Rita Louise Skeeter (ritabugwrites) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-06-15 22:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | - 1980/06 june, alastor gumboil, rita skeeter |
Who: Rita and Al (yes, again)
Where: Their place Al's flat!
When: After work, around 6pm, Monday June 15, so the same day she surprised Al with lunch, then went to Doris' for dinner. It was a busy day for Rita!
What: They talk about serious things, and then just hang out a bit, and fade to black as they fool around.
Rating: 14A for a liiiiiittle bit of swearing
Status: Completed log!
It really had to be the longest day of work ever. Honestly. Trying to concentrate with Rita on the mind was difficult as fuck, and Zeller's snickers weren't helping anything. He'd just about lost it with him and he was really just relieved to be done with work when it was time. He filed away his paperwork and put his desk in some semblance of order and then apparated home. He didn't really know what he was going to tell Rita. Being away for a few hours had hardened his resolve a bit and he was fairly certain he wasn't going home to have sex. It was just explaining it and maybe hoping she'd make off a bit so that it wasn't so bloody difficult.
He walked through the door and toed his shoes off. "Rita, love, are you here?" he called, locking the door behind him out of pure habit.
"In your room," she called back, chewing on her quill for a moment and then putting the finishing touches on the current paragraph she was working on. She pulled off her reading glasses--she only had to wear them when her eyes got tired--then stretched and turned towards the open bedroom door. She'd changed, or rather, she'd come home, as promised, and taken care of business, and then put a different outfit on instead of the rather tight number she'd worn to the office to meet him. She'd gone back to her place afterwards and put on a dress that, while just as short, was much more comfortable and slightly more casual as she'd collected some belongings to bring back to his place as they'd discussed. She'd called Doris, then gone by to visit her for a bit before she'd headed to work, and she'd only gotten back to Al's around six, so she'd barely beaten him.
She had gotten a bit of work done, though, but she'd been distracted by the knowledge that he'd be home soon, and he hadn't had the opportunity to take the edge off as she had. So when she heard his voice, she put aside her writing and shifted to face the door, twisting in the chair, and the short, navy blue, vaguely sailor inspired number displayed her smooth, creamy, bare legs without much thought to modesty. She lifted one leg, wrapping her arms around it, and not caring if he could see her knickers as she smiled at him.
"How was your day, baby?" she asked with a smirk.
Al pulled his suspenders off his shoulders, letting them dangle at the back of his knees. He felt all tense and really, he sort of wanted a drink. A proper scotch and soda, he thought, which he had here. He'd mix one later, he decided. For now though, he padded toward his bedroom and leaned against the door jamb. He didn't miss the rather more disturbed look of his bed and he tried not to look, instead shifting his gaze to her.
"Long. Frustrating," he said, leaning his head against the door. And it was true. He looked tired. In truth, Al was sort of overworked as it was. Piling any more stress on top of that probably wasn't a very good idea. He moved into the room so he could find something to change into, already sick of being in his work clothes whilst not at work.
"Get any work done?" he asked idly, digging through shirts.
"Some. It was a good day," Rita answered distractedly, but she was a little concerned at how tight he seemed. Her smirk was completly gone, and she was watching him. "Everything okay? I can help you unwind, if you like. I'm sure I'm part of the reason your day was frustrating."
As much as she certainly didn't regret surprising him at lunch, she was feeling a little bit bad now, if she'd made the day that much harder for him. He did look tired, but at the same time, he tended to always look tired after work. He worked hard, and often very long hours. She'd just been trying to brighten his day, but now she couldn't help but worry a little that she'd been out of line. She didn't raelly know what she was doing. Picnic lunches were something that girlfriends did, right?
Al unbuttoned his shirt, about half-turned toward her as he pulled it off to put on a far more comfortable t-shirt. "Mm, I'm okay," he replied, idly mussing his hair and dropping to sit on the edge of the bed. "Just dunno how it's only Monday. I feel like it's bloody Wednesday already or something." He sighed and stretched his neck, wincing slightly at how tense everything felt.
"M'glad you came though. For lunch," he added after a moment, not to make her feel like she'd been wrong to surprise him. He liked little things like that, really. "Was good to get away from work for an hour and I'm always glad to see you. Only..." he ran a hand through his hair again, unsure of how to word this. "I think I need you to not push me like that right now," he finished finally.
