& OPEN NSFW POST ( i. )

[aeneia]

NSFW OPEN POST ( I. )
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[mahalakshmi]

[ The last thing she wants is him to let go, as she swallows down on her own - press forward, march, screaming herself hoarse on battlements as she issues orders and - breath Lakshmi, not everything had to be a battlefield.

Because yes, tension, that sits in her shoulders and stiff in her back that she keeps if only to hold in the shiver, to keep herself still and not - taking the path of water against him, slipping over and around him, to run over every part of him that she could. Turns her face away, slow - and did not do to be falling over herself. Wetting her lips, a scrap of her teeth against her lower lips and she shakes her head. Of course he would be the only one to take that statement and think it had to be fixed. If it did, it was not in the way that cautious little frown of his was suggesting. ]

It would not matter if you touched my hands, my ankles or my back, it still would be first in my thoughts. [ Another little bite, a thought she doesn't share. anywhere she wanted him to put his hands would not have been fit for company. ]

[komarran]

[ So everything was all right still. Good. Then why won't his heartbeat calm down or his palms stop dripping? Good god, was he a damn schoolboy with the way she made him nervous? She wasn't the first woman he'd had over him despite the fact it had been well over a decade since he had anything close to this. Yet something unique about her had him wanting to be as close to her possible.

Slow. He was the one that insisted and he knew it would be better if they took time, at least some time, before fumbling together. ]

If I ever touch you in a way you do not want... [ A soft reminder. She's more than in her right to tell him off. ]

[mahalakshmi]

I have never let anyone take those liberties with me. [ That at least she can assure him. Pulling back levelly to meet his gaze flatly. ] I tend to make it plain when it comes to such matters.

[ She settles a little further of him, where she's - well, slow, no good to crowd him now. Nor her, as she presses her fingers to her lips, smiling into them. A thought coming back to her, seemed half a world away now. ] Which - there might be a young man that I made it expressly clear to this evening about what would happen to his mouth if he dare put it to my skin.

[ It might have involved a sword, it might have involved acid. Who knew. Probably some guard, that he went white and complained to about her indecency too. Hopefully he just went off and claimed to someone else about some half mad woman. ]

[komarran]

I didn't think you had. [ But he wanted to be sure she felt she could even here.

When she pulls away, he reaches to comb his fingers through her hair once more in a slow, absent motion. With how long they'd been sharing a space together, he's certain her beauty won't dull in his eyes. ]

Did you scare him bad enough I'll be hearing about it tomorrow? [ His tone is unperturbed. If he does, it will likely be the rumblings of a bruised ego and how the mysterious foreigner had been to one of the Imperial gatherings. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She settles into the bed and it's hard not just to tip, to lay still so he could keep putting his fingers through her hair as much as he liked - oh she had forgotten how good it felt. Her eyes slip shut and she shifts instead to lean into his shoulder. No more than that. Her legs stretching out against the blankets. ]

Oh, quite probably. He looked alarmed with the idea at the least. Promised me no one talks to him like that. I told him lions talk to mice however they like.

[komarran]

I'm sure the water cooler talk will harm his ego further. [ Not all men on Barrayar had stood up against formidable women, but it was about time they experienced it first hand. It would be good for them.

He continues to stroke her hair as his other hand hesitates before he wraps his arm loosely around her. ] Do you have a list of men who's hopes you've dashed?

[mahalakshmi]

... Water cooler talk? [ Was that something else, like Vor, Datapads, spaceships and God knows what else she had some how missed.

She settles where he does, warmer for it, more comfortable. Tentatively, in reply, she lets her own arm move to his waist. ] Only four or five, this evening. Hopefully they will go off and tell their friends that I am more trouble than I am worth. [ Spoken for, now, she thinks happily, shutting her eyes briefly with that thought. Finally.

Doesn't tell him that half the men and women she'd spoken too so far, had already made that assumption on his behalf, more than one to inform her that she could do better than some Komarran. ]

[komarran]

Ah, yes. Casual talk done at work. [ A very old turn-of-phrase that took place around a very different looking device than when it was invented.

One of his hands goes to rest on hers and he stifles a laugh. ] Only five? I thought the number would have been higher. [ High enough to count on more than one hand. It's more than he's had approach him though with how he didn't notice her advances, perhaps he was underselling himself. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ A shrug. ] Only five that seem to think my bared skin means I should deal with their overt ah, passion for me. Like dogs, barking at my heels.

[ Which is the politest way of putting it. Saw skin, didn't see the scars that adorned it as much as gold did to realize how someone got like that, wasn't through accepting such things. ]

'My lady, let me make love to you.' [ She does her best impression of a gruff, barrayaran accent. Comes out guttural mocking and utterly awful. ] 'So you never have to use that sword and ruin your delicate hands.'

