Fic: [ MGL Nanoha] The Club
Title: The Club, a MGLN Alternate Universe
Series: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Type: Alternate Universe
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6251488/7/
Chapter Seven
"She's moving in with you?" Hayate asked excitedly as Nanoha explained why she wanted a Saturday off. "Why didn't you just say so?" she asked.
"Because I knew you would get this excited about it," Nanoha made a face as the younger woman stood by the bar with Hayate, catching up before going back to work.
"She's got a point," Teana noted, the athletic looking bartender looking amused. She poured a drink for a customer, then calmly wiped the bar with a cloth, both actions right out of the official bartender's manual.
"It is a big step," Hayate nodded, looking faintly wounded.
"For Fate more than me," Nanoha conceded, "but despite her skittishness I think she's looking forward to it."
"Hmm," Hayate nodded. She had been getting to know Lindy, Fate's adopted mother, and a few more details of Fate's youth had come up. Hearing about that horror show she could certainly imagine Fate having issues. Still, she was fairly confident Nanoha could handle it, and frankly it wasn't any of her business.
Teana tried to remember something, "Fate was in one of those dinky units they rent to college students, right? She shouldn't have much to move."
"Not too much," Nanoha agreed, "though it looks a lot when I think of having just the two of us move it."
"So we'll help," Hayate shrugged.
Nanoha looked at her in surprise as she said, "But it's on a Saturday night. You can't close up shop on a Saturday."
"Wanna bet?" Hayate smiled. "How much help do you need? And do you have a truck or something?"
Nanoha was swept along as Hayate took charge, as usual. Soon she had a trailer arranged, and after Signum and Shamal got involved figured out who could come out to help with the move. They would NOT close the club on Saturday, but would provide help as needed.
"Thank you for restraining Hayate," Nanoha noted to Signum with a smile.
"No problem. Besides, you wouldn't need all eight of us to help you clear out Fate's place," Signum noted calmly.
"Damn right," Teana agreed cheerfully, "Subaru and I dropped in on her once. It's tiny!"
"But cute," Nanoha said loyally, even if the suite was small.
"Excuse me ladies," Shamal hurried over with a tray loaded with empty cups as she said, "I could use a hand, please!"
"Right," Nanoha jumped, hurrying off to help serve the customers.
As Hayate watched Nanoha go, she noticed that there was a subtly different vibe to how she served customers, now. Oh, she was still as friendly and warm as ever, but now that she was no longer single it made a difference. It wasn't as blatant as wearing a wedding ring, but there was a powerful sense she was no longer available.
Frankly, Hayate was worried that her club was actually becoming sedate. More and more women just came in for the drinks, good food and good company, rather than the fooling around in private booths that had previously been her primary draw. Business was still good, so that wasn't as much of a concern, but she wasn't sure about how she felt about it.
Even more scary, for Hayate anyway, was that she hadn't had casual, meaningless sex with anyone since Halloween. Ever since founding this club Hayate had viewed herself as a sort of... sex nymph, maybe. She had superficial relationships with interested women, they had a good time, and then they moved on. And for a long time Hayate had been satisfied with that.
Well, to be honest it had begun to pale a bit. Part of it had been seeing so many women pairing off happily lately. Signum and Shamal, Subaru and Teana and now Nanoha and Fate seemed destined to march down the aisle of forever couple-hood. And some hidden part of her brain was making Hayate wonder if something like that might be possible for her?
"Hayate, if you're gonna stand there musing," Teana said teasingly, "could you at least wear a sexy costume? You're blocking customers."
Hayate was startled, then realized she had in fact just been standing there several minutes while business carried on. "Sorry," she said briskly and decided to take a walk around the club.
There were a lot of regulars there, which was a comforting sight. Alisa Bannings was there with her girlfriend Suzuka Tsukimura, the two businesswomen talking and giggling quietly. Noel Ehrlichkeit was shadowing her mistress as usual, drinking just soda. Hayate made a note to send the poor woman a treat or something, it had to be tough being a bodyguard.
Sachie Ishida was drinking alone as usual, and Hayate made a point to stop in and talk with the doctor. She had met her when she had a medical issue when she was younger, and Hayate had developed a intense crush on her. Sadly Dr. Ishida drew the line at sleeping with patients, and when they met again some years later the lust had faded.