When he'd winced as he'd stretched, she'd been ready to get up and maybe rub his shoulders or something, and when he said he was glad she'd come, she even smiled and gotten to her feet, intending to join him on the bed, but as he evidently reached what he'd been heading for, she froze. Standing awkwardly in the centre of the room, she felt her cheeks flush, feeling suddenly embarrassed and a little defensive.
"What?" she asked automatically, as though pretending she hadn't heard him would make his words less like a slap.
He heard the flatness of the word-question-thing and was immediately kicking himself. Shit. Way to go, Al, you stupid prick. "No, no no no," he quickly went on, realising that he really had to elaborate on. And carefully. And right now. "I just mean. Just the sex, Rita," he started. Merlin, he felt so ridiculously stupid articulating this. "I just... I like you a lot, I do. It's just it isn't something I normally rush into is all. And I bloody love having you around, it's... I dunno, I just don't want our... our first time to just be like some random fling. I like you more than that." Merlin, he could feel the rush of heat to his face and he wasn't quite looking at her any more, instead finding a spot on the carpet to stare at. It all sounded so very ridiculous and juevenile in his ears.
She watched as he corrected himself, the initial shock fading to annoyance and she crossed her arms over her chest as he stumbled to explain. She was fully prepared to snap at him, to tell him not to be such an asshole, to say something snide because it sounded a little like he was paraphrasing the sentiments of 'I like you but...' and it was sort of a defense mechanism she'd developed to hurt others when she thought they might be about to hurt her.
But then he finished his stupid little rant, and she immediately softened. It was just Al being an idiot about words. She sighed and dropped her arms from across her chest, moving to sit down next to him after all.
Rita slapped him on the arm and said, "You prat. You're supposed to start with that. You scared the shit out of me."
Al wasn't at all sure what to expect, noting her posture and body language. He was a hitwizard after all, and he read things like that pretty well these days. He was rather relieved when she dropped her arms and sat next to him. Although he let out a whiny "Oi!" when she hit him. "Abusive relationship, already. And I'm the one getting abused," he pouted, examining the red mark on his arm. It was all just a tease though and he absently bit his lip.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. M'just tired."
"Idiot," she muttered, but reached out and fondly ruffled his hair, trying to figure out how to address the topic at hand. She was quiet for a moment, and reached out to take his hand as she mulled over his declaration. She chose her words carefully in her mind, planning a justification, a defense of her actions, but right before she spoke, she realized that wasn't what this was about. He wasn't chastising her. He was saying he wanted to take it slow, but he liked her too much to be able to say no. It was flattering, in a roundabout way.
She swallowed her words and then managed to muster a smile, finally saying, "I'm okay with that. And you have to just say these things, you know, and not in a way that makes me think you're breaking up with me. I told you I don't know how to do this. I'm going to make mistakes. I've never..." She hesitated, and then pushed on. "I really like you too, Al, and I've never really liked anyone before. Least not anyone I was willing to take a risk on, all right? So, you know. If I do something wrong, deal with it. It's going to happen, and you can't get your knickers all in a twist about it."
Al snickered, a bit proper humour returning to his face. "Consider my knickers untwisted then," he said. As for the rest, well. Al would never have claimed to be great at articulating what he meant. Not unless he was being absolutely blunt and most of the time, that was too much for most people. There had to be some sort of filter, or else everything just came out mean. Or at least that's what he figured.
He leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek and then stood up to change his trousers. Just a pair of jeans, comfortable and fairly relaxed. "I'm going to grab a drink from the kitchen. D'you want anything?" he asked, more than prepared to change the subject now that that was out.
"Sure," Rita answered, waiving her hand in a vague way meant to indicate that she didn't care what sort of drink. As he left the room, though, she flopped back onto his bed with a sigh and called loudly, "When you get back, though, we need to talk some more about, you know, specifics. If you're expecting full celibacy and a hands off rule, I think I may cry. We can have a little fun, can't we baby?"
