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

[sorrowandsorrow]

"That's the spirit." Janet slings a grin her way. "Shit, I'm turning into a prune." With a little reluctance, she hauls herself out of the tub, just to sit on the edge again, feet still in the water. The relatively cool air of the room is soothing after all that time in the heat, and so she unceremoniously flops backward along the tiles.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan climbs out, too; her head is starting to spin a little, more from the heat and the kissing than from the drink. She places the bottle next to Janet's head - there's half a swallow left - and then sits down next to Janet, watching her, taking in the rise and fall of her chest, the cut of her bikini, the eddy of water around her ankles.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Thanks." Janet props herself up on her elbows to grab the bottle and polishes off that final swallow, then sets the now-empty bottle down with a decisive clink on the floor. She tips her head toward Susan, half-smiling, returning the heat of her gaze. "I assume you're sold on the concept of Jacuzzis now. See why I wanted one for my castle?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan smiles, easy and flirtatious. "I would have to insist on one for my own, now," she says. "I'm sure there would be a way. Perhaps if the dwarfs and naiads worked together."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Fuck yes." Janet's smile lingers as she watches Susan. "I was going to make the dwarves build one, and then force Eliot to figure out some kind of spell with me to do the jets. Asking the naiads is a pretty good idea, too."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"When you haven't got magic, you work with your raw material resources," Susan says, nodding solemnly, and if she affects a bit of a pose as she says it, well then, she's feeling playful.

[sorrowandsorrow]

In answer, Janet lets her own expression turn mock-solemn, assessing. It gives her a good excuse to drag her gaze slowly up along Susan's whole body, from her legs to her stupidly beautiful face. "If I were a naiad and you asked me to make you a Jacuzzi, I have to admit, I think I'd probably do it. Call me a sucker."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Very well," Susan say, also mock-solemnly, as warmed by Janet's gaze as she is from the water. Her lips quirk. "Sucker."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Huh." Janet puts on a look of surprise, a little undermined by the smirk that's trying to pull at her mouth. "I didn't think you'd be that obedient."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Best not get used to it," Susan tells her. She draws one leg out of the water, propping her heel at the edge of the tub and wrapping her arm around her knee. Lifting one eyebrow, a little imperiously, she adds, "It's not a habit of mine."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Well, thank God. I would have been pretty disappointed if it was." Janet laughs, trying to imagine a consistently meek and biddable version of Susan and failing totally.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan tilts her head, giving Janet another once-over. "This was a good idea," she says, and then smirks. "I like these bathing costumes of the future."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Obviously it was a good idea. Janet's a genius. "These bathing costumes of the future like you," she says. She stretches; it's partially, but not entirely, a deliberate action to keep Susan's attention on her. "You're gonna have to shower later to get the chlorine off you, though -- sorry. Did they have chlorine in the '50s?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Amused - and blatantly letting her gaze catch on the lines of Janet's body as she stretches - Susan says, "Yes, chlorine has been around my entire life." She flicks her focus to Janet's face. "I was anticipating the shower." A ghost of a smirk. "I'm not afraid of getting a little wet."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh my God!" Janet laughs, delighted and probably the closest to flustered she's ever going to get. This involves covering her face with a hand, but only for a second. "I'd punch a man who said something like that to me, but from you, it's working."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"That's because I'm more charming than any man," Susan says, primly and yet blatantly smug. "Perks of being a Queen, I suppose." Then she laughs. "What if I'd simply been referencing The Wizard of Oz?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, is that what you were doing?" Janet gives her an indulgent little smile. "I guess that would be awkward because then I'd have to explain to you why I took it the wrong way."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan hums. "That does sound rather awkward," she says, drawing her other leg out of the Jacuzzi, too. "I'd probably have to make even worse jokes to lighten the tone afterward."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Hmm, be careful," Janet says lightly. "Remember how you're so much more charming than a man and your stupid lines are working on me? Don't blow it."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Then I shall refrain," Susan says, with mock solemnity. "It would have been a dreadful joke. I should hate to lose your esteem by asking if this-" (Here, she reaches out and touches the edge of Janet's lips.) "-was the 'bonbon' part of the promised Jacuzzi experience."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's smile blooms back into existence more easily than she would have expected. "You're catching on," she says, a little lower. "And just as I was about to ask if you were accepting guests for your hotly anticipated shower."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Only fellow heads of state familiar with the operation and management of fantastical worlds, I'm afraid," Susan says, cocking her head to one side. "Do you happen to know of any who might want to join me?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I have great news for you." Janet finally tucks her feet up out of the tub and pulls herself to sit upright so she can make a ta-da motion with both hands. "You're in the presence of a queen, Your Majesty."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"In that case..." Susan raises an eyebrow. "My shower is your shower, Queen Janet."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"An incredible victory of diplomacy," Janet declares. She gets to her feet, tucking a few damp strands of hair behind her ears, and then glances around. "I guess we shouldn't walk through the halls half-naked. I don't want any men getting a show they don't deserve." Her own robe is hung on a hook in the corner; it's fluffy and white, like something you'd find at a fancy hotel, so she pulls it on and belts it with some satisfaction.