[isagrimorie]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

And more ViCia fluff, which has been lacking lately, from yours truly. Takes place right before "Shadow" goes down, so Vivio is seventeen and Lutecia is at least twenty-two.

Spoiler for A Matter of Pride:

At twenty-two years old, Lutecia Alphine was both smart and old enough to know when she was simply being childishly stubborn about something she couldn’t change. The moments were rare and far between, but she was still prone to them when she was in a mood; as Megane liked to say, “You still have a lot of growing up to do.”

Under any other circumstances, Lutecia wouldn’t have minded the display of childish emotion, regardless of her age; she found it almost relieving, honestly, that she could still show those kinds of things after nearly having them beaten out of her by Jail and the Numbers, then being forced to repress them again as a result of becoming an agent of the Naval Special Intelligence Service, one of the few who willingly claimed the title of Shadow.

So, normally, Lutecia wouldn’t have been so bothered by her quick flash of stubbornness over things out of her control… only, when it concerned a badly twisted and currently throbbing ankle, it was almost impossible to ignore the fact that she’d swallowed her pain out of idiotic pride.

Granted, she could just as easily said she’d kept quiet because her teammates had been badly hurt by comparison; a twisted ankle, no matter how badly twisted it was, barely compared to a deep side wound and a broken shoulder. So on one hand, she could easily say she’d refused treatment out of worry for her teammates; but at her core, it was really the fact that she was a damned Shadow and as a Shadow, an injury as minor as a twisted ankle shouldn’t have bothered her.

Grimacing, Lutecia shook her head and took a deep drink from her cherry Coke, resisting the urge to lean down and rub her aching foot. She was sitting outside, enjoying the warm weather (or trying to), lounging on the steps outside the library. After the mission she’d been dismissed, and as a result had more free time than she knew what to do with. Normally, she would have swallowed her pride by now and gone in for treatment, but she didn’t look forward to the fact that Shamal would lecture her mercilessly for keeping quiet about an injury, no matter how miniscule.

And honestly, Lutecia didn’t think she could even stand up right now.

Deciding to test the theory, the summoner took a deep breath and set down her can before she stood, moving gingerly on her feet. At first it was promising, and feeling her confidence return a bit, she took a few tentative steps.

Bad idea.

The flash of pain was hot, sharp, and nearly blinding in its intensity; as she cursed and wobbled, dropping back down to the stairs with a whimper, it crossed the purple-haired woman’s mind that quite possibly, her injury was worse than she’d initially thought.

Not like it matters, she mused with a pained sigh, finally giving in and rubbing the swollen flesh softly as she picked up her cherry Coke and took another deep, long drink. I can barely stand as it is. She just hoped nobody she knew saw her like this; it would sting.

“Cia?”

… Dammit.

Lowering her can, Lutecia’s red eyes met the green-and-red combination of Takamachi Vivio’s. Praying there was no pain in her gaze, the older woman swallowed slightly and smiled, genuinely happy to see her girlfriend despite her condition. “Hey, Vivio,” she said in greeting. “What are you doing here? It’s getting late.”

Vivio frowned, lightly crossing her arms over her chest. “I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn’t you be home by now?”

Damn, Vivio knew her schedule too well. “Um,” the older woman replied intelligently, blinking. “I was just…. That is….”

Vivio lifted a brow and waited. Lutecia let every excuse and lie she could think of run through her head, but none of them held any weight; a new and frustrating change for someone who’s job specialty was lying. It wasn’t so much that she couldn’t think of a lie, it was more that she couldn’t make herself lie.

Oh, hell, I’ve been stubborn about it this far, I can only keep pushing it so hard. “I can’t get up,” she muttered.

At that, the younger girl blinked. “Can’t get up?”

Lutecia’s face flamed. “I got hurt on my last mission. It’s worse than I thought.” She gestured to her ankle. “I can’t get up.”

Vivio frowned. “Why didn’t you go see Aunt Shamal?”

… Double dammit. “I didn’t think it was important at the time.” It was hard for Lutecia to feel ashamed of herself, but Vivio had a good track record of prompting the feeling from her.

There was a long moment of silence as Vivio pondered this; Lutecia had to resist the urge to wince, knowing that she’d sounded amazingly childlike and stubborn “Anyway,” she continued, trying to ignore her returning blush, “you should head home, it’s getting late. If I give it time, the pain won’t be too bad—“

The next instant she yelped as she was, with amazing ease, swept up into Vivio’s arms; she squirmed and blushed, her arms naturally coming around the taller girl’s neck to steady herself. “V-Vivio?” she squeaked, her face so red it could pass for a traffic light.

“Relax, I’ve got you.” Despite being younger by four years, Vivio’s recent growth spurt and body build gave her a physical advantage over her girlfriend, one she was currently enjoying very much right now. “I’ll take you in to get your injury treated, then I’ll bring you home. It’s a shorter walk.”

“U-um… you don’t have to…” At the look the younger girl gave her, Lutecia wilted. “Okay.”

Satisfied, Vivio tightened her hold on Lutecia and started to walk, humming softly—both to amuse herself and to soothe her girlfriend, the summoner imagined. With a sigh, shaking her head, Lutecia rested her head against Vivio’s chest and closed her eyes with a small smile. “You’re sweet, you know that?”

This time, Vivio was the one who blushed.

Spoiler for Author's Notes:

1. A fic request from Fuyu no Sora, who, while we were talking last night, mentioned that her sister liked my ViCia fluff and was amused that Vivio was taller than Lutecia. Hence, the birth of this short.

2. Originally I had Vivio actually giving Lutecia a piggyback ride, but somehow carrying her seems more... romantic. Yeah, I know, sue me, I'm a mush. It'd probably be easier to carry Cia piggyback anyway, but I couldn't get the situation set up for it, so I just had Vivio carry her.

3. Yes, Lutecia can't lie to Vivio. Remember this. It's important.

Awww... that is sooo cute! And, Cia sooo stubborn! It's a good thing Vivio has a good head on her shoulders and strong too!