Watson.
The detective was on her phone. She was humming low in her throat, not loud enough to be heard or for the noise to actually form a note. Gura thinks of it like a cat's purr. She can feel it and it’s making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
“Want to pick up something to eat?” Amelia asks. Even underneath the rain sound, it felt loud in Gura’s ear.
Gura murmurs, “Sure. Whatcha thinkin’?”
“Sushi.”
“Mmm.” Gura tries to focus on the thought of food and not the way Amelia’s hand touches hers. “Tasty.”
Amelia smiles, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Maybe Amelia didn’t notice. Gura had a small hope she didn’t. Not when she can feel it along her arms and hot over her cheeks. Not when it burns up her neck and makes her heart a drum in her ears. She hopes Amelia doesn’t notice that.
She prays she can’t as the detective bows her head to look at her nails. She’s cradling Gura’s fingers in a gentle just-so touch. The nail polish brush is tickling along her skin and then Ame blows air on them as she does and Gura can barely feel her hand let alone her head. The concentration Amelia has on her hand is doing numbers to her. The complete and full attention of someone on her makes her squirm.
“Don’t move.” Amelia chides. She hasn’t taken her eyes off Gura’s hand. “I don’t want to mess this up, stop fidgeting.”
“You couldn’t sit still either,” Gura complains.
Amelia huffs, “That doesn’t count. I did good.” She grumbles under her breath, “Bet you won’t be a good girl for me, huh.”
Gura’s tongue feels dry, “What?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Are you talking smack about me?”
Amelia wrinkles her nose, “I’m gonna smack you. ”
The banter is nice. Banter is good. It distracts her from the colossal amount of steam coming out of her ears, “Don’t crack the polish, dear.”
Amelia groans. She’s smiling as she goes back to her task. She says, “Oops I’m using the wrong color.” She doesn’t sound concerned at all.
Gura peers at her work. She’s painted two nails blue already. The third she’s started painting yellow. It’s the same color matching Amelia’s nails. Gura feels her ears burning, “Really? That’s petty.”
“You don’t like yellow?” Amelia sniffs, “Yellow is a great color, you’re insensitive.”
Gura sputters, “I did not- actually.” Gura turns her head away, “I don’t have to answer you. Sit there and think about what you’ve done.”
“Oh no thinking.” Amelia drawls. “That’s honestly the kind of punishment I expected out of you. Only you would think that’s hard to do.”
Gura kicks her.
Amelia laughs, “Stop it, I’m gonna mess up.”
“Gimme blue when you’re done.” Gura grumbles, “I’m messing up your nails too.”
“Okay.” Amelia says. She says it so easily Gura doesn’t feel like she’s won. She feels like she’s fallen into a trap. She endures the gentle hand holding and soldiers through Amelia’s gaze boring holes into her head as she does the same. Painting Amelia’s nails makes her queasy and fluttery like her stomach wants to hop out of her throat and fly around the room. She wants to bob her knee and hum and talk about something. She paints Amelia’s nails. Amelia watches.
“Cute,” Amelia says.
“What?” Gura doesn’t dare look up.
“My nails.” Amelia says shortly, “They’re cute.”
“Ah.”
.
.
It’s a sleepover. It’s just a sleepover.
“Kiara, can you like,” Ina sounds half awake, “turn off your lamp.”
The phoenix was helping stuff pillows into the living room for the five of them. Calli had already clocked out a while ago, a few empty wine glasses cradled close to her under the covers. Gura unzipped her sleeping bag as she heard Kiara make a questioning sound.
“Lamp? I don’t have a lamp.”
“Heat,” Ina said. “Hot.”
Kiara laughs, “Oh my, Ninomae Ina’nis, you think I’m-?”
Amelia pokes her head into the room, “Kiara if you burn any pillowcases I’m making you pay for them.” And ducks her head back out of the room.
Kiara makes an affronted noise. Ina giggles as she settles in. Gura finds her spot on the edge of everyone because Kiara and Ina are still bantering and she’d rather not be in the middle of that. The reaper couldn’t very well support her either when she was so gone in her drinks that she was unconscious for the night.
“I’ll tell you what.” Kiara is saying. Her voice is muffled by pillows. “I’ll hold my breath and when I die you can get some quality sleep, how about that?”
“I could always just suffocate you,” Ina says.
“I can feel our friendship. These bonds are so strong, Ina.”
“You’re welcome.”
Gura closes her eyes. The background chatter dies down. She can hear the even breaths around her. Her heart feels light, the kind of way it gets after an evening spent with her girls. They played games and chatted and laughed. It was running through her head and sinking her further into her blankets.
Gura lungs freeze as hands find the top of her blankets. Fingers are trailing up into her hair, a feather light touch that doesn’t feel malicious- hesitant, curious- as they explore each snowy strand. Gura feigns sleep. She fights to keep her breath even as she feels those fingers curve around her ear. They touch along the corner of her jaw, walk along her cheek, and journey just a hairline from her lips. Gura battles down the gasp in her throat. She’s glad it’s dark and no one can see how red her face is.
She feels the covers move behind her. A body is pressing close behind her, not too close, but enough that she catches the smell of lemons and herbs and- Ame. It makes her tremble. The hands pause. They wait. Gura breathes deeply. Asleep. I’m asleep.
A finger shyly ghosts along her lips. It’s mapping a curious adventure and it’s driving fire along Gura’s nerves. It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to think.
The hand retracts slowly, gently touching her hair again. Gura feels Amelia brushing her hair away from the back of her neck. The exposed skin tingles under her breath. Gura presses her teeth together tightly. Amelia’s fingers were just barely brushing the skin there. It made her want to curl her spine and make a noise that’d be obscene in a place like this.
When Amelia kisses the back of her neck, it’s a butterfly wing on her skin. She’s lying in a field of grass and there’s a ladybug, a flower, the sun is so bright- so hot-
Gura fidgets. Amelia withdraws, her touch completely disappearing. Gura stays still. A wild part of her hopes that Amelia continues to do that. It felt nice.
Amelia turns around under the covers. With their backs pressed against each other, Gura can’t tell what that had been about at all. Her heart is screaming. Her head is filled with cotton. It’s a miracle at all that she ever fell asleep.
.
.