careful

"Crow-san, let's try those perfume samples next."

Lead Crow shuffled after Aluminum Seiren, looking as pained as ever as she held several bags in each hand. Once they were glorious rivals, ruthlessly conquering planets across the universe in order to one-up each other. Each was a majestic warrior in her own right, fearless and ready to take her own life at a finger's snap if it meant certain victory. When Galaxia-sama had offered the two sailor animamates promotions in her army, Lead Crow was uneasy but accepted it, knowing that if she wasn't careful with her words, she'd be dropping dead like the other soldier scum. Besides, being on a hopeless planet like Earth might push Aluminum and me even further as warriors, the feathered soldier had thought.

Boy, was she so utterly wrong.

The planet Earth was filled with hopeless, violent idiots, just as expected, but instead of immediately slaying and enslaving the humans, Aluminum Seiren chose to observe them, wanting to test Earth emotions and foods herself. Once a fierce rival, she was now more like Lead Crow's girlfriend, constantly hugging her and asking her to join in the so-called shopping sprees. Not that Lead Crow minded much. It was cute, actually, but Galaxia-sama had no patience for slackers. If they didn't focus on work and collect star seeds, they would face her ugly, overlip-glossed wrath.

So she was forced to be the responsible one, making sure that Aluminum Seiren didn't spend all of their money on hamburgers and overpriced fragrances. The masked woman bent over one of the glass counters, reading the label with a confused expression on her face. "Banana pumpkin," she murmured, clicking her tongue. Lead Crow could practically see question marks hovering over her rival's head. "Banana pumpkin. Banana…pumpkin? Crow-san, how does one make a banana pumpkin? Who is the Mama-san and Papa-san?"

She always asked questions like this, completely oblivious to how most things worked on this world. Lead Crow smacked the woman on the back of the head, huffing. "Stupid. The scent's artificial. The humans make it."

"But how do they do it? Mmmm, it smells good."

Her nose pressed against the counter for a few seconds before Lead Crow pulled her away, smacking her head again. They didn't need to attract stupid humans who would just point and laugh and take pictures of them. They already looked awkward with Lead Crow's pinstripe suit and Aluminum Seiren's large, poofy hat. When Galaxia-sama demanded that they try to blend in with the filthy humans, she didn't mean blending in like this. But Aluminum Seiren wanted to dress like this, and it was hard saying no to her when she pouted and widened those bright, blue eyes of hers. She was too cute.

Honestly, it was much easier to be fierce rivals than affectionate girlfriends. Lead Crow blushed and huffed again, ignoring Aluminum Seiren's question as she grabbed the woman's hand and led her away from the perfume stand. Maybe if they conquered Earth quickly, she'd be able to snap Aluminum Seiren back to her old vicious self, but maybe if she was careful enough, she would keep the woman the way she was now. Earth emotions were really hard to figure out, even for Lead Crow.

(Original notes: Set in the original anime timeline. More love is deserved between these two.)

Originally written February 10th, 2014 on tumblr for femslash february. Mmm, short. I still think there's not a lot of love for this pairing. Or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. I wish they were more popular, at the very least.