Chapter Text
“This is a nightmare.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“They’re taking you away from me,” Raelle whines, slumping onto Scylla’s bed and watching her girlfriend pack the last of her clothes into a small bag on her desk. She looks longingly at the white lab coat wondering what exactly Necros are supposed to do during field training. Or did Scylla say they were going to a morgue?
Scylla chuckles. “I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone.”
“I would notice if you were gone barely for half a day. And you’re leaving for three,” Raelle huffs, collapsing backward onto the bed. She can already feel all her muscles begin to throb with soreness after the combat drills Anacostia has put them through earlier in the morning. Adding on top of that the mandatory linking practice, this day has drained almost all the energy from Raelle’s body and mind. Her linking skills are nearly impeccable when she can do it her way, but, as it turns out, using the army’s method seems to take her more effort since the connection it creates is initially weaker than she’s used to. She tries to cheat sometimes, though, and says the proper words in her head while trying to focus on controlling her breath. So far no one has noticed.
Scylla finally turns to Raelle, and her heart flutters in her chest at the sight of the blonde, a feeling she has gladly got used to. Eyes closed, arms splayed over the sheets, Raelle could quite possibly be falling asleep in that exact moment. Scylla walks over and takes her time to unabashedly stare at her face scrunched up in a frown, stray locks of hair covering her forehead, not aware of being watched. Suddenly, Scylla gets an idea.
In a few quiet steps, she turns off the lights, leaving only the bedside lamp to cast a dim light over the room. Then she approaches Raelle again, standing carefully between her open legs, and waits for her to zone back into reality.
After a few moments, Raelle slowly opens one eye and tilts her head. Her frown immediately melts away into an unconstrained smile when she feels Scylla’s soft touch on her knees, and locks her gaze with the ocean blue eyes that are studying her silently.
Scylla smiles back when Raelle hums at her questioningly, and offers a hand. “Come here,” she murmurs.
Raelle has to fight the urge to pull Scylla down right on top of her, thinking how perfectly the girl always fits against her body when they cuddle. She resists making that particular idea real, biting her lip at the temptation, and grabs Scylla’s hand to pull herself up instead. Luckily enough she lands with her face exactly at the level of her girlfriend’s stomach. She wastes no time, promptly nuzzling her face into Scylla, arms circling her waist, palms smoothing her back as far up as she can reach, then traveling back down and settling on Scylla’s lower back, pulling her closer. She can feel Scylla’s fingers find their way into her hair, combing away the messy strands, gently massaging her scalp, making the heaviness of exhaustion that has been weighing on Raelle’s shoulders all afternoon slowly drift away in waves. She lets herself be soothed into a deep sigh that expands her chest, relaxes further her stiff muscles, and fills her lungs with Scylla’s scent.
Raelle doesn’t think she will ever get used to the sense of calmness the proximity of Scylla’s body gives her. It’s like the whole world suddenly tunes out. She exhales and nothing else exists beyond the touch of their skin and the air between them buzzing with the tranquil energy.
As she keeps breathing, lost in the comfort and heat emanating from Scylla's body, she senses one of her braids going loose. Then there's a light pull at her hair, and another braid gets untangled bringing relief to Raelle’s skin. The feeling contrasts heavily with the tension she didn't even know she was carrying there.
She smiles contently, feeling dizzy from the intimacy and pleasure of Scylla's ministrations. One by one, her braids get detangled and smoothed out with Scylla’s delicate fingers until Raelle is left with a bunch of wavy locks falling over her cheeks freely while her forehead remains against Scylla’s sternum. When she knows that Scylla has finished, she turns her head to the side and presses at the small of the girl’s back to bring her even closer, humming in satisfaction when Scylla obliges and cradles Raelle’s head to herself.
"Thank you," Raelle breathes out into the fabric of Scylla's shirt.
"Always."
For a long, languid moment, the room falls so silent that Raelle finds herself listening to Scylla's heartbeat with one ear pressed against her. The rhythm matches her own, she realizes. Then she notices how their breaths are working in sync, chests moving in a steady tempo. Has her girlfriend also been practicing linking? Cause this feels nothing short of healing.
Raelle chuckles at the thought and moves to prop her chin against Scylla’s sternum. She looks right into the astute, ocean blue eyes to be met with a questioning rise of Scylla's eyebrow that breaks her blissfully calm expression. She wishes, she could somehow make this peacefulness never leave Scylla. She wishes they could stay like this forever.