Her tone was casual and she was begging to relax again, though she was surprised at how much the mere thought of him throwing her out had upset her. More than anything, likely, it was the shock of the idea. Everything was going so great between them, if he'd dropped her just like that, she would have been incredibly confused.
Al snickered on his way to the kitchen, pulling out his favourite scotch glasses and throwing a few ice cubs in. He hadn't thought much about the specifics really. Although for how bloody fucking sexy his girlfriend was, even he wasn't going to be able to stay completely hands off. Yes, men were weak. Fuck it all.
He mixed the drinks and then came back in, already sipping on his, which was almost definitely double the amount of scotch that was necessary. He hadn't been kidding. He felt tense.
"Well, I dunno, I suppose we could have a little fun," he conceeded, handing her the other glass.
"Thank god," she said, sitting up and smirking at him as she accepted the glass, sipping it and wrinkling her nose at the taste. It wasn't bad, just slightly stronger than she'd expected. "I don't know if you realize, my alabastor man, but there is plenty of fun we can have without making you a man."
She was only teasing, of course, because she certainly didn't think that Al was a virgin at twenty-seven years old, but considering he'd just told her he cared too much to sleep with her, she couldn't resist teasing him a bit about being a blushing virgin.
Sobering slightly, though, Rita tried very hard to be both serious and thoughtful--she was sure those were traits a good girlfriend possessed in situations like this---and added, "Seriously though. You need to tell me what you meant."
Al snickered and took a long drink from his glass, enjoying the bit of burn that came with it. He wasn't a heavy drinker, but he definitely felt like he needed it tonight. This wasn't nearly enough scotch to get him drunk anyway.
"Mm, you missed that opportunity," he said with a smirk, raising his eyebrow slightly. He could take the teasing, after all. He'd put up with stupid fucking Zeller all day and only hexed him twice. It was an accomplishment to be proud of.
With a sigh, he pondered. "Well, to be honest I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose everything short of actually shagging is all right," he said, tilting his head slightly in thought. Which left a lot open to them. Thank fuck.
"Well all right then," Rita said, raising her glass to him in a silent toast, taking one more sip before setting it down on his desk and reaching out to grab him by his belt loops, pulling him towards her so she could hug him. He may have been expecting something racier, but for the moment, she was content to wrap her arms around him and press her face to his muscled stomach. It was innocent. Okay, it was mostly innocent, because she couldn't help but curl the tips of her fingers into his back pockets.
Without looking up at him, she said, sounding a little childish, "You know, I'm not the only one who's shite at this. That was a fucking stupid way to tell me you didn't want to shag yet. You need to not push me like that right now sounds a whole hell of a lot like fuck off."
Al very nearly spilled his drink as she pulled at him, but he was pleasantly surprised by the hug. Even if her fingers were very obviously inching in his pockets. He took another swallow of his scotch and then set it down on the bedside table as well. "Mm, well, like I said. You're a natural. And I'm a bloke. It's a piss poor excuse, but it's all I've got," he teased and then pried her away if only so he could sit next to her. Or sprawl slightly, was probably more accurate. Even with that conversation over with, he still felt tired and slightly worn out and he moved so he could use her thigh as a pillow.
"Wouldn't tell you to fuck off anyway," he said, quite a bite more serious.
Rita hesitated a moment, then dropped her hand into his hair, tugging on a lock gently before moving to brush her fingers through it, petting him and hoping the gentle touch would help him relax. He really could be a bit high strung. She supposed she wasn't the only high maintenance person in their relationship, and as soon as that thought occurred to her, she couldn't help but smile.
"I'm glad. I'd probably cry. You don't want to see me cry, Al. I'm not a pretty crier. I never have been," she said softly, still brushing her fingers back and forth through his hair. "My eyes get all puffy, my nose and cheeks turn red, I sniffle something awful, and I tend to get hysterical. It's just a bad scene. Consider yourself warned."
Though she was speaking loftily, there was a truth to her words. She would be upset if Al told her to fuck off, and suddenly she realized how that must've felt for him in sixth year. They'd had what up until that point was a successful, happy relationship, but then she'd hit a rough patch and summarily dismissed him with no real explanation, no closure. She'd just been a kid, of course, and she'd been wrapped up in her own grief, but it was no real excuse.
