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It is blinding, those stage lights, shining painfully in her eyes as she sings for the crowd… A crooning song that flowed with the jazzy melody that was playing for everyone to hear.
How many sets did she sing? For how long? She isn't able to tell you, even if you asked: rock, pop, jazz, swing, so many songs, that they became indistinct, after a while.
But as tired as she was, as sore as her throat was felt, she still loved this. She loved the flashing lights, the smell of booze and bodies, the music that accompanied her as she sang for the crowd in her midnight blue dress.
She had missed this dearly, singing after all this time, trapped in that tower with only her birds for company.
And as her last song came to a close, signaled by the floor manager's impatient waving, Nerissa took one moment to give a big wave to the crowd before stepping off the stage, tapping her coworker on the shoulder as they stepped past her to take the stage.
"Go on and kill it girl, I got the crowd nice and ready for you," Nerissa whispers with a wink, her voice quiet and raw.
With her piece and encouragement said, Nerissa hurries off backstage, quickly weaving past the other staff with smiles, eager to return to her room to rest her body and throat, but still taking the time to greet as many as she could.
She, therefore, could not help the whine that left her throat when her path was blocked by a flash of red, right as the door of her room came into view, only to blink as she inhales the scent of roses.
"That was a wonderful performance," a smooth voice tells her, its silky timbre tickling Nerissa's ears.
Nerissa smiles at the gesture and the compliment being presented to her, dipping her head into a bow as she takes the flowers and directs the most dazzling smile she could muster at her mysterious gift-giver, only to freeze as she sees who it was.
Red
was her first thought as she looked at the striking figure dressed in the fitting red and black suit with black shoes and a deep blue tie, and then noticing their hair tied into a bun, leaving a small ponytail hanging due to its sheer volume. Nerissa could never forget who this person is.
Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame.
"If you're done staring," Elizabeth says smirk, (was she teasing her?), "maybe we should take this conversation to a more private place?”
“It wouldn't do for people to hear our conversation, after all.”
Oh.
Oh
, of course.
Nerissa nods mutely, her throat going dry as she grips the bouquet in her hands tightly, her fingers throbbing as they pressed against some thorns present in the bouquet.
She shook as she stepped around Elizabeth to open the door to her room, feeling a kind of nervousness that is starkly different from the jitters she feels on stage. No, this nervousness was born from Elizabeth's appearance, and what that entailed.
"I was watching your performance," Elizabeth idly comments as they enter her room, the clicking sounds of their footsteps echoing in sync as they walk, "it was very enchanting. It's a shame that it had to end so soon."
Yes, it really was, she wanted to have more fun, despite how tired she felt right now. But, alas, it was fated that all things had to end eventually.
Nerissa feels her heart begin to hammer, increasing her nerves as she gently sets the bouquet she is given to the side and flexes her fingers, wincing at the slight throb she feels from the thorns in the flower's stems.
It felt raw, but it wasn't bleeding, thanks to her silk gloves. It didn't even really hurt that much to flex her fingers, honestly speaking, it just throbbed and pulsed with every beat of her heart.
Ouch.
"Is everything alright?" Nerissa hears Elizabeth ask, followed by the loud click of a lock engaging that sounded like a thunderclap to her ears.
"You're looking pretty pale right now, and you're shaking quite a lot."
Nerissa blinks as she glances at her arm, finally noticing that she was, indeed, shaking and holds it to stop her shaking. She then takes a moment to compose herself, breathing in once, twice, to calm herself, before turning as she tries to wave off Elizabeth's concerns. "It's fine, just calming down from all the excitement, that's all. No need to worry about me."
She laughs in an attempt to ease her worries, only to fall silent as she was met with Elizabeth's flat expression.
Elizabeth simply raises an immaculate brow before she strides forward, heels clicking and red hair swaying as she began to approach Nerissa. “You know,” the red-head begins, her lips pursed as her eyes harden. "It is my job to observe you… ever since you and the other members of ADVENT escaped jail.”
“So believe me when I say that I know all your little ins and outs,” she continues, as Nerissa flinches at the reminder, “so stay right there, and I’ll make sure that everything is ok.”
Nerissa could only look at Elizabeth as her breathing turns shallow, unable to move or properly react as she could only focus on the other woman's approaching form.
Leaving her only able to let out a startled squeak as Elizabeth reaches up to touch Nerissa's forehead with the back of her hand.
"No fever," Elizabeth comments as she leans in way close, Nerissa stiffening as the scent of roses and smoke fills her nose, drawing an amused sigh from the red-head, "... not that I was that worried, since you're still as dramatic as ever."
Nerissa gasps, mocking offense as she puts a hand over her chest and gasps again, “Me? Dramatic? How dare-,” only to stop as Elizabeth silences her with a finger and a water bottle.
"Yes, I do dare,” Elizabeth says as she ruthlessly cuts Nerissa off before thrusting the water bottle into the singer’s hands, “Now drink up, gotta protect that voice of yours, you know?”
