It was Belle’s turn to wash the dishes, and she’d already dropped two plates. Frustrated, she crossed her arms and glared at the sink full of soapy water with a slight pout. It was hard to get a proper judge of where the plates should be going when one eye was out of commission. Swollen shut after Farah slammed her into the porch and held her down with a booted foot.

“Son of a bitch,” she muttered, reaching for the next plate.

Missing it wasn’t her fault that time; it was plucked up by a strong, calloused hand. “Not as easy as it looks, is it?”

Belle winced slightly as she turned to look at Farah. “Is inconveniencing both of us supposed to teach me a lesson?” she asked, reaching a slim hand out for the plate.

“Move.” Farah bumped her away from the sink, and washed the plate herself. All of them, dried them, and put them away as an apology for what she had done.

Belle leaned against the counter, her arms crossed over her chest again as she watched the other guardian work. Her annoyance slipped away into a soft, fond look. It was a surprising peaceful moment between the two girls who had been at each other’s throats since they had a fling when they were seventeen. Three years of fighting.

The redhead thought it was almost worth it when Farah got that quiet, guilty air about her, becoming a lot softer than she usually was. Getting her away from Ren, who Farah hated despite being his guardian, was guaranteed to take the tense air out of her. But she was usually cold and almost aloof. Eli was the only person who could soften her up completely.

But Belle could get damn close. She inched her way closer as Farah leaned forward to unplug the sink, up to her elbows in water and her eye closed as she searched for the plug. Belle’s arms slipped around her waist, and she rested her cheek against the slightly taller woman’s bare back when she abruptly stood straight.

“What are you doing?” Farah asked, her voice soft. Her hands fell to Belle’s, dripping warm soapy water and covered in bubbles.

Belle breathed a soft sigh, holding her tighter. “What do you think?”

Farah had started to tug Belle’s hands away, but she paused, and her hands settled over Belle’s instead. “I think you’re standing too close to me,” she said, a hint of reproach in her voice.

“Oh, as if you’re not enjoying it,” Belle muttered. She slipped her hands out from under Farah’s, and twined their fingers together.

Farah heaved out a sigh, her head drooping forward; Belle knew her eye would be shut, her mouth slightly parted as her breathing came out slow and peaceful. It was so hard for Farah to let her guard down. The last time she had, she had trusted Ren too much, and she had ended up losing one of her eyes. A real shame; Belle had always found those deep red eyes, set off by her snowy hair and pale skin, one of her most attractive features.

“What are you doing?” Farah asked the same question when Belle’s hands moved, releasing hers to settle on the woman’s waist.

Belle didn’t answer, and Farah didn’t fight as Belle turned her around, pressing her back against the sink. “Just… shush,” Belle muttered, her arms coming around Farah’s waist again and her head dropping so her face was hidden against Farah’s neck.

It took a few long moments, but Farah’s arms settled around Belle, on hand low against her back and the other stroking her hair. Considering how much time they spent tense, fighting with each other or with the Vitals they were supposed to protect, the moment of peace was extremely rare and they were both enjoying it as much as they could.

Farah’s breath hitched when Belle moved, raising her head just enough to press her lips to the woman’s neck. When the taller woman didn’t push her away, Belle moved her lips up, slowly tracing her way up the arch of Farah’s neck until their lips met in a soft, sweet kiss.

Their heated anger when they argued could so easily be transferred to a passion hot enough to burn. The hand that was in Belle’s hair curled tight, pulling her head back slightly as Belle tilted her head to deepen the kiss.

Farah made a soft sound against Belle’s mouth, her hands reaching behind her as her pale face flushed a light pink. She hated to be put in a position where she was weak. Being found kissing Belle in the kitchen was almost the definition of that. If it were one of the boys who saw- god forbid it was Jack- she would never hear the end of it. Eli would smile and nod and move on; Ren or Jack would torment her mercilessly. Worse, if Narissa was the one to walk in; Farah knew the poor girl had a thing for her, and she wasn’t interested in breaking the pinkette’s heart like that, no matter how annoyingly cheerful she usually was.

That was how Belle ended up giving out a shocked gasp, letting go of Farah and stumbling back until she was up against the kitchen island. Her hair was pasted to her head by water, bubbles sticking to her like a crown. Choking on the taste of the nasty water in her mouth, Belle raked her bangs back from her face and gave Farah a hot glare. “Really?” she spat, her hand sweeping over her hair to collect some of the bubbles so she could fling them at Farah.

Farah dodged out of the way, huffing out an annoyed sigh. “You can only blame yourself!” she retorted, jumping aside when Belle moved forward.

The redhead wasn’t reaching for the other guardian; she was reaching for the sink. Pulling on the faucet so it came out, attached by a tube so that it would still work. She turned the faucet on, her hand by the little button as she pointed it at Farah like she was wielding a gun. “Say you’re sorry,” she said, her finger pulling back so the tiniest spray came out of the faucet as a warning.

“Tch. I’d rather sleep with Ren,” Farah said- but there was a teasing note behind her cold words, a slight smile curling at the edges of her lips.

Belle raised the nozzle in her hands a little higher, a wicked smile on her face. “Then this is your fault, too.” She pulled the button in, and water shot across the kitchen.

Farah was soaked in seconds, her hair looking almost transparent as it stuck to her head. Her face twisted up in an expression of disgust as she pulled her shirt away from her wiry form, the white material showing everything underneath. Belle’s wicked smile only grew, until Farah realized and her face turned a deep red only a shade paler than her crimson eyes.

“You’re so going to pay for that!” she yelled, diving for Belle.

The redhead squeaked as she was tackled, the nozzle jolted out of her hands as they hit the floor. She was giggling hysterically while Farah’s fingers danced along her sides. “N-no,” Belle gasped, struggling to catch Farah’s wrists only for the silverette’s hands to slide under her shirt. “N-not fair! Hey! St-stop!” she pleaded, gasping for air as Farah played with her sensitive skin.

Farah’s smile was small, but there was a devilish glint in her gaze as she moved her hands farther up Belle’s shirt, tracing circles over her ribs before inching up and making Belle’s laughter hitch. It fell away into hiccuping giggles as Farah slowly lowered her head. Pausing with her mouth close enough that their panting breaths mingled between them.

Belle reached up, her hand curving up Farah’s face and hooking under the string that ran from her eyepatch to behind her ear. The unsteady rhythm of the silverette’s breathing stuttered hard, but she dropped her head lower, so that Belle could reach the tie behind her head.

Farah went rigid first, her teeth clenching as a pained breath hissed out and her fingers spasmed against Belle’s skin. Before the redhead had a chance to ask what was wrong, the blinding pain hit her, too. The whimper slipped past, her pain threshold much lower than Farah’s.

Their comm links opened to their Vitals, confusion and pain swirling together as they connected the team. Gale’s voice was the first to come through, to make sense of it, as it always was. It’s Kameron, he said, even his mental voice strained.

Farah was on her feet in the next second, teeth clenched against the pain as she checked to be sure her sword pulled free without a hitch. Belle reached up to grab her hand as the voices of the other Vitals ran frantic in their heads, the guardians slightly calmer but no less worried for their comrades.

Their eyes met, both of them knowing they needed to leave even as they paused. Belle sighed, her fingers slipping away from Farah’s arm- but there was a silent promise to continue later in the slow drag of skin against skin. Farah’s smile, no matter how small, was a warm agreement.

Then they were both off and running for their Vitals, hoping they would arrive in time to save their comrades and desperately afraid they’d only find their corpses.