Looking down at him now, she felt a bit of a pang for what she'd so callously let go of and she couldn't help but wonder where they might have been had she decided to let him help her through it rather than pushing him away to deal with her father's death on her own. She knew it didn't matter now, but he'd said it before and she had never admitted the truth to him, so she brushed some hair out of his face, letting her fingers trail over his eyebrows, and then touching his cheekbones lightly for no apparent reason as she admitted something to him she hadn't told anyone.
"I thought I loved you too. In school. I thought we'd be together forever. I was young and naive, but I believed that completely," Rita said, amused with her sixteen year old self in retrospect, though at the time it had seemed very serious.
Al let his eyes drift closed a bit. He knew it was far too early for sleep, but just relaxing like this felt good and her hand in his hair helped lull him. "Mm, I hope I never make your cry," he said softly. He didn't like to make anyone hurt, but it seemed like it'd be an extra kick in the teeth to do something that would hurt Rita. No matter what it was.
He curled against her a bit more, letting out a low grunt of effort that moving seemed to take right now. If he was smart, he'd make dinner or something, but he just couldn't be bothered to get up. He certainly didn't mind her touch, even when it strayed over his face.
At her confession, Al's eyes opened and he glanced up at her. After a moment of thought, he pushed himself up enough to kiss her. "I'm glad we're giving it another go then. Now that we're slightly less young and naive," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Me too," Rita admitted, pleased by the kiss. He really did seem exhausted, and Rita wanted to help. Normally she would have distracted him with kisses, or wandering hands, but in light of their recent discussion, she thought maybe something slightly less... sexual was due. "Well. Are you hungry? I can attempt to cook. Or order in food, if you'd rather not take the risk. Or, if you can muster the energy, you can cook and I'll just help."
Tentatively, then, as though she wasn't quite sure how he'd react, she added, "Or we could just stay here for a bit, if you'd rather."
Al sighed, sinking back down against her. "Mm, don't want to cook. And I don't want you to burn down my flat. So let's order out. And we can just eat in bed and relax. I feel like being a lazy sod right now," he answered, only half-teasing about her setting his kitchen on fire. "There's some... chinese place that delivers. And this one place that has some pretty brilliant fish and chips. Or pizza. Dunno, whatever you want."
"Not pizza. Chinese?" she asked, already reaching for her quill and a piece of parchment, trying not to jostle him off of her lap as she did so. She didn't wait for him to confirm before she began scrawling their order, finally nudging him off of her to get up and owl it out. It'd bring back a bill and estimated time before delivery, and then one of them mean delivery owls would bring the food, and also peck a person bloody if they decided not to pay. She'd nearly lost a bloody finger one time when she hadn't been able to find enough money right away. Bloody birds.
She came back into the bedroom, and though she could tell he wanted to relax, she climbed onto him, one leg on either side of his hips, straddling him gently as she could as she looked down at him.
"You know, you're really quite lucky l'm such a fantastic girlfriend. Most women would take offence to your insulting opinion about their culinary skills," she said, smiling. "I'm quite good at soup and toast, you know."
Al didn't move until she had to get up to owl the order and even then he more just sort of inched away from her. He liked his bed, he really did. It did generally good things to his back, mostly. He was more than content to stay right there until she came back. Even as she straddled him, he only shifted slightly so he was more comfortable. It was just automatic to put his hands on her bare knees, tracing random squiggles on her skin.
"Mhm, well most women think they can cook but can't and thus, have to have their men protect their egos," he pointed out, quirking a brow. "You know you can't cook and so I can tease you about it every now and then."
Rita let out a bit of a chuckle and picked idly at the fabric of his blanket as she challenged him. "Are you denying that you're lucky to have me? Because if that's the case, you know I'd just have to prove it to you."
As far as threats went, it was clearly sub par, but since her intentions were evident on her face, she thought he probably wouldn't mind in the slightest. She blamed her lacklustre words on the distracting effect of his hands on her legs. Not that he was doing anything particularly distracting, exactly. But she had noticed the way he seemed to automatically touch her and draw shapes on her, like he was mentally branding her. The thought was both entertaining and a little interesting. He was the jealous, possessive sort, at least to some degree, she thought, and she kind of liked it.