Nerissa giggles as she twists the bottle open and takes a long swig, letting herself relax and lean against her dressing table as she lets the lukewarm water flow down and soothe her throat.
She downs the whole bottle in seconds, letting out a refreshed sigh before throwing the bottle (with the cap!) to the trashcan and beaming at Elizabeth, “thanks, I really needed that,” she says as sincerely as she could, kicking her feet up in the air as she moved to sit on her dressing table, knocking over her makeup and other things.
"No problem," Elizabeth nods as she slips a hand into her pocket before flushing a bright pink from cheek to ear and looking abashed for a moment before producing a red box tied with a yellow ribbon.
"I, um, got you some chocolates too," Elizabeth murmurs, looking away as her face flushes, a burning pink spreading from her cheeks to her ears, "b-but do be careful, I might have melted a little bit of the chocolate a bit... It might have been a bad idea to keep it in my breast pocket first."
At the mention of chocolates, Nerissa’s gaze shifts from Elizabeth’s blushing face to the red and yellow box, feeling both giddy and amused as she reaches out to pluck the box out of the red-head’s hand.
“Well, don’t mind if I do.” Nerissa cheers, quickly unwrapping the box, to peer at the treats inside. Each treat was sizable and looked as delectable as the others, if slightly gooey; all nine were wrapped with white paper, and decorated differently with lines or circles, making all of them appealing to the eye.
Nerissa squeals as she sets the box aside before trying to tackle Elizabeth into a hug, “Aww, thank you, Liz! I really like these chocolates, and the flowers too, of course,” only to be stopped by a palm on her forehead, “Bweh… How mean.”
As Nerissa slumps against Elizabeth’s palm and makes herself limp, putting all her wait against Elizabeth’s hand, she hears the red-head sigh. And while she couldn’t see it, she could practically feel the eye roll being directed at her, as well as the powerful flick on her forehead.
“Hey! Don’t damage the goods,” she whines, pretending to be severely pained as she swoons back, once more laying against the dresser table. “Oh, what will I do if I ever get a scar from your brutish actions?” Nerissa demands with a dramatic thrust of her finger, “So I demand for reparations; Payment for damages against my person.”
“... Fine then,” comes the amused huff, causing Nerissa to still at how fast the answer came, “what would you like?”
Nerissa blanks and tilts her head, tapping her chin consideringly, “I… honestly have no idea. I didn’t really expect to get this far,” she admits as she looks around the room, before her gaze falls on the box of chocolates, causing an idea to form in her mind.
Oh, this will be wonderful.
“But~,” she sing-songs, holding up said box and waving it in Elizabeth’s direction, “I do have a wonderful box of chocolate and a pair of silk gloves that stain easily.”
Nerissa smirks as she shakes the box back and forth in front of Elizabeth’s face, even bouncing it up and down for good measure.
Come on~ Just say yes already.
Nerissa watches as Elizabeth narrows her eyes, clearly trying to decipher what she wanted, before a blush blooms on her face, a bright punk once more spreading itself from cheek to ear.
“Y-you're so shameless,” Elizabeth stutters as she pulls on the hem of her suit jacket before taking a steadying breath, “But fine,” the red-head mumbles before snatching the box out of Nerissa’s hands and gesturing to a couch that she had on the side, “just sit down on a chair first.”
“You’re already taller than me, and sitting on a table isn’t helping matters.”
Nerissa claps at that, feeling giddiness that bubble from her stomach to her chest as she quickly moves herself, and Elizabeth, down on her soft, red, plush and velvet couch.
“Wow, so soft,” Elizabeth marvels, running her unoccupied hand across the surface of Nerissa’s couch, causing the singer to puff and preen in pride.
“Yep, I’m really proud of it,” Nerissa declares, thumping a fist in her chest as she bounces on the seat before she leans close to Elizabeth and rests her chin against the other woman’s shoulder, “I got this baby from my first paycheck. It was a two for one deal, too. The other one is at home, and it’s just as soft as the other.”
“We can go and test how soft it is there, if you like.”
Nerissa smirks as she sees the way Elizabeth’s hair moves with her breath and the way the red-head jumps at her teasing before quickly stuffing one chocolate each into their mouths.
Tasty.
Nerissa blinks at the sudden sensation of her mouth being filled with gooey goodness before letting out a pleased hum at the chocolate’s taste spreading.
“Oh,
oh
, this is good,” Nerissa murmurs before closing her eyes and turning her head to rest her cheek on Elizabeth’s shoulder as she continues to savor the chocolate.
She chews slowly, leaving her eyes closed as she enjoyed her treats, only opening her mouth so that she could continue to be fed those delicious treats by hand.
Yum, yum.
“I’m glad you like it,” Nerissa hears, followed by the sound of shuffling and the sensation of soft fingers intertwining with hers, “Though I do wish I sprung for the red wine, I’m sure it would have made this much more romantic.”
“Ooh, trying to get me drunk? In my place of work too,” Nerissa coos, shifting herself so that she could cuddle against Elizabeth’s side, “How scandalous. And here I thought I was the criminal, Liz.”
