Title: a favor
Rating: G
Fandom: Star Ocean, specifically Star Ocean 5
Relationship: Fiore Brunelli/Anne Petriceani
Wordcount: 617
Short summary: Fiore asks a favor. Anne forgets that Fiore’s pet is a giant lizard.
“Anne, dear, can you do me a favor?”
Fiore’s charming voice carries through the commsphere as Anne strips off her boots at the door. Even though Fiore had sent Anne a message earlier in the day, Anne had waited until she was home to dial Fiore’s number. Hearing her girlfriend’s voice gave her a little something to cling onto, even if she couldn’t be with her due to work obligations that caused them to spend so much time apart…
“What is it, Fiore?”
“You know how I have this big experiment coming up?” Anne nods even if Fiore can’t see her. She knows all about Fiore’s experiments, well, at least she tries to. She may not understand all of the details of the experiments, but she always loves to hear Fiore talk about them. And she always makes sure to know about Fiore’s schedule so they can spend as much of their little overlap time together.
“Since you’re back here for a while I was hoping you could check on Draky for me over the next few days and make sure she has enough food.”
Ah yes. Fiore’s giant lizard pet. This part of Fiore is certainly…unique. But Anne supposes a lizard can be cute, and they are much easier to take care of compared to cats, which unfortunately is why Anne doesn’t have a pet.
But surely she can help her girlfriend out with this. Even if she knows nothing about being a pet owner. “What does she eat?”
“Oh, you know. Bugs.”
BUGS?! Anne’s mind is screaming. Just a moment ago she had been confident in her ability to help her girlfriend but bugs are just… Anne hates bugs, she loathes them with all her being.
“…I can’t do it.” She wonders how pitiable she sounds through the commsphere. But Fiore laughs as if it’s no big deal.
“Oh, the bugs are pre-packaged. Quite convenient, yes?”
Convenient for delivery, but not for Anne’s heart. Unless… “I don’t have to…see them?”
“Perfectly safe.” Anne can imagine Fiore’s confident smile. “Draky knows how to claw the bags open too.”
“O-okay…” She weakly agrees. She knows that Fiore wouldn’t force her to do it if she really didn’t want to, but she wants to believe in Fiore’s confidence in her. Even if it is likely Fiore forgot about Anne’s disgust and fear of bugs.
“Thank you, love.” It’s suddenly a bit noisy; is Fiore ruffling through her bag for something right next to the commsphere? “Let me pay you upfront for your favor.”
And then the door opens. Anne had been so absorbed in the call that she hadn’t left the entryway, so she just turns around and sees green hair and a checkered dress. Wait, what? “Huh? Fiore?”
There’s an echo as Anne’s voice also comes through Fiore’s commsphere at a 5-second delay. Fiore ends the call with a smile.
Anne is still confused, though. “Why’d you call me if you were right here?”
Fiore tilts her head to the side. “What do you mean? I just got here.” She laughs as she puts the commsphere away. While for Anne meeting together is all about planning, for Fiore it was probably just another casual act. A unexpected pleasant surprise but not a big deal. And the way she just uses technology new to her like it was always there… “These devices sure are convenient. Now, for your payment…”
With her now free hands Fiore cups Anne’s face and brings their lips together. Anne sighs into Fiore’s mouth. Her girlfriend sure is…something special, she thinks as the door closes behind them. But that…unique…way of living…is probably why Anne likes her so much.
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