Al smiled a shook his head. "Nope, I'm lucky," he agreed. "But I probably wouldn't mind you reminding me." He smirked and reached for her hands so he could pull her down and kiss her. Yep. Lucky. Definitely. Even a bit worn out as he was, he knew he could have done a fuck of a lot worse than Rita.
Rita let him pull her down, kissing him happily as her curls fell around their faces. She smiled against his lips and then laughed a little as the return of his owl interrupted them. She rolled off of him and took the letter, flopping back onto the bed next to him and holding it out to him. She didn't have any cash with her, so it was up to him.
"I'll have to remind you after dinner, then," she said, since it probably wouldn't be long before it arrived. Still, they had a few minutes, and she remembered something she'd been curious about. "Oh, at work, who was the one that catcalled me? The one you hexed?"
Al took the letter and glanced at the bill before wiggling to the edge of the bed. He was hanging half off of the side while he reached for his trousers from earlier and dug in the pockets for his money. Handful of sickles was all he needed, and he stacked them on the bedside table before flopping back beside her.
"Mm, Mr Myron Zeller," he said. "In all technicality, he's my boss. Annoying little fuck sometimes, too. Nice guy though, mostly."
Rita laughed and idly slid a hand up under his shirt, smoothing her fingertips over the skin of his stomach. "You hexed your boss on account of little old me? My my."
Not that Rita minded. In fact, the idea that he might be jealous or protective over her kind of made her feel warm all over. She approved of jealousy and possessiveness both, and the smile on her face made it clear she was intrigued by his behaviour.
Al smirked reached over to absently play with her hair, pulling at a curl and then watching it spring back into place. Her hand felt good against his abdomen and he didn't pull away, content to lay there for a bit. "I'd hex a lot of people over little old you," he admitted, a small smile on his face.
He let his eyes close a little and was only interrupted by the flutter of wings through his window. Al groaned, not wanting to move or for her to move from him.
"You're a sap," Rita said, despite the fact that she'd said plenty of sappier things that day already. She sat up then, shifting to straddle him again, and gave the great big delivery owl a challenging look as she reached to take the food from it and drop the money into it's bag. It seemed to be watching them consideringly though, and so she said, "What, you've never seen a couple in bed together before? Go on. All the money's there. Shoo!"
It took off and she set the food on the floor, planting her hands on either side of his face and leaning down to kiss him briefly. "You want to eat now or later? Or will I have to find some way to wake you up before you've got the energy for it?"
Al smirked and nodded, agreeing completely. Yeah. He was a complete sap. He couldn't help it. He didn't mind the position at all, and he hung onto her kiss for as long as he could before she broke away. "Well look at you, fending birds off," he said with a smile, groping for his wand to summon the food to them.
"Let's eat now. Just in case I need energy," he teased, propping himself up on an elbow so he could dig in the bags.
"Mm, good plan. And I hope you like spicy," Rita said, opening a steaming container of extra hot ginger beef and pulling out a pair of chopsticks. She was planning on staying right where she was, comfortable on his lap, and she dug in, popping one piece into her mouth and then holding another out to him in case he wanted to try it. She'd also ordered some chow mein and almond chicken and a few other little things, so there was plenty to choose from. She didn't know him as well as she used to, after all.
With that in mind, she asked curiously through her full mouth, "What's your favourite food now?"
Al took the piece of beef from her, chewed for a minute and made a face. "Holy shit that's spicy," he said, trying to chew without it being so close to his tongue. He winced as he swallowed and blew out a buff of cold air as if it would help. "Mkay, think I'm going to pass on the beef," he said, reaching around her to get to the almond chicken and another pair of chop sticks.
"Mm, all time favourite is still cheesecake," he said after a bite. "For dinner, I think it's probably like... some sort of pasta and arrabiata sauce. And fresh sushi. But like, not together, obviously." A smile pulled at his lips and he took another bite of chicken. "What's yours then?" It was important information.
