felicity fletwock is not a vulnerable girl (flissy) wrote in enemies_rpg, @ 2013-02-14 07:11:00 |
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As a prefect, Felicity Fletwock really shouldn't have been sneaking out of the Great Hall with a plate of food for herself and one for Bing. But this was Valentine's Day and it was a time for a bit of holiday cheer to infect her and Bingham. She'd already given him a kiss in the common room before the day had begun, but now it was a special time for the two of them. She had told him to find a place for them in the Greenhouses, so she walked with a sense of secrecy and purpose as she hurried away from the din of the Great Hall, her purse filled with picnic-y goodness rattling against her side. Her heels clicked along the corridor's floors and she giggled a little to herself as she made her way out the door to the grounds. It was an odd thing, to be giggling. But Bing, who had always been in her life it seemed, was changing her in ways she'd never really expected now that she'd really let him into her life. Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't done it sooner. But would it have really made things better? Or had she needed to be in a place where she could fully appreciate him? In any case, she was glad it had happened. She saw Bingham's head in Greenhouse 2 and tapped her elbow gently on the glass door to let him know that she was there. She couldn't open up the door with all the food in her hands. As he moved to open it, she couldn't help but be struck with a bit of nerves. This had been her plan, after all, but what if she mucked it up? There was still a part of Bing that was hesitant, that wondered when the rug would be tugged from under his feet. There would always be that part, he figured. There would always be a voice in his head reminding him that he had a long way to go and even if he travelled that great distance he would still fall short of even someone like Felicity, a halfblood like him in some ways, but not a halfblood like him in others. It was easy to ignore most of the time. He kept himself busy, mentally or physically. But there were always empty moments where his thoughts grew loud in the silence and sitting the greenhouse waiting for Felicity was one of those moments. Valentine's Day had never been a concern for him nor had the possibility of ever sharing one with a girl. There he was, though, rising to his feet to let in his girlfriend of all things into the quiet greenhouse where they'd chosen to have their date. He wasn't nervous, but he was hesitant and he kept it hidden as he opened the door. "How's it feel," he asked, grinning crookedly down at her as he stepped back to let her in, "being a rule breaker?" "It feels delightful," Felicity said, handing him his plate. She shimmied past him, bumping her hip against his purposefully in the process. Felicity sat down her plate and examined the floor around them. It wasn't as though the floor was dirt, per say. It was just... very dirty. And she had anticipated this. Felicity still felt unsure about herself, even though Bing had said her plans were good. She wondered if she was over preparing, or under preparing. What would he think, she wondered, as she reached into her purse. She flushed just at the thought and hesitated before pulling out what was a napkin transfigured into a picnic blanket. Without looking at him, for if she did she knew she'd lose her nerve, Felicity set it down carefully on the ground. She motioned that Bing should sit down and stared into her purse, wondering if she had really gone a step too far. Maybe she'd keep that in the purse. Bing gave her a curious look as she dug around in her purse. He wondered what it was she had up her sleeve and hoped she didn't mind that he'd left all the planning up to her. It was hard to miss the uncertainty on her face as she stared into her bag, though, so before he sat he brushed her chin with his fingertips, tilting her face up towards his. "Good thinking," he said, motioning to the blanket with his free hand. He'd have to remember to bring one of those if they were going to meet in the greenhouses again, he thought to himself as he balanced his plate in one hand and lowered himself to the ground with the other. She glanced up at him from his touch, reassured by the very simple gesture and brush of his fingers. Felicity felt her resolve strengthen as she looked into his eyes. She turned her attention back to the purse. She took a deep breath and slowly withdrew two champagne, transformed from two teacups. They weren't completely clear glass, and still had a pale pattern of pink flowers and vines along the sides, but it was obvious what they were at least. She sat one in front of Bing and the other where she would sit. She withdrew a thermos from the bag and set that down between them. And then the last thing. Her fingers twitched over the surface of the polished wood. She almost didn't pull it out, but in a sudden hurry she yanked it out and sat down on the blanket without remembering to bring her food with her. Not looking at Bing, she opened the box and tapped the wind-up with her wand. A little girl figurine on a aethenon-looking horse made a slow circle as tinny music sounded. She looked at Bing with flushed cheeks. "I just thought some music might be nice," she said. "That is, before you fill the greenhouse with your singing." As Felicity dug item after item out of her bag, he watched, still curious, but also carefully filing each bit of information away in his