|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Aug 18, 2021 5:03:13 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Aug 18, 2021 5:03:13 GMT -7
THE WORLD HAD GONE SOFT AT THE EDGES. Claire wasn't quite drunk, but she was halfway there. Her hand gestures exaggerated, her laugh punctuated with the odd snort as she rolled her eyes at Rhys. "Stop reminding me about how much I'm drinking." She told him sternly, though it fell a little flat on a face flushed red and eyes sparkling from all the wine she had been drinking. "Are you my mum?" She asked, widening her eyes before she snorted and averted her gaze.
Pushing away from her chair suddenly, Claire stumbled to her feet, buoyed by her sudden and magnificent idea. "Come on, get your galleons out!" She declared, stuffing her hands into her pockets and putting a pile of coins on the table, far more than was necessary for what little they had actually consumed. "I have a... a bone to pick with you." Claire's head rushed and she swayed slightly, grabbing the back of her chair to steady herself. "Say nothing..." She warned Rhys once her vision had cleared.
The bill payed in excess, Claire leaned in to Rhys's side as they sidled out of the restaurant. She hooked her arm in to his absent-mindedly, but it felt nice to be near somebody for once. She spent so much of her time alone, or behind a desk. So much of her time fighting to be taken seriously, for it all to fall apart after a simple slip of the tongue. Claire allowed Rhys to Apparate them to his flat, her head spinning so that she clung to him once they'd landed. Reminding herself that it was the transportation that made her stomach swoop and not the booze.
The hallway was dark, and Claire let go of Rhys's arm suddenly. "Why do you always assume I'm going to lecture you?" She asked out of the blue, far later than was socially acceptable as she recalled his previous comment. Claire gripped his shoulder as she kicked off her heels, grunting when she almost fall in to his side as she did. "I don't actually care what you do when the lights are off," She teased him, letting go of his shoulder to pinch his scruffy cheek and scuff her feet along the floor and in to the living room, where she promptly let herself fall in to Rhys's cushioned sofa.
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Aug 20, 2021 1:33:09 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Aug 20, 2021 1:33:09 GMT -7
decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination The way Claire rolled her eyes when she laughed made Rhys wonder if she would simply fall over by doing so. Seeing his friends drunk was not new, but certain friends were always a surprise. Claire was always one to follow the rules and had never quite let go of the sole detention he’d helped her land in after an argument in Ancient Runes. ”Stop taking away my fun. I never see you—let alone after drinking this much.” Rhys had drunk quite a bit himself, that warm feeling beginning to hit his face. But, nobody would ever come across an intoxicated Rhys and be all that surprised. Though with the amount he drank regularly, they would be slightly surprised at how unsteady he would be on his feet.
Rhys blinked a few times and then easily obeyed, reaching in his pocket for the various-sized coins. Squinting at the contents in the palm of his hand before giving up slightly and placing them loudly on the table. The waitress stopped looking at them with so much judgment in her eyes, which only told him the coins were satisfactory. Rhys’ expression was of mere confusion. He tried to think through any recent transgressions that would prompt Claire to have a conversation with him. And despite both their current states, it seemed to be of a serious nature. But, if his experiences in dating had taught him anything, it was best to keep quiet when a woman approached you initially in such a way.
They left, Claire relying on Rhys’ more stable frame as they walked a good distance away so they could safely apparate. Rhys took out his wand. Fortunately, Claire was clinging to his non-dominant arm, and then they soon appeared in his flat. He put his weight heavily on one foot as he almost lost his balance as Claire lost hers, but they stayed upright, and then suddenly she moved away from him, and his arm felt cold where she’d just been. He paused as he processed her question, then remembering his earlier comment in the restaurant. ”All my friends seem to have their own opinion of my life.” Rhys grumbled, grimacing as she pinched his cheek. ”Well, then you’re in the minority.” It wasn’t a secret had a certain lifestyle he lived. And his female friends seemed to mind more than others, though he didn’t know why.
