tabitha pryce is a cougar. (savaged) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-05-29 17:34:00 |
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All in all, she'd had a decent time her first day out in the public eye when she wasn't trying to kill anyone, even if she did have to be supervised -- at least it was with Marius, so she couldn't complain. Shopping in such high-end stores was a bit of a surreal experience, and Tabitha hadn't ended up buying much, but it was more than she had actually paid for in the last few years. By the end of the day, though, she was glad to be back somewhere in a place where she didn't have to be so fake. Once Marius apparated them back to a clearing some distance away from Fenrir's camp, Tabitha released his arm and looked up at him. "Well, thanks for taking me out shopping. And for the money. Oh -- did you know that one of the coins is made with real fucking silver in it? Nearly wanted to take off the woman's head when she dropped the change into my hand." She'd stuffed the coins into her pocket quickly, intending on returning the change to Marius... but in hindsight, she realised that would mean touching the silver again. "They're in the back pocket of my trousers. Mind getting 'em out for me so I don't burn my hands again?" "I should have thought of that," Marius said, giving Tabitha a slight smile at the thought of her ripping the dainty store clerks head from her shoulders. "And I would tell you to keep the change except it will do you no good if you can not touch it," he added. He knew instinctively that putting his hand in Tabitha's trousers was a bad idea but the change needed moving and they were friends. He slid his hand into her back pocket and his fingers grazed the coins, lingering there for a moment before he retrieved them. He had never cheated on Astra, not once, but the feel of her heat on his hand, and her proximity-- Tabitha was older, a widow, bloodthirsty, all things that Marius found to be appealing, and though he knew with every fiber of his being that he should move away he did not. He dropped the coins to the ground and returned his hand to just below her waist. "You did not buy much," he said quietly, looking at her intently. That Marius was so bold enough to actually retrieve the coins himself came as a surprise to Tabitha, and she waited patiently while he closed his hand around the coins, her lips twitching slightly as she resisted the urge to smirk. It was only after he removed his hand that Tabitha smiled, and she had been about to thank him until she felt his hand move back to rest on her hip, and she was caught off guard, suddenly not sure what to say. "No. I'm just too picky. I didn't like most of the things I saw... but I bought a dress. Do you want to see it?" Marius nodded. "Will you try it on?" he asked, letting his hand fall from her waist and taking the step back that he should have taken a minute before. Astra. She sat like a stone in the pit of his stomach and still he knew that asking to see Tabitha in a dress was asking to see Tabitha wearing less. His father was going to kill him. "I will turn my back while you change, of course," he added. Without waiting for a reply he turned away from Tabitha. He would not peek, he was a gentleman. "Yes, of course." As soon as Marius' back was turned, Tabitha set her bag down on the ground, watching Marius out of the corner of her good eye to see if he would try and look anyway. She slid her trousers off first, kicking off her shoes, and then off came her top, discarding her clothes onto the ground. She looked at Marius' back again before taking the dress out of her bag and pulling it on over her head. It was a simple dress, black in colour and sleeveless, the neckline cut perhaps a little lower than what would be considered proper. The bottom of it came down to just above her knees, and fit on her loosely around her hips and down so it wouldn't feel so constricting. As she reached behind to pull up the zipper, she paused, and turned around instead. "You can look now. Can you zip me up?" She knew she could have done it herself, but what would be the fun in that? Marius cracked a slight smile. Not that Tabitha could ever be considered meek, but her impropriety never ceased to amuse him. "That would not be a problem," he said, stepping back over to her and regarding the dress. "You chose well," he added, even if the dress wouldn't have been remotely what he would pick out for a woman it was still flattering. He moved behind her and slowly slid the zipper toward the top, stopping to sweep her hair to one side so that it wouldn't get caught as he finished. He took a few steps around her again and looked at her. "Tres belle," he said, reaching to take her wrist and then playfully force her to twirl. Tabitha smiled at the compliment -- or, at least, what she assumed was a compliment, as she wasn't quite sure what tres belle meant, but it sounded nice. She allowed him to twirl her around just once, feeling a little silly for doing it at all, before stopping to stand in front of him. "So, what do you think, then? Do you still think I clean up well, or does the eye-patch ruin it? I was kind of thinking the dress could be a bit shorter, actually," she said, pulling the sides of the dress up slightly so the hem only reached mid-thigh. "About here. What do you think?" She looked up at him again, watching for his reaction -- she wanted to see just how far she could push him, see if she could make him make the first move. It was a game again -- one she realised the both of them have been playing for some time now -- the same game she had played with Aaron when they