Shario Finieno was hanging out at the bar, teasing Teana. She was a med student and met Subaru and Fate through school. Thankfully she was a steadying influence on Subaru as well as becoming a good friend to them both. Hayate occasionally wondered if Shario wanted to be more than friends to them, but didn't want to push.
Circling back to the bar Hayate smiled at the women there, exchanging pleasantries even as she scanned the crowd. She tried to tell herself that she was NOT looking for the now somewhat regularly appearing Lindy Harloun, but she knew she was lying.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Fate Testarossa looked around her dumpy apartment, taking in the boxes of clothes, the clean carpets and the few pieces of furniture left. The stuff she and Nanoha had decided they didn't want had been donated to charity, just leaving a few things to move. All in all she felt happy about the move, if a bit anxious.
Not that she was worried about living with Nanoha and Vivio, exactly. She loved Nanoha and was deeply charmed by Vivio, it was more a lingering worry from her history. If her biological mother had taught Fate anything, it was that loving someone meant they were going to hurt you. Lindy Harloun, her adopted mother, had done a lot to reverse that, but some bit of that belief still lingered in her mind.
Speaking of Lindy, she had taken the news that Fate was moving in with Nanoha very calmly. Not that Fate had admitted she and Nanoha were lovers or anything, but Fate had expected some argument, even if she explained they were moving in together just to share costs. In her more paranoid moments Fate thought Lindy knew more about her personal life than Fate had told her, but how?
Fate shook her head, trying to get back on track. She walked through the tiny kitchen, her bedroom and the tiny room the designers of this place laughingly called a 'living room' and determined everything was packed. And just in time too, because Hayate and the others were coming soon to help with the move.
Fate groaned softly as that occurred to her. WHY had Nanoha blabbed that she was moving? I mean, yes it would be nice to have help, but... she had slept with Hayate. And it made things kind of odd between them, now. And while Fate liked the women she met at the club, she found it hard to imagine them in their day to day lives.
Just then the doorbell rang, and Fate hurried over to press the intercom key by the door. "Yes?" she asked.
"We're here," Nanoha said, sounding a bit... odd. "And we have company too."
"I'll buzz you in," Fate said, even as she wondered what had Nanoha sounding so strange. She assumed more women from the club showed up to help, but who knew? A few seconds later there was a knock on the door, and Fate opened it... only to freeze.
"Hi!" Lindy Harloun smiled warmly, the tall green haired woman dressed rather unusually in a old shirt and shorts.
"Lindy?" Fate squeaked.
"Hope you don't mind, but when I heard you were moving I wanted to help out," Lindy said to her breezily. Underneath her cheery smile she was clearly nervous, and Fate realized she was nervously waiting for her response.
Fate smiled back as she said, "It's fine, thank you."
Hayate, Signum and Subaru all puffed out relieved sighs, while Nanoha looked on in amusement. "All right," Hayate took charge as usual, "let's get the boxes loaded up first and take them to Nanoha's. Then we'll deal with the furniture."
"Which will mostly be my and Subaru's job," Signum said calmly as she picked up a box.
Once Lindy was out of the room with a box Nanoha quietly said to Fate, "Sorry I couldn't call to warn you, but she was waiting at the club when Hayate drove us over."
Fate blinked, "She knows about...?"
"She and Hayate seem pretty friendly," Nanoha confirmed. She made a face, "I really don't want to think about what that means."
"Urk." Fate made a face. Deciding not to think about it she said "Let's get some boxes before someone wonders what's taking us so long."
Downstairs Hayate frowned as she muttered, "What's TAKING them so long?"
"I did spring a surprise on them," Lindy cautioned the younger woman. "Let's give them a few minutes before getting inside for more boxes."
"You must be a pretty good mother," Subaru noted cheerfully as she leaned on the trailer Hayate had borrowed to help carry Fate's stuff. Somehow Hayate had also gotten a small van to tow it, which would fit them all. Which was good because she did not feel comfortable sitting in someone's lap. ESPECIALLY Hayate's, the letch.