mind. Their afternoon together felt a bit like a lesson. Bing knew Felicity extremely well, yes, but he'd never gotten to know this side of her, the romantic side that actually let him kiss her the way he'd thought about for so long that it had started to get painful towards the end of his wait. He wanted to learn what that side of her liked. He was momentarily confused by the flushed cheeks that met him when he glanced up from the music box, but tinny music too was filed away. He might not always us the information he tucked away about the girl in front of him, but he still wanted to know everything he could about her. He smiled, though, an automatic reaction to her blushing. "It is nice," he replied. And he noticed she'd left her plate where she'd set it moments ago. He didn't stand to fetch it, but took advantage of his long limbs instead, pushing himself to his knees and reaching around Felicity. He braced himself against her shoulder and barely caught the edge of the plate in his fingertips, but soon it was sitting before her, the food looking a little jostled from the few touch and go moments in grabbing for it. "Well," she said, fighting against her blushing and failing. Felicity had a romantic side, but it'd never breathed life. Her reading was reserved for romantic novels. Dirty ones too, of course, but stories of romance and gallantry. It was through these pages that she had picked up ideas here and there. But to actually put them into practice was far more frightening than planning them in her head. In her head she could control Bing's reaction. Here, she was afraid that she would overwhelm him and make him think that she was going too far with what she did. She glanced at him one last time to gauge his reaction but it seemed to be positive, and he said it was nice. She chided herself for worrying so much but there was a part of Felicity that still wanted to wring her hands--but she held back from that. As he reached around her she was confused, not certain what it was doing until she heard the rattle of the plate against the table. For a moment she thought it was some bizarre sort of hug, but once she realized what was going on she kept her shoulder strong to help him brace himself. "Sorry, that was silly of me," she said when the food reached the blanket. "I was just preoccupied with..." She looked at the music box, which had been a gift from her Fletwock grandfather when she had been five. He'd lived just a year after Bingham's arrival to the stables and she still missed him a lot. He had been the one to teach her how to ride. It was a piece of Malvern Hills she always brought with her to Hogwarts. "I hope I got the food you'll most like," she said, picking up her fork. "I'm still not sure about the particulars of your favourites but I also know that lads generally like to eat anything that'll sit still long enough." The music box was important to her. Bing had never seen it before in all his time at Malvern Hills, but he followed her gaze as she trailed off and he was smart enough to put one and two together. Filed away, as well. He didn't say anything more about it yet and instead he set about shoveling a large bite of greens and potatoes in his mouth, almost proving her point about lads eating anything that sat still long enough. Bing was definitely that type, but there was more to it than merely being indiscriminate when it came to food. He learned long ago there wasn't much wiggle room with eating when it was hard enough putting food on the table as it was. He chewed, swallowed, and smiled, though, and kept memories of a painful past silent. "No, this is swell," he said instead. "I'll definitely eat anything. Sometimes even things that don't sit still." He was only saying good things. Felicity relaxed a little bit more and reached for the thermos. She opened the top and carefully poured the liquid into the flute. Thankfully she'd gotten this water before the younger years had tampered with it. This wasn't just any water, though. She'd charmed it to be bubbly, and as Bing's flute filled, bubbles started rising to the top. She laughed a little at herself as she poured some for herself. "I couldn't get us any butterbeer or pumpkin juice, but I thought I could add just a little bit... We can pretend it's champagne." She started eating, too. Felicity ate primly and watched him shoveling the food. It didn't bother her. She'd seen enough of his eating methodology since they had been snogging and now dating. He'd never dined with her family although he and his mother had been invited, and before she'd started snogging Bingham she hadn't really cared to see him eat. Felicity wanted to ask if everything was all right, but she didn't. Instead, she continued watching him. "You are still going to sing for me, aren't you?" After all, she'd gone to all this trouble. Bing wasn't really much for pretending, but he was endeared by the effort Felicity had seemed to put into their picnic and that stilled a tongue that might have otherwise called the whole thing silly. It helped that he was in a good mood, too. He thought Valentine's Day was kind of stupid, but he had to admit it was kind of nice to have someone put in effort where he was concerned. So he stuck to only saying good things about the effort she'd put into their meal. When she spoke again, he paused for a moment, twisting his mouth to reach a bit of a food in the back of his teeth. "Yeah, I'll sing," he said, but he shifted in his spot on the blanket. He quickly hid his discomfort by scooping up