Post by Rosie on Aug 26, 2017 1:26:47 GMT 10
Series: Feeling is First
Title: Burnt
Rating: PG-13
Event: Synchronised Swimming
Words: 885
Summary: Thayet gets drafted into the war council
--
Thayet looked at the grey stone steps, the white facade of the lower floor, and frowned. Alanna had never asked her to meet anywhere like this before - they were usually strictly South of the River types. She couldn't even think who she knew in Islington, until Gary answered the sound of the lion knocker.
He looked unenthused to see her, and didn't bother to welcome her. She followed him silently down a set of stairs (how big was his house?) into a cosy living area, where she began to understand why she had been invited.
"For God's sake, Jon, we're trying to help you here, and all you want to do is shack up with your flavour of the month?"
Thayet considered this particularly rich coming from Gary.
"Actually, I invited her," Alanna said brightly, stepping into view. "Thought we could use an extra head, since Delia seems to have sucked out most of your brain cells."
Jon was frowning, though he made room for Thayet beside him on the corner sofa. "I don't really want Thayet involved - sorry, Thayet. It's a family matter."
"Myles is hearing rumours that Jon's firm is about to be taken over." Alanna spoke solely to Thayet, ignoring Jon. "His parents have been very quiet, but asked him for dinner tonight out of the blue. We don't know who else is going to be there, but it seems likely his devil-spawn of a cousin will make an appearance, and I don't think Jon should go alone."
Jon smiled tiredly at Thayet, and she felt her heart skip a beat. He was supposed to be making Junior Partner soon. Any incoming firm would be unlikely to want the old guard's son at the helm, or anywhere near it. "Alanna, much as I appreciate you, if I were going to choose a diplomat, you'd be last on my list."
Alanna rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you big jerk. Obviously, I've brought you a Trojan horse, only, you're all so busy thinking with your nether regions that there's no blood left to go to your brains."
It was only a split second before Alanna revealed it that Thayet felt cold dread down her spine.
"She's Adigun Wilima's daughter. You want a connection to another firm to buy you time, Thayet is your way in."
And there it was. Her father, who had told her that she would come crawling back eventually, would be proven correct. She folded her hands in her lap, and pinched the web of her right hand between her opposite index finger and thumb until she felt she had herself under control. Gary and Alanna were engaged either in a vocal debate or a shouting match, and Jon - Jon was looking right at her.
"Hey, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do," he murmured. "There are other ways around it."
"We don't talk," she said, equally soft, "Not since I was fifteen. If you're looking for a grenade for this evening, I can do that, but I can't do anything more."
"Gary, Alanna, go next door."
Neither individual struck Thayet as being the kind to follow orders, but there was something commanding in Jon's tone. The two exited through what looked like a kitchen, rather than leaving the way Thayet had entered.
"The house is my father's, and Gary's family own next door's," Jon explained, stretching his arm out along the back of the sofa. "Luckily, neither of our families likes town that much, so we get the run of it."
Thayet tucked herself into his embrace, wondering at how easy it was to be physically comfortable with him so soon. "All right, get me up to speed. God, I'm going to have to find something to wear."
"There's this red dress in one of your profile pictures." Jon's fingertips skated along her left arm, and she shivered pleasantly. "That would be perfect."
"I see you've been cyber-stalking." She was, quietly, pleased; he'd been distant of late. Now, of course, it was easy to see why.
He held his hands up, in mock surrender. "I think we can technically count it as research."
They lay comfortably for a while, his hand stroking through her hair, and she told him about her parents. The divorce, the expensive custody battle so her dad could prove his strength and wealth, how her mum had left for Australia as soon as Thayet had finished school. How Buri's family was almost Thayet's own, these days.
How, maybe, she'd like to use the connection for good. It would make a change.
"Only if you want to," he cautioned, sitting upright so he could look at her whilst they spoke. "Honestly, Thayet. There's a chance that this is all blown out of proportion."
Jon didn't look like he was convinced, and Thayet wasn't either. Alanna's adopted father was well-connected, and he wouldn't have spoken without believing it to be true.
"We'll go along tonight, and play it by ear," she conceded. "Should we reconvene the War Council?"
He took her left hand, and threaded his fingers through, pressing a kiss to the tips of her fingers. "We could. Or… I could show you around?"
"Seems fair," she demurred, letting him draw her into a kiss. "You've seen my room, after all."