"Well, I try," Lindy waved that off. They saw Fate and Nanoha move away from the window, and decided it was time to get back to work.
Once they got the boxes arranged, they hauled the furniture down. All the items saved were items Lindy gave Fate, and the older woman seemed touched once she realized it. Nanoha, meanwhile, had seized the opportunity to get to know her mother-in-law, so to speak, and they were getting along quite well, having gone upstairs to make sure the apartment was fully clean.
"Looks like they're getting along," Hayate noted quietly. She gave Fate a perceptive look as she asked quietly, "You okay with that?"
Fate gave Hayate a wry look, "Nanoha gets along with pretty much everyone, you know. And I think it's fine. I like Lindy, even if I have... issues." She pulled Hayate slightly away from the others as she asked, "And what's with Lindy waiting at the club?"
"Well, you did mention the place in a letter you sent, I think?" Hayate said with a slight shrug, a almost suspiciously casual gesture.
"And...?" Fate started to ask, but Nanoha and Lindy were already coming back down.
"All set," Lindy agreed cheerfully, handing the keys over to Fate, who would give them to the manager tomorrow.
"Alright everyone, get in," Hayate said, "and let's get going."
Hayate took the front seat, then Lindy surprisingly got in the passenger side. That left Signum and Subaru in one back seat, and the other had Nanoha and Fate. The ride over to Nanoha's house was filled with cheerful conversation and a bit of teasing, which Fate bore up under fairly well. She also watched Lindy and Hayate with a odd sort of horror.
"They're flirting," Fate muttered to Nanoha. "Geeze..."
Nanoha patted her on the arm, "Well, you did say Lindy has been single for awhile. Who knows, maybe Hayate will be good for her?"
Fate just groaned.
"Nanoha," Signum asked curiously, "who's watching Vivio while you're gone?"
Nanoha gave Fate a nervous look, not having told her this. "Actually," she admitted, "my mother Momoko is visiting."
Fate looked at her in stark terror then groaned again.
To be continued...
Notes: Aren't I a stinker? Poor Fate. Worked in some more Nanoha characters as club members. May or may not touch on them more, we'll see.
Series: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Type: Alternate Universe
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6251488/7/
Chapter Seven
"She's moving in with you?" Hayate asked excitedly as Nanoha explained why she wanted a Saturday off. "Why didn't you just say so?" she asked.
"Because I knew you would get this excited about it," Nanoha made a face as the younger woman stood by the bar with Hayate, catching up before going back to work.
"She's got a point," Teana noted, the athletic looking bartender looking amused. She poured a drink for a customer, then calmly wiped the bar with a cloth, both actions right out of the official bartender's manual.
"It is a big step," Hayate nodded, looking faintly wounded.
"For Fate more than me," Nanoha conceded, "but despite her skittishness I think she's looking forward to it."
"Hmm," Hayate nodded. She had been getting to know Lindy, Fate's adopted mother, and a few more details of Fate's youth had come up. Hearing about that horror show she could certainly imagine Fate having issues. Still, she was fairly confident Nanoha could handle it, and frankly it wasn't any of her business.
Teana tried to remember something, "Fate was in one of those dinky units they rent to college students, right? She shouldn't have much to move."
"Not too much," Nanoha agreed, "though it looks a lot when I think of having just the two of us move it."
"So we'll help," Hayate shrugged.
Nanoha looked at her in surprise as she said, "But it's on a Saturday night. You can't close up shop on a Saturday."
"Wanna bet?" Hayate smiled. "How much help do you need? And do you have a truck or something?"
Nanoha was swept along as Hayate took charge, as usual. Soon she had a trailer arranged, and after Signum and Shamal got involved figured out who could come out to help with the move. They would NOT close the club on Saturday, but would provide help as needed.
"Thank you for restraining Hayate," Nanoha noted to Signum with a smile.
"No problem. Besides, you wouldn't need all eight of us to help you clear out Fate's place," Signum noted calmly.
"Damn right," Teana agreed cheerfully, "Subaru and I dropped in on her once. It's tiny!"
"But cute," Nanoha said loyally, even if the suite was small.