Rhys slipped off his jacket, throwing it on a nearby chair as he unfastened another button on his shirt, it was much too warm. ”Drink?” Rhys asked, though he didn’t wait for her to answer before pouring them both whiskey in some rather nice glasses he’d picked up on a job somewhere. Walking over to the couch, he handed Claire one glass before taking the seat next to hers and drinking the contents of his glass rather quickly. ”So, what did I do this time?” He asked, again wondering about the bone she had to pick with him.
template by vee
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2021 7:37:50 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Oct 16, 2021 7:37:50 GMT -7
IT WAS TRUE THAT SHE HAD, ONCE OR TWICE, berated Rhys for his questionable life choices. It was practically the basis of their odd little friendship. A mixture of common ground and scathing judgment. Rhys insisted Claire needed to relax, Claire countered with critique of his loose morality. But, she'd been drinking, and it never came from a malicious place - at least, 90% of the time. So, in the dim lighting of his flat, she frowned at him. "An opinion isn't a lecture," She lectured flatly. "Nobody is telling you what to do, you troll."
In the living room, Claire rolled where she had flopped her upper body on to the sofa, turning on to her back in an uncoordinated shuffle. Her legs swung where they hung over the armrest, distantly aware of clinking glasses and a soft, oily spill of booze. Her mouth watered, arms folded on her chest as the cushions sagged next to her head and Rhys promptly sat on the choppy strands of her hair. She huffed unhappily, arms wheeling back to smack him clumsily on the arm as she pulled her hair free and lifted her head to berate him, "Manners, oaf."
Claire didn't take this as an opportunity to sit properly. Instead, she grabbed the outstretched glass and cradled it against her chest comfortably as she shimmied up and rested the crown of her head on Rhys's thigh comfortably. Only lifting her head once to sip awkwardly at her glass and sneer when she realised with a delicate cough, that it was whiskey. "God, you're so predictable." She muttered under her breath, leaning back and digging her skull in to his leg as she reached a single hand up and poked the end of his nose. "Join Heliopath," She told him, and Claire almost sounded sober as she did. If it wasn't for her flushed red face and the whiskey glass teetering to one side in her grasp. "You're useless in this flat all on your own."
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2021 16:50:38 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Oct 17, 2021 16:50:38 GMT -7
decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination Despite his friends’ comments that he needed to settle down and stabilize and that the relationships and his life were unstable, one relationship survived despite it all—whiskey. And yet, his head was swimming with the warmth of the alcohol he’d consumed that day. The consequence of relying on the calories from said alcohol to keep him going, but he didn’t mind—he felt good. It was a miracle they’d made it back to his flat, however close it was, in one piece. Claire and her bottle of wine were in far worse shape than he was.
They lived their lives so differently where Rhys’ suggestions of freedom and fun fell on deaf ears to Claire’s preferred mode of control and stability. The funny thing, he supposed, was that despite what everybody said to him, he generally could filter out who meant to hurt him and who was trying to help—even if he didn’t listen to either. Claire was a good friend. If they weren’t bickering, then something was wrong. ”Really? It never stopped you from ordering me around.” Rhys remembered at seventeen how the younger girl tried to take control of their tutoring sessions even though she needed his help.
Rhys sat in the available space she had left for him on the couch, though he’d almost sat on her hair. ”Sorry.” He mumbled, watching the liquid in his glass as he swirled it a few times before drinking it in its entirety. The burn was hardly noted at this point, but the quality of his own personal whiskey was better than what the bar had. As she nuzzled against his leg, he placed the empty glass on the corner table and let out a heavy sigh. Predictable.. He most certainly was not predictable. Wincing at her finger in his face, he immediately rubbed his nose with his hand to prevent a sneeze but then looked down at the girl next to him.
Rhys raised an eyebrow in question, and as he peered down, his hand went to Claire’s forehead to move the hair out of her eyes that had fallen loose from her neat updo. ”What in Merlin’s name is Heliopath?” He’d traveled the world and done research on so much, and yet this word was unfamiliar to him. ”That wine must have gone to your head.” She was making things up now, or maybe it was something Auror related, which would explain why Rhys had no idea what it was. ”Plus, I’m hardly ever alone here. You’re here now, aren’t you?” Aside from traveling often, Rhys hardly faltered in finding company if he sought it.
template by vee
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Nov 3, 2021 15:32:35 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Nov 3, 2021 15:32:35 GMT -7
THE MAN TOLD NO LIES, FOR ONCE. Claire had ordered Rhys around since the moment she had met him. Despite the many times she had needed his help, or the other instances where she had disapproved of his careless attitude to life, and he to her restrictive one. She had ordered him around as best she could, and she had befriended him too. In the way that an abandoned baby animal might latch on to its saviour, Rhys had come into Claire's life when she was at her loneliest. She had never quite let go ever since. "Mm," She sighed with her eyes closed, "Sometimes you require ordering."
