Infinite Consortium, Monday

[deathsmajesty]

Whatever else Liliana might have had planned for the day was quite thoroughly replaced upon receiving a certain message just as her hand touched the knob to unlock the back door of her shop. And then she ended up standing there for much longer than she'd like to admit to anyone, including herself, debating whether she should actually bother with the day's work (something she rarely needed encouragement to skip as it were), or should just turn around and return home immediately.

How dare you, Ignis Scientia. She was never indecisive, and yet--!

That, in fact, was the reason she'd ended up going to work in the end, anyway. If he were waiting for her back at the mansion, half-dressed and hoping, he deserved it for making her hesitate over a question as easy as should I bother going to work today? and then, of all things, being the reason she decided that the answer should be yes.

Though if he sent her another poem, she would be home so fast he'd forget that teleportation had been lost in the Mending.

If not, she still had his first to listen to again. Several times. Shut up.

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[chef_chocobro]

Would it be any consolation at all that the door to the Consortium was opened and then subsequently locked somewhat earlier that Monday?

Bearing, of course, treats of a particular flavor, as well as something a bit more substantial for after he left her to the rest of her work, though Ignis had a sneaking suspicion that it would be a while before they got to any of it, really.

Not that one could likely tell in the almost rote routine in which he entered the shop that late morning, the only notable difference in his usual arrival being the time at which it occurred, strolling in and calling out her name in seeking greeting as casual as could be.

"Liliana?"

Well, except maybe the unruly twitch upward of the corner of her mouth, too.

[deathsmajesty]

She was going to bite him once she tasted those galettes. And he would deserve it.

"Over here, love," Liliana called back from behind the counter, sounding every bit just as cool and unruffled as ever - perhaps even moreso. In fact, the only way to tell that there was anything deeper at play (always at play, they could play these games forever) was that it was so calm and casual, with no hint that she recognized the earliness of his arrival. "Another quiet day at the shop."

[chef_chocobro]

Too calm and cool? Perhaps. Maybe something had gone awry, and Liliana didn't even receive the message. There could have been a hiccup in the signal, or the island could well be having one of those days, and that slow, sultry reading of a poem about coffee was currently filling the ears of some other unsuspecting Fandomite.

And what a shame that would be.

Was there just a faint flicker of doubt inside of him? Yes, admittedly, there was, especially considering how the last thing he'd left for her had gone, but he tried to nudge those first quavers of uncertainty away.

But Ignis reached the counter, having already been headed that way, setting down the box of treats and the lunch for later down on it.

"Ah," he said. "Well. That's good to hear. Especially considering how an unquiet day is likely to go around here."

[deathsmajesty]

"And I have no desire to fight with a chair, an employee, or an overzealous new shipment," Liliana agreed, rising from her seat. "Not when I have other things to be occupying my time and attention."

Like his message. Like his treats. Like his everything.

The silk of her gown rustled a bit under her fingers where she was clenching them in the effort it was taking not to reach for him, drag him down to the floor with her, strip him bare physically, yes, but in so many other ways as well. She opened her mouth to say something else, an off-hand comment about the weather or something similarly inane, but what came out was, "...Come and kiss me, you ridiculous man, while I still have a shred of pride left."

[chef_chocobro]

For a brief moment, Ignis, too, had almost made an off-handed comment of his own, some clever little retort about the state of her pride or that if his actions marked him as ridiculous, what did that say about her if he was merely finally meeting tit-for-tat, but, thankfully, his wisdom was as sharp as his wit (and his daggers), and he knew that there was a much better use for his mouth (and that sly tongue) than some pithy retort.

And so he did precisely as she asked, moving over to her and sliding his arm around her to pull her close and kiss her, with every bit of ardor and longing he'd infused into the message he'd left for her earlier.

He always was good at following instructions, after all.

[deathsmajesty]

And Liliana just sank into that kiss - into him - with a longing and fervor that spoke of several hours worth of feasting upon a helping of strawberry rhubarb and the struggle to remain at work through it. She met his lips with a soft moan and his mouth swallowed several more sighs, her fingers having gone from clutching at her skirts to clinging to his shoulders.

With the gift of the necklace, her kiss had taken, dragging him down to depths as fathomless as her gaze. Today, her kiss was giving, offering up everything she was and everything she had, making a veritable banquet of herself for Ignis to devour however much of her he liked.

