Just To Spice Things Up - Tumblr Posts

April Prompts Day 6 - berry red

(finally! I am wayy behind but I'll do my best to catch up. Motivation has been low, and school has been piling up work, and exams are coming up and I should stop making excuses)

Featuring Fera and Nala

Fera hummed as she tended to her garden. The woods stretched beyond the cottage, bright and cheery, with birdsong echoing among the trees. She heard a pattering behind her, a small animal skittering around in her rows of cultivated crops. Sighing, she turned around and spotted a flash of brown heading towards the berry bushes. Her skirt swished around her ankles, the apron bouncing on top of it as she efficiently skirted around the boxes of squash and radishes, picking out weeds that grew on the edges of the path and planters as she went. She took too long. A now brown and berry red blur bolted past her, teasingly, and disappeared back into the forest. Exasperated, she approached the bushes and pulled back the leaves; the red currants were decimated. There were a few that were salvageable, and probably more if she looked closer, but currently it looked bad.

She heard clanking footsteps approach the front gate. With a hop and a skip, she zipped around the cottage to see Nala, still clad in her uniform.

“Hey, darling,” Nala murmured into her ear as she pecked Fera’s cheek.

Fera giggled and wrapped her arms around Nala’s neck. Immediately, she felt Nala’s hands on her own, pulling her off. “You’re home early today. Why?”

“I’m a little sore today, sorry sweetheart,” she explained, brushing off her question, “I can’t cuddle right now. Besides, it can’t be very pleasant to hug metal.”

Fera mumbled petulantly, “It’s not the same with you in it.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” she singsonged. “Can I get you something?”

“I think I’m okay. Just go back to the garden, I’ll settle down inside.”

Fera frowned, but went back to weeding. She lasted maybe five minutes before peeking inside one of their few small windows. Nala was sprawled out on a wooden bench pushed against the wall, still in her armor. Fera’s eyebrows furrowed deeper. She strode over to the back door and padded inside.

“Hey,” she called softly. Nala jumped, her armor clanking. “Do you need help getting out of that?”

“No! I mean, no thank you.” Panic fluctuated across Nala’s face.

“Come on,” she whined, giving her wife puppy dog eyes.

Nala caved quickly. “Fine.” She raised her left arm, allowing Fera to pull off the pauldron. Fera beckoned for her to hold up her other arm. She shook her head vehemently, gesturing to her chest piece.

“Please.”

Nala shook her head.

“It’ll be easier to take off the rest of it with it off.”

Nala’s curls bounced as she shook her head again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Fera asked accusingly.

Fera kissed her cheek softly, whispering, “Please, baby.”

Huffing, Nala shook her head slightly again. Growling under her breath, Fera sat on top of her wife, pinning her down, and fitted her hands, rough from gardening, around the shoulder piece. Nala squawked indignantly and tried to push her off, but Fera persevered. Nala grew paler and paler, her eyes unfocusing a little as Fera pulled and wiggled the pauldron. With a yank, it came off, and Nala’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she slumped back against the wall. Fera inhaled sharply, spotting what Nala was so desperate to hide. A growing patch of berry red was stark against the off-white of her undershirt. She hissed softly, lifting the sleeve to get a better look at the wound. It was poorly bandaged 一 thin cloth was laid against her shoulder barely stemming the blood 一 which explained why it leaked onto her shirt. Peeling off the fabric, she revealed a deep wound, about the width of an arrowhead. Practice gone awry, possibly. She drifted off to the kitchen to prepare a healing salve and find more suitable bandages. When she returned, Nala was still out cold. She pouted sympathetically as she spread the thick green paste, flinching away as Nala shifted. Steeling herself, she continued, elevating her arm to wrap the bandage around it. She stepped back, admiring her work. As she did so, Nala stirred, her eyes cracking open. Fera seized the opportunity, surging forward and taking advantage of her semi-wakeful state, and pulling her chest piece off. Nala grumbled vaguely and held up her almost naked shoulder, examining the bandage.

Nala sounded sheepish, “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Oh, darling,” Fera melted a little, moving closer to sit on the bench. She wrapped a petite arm around her frame. Nala leaned into her embrace. “I just want you to be safe.”