Settling her head on Rhys's thigh, Claire's back sunk comfortably into the couch cushions as she blinked up at him thoughtfully. The whiskey was making her think too deeply, she was getting soft. She rolled her glass between her fingers and watched her words slide over Rhys and settle in his readable face. Though a fairly collected figure, Claire had always figured she could decipher Rhys's careful micro expressions. Like the slight down turning of his lips and the furrow of his brows - a typical display of constipated, masculine brooding. Claire deduced that she had said something he did not approve of, she did not ask him what it was.
Poking his nose, Claire snorted as Rhys chased it with his hand, rubbing at the prodded tip in irritation. She dropped her hand, but stuck by her demand. Rhys was a perfect candidate for the organisation, especially with him staying in one place for once. She let her eyes flutter closed briefly as a large, warm hand pushed the mussed hair from her forehead. Rhys was incredibly warm, she realised. Even down to his callused fingertips. It was quite nice, she thought treacherously.
"The wine has definitely gone to my head," Claire giggled drunkenly, but she shirked out from underneath Rhys's hand before she got too comfortable. Reaching up with one hand, she used the back of the sofa to hoist herself into a sitting position and swung her legs off the armrest and swung her legs underneath herself. Her knees digging into Rhys's thigh and her glass sloshing dangerously as she shifted and jumped around until she was leaning against Rhy's shoulder, encroaching into his space without apology.
"It's a fractured portion of the Order," Claire whispered, face leaning close enough that her eyes begun to cross. "The- the Order of the Phoenix," Claire specified, lifting her glass to sip from it carefully as she leaned back to look at Rhys' face in full, to catch any shift in his expression. "We have the same goal in mind just... a more determined approach." Claire drew in a long, sobering breath. It didn't work. "I think now that you're... here... you'd be a perfect candidate." She shrugged her shoulders, as if it made total sense as her gaze drooped to her lap distractedly.
"What's that like?" She asked suddenly, the topic shifting as quickly as her erratic, tipsy mind. "Never being alone..." She added meaningfully, her brows lifting as she took another deliberate sip of the spicy whiskey. Rhys had always been the same, even as a teenager. A girl on his arm, lavishing him with attention. No wonder he was so big-headed at times, Claire had always thought. She had been quite the opposite, too stiff and awkward, and antisocial to garner more than a pitying smile from a below average dance partner. "Doesn't it get boring?" She said around a scrunched nose.
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Nov 4, 2021 0:11:03 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Nov 4, 2021 0:11:03 GMT -7
decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination The summary of Rhys’ friendships was to expect the unexpected. In what life was a character such as himself ever going to be friends with someone so keep on doing everything by the book? Or even his other friends, the majority of which were in Hufflepuff. While he and Claire bickered more than they ever spoke to one another, Rhys would never deny the amount of respect he had for her. She was intelligent, quick-thinking, and determined. At the end of a day, if he somehow was backed into a corner with Claire, he had no doubt she had his back. So despite the content of their conversations, the traits that mattered were there. Plus, in his time at Hogwarts, friends were far, and few between, and few made it past the walls of his gruff exterior.
Rhys only rolled his eyes. She’d never let go that she was in charge, and Rhys knew it was a losing battle. Plus, his head was spinning from the excess of whiskey on an empty stomach. He wasn’t in a position to argue. His expression was annoyed as he still recovered from her very uncoordinated attack on his nose. Still, at the same time, she shifted from her position on the couch, and Rhys managed to grab her glass before she decided to hold it upside down while she reoriented herself. ”Yes it has.” Rhys confirmed as he held two glasses for a moment. She ended up leaning against his shoulder, and he held up the glass she’d likely forgotten about.
Taking a hefty drink of his own glass, he didn’t mind her in his space. But that was certainly the buzz. Rhys would have protested on a normal day unless he was purposefully talking to a girl at the bar or some similar situation. But Claire was his friend, and he was more curious about this Heliopath she spoke about. Rhys’ own brilliant blue eyes scanned her face, landing on her grey eyes as they beamed in a way he didn’t always see from Claire. They certainly didn’t gleam like this when she spoke about her work on border patrol, but this group—it was obviously important to her. ”The Order of the Phoenix?” Rhys snapped out of his slight stupor a the mention of the infamous group from the previous wizarding war. The same group that had fought against his own father.