"I'm gonna miss you," Raelle says. And in the heat of the moment, she almost lets her mouth run freely, encouraged by the comforting weight of Scylla's palms cupping her cheeks. "Sometimes I-"
The words quickly die in her throat when it squeezes with a sudden tightness. She blinks rapidly and swallows down at the lump in her throat. She doesn't get to pull away, though, before Scylla starts to stroke her cheek and the side of her neck in a silent question, the concern now painted on her face. She waits patiently. Raelle chews at her bottom lip and grows again the courage to find the right words.
"Sometimes I'm scared I will wake up and find you gone... Not because you'd leave but because- because I can't remember the last time I was this happy. I'm scared I'm going to lose you. And I really can’t - "
In a heartbeat, Scylla leans in and presses a soft but firm kiss to her lips to stop her from spiraling into these dark thoughts. Raelle knows that Scylla understands her fear. She was a Dodger who couldn't let anyone close for most of her life, every time she felt even remotely happy or safe, they had to move. She was never given the time to enjoy more than moments. And she never had the chance to even hope for anything permanent in her life, especially a relationship. Having it now, at last, feels wrong. As if something bad should happen any second to compensate for the happiness and peace.
So Scylla certainly understands where Raelle’s fear comes from but even if she feels the same, she doesn't let it surface. Instead, she pulls back an inch, meets Raelle's aching gaze, and holds it firmly, making sure Raelle sees in her eyes the sincerity of what she's about to say. "You will never lose me, Raelle."
Raelle will probably never confess how much she needed to hear these words. She lets them sink into her bones wanting to remember them, believe them. Never in her life, has she felt like losing something, or someone, could break her into a million pieces. Nor ever in her life, has she felt like she belonged. But with Scylla by her side, Raelle knows that she can lose everything, go anywhere, and still be okay as long as she can hold her in her arms.
Yet the words she wants to say the most form timidly on her tongue and then retreat into her heart. For some reason, she’s afraid again. She’s afraid that if she even whispers those words into the world, someone will capture them, twist them, stain them. She worries that once they’re out there, the universe will notice Scylla and her and want to destroy what they have. As if they’ve been hidden from the outside world all this time, and to remain unseen, unbothered, they cannot make a sound. Even if the sound involves Raelle telling Scylla how she feels.
So Raelle decides to be selfish just one more time and keeps the sacred words locked away safely in her heart. And as the light shimmers faintly over Scylla’s features, igniting her attentive eyes with something more than just hope, maybe with something close to what Raelle is trying so desperately to hold back, she allows the feeling to overwhelm her and lets her body speak for her.
In a swift motion, she surges up and captures Scylla’s lips with her own, kissing deeply while one of her hands reaches to pull her down by the neck just to get even closer. Once they started she can’t get enough, she can't be close enough or feel enough of Scylla's soft skin under her fingertips.
With Raelle’s other hand roaming over her back decidedly more roughly than before, Scylla quickly catches the hint and straddles Raelle, lowering herself onto her lap without breaking the kiss.
What is supposed to be a meaningful, purposeful gesture starts to rapidly turn into a passionate chase after one another's lips, where their mouths fall open and breaths quicken. Raelle's hands slip under Scylla's shirt exploring all the skin she can now reach, and Scylla tangles her fingers in the silk blond locks again.
When Raelle moves her lips to kiss the path from Scylla's jaw down to her neck, she suddenly feels Scylla starting to unconsciously slide from her lap, lost in the feeling of Raelle's touch. She quickly uses this as an excuse to slip her hands lower and grab at Scylla's backside to support her in the position. She hears Scylla gasp at the contact and smirks up at her almost daring. As always, Scylla is eager to turn this into a competition.
In return, she moves her arms to lock them around Raelle's neck and holds her stare when she grinds hungrily into Raelle's growing heat. She watches Raelle as her eyes fall close, teeth biting down at her bottom lip, and realizes how much she wants to be the one biting at those lips. She wastes no time making that wish come true.
Raelle quickly loses the game she started when an unconstrained moan escapes her throat once Scylla gets what she wants. She tries to repay her by squeezing at her flesh, but it only results in Scylla grinding against her harder and earning another low moan, which sounds almost like a growl.
Raelle isn’t ready yet to admit her defeat, though. She pulls away enough to be able to speak as they open their eyes simultaneously, panting into each other's faces.
"You're wearing way too many clothes," Raelle breathes out, tracing the bridge of Scylla's nose with the tip of hers, a teasing smirk dancing on her lips.
"And you're going to keep talking or do something about it?" Scylla's eyebrow shoots up.
