Closed RP: Hey, it's not the 29th of February...or, why folk traditions can get stuffed

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

((Sex abounds (FINALLY). You have been warned.))

Here's the thing about boys. The ones that act tough, macho, and cool generally are--until you take something away from them that they really wanted. Then they turn into Byron, but only keeping bears in their lodgings for warmth and smoking opium in extreme situations.

On a scale of Byronic 1-10, Mel estimates Brice is a 5 or so. He might not have slept. If he has, he cried into the pillow, or destroyed a piece of furniture before he did. Maybe he got drunk. He tends to forget how he died when he really wants a drink.

Unsure if she's facing a hangover, a case of sleep deprivation, tears or splinters, Mel walks into their room silently. Her own ring is burning a hole in her jeans pocket--it's like it shines brightly, even through the box. She tells herself not to worry, she'll be fine, and hey, at least nothing's broken, ripped, or puked on...

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[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Brice was sleeping. He'd hidden under the duvet and tried to get comfortable, which was hard when you'd gotten used to someone always sleeping next to you. It had taken him a long time to drift away, and when he did, he tended to precariously balance at the very side of the little dent Mel's head had made in her pillow, and sometimes he fell nose first into it, which woke him up for a second or so. He missed the smell of her hair next to him. It calmed him down.

He was really, really pathetic.

But now he was asleep at last, hugging her pillow and hoping no one would see him like this, and he dreamed confusing, frustrating dreams about being a kid again and not getting the one thing he wanted, only the object of his childish desire changed all the time and he was never quite sure what he wanted so badly.

He didn't wake up when Mel came in. He made no sign he'd noticed her arrival, but kept sleeping in the safe, dry warmth of the bed, snoring lightly. One bare foot stuck out from under the duvet in one end, and some messy brownish hair was visible in the other. Somewhere in-between was Brice curled up, almost like a hibernating bear, only those rarely wore faded band t-shirts and boxer shorts.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Oh, bless him. Mel bites her lip when she sees the lump of Brice-in-bed, and tugs the covers over his foot. Ironic how he should have the cold foot. She takes the ring (http://www.stepheneinhorn.co.uk/product.asp?pc=J1-574) out, flips open the box, shuts it again, puts it in her pocket.

Then, Mel kicks off her shoes and slips in under the covers with her boyfriend, arms snaking around his middle to hug him tight. He's not one to sleep in unless he's had a really, really disturbed night, and Mel feels guilty again. Honestly, Brice, learn how to ask properly--this is really all of your fault.

Mel nuzzles into the back of his neck, blowing gently on it to wake him.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

And there was the perfume he'd missed. Good. Nice to have it back where it should be. Without really waking up properly Brice shuffled in closer to her, turning so his nose was in her hair, the way he always fell asleep these days. Something was calling for his attention, something unpleasant, but he didn't care about it. The thing that had been lost was found, he was not quite awake yet, and he intended to cuddle, thank you very much.

"Hey," he murmured after a few seconds, when the memory of yesterday had returned with painful clarity, and he was just very still against her. Was he forgiven? Were they going back to how things had been now? How many times was that now that he'd messed this up? Three, or possibly four... Why could he just never learn? Because it's less fun for the muns that way. Poor boy.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Brice doesn't place much stock by word, only deed. Consequently he fucks up a lot more than Mel because he never really asks what she'll want. Plus he's had more nasty incidents that fuck up his brain than she has.

'Morning,' she whispers back, and kisses him on the cheek. Saying 'You're forgiven' would be really arsey. Brice did what he thought was right. Saying he should apologise for that is akin to disregarding his opinion on any and all matters regarding their relationship. 'Can I ask you something?'

One hand takes the ring from her pocket, and the other strokes his hair, very carefully.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Everything seemed okay... He enjoyed her caress for a moment, wanting to doze off again now that it would be easier to sleep, but woke up a bit when she spoke.

"Mm?" Brice stretched and yawned, but fell back with his arm around her almost immediately. "Yeah, sure, babe. Go ahead." This morning he was reluctant to giving her what she wanted. It had been a long night.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

'I'm sorry, first,' she says sincerely. 'For freaking out. It wasn't fair on you. I wasn't thinking.' Mel leans up, resting on her arm, box held very tight in her hand. 'You'd gone to all that trouble...it was gorgeous, Brice, but I just went nuts when you said 'marry'. Lola explained you meant 'promise'...and I wouldn't have gone so mad.'

She sort of shoves the box at him, and unfolds it. 'So will you promise me?'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

((And in my last tag, it was supposed to be 'This morning he was reluctant to not giving her what she wanted.' Dammit. I am a stupid mun.))

Brice grunted at the first bit. Yeah, he'd made a mistake there. All that preparation, and he'd messed up the delivery.

