((rethread, before the columns make my eyes explode))
All right, he was undeniably adorable when flustered. The alcohol meant that she hadn't really been able to follow the train of thought much better than he had, but it was worth it to see him so endearingly discomfited.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," she said, leaning forward in her chair to whisper conspiratorily. "I'd very much like you to kiss me, too." She grinned at him, the unabashed, uninhibited grin of the righteously tipsy.
"Is that so?" Ah, there was that grin again. He really did like that grin. It was not remotely ladylike, but that was part of its appeal - and he couldn't help grinning back, even in the midst of his discomfiture. "Well, then, I should hate to disappoint you." He put down his "glass," got up a bit unsteadily, and stepped around the table to lean down and kiss Molly on the lips. He was a clumsy kisser even when not drunk, but what he lacked in finesse, he made up for in enthusiasm.
Well, this is a bit of all right, the Narrator said, but Molly ruthlessly shut him up. Warrior Babe persona or not, she wasn't a terribly talented kisser either, but alcohol and a similar amount of enthusiasm somewhat made up for it. Unlike a great many of the guys who had gone after her, Jack was certifiably a 'man', rather than a wishy-washy boy masquerading as an adult.
Jack would have prolonged the kiss longer, but suddenly lost his balance and sat down heavily on the arm of Molly's chair. That rum was strong. That was why there weren't any pirates anymore, he thought - they'd all drunk themselves into oblivion and run their ships onto reefs. "There, now," he said cheerfully, looking down at Molly with a broad smile. "What does the Narrator have to say to that?"
Molly couldn't help but laugh as he staggered, beaming up at him with the full force of her (admittedly drunken) movie star smile.
"His exact words were, 'Well, this is a bit of all right'," she said, swallowing her snickering. "Though I think it was more than a bit all right." She tried to stand up so she could help him regain his balance, only to find the floor shifting treacherously under her feet and dropping her back into the chair. "It's not often we agree on anything, so consider yourself flattered."
"'A bit of all right,'" Jack repeated, settling his large posterior more comfortably on the arm of the chair. "Well, that's one way of putting it. I should say... I should say that it was very pleasant indeed, and I should like to do it again, were I not concerned about falling into your lap, which would be most ungentlemanly and most likely cause you grave injury." Molly looked like a sturdy enough woman, but Jack was hardly petite, even aside from his rear end.
That only set her off into another fit of giggling--she had a sudden mental picture of the pair of them hobbling off in search of the hospital wing, having fractured ribs and bloodied noses falling off the damn chair.
"All right...all right...let's see if we can't fix that, then," she said, doing her best to stand up once more. She managed it this time, but unsteadily, swaying like a tree in a stiff wind as her equillibrium see-sawed from one ear to the other. "There...now let's try that again."
"No, wait, I have a better idea." Jack shifted off the arm of the chair into the vacated chair itself. "Now, pray sit yourself down here -" he indicated his lap "- and I daresay you shall be very comfortable. I am a well-upholstered fellow, as you see." This had gone entirely beyond the pale as far as proper etiquette was concerned (he had certainly never asked Sophie to sit on his lap, and she would have been horrified if he had), but he found he didn't really care anymore.
Well now...that was a distinctly...novel suggestion, but she found she didn't mind. Tripping over her own feet she accordingly sat, still snickering. "You know, I can't say I've sat on anyone's lap since I was a little kid...is this some custom I don't know about?" she asked, highly doubting it. Molly wasn't a short woman, but at this angle her feet dangled a good six inches above the floor--should she try to get up again, she'd probably faceplant into the carpet, so it was just as well she didn't want to.
Jack laughed. "It ain't a custom, my dear, but rather a matter of practicality. I should not want you to fall and injure yourself, for then I would have to take you to Stephen to get you patched up, and you would find that damned embarrassing. And it is far easier to kiss you in this particular position, I may add." He put an arm around her waist (vaguely surprised not to feel the outlines of a corset beneath her clothes) and kissed her again, this time at some length.
Okay, this is more that a bit of all right, the Narrator said. Molly agreed wholeheartedly, her tipsy state making it quite easy for her to lean into him and return the kiss. She couldn't resist letting one hand steal up to tangle in his long hair--she'd always liked long hair on a man, and his did not disappoint.
Eventually she broke the kiss, grinning up at him. "Well, if it's not a custom, maybe it should be," she said.