Raelle chuckles breathily. She doesn’t need to be told twice. With her fingers immediately gripping at the end of Scylla's shirt, she pulls it up and over the girl's head, discarding it somewhere near the bed.
Then Raelle's breath immediately gets caught in her throat at the sight. Since Scylla was getting ready to go to bed when Raelle arrived earlier, she wasn't even wearing a bra, which without the shirt left her now bare naked from the waist up, right in Raelle's arms. Raelle really can't help but blatantly stare for a long moment, probably much longer than she should.
Unfair but noted, Raelle thinks and admits one more score for Scylla.
"Getting cold here."
Raelle's eyes shoot up to meet Scylla's glinting gaze and this small teasing smile that happens to possess a dangerous power of causing any sense of self-control to evaporate from Raelle’s brain. In the haze, Raelle doesn't even notice how Scylla's hand has started making its way slowly down the front of her body, tracing the path from her neck, catching on the chain of her medal, gently pulling at it to draw Raelle closer for another slow, exploring kiss. As Scylla continues the trail down her chest, Raelle feels the muscles of her stomach twitch involuntarily at Scylla’s nails scratching at her skin through the fabric of her top. Her mouth falls open in a silent gasp when Scylla finally reaches purposely for the buckle of her belt.
"You need to take these off," Scylla demands but the slightest movement of her hips betrays her desperation for Raelle’s touch. She’s becoming just as aroused and impatient because of this as Raelle.
And that’s when Raelle sees her chance for revenge and gladly takes it.
She grabs Scylla under the thighs, pressing her securely against herself, and flips them over so Scylla can fall gently on the sheets with her head on the pillow. Using the opportunity, Raelle manages to untangle herself from the grip, stand up, and quickly drop her pants but the sight of Scylla lying half-naked on the bed, looking at her with such desire and adoration at the same time, stops her from undressing any further. As if hypnotized, she feels herself being pulled back towards Scylla by an unexplainable force which, even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to resist.
Scylla reaches out to Raelle, wanting nothing less but to feel the weight of her body against her, every inch of Scylla's skin ignited, itching to be touched by Raelle. She waits just enough for the blonde to throw her leg over Scylla's waist and straddle her, before taking a handful of her shirt and pulling her down forcefully to crash their lips together again.
She earns a muffled squeal when Raelle almost collapses against her, and a low moan, when Raelle props herself in time and grinds down into Scylla's hips, the desire growing stronger and harder to contain.
Scylla adjusts by smoothly sliding one of her legs between Raelle's, palms digging into her back underneath the shirt trying to pull her impossibly closer. Next time Raelle rolls her hips, her core meets the anticipated pressure, and even through the underwear the friction makes Raelle gasp in pleasure and break the kiss. It takes her a few seconds to get used to the contact, a shiver visibly shaking her body and causing her eyes to drop close. She quickly starts to regain her breath before turning her attention to her favorite spot on Scylla's body - her neck. Agonizingly slowly, she searches for Scylla's pulse point with her tongue and bites at the skin there, devoting herself to leaving the nastiest hickey the army has ever seen.
After a few moments and several uncontrollable high-pitched noises, Scylla suddenly realizes Raelle's intentions and pushes at her shoulders, just enough so she can reach for the bottom of Raelle's shirt and pull it over the girl's head. She would gladly let Raelle win this time, but she really doesn’t want to need to cover her neck for at least the next two days. She chuckles at the whine that escapes Raelle at the loss of contact.
Next, to the floor comes Raelle’s sports bra, and Scylla would love to take her sweet time admiring her girlfriend toned body if she wasn't so desperately needing Raelle's lips and hands back all over her burning skin.
So she tries to capture her lips again but Raelle seems to have other plans. When she leans down to Scylla, she places one kiss to her forehead, then one on her lips, then a thousand other small kisses to mark the path down the delicate curve of her throat to her heaving chest. She stops there for a moment, mouthing at every exposed inch of Scylla's skin, too impatient to focus on leaving lasting marks this time. The quiet whimpers coming from above tell her that Scylla is just as eager for her to go lower as she is.
At the level of Scylla's stomach, Raelle pauses and looks up. Ocean blue eyes meet hers, with pupils blown so wide the color is almost gone. As Raelle breathes out near the skin below her belly button, Scylla whimpers and presses her head back against the pillow, hand shooting up to thread her fingers through Raelle's loose hair, clearly communicating where she needs her lips the most.
