like a wine-stained dress (royal)

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It was May ninth, a week after Victoires birthday. Her birthday was a bit of a crazy day and she hadn't really made it point to celebrate. She was at her apartment now, Teddy was at auror training. She was slightly jealous of him being there, moving forward with his life. She was hear, sitting on the couch in her pajamas with a cup of cocoa and Walter warming her feet. "Walter, you can't have any of this. Chocolate is not good for doggies," she said, looking at the beagle and shaking her head. He just watched her with wide eyes, really wanting some of that chocolate. But, he was a dog, he always wanted whatever she had. "Roy will be hear any moment and he will not give you hot chocolate either," she assured him.

She had invited Royal to come over since she knew he had the day off. She had made a joke about belatedly celebrating her birthday, but a part of her hoped that Royal would take that seriously. Knowing Royal, he would. She smiled at the thought of him, her chocolate stirring itself in her hand. What an amazing, strange and wonderful world she lived in. A world where Teddy and Royal and her could be together all at the same time. And Odette... she chuckled, Odette would catch on sooner or later. Vic sighed at the thought of her, too. How did she get to be so lucky?

@royal

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This month was going to be a good month. The end of April had been good, too, but Royal was determined to have an entire month where he didn’t get overwhelmed by existential dread even once, and May was setting itself up to be that month. For the first time since Abby died, Royal had hope – real hope. Most of that came from the fact that he had a support system again. He wasn’t drowning in an ocean of emotion on his own; he had reconnected with Odette, and Vic and Teddy… Royal couldn’t stop himself from grinning ear to ear at the thought of Vic and Teddy. He couldn’t believe that it hadn’t happened sooner, because they had all always been so close, and it was just so right. He knew that Vic was going to talk to Odette soon – or may already had talked to her – and then maybe it would all fall into place. The world would make sense when they were together.

Royal was going to visit Victoire, and his good mood was apparent in more than just his grin. He was carrying a rather precarious pile of presents. It was Vic’s first birthday as his girlfriend, and it was also her first birthday since finding out that she could possibly die, so it deserved a lot of celebration, even if that celebration happened a little later than usual. His hands were full, so when Royal got to the door of Vic and Teddy’s apartment, he didn’t knock – he kicked the door. “It’s me!” Royal shouted so that Victoire wouldn’t think someone was trying to break into her apartment.

@victoire

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The door was kicked and Vic jumped, gasping at the sound. She glared at the door, "coming!" she said, shaking her head. She patted Walter on the head before heading to the door and swinging it open. At the sight of Royal her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a line, but still a smile. "What is all this," she said flatly, shaking her head a little. She stepped aside to let him in, not helping him with the presents because if he wanted to bring all those then he could deal with them himself, she thought, letting out a chuckle. She gestured inside the apartment, "put them anywhere, and don't give Walter any chocolate, he'll try to trick you," she instructed.

@royal

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Royal beamed at Victoire when she opened the door for him, even though she didn’t look nearly as excited as he was by the pile of presents that he was carrying. “Come on, Vic, I know you didn’t forget about your own birthday.” Royal said, stepping inside and sticking his tongue out at his girlfriend for her unwillingness to help him with the gifts. He was going to give them to her despite her displeasure, though, because that was what good boyfriends did. Royal set his stack of gifts down on the sofa, turning to give Victoire a hug now that his arms were free. “I know how dogs work.” Royal said, rolling his eyes. “I have a cat, remember? They’re even worse about tricking people.” Royal’s cat was pretty old now, though, so she was getting less tricky and more like a lump, not that Royal minded. “Now tell me, Victoire, did you even get a birthday cake?” Royal asked. He understood being busy, but there was no such thing as too busy for birthdays.

@victoire

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"I didn't forget," she rolled her eyes, "I just find it silly to have so many presents, Roy. I mean, between you, Teddy, Odette and my family I am sure that I only need one per person, if not less," she explained. She diiiid like presents though, always had. She liked birthdays, too. Especially her own. She was a selfless person, most of the time, but she was a bit of a birthday brat when she wanted to be. Even if it was celebrated late. He set the gifts down and gave her a hug, which she returned. She chuckled as he spoke about how cats were worse than dogs at tracking people, which was definitely true. At the mention of a birthday cake she nodded, "yeah, I had a small one with Teddy! So don't worry there," she explained. "I hope next birthday is more... organized," she mused, turning to the presents.

@royal

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Royal laughed when Vic said that she hadn’t forgotten her own birthday. That was good – amnesia would be worrisome. His girlfriend continued on by saying that she didn’t need that many gifts from one person, and Royal shrugged. “I didn’t really mean to get this many presents. I mean, I just saw this thing and I was like ‘Oh, Vic would love that!’ and then I saw this other thing and it reminded me of you, and then… Well, you get the picture.” He had accidentally amassed so many presents because he just kept thinking of Victoire – like, all the time. Victoire said that she had a small birthday cake with Teddy, which was a relief, since Royal wasn’t sure Vic’s kitchen had the necessary materials for him to bake a cake now. “Organization is for suckers.” Royal said with a small smile. “Besides, before we get to your next birthday we have to have mine.” Royal’s last birthday hadn’t been all that great, but that meant that next year there was nowhere to go but up!