Title: Burnt
Rating: PG-13
Event: Synchronised Swimming
Words: 885
Summary: Thayet gets drafted into the war council
--
Thayet looked at the grey stone steps, the white facade of the lower floor, and frowned. Alanna had never asked her to meet anywhere like this before - they were usually strictly South of the River types. She couldn't even think who she knew in Islington, until Gary answered the sound of the lion knocker.
He looked unenthused to see her, and didn't bother to welcome her. She followed him silently down a set of stairs (how big was his house?) into a cosy living area, where she began to understand why she had been invited.
"For God's sake, Jon, we're trying to help you here, and all you want to do is shack up with your flavour of the month?"
Thayet considered this particularly rich coming from Gary.
"Actually, I invited her," Alanna said brightly, stepping into view. "Thought we could use an extra head, since Delia seems to have sucked out most of your brain cells."
Jon was frowning, though he made room for Thayet beside him on the corner sofa. "I don't really want Thayet involved - sorry, Thayet. It's a family matter."
"Myles is hearing rumours that Jon's firm is about to be taken over." Alanna spoke solely to Thayet, ignoring Jon. "His parents have been very quiet, but asked him for dinner tonight out of the blue. We don't know who else is going to be there, but it seems likely his devil-spawn of a cousin will make an appearance, and I don't think Jon should go alone."
Jon smiled tiredly at Thayet, and she felt her heart skip a beat. He was supposed to be making Junior Partner soon. Any incoming firm would be unlikely to want the old guard's son at the helm, or anywhere near it. "Alanna, much as I appreciate you, if I were going to choose a diplomat, you'd be last on my list."
Alanna rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you big jerk. Obviously, I've brought you a Trojan horse, only, you're all so busy thinking with your nether regions that there's no blood left to go to your brains."
It was only a split second before Alanna revealed it that Thayet felt cold dread down her spine.
"She's Adigun Wilima's daughter. You want a connection to another firm to buy you time, Thayet is your way in."
And there it was. Her father, who had told her that she would come crawling back eventually, would be proven correct. She folded her hands in her lap, and pinched the web of her right hand between her opposite index finger and thumb until she felt she had herself under control. Gary and Alanna were engaged either in a vocal debate or a shouting match, and Jon - Jon was looking right at her.
"Hey, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do," he murmured. "There are other ways around it."
"We don't talk," she said, equally soft, "Not since I was fifteen. If you're looking for a grenade for this evening, I can do that, but I can't do anything more."
"Gary, Alanna, go next door."
Neither individual struck Thayet as being the kind to follow orders, but there was something commanding in Jon's tone. The two exited through what looked like a kitchen, rather than leaving the way Thayet had entered.
"The house is my father's, and Gary's family own next door's," Jon explained, stretching his arm out along the back of the sofa. "Luckily, neither of our families likes town that much, so we get the run of it."
Thayet tucked herself into his embrace, wondering at how easy it was to be physically comfortable with him so soon. "All right, get me up to speed. God, I'm going to have to find something to wear."
"There's this red dress in one of your profile pictures." Jon's fingertips skated along her left arm, and she shivered pleasantly. "That would be perfect."
"I see you've been cyber-stalking." She was, quietly, pleased; he'd been distant of late. Now, of course, it was easy to see why.
He held his hands up, in mock surrender. "I think we can technically count it as research."
They lay comfortably for a while, his hand stroking through her hair, and she told him about her parents. The divorce, the expensive custody battle so her dad could prove his strength and wealth, how her mum had left for Australia as soon as Thayet had finished school. How Buri's family was almost Thayet's own, these days.
How, maybe, she'd like to use the connection for good. It would make a change.
"Only if you want to," he cautioned, sitting upright so he could look at her whilst they spoke. "Honestly, Thayet. There's a chance that this is all blown out of proportion."
Jon didn't look like he was convinced, and Thayet wasn't either. Alanna's adopted father was well-connected, and he wouldn't have spoken without believing it to be true.
"We'll go along tonight, and play it by ear," she conceded. "Should we reconvene the War Council?"
He took her left hand, and threaded his fingers through, pressing a kiss to the tips of her fingers. "We could. Or… I could show you around?"
"Seems fair," she demurred, letting him draw her into a kiss. "You've seen my room, after all."
I love this world, and the way you tease out the over-arcing story in small increments that are both satisfying and leave me wanting MUCH more.