But when Raelle rises to her knees and carefully removes Scylla's pants and underwear, eyes never leaving the blue irises, Scylla has a chance to take a good look at her slender curves, toned muscles, and that cheeky, adoring smile, and she changes her mind. She needs to see Raelle come undone. Now.
So she sits up and reaches out for her, and once Raelle interlaces their fingers, she pulls her back down on top of her. They fall on the mattress, their chests pressed together, both sighing at the feeling of their skin brushing and increasing the heat radiating from their bodies. This familiar but still overwhelming proximity makes them slow down for a moment as their lips reconnect. They kiss deeply, lazily, with both of their hands still joined, now resting above Scylla's head, pinning her down. When they pull apart, desperate for air, Raelle rests her forehead against Scylla's and lets go of one of her hands in favor of reaching blindly for Scylla’s leg, tugging it up, and hooking it around her own waist. Her hips move in a deliberate grind, eagerly meeting the pressure of Scylla's other leg between her thighs.
"Please, touch me..." Raelle pants, as their lips keep brushing together, not quite kissing, but making it impossible to pull away.
As if it wasn't Scylla's plan all along, she locks her gaze with Raelle, unfocused from how close their faces are, and slips her free hand to Raelle's front, successfully trapping it between their bodies. She wastes no time finding Raelle's center and feeling how damp her underwear has already become. As she cups the spot, Raelle thrusts her hips forward again urgently.
"Scyl," she gasps.
Scylla smirks and obliges, sliding her fingers into Raelle's boy shorts, dragging her fingers through her wet folds. The world stops for several tense seconds during which Scylla watches Raelle shudder above her, mouth agape, brow scrunched up while trying to adjust to the new type of friction. Scylla is absolutely certain she has never seen a more beautiful and arousing sight in her life.
Unable to resist the growing throb at the bottom of her stomach, Raelle rolls her hips forward again, this time precisely into Scylla's fingers, and feeling them inside of her throws her off balance. She collapses into Scylla, instinctively nuzzling into her neck. She bites once more at her pulse point and moans into her skin as Scylla settles a slow rhythm.
She doesn't mean to be teasing but just the sounds Raelle is making make the heat pool low in Scylla's core until at some point her hips start to move on their own accord. Her whole body jolts up and a high-pitched gasp escapes her throat when Raelle surprises her by sneaking a hand to Scylla's center and running her fingers over her clit. She must have noticed the desperation in Scylla's movements and wasn't going to keep her waiting.
They move together, trying not to falter while the pressure between their legs grows at an increasing pace. Scylla can tell that Raelle is getting close by the frantic movements of her hips and the panting breaths hitting her neck sending waves of heat coursing through her body. She grips tighter at Raelle's hand still on her own in an attempt to ground them both. She immediately feels Raelle squeeze her fingers back and moan her name into her skin, pleading one more time.
Scylla can feel her hand start to cramp at the angle but she pushes past it and draws her thumb up to circle it over Raelle's clit. It's getting harder to focus on the movements with the pleasure of Raelle's fingers now teasing her entrance distractedly. If Raelle keeps this up, Scylla doesn't think she will last much longer than her. She's quick to find out, though, that Raelle is already far too gone.
With a few harder strokes Raelle’s body grows rigid, breath knocked out of her lungs, hips locked down in a grind as she comes with Scylla's fingers inside her.
It takes a second for Scylla to register the sting of Raelle's teeth on her collarbone. It leaves her moaning both in pain and pleasure, no longer concerned about the threat of having to cover the bite mark in the morning, it’s all so worth it.
"Scyl, fuck..." She hears Raelle gasp, as she slides her fingers a few more times, letting Raelle ride the aftershocks. Their hands break apart when Scylla brings her arm up to throw it around Raelle's waist, hugging her closer. She feels her body twitch against her when she pulls out and brushes briefly on a sensitive spot.
Part of Raelle wants to stay like this for the rest of the night, or preferably for the rest of her life, high on a blissful haze, with Scylla's entire body basically melted against her. But she can sense Scylla's restlessness. Even though she's trying to help Raelle calm down, tracing delicate patterns on her lower back, she no longer can control the movement of her hips that are still responding to Raelle's touch. It makes Raelle grin into her neck. Now she's determined to make Scylla feel just as good as Scylla made her.
After an few minutes that really test her self control, Scylla notices Raelle's breathing begin to slow down. The sweet pressure of her lips nibbling at Scylla's neck lets her know the girl has regained her strength and focus. Her fingers resume their movement, picking up the pace, igniting the pulsating desire anew. Scylla has no choice but to surrender to it completely.
Now it is her turn to gasp, whimper, and moan Raelle's name into the girl's ear. And beg.
