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#a bath scene is actually something that can be quite personal
tadpolesonalgae · 2 months
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High Lords and their kinks
a/n: this got so out of hand so quickly
Warnings: smut. just so much smut
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Rhysand:
We all know he has a breeding kink, and with a smart mouth like that he definitely knows how to put it to good use on you
He has those lovely, deliciously sensitive, big illyrian wings at his back—practically a walking weak spot. And after all the teasing he puts you through with that cruel, silver-tipped tongue, you’re perfectly entitled to put him through his own set of trials
You cannot tell me he doesn’t get off on showing you off—at least a little. Whether it’s subtly matching jewellery pieces, having his scent marking your clothing, or having you astride his thigh before his court in the Hewn City, he delights in letting everyone know you’re one another’s.
Helion:
Is there anything I can actually add that isn’t obvious? He has a whole library at his fingertips, and knowing how much of the internet consists of porn in various forms, you cannot tell me there isn’t a secret alcove he has or even a whole other library (private, for your and his use only, of course) dedicated specifically for his personal interests.
He’s definitely familiar with sex toys, are you kidding me? He could go from cooking meals for you and letting you try on his golden snake armband, to having you gently spread apart for him on his bed, thighs pushed open, forearms bound at your back, eyes blindfolded as tears of pleasure spill down, a vibrator secured perfectly over your clit while he latches his mouth over your pretty nipples, keeping himself deep inside your dripping cunt.
And he’d use them outside the bedroom, too.
Sharing erotica that has heat spreading through your bodies—whether it’s reenacting scenes together, or being told to read a page aloud as he applies himself to you, it’s something both of you take pleasure in, finding equal enjoyment in the physical intimacy as well as the emotional side of getting to discover and share new experiences together.
Thesan:
Hear me out on this: threesomes.
We already know he has a male lover, so sharing you with someone else—someone he cares for and trusts—isn’t an issue. Quite the opposite.
Getting to watch as both his partners touch and explore one another, kiss and discover, or turn their sights on him—absolute heaven. Especially after a long day of work, dealing with High Lord business, then getting to just relax into his lovers’ arms? Utter perfection.
And it’s non-sexual too: waking up with a warm body pressed either side that’s been softened from sleep, sharing meals and nabbing pieces of food off each other’s plates, swapping clothes and sharing scents until they’re so thoroughly combined no one would remember what belongs to who since they all smell the same.
Kallias (and Viviane):
Temperature play.
Hot baths, a thick lather of bubbles looking like foam across the surface, heat soaking into your body until you’re sweating, all the while he’s running cool fingertips over your skin, so perfectly sensitive as he plays with you leisurely, brushing teasingly over your nipples, dipping between your thighs to press the cold pad of his digit flat to your clit.
I might be biased, but I feel like Kallias would also have some hints of a breeding kink.
Sinking into your warm, wet heat—how could he resist filling you up, hoping that you take to him, latch on and keep him tucked away inside.
Now, adding Viviane into the mix, things get so much messier.
Nights that would start off clean cut and strict would slowly devolve into sloppily grinding against one another, turned dumb and pliable by relentless pleasure. Kallias often finding himself rolling his hips to one of you, the other placed atop their mouth. When it’s not that way round, it’s him who’s lying on the bed, panting and fucked out while Viviane rides his cock, you keeping him docile and distracted beneath your cunt while your hands explore her breasts, cupping and thumbing across her nipples, mouthes latched together intimately.
Tarquin:
Oh boy, we’re touching on some monsterfucking here, no way around it. I mean, come on, his whole theme is to do with the sea, of course tentacles are going to come into play one way or another when he partially transforms.
Hundreds of small suction pads settling across your body, bath water lapping at the sides while you lean into him, panting with heat and need. It’s like having tiny mouths licking and suckling at the best spots across your skin, one placed deliberately over your clit while his fingers work you apart, then switching between using his mouth and his tentacles to tug and suck at your nipples, loving how you cry out for him.
I also think he’d absolutely love seeing you in lingerie—lovely pale green lace with creamy white frills, reminding him of sea foam. How you’ll sometimes adorn yourself in pearls, their pale shine complimenting the threads of your underwear, making him desperate to touch you, to at least feel you against him in some way.
Beron (+Eris, separately):
He is an utter control freak but in the best way (cannot believe I’m saying this—kind of struggling)
Anything from collars, to leashes, to chains, ropes, ties, even his belt, he knows how to use them on you, to wrap you up in such a way that he is in complete and utter control over your body, deciding how much pleasure to doll out that night. Going as far as to have a little bell attached to the collar, just to add that edge of humiliation.
Now, despite how dominating that might sound, he loves flipping you on your back, keeping your thighs spread apart even as you try to shut them when he spins you into overstimulation. And why wouldn’t he?
Using his mouth on you, reducing you to such a blabbering mess gives him ultimate control over you—who needs daemati abilities to shatter minds when you have heated fingertips and a mouth that knows how to put its harsh properties to use?
Eris—he knows his strengths, and plays to them.
While others might spend precious minutes going around, lighting every candle, he can do it with a fraction of a thought, filling your room with a soft glow, helping you settle into that mood.
It’s taken a bit, but you’ve managed to narrow down the selection of scents to a specific combination—reaching the point you’re no longer able to smell even a hint of vanilla without utterly soaking your underwear. Though maybe that had been part of a secret plan of his, to get you to associate a scent so powerfully with pleasure that you’d be at his mercy with little more than a candle to blame.
While he can be teasing, and a little mean at times, he enjoys slowly kissing his way down your body, murmuring how much he adores you, how he cherishes you, how he loves the way you thread your fingers through his hair. And you love hearing those whispered confessions from his lips, because it means he feels safe. Safe to speak with you, to trust in you, to allow himself to be comforted by you. He has someone to be with.
Tamlin:
Obviously, monsterfucking again
Probably in possession of a wicked power kink as well as in favour of some predator play. Getting to chase after you beneath a full moon—there’s something so ancient and ritualistic about the practice that just eases some tension in his beast’s bones. Catching up with you and clasping the nape of your gown in his jaws to raise you from the ground as you squirm helplessly, unable to do much against such a massive creature.
I do think that behind closed doors, he wouldn’t mind the power imbalance going in the opposite direction though… Being forced to just sit and wait patiently while you strip yourself of your clothes, teasingly tossing your underwear into his lap while you lay back on the bed, pleaded with how his fangs have subconsciously pushed from his upper lip, pupils dilated with ferocious hunger—needing to bed you.
Hybern:
Loves getting head
We’re in unfamiliar territory over here, but he knows his way around some nasty spells. Incantations that have you riding him desperately, aching for release after release, grinding tight against his hips so he touches those spots that have you sobbing.
Potions are also frequently incorporated—that make you need him with every part of your being with such an acute intensity he makes a mental note to lessen to liquid’s concentration next time.
He also like seeing you in different crowns, one time putting you in one made of bone, then ordering you to remove your dress without dislodging it—if it was nudged, he’d edge you until you were crying, but if it fell… Mother save you.
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general taglist: @myheartfollower @tcris2020 @mali22 @amygdtjhddzvb @sfhsgrad-blog @needylilgal022 @hannzoaks @hnyclover @skyesayshi @nyotamalfoy
rhys taglist: @azrielshadows1nger
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mosaickiwi · 7 months
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Illusion of Choice
After one too many bad ends, [REDACTED] guides you to his perfect ending. 900ish words, GN reader.
cw// mild absurd dream and surreal horror elements
14 Days With You is an 18+ Yandere Visual Novel. MINORS DNI
"Angel."
A honeyed voice rouses you awake. You open your eyes to see a stage above you. You jump to your feet in surprise—but you don't remember ever sitting down. Just moments ago, you'd gone to bed, you were sure of it. So where were you now?
As your eyes scan the dimly lit room, you take in the vast emptiness, broken only by two chairs, sitting side by side. Strangely, you don't feel alone. 
"Hello?" you call out. The sound of your voice doesn't even echo. Glowing lights flicker to life behind you and you turn around to face the stage, rooted in place.
Cold as ice, you suddenly feel rough fingers wrap over your shoulders, leading you to sit back down in your seat and face forward. Whoever—or whatever—sits next to you, whispers in the hauntingly sweet voice that woke you, "Watch closely." One cold hand falls from your shoulder, lacing through your fingers as the show begins.
The curtain slowly opens into an oddly joyful scene. A summer evening in Corland Bay, full of life and laughter as people mill about painted cardboard shops and restaurants along a makeshift pier. It's all cast in a warm glow that mimics a setting sun. You can even hear ocean waves, though they're tinged with the buzz of an audio device. An actor walks toward the center stage with a smile. Brown hair and golden eyes speak of someone familiar to you, but try as you might, you can't put a name to them.
"Hey, [ANGEL]," they say with a cheerful laugh, seeming to address someone just out of view. That didn't sound quite right; the movement of their lips didn't match the static laced words you heard. "Me and [TRASH] haven't seen you in a few days. You must be real busy with that new boyfriend. We actually planned karaoke at a bar for tomorrow night, wanna come?"
All of a sudden, you're on stage with them, a spotlight flickering to life and bathing you in a pale, blinding light. The actor stares at you, and the people behind them seem to stop and stare as well. The entire stage grinds to a halt, even the crackling audio of waves dying down. Everyone's waiting for you to say something. You aren't sure what's happening. It’s not as if you were given a script. Maybe you only need to agree? "Yes, that sounds—"
"Booooo," you hear from that honey sweet voice, a chorus of jeers joining in. You look out into the empty audience, surprised to see yourself. At least it felt like yourself, except nothing about the vaguely human shape seemed real. The person to the left of what's supposed to be you is a shadowy blur that only hurts the more you look at it, except for their scarred hands still draped around you, and their eyes. Piercing, blood red eyes. 
But that was wrong. They were supposed to be blue, you knew it. A pretty ocean blue that always caught your attention. But instead they're a horrid, deep shade of red that seems to drop in and out of focus. They're watching expectantly, and you realize you made a mistake. The right words come to you before you even know what you're saying.
"I have plans, sorry," you correct yourself. You feel something bubble in the back of your throat, urging you to continue in a garbled, almost scratching, voice. "[I don't want to see you]"
The curtain snaps shut and you jolt. You're back in your seat, as if you never moved. The hand gently grasping yours feels just as freezing as before. Something tells you not to look to your left. You feel movement, then someone’s resting their chin on your shoulder, almost as if they’re content.
"That's good, Angel," the voice whispers at your ear. You fight back a shiver. "Remember your lines for next time. Hah… I can’t wait to hear them. You’ll do great, I know it." The hand holding yours grips a little tighter as they nuzzle against your neck. You hear a shaky, excited breath, then there's a stinging pain as teeth—
An ear piercing sound comes from somewhere around you. You blindly reach out for your alarm, knocking it to the floor. With a huff, you sat up angrily. Your heart was pounding in your chest as if you ran a marathon—maybe a bad dream? Though you couldn't remember a thing about it.
The alarm only seems to get louder as you grumble, rolling to the side of your bed and picking it up. You turn it off before realizing you didn't have work today, so you set it last night for nothing. 
There's an all too familiar pinging noise as you crawl out of the covers; somehow it startles you worse than the alarm did. The screen of your laptop flickers to life with a notification. You tiredly walk over to peer at it. A red dot hovers over a program, but your eyes are drawn to a different icon.
"I guess I'll play a little before breakfast," you muse to yourself and pick up the laptop. You quickly settle back on your bed and tap the bright pink heart as you yawn. Just a few more tries wouldn’t hurt, right?
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idesireelysian · 1 year
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smut abcs: sanzu
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pairing: sanzu x m!reader
cw/tw: semi-public sex, gun kink, mentions of wound-fucking, hair pulling, throat-fucking, pet play, falling unconscious (sanzu, not reader), edging, mentioned threesome/group sex, hinted overstimulation
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a - aftercare
sanzu is sleepy after sex, he wants to get cleaned up and then just go to sleep cuddling. he can adapt to a shared bath though, if that’s what you prefer. if it’s just a quickie he doesn’t really need anything, and if he has to, he can actually hide the fact that the two of you just fucked pretty easily.
b - body part
i do think that he has somewhat of a hand kink, so hands certainly are worth mentioning. he also really likes your eyes—your whole face, actually. those are probably his favorites.
c - cum
his: he doesn’t cum that much during one orgasm, which makes it very fun to try and milk him dry. it’ll take quite a while, but trust me, he’s very much into it.
yours: he’s down bad for you cumming inside him, be it his mouth, throat (he’ll make sure to swallow all of it) or his ass. he’d even let you plug him up, if you’re into that.
d - dirty secret
i just know this man’s walked around in public with a vibrator up his ass before. when the pleasure got too much, he quickly jerked off in the bathroom, then continued his day like normal. he kind of wanted you—or anyone else, really—to notice, it would’ve been so humiliating, though also a huge turn on for him, given whoever noticed is into it too.
e - experience
i imagine that pretty much everyone in bonten is fucking everyone else in bonten, so bonten!sanzu is certainly very experienced. i do think he’s less experienced in the other timelines, but still moreso than the average person.
f - favorite position
getting fucked: bend him over a table, a desk, a drawer, the kitchen counter—just bend him over something and fuck him from behind. he might want to hold your hand though, or you can let him suck your fingers. another favorite of his is when you’re fucking him on a soft mattress. lying on his back, so he can look up into your beautiful eyes, and wrap his legs around your waist. hold one/both of his hands for bonus points, and occasionally (but passionately) kiss him.
fucking you: he wants to be able to see, and touch, and kiss every part of you, so he either wants you in his lap, or even better, on a bed, looking at him. he loves being able to see your eyes, and leaving hickeys and other marks on your body while fucking you.
g - goofy
i think this really depends. he’s certainly into bdsm, healthy bdsm, and can act out his role in perfect seriousness, no matter the scene or circumstances. sometimes you might think he’s scarily good at acting. however, otherwise, if you like to joke around, he’ll join you in on it with ease.
h - hair
body hair: i’m sorry, but i just have to add that his pubes are/he dyes them pink like his hair. anyways, i think he just makes them look clean, like he takes care of them (which he does). he has some body hair, but it’s a very light color and barely visible, so he doesn’t bother shaving his legs or anything like that to look good.
hair pulling: fuck him bent over something and force him to keep up his head by pulling on his hair, he’ll love it. however, he specifically doesn’t like to pull on your hair. unless, maybe, when you’re sucking him off.
i - intimacy
i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, but especially when you’re having gentle sex, he just wants to hold your hand. he also really likes to kiss you. the first time he said ,i love you’ out loud? you were slow-fucking him. he loves rough sex, yes, but sometimes he just wants to get pampered with love and gentle fucking/pamper you with said things.
j - jacking off
sanzu mostly jerks his dick as quick as possible. he’s honestly not too big of a fan of masturbating, he’d much rather sleep around, have sex with you, or at least do it in front of some kind of audience. he feels it’s kind of useless otherwise. still, sometimes he likes to fuck himself on a dildo. preferably one that you’ve gifted to him, so he can remember you and sing your name while fucking himself silly.
k - kink
okay. honestly, i imagine him having quite an amount of kinks, but the one that’s certainly worth mentioning is his horrible gunkink. especially bonten!sanzu gets incredibly turned on if you pull out a gun and point it at him. fuck him at gun point, he’d be in heaven. bonus points if you touch his temple or neck with it, extra bonus points if the safety is off. he trusts you. and if you’re concerned about safety, remove the bullets beforehand, but don’t tell him. knowing you could kill him any moment makes him so much harder. dare to go wild his gunkink. he’ll suck off your weapon if you let him, going as far as pushing it down his throat. he’d even let you insert it into his ass. that said, he doesn’t get turned by guns if it’s any random person holding it. it needs to be someone like you, someone he’s close with, who he can trust, and who turns him on anyway.
l - location
he’s not a fan of fucking outside. other than that, he doesn’t have too much of a preference, as long as he can hold onto something for stability, and nobody that he doesn’t want to see/hear is able to.
n - no
as said before, he’s into basically anything. even stuff like piss, vomit, knife play, blood play, and whatnot. especially bonten!sanzu, he’s honestly fucked in the head and into pretty much anything, even pretty high levels of masochism. what he doesn’t really like though is wound-fucking. in the moment he doesn’t really care about hygiene, but no dick will ever get close to his deeper wounds. your fingers might, if you’re both down bad, but it’s a dark gray area.
o - oral
giving: he loves when you fuck his throat, when you make him choke on your dick, and make him cry. he’ll relax his jaw and let you do whatever you want to him. he’s not very fond of eating you out, though. it’s simply weird to him.
receiving: he also loves to throat-fuck you, though. if you lay on your bed, head off the mattress, and let him fuck into your mouth while watching his dick form a bulge on your neck, he’s in heaven. bonus points if you let him lightly press down on said bulge. he’s hugely fascinated by it, and the fact that he can feel his own cock inside your throat makes him cum immediately. one of the few things he doesn’t like is when you eat him out. he might allow you to once in a while if you want to really badly, he thinks it feels okay, but it’s not really pleasuring him.
p - pace
depends a lot. usually he prefers getting fucked fast and rough, but sometimes he wants it to be slow and soft. if you prefer it slow by a lot, he can accomodate, but it might take him a while. especially bonten!sanzu, he’s very used to sex being fast and rough, so he needs quite a bit to adjust. he will do it for your sake, though.
q - quickie
always down for a quickie, no questions asked. bonus points if you cum inside him, and he gets to walk around with it leaking out into his underwear.
r - risk
i keep on talking about bonten!sanzu (i just love the bonten timeline, sorry), but he’s done more risky things than you can count on ten fingers. way more. in the other timelines he hasn’t done too many risky things, but if you want to, he’s always up for it.
s - stamina
getting fucked: he can easily go a few rounds, even if he’s riding you, but after round five or six he’s gone totally limp. he’s still very much conscious though, and he’ll let you continue fucking him for as long as you want to, even cumming for quite a few times still. at some point he’s milked dry though, and if you keep going after he’s had his first dry orgasm, he’ll fall uncoscious. there’s a very small chance he’ll still let you continue after that (how do you even have so much stamina, honestly?), but if you ask nicely before starting your session, he might agree.
fucking you: i don’t think he can go any more than three or four rounds, even if he tries. his body is just too exhausted. he’ll let you ride him until you’re satisfied though, but sadly, you can’t rely on him for help.
t - toys
he’ll be very happy if you gift him a dildo or two. he might even record himself using them, so he can send the videos to you, and you can jerk off to them later. apart from that, he kind of likes butt plugs. he’d wear cat ears, a collar, and a tail plug for you, too, if you’d want him to. you could even have him on a leash, and order him around in your own apartment/house for a bit.
u - unfair
teasing: unless you specifically ask him to, he won’t tease you much. he gets a lot more pleasure himself if you’re happy too.
getting teased: he hates to admit it, but he loves getting edged/edging himself. in that sense, he loves being teasted. he hates if you send him spicy pictures though, because he feels uncomfortable jerking off to them, so he’ll just be horny with no release. apart from that, he’s not too fond of it, but he doesn’t dislike it or anything.
v - volume
most of the time he isn’t too loud, but he makes a ton of noises. whines, whimpers, moans, sighs, groans, you name it. there’s barely a moment of silence. he’s actually more vocal when fucking you or when getting sucked off, not because he likes it more, but because it just feels good in different ways. you can make him scream though, if you’re rough enough, or if you hit one/multiple of his kinks head-on.
w - wild card
sanzu is actually very much up for a threesome, or even group sex. be it his friends, yours, some you share—as long as at least one of you two knows them, he’d love it if there were more people involved than just the two of you. don’t get him wrong, he loves you, and you can satisfy him perfectly, but it kind of turns him on. his personal pick would probably be rindou, i think, if you were to ask who he’d like to have a threesome with. or mucho, given he’s alive in this timeline.
x - x-ray
he doesn’t have too many muscles or fat, he’s naturally just very skinny, and has always had problems with putting on weight. luckily, it doesn’t bother him that much, and he feels pretty healthy as is. i think his dick is both a little longer and a little thicker than average, and it’s pretty pinkish, too.
y - yearning
his sex drive isn’t that high, but he enjoys sex a lot and bonten!sanzu fucks a lot as a way of self-destruction. and if someone asks him to fuck, he nearly always starts feeling like it and agrees. either way, even though his libido isn’t too high, he ends up fucking others and/or you quite a lot, especially if yours is high.
z - zzz
after multiple rounds, he gets very sleepy very quickly. he can easily handle a quickie without getting too tired, but if you fuck his soul out of his body, he’ll fall asleep in a maximum of five minutes. unless you/the circumstances don’t allow it.