It took a moment for him to process, and he drank the rest of his glass in the meantime as he stared off into the corner of his room where his bookshelf was located. ”But I—“ Rhys began to protest, leaning his head back onto the back of the couch with a sigh through his nose as he absentmindedly placed his hand on Claire’s knee. It was in his space, plus he wasn’t entirely confident she wouldn’t just fall over at this point. ”Greyback doesn’t exactly…inspire confidence from the Order of the Phoenix…does it?” Rhys turned his head to look at his longtime friend, doubt in his eyes.
Rhys looked away a moment to think, suppressing all those fears of acceptance and rejection that were a constant companion. But as Claire asked another question, he lifted his head and turned to look at her. ”Well I—“ Rhys stopped, looking away, face concentrating on how to answer the simple question. Again he let out a sigh through his nose. ”To be honest…it does.” Whiskey made it hard to sit in denial of what was in front of him. ”There’s no point unless you can connect with someone.” His face turned to look at her again. All those nights, he had a different woman in his bed or the same one also looking to cure their loneliness. There wasn’t much past that physical connection. What was worse than being alone? Feeling alone in a room full of people, and that feeling was one Rhys knew well. His eyes had that doubt again as he continued to look back at Claire. ”Right?”
template by vee
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Jan 9, 2022 11:16:25 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Jan 9, 2022 11:16:25 GMT -7
AS SHE MADE HERSELF COMFORTABLE STUCK TO Rhys's side, Claire forgot all about the drink in her hand for a moment. Didn't even realise when Rhys apprehended it on her trip up, her fingers still clasped around the air it had inhabited as she shifted and cemented herself to the warmth that emanated from his side. She had a point to make, and she was quite determined to make it. Frowning in mild confusion as Rhys offered her her glass back and she took a generous sip.
"What other Order would it be?" He asked him sarcastically, tilting her head in judgement, as if her face and mouth weren't hot with booze. He seemed stunned by the offer, and this confused Claire. She had been so sure when she'd posed it to him, as if she couldn't think of a single reason he shouldn't join. She watched his head slouch against the back of the sofa, his throat long and veined, adam's apple bobbing viciously with every swallow. It was with this alarming notice that she realised his hand had found its way absently to her knee, the searing heat of it giving her pause, before she shook the thought off with renewed determination.
"You're being sef-self... it's not half as attractive as you think it is." She stuttered out, dashing the side of her hand across her mouth as she shifted to get a better look at him, a hand coming up to slap his chest in reproach. "Stop brooding and just say yes." She told him sternly, her nose scrunching in disapproval. "I'll arrange a meeting with Victoire, and... well that's that." She shrugged, the topic entirely closed in her opinion, though her elbow and arm and fallen to rest half on Rhys and herself lazily.
The words that followed came after a heavy bout of silence. Thoughts bouncing around haphazardly, the air rippling with a tense expectation. Claire felt stiff at her back, her eyes flickering over the microscopic flexing of muscles in Rhys's jaw as he seemed to mull over her words far too carefully. The wine had shrouded her shame, so she leaned forward just a little, her nose almost brushing against Rhys's shoulder as she did. When he turned to her, looking for mutual agreement, Claire couldn't help softly nodding.
"I don't connect with people very often," She revealed quietly, lifting her gaze from Rhys's chest to his hooded stare. She felt it then, that loneliness. Connecting was difficult when Claire favoured ambition over affection. Though she knew how it felt, once with Casey and then maybe one other time, though she dare not think his name. Along with that well came an uncharacteristic, dizzy thought that had never occurred to her before - not once in all the years she had known Rhys. She wondered quietly if he might kiss her, and if she might like him to.
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Jan 10, 2022 0:04:21 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Jan 10, 2022 0:04:21 GMT -7
decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination Even if Claire was correct, what other Order could it be? It didn’t stop Rhys from shooting back a look. Claire liked to be right, but so did Rhys, and it was just one of the ways they fueled their never-ending bickering. It was their natural state sober. However, unsurprisingly, this behavior carried over into their drunken stupors. And yet, not entirely. Rhys tilted his head to the side at Claire’s version of a compliment—which was asking a lot. To receive a full complement would have worried him if he was being honest. Not that Rhys was known for having a way with words, at any rate.