"We should start our own country," said Jack happily, "and institute it as a custom." He liked her playing with his hair - he had noticed that most men here had short hair, so maybe she found it a novelty. He brushed back her own hair from her face with his free hand, and kissed her a couple of more times, small kisses by the corner of her mouth and the angle of her jaw. His memories were, as usual, slightly confused, but he did know it had been a very, very long time since he had kissed anyone - one of the more trying aspects of being at sea - and he was enjoying this very much
( ... )
Molly giggled, tilting her head back to allow him greater access to her neck--it was her one weak spot, the proper treatment of which could reduce her to a puddle.
"That...sounds like a wonderful idea," she said, the words more than a little breathless. "It could be a law."
For once even the Narrator had nothing to say, which was just as well, because Molly would have ignored him completely. She slid one arm around Jack's shoulders, gymnastic-toned muscles drawing him close against her as her other hand continued to twine in his hair. She wondered, insofar as she was capable of wondering anything, if there was the magical equivalent of a broom closet anywhere around.
Jack was not particularly adept at reducing women to puddles, but he kissed Molly's neck willingly enough (indeed, very willingly). It occurred to him that, regardless of whether they proceeded to naughtier activities, it might indeed be advisable to seek out a less public area in which to make out. He didn't fancy any of their fellow Gryffindors walking in on them.
"My dear," he said, when he had given Molly's neck a thorough smooching, "perhaps we might find someplace more private? Perhaps..." He didn't know if women were allowed in his room. He still remembered being demoted and beaten for keeping a girl in his quarters when he was a midshipman. "Perhaps a classroom, or..." He couldn't think of anyplace else one might go to be alone, although admittedly he was rather distracted.
"Someplace...maybe a bathroom? Or...hell, I don't know my way around here at all yet. Broom closet? Very large filing cabinet?"
She snickered at that one, still twining and untwining her fingers in his hair. "Are there any private bathrooms here?" Molly was just as distracted--if not more so--than Jack, and she was also a good deal drunker. Fit she might be, but she'd never been able to hold her alcohol well.
"Oh - oh no, not a bathroom. No, the bathrooms here are hazardous." Jack knew this from bitter experience. "I would not want to be trapped in one of them forever, regardless of how pleasant the company was. No, let us look for a spare classroom or something of that sort. I am sure we shall find something." He wasn't quite sure if either he or Molly was capable of standing up, but they would find that out shortly.
All right, he was undeniably adorable when flustered. The alcohol meant that she hadn't really been able to follow the train of thought much better than he had, but it was worth it to see him so endearingly discomfited.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," she said, leaning forward in her chair to whisper conspiratorily. "I'd very much like you to kiss me, too." She grinned at him, the unabashed, uninhibited grin of the righteously tipsy.
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"His exact words were, 'Well, this is a bit of all right'," she said, swallowing her snickering. "Though I think it was more than a bit all right." She tried to stand up so she could help him regain his balance, only to find the floor shifting treacherously under her feet and dropping her back into the chair. "It's not often we agree on anything, so consider yourself flattered."
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"All right...all right...let's see if we can't fix that, then," she said, doing her best to stand up once more. She managed it this time, but unsteadily, swaying like a tree in a stiff wind as her equillibrium see-sawed from one ear to the other. "There...now let's try that again."
Yeah, let's.
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Eventually she broke the kiss, grinning up at him. "Well, if it's not a custom, maybe it should be," she said.
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"That...sounds like a wonderful idea," she said, the words more than a little breathless. "It could be a law."
For once even the Narrator had nothing to say, which was just as well, because Molly would have ignored him completely. She slid one arm around Jack's shoulders, gymnastic-toned muscles drawing him close against her as her other hand continued to twine in his hair. She wondered, insofar as she was capable of wondering anything, if there was the magical equivalent of a broom closet anywhere around.
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"My dear," he said, when he had given Molly's neck a thorough smooching, "perhaps we might find someplace more private? Perhaps..." He didn't know if women were allowed in his room. He still remembered being demoted and beaten for keeping a girl in his quarters when he was a midshipman. "Perhaps a classroom, or..." He couldn't think of anyplace else one might go to be alone, although admittedly he was rather distracted.
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"Someplace...maybe a bathroom? Or...hell, I don't know my way around here at all yet. Broom closet? Very large filing cabinet?"
She snickered at that one, still twining and untwining her fingers in his hair. "Are there any private bathrooms here?" Molly was just as distracted--if not more so--than Jack, and she was also a good deal drunker. Fit she might be, but she'd never been able to hold her alcohol well.
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