#rf selphy

Lara walked through the heaping wreckage that was the Trampoli library, siftin through the books.

“You must have a cook book in here somewhere,” she said. Behind her, Selphy laughed. 

“Of course I do! But not there, over here,” she said, taking Lara by the arm and leading her to a different pile. She shuffled through the books, glancing at the covers before pulling out a rather large tome, and holding it up in extravagant success. Lara rolled her eyes, smiling as she took the book, leafing through the pages.

“Here we are, this sounds nice and healthy,” she said, showing a recipe to Selphy. Selphy deflated.

“We’re baking, it’s not supposed to be healthy,” she argued. “I’m thinking cookies, cakes, stuff so sweet my stomach will be upset just looking at it.” Lara looked down at the book, pursing her lips.

“Very well,” she said. She continued looking through the book, picking a particularly decadent looking cake, and showing it to Selphy.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Selphy said, standing. She took Lara by the arm once more as they walked back to Lara’s quarters at the church. They snuck to the back kitchen, and pulled their ingredients out form the refrigerator, checking to make sure they had all they needed before laying them out of the counter. 

Lara had a practical approach to baking. She laid out the instructions, reading from the book aloud before measuring the flour. Selphy took the ingredients from her, pouring them into the mixing bowl, watching Lara’s fingers skim the pages as she read from the corner of her eye. A little too distracted, she broke two eggs too hard, and had to retrieve the shells from the batter. Lara tutted, a small smile on her face.

“If you stopped ogling me for a moment, that wouldn’t have happened,” she joked. Selphy rolled her eyes, taking a bit of batter on her finger and smearing it across Lara’s nose.

“Who’s looking at you? I just noticed you had something on your face,” she replied. Lara laughed, wiping the cake batter from the tip of her nose with her handkerchief. 

“Oh, is that so? Well, you have a bit, just here,” she said, taking the batter and smearing it on the side of Selphy’s mouth. Before she had a chance to wipe it away, Lara leaned forward, kissing her on the side of the mouth, gently licking away the batter. Selphy felt herself blush.

“Yes, I think it’s turning out rather nicely,” Lara went on, licking her lips, and winking at Selphy. The other woman felt herself melt. 

“Don’t look at me like that. You did this to yourself,” Lara scolded. Selphy groaned. She looked up at Lara from her bed at the clinic, feeling absolutely miserable. Heat stroke, she thinks. She had been reading outside in the summer heat, and had collapsed. She wasn’t sure who had brought her to the clinic but she had an inkling it may have been Raguna. She couldn’t remember. Her head hurt with a pounding headache, and every bit of her exposed skin stung with sunburn. Lara was gently applying an ointment to it, which only managed to make it sting more, but she stuck it out with minimal pouting.

“Do you realize the danger you put yourself in?” Lara continued. Selphy flinched at the tone of her voice. She was gentle with her administrations but her posture was tight.

“I honestly didn’t think--”

“That’s the problem you don’t think!” Lara cried. “You don’t think about who would be hurt if something terrible happened to you. You don’t think about me--”

“Lara,” Selphy interrupted, sitting up and taking her girlfriend’s hands. Lara took in a deep breath, looking away.

“I’m sorry for shouting. I just worry about you,” she finally said. “Now please lay down.” Selphy complied but she kept hold on Lara’s hand.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” she said. “I’ll be more careful. I promise.”

“You promise?” Lara said in disbelief. Selphy had the good sense to at least look sheepish.

“I promise to try?” she said. Lara sighed.

“I guess I’ll take it,” she said. “I love you, you know.”

“I know,” Selphy murmured. “I love you too.”