Closed Post: #SelfCare

[sorrowandsorrow]

Eat your heart out, Castle Whitespire. Eat your heart out, Eliot Waugh. Janet doesn't need any of you, because she found this stupid mansion's stupid Jacuzzi all by herself. In the aftermath of the zombie uprising (by the way: what the fuck?), she must have been putting out some kind of extra desperation, caked in sweat and zombie dust and the dirt of the mansion's grounds, because as she stomped down the hallway to her bedroom, something told her to open a door. And she did. And there it was.

It was fucking glorious, and she was too selfish to wait that time, but she has a date to set up. Susan will find a neon orange Post-It stuck to the door of her room this morning that says: Found it. Meet me at seven o'clock tonight, third door on the right when you hang a left past that ugly chandelier with the swans. --J

She even doodled a little crown symbol over the letter to make her point clear.

When Susan does make her way to the room with the hot tub, she'll see Janet in a black bikini with a glass of prosecco in one hand, another frosty glass sitting on the tiles next to her hand. With that hand, she's propping herself up as she takes a sip. Her legs are dangling into the Jacuzzi already, but she hasn't switched on the jets yet.

Comments

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Our sword-mice have cursing well covered," Susan says, thinking briefly - carefully - of Reepicheep and his loyal fighters. She's smiling still, the easy flirtatious one, but it does strike her - a little meanly - that she's glad this particular faux diplomatic dance doesn't involve yet another condition of considering her hand for some far-off lord or king. "Though our bears could use some improvements in that area."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"It's good that you're aware of your kingdom's deficiencies as well as its strengths," Janet says loftily, and then a smile tugs at her mouth again. This is a smile of a weird but fond memory. "Do your bears like to drink? The first talking animal I ever met was a drunk bear. He was obsessed with peach schnapps."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I've met a beaver or two who likes his beer," Susan agrees. She's running her eye over Janet's face - less assessing than usual, but still searching. Janet's cheeks are pink, her eyes bright. Some of her hair is pulling free of her messy bun. After a beat, Susan lifts the less-encumbered of her hands, dripping water, and takes her own turn in tucking an errant tendril of Janet's hair behind her ear. "And of course Bacchus and his maenads liked their wine, but they weren't Talking Beasts."

[sorrowandsorrow]

The brush of Susan's fingers against her ear, and her palm against her cheek, has Janet admittedly distracted. She turns her face into the touch just a bit. Beneath the water, she lets her hand slip down so that she's holding onto Susan's other hand instead, her thumb pressed now to the meatiest part of Susan's palm. "Bacchus, huh? I have to admit, we only had the two gods, and they were both shit." At least they're gone now.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan's hand flexes against Janet's, fingers now brushing at her wrist. "Bacchus was minor, like the river gods and the dryads." Aslan was treated as reverently as any God, but wasn't called such. She supposes there was always Tash, the Calormen God; they certainly referenced Him enough during that debacle with Rabadash.

She shivers. She doesn't want to think about that debacle with Rabadash, not when she's comfortable ensconced in a miraculous tub with a beautiful woman touching her hand. Carefully, she catches Janet's eye, and edges infinitesimally forward.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet lets her gaze catch on Susan's, looking at her head on. "So," she says, and that word is spoken lightly, but then her voice dips into something more assured. "This is your escape hatch, okay? If you don't want this diplomatic negotiation to go any farther, this is the off-ramp."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

It's easier to give in, knowing that Janet is also interested. That surety buoys Susan as she sways forward and says, "Surely if we're to send our people on... cultural exchanges..., we queens should lead by example."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I knew I liked you for a reason," Janet says, and she would smile, but she's busy. With confidence, she hooks a hand around the back of Susan's neck and pulls her in -- not that there's much space remaining, but Janet vanquishes it handily, and kisses her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Even though Susan knew this was where they were heading, the kiss still takes her a little by surprise. This won't be evident to Janet, though; she responds eagerly and with no discernible hesitation. She brings her hand up to Janet's cheek, where she lets it rest, damp and warm, for a scant moment before pushing it further back, feeling the edge of Janet's hairline.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet wouldn't necessarily have needed the liquid courage, but it helps enough that she's grateful for it. She kisses Susan with intent, with her hand firm around her neck, and without any hesitation. Finally, she entangles their fingers properly where they're still submerged in the hot water.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan uses the leverage of their joined hands to pull Janet closer, angling her head and deepening the kiss. The water between them displaces quickly with the movement, lapping at the edge of the tub and then flowing back to splash at her body; she ignores this, in favor of a focus on getting some sense of how Janet operates, with this sort of thing.