Her hand slapped his chest, and he lifted his head off the back of the couch. ”Fine.” He relented, looking to his other side for where his own glass had gone. Rhys didn’t remember where he had left it, or maybe he had drunk it all. With a slight frown, he contemplated getting another glass. ”Wait…Victoire…as in Weasley?” Rhys asked as an afterthought. ”I know her.” HE thought out loud, had been a housemate in the year below him—not that they’d interacted all that much. Someone had casually mentioned to Rhys how Fenrir Greyback was responsible for the scars on her father’s face, and Rhys had felt the sudden urge to shrink into a corner of the Common Room until graduation. Not that Victoire had ever approached him about it. It wasn’t a surprise to find out that she was somehow involved—the Weasley family had been central to the Order during the previous war.
It was just another reminder of his lack of connections, even with his found friends and siblings now that he was older—his youth had been lonely and dark. Maybe it made sense why he was hardly alone in the physical sense. As he had mentioned earlier, his friends loved to comment on Rhys’ social life. Turning to look, Claire’s eyes locked with his own. Much like just a few other women in his life, she had merely only ever been just a friend. Not that Rhys could get that close, she’d happily hex him as fast as Renfri would. But her features were soft and something in those grey eyes he hadn’t seen from her before. Rhys wasn’t blind. He’d always thought Claire pretty, but the confidence in which she had presented herself back in their school days had intimated him—not that he would ever admit that her.
It wasn’t something people would admit to feeling so easily. But everyone felt it. At least Rhys told himself that in some pitiful attempt to comfort himself. Claire spoke quietly, and so did he. ”Neither do I...” Meaningful connections were few and far between and fraught with the risk of rejection. Rhys swallowed and thought about how dry his throat felt while he slid up a bit further up her leg. There was that feeling among the blur of thoughts in his head that yearning to not be alone. But, he shifted just slightly toward her, she didn’t have to move, but Rhys took the glass out of her hand and haphazardly placed it on the side table next to him, not bothering to look if it would fall or not. Still, he hadn’t looked away—he couldn’t be sure what look he had in his eyes. ”Claire I…” Leaning forward, he could feel her breath on his lips as he paused for a moment before closing the remaining distance to kiss her, even forgetting the risk that she simply might just hex him.
template by vee
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2022 16:33:04 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Jun 20, 2022 16:33:04 GMT -7
IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR CLAIRE TO NEGOTIATE terms with Rhys, especially when she had already made up his mind for him. The booze, the simple minded chatter, it was all just filler. He would be in the Order, and he would like it very much. A man like Rhys, shackled to nothing and nobody, he needed a couple of roots to keep him humble. Keep his feet firmly on the ground, lest his head inflate and he simply... float away. Perish the thought. He looked distracted already, his mouth a little clumsy as he spoke about Victoire.
"Yes, everybody knows bloody-Vicky-Weasley." Claire replied indignantly. "Girl Genius." She made an attempt to sarcastically pump her fist in the air, but fell haphazardly into Rhys's side instead, letting out a huff as her chin knocked against his shoulder. Using his thigh, she gripped it tightly to resituate herself by his side, blinking as the room spun delicately. "As if anybody else could run this New World Order," Claire hiccupped, shaking her head to steady it. Her emotions were a mixture of dry resentment and dizzying admiration. Her face displayed something scrunched, sour. She could never quite decide whether to devote herself to Victoire Weasley, or sell a smear story to the Prophet to depose her. It was a delicate plank to walk.
The moment soon past, and so did the sour expression on Claire's face. Rhys would join the Order, but she wasn't thinking about that with her face so close to Rhys'. Suddenly, the tension was palpable, and Claire couldn't figure out who had started it. Her lashes fluttering as she lifted her gaze slowly, hesitatingly meeting his with a sudden, sickening realisation. God, they were going to kiss, and she wasn't going to stop it. She didn't even feel him take the glass from her palm, numb and distracted by the slight shift of Rhys's gaze from her eyes to her lips and back again. A tactical track. The hot feeling of his palm sliding decidedly up her leg. When he kissed her, she expected it, but still held her breath.