his patterned champagne flute and holding it out to her, eyebrows lifted expectantly. She didn't fail to rise to the occasion as he held out his flute. She lifted hers as well and tapped the glass against his. "Cheers," she said. It seemed as though he really liked what she had done, and that was all that really mattered to Felicity. She went back to eating and sipping her water and ate until she was finished. Her nerves kept her from being as hungry as she usually was, but she didn't waste one bite because she knew exactly how precious each morsel of food was. "You haven't any regrets, have you?" she asked slowly. "About asking me to be your girlfriend?" She knew it probably wasn't the fairest place to ask, but it was the safest. She knew Bingham hadn't been keen on a commitment and the past few nights she had wondered if she had been altogether fair with him for making her desires most important. If there was one thing she was learning, it was how to be more concerned about his feelings. Just a short time ago she honestly didn't care if she made him uncomfortable or not. "No," he said after a moment of chewing his food thoughtfully. And while he'd had his reservations at the time, he hadn't really regretted it so much as wondered what the hell he'd gotten himself into. He still wondered that. "It's not really any different from the way things were before, like I said." Except, now that the shackles were in place, he doubted that would really remain the case. Everything felt far more intimate than it had before. He'd lowered some of his defenses and the things she made him feel weren't entirely monopolized by the head on his shoulders or the head in his trousers. But he wasn't about to admit any of that. Not first, anyway. Still, there was an almost imperceptible waver in his voice when he asked, "You?" "No, things aren't different," she agreed. "Not really, anyways." Like Bing, she had a greater feeling of intimacy with him. She felt more comfortable around him knowing that he liked her enough to have overcome his aversion to being with her in a committed state. Especially since she knew it had happened--much?--earlier than he seemed to have planned. "I don't regret it," Felicity said. She would have added 'at all' but she was afraid she'd look overeager. Anyway, she had gone to such trouble for the Valentines luncheon. She figured that should show how much she cared and put thought into things for him. He laughed under his breath, as he often did when he was uncomfortable, but he was relieved, really. The luncheon did show those things, but he was always going to be insecure. Now matter how at ease she put him, there would always be doubt. She had put him somewhat at ease right before he'd caved to her request to ask if she wanted to be his girlfriend. He'd been the most insecure about being ditched, after all. But it was still nice to hear she had no regrets. His grin was crooked again as he looked up at her from his plate. "Good," he said. He nudged her shoe with his across the blanket. "Otherwise, no song." Felicity smiled at him. "That wouldn't be fair of you," she insisted. "Although, I could understand your hesitation if I couldn't say I wanted to be with me. But since I have, you really don't have an excuse." She set her plate to the side and took another drink of water before she leaned over the thermos and kissed his cheek softly. "Any time is a good time, you know," she said happily. For a moment, Bing quietly listened to the tinny music that still filled the greenhouse, his lips mouthing the words to the lullaby it played as he attempted to find his place in the song. It was a familiar song, one his mother had occasionally sung to him when he was much, much younger. Once the music wound down, he brandished his fork like a microphone with a grin and waited for it to pick up again before he started signing along. Any other time he might have felt stupid for singing along with a music box. He wasn't really one to deliberately sing for an audience. Maybe the bubbles from the water had gone to his head. Maybe his fork microphone combatted some of the silliness of it all. Or maybe it was just the girl sitting in front of him. But he was feeling enough at ease to go along with her request for a song. Felicity grinned at him the whole time, moving her plate and champagne flute enough so that she could recline on the blanket as she watched him. She was utterly charmed by him singing the lullaby that accompanied the tinny music. "That was wonderful," she said. It reminded her of her childhood, which had been happy all along. She didn't know how Bingham's childhood had been, she realized, and she thought about asking but decided that could be saved for another time. Another day. "Thank you, Bingham," she said, reaching to touch his chin and pull him in for a nice, long kiss. "I assume you're not going to sing a song about trying to make love to me," she said with a smile. The fork had gradually lowered as he sang and he quickly discarded it as she kissed him so he could wrap his arms around her without jabbing her with it. He linked his fingers behind her back, trapping her in his personal bubble so she couldn't return to her own just yet. He laughed at her comment about his next song and instead of answering right away, he kissed her again. "You assume wrong," he answered and tugged her further into his lap where he murmured what little he could remember of the song into her ear. Felicity loved being in his lap and having his arms around her. There was