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merrivia · 11 months
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what do you think really happened in the bathrooms before laurent got damen whipped in cp? we know damen is an unreliable narrator and that laurent also can’t be completely trusted.
because the way damen described it in the moment (and later chapters too) , it seemed like he got aroused and paused his hands where he shouldn’t have:
“He had now progressed far enough in his undertaking that he encountered curves… “He looked down, and the wash cloth slowed”
“I promise you, Govart did a great deal more than simply enjoy the view.”
but then a couple chapters latter laurent says stuff like:
“Your style of grabbing your partner and kicking their legs open does stand out in the memory”
“I recall you being free with your own hands, not so very long ago”
so… what do you think happened? i love reading your opinions!
Oh this is something I have mused on before! Thanks so much for the ask and for saying you love to read my opinions.
As always, I want to preface my analysis by saying, textual analysis is down to personal interpretations, and it's really okay to disagree.
So let's unpick the entire scene!
I'm really sorry, this is going to be...very long 🤦🏽‍♀️
I'm going to go a bit further with this to begin with, to think about why Laurent actually engineered this scene.
Laurent is at this moment in a huge state of anger and pain. His need for revenge is burning deeply within him. He can be dangerously volatile, and deadly with it, and I think the fact that he is being forced to suppress any emotional reactions to this horrible act of psychological cruelty on the part of the Regent (the sending of Damen to him as a slave), is making things worse (like pressure building up and up, until the force of the explosion becomes lethal).
This is what Laurent says in Ch 14 of PG about his treatment of Damen in CP, at Arles:
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Laurent was so angry at Arles, he can't find the right word to describe the intensity of it? Or perhaps it was also fear and the need for revenge and hurt and pain all intermingled with anger, which there is no word for? Either way he was incendiary with pure fury.
Quick recap: Previously to the scene in the baths, Laurent tried to have Damen raped in the ring by Govart, drugging him with chalis. But Damen won, and refused to rape Nicaise, a moment that confuses Laurent. Not only this, but the Regent explicitly told him not to hurt Damen as a form of keeping peace with Akielos and so Laurent waits six days until the Regent has gone to Chastillon to hunt boar, for them to be "alone".
I think it's a fairly well-known issue to readers and fans, that the reasoning for all this was surely grounded in Laurent's own sexual abuse and trauma and the need to inflict revenge on the man he blames on causing it by proxy (with the death of Auguste, there was no-one to protect him from the Regent). This doesn't make it right, but it provides us with a reason.
It is also clear that at this point in the novel, Laurent very much wants to prove that Damen is immoral and monstrous and that Laurent needs something concrete to happen, to be able to hurt him. Thus he conceives this plan.
The conversation between Damen and Laurent in this scene, literally makes me flinch. Laurent is so deadly and sharp in it:
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Oh my god, the sentence "Laurent smiled" makes me so uneasy!
It is, of course, really pertinent that Laurent brings up Damen's refusal to rape Nicaise. That was a little crack in the way Laurent has constructed Damen in his head, as a brutish, thuggish aggressor (a Govart wrapped up in nicer packaging); a mindless killer; a monster.
I think Damen's first big mistake is getting pulled into this verbal knife fight, when he says "I'm quite cultured. Before I rape anyone I check to see if their voice has broken". Damen only said that to match Laurent- it's a riposte, meant as a sharp, sarcastic rejoinder, but I'm not sure that that's what Laurent hears. I think he would think as he smiled : 'ah, now Damianos, who thinks he is so honourable and clever, is starting to show the truth of himself'. It's really not a typically Damen thing to say. Laurent is succeeding in dragging him down off his moral high horse, and he's enjoying it.
The next thing Laurent does is equate killing with a sword to rape. This is a really common analogy, as swords and knives can be seen as phallic symbols. You'll see this interpretation in literary analysis and in psychological analysis of crimes and homicides, where the penetration of the body through stabbing via a knife or sword, is seen as a substitute sexual crime. I believe this is also Laurent's way of dragging Damen off of the moral high ground he was on, when he refused Audin's offer of Nicaise. Ok you won't rape a child. You're a murderer though, which is just as bad as a rapist. And let's see just how 'honourable' you are, shall we?
Additionally, I think Laurent is delighting in torturing Damen verbally, especially with the psychological stress it is causing Damen to talk of Marlas, veering him perilously close to 'discovery' each time.
The next part is very much about Laurent constructing a narrative about Damen in his head, as he paints a picture of Damen's psychology which makes him out to be a violent, pugnacious sadist.
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I find that "new voice" of Damen's really interesting. I actually think no-one has ever spoken to Damen like this before? When would he have been so insulted and vilified, to his face? Also, I mean...Damen is a warrior par excellence, practically a demi-god, you'd have to be stupid to try and "goad" him into fighting you out of anger?
When someone does vilify you, it brings out a new facet of your personality. An angrier, vicious side to you. You know...just like the one that Laurent discovered in himself when the Regent villified him...(ahem, cough, parallels).
Now here comes the really interesting part.
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What is Laurent thinking? He's filled with "dislike" but he's also "assessing" Damen, taking the moment to evaluate him. Moments before, Damen had weighed up the options of killing Laurent in the baths and had dismissed it. It would only lead to his own death. Damen acknowledges some men would be reckless and just "wring" Laurent's "neck", for the pleasure of it. A Govart type, for instance. Laurent took a gamble that Damen wouldn't (directly contradicting the way Laurent says Damen is stupid and mindlessly violent!), and he's "self-satisfied", a little smug and pleased with himself over the fact that he was right. Damen had expected "bravado" i.e. that Laurent would be scared, and would be trying to intimidate Damen as a consequence. Damen is yet to learn that being alone with Laurent is a dangerous thing (he realises this by chapter 7!). I think Laurent is also feeling self-satisfied, because he's waiting for the next stage of this set-up to begin.
Laurent's figured out that Damen finds him attractive already. Everyone finds him attractive, anyway. And so he's going to use his body and his looks as bait. If he can goad Damen into trying to assault or rape him, he will have every justifiable excuse to execute him or flog him to death...
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Laurent makes Damen uncomfortable, by making him strip and undress him. It's a weird pantomine of lovers, undressing in front of each other or undressing each other. More importantly, it's what bed-slaves would routinely do for Damen, so they'd be standing nude before each other as a prelude to sexual acts in Akielos. That's what Laurent is banking on the atmosphere feeling like. It works too- Damen can't get his head around it; familiar patterns in an unfamiliar context.
Also, I just want to say how Laurent must have been very scared in this moment. He is very very good at hiding and suppressing his fear, dont get me wrong, but no-one would have ever seen his body naked like this as an adult, apart from Damen in this moment. No-one has probably touched his naked body since...well.
Damen gets pretty overwhelmed by the beauty of Laurent's body. The "flinty dislike" only stops him from probably grinning and openly drinking it all in with appreciation. Because he's certainly very complimentary in his head.
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Sidebar: he's comparing Laurent's body for this kind of thing right?
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Anyway forging ahead….
The next stage, is touching.
This is where Damen gets into real difficulties.
What I said earlier, regarding familiar patterns in Damen's mind, that, plus the heat of the baths, plus the intimacy of washing Laurent's body i.e. running his hands all over him, starts to get to him:
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And..Damen, who has had his sexual desires catered to always in Akielos, who is a very sexual being in terms of his nature, cannot help but start to have very recent memories come back to him. He doesn't act on them quite yet though.
But that does happen in the next few moments:
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So my interpretation of the "curves" Damen encounters, is Laurent's erm callipygian assets:
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Now...this is very, very intimate. To wash someone's private parts. I do think Laurent had him start at his back, not his front also, deliberately, as he is trying to provoke him.
And Damen rises to the bait and does not act well. I think to him, it feels very sexual to be touching Laurent in his way, as Laurent intended, in a significant erogenous zone ...the place where he would....take him. The soap probably feels a little like lubricant. And Damen slows down, clearly looking. There's no textual evidence he does more than simply slow down, but stopping/pausing could be plausible.
That's Damen's second mistake. If he had stuck to practically and briskly washing Laurent, there would be no issue.
Laurent, of course, picks up on this flare of arousal...and Damen runs his mouth again with: "Too late, sweetheart".
I get a very strong feeling that this is part of the arrogance Laurent found unbearable in Damen from the start. He's been chained up as a slave and yet is still so big and strong, so good at fighting, so good at everything princely, so naturally charming and likeable (think of how Jord starts to warm to him pretty damn quickly!), that he doesn't ever seem weak, physically or emotionally. Damen sort of has still retained an air of 'nothing can really hurt me or scare me or get to me' and 'I'll obey you but we both know that's laughable really", that must really be pissing Laurent off. He's not seeing that Laurent is truly a danger to him. I think Laurent actually doesn't mind being underestimated by other people necessarily, as it probably fits into his plotting and planning e.g. Torveld not seeing how dangerous he is, for example, or no-one knowing how good a swordsman he is but his own guard, but it really angers him when it's from Damen. The "sweetheart" thing too, is Damen going from the start of the novel, what you think you have power over me? Please. So bringing that up again...is Damen's way of bucking against this control Laurent is trying to exert over him.
Trouble is, Laurent is really really furious now.
The third mistake Damen makes is catching Laurent before his blow can connect, and holding his wrist. From Damen's perspective, he just doesn't really fancy getting hit again in a way that would split his lip open. I think it's possible that he doesn't really think slowing his hands down for a few moments when he was ordered to wash Laurent's naked body is that big of a deal (this is highly debatable to readers!). He doesn't stop to think as to how this comes across to Laurent, and obviously is unaware of his trauma:
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Damen is stronger, physically, than Laurent. When Laurent tries to free himself with the "little spasming motion" Damen doesn't let him go. If he was trying to get free, that really must have sent some suppressed part of Laurent into a panic. Or, alternatively, Laurent deliberately didn’t use his whole strength, just enough to signal ‘let go’ as a test to see if Damen would. Which Damen failed. Was that test completely fair under the circumstances? Possibly not? Depends on your perspective, especially with what Laurent did to Damen only the previous week.
Then Damen eyes him up, looking at Laurent's naked body, and his genitals. It's nothing Damen didn't see before, but there’s seeing and there’s looking and this would be both threatening and enraging to Laurent. When Damen feels the "tension hit Laurent's body", this is on the same spectrum as the tension that Laurent feels when he has sex with Damen later in the trilogy, (though different in form as it was consensual). Laurent’s history of abuse and his trauma are locking the muscles of his body up tightly (definitely extreme anxiety), because situations like this take him to the horrific, tragic, child abuse in his part.
Sidebar: Sorry if this is meandering, but bear with me. Akielos is a militaristic and patriarchal society, very obviously, with deeply embedded views of honour (Vere is also patriarchal, but a little less so, I mean there are no female kyroi but there is Lady Vannes who has a high political position). Women don't fight; men do. Had there been a woman in front of Damen, he never would have raised a finger to her, or held her wrist to keep her still etc.,- it's why Adrastus sends in a female slave to bathe Damen at the start of Captive Prince. Damen prefers women as lovers, we know, and Pacat has said in her 'dvd' commentaries, in the one from Ch 9 of CP, that he treats sex and all his lovers with respect. If you've never read them before, you can find them on tumblr and the bold text is Pacat's own commentary on her work:
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Essentially I'm saying, I don't think that Damen abuses his lovers in any manner or would ever do what he's doing here in the baths, holding them in place. Pacat has constructed Damen as a considerate lover; this situation is very much one of strange, tense complexity.
Damen is bisexual and sees (a small selection of, mostly blond) men as attractive too, and has had them as lovers, but I think in terms of Akielon thinking and Damen's thinking, men are men. They are people you can beat or who can beat you fairly in a physical fight, and if you put yourself in that sort of situation with him (a show of physical strength/a fight, where one might win out) well, take the consequences. I think that, sadly, Damen doesn't get how this comes across like the precursor to assault to Laurent. Well, not yet.
The next moment is very interesting.
Laurent reminds him of it and says "But my voice has broken. That was the only prerequisite, wasn't it?"
What did Laurent think Damen would say or do in response to that? If Damen was a rapist, he would have just forged ahead anyway. It would not have taken much for a man of Damen's strength and size to overpower most people, including Laurent.
Instead, Damen reacts as if "burned", suddenly realising how it all comes across, and in that moment, that beat of time afterwards, I think that enrages Laurent even more. That there was space in his response for Damen to actually not be a rapist…
Because Damianos, the prince-killer, the murderer of Auguste, the destroyer of Laurent's life, was supposed to really show who he was, and Damianos did slow his hands when he shouldn't have on Laurent's body, and he did hold Laurent in place, against his will, like he was pinning Laurent down, and that's enough, he showed he is a monster, even if it wasn't quite to the extent that Laurent wanted him to, but it's enough, it's enough to prove it and now Damianos is recoiling with horror, as if he's innocent (could he not have meant to...no, Laurent knew what he wanted, it's what they all want)?
Laurent's anger explodes in this moment and with it unleashed, the flogging ensues. And I genuinely think the fact that Damen recoiled makes Laurent more angry rather than less, because maybe he sees it as dissembling but also because it might mean he's wrong about Damen and Laurent literally cannot deal with it and needs overwhelming anger to flood over that uncertainty, to obliterate it.
Now, let's get to the final part of your ask: Damen as an unreliable narrator and why Laurent seems to remember things differently.
Unreliable narration is more often seen with first person. The trilogy is told via third person narration, told mostly limited to Damen's perspective. It does range a round a little, as CP starts with Guion's, and twice, there are chapters/scenes from Laurent's perspective too (in the cell with Govart and when he frees Jokaste).
Third person limited perspective often does literally 'limit' what we know, through the eyes of that character, which is what we get with Damen. He is in a foreign land, has to keep his identity a secret lest he be killed, has been thrust into the midst of complex Veretian politics which he doesn't understand...it would offer us no tension or suspense whatsoever, if we didn't see Damen slowly come to realisations and conclusions as the text went on. He has some internal biases, of course (especially against Vere and Laurent to start) and character traits which means he sees things in certain ways (the way, at first, his mind thinks in 'straight lines', his inability to connect the dots around the Regent's abuse of Laurent). That is where some measure of 'unreliability' comes from, from perspective. But actually it's all part of his character growth and the slow unfolding of the truth, across all three novels. And some aspects of it actually form dramatic irony. We figure some things out way before Damen does! We can see his biases as part of the narrative. That's all intentional by Pacat, obviously.
Now, to truly connect with a character, readers have to believe in them. The reader has to trust that they are acting like themselves. That there is internal consistency.
Do we feel we can trust Damen to tell us the action of a scene accurately?
I do.
Because if you don't take what he says as given in this scene, then, in my view, you would have to assume he is only pretending to be honourable throughout the entire series.
If we thought that, it would undermine the integrity of the entire text and the love story between him and Laurent.
Damen's blind spots are around his own emotions and his pain, which he often refuses to acknowledge. For me, it elicits a range of responses from cute (huffily getting jealous, like when Torveld is around Laurent), to a sort of endearing 'really Damen??' (when he always thinks he didn't nearly die e.g. the flogging and Kastor stabbing him, and he definitely nearly did- Damen-'I'll just walk it off' of-Akielos) to really sad (all of his trauma around his father's death and the betrayal of Kastor).
I don't think he would blank out on groping Laurent or kicking his legs apart.
So this is what Laurent says at first:
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Damen is embarrassed and flushes here, and internally, freely admits that yes, he was "unequivocally", or unambiguously, too free with his hands and he knows what he did was wrong, even if he wants to deny it. I think if anyone were to feel some doubt over Damen telling the truth, this shows Damen is reliably telling us what happens, as he is honest with himself, and knows there is no doubt he did act as Laurent says he did. It's not the same as Govart's rape of Erasmus, and he defends himself there, but he knows he was wrong.
Next there's this part, much later, nearing the end of the CP:
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Damen's ego when it comes to sex (by all accounts well-justified, but still 😂) means he has to fling out a sexy little riposte again. Laurent does NOT like Damen acting as if a) they could freely have sex and b) that Damen's good in bed and would sexually satisfy him in a memorable way (not yet at least 🌚).
