for muses_inthesack for ambitious_woman: 49 tag challenge

[rude_not_ginger]

Reward is in the risk.

Follows this rp and this ficlet.The Doctor did not want to go to a party. He was beginning to despise parties, especially ones where he had to get dressed up and pretend he was enjoying himself. Parties where he was expected to be somebody. Private soirees were all right once in a while, but that's all they were held;

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[ambitious_woman]

A brief smile teased at Reinette's lips as she walked along side her king, their steps echoing the other in as easy accord. He was a familiar symphony, known and treasured. They recognized one another's rhythms and answered in accord. Silences were familiar, never forced. They listened and answered the other easily, never speaking out of turn. And sly glances and mutual laughter shared as counter melodies to add complexity. She knew this. She treasured this. It was not that it was easy, never that. But Reinette was at ease.

It was far too rare a feeling of late.

A certain sharpness tugged at the corner of her gaze as Reinette glanced up and her musical accompaniment shifted from a major to a minor key. It was not that it lacked beauty, never that. But this -- he -- was all angles and shadows, melancholy and regret. Oh yes

[rude_not_ginger]

But of course she'd be walking with Louis, it was why she arrived here first. And he had no reason to be jealous, after all he held no claim to her. It was something he was often reminding himself, he realized. That Reinette was not his anything, except for housemate and friend.

But he had known her, years before in her lifetime if only months ago in his. And the silent moment the night before only served to remind him that there was a woman beneath all those layers of corsetry and dress. Perhaps that was what she was doing. Reminding him.

Had he really become so cold in his age that he needed reminding? Apparently he did.

He took a healthy drink from his wine as her footsteps moved in time with his. It did very little to settle his sudden nerves.

[ambitious_woman]

Her actions the night before were a bittersweet blend of calculation and curiosity. A great deal had been said during their argument. Once of a great many and yet the argument all the same. Much said and many weaknesses are her part exposed. Some he chose to seize upon that night, and some he did not. It was the did not that made her curious. Was he waiting> Or was it simply nothing of interest.

The offer made was naked and raw, so much so that even in her exposure the night prior she still felt more clothed and protected. Would he cross the threshold, she wondered. Now?

Reinette knew.

Was she was forced to privately question? Was she truly making a statement? Or asking him to join her once again? Just how deep did this run, that she was willing to cast herself that low with it?

"Did you sleep well?"

Her voice was cool and unaffected.

Even.

[rude_not_ginger]

She made no sense. She made absolutely, positively, no sense at all. What did she want? How could he know what she wanted when she didn't seem to think he needed to be informed.

He'd never really had the chance to develop a solid attraction like this before. Oh, he'd had affairs, fallen in love even, but there was always something to distract him. Some great crisis, some world-ending plague. But this, with Reinette, was different. He had nothing around him but a political minefield he had no desire in navigating and a prepubescent planet that he loved but had yet to mature.

He had no distractions. He was fully focused on the woman who seemed to be right next to him and a million miles away at the same time. He had the time to focus on how even her voice sounded, on how she was seemingly unaffected by the way she made him react.

"Uneventfully."

Two could play at that.