@victoire

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He spoke about how all the presents came to be and she shook her head, her smile beaming with affection. At his comment about organization being for 'suckers' though, she grimaced, "I am appalled," she said, a faux tone of hurt in her voice. He mentioned his own birthday and her eyes flattered with excitement again, wide and electric. "Guess we'll all have to do something really special," her mind was already whirring with ideas and she tried to push them aside. He was there now for this, and she was attempting this whole 'live in the moment's thing that everyone was talking about. She pulled away from the hug, just to instead place her hands on either side of his face and lean forward to plant a firm kiss on his lips. "Thank you. It's too much, but thank you," she chuckled, stepping back again. "So, do I just sit down and you present them to me or what?"

@royal

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Royal made a face at Vic when she said she was appalled by his comment about organization. “Hey, you knew what you signed up for.” He said. It wasn’t like he ever had many secrets from Victoire – he was an open book where she was concerned, and he hoped that it would stay that way even though they were dating now. He never wanted to have to hide a part of who he was, least of all from one of the people that he loved. Vic said that they’d have to do something really special for his birthday, and he cracked a smile. He wanted to make a comment about how any birthday with the four of them – him, Teddy, Vic, and Odette – would be special enough, but he thought they had already reached pretty high levels of cheese already, and they hadn’t even started opening the presents yet.

“Yes, that’ll work just fine.” Royal said. “This first present is actually kind of for Walter, too.” Royal said, handing Vic one of the brightly-wrapped boxes. He had been thrilled to find that there were wizard clothing shops that made matching pajamas for dogs and their owners, so of course he had had to get Vic and Walter a pair.

@victoire

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He commented that she knew what she signed up for, and that statement was true in so many ways -- even ways he didn't yet understand. Still, she was happy for what she signed up for in this particular regard. She was happy to have Royal, and Teddy and Odette. They were one of the few things she did have, so that meant a lot to her. That was the most important thing to her, really. Them and her family, big and small.

She nodded as he said it would be fine for her to sit and accept the presents, so she sat down on the couch and looked up at him as he handed her the boxes. Walter, after running around Royals legs for a moment in a fast circle, jumped up onto the couch to sit beside her. "Oooh, for Walter too? He's flattered, I'm sure," she chuckled, taking the box and opening it up. She pulled out the smaller pair of PJ's first, and then the one to fit her. She laughed, grinning as she held it up to Walter, "I think these will look lovely! Should we put them on now or wait until later?" she chuckled, asking Walter but then looking back at Royal for an answer.

@royal

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Walter the beagle seemed just as excited by the prospect of gifts as Victoire – or actually, more excited, considering the blonde wasn’t all that thrilled by the birthday hype and the beagle was definitely into anything that got him more attention. Vic said that she thought the pajamas would look lovely, and Royal was prepared to make a cheesy comment about how anything would look lovely on her when she said something that made his brain stop thinking for a moment – a question about whether she should put them on now or later. There was no way for him not to think of all of the implications of that question, and it took him much longer than he would have liked to recover from that series of mental images. “You can put them on… if I can help.” Royal said with a grin. What was the point of having a girlfriend if you couldn’t make sexual overtures once in a while? Royal had to stop himself before he started composing a mental essay about all of Vic’s other qualities. He knew that she was smart, and ambitious, and basically perfect for him, and that just made her even more attractive.

@victoire

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At Royals words, Vics eyebrows raised slowly and she took a step closer to him. "Deal," she said softly, reaching forward to drape the pajamas over his arm instead, "you can just hold onto those," she suggested. Royal and her had been... close, very close, but not necessarily 'no clothes' close. Victoire was restless and reckless, more than ever, so it may be a surprise to Royal that she just took off her shirt without even a second blink, then she turned to Walter, standing there in her bra, "hmm... maybe you should go in the other room, Wal," she chided affectionately, before turning back to Royal, "maybe give him his pajamas first then we can dismiss him?" she suggested with big 'innocent' eyes.

@royal

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Victoire accepted the terms of his deal, and Royal had to try really hard to keep focused on her and not let his thoughts wander to the future. She handed him the pajamas that she was going to change into, and he kept staring at her. It probably wasn’t the politest thing to do, but Royal was afraid of what he was going to say if he opened his mouth, and it was probably better for everyone involved if he stared instead of putting his foot in his mouth. Vic took off her shirt, and Royal continued to stare. He and Vic hadn’t gotten around to the whole naked part of the relationship, hence why he was so dumbstruck by it all. He had forgotten that the dog was even there, but when Victoire mentioned putting on Walter’s pajamas first, Royal pouted. “We could always let him out now, and have him try his pajamas on after we make sure they look good on you first.” Royal suggested. That was the easiest way to get Walter out of the way without wasting any more time.

@victoire

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Royal gave her a pout, saying that they could let Walter leave now and worry about the pajamas after they made sure hers looks good first. "Fair enough," Victoire flicked her wand and a dog bone flew toward them, hovering around Walter until he was leaping after it. It led him out of the room, back into one of the bedrooms, and the door closed. Victoire set her wand down and took a step toward Royal, "okay, now that's settled," she gave a firm, professional looking nod and gestured to the pajamas in his hands. "I guess I have to... dress down more to put those on, huh?" she said, giving him those 'innocent' eyes again. It was kind of fun watching him deal with this how he would, rather then just taking the reigns like she normally did with Teddy.

@royal
(not sure how to go about this hahahaha)