But...fascinatingly, this is the first time I have noticed how long it takes quick, sharp Laurent to respond! "Eventually", suggests a long moment! I think it sort of annoyed but also flummoxed Laurent, because the seeds of his attraction to Damen have begun to start to grow?
I mean, it took Laurent a while to get his answer and what Laurent says is, 'oh yeah like you'd be good in bed you barbarian, the only thing memorable about you to your partners is going to be rough and non-consensual handling’ which is horribly insulting but maybe not quite as definitive as 'I'd rather die than lie with rutting rapey Akielon swine' which (some variation of) really was an option! This is still really denigrating, but not that bad for CP Laurent? Maybe I’m being too impatient for the ship that is Lamen to set sail though!
There are a tonne of ways to interpret this, so I could be wrong but it does remind a bit of when Laurent's eyes narrow when Damen says "nice accent" when Laurent speaks Akielon in PG- like again, Laurent's not actually being his most lethal self, but is kind of recognising that Damen is being a bit Damen-y with him and is kind of being like 'excuse me?' but for Laurent that's actually mild? I mean by the time we get to that moment in PG, they're far closer, but I'm just saying I see a glimmer of that same emotion here?
Because when Damen says "That isn't-" and stops, I think he's about to say, "That isn't what happened, and you know it isn't." Laurent is deliberately embellishing to irritate him (and why Laurent says “kicking their legs open” specifically…I feel like is from what he’s seen happen in the ring before? I don’t think he’d casually bring up a factor of his own abuse like that? I don’t think so. Or I really hope not 😔). Damen doesn't have to finish his sentence though, because actually he knows Laurent knows that, and is just trying to provoke or anger him, so there's no point. Damen's insight into Laurent really is pretty good by the end of CP.
And that's it! We finally come to an end. I hope that answered your question in a way that feels satisfactory, and let's remember- my word isn't law, so anyone reading this is free to disagree! ✨
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key201303 · 2 months
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Pairing: Woosung x reader Word count: 890 words Warnings: None! Just a bunch of fluff. Plot: Tour is over, Woosung's back at home and you could make it to convince your bosses to give you vacation before Woosung has to go back to practicing. It seems like the stars have aligned and you can have some time together finally. And after discussing if it was worth enough getting out of bed or not, you could finally do something together. Making smoothies was not what you exactly had in mind but as long as you're together, you're sure it'll be a perfect day. Playlist: Kim Woosung - Lazy. Taglist -> Let me know if you want to be added!
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The dim sunlight was finally starting to make its way through the dark curtains of your small shared room. You had an extended discussion last night with Woosung so he let you leave the shutters up to wake up with the sunlight. He always loved the dark so much that he couldn’t accept sleeping with any type of light entering the room. But you promised he would love the color palette the sun rays made when hitting the perfect spots of the room. And you were right. The orange and red colors started to make their way through the black, grays and dark colors that bathed the room creating a perfect harmony between dark and light. You couldn’t understand how such opposite elements could look so in tune. But that was the magic of nature. It was such a pity that Woosung wasn’t enjoying the view due to his heavy eyelids that kept him in deep sleep.
The orange light also hit his half naked body perfectly. His cheeks had a perfect pinkish tone due to the warm sunlight embracing his delicate skin. His hair was messy yet beautiful as it got spread all over the covers as he moved to face you, giving you total access to admire how ethereal and amazing he looked in such a natural and peaceful scene. His tattoos looked so inviting to trail their silhouette with your index finger in an unconscious attempt of waking the boy up so he could enjoy the colors dawn created with you. His parted lips looked so inviting as well, tempting you to kiss them and taste the sweetness they held once again, just like you could do every single day. And in the end, you couldn’t resist yourself, moving closer to the man you loved and placing a soft kiss on his cherry lips. 
That kiss was enough to wake the boy up which made you quite surprised. Woosung was the type of person to take a long time to actually wake up, and it didn’t look like him when he opened his eyes as soon as you cut the kiss. “If this is how you’ll wake me up if I let you leave the shutters up then I’m down.” He said with a low and husky voice, a smile appearing in his lips, making him look even better if that was possible. “Good morning to you too.” You said laughing, about to move away from him to leave him some space to stretch just like he did every morning. But he didn’t let you. He was glued to your body, like he used some super glue to linger your body to his. “Don’t go. You could admire me while I slept, I want to do the same with you now.” He said as he pulled you closer to him. You couldn’t resist snuggling into his arms, feeling the warmth of his body, his breath and heartbeat almost making you fall into a deep slumber once again. Now it was his turn to admire your figure, enhanced with the dawn light. “Dawn is definitely your color palette.” He said, playing with your hair, leaving soft caresses here and there from time to time. You could just giggle at his comments, and hide in the crook of his neck so he wouldn’t see your cheeks turning red.
You could stay like that forever. Just the two of you enjoying each other’s presence and existence. But you had to get moving in order to start the one and only day off you could both have together in ages. And you hated it. But Woosung hated it more. “You know my perfect day is doing nothing. Why can’t we just stay here and forget about everything.” Woosung whined as you tried to get off bed, not being able to do it because of his strong grip around you. “At least we have to eat.” You said laughing, giving into his arms again, not really wanting to get away from his embrace. You were right and he hated to admit it. “Okay but once we eat we come back, deal?” He said, finally easing his grip. “Deal.” You said, leaning in one last time to peck his lips and get off bed.
Making smoothies was not what you expected to have as a breakfast on a day like today but Woosung insisted that it was the easiest and fastest way to eat something nutritious and so you could go back to being the lazy selves you both were, just like you agreed to do a few minutes ago upstairs. Semi loud music was playing on your speakers, his voice was softly humming to your favorite songs as you threw random fruit you find in your fridge into the blender as you both shared lovely kisses every now and then. 
You were both so fond of each other. Intertwined by destiny as days pass by. You had so much love and admiration for each other that it wouldn’t fit any book in this world if you had to describe it with words. You were just perfectly made for each other and you would definitely not be the same if life ever puts you apart. Just like the sun and the moon. Just like dark and light. You need each other to exist.
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scifrey · 11 months
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Listen.
If you've read my fics, you know that I love history. I love pageantry. I love symbolism. I love beautiful clothes, and art, and jewels. I love going behind the scenes and seeing into castles and manor houses. I love parades, and the hidden meaning behind coronations, and the fairytale unreality of the lives of the gentry.
I believe, however, that all of these things should be ARTIFACTS.
I believe there is literally no point in upholding a monarchy or commonwealth any more.
Allow commonwealth countries become republics. Allow Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales to return to being seperate nations if they vote to become so. Allow those republics to create their own network of mutual support, should they so choose to. There's no reason to not keep up Commonwealth ties and festivals even if there's no Commonwealth.
Repatriate artifacts, art and jewels to their nations of origin. Offer monetary compensation/support for cultures violated and impoverished by colonialism. Help establish democracies where needed, and butt the hell out where they're not. (And especially don't establish puppet democracies, ew.)
Let the British royal family become symbolic tourist attractions, let them fund their own charities, and throw their parties, and knight their artists, and uphold their royal orders of garters and baths, and maintain their personal properties--and make them do it with their own wealth and real estate investments. They're multi-billionaires. They can afford it. They'll be fine.
But remove them from the machine of governance. Detach them entirely from public spending, dependance, or influence.
And if they do participate in traditions of parliament (like the Opening, which is actually really cool and fascinating panto, which I quite like and hope they WOULD continue), man, do it without the silly hat. If the King wants to wear the silly hat, make him pay for the upkeep of the silly hat out of his own pocket. It's HIS silly hat, after all. It's not like we all get a turn with it, even though we do pay for it.
(Actually, the Crown Jewels are owned by the British Public so like... if they want to take them along when they go, make the royal family buy them. And then let them charge museums a fee to loan them for exhibition, just like privately owned paintings by famous Masters are loaned to art galleries.)
Let the royals continue to do all the things the royals do, if they want to do them. Just… make them pay for it themselves. Dissolve the Sovereign Grant, and use all that money to pay for things like restitution, repatriation, and hey maybe increasing public spending on health care and social infrastructure.
Turn the public-owned properties into, yeah, tourist attractions in part (gotta fund their upkeep somehow). But also put public offices in there. Maybe some social housing. Maybe hospitals, with well-paid front-line staff. Event spaces. Seniors care homes. Something.
If Hampton Court Palace can do it, so can Buckingham.
Balmoral and Sandringham are privately owned, there's lots of land and buildings for the family to occupy. They won't be homeless.
Keep the royal family, if the royal family wants to be kept. Include the royal family if the royal family wants to be included. Just make them pay for their own stuff with their own money. And do BETTER things with the savings.
Yes, I'm aware that this may be wishful thinking.
Yes, I'm aware that unscrupilous people may take advantage of monetary support given to commonwealth nations and keep it for themselves. (And I'm not unaware that it would happen in ALL the nations, yes, even Canada where I live. There are a LOT of currently-serving politicians who are vile, scummy, self-serving arseholes.) Yes, I'm aware that mutual support between nations of the commonwealth is all that is preventing famine or religious war in some places.
Yes, I'm aware none of this is as easy as I'm making it sound.
But I think it's time to stop celebrating and upholding centuries of brutal militaristic colonialism and the destruction and subversion of so many beautiful cultures for the sake of some tourist bucks. I especially think it's time for the public to stop PAYING for it.
I love history. I love symbolism. I love the stories of royalty and treachery and gallantry and seduction. I love the architecture of great houses, and the meaning behind golden spoons from over a thousand years ago, and the fascination of birthrights and bloodlines. I love paintings, and balls, and the gorgeous work of exceptionally talented artisans that go into making all the amazing silly hats.
I write historical romances for goshsakes.
And I also think it's time to stick it all where it belongs -- in a museum.
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stellerssong · 1 month
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5 and 29 please?
5—what’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?
having given the matter a great deal of thought, i’ve come to the conclusion that i have no interest in writing a corinthian/lucienne femdom hatesex on the beach fic, on the grounds that i’m personally not compelled by the fantasy it presents. apologies to everyone who read the middle section of that sentence and immediately went AWOOGA AWOOGA BARK BARK BARK BARK AWOOOOO like a cartoon character. i know you are out there and i heard you do it.
the real bummer of this whole affair, though, is the fact that “beg me to spare thee the back of my hand” would have been a kickass title. free to a good home, friends!
29—share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic.
i don’t work in drafts, so everything that’s been cut from existing fics has been sent to hell already. but what i CAN offer you is this (probably obnoxiously long) snippet from a portion of wereverse that i will probably never actually post about, lovingly nicknamed, “the bath time fic”:
The tub isn’t quite wide enough for them to sit side-by-side, and he moves toward the tap a little so Lucienne can lower herself into the water, angles himself so his cheek is to her, rather than his back. A dark glitter as his gaze flicks over her body. She knows it’s ridiculous to have an attack of modesty right now, but she brings her arms up to cover her breasts. “There,” she says, too cheerful even for her own ears. “Does that help?” Dream makes a small noise in his throat. Maybe assent. Hard to tell. But he does reach out with one hand and rest his knuckles gently against Lucienne’s knee. You can tell he’s getting keyed when he starts grabbing and clinging and clawing at you. Light touches are a good sign. They mean he’s present enough to be careful. (Well. They mean something’s present enough, says a voice in her head that sounds a lot like Cori. She ignores that, as best she can.) “Is the water warm enough?” A nod. Better and better. “Do you need me to soap you, or…?” Silence for a moment. Dream’s throat works, like there’s a reply stuck in there trying to get out, but in the end he just unfolds one slim arm and picks up the bar of soap himself. “All right. Well…” Lucienne settles herself a little uncomfortably against the back of the tub. “Just—let me know. If you need anything.” His white lashes go up like a pair of dove’s wings. Luminous dark underneath, whites visible only at the corners. A creature’s eyes, an animal’s eyes, for all that he’s being so good about holding onto his human shape. That’s going to be…difficult to explain to people not in the know about his condition, at some point, but Lucienne’s not thinking about that yet, she’s just thinking about immediate concerns, practicalities— He shifts position slightly so the tips of his toes are resting against hers. A faint line works its way in between his brows. He still doesn’t speak, but that expression is plain as black ink on white paper: is this okay? Lucienne has to smile at that. Her face aches, like she’s lost the muscle memory sometime in the past however-many weeks. Footsie. Aren’t the two of them fucking adorable.
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iwonderwh0 · 2 months
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Watching saltburn because I hear too much about it
Spoilers ahead!!! If you haven’t seen it but planning on, scroll away, cuz there are some twists that are worth experiencing first-hand. The internet made it look like it’s gonna be some trash shock movie, but it’s a really false advertisement I’d say.
Ohh, I love the beginning, it promises theatrical, level of over the top drama, just how I like
Thank god there are subtitles I can barely understand their accent
Damn, I just thought about how what I know about this movie reminds me of “Bright Young Things” and now one of the characters straight-out mentions the novelist who wrote the “Vile Bodies” (screenplay the movie Bright Young Things is based on) was basically writing about his family. Okay, so that was really spot-on impression
What’s Felix’s deal? 🤔 it looks suspiciously like love-bombing from his side what he’s doing
Damn, Oliver might be as weird as that math nerd with anger issues if not weirder. Only 20 minutes in, and our protagonist is already a creepy stalker
Oliver what the fuck, what was this sudden condescending parent mode switch with cleaning up as if just to be arrogant about it 😂
I feel like Felix might be in danger, I don’t trust Oliver anymore
Honestly I’m not even sure if Oliver is telling the truth, he might be straight out lying to gain sympathy, kinda looks like it
I really don’t understand why Felix keeps Oliver around. I don’t think he likes him that much as he is trying to show at all, and he already showed his gratitude for that bike. It’s like he needs him for something maybe?
Oh so Oliver did tell the truth
What does Felix wanttttttt I’m so confused
The complete shift of the room to instantly shower Oliver with compliments what’s up with that? Is it some rich people thing??
And instantly back to talking shit about the person who just left! Damn that really is theatrical shit
“But he spoke Russian all the time and it just sounded so romantic” lmaoooo no it did not 😭
The way they talk!! Jesus Fucking Christ, what an impressive skill of bullshitting. Absolutely no one mean what they say, that’s even impressive
Oh, MGMT!
Oh, I’ve heard something about the bath scene
Belle Delphine bath water, is that it? Is that the level of gross that impressed people?
The fucking mind games everybody is playing oh boy
I don’t understand what’s going on anymore
Is Oliver just trying to prove he’s not gay?
Oh the fucking song pick oh my god this is painful to watch and I don’t even like Oliver
I’ll have to watch some explanation after this movie, it’s so confusing, what happened
Oh, will it turn out that he lied about everything?
SO I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SUSPECTING IT
Oh my god
Oh my god
Fuckkkking Oliver the migraines he just keeps going Jesus Christ
Is he gonna kill Felix? I feel like someone will get killed, maybe even on accident
Wait but HOW
Was it the wine?
Is he stabbed to the ground, why can’t they move him?
The lunch scene, red curtains, wine that overflows the glass ohhh boy I love that
Oh here goes the gravefucking
Wait, I thought the movie is about to end, but there’s still quite some time on the timeline
Oh for FUCK’S SAKE this was so sudden
“Is everything alright?” God are you stupid? What kind if question is that 😭😭😭
Ohhhhhh the reveal
Ohhhh so it was the wine
Damn
I actually liked it a lot
As a movie I mean
And Oliver is such a realistic psychopath in a way he pretends to be harmless pathetic loser, oh my god, Good job
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kore-dreams · 4 months
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Laurance's Day Off
This is my first small work that has actually been published. Sorry if it's a little rushed.
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It was Laurance Zvahl's day off and frankly, he didn't know what to do with it. All he did day after day was guard and train aside from the usual eat, sleep, bathe and repeat.
Now that he had time for himself, he didn't know what to do with it, so he went to his acquaintance's, Kawaii-chan's, cafe.
As he stepped into the small, pink accented cafe, Laurance looked around, observing the customers. "Laurance- kun, what can Kawaii- chan get for you today?" Kawaii- chan's voice rung.
"Just a cup of hot chocolate with smores is fine, thanks Kawaii- chan." Laurance replied giving her a grateful glance and a small smile.
It was cold that day and Laurance was looking forward to having something warm and delicious in his hands.
Laurance continued to look around at the customers and spotted a hunched form in one of the booths. They looked to be sorting through paperwork, for hours at that, seen as how this individual had bags under their eyes and kept sipping from their, what seems to be, coffee.
Besides their seemingly very busy person contrasting the cafe's light and calm scene, what caught Laurance's eye was that this person was an elf, a very pretty/handsome one.
Laurance quietly stole glances as he waited for his order, opting to just look out the window in the end fearing that the elf would catch him staring.
He had enough of his fidgeting after 5 minutes.
I, Laurance Zvahl, am this nervous about approaching a pretty/handsome person?? I think not-
And so he stood up and made his way over.
"Hey, you seem to be pretty busy, anything I can help with?" Laurance asked politely, despite his initial thoughts on starting his sentence with 'Hey Gorgeous' like usual.
"Unless you know how to manage a business, analyze how sales are going, how much to sell, and how much to spend on goods then I'll have to ask you to kindly piss off." The elf said with annoyance with a matching narrowed gaze.
"Don't worry, I'll be of some use. I've previously assisted lords with managing budgets."
"Then would you mind doing these for me?"
The elf set a stack of paperwork in front of Laurance before they could resume their work, Laurance hurriedly asked, "My name is Laurance, what's your name?"
"Why do you want to know?" The elf asked skeptically.
"Just to break the ice a little and make sure I know who I'm dealing with if we ever cross paths again. No harm in a little familiarity." Laurance responded in bright tone, his face glowing even if he was internally panicking.
However, his panicking soon came to an end when the elf responded.
"[Name]"
"Huh?"
"That's my name."
"Alright then [Name], let's get this done, and maybe we can talk a little after?" Laurance asked with a hint of hope in his voice and slightly raised eyebrows.
"Was this your intention from the start?"
"Maybe..?"
"Fine, since you're helping me, I'll humor you for a little while" [Name] sighed before sending Laurance a slightly softer gaze.
BOOM!
There goes my heart . Laurance thought to himself.
To [Name]'s surprise, they actually managed to finish quite early.