His jaw did drop when the box was shoved forwards. It wasn't exactly an elaborate proposal, which was okay, because technically it wasn't a proposal at all. There was no huge romantic gesture or fancy clothing. It was how he should have done it.

Brice looked at the ring, and then at her, and then he wrapped his arms around her. His lips found hers. Suddenly he just couldn't kiss her enough. She was warm and soft and wonderful, and she was asking him now, effectively erasing every friction between them and just making everything so much easier.

"Yes," he said firmly, between kisses of her lips, cheek, chin, nose, ears. "I guess I can do that."

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, she caught Brice de Winter offguard! Mel smiles when his face slackens, and holds the box up carefully as he just dives towards her. She's happy too, but this cost a lot. He must love her, to be kissing her ears.

'Oh, good,' she replies when he lets her go free, knots of tension she hadn't really twigged arriving leaving just as quickly. 'I was nervous, and I knew you'd say yes. It's--it's not too girly, is it? The clerk was helpful, but admitted engagement--I mean, you know, rings for guys--were hard to find.'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Brice looked at the ring again, closely this time. It was... a ring. Yeah, it was nice. He wasn't into jewelery, but it was okay in this case. He'd wear it. Sapphire... He should have expected that.

"No, no, it's fine," he said. "Very nice. Shiny. I think I'll live wearing that." He kissed her on the lips again, quickly. "Did you ever get to see your ring at all?" She'd rushed out of there awfully fast. "It's on the bedside table if you want to take a look."

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Come on, it had to be sapphire. It'll match his eyes. Not that he'll be walking around with his ring glued to the side of his face so that people can specifically notice this fact.

'I didn't,' she confesses, and slowly, so as not to seem too eager, she takes the box and opens it carefully, before gasping. She'd envisioned a diamond when she wondered late last night what the ring looked like, but a pearl is perfect. Her initiation was by the sea. It was where she figured out what she had to do on Wednesday afternoons. It was where she learned what she was really called. 'I--it's beautiful. It's perfect.' And she hands the box to him, so he can put it on her finger. Putting it on herself seems greedy, somehow.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Brice was pleased. Yeah, the pearl was exactly right.

He took the box and carefully removed the shimmering ring, before sitting up properly, leaning against the wall. Then he took her hand. "Okay. I'll have to ask you again, but I'll do it properly this time. I don't want to scare you off again." He paused and took a breath. "Mel. Do you want to stay with me for a while longer and wear a nice ring that you can look at sometimes if you forget I love you?" Very carefully avoiding every single word related to "marriage" and "engaged" and "wedding."

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

'Yes, of course I will,' Mel says in all one breath--

--and then ruins it with giggles. 'I won't forget, babe. Don't worry.' She admires the ring for five seconds, max, before moving to mould herself against Brice's body for a while, kissing and holding and stroking.

'I promise,' she emphasises, when her mouth is by his ear. 'But how long is 'a while'?'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Mmm... This was mighty nice. Brice kept his arms around her and snuggled in a bit more under the duvet. They didn't have anywhere else to be today, right?

"It's a long time," he said solemnly. "For the foreseeable future, anyway. At least until we're no longer kids who don't know any better. How about that?" He started playing with her hair, and tickled her shoulder with a strand of it. It was a fun way of keeping his hands busy.

"D'you want to have a party?" he asked, feeling marvelously light and happy.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Well, she needs to owl Nemi and Zel. Oops.

'Yeah. I like that,' she tells him happily, stretching back against the tickling. No babies, no house, no mortgage, no car in the driveway...Mel could never have been happy like that anyway. Being one half of a celestial power couple, however, kicking ass, taking names, living the dream (and babies oughta be possible, right, sometime in the future, maybe? She might like them). 'Your ideas. All of them.'

YES, she wants a party, duh.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Then a party she'd get! Anything for his almost-fiancée.

"Good." This feeling was way too good to be true, right? He'd screw up again soon and it'd all fall apart... He wasn't used to feeling like this.

"Maybe you'll like the next one too." His eyes gleamed and he pressed his lips against her ear, murmuring: "We never got to try the dessert yesterday... And I don't really want to get out of bed yet." Cue playful wiggling of eyebrows. "How about some chocolate pudding, babe?"

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Mel sighs, smiles, and turns so that she's facing him. Angel morning mouth is at least better than usual. Her heart is soaring several miles above the clouds; she feels like she's flying. Literally. If she tried to do some martial arts now, she wouldn't be able to get down again.

'As long as that's not a euphemism,' Mel murmurs.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

"When have I ever used euphemisms?" Okay, so sometimes he did. Not the point. Brice rolled her over on her back and kept her pressed down into the mattress, and then he proceeded to kiss her until he had to remember how to breathe.