a sweetness and comfort there when Bing held her. She sighed happily as he crooned in her ear, shifting to get more comfortable. Her teeth bit down gently on her lip as the sultry words filled her ear for a few moments. "Never," she sighed happily. "Have I been glad to be wrong. Oh, no. Scratch that. I never thought I'd kiss you. That is what I truly have been happy to be wrong about." "I'm happy you were wrong too," he replied, his lips still pressed against her ear. He cleared his throat, though, as the moment was starting to culminate in that discomfort that wasn't entirely unwelcome, but wasn't at all suited to a picnic in the greenhouses. He untangled his arms from around her and leaned back, bracing himself against the ground on his palms. "This was…I'm happy about it too. You know, being here and us. This might be my favourite greenhouse from now on." "Mmhm," Felicity said, suddenly embarrassed at what it was she had said. After he untangled his arms from around her she scooted out of his lap and sat with her legs crossed, giving some space between herself and him. She felt as though she'd gone too far, even if he was responding well to her. She felt uncomfortable to have exposed herself that, so she stared at a tuft of grass that was growing on the unkempt ground. Bing sensed her discomfort, especially when the grass was suddenly more interesting than looking at him. He reached for one of her ankles and gave it a tug. "What's that face for?" he asked, smiling at her. "You aren't embarrassed about wanting to make love to me, are you?" She looked up at him sheepishly. Felicity couldn't express what was going on inside of her and what the face really was for. She was glad he offered his own explanation, and she dipped her head to the side and laughed a little. "Yes, that's precisely it," she said. "I was hoping you'd just take me now." "Well," was all he said to that, his eyebrows raised at the challenge. He was aware she didn't really hope he'd take her right then and there, but he was going to play along anyway, his own discomfort be damned. He closed the distance she'd put between them and maneuvered them both to the greenhouse floor, covering her with his body. He didn't kiss her or rest his full weight on her because, while he was teasing her, he didn't want to completely overstep her boundaries, but his mouth was dry once he looked down at her and his voice caught in his throat when he finally spoke again. "Right here?" "Bingham!" she said as she found herself against the floor and him on top of her. It wasn't as though she hadn't ever wondered what it would be like to feel him against her. She'd wondered that quite a lot. And now she knew. But she felt as though she had to pretend as though she didn't like it, so she thwaped at his back with both hands and tried to remove herself from under him. Her face flushed as she struggled with the task, knowing full well that she was enjoying this more than she ought to. "Get," she said, before trying to wiggle herself out from under him on his right side. "Off," she gave up and tried for the right. "Me!" she finished, thwapping him once again. "I guess not," he said, smirking down at her before pushing himself off of her and returning to his seat. It took effort, though, and it took even more effort to keep from pulling her into his lap again. He had no qualms admitting to himself just how much he'd liked pressing his body fully against Felicity's or even how much he'd have liked to make love to her right there on the greenhouse floor. But he also had no trouble admitting he knew it was too soon for any of that. "No, not here. Not now. And not anytime soon," she said, sitting up and fluffing her hair out to it's appropriately normal shape and curl. She gave a soft huff as she made sure that there wasn't any dirt on her before turning her attention fully to Bingham. "If I had any questions about your willingness, they've evaporated," she told him. She ran her fingers through her wavy hair once again, looking forward to when she could stand and dig through her purse for her compact. She certainly didn't want to to look as though she'd been having relations on the floor of the greenhouse. Once she was sure her hair was fixed she got on her knees and slowly moved toward Bingham. She didn't exactly climb in his lap, but she got close enough so that her legs touched his and she leaned over his lap to give him a lingering kiss. "We should go soon," she said. "Third years have Herbology soon. And while they aren't going to be in this greenhouse we might be spotted." "Let's just stay here all day instead," he murmured as he leaned in to press his own lingering kiss to her lips. He looped his arms around her again, letting his hands rest in the small of her back. "Who needs classes?" She sighed and leaned her forehead against his. It would be nice to just linger in the greenhouse for the rest of the room. And, if she remembered their schedules properly, neither of them had any classes left for the rest of the day. It was Valentine's Day. They deserved this time together. "Well," she said with a note of hesitation in her voice. "We can't stay here." "How about a walk around the lake," he replied. That sounded nice. She smiled at him and nodded, getting up and gathering their things. She didn't bother gathering the plates. The house elves would take care of those. She put everything else in her purse and leaned over to help him stand with a smile. "Come on," she said, linking her thin fingers with his strong ones. |