They chatted a little afterwords, as promised by [Name], about their jobs while eating small pastries. They got along pretty well (so well they stayed talking for about 4 hours). Thankfully Laurance didn't embarrass himself.
"Well, it's getting a little late for having a tight schedule, I have to get going." [Name] announced.
"Ah, shame. There's still so much I want to know." Laurance sighed dramatically. [Name] chuckled, gaze softening.
"I'm here every morning around the time you came over today. You're welcome to join my little break before rush hour if you'd like?"
"Really? I guess we're morning break buddies then, heh." Laurance accepted.
This was their first of many encounters.
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lumiereandcogsworth · 15 days
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3, 14, 23 (I feel like I already know the answer but they're good questions anyway 😈 ) and 30 !
would you believe? i rambled on and on? would you believe i did that?
3. Who is more into taking showers/baths together? Who tries to make it relaxing and who tries to make it sexy time? i think belle is definitely more into it than adam. adam Enjoys it, don’t get me wrong, but he’s such an autistic loner boy (honorific) that i think he just enjoys having his alone time sometimes. which he does get most of the time, since belle is in general a way busier person than he is. it’s easier to find windows of time that he can take for himself. (that’s before they have kiddos, of course. it gets more challenging later on, lmao.) and for the second question, i’d say belle slightly more? but she also just likes to get in the bath with him to be with him. it’s not always a horny reason. sometimes they just sit in the bath and read their books in comfortable silence. (but belle, being an adhd queen, can definitely get more easily distracted by the handsome naked man across from her 😊) (not to say adam’s NEVER been distracted by the beautiful naked lady across from him, of course😏)
14. Who starts the hand holding? Who grabs the others butt? Who slides their arm around their waist? Who likes to put their fingers in the belt loops? oh adam’s always reaching for her hand. i feel like every time i write or just imagine a scene in which adam is walking up to her, he just instinctively laces a hand with hers as they greet one another. physical touch is one of his love languages !!!!! he’s happy to see her so he holds her hand to prove it!!!!!!!! as for grabbing the other’s butt, though, that’s all belle adjsjd. funnily enough i actually have a fic that’s from one of these silly prompts. the entire thing is her secretly putting her hands on his BEHIND at a BALL and he’s like WOMAN!!!! WE’RE IN PUBLIC!!!! blushing very much. it’s very silly :3 also i feel like they both put their arms around each other’s waists quite often. they slip into little side hugs so regularly. they’re so very clingy… 🤧 (and idk about belt loops. that’s too specific for me sjdksj. they’re more hands and waist people.)
23. Who thinks they are not good enough for the others love? and who’s more afraid of losing the other? Who thinks they keep messing up, only for the other to tell them they don’t need to worry? OUGH!!! yeah you already know 😭 adam NEVER feels like he’s good enough for belle. he does not Understand why she loves him so much. he thinks she’s the most incredible woman to have ever walked the earth, and she chose HIM??
he also just feels so so guilty about how they met. like even though he’s grown so much and changed and very much apologized for who he was, he still can’t shake the feeling that she’s staying there out of pity or obligation. i have a really rough draft of a wip where they get into some heated argument about something else but the underlying truth is that adam just feels like everything negative that happens to her (in their royal court) is his fault. because he kept her here in the first place and now she’s stuck here. and she’s like ?????? because she could’ve left a million times by now!!!!! she had every out in the world, she had every excuse in the world to leave him, but she didn’t care about any of that! she loves him! and she CHOOSES to be with him! she CHOOSES to be his wife! every day!!!!! and she says something like “you need to forgive yourself for who you were. because if you don’t, it is going to break us.” and it’s so INTENSE because like. HE NEEDS TO FORGIVE HIMSELFFFF. or they’re just never gonna be able to move forward. and he works through it and does eventually, but he still always quietly basks in her magnificence and wonders how he got so lucky.
who’s more afraid of losing the other?? OUGH. i think they’re both really scared of losing the other. belle is more level-headed about it just because she’s more emotionally stable, lmao, but like. watching him die was Not something she very easily got over 🥲 she had nightmares and she still always clings to him so much when they sleep. she always rests her head on his chest just to listen to his heartbeat. it calms her so much. and OF COURSE adam is terrified of losing belle. his entire family has been so riddled with death, he almost expects he’ll lose her when they’re young. growing old with her is his greatest honor in life. and same goes for their kiddos too!! he worries SO much about his family because they’re just… truly the life he never thought he’d get to live. they’re his whole world 😭😭
and lastly for this one, who thinks they keep messing up !! agh. it’s both. but different ways. adam always thinks he’s messing up as a husband and a father. which is ironic because those are the jobs he is truly best at. (and belle says so in a toast for one of his birthdays. but i haven’t written anything beyond her little speech so. 🤫) but yeah i mean, it goes hand in hand. he never feels worthy enough for belle, so of course he thinks he falls short. but belle always reminds him that she’s happy, their children are happy, and they love being loved and protected by him.
i think — and gosh i’ll try not to tangent too much here, famous last words — i think that’s a big part of it too. the way his father abused him psychologically, was by telling him he was never man enough. too weak too quiet too scared. so adam, growing up, has just always had so many issues surrounding masculinity and what it means to be a man and all that. he’s never been very masculine but he never disliked being a boy/man either. he was who he was. but he had to mask so much of it, to the point of becoming just as ruthless and awful of a man as his father was. becoming a monster, even. so now that he’s all new, clean slate, he’s in this weird ambiguous state of being allowed to be himself but struggling to recall who “himself” is. and now he’s “husband” and now he’s “father” and he’s seen what those words have meant in the past but what do they mean now? what kind of husband does his wife need? what kind of father do his children need? and i don’t know. i think he just struggles with that. he doesn’t feel like he does a good job of being those roles, because maybe it’s not the way it typically is done. but he feels so protective of them all, so he lets that drive it, and he worries about them, and loves them, and cares for them when they’re sad and hurt. and that’s precisely who they need :”) he keeps all of them very grounded and secure <3
BELLE ON THE OTHER HAND!!!!! doesn’t super struggle being a wife or mama (no more than the average person, i mean) but she very much does always worry about her role as queen. she’s so Not Used To having ANY kind of power in her life, let alone RULING A COUNTRY, so it’s a very insane flip for her. but being who she is, she does jump right into it!! she dives head first into projects and changes and ideas and !!! she’s so full of ideas !!!! but the people of the court are snarky and rude and bitchy and it takes many of them a LONG time before they decide she’s “one of them”. she’s STILL an outsider. she’s STILL the weird one. no matter where she goes. she was too different for the villagers but she’s still too different for the aristocracy. so she struggles a lot with finding her place. and like, sure, she has the title, so Legally people DO respect her. but behind closed doors, within the court, gossip swirls and people are just awful. and she struggles to tell adam about it because she knows he’d take the blame for “bringing her into this life.” (which comes full circle back to the beginning of my answer to this question. how did i do that?? so powerful.)
anyway she DOES tell him things but it’s just always so hard. and she feels like such a failure sometimes. and they make her feel so crazy for having the ideas she has. and it just SUCKS. but adam is always so firmly in her corner, ALWAYS backing up her ideas when she presents them to councils and things (which is hard for her too, to accept his help. she’s just so stubbornly independent. they had a convo in my head the other day about adam offering to write to someone, to perhaps sway them in the right direction of belle’s idea, but she’s like no no i got it. and adam’s like “i know you do and /i/ know you’re capable of this, but a lot of these people don’t. and sometimes you need to speak their language in order to gain what you want.” and it’s just like UGJGJDKFJ!!!! it sucks how often they’ll disagree with her but then adam steps in and says he agrees/likes it and they’re like oh yeah nice totally!!! like. she may be queen but she is first and foremost a woman🫠.) anyway. belle struggling to be accepted/be herself is something i wanna grapple with more. and i do i think but. need to do it more. WHEW. okay, next question.
30. Who is embarrassed when they have to wear their glasses and who thinks they look super cute? HEHEHE that’s so cute. i have an old headcanon that adam gets reading glasses in his 40s (belle has like super powerful eyes and doesn’t need them til her 60s??? adam is very jealous) anyway adam Hates his glasses he thinks they look so STUPID. but then belle wraps her arms around him and calls him her sexy librarian and he rolls his eyes but also blushes SO MUCH >:3!!! she really does think he looks so good in them, which certainly boosts his confidence <3
otp asks!
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sinelanguage · 20 days
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and for the museum of the day i was Considerably more excited for: the National Museum of Modern Art!! splitting this into two parts for my sanity, main exhibit first
one thing that impressed me about this museum was the overall presentation of descriptions used. a lot of art museums will present some information and context to the piece, but the national museum specifically tried to encourage people to read the text (metaphorically) and engage in Thoughts. it was pretty neat to look at a piece then see what specific emphasize the museum curator wanted to put on something.
For example, Nakanishi Natsuyuki’s piece Compact Object was described like this:
Fish bones, a rubber ball, a clock, seashells, hair.. this egg-shaped object seems to be packed with the contents of a garbage can. Or is it a time capsule, capturing a fleeting moment during a certain era? Nakanishi staged performances by bringing these clusters of everyday objects into public spaces, such as in the streets and on trains. His intent seems to have been to carry a microcosm of the world in his hands rather than to produce a sculpture that sits on a pedestal.
which, imo, does a decent job at explaining the intent but also promoting people to think about the intent going into objects on a level a bit further than just “here’s what this means.” this was pretty consistent in the museum’s presentation, which I really appreciated.
The other thing I thought was incredibly funny was this fucking. diary entry they had on display. keep in mind i was dead on my feet in this museum writing down notes to post to my tumblr blog and then read kishida ryusei’s diary from 1923:
Woke up around 10 o clock with a slight headache. Not surprising since i was up unttl three last night talking with Senge [Motomaro] and others, and that's why I overslept. Took a bath after breakfast. Got on the 1:49 pm train to Tokyo and then a taxi to Shintomiza. The play was about to start. My seat was excellent. Sendai Hagi is a famous kabuki play, but it was the first time I had actually seen it. The scenes performed were: the Bamboo Room, Cooking Rice, Under the Floor, The Showdown, The Scar. All of these were fascinating. I's not often these days that l immerse myself as deeply in kabuki as I did this time.
me, two museums in, feeling a profound kinship with this artist from a century ago writing a diary entry about his hang over but going to tokyo for three plays. as i write notes in my phone about art. incredible.
For actual pieces though there were quite a few:
Kayama Mayazo, Waves in Spring and Autumn thought this piece had a lot of really neat spins on some classic imagery (mountains, seasonal trees, waves/water). I especially liked the details of the waves breaking— the waves themselves were this even, looping/fluid lines but the edges were crashing with noisy scribbles
Komaki Gentaro, Bricks and a Squirrel: this is one of those “can’t explain myself”. the bricks had a very weird wood grain pattern, paired with a squirrel in this frightening black orb, completely surrounded. sometimes ur just a squirrel in an orb
Nomiyama Gyoji, The Withered: i like organic things in weird, inorganic messes. this was like, a rat king but with branches, and it was confusing to look at. enjoyed it a lot.
Kodama Yasue, ambient light - sakura: this is exactly what it says on the tin but for what it is it works really well. it’s just the impression of looking up at Sakura blossoms through sunlight, and man is it effective at it. I think in person this works better just for the size and detail of it- it captures the feeling of looking up through foliage very well and was very pretty to boot
Takanashi Yutaka, Hongo: Mansada Parlor, 6-17-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku from Machi imo all of takanashi’s photos had this very lived in quality to them, like a photo taken of a place that feels deeply familiar and like home. The collection overall has these deep colors and contrasts with mundane settings and a large amount of visual objects/interest, so it made the feel of the piece really nice (photos here)
overall: really solid, probably doesn’t beat the contemporary art museum but that’s just because my taste is what it is. for an art museum though, i really appreciated the approach and curation
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mermaidsirennikita · 8 months
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So I’m contemplating reading the Midnight in Scotland series and love your book blurbs (they’re just so clever and they make me laugh!) - any chance of an overview of that series??
Aww, thanks. Just being my kind of dumb self, lol.
But, yes I can give an overview!
Midnight in Scotland spins off of Braden's Rescued from Ruin series, which is very Stuffy English the same way Midnight is very Och Aye, and the connecting factor is the Huxley family, which is Braden's favorite Rescued family because they fuck like rabbits and have a billion kids. But like, in Rescued, the heroes wear nice clothes and nobody does farm work, and in Midnight the heroes are like "yer nice jackets are for fookin losers, lass, come watch me tend to coos" (the pronunciation of "cows" is a BIG. DEAL. in this series) and you're like "this seems extremely logical".
Also, it's about the MacPherson family. I don't think they have like, an actual title? But they have a lot of cash and influence and tbh they sometimes give me Scottish Mafia vibes. Every book has a MacPherson protagonist.
The Making of a Highlander--The only one without a Scottish hero, because it has a Scottish HEROINE. Annie is not a MacPherson by blood, but she was adopted into the family and is the only daughter and it's extremely adorable. But like, Annie is basically fucking insane (the book tries to be like "Annie isn't crazy" and I would say "well no Annie did not deserve to be bullied but her grip on reality is iffy"). Her best friend is a CHILD GHOST. And the child ghost is leaving this earthly plane and Annie thinks he tells her she needs to marry a lord and have his baby so the child ghost can be reborn? Yes. But she isn't a lady and doesn't know lady shit, so she asks John Huxley, the only Englishman she knows, to teach her how to be a lady because she thinks John is prissy (he's not he just like bathes regularly). What she DOESN'T know is that John is a viscount because he keeps that on the DL. But he wants to win these manly Highland Games and also Annie's got a rack that won't quit so he's like "yes fine I will My Fairy Lady You if you teach me how to throw cabers(?)".
What I really love about this one is that John starts out very annoyed by her, but when he falls? He falls RIDICULOUSLY hard. Like her dad is all "I KIN SEE HOW YE LUIK AT MY DAUGHTER JOHN HUXLEY" and John is like "i WOULD NE--well now that you point it out". And the book is for sure a nod to Pretty Woman, including a scene where she's all "The ladies at the shop were mean to me :(" and he goes "MEEEAN???? TO YOU????" and like ruins actual lives.
The Taming of a Highlander--You know the golden boy oldest brother Broderick? Well he was wrongfully imprisoned and tortured for months and now he's out but he's super scarred and lost an eye and understandably he's a bit upset which is why John Huxley's little sister Kate, a Writer Girl, sees him attempting to kill a guy! Oops! And now she's volunteering to marry him in order to avoid having to testify against him because she feels bad about it! In the scene where she proposes marriage she's like "and I guess we can have one or two kids" and she can visible see his dick moving around in his pants, I was entranced.
This book is definitely a bit darker than the first, and it's very much a "let me help you recover from trauma with my pussy" novel, which is something I personally love. Also, the heroine becomes DICK DUMB and is fully aware of the risks of becoming dick dumb because all her sisters were also romance heroines. Nonetheless, she sweeps into his room with breakfast in bed at one point, singing a song about his cock coming out to play. And he's like :D because that's how you help a romance hero trauma recover. He also tries extremely hard to avoid fucking her, and at some point she just bursts into his room like the Kool-Aid man and is all "LOOK. I KNOW YOU MIGHT BE AFRAID OF SPLITTING MY PUSSY IN TWO. BUT I'M UP FOR IT."
The Temptation of a Highlander--The heroine of this one is another English lass, Clarissa, and she has A PSYCHOTIC. STALKER. (Warning: a decent amount of animal death in this one, partly because farm but partly because stalker.) So she comes to Scotland, and she intends to marry her gay best friend to avoid the stalker, but then Kate from the above book is like "omg bitch my brother in law Campbell is the bIGGEST BOY EVER, you should go stay at his farm so he can bodyguard you" and Clarissa is like "hehehehehe maybe not heehehehe" because she's fully aware of Campbell's bigness, as he's always like, lifting pianos in front of her and shit. And Clarissa has it BAD. And she can't stop saying the worst fucking double entendres to him, like "oh you're a farmer??? I can see you plowing things deep and hard" or "hahaha you're so much bigger than me, I bet you could break me in two". And as a nice guy, Campbell is always like "...." when inside he's like "!!!".
Very good, and has one of my favorite hero moments in a while wherein he's proposing marriage and basically goes "look Clarissa I'm not an idiot I know you are literally gagging for it so we might as well get married". HOT. TBH. I will say this book does kind of have a "heroine was fat and then lost a lot of weight by dancing (lol) and that's when the psycho stalker became into her", which I don't loooove, but Campbell, to be fair, only meets her post weight loss. So there's not a "the HERO is only into her after she loses weight" angle, a la Romancing Mr. Bridgerton.
I enjoy them all quite a bit, I would recommend reading them in order (especially the first two) and they're like... a good mix of campy and hot and romantic. I find them much sexier than most of the Rescued books. Like, all the heroines are virgins, but they also are all extremely horny, and I find that a lot of the sex scenes have a real "Put your back into it, man" vibe and I personally love a heroine who's like "mmmmmm I think you can fuck harder than that, sir". Like let's treat romance heroes like prized oxen thanks.
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headcanonsandmore · 6 months
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'Glad All Over (Cake By The Ocean)', Chapter Six
Summary: Nyssa and Tegan have finally admitted their feelings for each other. Now that they've got the romantic tension out of the way, they can focus on the important things... like how to get a moment to themselves in a town full of people who love putting in. Not to mention the appearance of the filming crew for a certain cheesy sci-fi show, and -with them- a certain old friend of Nyssa's.
On the plus side, Tegan apparently has a thing for Nyssa in a corset. 🤭
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My apologies for the delay with this chapter, but -as you'll see- it's got a lot more going on than previous chapters did.
Just a word of warning; this chapter does contain some saucy and slightly kinky scenes (albeit with nothing explicit) so if that's not your cup of tea, I'd recommend skim-reading over those scenes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read on AO3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nyssa’s eyes slipped open.
The sunlight was gently entering the bedroom through the gaps in the curtains, giving the whole place an atmosphere bathed in soft light.
Blinking, Nyssa became slowly aware that she wasn’t wearing any pyjamas. Or, indeed, any clothing whatsoever. And that her skin was covered with a thin layer of perspiration.
She was also aware that she was sharing the bed with another person.
Tegan was curled under the covers beside her, breathing softly in and out, still quite asleep.