"Excuse me ladies," Shamal hurried over with a tray loaded with empty cups as she said, "I could use a hand, please!"
"Right," Nanoha jumped, hurrying off to help serve the customers.
As Hayate watched Nanoha go, she noticed that there was a subtly different vibe to how she served customers, now. Oh, she was still as friendly and warm as ever, but now that she was no longer single it made a difference. It wasn't as blatant as wearing a wedding ring, but there was a powerful sense she was no longer available.
Frankly, Hayate was worried that her club was actually becoming sedate. More and more women just came in for the drinks, good food and good company, rather than the fooling around in private booths that had previously been her primary draw. Business was still good, so that wasn't as much of a concern, but she wasn't sure about how she felt about it.
Even more scary, for Hayate anyway, was that she hadn't had casual, meaningless sex with anyone since Halloween. Ever since founding this club Hayate had viewed herself as a sort of... sex nymph, maybe. She had superficial relationships with interested women, they had a good time, and then they moved on. And for a long time Hayate had been satisfied with that.
Well, to be honest it had begun to pale a bit. Part of it had been seeing so many women pairing off happily lately. Signum and Shamal, Subaru and Teana and now Nanoha and Fate seemed destined to march down the aisle of forever couple-hood. And some hidden part of her brain was making Hayate wonder if something like that might be possible for her?
"Hayate, if you're gonna stand there musing," Teana said teasingly, "could you at least wear a sexy costume? You're blocking customers."
Hayate was startled, then realized she had in fact just been standing there several minutes while business carried on. "Sorry," she said briskly and decided to take a walk around the club.
There were a lot of regulars there, which was a comforting sight. Alisa Bannings was there with her girlfriend Suzuka Tsukimura, the two businesswomen talking and giggling quietly. Noel Ehrlichkeit was shadowing her mistress as usual, drinking just soda. Hayate made a note to send the poor woman a treat or something, it had to be tough being a bodyguard.
Sachie Ishida was drinking alone as usual, and Hayate made a point to stop in and talk with the doctor. She had met her when she had a medical issue when she was younger, and Hayate had developed a intense crush on her. Sadly Dr. Ishida drew the line at sleeping with patients, and when they met again some years later the lust had faded.
Shario Finieno was hanging out at the bar, teasing Teana. She was a med student and met Subaru and Fate through school. Thankfully she was a steadying influence on Subaru as well as becoming a good friend to them both. Hayate occasionally wondered if Shario wanted to be more than friends to them, but didn't want to push.
Circling back to the bar Hayate smiled at the women there, exchanging pleasantries even as she scanned the crowd. She tried to tell herself that she was NOT looking for the now somewhat regularly appearing Lindy Harloun, but she knew she was lying.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Fate Testarossa looked around her dumpy apartment, taking in the boxes of clothes, the clean carpets and the few pieces of furniture left. The stuff she and Nanoha had decided they didn't want had been donated to charity, just leaving a few things to move. All in all she felt happy about the move, if a bit anxious.
Not that she was worried about living with Nanoha and Vivio, exactly. She loved Nanoha and was deeply charmed by Vivio, it was more a lingering worry from her history. If her biological mother had taught Fate anything, it was that loving someone meant they were going to hurt you. Lindy Harloun, her adopted mother, had done a lot to reverse that, but some bit of that belief still lingered in her mind.
Speaking of Lindy, she had taken the news that Fate was moving in with Nanoha very calmly. Not that Fate had admitted she and Nanoha were lovers or anything, but Fate had expected some argument, even if she explained they were moving in together just to share costs. In her more paranoid moments Fate thought Lindy knew more about her personal life than Fate had told her, but how?
Fate shook her head, trying to get back on track. She walked through the tiny kitchen, her bedroom and the tiny room the designers of this place laughingly called a 'living room' and determined everything was packed. And just in time too, because Hayate and the others were coming soon to help with the move.
Fate groaned softly as that occurred to her. WHY had Nanoha blabbed that she was moving? I mean, yes it would be nice to have help, but... she had slept with Hayate. And it made things kind of odd between them, now. And while Fate liked the women she met at the club, she found it hard to imagine them in their day to day lives.
