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Lightning could feel Serah’s delicate gaze dialed in on her. She saw her sister in her peripheral vision hanging around the corner, but decided not to pay her any mind. Lightning was fully aware of what was happening and wished she didn’t have to always be subjected to all this unwanted attention. She was just trying to eat breakfast.
But she couldn’t live a second longer with the way her foot was being tickled.
She jerked her left leg away and woefully looked down at the other pair of eyes that were staring at her. Her tail slowly swayed behind her, wondering if today would be the day she would finally win Lightning’s affection. And she tried to, rubbing her soft fur against Lightning’s leg and tugging at her conscience.
“Aww... come on Light! Why won’t you ever pet Snow?” Serah whined, finally stepping around the wall and into the kitchen. She picked up and cradled Snow, nuzzling her head against her and frowning at Lightning.
Serah was wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts, apparently deciding to take a comparatively simple outfit from her older sister’s wardrobe, and Lightning wasn’t complaining. She liked that look on her. She liked every look on Serah, but a change in style was always appreciated.
As for other changes, Lightning certainly wasn’t going to start by choosing to cuddle up with their cat. No matter the disapproving look Serah regarded her with.
“Maybe because once I do start petting her, I know she won’t leave me alone.”
“And how would you know that if you never pet her in the first place?“
“Serah, I’ve seen the way she trails after and clings to you.”
Serah couldn’t deny that fact. She sheepishly shrank away, admitting that yes, she had sometimes sat with their feline companion for far too long. If she was sitting with Snow she would often brush aside any authority Lightning tried to wield against her, which Serah knew must have irritated her.
“You’re only jealous,” she teased instead while she wandered closer to the table. “Lightning, you trail after me too just like her, but you don’t see me complaining about how often you try to sneak in kisses.”
Lightning put down her fork to face Serah, hoping the frown she wore illustrated her irritation. Cinnamon toast could wait until she squashed this silly argument.
“I’m not jealous of our house cat Serah, and I sincerely hope you didn’t just compare me to said house cat. I just don’t want to be stuck babying Snow all day.”
Serah glared at Lightning, apparently frustrated with her resistance. She placed Snow back on the floor and propped her chin in her hands on the table, trying to identify the reason that Lightning couldn’t stand Snow.
“Oh, so that’s it!” She finally said, snapping her fingers and smirking at Lightning. “You just can’t stand the guy she’s named after.”
“You really think that’s why I won’t cuddle her?”
Serah still smiled, her look of triumph challenging Lightning to come up with an excuse.
“That’s not..."
Lightning sighed. No point in hiding it now. She could never get past the fact their cat was named after their beloved leader. Snow was careless. And he had once held the key to Serah’s heart, a fact that Lightning wished she could permanently forget. She never liked Snow and didn’t want Serah to either. It was hard to forget that at one point she did when they had named the cat after him, and Lightning knew that he was just a cat, but she never could force herself to get over it. The name summoned forth the image of his stupid smirk and she couldn’t stand it.
“In that case I’d cuddle the cat just as much as I do with you,” she begrudgingly replied.
“Just as often as you cuddle me, huh? That’s still not that often,” Serah sighed, feigning disappointment, beginning to dejectedly traipse away. She crouched down to pet Snow, and in a sarcastically crestfallen tone said, “Sorry Snow. I guess Lightning’s never going to cuddle you, especially considering she doesn’t even cuddle me, her girlfriend, that often.”
She sent a longing glance to Lightning, and with a heavy sigh turned and walked away from her.
Lightning understood the game she was playing. She was familiar with Serah’s irresistible ways of instigation.
“You and I both know that isn’t true Serah,” Lightning challenged as she stood to abandon her half-finished meal for a far more appetizing treat.
“But I’d be more than happy to prove you wrong,” she said, drawing her arms around Serah from the back and holding her close.
“I thought you were eating breakfast?”
“As great as your cooking is, you convinced me that I have better things to do.”
Serah giggled and followed an obliging Lightning to sit together on the couch, happy to be held so snugly in her arms. She quickly pecked her cheek and nuzzled up against her neck.
Lightning resisted flinching from her ticklish grazing and the feathery puffs of breath greeting her neck. Now that she thought about it, maybe cuddling Serah wasn’t so different from cuddling a cat after all. Just an unusually large, unusually affectionate cat.
“I think you’re right Serah. We should do this more often.”
“We should. And you should show Snow a little more love from now on.”
“If I have any left from giving it to you.”
Lightning smiled and returned her kiss, and was surprised by Serah catapulting back to her lips. She happily returned fire, thinking that her sister had bested her too many times already today. They smooched through shorter and shallower breaths until Lightning forced Serah to give in, when she backed away grinning and taking Lightning’s hand. Lightning gripped hers back, wondering why she was so unusually forward today.
“But you’re a little feistier than a cat, I’d say.”
“Well, that’s what happens when you don’t love a cat often enough.”
“Right. You’re not a cat though.”
“I can show you my claws if you don’t believe me,” Serah grinned.
“I’d rather you show me your lips again,” Lightning said with a smile, pulling Serah close for another round of kissing. Breakfast could wait until Serah was satisfied.