had first met, continuously leading him on until she got everything she wanted out of him. "The eye patch ruins nothing," he assured her quickly. "You are equal in beauty to anyone," he said. While perhaps his words might have sounded like an exaggeration it was as natural as breathing for Marius to compliment women. And he meant it. "I would not have you walking around in public with that dress any shorter," he said, sounding slightly amused. "But for a private viewing I see nothing wrong with that length." He was still close enough to touch her and he hiked the dress up another inch and let his hand drift to her thigh. "Do you think this is what Gaius meant when he said I should supervise you?" Marius asked, still watching her as if judging his options carefully. He couldn't take his eyes off of her but his motions were still hesitant... hesitant for Marius anyway. If it weren't for Astra he would be kissing her now but instead he was stuck in this perpetual pulling of duty and attraction. He let his hand slide up another few inches on her thigh. "Is this what you thought Gaius meant when he said you should supervise me?" she asked, turning the question around back to him. She closed the distance between them completely by stepping closer, bodies pressed together, and she let go of her dress so that the fabric fell down over Marius' hand. She ran the tip of her tongue along her upper lip, trying to tempt him, pushing herself up onto her toes so she would be easier to reach. One hand moved up to his shoulder, and the other curled around his neck to bury her fingers in his hair. "I am fairly certain this is not the chaperoning he had in mind," Marius whispered. Her face was so close and vows be damned he pressed his lips to hers. It was the forbidden fruit and the taste was as sweet as he had imagined. He let his other hand twine into Tabby's hair and he forcibly turned her face up toward his. He kissed her more deeply, closing his eyes and willing out all thoughts that might stop this. Tabitha's fingers tightened their grip in his hair -- she didn't want gentle. He probably got enough of that from his wife. She kissed him hard, responding enthusiastically now that he had made the first move (or so she told herself). She dropped her hand down from his shoulder to grip his wrist, pulling his hand up even farther, presenting him with an open invitation to keep going if he wanted. Marius's hand gripped roughly at Tabitha's waist, carried away momentarily and then suddenly let go of her as if he'd been burned. He nearly shoved her away-- not out of disgust but because he knew if he didn't stop this now he wasn't going to stop it at all. "We can not," he said in a cold tone. "I need to get back to my wife." The abrupt stop surprised her, and Tabitha stared at him, dumbfounded. She tried not to get angry -- after all, he would be cheating on his wife, as he so reminded her -- but her fiery temper wasn't always easy for her to control, especially when she didn't want to admit, even to herself, that she felt a little embarrassed and humiliated that he pushed her away. "What do you mean, we can't? You're the one who kissed me first. It's not like I'm asking you to leave her -- do you think I'm gonna tell everyone?" "I mean that this is a bad idea," he said plainly. Inwardly he winced because hadn't Isabelle said these exact words to him over a year ago? "I could easily see myself--" Marius cut himself off. He was making mistakes left and right. "You should make your way back to camp. It is getting late," he said. "The dress is lovely, but one dress is not enough. I will come back on Sunday and take you again... somewhere else," he added. It was a bad idea. He didn't know why he was suggesting it. Perhaps it was the look on her face, or the flashbacks of Isabelle's rejection. It didn't matter. She was torn between wanting to agree to meet him again on Sunday or just telling him off altogether, which only served to make her angrier. He wasn't supposed to be the one in control here. She was supposed to have Marius wrapped around her finger, doing whatever she asked of him -- and now he was trying to call the shots? She wasn't going to let him do that to her and, her face flushed with anger, she snarled: "I don't need you to take me out shopping. I can find someone else, because you're not my only friend, you know? And he's one of your lot, not from this stupid camp. And he doesn't push me away." She turned away from him, snatching up the clothes she had changed out of and shoving them angrily into the shopping bag. "Tabitha--" Marius said, letting the rest of his sentence fall away as she began stuffing her clothes into the bag. Someone else? "If that is what you wish." Cold. Detached. He had a wife to get back to. "Bonsoir," he said, dipping his head slightly and then he was gone. She was angry -- angry that Marius had pushed her away, angry at the way she reacted to being pushed away, as if she were still some over-emotional stupid teenager, or a child throwing a fit over not getting the toy she wanted. Tabitha didn't want to know what he must think of her now. She'd always been so confident in herself, and to let that crumble away so easily when she didn't get what she wanted from Marius... she wasn't used to failing like this. She thought of him as her best friend -- he had already been willing to give her anything she asked, but somehow that hadn't been enough -- and now her greed had ruined even that. She grabbed her bag and stood up, and Tabitha stormed back to camp in a fury. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Marius had someone to go home to, but she had no one. |