"Chocolate mousse is my all time favourite dessert, if we're going there," Rita said, popping another piece of beef into her mouth and chewing, enjoying the burn. She didn't even bother calling him a wuss, and she made a face like she hoped he knew she was cutting him some slack on that one. She talked indescriminately with her mouth full, not much caring for manners. They weren't at a dinner party, anyway. They were eating take out in bed, she couldn't imagine it mattered.
"My favourite meal is fresh caught saltwater fish that I've gutted myself. Dad used to cook it on the barbe, but he never got around to teaching me how. He did leave me his secret recipe though, but hell if I could ever make it," she said with a bit of a sigh. She really ought to learn to cook. "Salmon was always my favourite."
Al pondered her answer for a bit. He had no clue how to make a proper mousse, but he could always ask his mum. Parents were good for that sort of thing. And fish, well, he thought he did all right with most proteins. He thought the trick was just not overcooking it.
He let himself eat for a moment, eating about half of the chicken before digging into the chow mein, letting his own thoughts bounce around in his head for a while. He very nearly asked her if he could see the recipe, but then quickly shut up, deciding he wanted it to be a surprise. Maybe he'd ask Doris. Or just casually get it later. Right now though, he moved on. Sort of. "Mkay, what's your favourite... like, place?" He thought he could guess this one, but wanted to hear what she had to say.
Rita didn't even have to think about that one. "Out on the water in Blue Louise," she answered promptly, reaching for the chow mein and taking a bite of noodles, sucking with pursed lips to get to the ones she didn't fit in her mouth on the first try. "I spent so much of my summers on that boat with dad. We practically lived on her, sometimes for days or weeks at a time. There was this island we sailed to once, on our longest trip. It was perfect. It was this little island off the coast of Portugal and this wonderful family let us camp on their beach for a few days. It was called Graciosa Island, and we landed on the northeast shore after a stormy night. It was so beautiful there. I threw the biggest tantrum when he said it was time to head back home. I carved the co-ordinates into the wall of Blue Louise so I'd never forget."
The memories flooded Rita as she thought of all those good times, but she felt happy with them instead of sad at her loss this time, and she smiled down at Al before stealing a piece of chicken. "You would've liked him, you know. I wish you could've met him. What about you? What's your favourite place?"
Al nodded. It was pretty much what he'd suspected. Even if he'd sort of freaked out last time they were on the boat. Merlin, he was going to have to learn to sail. This was going to be interesting. He felt like he was going to get very wet in the process.
Now probably wasn't the time to think about all the things he could do with this information. Mostly, he just took note of the places she was talking about. Hitwizard. He was good at that sort of thing. "You throwing a tantrum? I can't imagine," he teased, prodding at her side. "I bet I would have," he agreed, turning his prod into a more gentle touch. Merlin, what was his favourite place? His first instinct was a Quidditch pitch, but he wasn't really sure any more. He didn't play and he didn't get to watch very often. "I suppose up in the air," he decided finally. "Quite literally. I still love flying whenever I get a chance. Best feeling in the world."
"Hey, shut it, you," she said when he teased her about the tantrum. She dropped a piece of the ginger beef onto his stomach then as she gestured at him slightly too emphatically, and giggled before reaching down with her chopsticks, picking it up, and popping it into her mouth. "Sorry. Hope that shirt wasn't clean."
Flying had never been a huge pasttime for Rita, at least not outside of bug form. But she remembered how much Al loved it, and how good he'd been. The few times he'd taken her flying, sitting with one arm securely around her and the other steering them expertly through the air, she'd always enjoyed it.
"I haven't been flying in years," she admitted. "I was never very good at it, but I can see why you love it. It was fun when you took me."
Al laughed as she nearly threw her food at him. "Well, it was," he said, groping for his wand again to see if he could scourgify the sauce off. It mostly worked, and Al wasn't exactly bothered. It'd come out in the wash, probably.
He took another couple bites of chow mein and then closed the box. He was just about full (for the moment, anyway. He'd probably be hungry again in about three hours) and he just sat up enough so he could take another drink of his scotch. "Mm, could take you again one of these days," he offerred idly. "There's a field just a few miles away. Still go with my brother every now and then."
Al finished his drink with another swallow or two and then just chewed on the ice, slouching down against the pillows again. He felt slightly more relaxed now. This wasn't a half bad way to spend the evening.