"God, Rae- Please," she manages to groan, hips thrusting up in the search for more pressure, hoping Raelle will understand what she's asking for.
She does. Raelle lifts her head and studies Scylla's face for a brief moment, not even daring to interrupt the movements. Her heart swells with pride at the image of pure bliss in Scylla’s expression and it makes her smile to herself, knowing she has caused it. If Raelle could, she would devote her life not to the army, but to making Scylla Ramshorn scream her name and come every night. As if wasn't already happening on regular basis.
The sudden roughness of Scylla’s palms digging into her back muscles, clearly indicating how desperate Scylla is, brings her thoughts back, though. Raelle takes the hint, having learned over time the meaning of the messages behind Scylla’s body language, especially when it involves Scylla’s nails on her back.
Disentangling herself reluctantly from Scylla's grip, Raelle moves swiftly down Scylla's body, landing safely between her thighs with her fingers still inside Scylla. She leaves open-mouthed kisses on the soft skin of her hip bone, and looks up briefly, but has no time to marvel at the view before Scylla grabs at the back of her neck again and prompts her head down to her own center. Raelle has nothing left to do but follow the urgent demands.
As much as she craved it, Scylla definitely wasn’t prepared for the explosion of pleasure that jolts through her body once Raelle’s tongue finally slides across her center. Her hips immediately buckle up against Raelle’s mouth, an unconstrained cry escapes her throat followed by a series of stuttered whimpers. Raelle has to pin her hips down, licking at the sensitive bundle of nerves, thrusting her fingers faster, already feeling Scylla’s walls start to tighten around them. When she curls her fingers inside her, Scylla clutches at the sheets, not being able to take a hold of Raelle’s busy hands, and rocks her hips with an almost animalistic need that pulls her towards release.
"Raelle! Fuck, right there," Raelle hears Scylla whine and pant from above, and wonders if it’s possible for her to come again just by hearing those delicious sounds.
She’s almost certain it is when with the final stroke of her tongue she sucks hard at Scylla’s clit and curls her fingers one more time sending Scylla right over the edge. Scylla cries out her name, back arching and lifting off the bed abruptly, leaving her suspended in the air for a long moment. She groans with every wave of heat Raelle draws out from her core, and after what feels like forever, she slumps back onto the bed panting, with an arm thrown over her face in a very unsuccessful attempt to muffle the noises that are coming out of her parted lips.
Raelle keeps staring up at the blush that takes over the skin on Scylla’s heaving chest and strained neck, and can’t help but grin at the sight. She will never get tired of watching Scylla come undone.
She licks at her sensitive center tenderly the last few times, letting Scylla come down from the high. After a while, a gentle tug at the nape of her neck prompts her up and she let's herself be pulled back up to face the breathless and spent girl.
The moment she makes it to rest carefully next to Scylla, she’s pulled into the girl’s tight embrace, both arms wrapping around Raelle’s waist, Scylla’s face burying in her chest.
“I’ve got you, ” Raelle whisper’s against her hair. “I’ve got you…”
With a tinge of surprise, she feels Scylla squirm in her arms as her breath still falls in a quick rhythm over Raelle’s flesh. It makes Raelle suddenly aware of how naked both of them are so she reaches down blindly for the sheets, throws them over their sweat-covered bodies, then reaches behind Scylla to turn off the bedside lamp. As the room falls dark, she settles back down by Scylla’s side.
She suppresses the chuckle that bubbles up in her throat when she feels Scylla’s lips start to tickle her skin leaving small, lazy kisses across her chest. She looks down to find Scylla with her eyes closed, looking so peaceful and content, and so young that it makes her heart sting with a feeling of protectiveness over the girl. She instinctively hugs her closer and starts to run her fingers through her hair while Scylla tucks her head under Raelle’s chin and sighs.
Their breaths even out and sync after a few quiet minutes. Raelle can’t seem to be able to keep her eyes open anymore and she’s certain that Scylla has already fallen asleep but then a small, barely audible voice reaches her ears.
"Stay."
Raelle smiles softly into Scylla’s hair feeling a different type of heat than before spread through her body, warming up her chest even more, making the air buzz with the familiar tranquility. She kisses the top of Scylla's head, vision suddenly blurry, her eyes prickling with unexplainable tears. “Always,” she whispers back.
With the soothing touch of Scylla’s fingertips brushing absentmindedly over her bare back, Raelle lets herself be lulled to sleep. After all, Scylla might have scored more times tonight, but Raelle still feels like she won.