RP: How do we do this?
Date: 3 February 2006
Characters: Rita Skeeter, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Location: Roma, mostly
Status: Semi-private (ping if your character feels like ambushing them with awkward conversation?)
Summary: Rita and Kingsley have a date. In public. Isn't this a bit... normal?
Completion: Complete
( Shagging is much easier )
Characters: Rita Skeeter, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Location: Roma, mostly
Status: Semi-private (ping if your character feels like ambushing them with awkward conversation?)
Summary: Rita and Kingsley have a date. In public. Isn't this a bit... normal?
Completion: Complete
( Shagging is much easier )
Rita Skeeter and Kingsley Shacklebolt did not date. They fucked. They argued. They sometimes talked. They frequently teased. They occasionally met for a drink... usually as a prelude to teasing, followed closely by arguing and then fucking, or fucking then arguing. But a date for the sake of going out and enjoying each others company? They'd never done thatDating was... normal. Maybe too normal. At least for them. He wasn't convinced this could work. He only knew he wanted to try ( ... )
Reply
Rita wished there was a button to turn her mind off.
All right, so there was, and she knew it, but that wasn't quite what she had in mind tonight.
Maybe not her whole mind, either - just the part that kept fretting about what happens if and how do I.
It frustrated her. She'd never been nervous or shy about going out with Ollivander, never wondered what she should do in X or Y situation with anyone else. Usually, she just went with what felt right, and she had no idea why she couldn't trust herself to do that this time.
She stopped the thinking when he knocked on the door. Stopped it hard, like slamming shut a water dam. She knew tendrils would seep through as the night wore on, but for now...
Rita opened the door. Merlin, he looked delicious in those robes ( ... )
Reply
He took the opportuntity to glance about. The flat suited her. He actually liked it. He thought most men would. Of course that was followed by Kingsley wondering how many men had seen it and liked it. Ollivander, probably, what about others? Kingsley has never been here before. Rita always came to him. He had known where she lived. He just hadn't been willing to risk coming by unannounced. Even now that Rita sometimes dropped in on him, he hadn't been willing to risk the reverse. The possibility of rejection or that she might be entertaining someone else was too great a risk.
Returning his attention to his date for the evening -- Merlin, that felt odd -- he replied, "They're doing better than expected. Of course that isn't as well as I'd hoped. I think this group will be fine. The physical conditioning isn't a problem. It's the ( ... )
Reply
"Thankyou," Rita replied, in that way of hers that always managed to make it sound like I know.
Bag finally extricated, she turned to face him. "Eyes open, mouth shut is probably difficult for everyone, though I imagine it's a bit more of a liability when you're on Auror. They should all learn to be animagi. It rather solves that problem."
He looked a bit like he was practising his Auror training right now. Standing still, observing the place with subtle movements of the eyes and head, but not shifting on his feet like some people would. Rita closed the distance between them, wanting to rid him of just a little of that poise, and herself just a little of this tension. She touched his elbow, looked up at him.
"Apparating or walking?"
She didn't need a hello kiss, of course - not at all - but it didn't hurt to give him the opportunity.
Reply
He smiled down at her when she looked up. "It's a little chilly but clear. Roma's isn't far. We could start walking and Apparate if it becomes too much."
Kingsley wondered if was a good sign that he wasn't looking to back her up against her door and take her right then. Probably. It wasn't that he didn't want her. He did. Oh, did he. Thing was, he was perfectly fine waiting. There was something really nice about knowing she'd still be there in the morning. Didn't make things any less intense but it did make things less urgent. Usually. "I'm not exactly sure what the rules are here. Do I get to kiss you before we leave if I promise not to muss you?"
Reply
Rita chuckled. "Yes, I've wondered about that myself. Most of the registered animagi seem to be conveniently small or inconspicuous - cats and dogs, or birds or... spiders. It is hard. Takes a while, and the number of times you get halfway there and then lose hold on the spell are slightly embarrassing. But worth it, in the end. I wish I knew how many others were running around unregistered. Not that I am, any more, so you don't need to worry about arresting me."
She smiled back. "Walking would be lovely. People who apparate everywhere miss the scenery, I think."
She liked the way he was looking at her. Couldn't describe it, not really, but it was both more and less than the way he usually did. The honesty surprised her in a way she thought she liked. Liked that he thought she knew what they were doing better than he did, maybe, even if she knew she didn't.
"Of course you can. I don't think there are any rules, but I would like to make it out the door, yes."
Reply
He nodded. "Walking it is then."
Of course you can.
Kingsley reached up and gently grasped her chin to tilt her head up. He bent his head and slowly approached her lips. He hovered right in front of them for a moment, a mere fraction of an inch away, before he gently brushed her lips with his own. He pulled back and winked. "Let's go, love." He opened the door for her and waited while she secured it before escorting her out into the winter night.
Reply
"I could," she replied. "If you want me to." She left it at that. Rita knew that Minerva McGonagall wouldn't really be capable these days, with her heart condition and her wheelchair, but she didn't mention that. Kingsley would surely realise that if he decided to think on it for any amount of time.
She watched him as he leaned in and hovered, teasing, but her eyes fluttered closed when his lips brushed over hers. Her body responded with a gentle flutter, not animal and desperate but still intense. Deep in her. She couldn't have said what part of her it was he affected.
It was chilly outside, and Rita pulled her cloak close around her shoulders.