Nerissa giggles at her own joke, even as Elizabeth elbows her on the side and stuffs her mouth with what felt like three chocolates, amused and excited by the image she conjured in her head.
“You know very well that is not what I meant,” Elizabeth huffs, “don’t be such a degenerate.”
Nerissa snickers as much as she could with her mouth filled with gooey chocolate, squeezing and tapping Elizabeth’s hands as she chewed.
“... Well, it was a crass one,” Elizabeth deadpans after a set of squeezes and taps, “and I’m not upset, I’m just annoyed that you made such a joke when we were having a moment.”
Oh, now that just wouldn’t do
. Nerissa hums as she conveys her apologies, it seems like she messed up a little with her joke, so how should she make it up to Elizabeth?
Ah, I got it.
With another devious plan in mind, Nerissa swallows the chocolate in her mouth as she opens her eyes before snatching up the last piece of chocolate, regardless of her gloves.
“Then, why don’t I make it up to you, Liz?”
And before Elizabeth could react, with in one smooth motion, Nerissa flips herself over Elizabeth and straddles her lap, knocking away the box of chocolates as she gently places the chocolate between her lips.
“What -”
With a devious smirk on her face, Nerissa grabs Elizabeth’s lapels and pulls her in to lock lips and push the chocolate into the red-head’s mouth.
Delicious
, was Nerissa’s thought as she pressed her tongue against Elizabeth’s, feeling the chocolate squish and swirl as their tongues began to dance.
Hot
, comes the next thought as Nerissa grunts as Elizabeth grabs her, nails digging into her thighs to pull her down as she uses both her position and her height to push into down the kiss.
I want more
,
I don’t want to let this end just yet.
Greedily, she deepens their connection, only taking brief seconds to pull back to snatch a breath before diving back into the kiss, turning her head so that she could indulge in Elizabeth more and more.
More, more!
Seconds, minutes, hours, how long was she kissing Elizabeth for? How much time had passed already? Nerissa didn’t know, and she didn’t really care.
All she cared about was Elizabeth, not the chocolate that was long since gone, or the fact that her lungs burned, or that the tapping and squeezing on her legs spelled stop over and over and-
Wait.
Snapping back into focus, Nerissa finds herself heaving and staring at a bleary world, forcing her to take deep breaths as she tries to blink away the stars from her eyes and force everything to come into focus.
Red
, was the first thing that she saw. Messy red hair that curtained a bright red face, shining red eyes, and a puffy pair of scarlet lips that moved and quivered with each breath Elizabeth took.
It was a sight that sent a spark of excitement to tun all over Nerissa’s body.
“Wow,” Nerissa breathes as she lets herself slip limply against Elizabeth, who wraps an arm around her waist. “So,” she says jokingly at Elizabeth, who blinks at her with a confused expression, “was that a good enough apology, Liz?”
“Or do you want me to apologize to you some more?”
Nerissa purrs, before stifling a giggle as she feels Elizabeth stiffen and shudder, and sees the other woman staring off into the middle distance, wordlessly open and close her mouth without any answer.
Aw, how cute
.
“I think…,” Elizabeth croaks eventually, speaking softly as her hold around Nerissa’s waist tightens, “that I don’t feel angry anymore. But,” she continues, lowering her gaze to meet Nerissa’s, “to think you had such a dangerous skill.”
“As your warden, I might have to hold you here a bit while I investigate it some more,” the red-head says in the most authoritative tone she could muster, “just to see if there are any side effects, of course.”
“So please, cooperate and do not fight this, it will only just make things more difficult.”
Nerissa blinks, thrown at first, at the sudden shift in tone, before deciding to play along and nodding with as much seriousness as she could muster, “Oh, my dear captor~,” she swoons, laying her head on Elizabeth’s shoulder, unable to help herself as she added a teasing tone to her next words, “I am but a helpless, feeble prisoner in your arms. Of course, I will choose to cooperate.”
“But, I can only beg of you,” Nerissa sniffles, mustering as many tears as she could in her eyes, “be gentle. I am only a delicate flower.”
Only to be met with a snort as Elizabeth rolls her eyes, “A Venus fly trap, maybe.”
How dare-
“Hey!” Nerissa pouts, popping back up in a sitting position with an angry huff as Elizabeth laughs. “That’s it,” she says with a growl as she wraps her arms around Elizabeth and holds her fast, “c’mere you!”
Revenge and retribution…!
Kisses!!
Nerissa feels a surge of satisfaction as she watches Elizabeth’s eyes widen, and cackles smugly as the red-head tries to wiggle free in vain before giving up and looking at her with a sheepish grin.
“M-mercy?” Elizabeth says hopefully, eyes shining with a naive hope, “I could give you more of those chocolates if you give me a moment to properly catch my breath?”
A hope that was swiftly crushed by Nerissa’s hungry grin and blunt answer before she attacked.
“No.”
And so, before Elizabeth could make another sound, Nerissa swooped in, captured the red-head’s lips once more into another kiss, intent on continuing until they both were satisfied.