[sorrowandsorrow]

The little bitten-off sound Janet makes would be a laugh if it had a chance to get any farther than it does. She's focused, though, kissing Susan as their mouths open against one another and she can taste the sweetness of the prosecco on Susan's tongue. Once she has half of a single wit about her, she shifts to sling a leg over Susan's, hooking it around her hip, wanting to hold her there in more ways than one.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan presses against Janet, moving her hand from Janet's cheek down over the span of her back, feeling the lines of her bikini, and then tucking a finger underneath the band of it. She leaves it there, not pressing, but she likes the weight of Janet's leg on hers, and the intent way Janet kisses.

[sorrowandsorrow]

That makes Janet grin a little, which impedes her ability to kiss well anyway, so she lets her teeth catch on Susan's lower lip and then laughs again, a fuller laugh this time. "Just checking in on the status of our negotiations, Your Majesty," she says.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Proceeding apace," Susan decides, with a tiny, genuine smile. She's stroking the smooth skin of Janet's back, fingertips light. "I believe the treaty is a strong one."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet shuts her eyes for a minute, smiling and arching her shoulders back into that touch like a cat. "Mm. You know what, I think you might be right. Damn, we're good." She lets herself drift, mouth to Susan's cheek and then to her throat just below her ear.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan tilts her head, granting Janet easier access. The water makes everything feel more surreal, more floaty. "The Marsh-wiggles might object, but they always do," she says, moving her hand down Janet's spine, her touches soft but sure.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet huffs an incredulous little breath somewhere around the slope where Susan's neck turns into shoulder. "I'm not saying stop," she says, "but I am saying, what the hell is a Marsh-wiggle?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan snorts, but she shivers, too; Janet's exhale has tickled her. "They're these horrid little frog-men," she says. "Excellent fisherfolk, sometimes useful in a navy, but terrible company. Very fatalistic and morose, as a rule."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Huh." Janet smiles for a second, then drops an open-mouthed kiss right above Susan's collarbone. With the hand at the nape of her neck, she pets absently at a few of the damp, stray locks of hair there. "Not so sure Fillory is interested in that export."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I can think of better emissaries," Susan agrees. Her hand is at the small of Janet's back; she uses this as leverage to pull Janet a little closer. She likes Janet's mouth on her chest, but she wants hers to be occupied too, so she dips her head, nudging Janet with a kiss to the temple, and then working her way down. She gives a light, experimental tug to Janet's earlobe with her teeth.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh," Janet says, surprising herself with the reaction. There's another laugh, then, lower. She tips her head up and turns to yank Susan into another kiss, just a quick but decisive one, lips parted still around that laugh. "I wasn't sure if you... okay, don't get me wrong. I knew you were into me. But I didn't know if you were, you know. Shen Yuan-ing yourself."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan pauses, and blinks. "Shen Yuan-ing myself?" She plays back through their earlier conversation. "In which respect?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, the deep denial about the gay thing." Janet drums her fingers along the back of Susan's neck, amused at the thought. "I mean, not in such a stupid way, but I know it can be... weird. For a lot of people."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, no," Susan says, lips quirking. "I've known for years." It's true, but certainly not the whole truth. This doesn't feel like the space for talking about it, though: her confidence in coupling, but her difficulty in putting a name to it around all but her closest friends. Ingrid knew. Miriam obviously knew. Some of the closer or more like-minded members of their inner circle of friends, too. Edmund saw, when he stopped by for the book. They'd talked around it, but never about it. Maybe there will be a time, later, when Susan will be able to talk to Janet about all this, but right now she's having fun kissing a beautiful woman.