"And it was such good pudding," he muttered, following an already well-travelled path down her neck, just to where it curved out into shoulder. There was a terribly kiss-worthy spot just there, and he slowly pressed his lips to it."Creamy and chocolatey. Perfect for feeding each other. The messiness's an added bonus."

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

'You'll get my ring messy,' she teases languidly, stretching as he pushes her down. This is her favourite bit, although it's been done so many times before. Mel winds her hands into his hair, sighing a bit as he kisses just there, thank you. Her leg goes up to hook around his, and she lets him show his skills with his tongue for just a little while longer before she reciprocates.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

He smirked. "Promise I'll focus my attention on other parts of you." To illustrate this he continued leisurely with planting his slightly moistened lips down over her collarbone and further, until he reached her cleavage. This was a very good part indeed. He hovered with his mouth over the slightly tented fabric of her top and exhaled against her nipple, not actually touching her, and glanced up.

"You're wearing too much clothes," he noted, almost absentmindedly, as one hand slid down her side and rested peacefully against her hip. "Want any help with that?"

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Her hands ruffle his hair slightly. Don't stop. You were doing so well...

'In a sec,' she breathes, eyes dilating a bit. 'If you could, you know, finish what you started there after I do...' So saying, she unties the wrap-top and inches it away from her body, careful not to disturb his mouth in any way.

'Tit for tat,' Mel notes then, smirking in her own way. 'Go topless, angel boy.'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

"Alright. I'm all for fairness." He sat up a bit and took off his shirt, unceremoniously throwing it on the floor. It did not help the messiness of his hair. Then he went back to the previous task of making her squirm as best he could. Their were parts of her that moved in a very... interesting way when she did that.

No fair, though... He wanted to unwrap this present on his own. No problem, there were more clothes he could remove. He smiled when her nipple stiffened and stroked up over her stomach, tickling just underneath the edge of her bra. "Topless was the deal, though. I'm getting this off."

Brice had gotten a lot of practice in removing bras, but it was made a bit trickier when she was lying down. Eventually he got the clasp up, and helped her most generously with pulling the straps from her shoulders. He'd always liked pulling down the straps. It was like revealing a work of art every time he did it.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

A topless, ruffle-haired guy in her bed. What more could she want? So he makes sex into a sort of battle for control every time, which he almost always wins; she doesn't stricly mind, and he knows it.

The fumbling makes her giggle, though. 'Well done, babe,' she praises him slightly sarcastically, and then softens her words as she sits up slightly, tips his head up, and kisses him. Brice is so focused on the physical-physical, seriously, making out would be just as nice one day. Mel lies back again, fingers tracing swirls and flowers on his back.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

"Thank you." Praise was praise. The kiss afterwards was nice, though. And her fingers over his back... Brice almost arched up and purred from pure pleasure. A dreamy smile spread across his face. Her skin was indescribably soft and there was lots of it, a whole world to explore over and over again. He knew it intimately of course, but sometimes there was a change, a freckle, a birth mark, that he had to examine thoroughly before continuing. There was nothing new this time, apart from the smell of sun and fresh flowers behind her ear, probably a memory of Heaven.

Making out was all good and well, but he'd spent a night without knowing where they were standing and whether or not he would keep her. He needed this. Her. Her touch, her scent, everywhere around him, he wanted that. There'd be kisses other days.

Brice kissed her back, and pulled her leg around his waist again. He loved her legs. They were long and perfect and sexy, especially when she hooked them around him to force him closer to her. It was nice to feel appreciated.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Mel sighs happily, content. There's no full, furious fire of passion there was at the beginning of the relationship this time; it ebbs and flows. Right now they both need reminding of how much they love each other. Hence, the whips and chains will stay in the bedside drawer. Mel's hands creep down her side as he puts his lips to hers, edging down her jeans and his boxers at the same time.

She promises to get a new freckle before they have this again.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Brice squirmed quite easily out of his boxers, and assisted her as best he could out of her jeans. Every patch of skin revealed he caressed gently, enjoying the sensation of her skin breaking out into goosebumps at his touch. Then he paused, carefully pulling her hair from her face so it wouldn't get in the way, and looked deep into her eyes.

The first time Brice came to Heaven he'd never found his own activity for lone study. He hadn't looked particularly hard for it nor been interested in anything but Angel Watch, to see if he could look after his brother that way. Singing or playing the bongos or taking care of animals did not appeal at all. Then he'd Fallen, and come back, and those Wednesday afternoons were filled with talks on How He Was Doing with Michael. Not exactly lone study, but it had to be done. And then Hogwarts, and Mel, and virtually every study here was on your own. He had yet to find that special something that made him glow with extra angelic energy.

Though this came pretty damn close.

He hummed with delight as she was completely undressed, drinking her in eagerly. She was beautiful. And she was his. She'd just promised. He leaned in and kissed her again, and his hand went to stroke the unbelievably silky skin of her inner thigh.