Nyssa’s brain promptly kicked into gear, relaying all the events of the previous evening and what had caused this scenario. In thoroughly enjoyable detail.
Nyssa smiled to herself.
Tegan’s legs were intertwined with her own, and Nyssa couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the woman laying barely a few inches away. The Australian’s hair was messy (although not nearly as rumpled as Nyssa expected her own hair to currently look), with locks curled around her ears. Her shoulder muscles moved gently as she inhaled and exhaled. The rest of her was covered by the duvet, although -from what little Nyssa could see- Tegan’s skin was also covered in a thin layer of sweat.
Remembering how that sweat had been accumulated, Nyssa bit back a giggle.
Tegan stirred, letting out a deep breath and her eyes fluttered open. As her gaze focused on Nyssa, the brown orbs crinkled at the edges, and her mouth was wreathed in a wonderfully shy smile.
‘Morning,’ she said, cheeks dimpling. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Like a log,’ Nyssa replied, unable to keep from smiling. ‘Did you?’
‘I should bloody well think so. Good grief, Nys; you didn’t have tire me out.’
Nyssa giggled.
‘I could say the same of you.’
‘You flatter me,’ Tegan said, reaching forward and gently stroking a finger down Nyssa’s side, and letting the duvet slide off her. ‘Wow; now this is a sight for sore sapphic eyes.’
‘Oh, stop it,’ Nyssa said, feeling her face flush pink. ‘That’s just the afterglow talking.’
‘If that’s true, it’s one heck of an afterglow. Although, not surprising, given how much your head was inbetween my-’
‘Tegan!’
The Australian laughed, snuggling up closer to Nyssa and putting an arm around Nyssa, her hand trailing absentmindedly up and down her back. Nyssa grinned, her own hand coming to rest on Tegan’s thigh.
‘So… what actually happens now?’
Tegan stared at her.
‘How do you mean?’
‘Like… do we continue now, or do I make you breakfast as a thank-you, or…’
‘You ask me like I’d know,’ Tegan said, with a chuckle. ‘Nys, I’ve never done this before.’
‘What?’ Nyssa exclaimed. ‘You haven’t?’
‘No; I thought you had. You were the one who pulled me upstairs and everything.’
‘But you were the one who got out the contraceptives!’ Nyssa reasoned. ‘I thought…’
‘It’s good to be safe,’ Tegan shrugged. ‘In my defence, you were the one who got all dominant; kinda hard to query something when your brain is all scrambled. Come to think of it, it’s rather fitting that the dentist would have an oral fixation-’
‘You say that, but I seem to recall that you rather enjoyed it,’ Nyssa shot back, with a slightly smug smirk. ‘What was it? Something about “in the name of Sappho, don’t you dare stop”-’
‘Alright, alright; you’ve made your point!’ Tegan laughed. ‘I did enjoy it. Did… did you also enjoy it?’
‘Of course,’ Nyssa replied, before leaning over and kissing a kiss to the older woman’s lips. ‘You are utterly wonderful, Tegan Jovanka; please don’t ever forget that.’
It was Tegan’s turn to flush, and Nyssa took advantage of the opportunity to press another kiss to her lips, her hands giving Tegan a gentle squeeze on the hips.
‘I’ve nothing to compare this too,’ Tegan said, softly. ‘But… you were bloody brilliant, Nys.’
Nyssa felt her face burn brighter.
‘I could say the same about you, my darling. Besides, I suppose that maybe me being a dentist does make me more aware of…’
She trailed off.
She was a dentist… that meant she had work that morning!
Bollocks!
Nyssa sat bolt upright in the bed, and turned sideways to stare at the clock on the bedside table.
‘It’s almost seven! My first appointment is at eight-thirty!’
Tegan chuckled, as Nyssa frantically swung her legs over the side of the bed.
‘I’m sorry but I’m going to need to use your shower here,’ Nyssa explained, quickly. ‘I’ll pay you back for the water bill, of course. Otherwise I’m not going to be able to get back to my place in time to get changed into my scrubs and… Tegan, what are you doing?’
Tegan had sat up slightly, using her elbow to give her head upright. She was unashamedly staring at Nyssa, who remembered that she wasn’t wearing anything.
‘Enjoying the view,’ Tegan grinned, with a wink. ‘C’mon, Nys; can you blame me?’
Nyssa flushed, before letting out a giggle. She had to admit, the novelty was rather thrilling, despite the time pressure.
‘No, I can’t,’ she admitted. ‘But I do have to hurry. Where’s your bathroom?’
‘Next room along the hallway,’ Tegan replied. ‘I think I have a spare toothbrush under the sink.’
‘You’re an angel.’
Nyssa leaned over and pressed a kiss to Tegan’s cheek, before hurrying out of the room.
After going to the toilet (always good for the morning after, she’d read), Nyssa quickly used the spare toothbrush, before hopping into the shower. She let out a giggle as she did so; it was rather exhilarating being over at Tegan’s place like this. It was just a shame that she had work, and that they couldn’t spent the morning in each other’s arms.
The door of the bathroom creaked open creaked open.
‘Hang on,’ Tegan’s voice said. ‘Just brushing my teeth.’
‘R-right!’
‘Nys, are you seriously embarrassed right now?’
Nyssa ignored the question, instead turning on the shower and rubbing shampoo into her hair.
‘Never imagined I’d have you using my shower,’ Tegan mused, mouth half-full with toothpaste.
‘That makes two of us,’ Nyssa replied. ‘Are you sure you’re okay with me using it first?’
‘That’s a good point.’ -Tegan spat out the toothpaste- ‘My work starts only a little later. Hang on…’
A second later, Tegan pulled the curtain open and stepped in.
‘I have to shower too,’ she said, stepping under the water. ‘And we do have to save water; our reservoirs got really low last year.’
‘R-right,’ Nyssa said, unsure of exactly where she was supposed to look. She decided to just focus on Tegan’s face, but she was then accosted by the image of the Australian with water pouring off her hair and face onto her-
‘You alright, Nys?’ Tegan said, turning to face Nyssa whilst rubbing shampoo into her own hair. Suds were already dripping down the Australian’s neck and over her shoulders. ‘Sorry, is it too hot? I can turn down the temperature if you want.’
Nyssa felt her face burn, and quickly shook her head. She went back to rubbing shampoo into her hair.
‘By the way; what shampoo do you use?’ Tegan asked. ‘Your hair always smells lovely.’
‘Flattery will get you nowhere.’
‘Oh, really? Well, can you pass me the shower gel? I need to get all this sweat off.’
‘F-fine.’
‘I’ll do your back if you do mine-Nys!’
‘Yes?’
‘Nyssa… I’m not a scientist but I’m pretty sure that’s not my back you’re putting the gel onto. Your hands seem to have… gotten lost.’
‘Oh, would you demonstrate so I can do it correctly?’
‘You little minx!’
Nyssa let out a delighted squeal. A few moments later, showering was no longer a priority for either of them.
*
‘If I don’t go now, I’m going to be late!’
‘Nys; this is Cornwall,’ Tegan said, taking a bite of toast. ‘No-one will mind if you’re two minutes late.’
‘I will mind! Besides, I wouldn’t be late if you hadn’t… distracted me!’
Tegan smirked, and Nyssa found her face flushing again.
‘Am I a good distraction, love?’ Tegan chuckled, with a quick wink.
‘You know fully well you are,’ Nyssa shot back, before relenting and giving a quick laugh.
‘That makes two of us, then.’
Nyssa patted the pockets of her shorts to make sure she’d grabbed her phone, wallet and keys. After confirming that she hadn’t left anything upstairs, she darted round the table.
‘Goodbye, my darling,’ Nyssa said, reaching down and pressing a kiss to Tegan’s cheek. ‘I’ll see you later; dinner at my place?’
‘Sounds good,’ Tegan replied, grinning. ‘You sure Mel won’t mind?’
Nyssa groaned.
‘Oh, she’s going be a nightmare today. Is it alright with you if I just tell her what’s happened?’
‘Go for it. Although, maybe skip the extensive play-by-play of what happened upstairs.’
‘Agreed. Have a great day.’
‘You too.’
Nyssa gave a quick smile, before darting out into the corridor. A few seconds later, the door closed behind her.
Tegan rubbed the spot where Nyssa’s lips had touched, and gave a happy giggle, swinging her feet under the table.
*
Nyssa hurried through the front door of her place, and headed straight for her room. She hadn’t been able to brush her hair properly at Tegan’s and had simply left it loose; after changing into her scrubs (along with some fresh underthings), Nyssa began to quickly brush through her long bushy hair. Normally, she’d be annoyed about the hassle but, given how her hair had gotten so messy, she found it difficult to complain too much.
Stopping briefly to apply some deodorant, Nyssa dumped her phone, wallet and keys into her work bag, and hurried to the kitchen.
Of course, Mel was leaning against the counter, already dressed in her scrubs and with a horribly knowing look on her face.
‘Bit of a rush this morning, eh?’ she said, as Nyssa quickly boiled the kettle to make tea for her thermos. ‘I take it that you and Tegan dozed off on her sofa again.’
Nyssa bit her bottom lip, feeling her face burn.
‘Er… well…’
Mel turned to look at her, a hesitant smile on her face.
‘Nyssa, did you and Tegan…’
Nyssa put her hands on her face; her cheeks were now crimson.
‘I… well, Tegan and I…’ she stammered, unsure of exactly how to explain. ‘T-turns out, Tegan f-fancies me too. And now we’re… we’re…’
‘Nyssa!’
Mel gave a whoop of delight, and pulled her friend into a hug, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.
‘I knew it!’ the redhead exclaimed, clearly delighted. ‘You two just needed a bit of time, and you’d figure it all out! Oh, Nyssa; I’m so happy for you!’
Nyssa smiled, a little embarrassed but elated nonetheless.
‘Thanks,’ she replied, before gently easing Mel off her. ‘I do appreciate it, Mel. But… please don’t go mad just yet. It’s still very early days for Tegan and I.’
‘Oh, I understand,’ Mel said, still smiling happily. ‘You two need some space to navigate things.’
‘Speaking of which… Mel, would it be alright if Tegan came over for dinner this evening?’
‘Of course!’ Mel replied, grinning. ‘I’ve been meaning to try the organic place down the coast, so go wild!’
Then, a smirk crept over the redheads face.
‘Speaking of going wild… did you and Tegan-’
‘Mel!’
‘What? Nyssa; I’ve literally seen you with your hands up Polly’s blouse, nothing shocks me anymore-’
‘Stop bringing that up!’ exclaimed the mortified dentist. ‘If you want to know, fine! I spent most of last night in Tegan’s bed with her legs over my shoulders! There; are you happy now?’
Mel giggled.
‘You did tell her that you’re ace, right?’
‘Aces can have sex lives!’ Nyssa exclaimed, face still burning. ‘And, well, I was the one who got carried away with it!’
‘I’m sure Tegan wasn’t complaining-’
‘Mel!’
*
~Someone just left Tegan’s place…
~Jo, not this again; don’t you have anything better to do?
~Can I help it if Nyssa leaves Tegan’s cottage when I’m stood in my kitchen drinking my tea?
~So, it was Nyssa, then?
~Yes. She stayed over, by the looks of things. Didn’t I say it was a romantic bike ride for them both yesterday? Awww, romance is blossoming in our little town…
~You say that like Ian and Barbara haven’t been adorably cute for the past twenty-odd years.
~Ian and Barbara are different; that’s like watching your parents hold hands.
~Jo, didn’t you used to fancy Barbara back in the day?
~Didn’t we all?
~I didn’t.
~Benton, you’re acearo; pretty sure everyone else in town has had a crush on Barbara or Ian at some point.
~How about a poll? For Pride?
~Barbara is going to HATE you all by the end of the month.
~Benton, are all acearo’s spoilsports, or is that just you?
~It’s my own personal quality. XD
*
The day at work passed at an agonisingly slow pace. The morning appointments seemed to five times as long as they normally would, and her lunchbreak crept past slowly. The afternoon wasn’t much better.
However, the end of the working day did eventually arrive, and Nyssa hurried home, Mel staying behind to lock up the practice. Nyssa immediately hurried and took a very quick wash; she didn’t want to smell of dental disinfectant for her evening in with Tegan. She settled on what she’d be wearing (a nice summer blouse and shorts) and applied a little lip-balm as opposed to make-up; she didn’t want to spend all evening worrying about smudging her foundation.
She then headed to the kitchen, and began setting everything up. She put out the cutlery, and then got out a large pan for the meal she was going to be cooking. Grabbing an apron and then washing her hands, Nyssa set to work chopping up onions.
Mel entered through the front door shortly later. Nyssa turned to her, wearing a face mask to stop her eyes running from the onions.
‘Spaghetti bolognaise?’
Nyssa nodded.
‘Thought it would be nice; not too formal, but enough of an effort to be noticeable.’
‘Oh, how romantic,’ Mel smiled. ‘You two have fun; I’ll be out all evening.’
Mel went to get changed and then waved to Nyssa as she left. Nyssa responded in kind, before continuing to cook.
A little while later, Nyssa’s phone beeped. Tegan had just finished work and, once she’d gotten changed, she’d be right over.
Nyssa bit back the nervous smile on her face as she replied quickly with a thumbs-up. She wanted this evening to go well; things between Tegan and her were still very new, and she didn’t want to mess up this exciting closeness between the two of them.
By this point, the food was cooking nicely, and Nyssa put them both on low heat to keep ticking over.
Another ten minutes crept past, and there was a knock at the door.
Nyssa gave herself a quick look in the mirror, before remembering what she had looked like for most of the previous night, and hurried out to the front door.
Tegan was stood on the doorstep. She was wearing a top made of a flimsy, lightweight material. Rather unusually, she was also wearing a skirt this evening; it was made of leather and… was it really that short? Nyssa’s eyes must have been playing tricks on her.  
‘Alright, love?’ Tegan said, grinning as Nyssa moved aside to let her in. The Australian leaned in as she passed to give Nyssa a peck on the cheek. ‘Good day at work?’
‘Not too bad, thanks,’ Nyssa said, smiling. The two of them headed into the kitchen. ‘How was yours?’
‘Spent most of the afternoon on board one of the fishing boats,’ the Australian said, sitting down opposite Nyssa at the table. ‘Hence why I’m a bit late; had to take a shower.’
‘Yes, I do prefer it when you don’t stink of fish.’
The two women chuckled. Nyssa reached over the table and softly placed her hand over Tegan’s, giving it a squeeze. The Australian’s face flushed prettily, and her dimples showed as she smiled.
Nyssa’s timer on her phone went out, and the two women startled, before giggling. Nyssa stood up and headed to the hob.
‘Would you like a hand?’ Tegan asked, from the table.
‘You just sit there and relax,’ Nyssa said, already straining the water out of the spaghetti. ‘I’ll take care of it.’
A few moments later, two large plates were placed on the table, and Nyssa sat down across from Tegan.
‘Er… dig in, I suppose.’
Tegan smiled, and tucked in.
‘Wow!’ she said, covering her mouth with a hand and grinning at Nyssa. ‘Damn, Nys; that’s good!’
Nyssa giggled, feeling her cheeks pinken at the compliment.
‘Thank you, my darling.’
The two continued to eat in companionable silence. It was only after finishing off the desert (Cornish Ice Cream) that Tegan spoke up again.
‘So… “my darling”?’ she asked, as the two of them began to wash the dishes.
‘You’re the one calling me “love”.’
Tegan chuckled.
‘Fair point. I rather like us using those terms, not gonna lie.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah,’ Tegan smiled, a little shyly. ‘Never thought I’d be anyone’s darling, to be honest.’
‘Whyever not?’
‘Dunno. Just never thought I’d be this lucky.’
Nyssa pressed her lips to Tegan’s.
‘I could say the same,’ she breathed, and the Australian gazed at her with such gentle warmth that Nyssa was unable to stop herself kissing her again.
The two of them finished the dishes, and headed into the sitting room (Nyssa having poured them two glasses of lemonade). The two women nestled themselves comfortably on the sofa, Nyssa putting her arm around Tegan’s shoulders and giving her a soft squeeze.
‘I didn’t know you wore skirts.’
‘I’m not completely without feminine qualities,’ Tegan cheeked. ‘Besides… given how often your eyes have wandered this evening, I think you rather like seeing my legs.’
Nyssa giggled.
‘Oh, I know you’re feminine,’ she giggled. ‘And you know I like your legs, given how long they were wrapped around my head-’
‘Nyssa!’
Tegan let out a flustered laugh, her face pinkening.
‘Well, it’s true!’
‘Ah, mon amour…’
‘You speak French?’
‘Well,’ Tegan said, with a shrug. ‘If you spend half your adolescence in a French boarding school, you’re bound to pick up some of the local lingo.’
Nyssa stared at her.
‘You better not be joking, Tegan Jovanka.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘How on earth did you end up in a French boarding school?’
‘Mum and dad sent me there; they thought it would help broaden my horizons. Hang on…’
She reached into the pocket of her skirt, and pulled out her phone. After some quick scrolling, she held it up for Nyssa to see.
‘Is that… a sailor suit?’
‘It was the uniform,’ Tegan said, sounding mortified. ‘And, yes, my mum thought it was the cutest thing ever.’
‘It is!’ Nyssa exclaimed, delightedly. ‘Oh, Tegan; you look so cute!’
‘Cheers,’ Tegan groaned, putting the phone away quickly, as if she had been expecting that response and wanted to move on as fast as possible. ‘Now can we never talk about it again?’
‘Oh, this is going to live in my head rent-free,’ Nyssa giggled. ‘Tegan Jovanka, French boarding school student in a ridiculously cute uniform!’
Tegan sighed.
‘Alright, fine; we can talk about it,’ she said, before a sudden idea seemed to blossom in her head, and she gave a grin. ‘But can… can you show me the Rocky Horror picture?’
Nyssa felt her face flush.
‘That’s different,’ she said. ‘You in a sailor suit is cute. Me in a black corset is-’
‘Hot? Sexy? Insanely attractive?’
Nyssa swallowed, flustered.
‘You… you think so?’
‘Nys, I’m a lesbian who fancies the literal pants off you; what do you think?’
‘I… I think you have very high expectations.’
‘About you? Nyssa…’
Tegan suddenly looked upset.
‘What?’
