A/N: Had a few Samus/Bayonetta snippets and drabbles I did for a friend and thought I might clean up to post. If I find time, I might add more of them. Cross-Posted on Ao3.

The dress was itchy, that much she was definitely certain, and the cool breeze that nagged at her skin was making her uncomfortable.

For one, why was she even in a dress…? Her Zero suit was sorely missed in this moment, usually guarding against the chill and heat in equal measure… In all honesty, she was regretting almost every decision she'd made thus far. An ugly dark blue dress that rode much too high and showed off just how many scars littered her shoulders and back… No Military jacket, that she naively believed she'd be fine without. Uncomfortable heels that were more bootlike and practical than fancy… little magnetic studs in her ears...

She felt so out of place. Uneasy in her own skin…, and she hardly knew the witch that sauntered at her side. There was no real reason for her to have gone out tonight. Against her better judgement. If anything, Bayonetta , annoyed her to no end. The flirting and fleeting touches on the battlefield. The over-sexual… everything . How well those painted lips curled around her name and sent a shudder down her spine every fucking time with empty promises and naughty taunts.

Samus hated it. She hated it all so damn much. How this woman made her feel so stupid and as unsure as a teenage boy with just a few sly glances and the tumble of innuendo-laden words. How easily she bore under her skin and set alight lingering fire, unbidden, into her veins. Like she wasn't a battle-hardened bounty hunter that had saved the galaxy time and time again.

What did Bayonetta even see in her , anyway, other than some sort of game? Samus was a warrior . Not some pretty girl who tittered at a few compliments and played for looks. And while the Umbran was no stranger to conflict either, the magical nature of her left her nearly perfect. A beautiful weapon that was every bit as deadly.

It made understanding whatever she was after; whatever conquest she desired; all the more questionable and veiled.

Sneaking a glance to the side, it was easy to eye her companion for the night as they walked back to the manor. The woman seemed calm, confident, and... oddly pleased. Content, perhaps? It was... reassuring. Maybe even off-putting that her natural air that demanded attention was missing.

Bayonetta hadn't even tried to push her buttons, tonight… A mused thought that left her confused, pondering where that frustrating demeanor had gone.

Even still, in a simple dress suit with the jacket slung over her shoulder, she appeared as though she could kill with her looks alone. Stormy grey-blue eyes and sharp features would grab anyone's attention, surely... But it was that charming smile of hers that effortlessly drew Samus's attention. She couldn't help but stare, deeming it cute , despite the angry reprisal of her mind- despite all the other unique little features to study, like her beauty mark, or flutter of her hair- that told her to ' knock it off, before she notices you're staring.'

"Something on your mind, love?"

She broke out of her stupor with all the grace of someone running headlong into a brick wall. Realizing too late that she'd already been caught, no time was wasted in snapping her neck in the other direction with a low swear; running her palms along her forearms nervously, as though bothered by the chill. Her inner voice taunted with a little 'I told you so!' , leaving her with the swallowed urge to snap at it.

"N-no…," Fuck, "No. Just a thought. It wasn't important." Cereza hummed in response, watching her from the corner of her eye as though studying her for a moment. Suddenly she shifted, shrugging off her jacket and placing it snuggly around the smaller woman's shoulders in a smooth, wordless motion.

It startled the blonde, who stopped in her tracks on the semi-populated sidewalk, earning a few dirty looks before the light traffic was smart enough to just bubble around them. Cereza turned to look at her inquisitively, adjusting her glasses with a cock to her hip, "What? Weren't you cold, dear? You looked as if you were shivering."

The action just seemed too nonchalant- lacking any secondary motive behind it, especially coming from someone who initially came off as so self-absorbed and all knowing...

Samus inhaled sharply, swallowing her heart back down into her chest before it could properly threaten to leap from her throat.

It was a stunning realization. Fueled by a simple gesture and the innocence behind it. That maybe everything she'd thought about the woman before was wrong. Sure, she was too playful, and a heavy flirt... but she hadn't even teased her out of her comfort level yet as she usually would.

It made her uneasy. Almost. Throat dry and… daresay touched by the unpredicted gesture. The idea that there was more to her than just unfettered desire and magic and cocksuredness .

Her throat bobbed with a forced swallow, the dim thought that maybe this was more what Cereza was like, and not Bayonetta , echoing around her skull too loudly.

Whereas Bayonetta was sharp, confident, and cocky, Cereza was caring and soft and maybe just a little bit unsure underneath all that age and power. A juxtaposition in and of itself at her very core- for Samus was smart enough to understand she was still, undoubtedly, both , even if the pieces momentarily seemed at war with one another.

Playing the traitor, her heart swelled painfully, hissing at her to ease some of the overwhelming affection she didn't know the origin of before the moment was lost and she screwed her own head back on straight.

"Bayo-?" A pregnant pause followed by a slow step forward, eyes locked with the cool grey-blue of her date. " Cereza ." She corrected, secretly enjoying how the name rolled off her tongue much more than the moniker used to guard her with ever would.

"Yes dear?" Another step, and she was nearly chest to chest with her companion, fingers fisting in the fine fabric of her shirt; the one who, if bothered, didn't show it.

"I..." The huntress forgot her words, instead tugging on the shirt until the other woman was stooped to her level. Eyes twinkling with curiosity and some untold warm mirth in the street lights.

"Samus-" She surged forward and interrupted her gently. Tasting the lips that were just as soft as they appeared; a hum low in her throat at the thought; before her courage wavered. Cereza simply blinked, stunned for a moment, before her lips coaxed back just as sweetly and Samus thought she might burst.

They broke all too soon, and Samus was oddly pleased that Cereza looked just as dazed as she had felt all evening sorting herself.

"Thank you." She murmured, throaty and husky and just a touch embarrassed. Unsure but electrified, and too many other things for her to decipher all at once.

Cereza blinked once. Twice. A too-breathless laugh that had Samus's stomach doing flips and heart fluttering against her ribs. Glancing away almost shyly as those storm-grey and blue eyes softened to match that unrestrained, so very her smile.

"Of course, dear."