Unfortunately, kissing Rhys did not feel nearly as disgusting as she had imagined it would in the past. Unfortunately, Claire was a simple woman who sighed delirious whiskey fumes into his mouth as she chased his parting form with a searing purpose, whispering "Please shut up." into his mouth, lest he ruin the whole thing. The hand she had been using to steady herself on him lifted, letting her prone form melt into his side as she carded her fingers through his hair, gripping tightly as she kissed him firmly, bitingly. It was strange, to feel so lonely that it was a constant companion. To notice its gaping absence so suddenly that she almost missed it, but not enough to stop. Not enough to pull herself away as she used her other hand to grab Rhys's wandering hand and place it on her hip as she slung leg across his lap. She would regret this in the morning, but not right now.
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Jun 30, 2022 22:43:24 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Jun 30, 2022 22:43:24 GMT -7
decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination There was something in her tone as she spoke Weasley’s name. Rhys remembered her from their school days, Victoire also in Slytherin but a year younger than him. Claire was convinced that this organization or whatever it was would be good for him, but it was proving difficult to wrap his mind around the concept with this much whiskey in his system. But the way Claire ordered rather than asked was just like old times. Rhys raised his eyebrows slightly, ”Bitter, are we?” He barely managed to brace himself as Claire fell into his side with very little grace.
But Victoire Weasley was just a memory far in the past now. And Rhys didn’t even stop to wonder how or why Claire hadn’t hexed him across the room. No, instead, she seemed to do quite the opposite. As usual, Claire ordered him to shut up, and Rhys obeyed. He hadn’t prepared for this, nor had he been ready for how she seemed to cling to him with a certain level of urgency. Merlin, if you had told Rhys and Claire during those final years at Hogwarts that this is what they were doing on Rhys’ couch, he figured Claire would look at Rhys with some level of disgust while Rhys would have mirrored though with fear instead.
And yet, it all felt somewhat normal for him. Too much whiskey, light conversation, more drinks at his place, and then down to business. He thought about his earlier admission, which he would have never spoken aloud soberly. A lifetime of wondering where he fit in, rejection around every corner at the mere sight of his father’s eyes. Claire may have loved bossing him around, but she never told Rhys who he was like most people. As Rhys returned her intensity, he could feel her fingers in his hair as she directed his other movements. Rhys let her, for now. But, he was a werewolf—an animal in his soul. A true nature few actually witnessed or experienced.
He had let her sort of straddle him. The hand Claire had moved hardly stayed still. Though he was growing distracted and frustrated by the buttons on her blouse. They were so damn small, and Rhys happened to have large hands. No matter, it was clear that he and Claire were on the same page, so the risk of an Unforgiveable Curse coming from her was gone. Rhys didn’t think about the next day what would result from this. His focus on the present and controlling it. Maria flashed briefly in his mind, the way she pushed his buttons until his skin was on fire…it had left him with an itch he’d been desperate to scratch. Rhys used one arm to pull Claire against him, and he shifted, so she was with her back on the couch and him on top. In control.
Unfortunately, they still had to breathe. He kissed her neck, trailing up and stopping just near her jaw. Rhys had given up on the buttons, but the blouse was still in his way. For a split second, he paused, his breath heavy. A few snide comments about her shirt came to mind, or perhaps an apology for how he was to deal with these ridiculous buttons. But she had told him to shut up after all. So Rhys kissed her again, any sense of equanimity or composure long gone, and he pulled at her shirt until you could faintly hear the buttons hitting the floor.
[ rhys a ho, sorry guys this isn’t ao3 ] The thought of opening his eyes made his head hurt, and he really didn’t have the energy for it. Hangovers were not uncommon for him, and despite how miserable—or extra miserable he felt the morning after, it never stopped him from doing the same thing over and over again like an insane person. And it wasn’t as if he’d lost his memory, so by not opening his eyes, he was extending whatever was left of the peace and quiet of the morning. Still, it was disrupted quickly as a leg moved and pushed on his.