"I may not be domestic, but I love my clothes. I can get a stain out of anything. I'll take care of it later," Rita promised, setting aside her food too, chopsticks jutting out of the top of the containter as she put it down. She reached for the drink he'd brought her then, having almost forgotten about it, and took a sip. It cooled her spice-hot mouth nicely, and she swished it around a bit before taking another sip right after.
When he offered to take her flying again, she smiled. "Sure, we'll go sometime." After a short pause, she dropped one hand back down to his belly, sliding it up under his shirt once more and tracing little shapes on his skin like he so often did to her. She decided then to continue their question game and asked, "If you could go on vacation, anywhere, where would you go?"
"Mm, dunno," he replied, quirking a brow as he tried to think. Her hand was distracting though and he couldn't help but squirm a little, ticklish in some spots. "Italy maybe. Good food. Good coffee. Beautiful weather. Sounds nice, doesn't it? I don't know anything about Italian beaches though. But I bet it'd be nice."
Which all just sort of random fantasies, because it wasn't like he was going to get time off anytime soon. Nor did he really have the money to go. But he thought it'd be fun and relaxing. Maybe they had really good masseuses there or something. Man could dream, right? "Would yours still be on that island then, or somewhere else?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'd go back there, yeah," Rita said. "Sail there or something. It's a long trip, though. I wouldn't want to go alone."
Not that she was planning on taking any time off in the near future either. She couldn't exactly afford a vacation at the moment, what with her barely being able to make the payments on her flat and the dock rental both each month. There were plenty of places she wanted to go one day, but none that were really feasible right now. Besides, she was happy right where she was. Her lips quirked as Al squirmed a bit, and she slid her other hand up to join, dancing her fingers up his ribs lightly.
Al laughed and instinctively pulled away, squirming away from her touch. "Quiiiit," he whined, still laughing. It wasn't bloody fair. He'd always been ticklish. It was a major failing for a hitwizard he thought. It was really undignified.
She couldn't help but laugh as he squirmed, but it just made her want to tickle him more. She bit her lip and attacked with more vehemence, mostly just glad to see him laughing. Sure, he couldn't help it, but that didn't change the fact that he was. Rita tried to avoid his hands, fighting to keep her paws on him.
"You want me to stop, hm? You mean you don't like this? You want me to take my hands off of you, Al?" Rita laughed. "Are you sure? What if I do it like this?"
Al laughed helplessly, getting his hands around her elbows and trying to push her hands out of his shirt. "No fair," he called, trying to curl up so she couldn't tickle him. "Stop, come on," he complained throwing a pillow between them and clinging to it so it would act as a barrier.
Taking mercy on him, Rita ceased her torture and laid down next to him, letting her hands come to rest on the outside of his shirt, still now. She pressed an apologetic kiss to the side of his face as she settled in next to him, still giggling a bit as she said, "You are such a whinging baby, Al. Can't even fight off a girl? Aren't you supposed to be a big, tough hitwizard?"
Al snickered, trusting her for the moment not to attack him again. He tossed the pillow aside and leaned forward enough to catch her lips for a brief moment before dropping his head again. "Do I look big and tough to you?" he asked, quirking a brow. "I'm like five foot eight." He rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around her. "Also, I didn't want to hurt you," he pointed out, smirking a little as he pressed another kiss to her lips.
"I can take it, baby," Rita laughed, reaching out and pinching him in the side. She was in a playful mood and she lauched herself back onto him, trying to pin his wrists on either side of his head. "In fact, I might even be able to beat you. Especially if you're afraid of a girl."
Al sighed and rolled his eyes for a moment. He had eight years of hitwizarding under his belt. There was no way she was going to pin him. Al reversed the hold and, after getting a leg under him, flipped them over, putting him squarely on top of her... and maybe squishing her a little. He kept hold of her wrists, smirking down at her. "...M'not afraid."
Rita squeaked as he pinned her, then bit her lip as she looked up at him. She wriggled her hips but couldn't get herself free. She loved his smirk, and she couldn't help but grin happily up at him, even if he'd easily bested her. Rita had never really thought she could beat him, of course, but her teasing had the desired effect.
