& OPEN NSFW POST ( i. )

[aeneia]

NSFW OPEN POST ( I. )
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[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.

[komarran]

Ah-- [ is about all he manages before she pushes him back against the bed. More than okay with this if her actions were anything to go by. He sighs into the kiss and lets himself relax. The day has been long and he would be a damn liar if he said there was no appeal in sharing a bed with someone else. ]

Then I would be happy to share this with you.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She could stay there settled there like for an age, she thinks. Leans down again to kiss him, more a peck. ] Good, if you had kept asking I would have thought maybe I was wrong and you did not desire me after all.

[ Which is an idle threat, as it goes, and hardly even one she has a thought of acting on as she shifts down that little lower, to lay her head on his chest. Settling there, draping against him comfortably. ]

[komarran]

[ She's a pleasant weight against him. That hesitation is back again before he wraps an arm loosely around her shoulders. With how quickly this was happening, he's grateful he has needed to think. ]

Are you busy tomorrow? [ He would be at least part of the day with work, but he hopes there will be some overlap in free time. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She nods against his chest, her eyes falling shut. ] Mm, might take awhile to get out of bed, but I thought to give myself some time to recover from the party.

[ Either from being drunk or getting herself in trouble, one or the other. ]

[komarran]

[ When was the last time he had slept in? It must have been a late morning start sometime during his undergraduate years because he certainly hadn't done it anytime recently.

He strokes her hair absently and nods. ] I'll be here when you wake.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She hums contently with the thought, to have him right there. It was nice enough when he was the room beside her. Could hear him moving about to get ready when he left for work, sometimes. Her own habits of rising with dawn that left her strangely out of rhythm on this planet. Could share her morning with him properly and then -

Her eyes snap open, oh. ]

One moment.

[ She reaches up behind his head and under the pillow, and from underneath it, she fishes out her knife. The long curved, gold embossed blade. Far cleaner than the day she had first come in wearing it to his office. The blood all but gone from it now.

Not so strange, by itself, she supposed. But it wasn't by itself, as she digs around a little bit further, to pull out what looks to be one of his steak knives she had collected. Then a butcher's knife from another corner of the bed that she had bought out one of her shopping trips. All stored away carefully within arm's reach of where they were sat in the bed. ]

[komarran]

[ He stares at her for a long moment, considering the weapons. He had known about the first one, but the other two are a surprise. ]

So that's what happened to my kitchen knife, [ he remarks dryly. ]

That came with a set. [ One he greatly enjoyed using when he had time to cook. ]