‘You’re doing that negative self-talk thing again,’ the Australian said. ‘And I don’t bloody like it when you talk about yourself like that.’
Nyssa felt her heart well.
‘Oh, Tegan…’
She pressed their lips together, softly.
‘You’re wonderful,’ she said, pulling away slightly.
‘I try,’ Tegan said. ‘As for the photo, I’ve got a better idea… do you still have the corset?’
‘Tegan!’
The Australian gave a low, husky laugh. Nyssa felt a shiver go up her spine.
‘W-well, I do, yes,’ Nyssa admitted. ‘But I don’t even know if it fits me anymore.’
‘Oh, really?’ Tegan said, with a grin. ‘Even better, I’d say-’
Tegan climbed into Nyssa’s lap, and gently rested her hands on the younger woman’s shoulders. Nyssa swallowed, feeling her pulse quicken. She had been expecting something like to happen at some point that evening, but she was mentally unprepared for sudden close physical contact of this nature with Tegan. A certain part of her brain recommended placing her hands on Tegan’s back, and Nyssa took the majority vote. The Australian grinned, clearly enjoying herself.
‘Nyssa…’ Tegan purred, deeply, into Nyssa’s ear. Her finger slipped up Nyssa’s neck and began to twirl a lock of her hair through her finger. ‘Please…’
She punctuated that last word with a squirm in Nyssa’s lap. The dentist gave a jolt.
‘F-fine!’ she stammered, very much aware of how much Tegan’s skirt was riding up. Her hands had somehow sunk down Tegan’s back while she wasn’t paying attention; Tegan, on the other hand, had clearly paid attention to this, and gave another giddy squirm. ‘But you’ll have to wait while I get changed!’
Tegan grinned, blinking excitedly.
*
About fifteen minutes later, Nyssa surveyed herself in her bedroom mirror.
On balance, she thought she looked nice enough. The corset wasn’t a bargain-basement item, after all; she’d bought it (second hand, admittedly) from a shop in Soho that seemed to specialise in such clothing.
Nyssa had also decided to put on the matching stockings and suspenders, just for the look of the thing. She brushed out her hair again and -on impulse- put on the little black choker that she’d once gotten as a joke birthday present from Polly and Ben.
Nyssa turned, and looked over her shoulder into the mirror.
Well, she didn’t have much of a frame of reference for this sort of thing, but she supposed that she looked nice. Well, maybe a little better than nice. The black material of the ensemble seemed to contrast nicely with her pale skin. However, while the corset did still fit her well enough, her curves had become more accentuated in the intervening years, causing the corset to act far as the support it had been originally intended for than when she had worn it to the Rocky Horror night all those years ago. She hadn’t bothered to lace too tight, but she was positive that she did not normally have such a pronounced hourglass figure. And that her chest was not normally as noticeable as it currently was.
Of course, historically, women had worn chemises under their corsets, but this one was designed to be worn on the skin directly. It wasn’t especially uncomfortable, but Nyssa supposed that this was due to her not lacing tightly. Modern films often gave corsets a bad name, but they were designed to be practical undergarments, the same as many modern day bras in execution. 
This one definitely wasn’t designed for everyday use, though.
Giving up on trying to figure out whether this was attractive to look at, Nyssa instead wondered what Tegan look like wearing it.
A few moments later, Nyssa stopped squeezing her thighs together and stood back up. Still breathing a tad heavily, she decided that she probably did look attractive in this. She gave a cough, clearing her throat.  
At the very least, she hoped that Tegan would like it.
Nyssa opened the door, and hurried back to the sitting room. She poked her head around the door.
Tegan immediately sat up, grinning.
Feeling rather flustered, Nyssa entered the room. Tegan’s eyes widened larger and larger as she gaze upon the dentist.
‘Wow…’ Tegan said, eyes alight. ‘Nys, you look… damn…’
Nyssa found herself blushing slightly, and a shiver went up her spine. She could already feel warmth beginning to blossom just south of her stomach, and gooseflesh was appearing on the short gap of pale skin of her thighs, just above the top of the stockings.  
She had to admit, the idea of Tegan sat in front of her, awed and enraptured by the sight of Nyssa, was something she could get used to very easily.
Feeling suddenly confident, Nyssa slowly crossed the room, taking the time to let Tegan’s gaze travel up and down her body. She stood for a moment in front of Tegan, before placing a foot on the seat cushion next to her, and peered down at Tegan.
The Australian goggled at her, her own breaths coming out heavy and gasping, as if scarcely able to function.
‘I think,’ Nyssa whispered, cocking an eyebrow upwards and smirking. ‘That you are surprisingly kinky, Tegan Jovanka.’                                                                                
‘Y-yeah,’ Tegan gasped. ‘I guess I am.’
Nyssa gave a chuckle. She reached over and gently tilted Tegan’s chin upwards with her finger. The Australian seemed unable to move a muscle, simply breathing in and out with a belaboured gasp.
Nyssa put her leg back down, and slinked gently onto the seat next to Tegan. With one hand still cupping Tegan’s chin, Nyssa pressed her lips in a soft kiss to the older woman’s mouth.
Tegan seemed to shiver.
With a knowing grin, Nyssa climbed into Tegan’s lap, straddling her thighs. The Australian’s breath seemed to hitch in her throat, and Nyssa could sworn that Tegan’s thighs quivered underneath her. The warmth below Nyssa’s stomach dropped down further, spreading like a fire between her legs. Yes… yes…
‘I… take… it,’ Nyssa breathed, accentuating each word with a kiss to Tegan’s neck. ‘That… you… like… my… outfit?’
Tegan nodded, breathlessly. Her hands were already running up and down Nyssa’s legs, lingering on the clasps of the stockings.
‘Y-you really went all-out with this, huh,’ Tegan stammered, huskily.
Nyssa grinned.
Their lips met, hungrily. Nyssa’s eyes fluttered shut. hands became ensnared in Tegan’s hair, while Tegan’s hands were already fumbling with the top clasp of the corset. A few moments later, Nyssa felt the fire burn stronger between her legs, as Tegan’s hands began to… oh…
‘Nys…’ Tegan moaned, against her lips. ‘God…’
Nyssa’s eyes opened, and her hands slipped down from Tegan’s hair, and began to grasp at the material of her top, letting it slip off her shoulders. Tegan gave a moan against Nyssa’s lips as Nyssa’s fingers traversed her skin, before quickly the clasp around her back. The fire between Nyssa’s legs was burning stronger and stronger with each passing second that Nyssa remained in contact with Tegan. More… more… yes…
Nyssa’s other hand slipped down, and found the hem line of Tegan’s skirt. Her fingers slipped under, to find-
‘Oh, Tegan…’ she whispered, against the Australian’s lips. ‘You weren’t kidding about liking the corset, were you?...’
Tegan’s face flushed further, but she didn’t seem to care. She was already sweating profusely, and her thighs trembled as Nyssa’s hand continued their explorations.
‘Nyssa…’ Tegan breathed, like a mantra. ‘Oh, god… Nyssa…’
The fire roaring its approval, Nyssa began -slowly, at first- to writhe in Tegan’s lap, growing in intensity as she did so. The Australian gave another deep moan, and her hands slipped down Nyssa’s body to land on her thighs, her fingers sinking a little into the soft skin as she held Nyssa closer.
Nyssa’s heart was now pounding against her chest, and she could feel the blood roaring in her ears. As she pressed herself closer to Tegan, and her fingers under the skirt continued to illicit such noises from the Australian, Nyssa found herself panting hungrily against Tegan’s lips. She wanted -she needed- more… more…
God, this was wonderful! This was ecstasy! This was-
‘Oh, sorry, you two are busy, didn’t mean to intrude…’
Both Tegan and Nyssa startled. Seemingly on reflex, Tegan’s arms looped protectively around Nyssa’s back, attempting to shield her from view.
Mel, covering her eyes with one hand, was stood in the doorway, having presumably paused on the way to her room. The redhead gave an awkward giggle.
‘I’ll just be off to my room,’ Mel said, still covering her eyes. ‘You two have a nice evening; I take it you two remembered me mentioning that picture from the Rocky Horror night-’
‘Mel!’ Nyssa exclaimed, mortified, as she quickly pulled up the corset.
‘Sorry! Don’t mind me!’
A few moments later, Mel’s bedroom door swung closed.
‘Sorry,’ Nyssa mumbled, . ‘That rather ruined it, didn’t it-’
At that moment, Tegan flipped Nyssa down onto the sofa, and pressed their lips together again. The Australian’s hands were already roaming. A few seconds later, several more clasps of the corset had been unfastened, and Nyssa gave a low growl of excitement.
Chest heaving, Tegan pulled away.
‘Bedroom?’
‘Bedroom,’ Nyssa agreed, breathlessly.
Without another word, Tegan hoisted Nyssa up into her arms, carrying her like a bride. Half-walking, half-running, Tegan carried Nyssa out of the sitting room and along to Nyssa’s room closing the door behind her with a nudge of her  hips. A few moments later, there were several thumps of discarded clothing hitting the floor.
Nyssa giggled, as she fell with Tegan softly onto the bed. Hopefully, Mel had put in her earplugs already.
*
‘So, are we going to talk about-’
‘No, Mel; we are not.’
Nyssa glared at her friend. It was getting close to 4pm the next day. There was only one final appointment slot left, and Nyssa was looking forward to having a nice evening at the beach. Tegan, after the two of them had eaten breakfast in Nyssa’s kitchen, had suggested that Nyssa have another surfing lesson. It was due to be a lovely evening of gentle sunshine, so Nyssa had agreed. And not just because she wanted to see Tegan in her wetsuit again (although that was an added perk, she supposed).
‘I’m just saying,’ Mel chuckled, ‘that, if you are going to get your kink on with Tegan, maybe doing that with her in your room might be a nice alternative to the sitting room-’
‘It wasn’t planned!’ Nyssa said, feeling her cheeks flush. ‘I forget you were due to be arriving back later, and… and Tegan had asked to see…’
Mel giggled, grinning.
‘Judging from the occasional noises coming from your bedroom, I take it that Tegan did very much enjoy it-’
‘Mel!’
The redhead gave another good-natured laugh.
‘In all seriousness,’ she said, still giggling. ‘Your next appointment is here.’
‘Who is it? There wasn’t anyone booked into the diary’
‘It’s a late booking. Local woman,’ Mel said, a curious smile playing on her lips. ‘A certain… Ms Jovanka.’
Nyssa bounded out of her chair, and stormed past Mel and into the waiting room. Sure enough, there was only one person waiting at that time. Tegan was sat (looking rather pretty in a light blue button-down shirt and a cream skirt) in a chair. As Nyssa entered, the Australian put down the magazine she had been reading, and she looked up, the pupils in her brown eyes dilating.
‘Hello, love.’
Nyssa momentarily forgot what she had been planning on saying, and her heart happily pounded against her chest, like a dog who had spotted its owner.
‘H-hello, my darling,’ Nyssa stammered, before the sensible her brain managed to finally catch up with the rest of her. ‘Er…Tegan, what are you doing here?’
‘Well, I do need a check-up,’ Tegan said, bemused. ‘And, well, you’re the only dental practice in town.’
‘But that’s…’
‘What?’
‘Tegan… I can’t have you as a patient.’
‘Why not?’
‘You know darn well why not!’ Nyssa exclaimed, cheeks pinkening. ‘If you end up sat in my dental chair with me looking down into your mouth, I… things will end up unprofessional very quickly!’
‘Oh.’ Tegan looked startled, before flushing slightly. ‘Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Er… maybe Mel can do my check-up? If she qualified?’
‘I am, indeed,’ Mel said, following Nyssa into the waiting room and giving a cheerful smile. ‘Just through here, Tegan…’
As Tegan walked into the clinic room, Mel snickered silently over her shoulder at Nyssa, who blushed and giggled in return.
*
~Okay, this chat is for Pride organising ONLY from now on; this rumour-milling is getting out of hand.
~Benton!
~He’s got a point, Jo. We need to focus on the events at Pride.
~Mike! That’s no fair!
~I am on the committee for this, Jo; I love some gossip as much as the next person, but PRIORITIES ‘kay?
~:(
~Stop whining, Jo.
~Liz speaks the truth.
~It’s a gift, Mike.
~TEGAN WENT TO VISIT NYSSA AT THE DENTISTS TODAY; I SAW HER GO IN!
~What did I JUST say, Jo?
~Fine. I’m done now. Nevermind.
~Good.
~Glad you agree, Jo.
~Spoilsports. :(
*
‘So… check-up went okay?’
‘Mel says I’ve got nothing to worry about,’ Tegan said, with a shrug. ‘Although I was hoping I could have you instead.’
‘You’ve had me enough times lately, Tegan Jovanka-’
‘Ssshhh!’ Tegan shushed, giggling. ‘Nys, you can’t say things like that in public!’
The two of them were sat on the beach. Nyssa was wearing a borrowed rash vest and swimming trunks, while Tegan had her usual summer wetsuit on. The Australian somehow managed to look even more fetching in it than the last time Nyssa had seen her wearing it, but maybe that was because she now knew what Tegan looked like under it.
‘Oh, there’s no-one around,’ Nyssa chuckled, before pressing a kiss to Tegan’s cheek. ‘Now, are you going to get me surfing, or are we going to spend all evening just flirting?’
‘I mean, we can do both if you want…’
It took about an hour of practice before Nyssa could kneel on the board without immediately tipping over into the water. But she was encouraged by Tegan’s assessment that most people couldn’t get this far over an entire summer, let alone a few hours of practice.
While it was possible that Tegan was just overexaggerating to make Nyssa feel better, Nyssa didn’t mind too much.
This time, Nyssa managed to stay upright on her knees for about twenty seconds, before pitching sideways and sinking gently under the smooth waves. A few moments later, she emerged from the water, laughing and throwing her head back, hair flying out behind her. On a peaceful summer evening like this, being taught to surf by a wonderful woman like Tegan, Nyssa found it hard to complain about anything.
‘Tegan,’ she said, looking around for the Australian. ‘I think I’m getting the hang of this!’
Tegan, stood on her own board, was staring at her. Her brown eyes shone as she beheld Nyssa.
Of course, it was never a good idea to lose focus whilst surfing. A few moments later, Tegan slipped off the side of her board, and emerged next to Nyssa, hair plastered to her forehead.
The two women giggled, before swimming back to the shore, boards bobbing along behind them.
*
Nyssa awoke in Tegan’s bed, and smiled to herself as she recalled the events of the previous evening. On the Friday afternoon, Tegan had invited her round for another home-cooked meal (stir-fry this time), and the two of them had followed this by watching a few episodes of ‘The Good Life’. Tegan had mostly used the time to comment on Nyssa’s good taste in women whenever Felecity Kendal was on-screen, but Nyssa found it hard to care. Especially since Tegan had spent most of that time leaning with her head on Nyssa’s shoulder.
After they’d watched a third episode, the kissing and cuddling had become more important than watching, so they’d decided to call it an early night and had headed upstairs to the bedroom, having ditched their clothes on the sofa a while before. They’d eventually gone to sleep around… 11.30? Neither of them had been paid much thought to the time.
Nyssa yawned, stretched and got out of bed. She could hear the sounds of Tegan humming to the radio in the kitchen. She basked in the feeling of a lazy Saturday morning for a moment, smiling to herself and enjoying the feeling of Tegan’s duvet against her bare skin. Deciding that she didn’t want to get dressed and showered just yet, Nyssa climbed out of bed and headed downstairs.
Tegan was stood at the hob, wearing a pair of pyjama shorts. Nyssa smile, and came to stand just behind her, wrapping her arms around Tegan’s stomach.
‘Eggs on toast?’
‘Mmmm,’ Nyssa agreed, a little sleepily, and nuzzling into Tegan’s neck. ‘Sounds good...’
The Australian chuckled.
‘And you’re not just saying that because you’re currently copping a feel?’
Nyssa ignored this comment. Tegan was correct, but they both knew that; it didn’t need to be acknowledged. After all, it wasn’t as if either of them disliked what was currently happening. Judging from the previous night, Tegan definitely liked it.
‘As much as I love the feeling of you pressing into my back,’ Tegan said, with a giggle. ‘If we get distracted, these eggs are gonna burn.’
‘Distracted?’
‘Nys, how can I concentrate on cooking when my back is being assaulted by your ample-’
Nyssa spluttered into laughter, and pressed a kiss to Tegan’s cheek. She then turned and headed into the sitting room, hoping to put on the dress she’d been wearing the previous evening.
However, at that moment, the doorbell rang.
‘Nys, can you get that?’ Tegan called, from the kitchen. ‘Probably Jo with the local newsletter…’
Nyssa quickly wrapped a robe around herself, and went to open the door. But the woman standing on the doorstep wasn’t Jo Grant.
‘Hello!’
‘Barbara?’ Nyssa said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in her robe. She was also aware that she probably looked distinctly bed-rumpled. ‘H-hello, how are you?’
‘Good, thank you,’ replied the teacher, with a cheerful smile. ‘Sorry to bother you both so earlier; just thought I’d let you know about the television work that’s happening in the town today.’
‘Television work?’
‘Yes; are you familiar with “Professor Mysterious”?’
‘The long-running science-fiction series for the BBC?’ Nyssa said, eyes widening. ‘Starting in the nineteen-sixties and continuing, with a few hiatuses, into the present da- I mean, yes, I think so.’
Barbara chuckled.
‘Don’t worry; I’m a fan too. Which is why I was so excited when I heard the production crew wanted to film around Tregonnereth.’
‘That’s fantastic!’ Nyssa exclaimed.
‘Ah, a Ninth Professor afficionado,’ Barbara said, with an approving nod. ‘You have good taste.’
At that moment, however, a distraction came from inside the cottage.
‘Nys, did you want salt on your egg-Barbara?!’
Tegan hurried back into the kitchen, covering herself up with her arms.
Barbara laughed good-naturedly.
‘Don’t worry, Tegan,’ she called along the hallway. ‘I saw much worse when you were staying over at ours on the sofa.’
‘Not funny!’ came the mortified Australian’s reply.
‘Er… sorry about that,’ Nyssa said, tightening her robe around her. She wished that she had chosen to put on her dress instead; the robe didn’t so much hide her curves as accentuate them.