"Hey gorgeous," he murmured. "I love you."

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

More than he'll know. More than he'll ever know, she loves him back. Occasionally, hugging him, kissing him, she doesn't ever want to let go. He is hers, on another level than Lola is hers or she is Lola's. She and Lola are soulmates, but the thread of fate that connects Brice and Mel makes their relationship all the more special. Sometimes she wonders if they were together in a past life.

Mel smiles for a few seconds, dimple in her cheek, and arches up against his wonderfully naked body. So the penis is a silly bit of the body. She's said so before, but the mood is so nice now she'll keep it that way.

'I know,' she responds, pauses, and runs a hand through his hair. 'Not as much as I love you. Hey, can you stop talking and kiss me now, please?'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

He grinned. "Romantic, you are. But that sounds like something I could do, yeah..." You know. If she insisted. He tasted her lips again, pulling at the full bottom lip with his teeth, and gently parted her legs. His breathing was heavy now, and her hands on him forced a small shudder along his spine. God he loved her. The very idea that she loved him more was just preposterous. She wouldn't be able to do anything else but sit in a chair and love him intensely all day long if that were the case.

Brice kissed her, and carefully inched his way inside her, torturously slow. His hand went to lie against her breast, delicately pinching and rubbing her nipple between his fingers. He would not stop kissing her. He was pretty sure that would be physically impossible. Despite of her request that he'd stop talking he couldn't help but whisper her name, privately in her ear, like a prayer.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

We won't go into 'who loves who more' contests right now, because that would be tacky, and they have a whole lot of capacity for love. They're angels. That's what they do. Mel lightly rakes her nails down his back, no doubt leaving grazes. It's something she did with shock the first time they had sex, because it hurt; then she found out later a bit of pain made the pleasure more intense for them both.

The second he says her name, Mel relaxes her body. Not that it was horribly tense before, but just for a second she enjoys the sensation of being full and wanted and safe and loved before she lets her passion take over. She arches her back up, undulating her hips, tightening and relaxing muscles that tend to be in good shape when you're eighteen.

Mel rests the cold pearl at the back of his neck and bites her lip when he starts to play with her breasts. 'Ever so romantic. Technically, I'm still wearing clothes--' she wriggles the finger with the ring on it--'Because it came from you. That's devotion.'

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

It stung a bit when she dug her nails into his back, but it was definitely a pain he could live through and even welcome. He stroke a hand down her side and grabbed her thigh, pulling up her leg slightly to be able to get in deeper. And he let out a low throaty moan of approval as he tried to remember to not be in a hurry and take his time. It wasn't easy. It was around this time he usually had to start thinking about glaciers and others such very cold things.

Soon he had to pick up the pace because otherwise he was going to explode and that would severely ruin the mood.

"Now who's talking too much," he teased, slightly out of breath, and grasped her leg tighter. Maybe that would leave a bruise.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Mel puts a finger to her lips, shaped nail jutting out a little over her fingertip. Not her, she's far too innocent. Yes, the girl lying on her back, legs wrapped around her boyfriend as if in some sort of vice. Oooh, double meaning.

She rolls her hip to help him along, feeling like she's on the crest of a wave that will take him, too, but only if he keeps doing this, adding some more intensity. 'Not doing anything,' she whispers, and then she has to shut up because she'd start gasping his name, which would just be embarrassing.

[angelicbadboy.livejournal.com]

Innocent, yes... Therein lay a lot of her appeal. That she could switch back and forth from the picture of eyelash-fluttering innocence to asking for the chains and whips within a second, that was completely great in a girlfriend, according to Brice. He had a mildly sarky comeback on the tip of his tongue, but at that moment he forgot about it, because she moved just right and made him bite his lip to not shout out loud. And every single thing apart from this, continuing this, became utterly insignificant. The world consisted of where they were touching, nothing else, and he kissed her hungrily as words became uninteresting sidetracks.

His body tensed on that sweet peak of pleasure and his mind happily went shooting off into space, before he came back down and found himself panting on top of her, a beautiful naked girl who wore his ring on her finger and had just now promised (as good as promised anyway) to love him forever. And that? Was pretty freaking awesome. He smiled at her, slightly dazed and sated, and happy in a way he hadn't been in a very long time.

"Hey," he said, and leaned in to kiss her on the nose.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Don't stop now. Mel's face is heavy in concentration, searching for her own end. Brice pays attention to her needs--which is very nice in a boyfriend--but he always, always finishes first. So, just a little bit longer...

His kissing requires attention. Mel devotes some to it, but it's definitely not as intense as it was; she's focusing somewhere else, moving her thighs, stretching out so nothing unpleasant can deviate from giving her what she wants. She tips her head back, exposes her neck, polishes the pearl on the smooth skin of his back, smiles, sighs. And then she whispers his name, of course, holding him closely.

Of course.