Rhys groaned. He could already feel that he was on the edge of his side of the bed. ”You would sleep right in the middle.” Rhys was not a small man. Over six feet tall and years of dealing with a constantly different, unsafe, and unstable workspace had put some muscle on him. And yet this person who was much smaller than him had taken up the whole bed. He pushed the leg back, but now he was awake. Now it was just finding the energy to open his eyes and make his way into the kitchen where he always had a stash of hangover potions.
template by vee
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 22:02:08 GMT -7
MINISTRY
|
|
|
Aug 10, 2022 16:48:46 GMT -7
Post by Claire Evangeline Slater on Aug 10, 2022 16:48:46 GMT -7
CLAIRE HAD MADE A FEW CHOICE BAD CHOICES in her life, so far. She'd lost her temper during important missions, she'd trusted Grey with sensitive information. She'd gotten into an ill-advised romance with a senior auror. Claire was not faultless, but nothing felt worse than the first throbs of a wine-drunk hangover. Worse still, the realisation that she was not tucked away at home to suffer in silence was a harder pill to swallow. Claire had made a fair few bad decisions in her life, but when realisation hit, this may have been the very worst of them.
Groaning into wakefulness, Claire fought an onslaught of bile at the back of her throat as she rolled onto her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut. Her leg kicked out reflexively, seizing with cramp, and knocked into the body beside her. She flinched away, but it was too late. Rhys's sleep roughened voice cut the cool morning air like a knife and Claire flailed an arm out to smack at him. "Sh-shush- shut up right now." She croaked at him, tugging and yanking at the duvet cover until she had all but stolen the whole thing, rolling towards the edge of the bed.
There was no blissful drunken ignorance of what had happened. Claire was completely naked, and her sharp mind quickly replayed the entire nights events like some kind of Penseive nightmare. She squeezed her eyes shut and knocked her head twice on the mattress before she rolled her legs out and pulled the duvet with her as she stood. "I can't believe you let this happen." She told him, her short choppy blonde hair a tangled halo around her head, mussed by various fingers worth of interference. She kept the duvet wrapped tight around her body and looked at Rhys was complete scorn, lifting one hand to cover her view of his naked form from the chest down. "How- how could you be so stupid, so thoughtless, so-?" She lectured Rhys openly, but it was more of a group chastisement.
"This is the worst day of my life..." She declared with sobering clarity, mascara smudged around her eyes and a very prominent bruise on her neck. "Don't owl me, don't firecall me... for at least 14... full... business days." She scrambled around the room, gathering her clothes and hugging the duvet to her chest with great difficulty as the room spun. "Circe-! You would have... bloody silk sheets, you tart!" She yelled at him frantically, throwing the duvet over his head and trying to shimmy into her skirt and underwear simultaneously. "This is humiliating..." She breathed, her face bright red and her short pulled on backwards. She turned in a flourish, hopping into one shoe and carrying the other as she all but launched herself at the bedroom door. "I'll be in touch about the Order!" She added as an afterthought, flinching when she did.
|
|
|
|
|
rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,168 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
|
|
last online Apr 28, 2024 23:50:45 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
|
|
|
Aug 14, 2022 14:31:58 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Aug 14, 2022 14:31:58 GMT -7
[googlefont="Nothing You Could Do"] decimation, disintegration now beyond the point of imagination Rhys felt the covers move, but by the time his brain registered what was happening, he only managed to grab a corner before it slipped through his fingers. His head hurt, he was far too tired, and it was too early for a lecture. As he grabbed a pillow for modesty, though what modesty was left between the longtime friends at this point, he sat up slightly. Rhys knew better than to argue, and while the both of them had drunk quite a bit, it wasn’t enough to remember everything that happened. She kept on, and Rhys rolled his eyes, it was fortunate they’d been friends for so long, or he might have taken some offense to all her criticisms. ”Alright there’s no need to be so—“ Rhys was cut off by the duvet cover launched at his face. Now that was just childish. ”—dramatic.” Letting the duvet cover fall into his lap rather than keep the pillow there. She dressed rather quickly. Rhys shook his head and rolled back to get some more sleep now that he had the bed back to himself.
[ approximately 14 business days later ]
Claire, It was not specified if the 14 business days included bank holidays. You left behind these buttons in my living room. I thought you’d like them back. I would deliver them in person, but I’m sure the schedule of an Auror on Border Patrol is terribly busy.
Rhys
P.S. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone so distraught after having fun. I suggest sticking with wine and avoiding the whiskey next time.
[ end ] template by vee
|
|
|
|