‘Oh, don’t worry, dear; I was young once,’ Barbara said, before a twinkle appeared in her eye. ‘In fact, Ian and myself did get up to a good deal of mischief after hours at teacher training college-’
‘Barbara!’ Tegan said, darting forward. She had clearly grabbed the first thing she could find to cover herself, as she was now wearing an apron. ‘Can we please not hear this particular anecdote?’
 Barbara chuckled.
‘Well, you two enjoy your weekend; I think one of the production team said they knew you, Nyssa. Does the name “Romana” ring any bells?’
Nyssa nodded.
‘Yes; she was my senior at university. She was hoping to catch up with me during her time down here.’
‘Oh, wonderful; I’m sure you’ll have lots to chat about,’ Barbara said, smiling. ‘And you can introduce her to Tegan, as well!’
The teacher waved, and headed back along the street.
‘So… Romana?’ Tegan said, closing the door.
‘That senior from my university who called during our first… er…’
‘The one who called halfway through?’ Tegan said, nodding as they headed into the kitchen and sat down to eat. ‘Yeah, I remember that pretty vividly.’
‘So do I, to be honest,’ Nyssa cheeked. ‘Has it really been almost a week already?’
‘Apparently,’ Tegan grinned, her cheeks flushing slightly. ‘To be honest, my brain took a while to catch up after I found me fancying you wasn’t unrequited.’
Nyssa giggled, her own cheeks flushed just as much.
After they had eaten (Tegan cooked a good breakfast indeed, and Nyssa made a mental note to ask whether the Australian had ever worked as a chef) and then finished the washing up, Tegan turned to Nyssa.
‘What time did you say Romana was meeting you?’
‘Around 11; she’s got her break then.’
‘Lovely. I’ve got some errands to run for the old boys around lunch, but I’ll probably be free after mid-afternoon. Do… do you want me to meet her?’
‘If you like,’ Nyssa said. ‘I’m not sure if you’ll enjoy it; we’ll probably just talk about old times and dentistry.’
‘Nah, I’d like to,’ Tegan grinned. ‘If she’s your friend, she must be pretty awesome.’
Nyssa smiled, and pressed a kiss to Tegan’s cheek.
‘You’re wonderful, you know.’
Tegan blushed, prettily. It was rather unfair that she was so pretty, but Nyssa found it far less unfair than she had done just a week prior.
‘Well, we’re got a few hours,’ Tegan said. ‘How do you want to spend the morning?’
In response, Nyssa reached behind Tegan and pulled apart the apron strings. The garment descended to Tegan’s feet, and the Australian gave a giddy squeal as Nyssa’s hands curled around the fabric of her pyjama shorts. A few moments later, the shorts had been abandoned on the floor, along with Nyssa’s robe. It was going to be a good morning.
*
~So, we’re all just ignoring the fact that Tegan and Nyssa are staying over at each other’s places virtually every other night now?
~Like we said; it’s not any of our business. If they want to tell us, they will.
~Exactly.
~So, yes, we are ignoring it, Jo. Unless you’re suggesting forcing a confession out of them both?
~No. No, I’m not. :( I just… I want them to be happy!
~They may be happier sorting it out by themselves. Leave them be.
~Oh, alright. Benton, this doesn’t count as me “rumour-milling”, does it?
~Border-line. Mike, have you got the glitter order sorted yet?
~It’s due tomorrow. Oh, and my new heels are FINALLY here!
~I’ll never get used to seeing you in drag, Mike.
~Because I look damn good, Liz; that’s why.
~Oh, ha ha.
~Benton, have we missed anything?
~No. I even got an extra medical kit just in case you fall over in those heels.
~I am not that bad!
~Mike, you once knocked yourself out on your own fridge door. Excuse me for being prepared.
~You’re such a scout.
~Yes, how terrible that I am similar to Superman.
~You look more like a Ken to me.
~I am Kenough, thank you very much.
~Oh, so THIS is fine but I can’t talk about Tegan and Nyssa?
~Yes, Jo. That’s exactly the case.
*
On reflection, Nyssa thought it had been great to see Romana again. The two hadn’t been able to chat for long, but that had been due to Romana only having a short lunch break. During her half-hour break, the two women had headed to the village café, and had gotten caught up properly; Nyssa mainly talking about her new life in Cornwall, and Romana talking about her life working with the production crew (which was normally based in Cardiff).
On the way back to where the production crew had based themselves (in the harbour, primarily) Nyssa had mentioned that she was a fan of the programme, and Romana had nodded, saying that this didn’t surprise her. Apparently, the programme still had the wobbly sets and corny dialogue that Nyssa had adored growing up. It made her happy to know that not everything on television had to be super-serious.
While she did have half-a-mind to go down and look around the set, she knew she’d just be getting under the feet of the crew. Besides, she might end up bumping into one of the actors and would probably embarrass herself somehow. Instead, she had simply asked Romana if -when she had a spare moment- she could get Nyssa some autographs. Romana had smiled, nodding.
Since Romana’s shift was due to end in the middle of the afternoon (it was difficult to tell with filming work), Nyssa had then suggested that they meet up for an early dinner, and Romana had happily agreed.
Nyssa headed back to her place; Tegan was out doing the errands she had mentioned. However, upon entering the kitchen, she found Mel sat at the table, browsing through her phone.
‘How’s Romana?’
‘She’s good,’ Nyssa replied, pouring herself a glass of water and sitting down at the table. ‘I never realised how busy production is for these programmes.’
‘Tell me about it; the group chat’s been buzzing all day. I had a quick look in on the set; it looks pretty interesting. The production crew seem nice.’
‘That sounds about right; I think everyone’s really excited about it.’
‘You didn’t tell me that Tegan was helping them with the stuff.’
Nyssa froze.
‘Is she? I thought she was doing errands for the old boys.’
‘Hang on, I think Barbara asked her to help…’
Mel stood up and walked round the table, kneeling down so that Nyssa could see her phone.
‘Oh, yes,’ Nyssa said, reading the message. ‘I suppose Tegan is the odd-job person for the town.’
Mel then scrolled down to the most recent message, which was accompanied by a photo. Tegan was stood, walking along the harbour, alongside…
‘Who’s… that?’ Nyssa said, slowly.
‘I think she said her name was Peri,’ Mel said, with a shrug. ‘American, very friendly.’
‘Right.’
The redhead turned to look at Nyssa, whose mouth was set into a purse.
‘Nyssa, are you… jealous?’ Mel giggled.
‘What? No!’ Nyssa exclaimed. ‘Of course I’m not; this… Peri person seems perfectly nice. I’m sure she and Tegan are getting along fine.’
‘Uh huh.’
‘Mel!’
‘Oh, Nyssa,’ Mel chuckled. ‘I’ve seen the way Tegan looks at you; trust me, you don’t have to worry about Peri.’
Nyssa huffed, and swatted at Mel’s arm.
*
Mel left Nyssa to her jealous irritation (thought Nyssa adamantly insisted that she wasn’t jealous in the slightest) and headed back into the town centre, enjoying the atmosphere of how unusually-busy the place was.
She was just watching some of the filming from a safe distance when-
‘Alright, Mel?’
Mel was pleased to see that Ace had come to stand next to her.
‘Hello, Ace,’ she said, giving the shorter woman a gentle nudge with her shoulder. ‘People-watching as well, eh?’
‘Something like that,’ Ace grinned, cheeks dimpling. ‘I take it Nyssa’s got in a huff about that photo in the group chat.’
‘You would be correct,’ Mel giggled. ‘Nyssa is rather fun to watch when she’s jealous.’
Ace let out a laugh, before suddenly looking a little shy as she turned to Mel.
‘Mel… have you heard about the Pride events taking place next week?’
‘It’s rather hard not to,’ Mel chuckled. ‘Yes, I thought I’d come along. Probably bring my bi badges and flag too.’
‘O-oh,’ Ace said, blinking quickly. ‘Yeah, that’s… that’s awesome.’
Mel giggled.
Ace smiled, her dimples showing again. She reached over and gave Mel’s hand a gentle squeeze.
‘Guess I’ll… see you at Pride, then.’
‘Guess you will,’ Mel said, softly.
Ace smiled, gave Mel’s hand another soft squeeze, before walking away. Mel went back to looking at the filming, a very happy smile playing on her lips.
*
‘Oh, just pop those here, Tegan.’
Tegan was helping the production crew with moving things. It was getting on for mid-afternoon, and the Australian was looking forward to meeting up with Nyssa and her friend soon.
She headed towards where Benton had indicated, and gently eased the rolled-up matte paintings into the back of the van. By the sounds of it, this particular episode of “Professor Mysterious” was supposed to be set on an alien word, hence the backgrounds that indicated a purple sky with scarlet red grass.
To be honest, Tegan had only watched a couple of episodes when she had been growing up in Australia, but what she had seen was pretty fun. She was already suspecting that Nyssa was probably a big fan.
‘Benton,’ she asked, turning to the man, who was looking over an itinerary for the days filming. ‘You wouldn’t happen to know where the actors have gone, would you?’
‘After some autographs for Nyssa, eh?’ Benton replied, causing Tegan to blush despite his straightforward tone. ‘I think they’re probably in the pub.’
Tegan nodded.
‘Oh, are you looking for the actors?’ came a voice from behind Tegan.
Tegan turned. A woman was stood nearby. She was of roughly similar height to Tegan, with long dirty-blonde hair that was hanging down over a droopy red top. A pair of white capri trousers and sensible shoes completed the ensemble. The woman had spoken with a rather posh English accent, and Tegan could tell that -whoever she was- this woman had a commanding presence, albeit not in the upper-class-jerk way.
‘Yeah,’ Tegan replied, as Benton headed away to check on other stuff that needed packing. ‘I’m after some autographs; I’ve got a friend who likes the show.’
‘So have I,’ the blonde said. ‘We can ask for them together, if you like. I imagine the actors will be pleased.’
The two women headed out of the harbour and towards the pub. Mike Yates was on duty that afternoon, and duly pointed them in the direction of the actors.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Tegan had several autographs. She smiled; she hoped that Nyssa would like them.
‘Thanks, Romana,’ said one of the actors, speaking to the blonde woman. ‘We don’t normally get asked for these much.’
Tegan stared at the blonde.
‘Oh, you’re Romana!’
‘And I take it you are the mysterious woman that helped Nyssa get out of dealing with the Henriettas,’ the blonde woman chuckled. ‘I did hear about an Australian woman with short hair. You caused quite the stir.’
Tegan gave a grin.
‘That’s me; Tegan Jovanka.’
The two shook hands, and sat down at a table.
‘Has Nyssa mentioned me, then?’
‘Yeah; you were her senior at uni, right?’
‘I was; it seems like such a long time ago.’
‘So… what was Nyssa like back then?’
‘Oh, she was very sweet,’ Romana replied. ‘A little sheltered, but very earnest and dedicated. Like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. I was rather surprised when I found out about what she got like after a few glasses of wine…’
*
Nyssa shivered, midway through eating her sandwich.
‘Nyssa?’ -Mel looked up from her knitting- ‘Are you alright?’
‘I think so,’ Nyssa said, rubbing her forearms with her hands. ‘I just had a bad feeling…’
*
‘No way!’
Tegan was unable to stop herself giggling.
‘It’s true!’ Romana exclaimed, chuckling. ‘Nyssa really is a wild card when she’d had a few glasses. Poor thing spent the next week terrified that Polly hated her.’
‘And did she?’
‘Of course not; I think Polly was actually rather flattered by the attention. And happy to have helped Nyssa realise she wasn’t straight.’
‘I’m surprised she never mentioned it.’
‘Well, it was rather mortifying, I think,’ Romana said. ‘She’s so straight-laced most of the time.’
‘Isn’t Polly married to Ben now?’
‘Oh, yes; he was rather tickled when he found out. He thought Nyssa was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud before that.’
‘He wasn’t bothered by it?’
Romana gave a laugh.
‘Like many straight men, he thought it was rather attractive. Polly had to put her foot down and tell him to stop asking Nyssa questions about it; poor Nyssa was utterly mortified.’
Tegan chuckled.
‘She’s so cute…’
Romana smiled knowingly.
*
‘Nyssa!’
‘Hello again,’ Nyssa said, as she gave Romana a hug. ‘Lovely afternoon, isn’t it-Tegan!’
Tegan giggled as Nyssa’s face went red, staring over Romana’s shoulder at the Australian, whose presence she had only just spotted. The Australian was dressed simply in her t-shirt and denim shorts, and -of course- looking absolutely gorgeous.
‘Nice to see you too,’ Tegan chuckled, pressing a kiss to Nyssa’s cheek as she sat down at the table. Romana and Nyssa had texted each other earlier, suggesting that they meet up in the town café. Of course, Romana had neglected to mention that Tegan was already with her. Hence the dentists confusion. ‘Oh, I got you these…’
She handed over the autographs.
‘I… these are from…’
‘You’re a fan of “Professor Mysterious”, right?’ Tegan said, as Nyssa’s eyes widened at the signatures. ‘Thought you might like these. Sorry, Romana; I think I stole your thunder a little.’
Romana chuckled.
‘No matter; I think I’ll keep these anyway,’ the blonde said, before turning to Nyssa. ‘If you two want to order first, I’ll keep the table occupied.’
‘Yes, that sounds lovely, thank you,’ Nyssa replied, smiling. Following Tegan, she left the table and headed up to the bar, which was currently empty.
‘“Yes, that sounds lovely, thank you”’, Tegan repeated, with a giggle. ‘Good grief, you haven’t sounded so formal since your first week in Tregonnereth.’
‘Cheek!’
Nyssa swatted Tegan softly on the arm. The Australian laughed again.
‘Okay, well I now know why you never mentioned Romana before,’ Tegan said, chuckling. ‘Oh, Nys; did you fancy her?’
‘No, I didn’t!’ Nyssa exclaimed, irritated. ‘It’s called platonic attraction; I just wanted to be her friend!’
‘And that’s different to what you felt for me at first, how?’
‘Because,’ Nyssa said, grabbing Tegan by the front of her shirt. She pulled the Australian close, so that their faces were barely a few inches away. ‘I didn’t spend every interaction with Romana trying not to imagine her naked.’
Tegan blushed scarlet.
‘Oh.’
‘Now do you understand?’ Nyssa said. ‘Tegan, in case it wasn’t obvious already, I fancy you, not Romana.’
Tegan stammered incoherently, as Jo Grant appeared at the bar, her eyebrow raised in amusement. Nyssa ignored this, and began to order.
*
‘I still can’t believe you got me autographs,’ Nyssa said, after they had finished their meals. ‘Tegan, you really shouldn’t have.’
‘Nah, I wanted to,’ Tegan replied, resting her elbow on the table and smiling softly at the woman seated next to her. ‘You… you deserve it, Nys.’
Nyssa felt her cheeks flush. Oh, why did Tegan have to stare at her like that? It was taking all of her self-control not to kiss the Australian right-there-and-then. What would Romana think? That Nyssa was besotted with Tegan.
And, while that was true, Nyssa didn’t want it to be quite that obvious. Especially not in front of her old university senior.
Romana gave a yawn, and stood up.
‘I’m going to head back to the hotel,’ she said. ‘Nyssa, can I talk with you in private for a moment?’
‘Oh,’ Nyssa said, a little surprised by this. ‘Yes, of course.’
Nyssa absentmindedly squeezed Tegan’s hand and stood up, following Romana up the bar.
‘Are you tired, Romana?’ Nyssa asked. ‘It’s still quite early in the evening, after all.’
‘Nyssa,’ Romana said, gently. ‘As much as I have enjoyed catching up, I spent enough time as a third wheel around Ben and Polly. So, on balance, I think I’ll leave you and Tegan to enjoy your evening.’
Nyssa felt her face burn.
‘How did you…’
‘Because I have eyes, Nyssa,’ Romana chuckled, kindly. ‘I see how you look at Tegan, and how she looks at you. You two must be pretty long-gone for each other.’
‘I… we’ve only been together a few days.’
‘Days?’ Romana said, with a low whistle. ‘Wow. Impressive, Nyssa.’
‘Romana!’
The blonde chuckled.
‘It was good to see you again, and I’m glad you’re happy here. If you and Tegan are ever in Cardiff, let me know?’
‘Of course.’
The two women hugged, and Romana then headed out of the pub, giving Tegan a quick wave and goodbye as she did so. The Australian then stood up and headed over to where Nyssa was standing.
‘You alright?’ Tegan said. ‘You look a little flushed.’
‘I think we were a little… obvious. Around Romana, I mean.’
Tegan giggled.
‘I mean, the whole town already thought we were an item anyway, so that’s not a stretch, is it?’
Nyssa sighed. At the very least, it wasn’t as if she had been deliberately trying to hide it; it’s just that she was rather shy by nature and didn’t feel comfortable with her business being known by so many others. But, given that she had moved to a small town, maybe that something she should be losing her sensitivity towards. She was getting better, she believed. But it would take a while for that nervousness to go.
Granted, the inclusion of a sweet, kind and cheery Australian had helped speed things along.
At that moment, the door of the cafe swung open.
The woman known as Peri Brown approached. She was wearing a pair of light blue shorts and a white t-shirt, over which hung a loose flannel shirt. The American had hair cut short into a bop, and a pair of sunglasses were tucked into the top of her t-shirt.
Of course, she was even prettier in person. Because the universe hated Nyssa, apparently.
‘Nys, this is Peri,’ Tegan said, indicating the American. ‘She works with the crew. Peri, this is Nyssa Traken.’
Nyssa’s mouth became a very thin line for a moment, before quickly reverting to a very brittle smile.
‘Hello,’ she said, shaking Peri’s hand. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Pleasure,’ Peri said, with a cheerful American accent. ‘This town sure is lovely, huh!’
‘Yes,’ Nyssa agreed. She wrapped her arm around Tegan’s waist, pulling the Australian closer to her, and bumping their hips together. ‘Very lovely indeed.’
Tegan’s face burned at the sudden close contact.
Peri giggled.
‘You two are cute together.’
‘Thank you,’ Nyssa said, primly. ‘I like to think so.’
Peri gave a chuckle.
‘Great,’ she said. ‘You both have a nice evening.’
The American headed to the ladies toilets, and disappeared from sight. At which point, Tegan turned to face the dentist whose arm was wrapped around her.
‘Nyssa!’
‘Yes, Tegan?’
‘What was that all about?!’
‘What was what all about?’
‘Grabbing me like that in front of Peri!’