Just then the doorbell rang, and Fate hurried over to press the intercom key by the door. "Yes?" she asked.
"We're here," Nanoha said, sounding a bit... odd. "And we have company too."
"I'll buzz you in," Fate said, even as she wondered what had Nanoha sounding so strange. She assumed more women from the club showed up to help, but who knew? A few seconds later there was a knock on the door, and Fate opened it... only to freeze.
"Hi!" Lindy Harloun smiled warmly, the tall green haired woman dressed rather unusually in a old shirt and shorts.
"Lindy?" Fate squeaked.
"Hope you don't mind, but when I heard you were moving I wanted to help out," Lindy said to her breezily. Underneath her cheery smile she was clearly nervous, and Fate realized she was nervously waiting for her response.
Fate smiled back as she said, "It's fine, thank you."
Hayate, Signum and Subaru all puffed out relieved sighs, while Nanoha looked on in amusement. "All right," Hayate took charge as usual, "let's get the boxes loaded up first and take them to Nanoha's. Then we'll deal with the furniture."
"Which will mostly be my and Subaru's job," Signum said calmly as she picked up a box.
Once Lindy was out of the room with a box Nanoha quietly said to Fate, "Sorry I couldn't call to warn you, but she was waiting at the club when Hayate drove us over."
Fate blinked, "She knows about...?"
"She and Hayate seem pretty friendly," Nanoha confirmed. She made a face, "I really don't want to think about what that means."
"Urk." Fate made a face. Deciding not to think about it she said "Let's get some boxes before someone wonders what's taking us so long."
Downstairs Hayate frowned as she muttered, "What's TAKING them so long?"
"I did spring a surprise on them," Lindy cautioned the younger woman. "Let's give them a few minutes before getting inside for more boxes."
"You must be a pretty good mother," Subaru noted cheerfully as she leaned on the trailer Hayate had borrowed to help carry Fate's stuff. Somehow Hayate had also gotten a small van to tow it, which would fit them all. Which was good because she did not feel comfortable sitting in someone's lap. ESPECIALLY Hayate's, the letch.
"Well, I try," Lindy waved that off. They saw Fate and Nanoha move away from the window, and decided it was time to get back to work.
Once they got the boxes arranged, they hauled the furniture down. All the items saved were items Lindy gave Fate, and the older woman seemed touched once she realized it. Nanoha, meanwhile, had seized the opportunity to get to know her mother-in-law, so to speak, and they were getting along quite well, having gone upstairs to make sure the apartment was fully clean.
"Looks like they're getting along," Hayate noted quietly. She gave Fate a perceptive look as she asked quietly, "You okay with that?"
Fate gave Hayate a wry look, "Nanoha gets along with pretty much everyone, you know. And I think it's fine. I like Lindy, even if I have... issues." She pulled Hayate slightly away from the others as she asked, "And what's with Lindy waiting at the club?"
"Well, you did mention the place in a letter you sent, I think?" Hayate said with a slight shrug, a almost suspiciously casual gesture.
"And...?" Fate started to ask, but Nanoha and Lindy were already coming back down.
"All set," Lindy agreed cheerfully, handing the keys over to Fate, who would give them to the manager tomorrow.
"Alright everyone, get in," Hayate said, "and let's get going."
Hayate took the front seat, then Lindy surprisingly got in the passenger side. That left Signum and Subaru in one back seat, and the other had Nanoha and Fate. The ride over to Nanoha's house was filled with cheerful conversation and a bit of teasing, which Fate bore up under fairly well. She also watched Lindy and Hayate with a odd sort of horror.
"They're flirting," Fate muttered to Nanoha. "Geeze..."
Nanoha patted her on the arm, "Well, you did say Lindy has been single for awhile. Who knows, maybe Hayate will be good for her?"
Fate just groaned.
"Nanoha," Signum asked curiously, "who's watching Vivio while you're gone?"
Nanoha gave Fate a nervous look, not having told her this. "Actually," she admitted, "my mother Momoko is visiting."
Fate looked at her in stark terror then groaned again.
To be continued...
Notes: Aren't I a stinker? Poor Fate. Worked in some more Nanoha characters as club members. May or may not touch on them more, we'll see.