"It took everything I had to not come home," she murmured against his lips.

[chef_chocobro]

Would Ignis ever be a man truly comfortable with taking, for himself? Without reserve, without resistance, without regard? Probably not. But, in that moment, feeling Liliana melt against him, into in, and bringing her in close (but never, it seemed, ever managing to be close enough, even as whatever space between them became infantesimal, molecular, atomic...and just as volitile), he found himself coming very close to it.

And their lips parting, his breath was heavy and gasping, and words would need a moment as the hand that found its way from her cheek to her hair untangled itself enough to brush fingertips against the back of her neck, just holding onto, possessing everything she'd given him, as he found air and words again.

"Then I suppose I shall have to make sure it was well worth the wait," he murmured back, and, somewhat recovered, imagine that, found it in himself to take a little more.

[deathsmajesty]

"You would have to work harder to make it not," Liliana groaned. "Sweet Serra, Ignis, your voice. It undoes me entirely."

One hand left his shirt for the planes of his cheek, fingertips brushing over smooth skin and rough scar with equal delight in both. "The only thing that convinced me to stay here was the possibility that that was simply the first step in some game and returning home would interfere with the rest."

Her mouth continued to spill kisses and words in equal measures, both soft and yearning.

[chef_chocobro]

"Mmmm, no," Ignis said, both hum and word emerging from the rumbling depths of an appreciative groan at her touch. "Not exactly. Just a long-overdue next move in a game you yourself had started quite some time ago. A game, might I add," as he smiled, those fingertips luxuriated in moving forward along her throat, "that I seem to be incredibly adept at losing spectacularly. I admit. I'm very impressed."

Liliana Vess, actually showing restraint? Holding herself back from something she desired? No matter what the reason, that could simply not go unrewarded.

[deathsmajesty]

It was an odd feeling and she didn't really like it, but sometimes she could show restraint. A little restraint. As a treat.

"So your plan was just to read poetry to me in your voice and then leave me to suffer?" she asked, voice rich with feigned outrage and very real desire.

[chef_chocobro]

"My plan," Ignis drawled, in that deep, rich way that highlighted exactly what she meant by his voice, the lift in his brow matching the corner of his lips; his hand dipped a little lower, to appreciate what dramatic linrs her dress was no doubt cutting that day, "was to simply to begin to return the favor of all the times you've read me poetry in yours.

[deathsmajesty]

"Terribly rude to turn my own machinations against me," Liliana said, arching against his wandering hands, ensuring his palm was always filled with some part of her: breast, hip, leg, waist. Her own hands were once more mapping the contours of his back through his shirt. "I didn't stop thinking of you once this morning."

Which had always been her intention whenever she'd sent him poetry.

[chef_chocobro]

"My apologies," Ignis murmured. "That sounds as though it must have wrecked absolute havoc on your productivity today."

The hand dancing across her chest was making it's way back up, to clear a path by brushing back her hair; the other, however, had moved now, along her side, down her hip.

"Although I must admit," he added, and the fact that it was only then that his lips moved to retrace the path his fingers had taken along her throat, "I find a great deal of satisfaction that you now know even a fraction of what it's like for me in nearly every waking moment spent without you."

[deathsmajesty]

"I could make a very strong argument of the use of that now in that sentence there," Liliana said, tipping her head back, welcoming his lips' sojourn across her throat. "More importantly, though, I must point out that this issue could be completely abrogated, if you simply stayed by my side always."

You know, a perfectly normal and possible request.

[chef_chocobro]

Liliana would no doubt feel the smile on Ignis' lips against her throat at that. "I shall strive to work on that," he murmured into her ear, "post haste. Starting, of course, right now, since I dare say, the day is shot, my love. We'd best do what we can to make the most of it. And then I shall be so selfishly claiming you for the entirety of your birthday tomorrow. That sounds like an excellent way to start, if I do say so myself."

[deathsmajesty]

"I can hardly disagree," Liliana said, claiming one of his hands with her own, lacing their fingers together. "You're here and I will require some very persuasive arguments before I can be convinced to let you go again."

Her leg slid around him, suddenly pressing him fast against her.

"Though I would like to hear more about these plans for tomorrow. Is this sudden bout of selfishness my present? I assure you, my darling, I'm delighted."