‘Oh, did I?’ Nyssa said, not removing her arm from around Tegan’s waist. ‘I didn’t realise.’
‘Nys, are you… jealous or something?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t get jealous.’
‘Uh huh,’ Tegan replied, clearly not believing a word of it. ‘So, the sudden close physical contact wasn’t to make it clear to Peri that we’re an “us”, then?’
‘Not at all,’ Nyssa replied, with a small smile. ‘Now, my darling, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to have another lemonade.’
With one more squeeze of Tegan’s middle, Nyssa left for the bar.
‘Tegan?’
Mel had appeared nearby. Tegan was unsure how long the redhead had been stood there, but she had a horrible feeling that Mel had been listening to the entirety of the previous conversation.
‘What?’
Mel giggled.
‘You sure are making Nyssa rather flustered lately.’
Tegan blushed.
*
‘So… are we gonna talk about that?’
‘About what, Tegan?’
The two women were sat on the beach, watching the sun slowly sink towards the horizon. It was a warm, pleasant evening, so Tegan and Nyssa had decided to spend it sat outside, enjoying the restful peace that came with the knowledge that they didn’t have to get up early the next morning. Tregonnereth was peaceful at this time of the evening, with just the gentle crash of the waves against the sand further down at the shoreline.
‘The fact,’ Tegan said, with a knowing look. ‘That you assumed Peri was making a play for me, and immediately decided to get all possessive.’
‘Oh.’
Nyssa crouched over, hugging her knees with her arms, and looked ashamed.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, quietly. Her eyes flicked up to Tegan’s. ‘I… that was wrong of me. I should have trusted you more.’
‘Thank you,’ Tegan said, after a moment’s pause. ‘I appreciate that. Although, not gonna lie, it was rather flattering.’
Nyssa turned to look at her.
‘Flattering?’
‘It was! I’ve never had anyone get like that over me before, so it was… nice.’
‘Hang on,’ Nyssa said, unravelling her arms around her knees and swivelling around on the sand to stare at Tegan. ‘You think me making a fool of myself in front of a perfectly lovely woman for no reason was nice?’
‘The fact that you care enough about me to do that is what’s nice.’
‘It still doesn’t excuse the way I acted,’ Nyssa said, stubbornly. ‘You must think me a complete fool.’
‘You, Nyssa? C’mon; you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I could never think of you like that.’
‘Well, I am.’
‘If you are, then I definitely am. I thought you fancied Romana, even though she’s your friend and nothing else. I’m sorry.’
Nyssa stared at her for a moment.
‘You’re too lovely, Tegan; it’s not fair.’
‘I could say the same about you,’ Tegan said, with a chuckle. ‘Now, come over and stop moping.’
Smiling, Nyssa rested her head on Tegan’s shoulder for a moment, and the Australian nuzzled against the top of her head.
‘So… perfectly lovely Peri, eh?’
Nyssa felt her cheeks burn.
‘Not. A. Word.’
Tegan chuckled.
‘I wondered why your eyes kept flicking down to where her sunglasses were perched; Nys, are you sure you weren’t the one who-’
‘Tegan!’
The Australian laughed. Nyssa took her head off her shoulder.
‘In all seriousness, love,’ Tegan said, pressing a kiss to Nyssa’s neck. ‘If you do get jealous in future, please tell me.’
‘O-okay,’ Nyssa said, feeling her breath hitch. ‘I’ll… I’ll try.’
‘Good girl.’
Nyssa went quiet, as Tegan continued to press kisses to her neck. She could feel gooseflesh erupting up her back, and angled her head so the older woman could kiss her better. Tegan giggled against her skin, her hands gentling caressing Nyssa’s waist through her t-shirt.
They sat there for a while, Nyssa enjoying Tegan’s administrations, and Tegan clearly enjoying the effect she was having on the dentist. The sun continued to sink towards the horizon.
Eventually, Tegan pressed her lips to Nyssa’s lips, and the two women settled into a gentle embrace.
‘By the way, Romana mentioned an old anecdote from your days at uni,’ Tegan said, quietly. ‘Something about a certain night out in first year that you had with your friend Polly…’
Nyssa eyes widened with mounting horror.
‘Did… did she mention…’
‘You drinking two bottles of wine and proceeding to stick your hands up Polly’s blouse for several minutes?’ Tegan said, with a giggle. ‘Yes, she may have mentioned it-’
‘Nooooo!’
Nyssa turned away from Tegan, and put her face in her hands, cheeks burning scarlet. No, no, no! Of all the things Romana had to mention, it had to be that; Nyssa’s most embarrassing memory from her university days! Polly had barely mentioned it in the intervening years, but Nyssa still felt immense mortification over it.
‘Oh, Nys,’ Tegan said, gently, as she wrapped an arm around Nyssa’s shoulders, softly curling a finger through the dentist’s hair. ‘Why are you so embarrassed?’
‘Why? You’re asking me why?’
‘It’s not that bad. As far as identity discoveries go, it’s not that uncommon-’
‘Shut up, shut up, shut uppppp….’ Nyssa groaned. ‘It’s Polly; she’s my friend! I didn’t… it wasn’t like that!’
‘Romana said Polly was really flattered,’ Tegan continued. ‘I’m sure she didn’t mind. Dunno if Polly’s straight, but she probably enjoyed it a lot regardless, knowing how good you are at it-’
‘Not helping! Honestly, you’re as bad as Mel.’
‘Nah; Mel actually got to see it-’
‘Tegan!’
‘Nyssa, need I remind you that you’ve had your hands up my top several times over the past few days?’ Tegan said, chuckling. ‘C’mon; I’m not trying to be mean. I think it’s cute.’
Nyssa peeked out through her fingers. The Australian’s face was wreathed in a very soft smile, and her eyes crinkled at the edges in a kind way.
Sighing, Nyssa turned back to Tegan, who continued curling her fingers through Nyssa’s hair. It was relaxing, she had to admit.
‘You… you think?’
‘Nys, the fact that you clearly worried about me finding out is… well, pretty adorable.’
‘Adorable?’
‘Immensely.’
Tegan pressed a gentle kiss to Nyssa’s forehead.
The dentist’s heart welled. She looked up at Tegan’s face, and could see herself reflected once again in those beautiful brown eyes. This woman was going to ruin her.
‘I think, my darling,’ Nyssa whispered, placing her hands on Tegan’s shoulders. ‘That I am an immeasurably lucky woman.’
‘That makes two of us, love.’
Nyssa’s lips met Tegan’s, and the two women softly tipped over onto the sand. As often seemed to happen with them, Nyssa found herself straddling Tegan’s thighs, the Australian pressed gently beneath her.
As their kiss deepened, Nyssa’s hands began to wonder away from Tegan’s shoulders, trailing down her t-shirt, down her sides, and slipping under the cotton, her fingers finding soft delicate skin underneath to explore.
Tegan gave a moan, as Nyssa’s fingers trailed up her stomach and reached-
‘Er… Nys?’
‘Hmmm?’
‘As much as I love where your wonderfully adept hands are roaming right now, maybe doing this on a public beach is a little…’
Nyssa let out a low growl against Tegan’s skin.
She immediately climbed to her feet, sinking slightly on the sand, and pulled Tegan up by the arm after her.
‘Nys?’
‘Your place,’ Nyssa said, huskily against Tegan’s ear. ‘Now.’
Tegan grinned, nodding excitedly, and Nyssa began to lead her by the hand across the sand, towards Tregonnereth and Tegan’s waiting cottage. Judging from the intensity of Nyssa’s expression, Tegan knew that it was going to be a very fun evening indeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading, everyone; hope you enjoyed this chapter!
When I started writing this, I did not intend for Nyssa to have her hand up Tegan's skirt whilst wearing a corset and stockings, but -hey- variety is the spice of life 🤣😂. Hopefully it wasn't a bit OTT (I think I just managed to keep this PG13), but -if it was a bit much- my apologies.
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yurisorcerer · 5 days
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For the second time this week, I tried to turn my notes on an anime episode into an actual article for my site but couldn't get it to cohere well enough. So you guys get it instead, hopefully you enjoy it regardless.
Usually when I talk about the inherent pacing differences between an anime and a manga, it's to complain, but this episode is a pretty astounding example of an anime production intentionally exploiting those differences to make certain emotional beats hit harder.
To recap; in a manga, you are able to read at your own pace. Some people breeze through manga, some people go out of their way to savor every page, but because you're restricted to your visual senses and their interpretation of ink-on-paper, there's a lot of imaginative work going on on your end. Anime, just by its nature, inherently eases that burden a little bit. You've got an aural component to soak in (not present in a manga), and the visuals move with motion and color, something also absent in the still page. This is the entire artistic reason that anime adaptations of manga exist at all. Done well, they can selectively enhance certain emotional currents of the work. If done very well, they can do so without displacing the original work itself. That's what the Dungeon Meshi anime accomplishes here. Anything else aside, that's pretty impressive.
Seeing Marcille and Laios assemble the grim puzzle of Falin's blood-soaked and half-digested skeleton is one thing on the printed page. Those pages are very effective in their original format, but the scene is transformed here, because we really have no choice but to stew in it. The medium forces us to slow down and really focus on what they're doing; clicking bones together piece by piece, soaking their hands in dragonblood and gore. In Marcille's case, her actual spellcasting is brought into a deep crimson technicolor. The anime's presentation really makes it hit home; she is bleeding onto the ground, chanting ancient, forbidden magic in a desperate bid to bring Falin back from the grave. Laios' emotional state shouldn't be undersold either, as fascinated as he is by the actual act of assembling the skeletons, the moment Falin finally does return to life, she and her older brother share a genuinely very sweet embrace, even as Falin herself is still quite confused as to what's going on.
About that; in the area of scenes altered by the simple fact of being in an anime, we have to talk about the bath scene. In the manga, the bath scene is full of a fair amount of ambiguity, something I'm far from the first person to take note of. The anime, of course, can't replicate that precisely, so it has to pick and choose what emotional undertones to access and which to discard. All told, I'd say the scene is adapted pretty fantastically; it's tender, full of soft colors, and it preserves the push-and-pull dynamic of Marcille and Falin's conversation pretty well. About all that can't be said is that it's a straight improvement, which, really, when you're working with source material as good as Dungeon Meshi, is not a bad thing. I think the bath scene in particular is a good locus for what works about this episode; managing such a delicate scene so well is unimaginably tough, but the team working on the series pulled it off admirably. (As a Lesbian Side Note; both Marcille and Falin look amazing here, as you'd probably expect.) There are a few notable differences; things that seem obvious but pop out if you know what you're looking for. I'm mostly thinking how Marcille's facial expressions are a lot more obviously-flustered here as opposed to the somewhat more ambiguous ones in the manga. But again, an anime has to pick what emotional currents it's going to emphasize.
There are other points to hit on; the obligate dragon-cooking scene is as great as you'd expect, and there are some great character moments between Falin and the rest of the cast. Obviously, with her brother (where he does a very Elder Brother thing by mussing her hair), but also Marcille and even Senshi. (The only one who doesn't really get in on the action is unfortunately Chilchuck.)
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nordehartet · 3 months
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Aldnoah.zero wasn't that good, lol.
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Long have I held Aldnoah.Zero as one of my all time favorites (as well as the primer for my love for Mecha anime), but after this last re-watch, I've got to say, It's not that great as I remembered.
The first season by itself was pretty contained, topped off with a crazy cliff hanger. Sick fights with impossible odds debunked by logic and intellect, I ended up learning a little bit about science from the show too. The characters were somewhat likable, no real downers anywhere in the cast, and everyone had some sort of connection to each other. The plot wasn't THAT convoluted, and there was little to no fanservice!
The second season, however, took the original cast, put them all on the character development back burner, introduced a whole bunch of new characters (all of which who ended up dying, or being forgotten about in the epilogue), and gave us a bunch action sequences with little impact to the actual plot.
SPOILER SECTION
I will admit, many of the fights were pretty cool (the laser vs. artillery one was one of my favorites), but it felt like they all meant nothing. When Slaine destroyed the UFE space station, it seemed to have little to no repercussion to the UFE. When the 3 Counts that teamed up seemingly lead to nothing, there was no shakeup for the new Earth Space Empire. We keep seeing (AND HEARING) that the UFE are using the Deucalion as pawns, but literally nothing is being done about it. Realistically, yes, I see why you couldn't particularly trust Deucalion, but it's a plot point is brought up every other episode that adds nothing to the final product. It's like they're giving screen time to characters that don't really need it.
END SPOILER SECTION
Which brings me to my next point. WAY too many characters, and too LITTLE backstory for me to care about them. The main cast is still around taking up screen time, and the new cast is trying to make sure that we care that they relate to our protagonist in some way. It's too many characters with not enough runtime. Maybe a flashback to their supposedly rough lives would have made me like them more, but as it stands, I find it hard it hard to care
One new character that is generally dislikable got a solo bath scene too, which is.... fine... I guess... but it's like they were trying to make me care about her with her boobs personality. This is the scene where we see her (quite literally) reflecting on her goal, and placing this scene with in a bath left little to the imagination, and little to be desired. It only took away from her pain. It seems that they used fan service to get my attention, and I can probably say this safely because there is no fan service at all other than one beach sequence at the beginning of the second season.
SPOILER AGAIN HAHA
This could all have been fine... if it wasn't for the fact that the final battle between our two main characters got DEUS EX MACHINA'd in their final fight. This whole show we have seen Inaho out smart every single Vers Cataphract, either by his own witt, or with the assistance of his left eye. But in the final fight, Slaine's "Predictive imaging" gets knocked out by a stray bullet?!??!?!?!?!
The final fight just becomes a battle of brute force with swords (which is cool don't get me wrong, can't have a space mecha without a sword fight), and betrays the whole reason why I liked this show. THAT and masterpieces that Hirano Sawano and Mizuki craft for me to bang my head to at every fight.
END SPOILER SECTION
I loved this show when I was younger, and I re-watched the first season so many times. It was the show I could just put on in the background and know I would enjoy it, but since sitting through and paying attention to what was actually going on, I let down by the second season, as it could have been something awesome.
TLDR; Don't bother with the second season, unless you wanna bang your head to some Sawano against an orange kataphrakt, as you watch the cute bastard princess trip in her wheel chair in a space station more than once.
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absolutebl · 1 year
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In Which ABL reads MDZS
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IRL Responses as I read:
I did not anticipate the newspaper headline/town cryers opening narrative device. Interesting.
I am enjoying the translator notes.
I am not interested in someone else’s life. Why back story of a host body? Fun opening premise tho.
Ooo, head hopping from our omniscient narrator. Now THAT I did expect. Been a while since I read this style last (Dickens maybe?)
So far I am finding the translation legible but not pretty or enjoyable to read. Just kinda there. A bit brutal... or something?
Also I’m glad i watched some of The Untamed its much easier to follow this story having watched bits of that one. 
The use of American colloquialisms from like the 1980s, “flipping out” for example, is both amusing and highly distracting.
Too many names and sects. (But I knew that going in.) 
I admit it as soon as the romance element hits and our leads are on page together I’m interested. But there isn’t enough of that. 
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Ooo the whip marks bathing scene!
Chapter 13 and now the history of the relationship?
I’m really not interested in dismembered bodies, zombies, ghost hunting, ghost raising, exorcism, bodies inside walls, ancestral tombs, or anything along these lines. And I am really really not interested in any parts of the story where the two leads are not together. So I’m skipping a lot.
This book is what 600k, I suspect I am moving rather rapidly through about 500k of that. 
I love the bit in the city where WuXian is just all “well he can take care of himself I’m going to look after the kids.” And WangJi makes his instrument do a non-verbal murmur of acknowledgment. Very funny.
The dark humor is funnier than I expected too. A lot of dismemberment bits remind me of...
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I find the side stories of other people’s lives extremely boring and distracting. Like I am being forced to read a short story in the middle of a novel. 
Honestly this book is like having a conversation with a drunk person. NO it’s like having a conversation with a STONED person. Ramble ramble ramble, eats something bad, says soemthing insightful, recites something poetic, talks about past lives, parents, history, rambles some more. Except there’s all the blood and gore. So maybe it’s like having a conversations with stoned Hannibal. Either Hannibal. 
Coul we just STAY ON TARGET. (The Target being WangJi “manly member” inside WuXian.) 
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I love the way WuXian’s magic adores WangJi even as he refuses to notice his own affection for the boy.
Look they don’t need to kill the walking dead, just make them try to follow the fucking names in this book. 
I am finding the homeric jumping about on the timeline absolutely maddening.  At least use the different names at different times. Give me some kind of clue. I wonder of the official translation into English will have some kind of time stamping/framing device. 
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Still, if marketed properly, I can actually see this being hugely successful in the North American market.
Oh great another chunk of backstory for a character who is already dead or about to be.
80% into this and it’s the infamous bath scene at last. I heard about this. 
It’s an interesting first sex scene. Not well written. Not as bad as I was expecting either.
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Wow a full on confession scene. I was really not expecting that. I also wasn’t expecting how public they are about everything. 
I did enjoy the culmination sex scene. Quite kinky. And I like that it’s consistently WuXian who always starts everything. Was in worth 570k to get here? 
Eh... no?
Good ending. Much better than the series. 
And that’s it. 
Thoughts? 
Look it read like fanfic, and I don’t really go for that style (I struggle to ID the narrative structure, story arc, or authorial intent). The romance was very much standard beats, tropes, and pretty unsophisticated. It’s fine I don’t mind that actually. Romance should be somewhat predictable, that’s why it’s comforting. I liked the characters fine, the plot was complex to the point of confusion (but that’s probubly my fault) and the horror was... well there was a lot of slashy slashy body body dead DEAD, wasn’t there? 
I’m glad I read it because of this corner of fandom I exist in, but I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend it as a book. Don’t listen to me, though, I intensely dislike most epic fantasy (Game of Thrones can bite my arse) and always have, this may be very Chinese and very cultivation but it’s still also very much epic. I also strongly dislike horror too so, yay now, naught but the gay bits were really for me. 
Honestly making me suffer through 500,000 words and 500,000 corpses for those few moments of gay feels very Chinese BL of it. 
Final summation: 
I liked it when they were kissing but there were too many non-kissing people wafting about, not to mention non-sexy body parts piling up. 
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Sorry I can’t share your love @renafire and @percida18​ but my taste in literature is very much as questionable as my taste in television. 
(source)
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