"Oh, there we go," she breathed, lifing her head then, biting his lip and tugging. She knew his weakness, and she nibbled as she tried once more to overthrow him.
Al wasn't budging. At least not until he felt her teeth on his lip. Then most thoughts of keeping her pinned started to melt away and he didn't bother pushing back as she flipped them again. Instead, he let his hands rest on the small of her back and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You don't play fair," he said softly, wrapping his arms tighter around her.
"Well, if I played fair, I wouldn't win," Rita said bluntly, stretching out on top of him and kissing him sloppily, laughing a little as she did. She was never this comfortable with men, and certainly never this guileless. It was kind of nice to have the pressure off. She already knew they weren't going to fuck, and it kind of... lightened the mood.
"So. Never got over that biting thing, hm?" she asked, still playful, and dipped her head to bite his neck.
Al chuckled and leaned up enough to return the kiss. She felt comfortable and close on top of him like this, and with their earlier conversation out of the way, he didn't feel like he had to moniter this any more. And he didn't want to shove her off anyway, especially as she leaned down to bite at his neck. A low whimper escaped his throat accompanied by a wave of his heat through his body. "No, not quite," he mumbled, shifting under her slightly.
"So is that one of those things I need to... not do, in light of us taking it slow?" Rita asked, biting his earlobe this time, pulling at it with her teeth for a moment before letting it go. She grinned and whispered, "Just so we're clear, and all."
She couldn't help being such a tease. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to follow through, and he had said he wasn't opposed to fooling around. It was just... that was the way Rita had taught her self to express affection. Besides, what wasn't there to like about making people feel good?
Al sighed, letting his hands slide carefully up the back of her dress. It was entirely automatic to shift his head slightly and expose more of his neck to her, his body pretty much on auto-pilot for the moment. "Mm, no," he answered, leaning up so he could kiss and nip at her neck. "I mean... I dunno. Don't stop." It was always the bloody teeth and it wasn't really fair that she remembered that. But he remembered her neck thing and he was more than prepared to use that against her. "Don't tease."
"I never tease," she said, biting her way along his jaw, then once more down his neck, finding a spot just above his collarbone that she decided to nibble a little harder than the rest, worrying it slighlty with her teeth. She paused a moment, saying, "Okay, well, except this afternoon, but I would have followed through had you come home with me. But I promise I won't ask you to skive off work anymore. It's not fair, and anyway, I wouldn't do it for you."
Which was really only partially true, because she thought there were probably a lot of things she'd do for him if he asked. Still, she put that out of her mind, arched her back into his hands, and returned her mouth to his neck. She hadn't exactly been chaste when they were dating before, but she'd been completely inexperienced and while she'd figured out his liking for teeth, she'd been much less bold then than she was now. Now she didn't mind sinking her teeth in to see how hard he liked it.
"Good to -- fucking hell -- to know," he mumbled, almost feeling his rationality draining away the more she bit him. It was turning him on faster than he wanted to admit and he was trying to make too much noise. Despite his best efforts though, the odd moan left his lips and he pulled her down against him. He'd had his share of experience too after all, but still lurking in the back of his head was the boundary he'd set. Still. She was right. There was a lot they could do before they got there and he was feeling more and more ready to explore.
"Oh, well, if you're taking this seriously and it isn't just bedroom talk, then sometimes I tease," Rita admitted, biting her own lip to keep the laughter at bay as she spoke. When he pulled her tight against him, though, the laughter faded from her face and she pushed her hair over her shoulder, looking down at him seriously.
She smiled a little and said, "I meant it before, when I said I was okay with waiting. Just so you know."
No one had ever cared about her enough to want to wait. For that matter, she'd never really been anything but a lay to anyone, so it was strange and refreshing to be something else, something bigger to him.
Al bit his lip and then leaned up to press a gentle kiss to her mouth. "I'm glad," he said seriously, squeezing her tightly for a moment. "Could still take the edge off a bit though," he added, moving his lips down to her neck so he could nip and kiss there. Like she'd said. Total chastity and a complete hands-off rule just wasn't realistic.
"Mm, well I already did, remember?" Rita said, eyes fluttering shut as she realized he evidently remembered her weakness too. "I'll tell you about it if you swear not to stop..."