[komarran]

[ That gets him to laugh, unbridled. There were many Barrayarans Duv met that were progressive and remarkable in their own ways, but that didn't mean there weren't a good deal that fell into the stereotypes. And that he didn't enjoy poking fun of them at times. Some of his holovid shows from Komarr were his favorites for a reason. ]

You should do that for Miles next time you see him. He'd appreciate the out opinion of his countrymen. [ And know that the ones she's mimicking damn well deserved it. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ It's good to hear him laugh, to make him laugh, wrapped up by him and around him. ]

I am sure he will. I have quite the vocabulary of these little compliments now. [ She starts laughing, in part because he is, and for the list of endlessly terrible things she's so far had to sit through. ] There was one that told me - [ fixes her face as serious as she could, scowling something fiercely. ] 'I like a woman that knows her weapons, it means I would have strong sons with her.'

[komarran]

[ Laughing is not something he does nearly enough. He shakes his head, smiling and clearly amused still by the mental image of her telling such a clueless man off. ]

I'm not sure even your intelligence could outshine their stupidity. Strong is all he would be. [ Perhaps harsh to say when he doesn't know the individual in question, but they would have to be if they approached her like that. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She likes hearing it, likes how beautiful it sounds. Glad that they could laugh about it. She doesn't think she could be with anyone if there wasn't some kind of laughter involved to it all. She grins at him, pleased and content before she wriggles back from him, detangling from him to flop back into the bed, the jangle of bells from her anklets and bracelets as she settles. ]

A big brute that would grunt at everyone. [ Her nose wrinkles, turning her face away into the pillow huffing with that thought. ] Mercy to me, I know you said it was a crime, but it would have been more useful to give them a thrashing for all my talking didn't get through their head.

[komarran]

[ He smiles, somewhat shyly, and rolls onto his side to keep his attention fully on her. ]

Sadly it is, but I have confidence in your ability to verbally shame him in front of his peers. [ In fact, he regrets missing any displays she may have put on earlier. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ Slowly, slowly, slowly, she thinks, as she watches him roll over to face her. Letting him get used to her. Easy to act comfortable to let him be so. Laughs rich in response, her head rolling back as she does, hair a mess on the pillow. ]

Just so, it isn't quite so satisfying as proving myself their better in every way.

[komarran]

[ Her hair may be a mess, but he loves it. With a tentative hand, he reaches to twirl a few loose strands around a finger. ]

You don't need to prove it. [ Not to him or anyone who truly knows her. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She has more than enough for him to fiddle with. Might be have been more once she thinks mournfully looking at it. She had not cut it as a widow should, shaved it to a bare head. Instead, she had hacked off a foot of it to her waist instead, still that length now. Practicality more the purpose. ( a danger in growing complacent in thinking on what if, she cannot give that wholeheartedly ) ]

You know as well as I that it does not matter until I do, that they'll dog me like a piece of meat.

[ but oh, if it isn't a pleasure that she does not have to with him. ]

[komarran]

I've taken joy in ignoring them as I rise above them in rank, [ he muses aloud.

Ignoring them while they're forced to deal with him. It was the ultimate revenge. Already he's risen higher than most in the Imperial Service would get. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ he lifts a hand to sweep against his cheek, the back of her knuckles to trace over the plains of his face before she lets it drop. ]

As you should. You will be a very great man, even someone as new to this place and its politics as myself can see that.

[komarran]

[ Such a simple action and kind words manage to bring a flush to his face. Flattery never did anything for him except in these intimate moments. ]

I only do what is needed. [ And to repay his planet for the crimes of his family. ]

[mahalakshmi]

You do what your people need of you.

[ She pushes up a little, where he's facing her, to steal another kiss. The giddy liberty of that is enough to make it all worth it. ]

If I knew nothing else of you, that would be enough.

[ It's murmured to his mouth, her eyes meeting his as she sinks back again into the pillows. Warm and content, she stretches. ]

Besides, it was quite enjoyable, to watch them chase after me and to go straight back to you. It served them right.

[komarran]

[ The kiss catches him off-guard. He's not sure if he'll ever get used to anyone doing that so freely. He finds it a surprise he doesn't mind and he smiles softly. ]

How many murmured comments did you hear about your choice in company?

[ He wants to know how creative they got with their insults. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ That makes her frown, her eyes down - oh she heard quite a few, nothing polite. Nothing that she wanted to recall. It struck too close, things she had heard about her own people just the same. Distasteful, ugly twist in her mouth for it. ]

Nothing worth repeating. That you weren't worth your uniform, that progressives made such awful choices, that it wasn't right for you to be there. I should have struck them for it.

[komarran]

That's all? [ he muses. ] They've gotten lazier.

[ He's heard far worse in his time as a graduate student in a Barrayaran university and as a member of the Imperial Service. It's an unpleasant topic and he doesn't wish it to taint their time any further. ]

You're sure you want me to sleep here? Instead of the living room?

[mahalakshmi]

[ She rolls her eyes when he goes and - checks again, always checking, always courteous to her. That response is easy, gleeful, as she rolls - straight into him, catching her hands flat to his shoulders, pushing him back into the bed and - not all the way on top of him, but perches just that little above him. Her hair falling over her shoulders to curtain them in. Her legs tangling with him. ]

Yes. [ And for that she kisses him soundly before he can question her again about it. ] I do nothing, say nothing I would not follow through with all of myself. I would not have any of this if I wasn't willing to do it.