"Merlin," Rita murmured as they walked. "I hope that Witherbottom woman isn't out tonight. Last time she saw me in public with a man, I ended up pregnant with twins. I wonder what the story would be if she saw me with you mere months later." She arched a brow and grinned.
Reply
Outside, Kingsley wrapped his arm around her and brought her in closer to his body. "That woman is a menace." Kingsley chortled and added, "She'd give that Rita Skeeter a run for her money in the gossip department." He hugged her against him, "I have told you yet I think you should be proud of the work you've done on The Prophet? It's first class, babe."
Reply
"Ah, you Ravenclaws, yes." Rita chuckled, thinking of Irma. "Though I know a few who wouldn't take the chance. Thank Merlin you're one of the type that enjoys trying new things." A glance up and sideways at him, over glasses but under lashes.
Rita laughed. "Yes, I think she might have taken my title. When I found out who'd started the rumour, I considered publishing something nasty in the paper in retaliation. But I decided I like respect even better than I liked being an infamous bitch, so..." He slipped his arm around her and pulled her close, and that warmth was certainly nice. The compliment surprised her - not because she wasn't proud, but simply because no one had said that to her before. "I am," she answered, but somehow it sounded much more like thanks than her 'thankyou' had earlier. "I'm glad you think so. And you'll have come and visit me at work sometime. That desk has still been used for nothing other than paper, and it's rather a shame. i did asked Roger Davies to make it sturdy."
Reply
Kingsley wasn't sure if she meant that she hadn't been with anyone other than him or that she just wasn't using her office for it. He suddenly wished his mind hadn't gone that direction. The idea that now that the two of had seemed to have come to -- well, maybe not understanding, but surely the beginning of one, or at the very least something like it -- some sort of deal, he really did not want to think that he might lose her to someone else.
He'd spent so long thinking about her being bent over her sturdy desk by others that he nearly forgot to respond to the invitation. "I'll come, but only if you promise me it'll be not only sturdy but shiny. I'm pretty sure you promised me shiny too last time you mentioned Roger's handy work ( ... )
Reply
"Oh, it's definitely shiny," she agreed. "I specifically asked for that when I ordered it. It could certainly use polishing, though."
Roma was just as Rita remembered it - classier than the other two restaurants in town, but not over the top. Not packed out, but even for a Sunday night the patronage was good, which spoke well of both the food and service. Rita scanned the crowd, and was somewhat relieved to not see anyone she knew. It wasn't that she didn't want to be seen with Kingsley - not at all - she just didn't like the idea of being under scrutiny from others on a night out. The instinct was an old one; when one had spent so many years of one's life collecting gossip on others, it didn't do to give people anything with which to retaliate.
"A few," she answered. "Mostly business, and once or twice with Irma. Usually, I call into Socks. Easy when it's just across the street from home."
They were shown to their table by a young waitress in a rather tight black skirt (does that help with the tips?, Rita wondered ( ... )
Reply
Kingsley asked, "Did Lady Irma ever patch things up with her beau? I ran into her kicking rocks and threatening pieces of the landscape after she stormed out on the poor bloke," he offered by way of explanation. There was no way in hell he was mentioning the revealing photograph though. He took Irma Pince's threats seriously. He liked his bollocks intact, thank you very much.
The waitress took them to a nice little table near the fire, but not too close. Kingsley helped Rita remove her cape and couldn't help drawing his fingers up along the lacing at the back of her dress. "This makes me wish I took you dancing just so I could play with the ties," and your skin underneath "while we moved around the floor," he said close to her ear before pulling out her chair. Kingsley did have a few manners after all ( ... )
Reply
She remembered Caradoc talking about how he had been brought up to be a gentleman, and how it had annoyed Irma. Ironic to have that thought while Kingsley was taking the cloak from around her shoulders, but Rita rather liked the attention. Like the way his fingers trailed up over the little corset-ties as well. Of course, the fact that he was such a gentleman in public when they both knew how he liked to give control to her in private only made it more interesting.
"Perhaps we can dance later," she murmured. "I have a small collection of muggle jazz in my flat." Of course, dancing in her flat probably wouldn't stay as tame as all that for very long, but she didn't need ( ... )
Reply
"I know a little about how that feels." Rita had told a bit about why she'd up and disappeared years ago. About why she left. Why she let them... him... think she was dead after Diagon Alley. He didn't really understand though. He wasn't so sure that one day he wouldn't wake up and again she'd be gone.
"Let me make sure I've got this straight. You. Are. Inviting. Me. To. Your. Place." He quirked an eyebrow to make sure she understood what she'd done just then. "Dancing would be good... for a start," he smirked. Likely wouldn't be able to resist undoing those laces. Then again, maybe she planned it that way ( ... )
Reply
Rita didn't know quite what to say to Kingsley comment about knowing how it felt, so she said nothing. She'd expressed her regret more than once now, but it was obvious he didn't really understand what it had been like for her. She didn't know if she could expect him to, either. Nothing was an excuse to let someone believe you were dead. She just hoped it might slip past, stop getting in the way of things. Maybe it could if she just didn't let it.
She didn't look up from the menu at his tone of disbelief, but her eyebrow quirked and she couldn't help a smile. "Well, unless you want to go to Xanadu..." She chuckled. "I've cancelled my plans with the miriad of other gentleman at my beck and call, so we won't be disturbed ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment