NON-CANON - copper and crimson

--THE FOLLOWING IS NOT CANON...YET--

It was quiet in the Warmaster’s apartment as Hanegawa Midori dried herself off. Her senpai had been busy lately, and since she was being treated as a real, actual member of the Officio, they didn’t spend all their time together anymore…even if she was her secretary. Or…or something. Some made-up title. …It was really kind of lonely. Or it would have been, except…

“You look like a wet dog.” Their recent houseguest grumbled out as Midori strolled out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around her body and cordless hairdryer in hand. She paused for a moment, then with a small ‘e-ehhh?’ backpedaled back into the room, closing the door all but a crack.

“S…senpai…er…Wendy-san…” One brilliant, red eye peeked through the little bit of space left at the Callidus that had come to stay with them, and who was apparently waiting for the bathroom.

“…It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked. Jesus Christ.” The brown-haired girl tore the door open and pushed by Midori, brushing all-too-close to her as she did. Her movements slowed for a moment as, despite her better efforts, she caught a whiff of kiwi shampoo, and she caught herself rubbing her arm awkwardly just a few feet from the shower.

“…How’s your leg?” Her head turned and her eyes flicked down to Midori’s thigh – a knife wound from their…altercation, just the other night. By now it was only a thin pink line, thanks to magical girl physiology. “…You get Chiaki to kiss it better?”

“Oh, I… …thought she’d be mad if she found out, so…” Midori mumbled, lamely.

“…Sorry. …I got…carried away.” Wendy mumbled back, just as lamely. “…I’m gonna…take a shower.” In truth, she could…she could still smell the other girl, a little. Now with kiwi shampoo. …It had been getting hard to ignore.

“…Yeah. Me too. …U-uh, I mean…I already…ya know…I took one,” the green-haired girl insisted, her tone getting quieter and quieter as she tried to dig herself a hole in the apartment floor to hide in using only her words. “…Already,” she added, helpfully.

“…Yeah.” Wendy pulled her shirt up over her head, fixing her eyes on the shower as the other girl padded out of the bathroom. …The kiwi scent seemed to linger in the air, and in her nose. She could still smell it the night before, too, but it was fainter then.

… …

She felt like she could fall asleep under the hot stream of the shower. …Well, Wendy’d long since found she could fall asleep anywhere if she put her mind to it, but it was different today. It was almost…peaceful. Pleasant. She couldn’t think of a thing in the world that bothered her too much, today. And it was that bizarre calm that made her nearly leap out of her skin as the curtain opened, and someone a little shorter and a lot softer pressed up against her back.

A kitchen knife appeared in  her hand, then clattered to the shower floor, then vanished in the span of a second as her entire body froze, silky soft hands gently squeezing her arms as Midori’s chin came to rest on her shoulder.

“…You don’t…use any shampoo, huh, senpai…?” It took everything the awkward, green-haired girl had to ask. To do this at all, really. “You don’t brush very often, either…”

“… …” For a change, however, Midori wasn’t the most awkward person in the room. Wendy could barely force herself to shake her head. She rinsed it out, she wanted to say. That was just as good. Probably better for it in the long run. But no sound came out. Her knife appeared in her hand and clattered again as she mentally berated herself for wanting to stab her way out of an awkward situation.

They were…they were like giant marshmallows, pressed up against her…

Before she could really protest, Midori pulled away, squirted the contents of another of the various bottles in the shower into her hands, and dug into the soft, messy brown hair in front of her, foaming it with cherry blossoms and a strange sort of affection, even pressing in tightly again as she worked.

“You’re…” The green-haired girls hands slowed down as she cleared her throat. “You won’t get her attention without trying a little harder…”

“…Y…yeah…”

“…I really…didn’t think you were the type to get all awkward…” Satisfied at the foaminess of Wendy’s hair, Midori relaxed against her, soapy hands sliding down her arms, then slipping around her waist. “Senpai…Chiaki-senpai’s like that, too…You’re a lot alike, I guess…”

“…You…you wash her hair in the morning, too? …Or…or her back?”

“I don’t…I think I’d die…I mean, she isn’t…” She buried her face in Wendy’s neck, and the taller girl chuckled.

“Yeah. …She’d never go for it.”

“Mmph.”

… …

The water was starting to run cold, as the two girls pressed tightly together. Neither really knew why, exactly; it was comforting, somehow, for Midori. Wendy was…kinder than her senpai. Warmer, in her own quiet way. And…she was taller. It wasn’t a big deal or anything, but being able to just…bury her face in someone’s neck was nice. Even if it was a little scarred. She still felt a little fat next to the leaner Callidus, though.

And Wendy…It was different, for Midori. Different than it was for anyone she’d ever been close to. She was…soft. Kind. A little afraid. She wanted to be held, and comforted, but…she was also kind of fun to tease. Heh heh. At the same time, though, she’d never…had anyone do this kind of thing for her before. It never felt like someone cared like that. It hardly felt like Midori was a magical girl at all. She wasn’t a killer. Wasn’t even a fighter. She was a normal girl.

… …

The two fell easily onto the couch together, almost naturally, with Wendy on the bottom and Midori sort of relaxing onto her. Maybe it was just two lonely girls, who chased something almost unattainable together. Maybe it was two girls who needed a little bit of love, and had found it, passing by one another in the night. But as dark copper, copper that had seen worlds, met hungry, lonely crimson, as soft, greedy lips met shivering, hesitant ones, it felt like they didn’t really need a reason. Not for a little while, anyway.