Fringe Secret Santa 2011!
Oct. 24th, 2011 12:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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fringe_kinkmemeIn a festive mood for Fringe? For a gift exchange of fiction, art including icons, or vids?
Then you're about to enter the right universe:
1.
To SIGN UP, all you need to do is add a comment to this very post containing your request.
Sign-ups arebetween now and 1 Novemberclosed now. All the requests will be jumbled up and sent back out by 6 November.
2.
RESPONSES to gift requests are to be posted between 16 and 23 December --
ideally anonymously (with your reveal after Christmas, i.e. after 25 December, in your own fanspace). Two ways to do this:
a) Add your response as an anon comment to the request you've been matched up with. (For fic, that allows for roughly 3,000 words in one comment, multiples of course encouraged. Vids & art are trickier, but only a bit.)
b) Jot down the link to the actual response in a blog, on the AO3 (pseudonyms option suggested), or any other platform. (If you need an invite code for the AO3, tell us, and you'll have it in no time.)
If anon doesn't work for you -- no dummy accounts possible, or your working hours look a lot like Olivia's -- that's fine; post the link to your own fanspace with the response. Just, don't tell Alt!Astrid.
3.
Please don't sign up if you believe you'll be unable to complete a request given to you.
If you realise you can't make it, please tell us as early as possible, and we will try to organise a pinch hitter so that your recipient isn't left without a gift at the end of the fest.
4.
Now!
To join the exchange, post a request with the following information:
Happy holidays! And thanks to the ever-excellent mods over atsga_santa, from whom the template for this text is snagged with permission.
Feel free to snag this Fringe Secret Santa icon. More yet to come...
<||:)>
Then you're about to enter the right universe:
1.
To SIGN UP, all you need to do is add a comment to this very post containing your request.
Sign-ups are
2.
RESPONSES to gift requests are to be posted between 16 and 23 December --
ideally anonymously (with your reveal after Christmas, i.e. after 25 December, in your own fanspace). Two ways to do this:
a) Add your response as an anon comment to the request you've been matched up with. (For fic, that allows for roughly 3,000 words in one comment, multiples of course encouraged. Vids & art are trickier, but only a bit.)
b) Jot down the link to the actual response in a blog, on the AO3 (pseudonyms option suggested), or any other platform. (If you need an invite code for the AO3, tell us, and you'll have it in no time.)
If anon doesn't work for you -- no dummy accounts possible, or your working hours look a lot like Olivia's -- that's fine; post the link to your own fanspace with the response. Just, don't tell Alt!Astrid.
3.
Please don't sign up if you believe you'll be unable to complete a request given to you.
If you realise you can't make it, please tell us as early as possible, and we will try to organise a pinch hitter so that your recipient isn't left without a gift at the end of the fest.
4.
Now!
To join the exchange, post a request with the following information:
Blog: [DW handle] OR [LJ handle] OR [AO3 account] OR [ff.net handle] OR [...]The Fringe Secret Santa is open to fanfic, fanart including icons, and fanvids; on the fic side everything goes -- all we ask for is a minimum wordcount of 750, that kinks are tagged and warnings included.
E-mail: Should of course be working.
Things I'd like: Please request at least three things here...but ultimately feel free to add as many things as you'd like at this point. Doesn't mean you'll get them all, but there's no harm in asking, and it ensures you get a great Secret Santa match. If you'd like a specific pairing or character, then speak now or forever hold thy peace. Don't forget to ask for icons or vids too -- we all know the likelihood is low in a small fandom such as this one, but hey. Worth a shot!
Things I wouldn't like: If there's anything you wouldn't like to receive (pairing in a fic, French electropop for your vid, bright-green textures in your icons) then here's the place to mention it. Without character-, pairing-, or kink-bashing, of course.
What I can do: Are you great at a certain genre (gen, het, slash)? Are you the specialist for writing specific character/s or pairing/s? One of the excellent Fringe vidders out there, or an icon-maker with aspirations? One of the folks on tumblr who brighten every Fringe fan's day? As ever, specifics are great so your match brings you tears of happiness instead of, you know, the opposite.
What I can't do: If there's anything you feel you can't do, then please say so here. Same disclaimer as above applies.
Pinch hitter?: In the event of someone not being able to complete their gift are you willing to be stand-in writer, artist, or vidder?
Happy holidays! And thanks to the ever-excellent mods over at
sga_santa, from whom the template for this text is snagged with permission.Feel free to snag this Fringe Secret Santa icon. More yet to come...
<||:)>
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 06:25 pm (UTC)E-mail: ziparumpazoo AT hotmail.com
Things I'd like: Foremost, dear Secret Santa, I would like you to have fun with this. Pretty much anything with Olivia in any incarnation (except dead) would make me happy, but for more specific requests: amberverse Olivia/Walter-their first meeting at/after St.Claire's. Roadtrips. Sensory deprivation and apple pie. Red!Olivia - the spy who came in from the cold. Olivia/Peter, coffee and ice cubes and that time we danced in the desert under the stars. Lincoln, Astrid (or Lincoln/Astrid), everybody needs an alter-ego. Charlie/Olivia, but 'Kiddo' has such a nice ring to it.
Things I wouldn't like:I prefer emotional or conceptual over explicit, that is, if smut reads like a biology textbook, I'm more than likely to just skim. And Vids. They just don't click for me. No spoilers past whatever has already aired in the US when this goes live, please, but speculation is okay.
What I can do: Just about anything, fic-wise, though I tend to lean more towards writing het than slash.
What I can't do: Juggle and carry a tune, not necessarily at the same time. Also, icons. Photoshop intimidates me.
Pinch hitter?: For sure. Sign me up as a writer.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 10:40 pm (UTC)E-mail: rainer76 AT yahoo.com
Things I'd like: A focus on Peter in some shape or form. I'm fairly laid back, in love with the entire roster of characters, so feel free to take it wherever you want. Rough ideas: an outsider POV encountering the team. Walternate's first meeting with his son and realising he doesn't actually feel anything toward him. Olivia and Peter being playful and *not* angsty. Slash, kinks, humour, Lincoln, Astrid, Broyles, more than happy with any of it.
Things I wouldn't like: I'll let you know when I find it.
What I can do: I'll try my hand at anything and hope the character passes muster.
What I can't do: Never used photoshop and I tend to look at vids as magical and pretty.
Pinch hitter?: As a writer.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 12:08 am (UTC)E-mail: butlerke at gmail.com
Things I'd like: (so many things)
Vid to When the War Came by The Decemberists.
Vid of the alt-team to Planetary (Go!) by My Chemical Romance.
Fic in which Lincoln (either) or both)) is kinky and is super-enthusiastic about his kinks. I don't even care what the kinks are. I don't even care who he's paired with.
A crossover! If you've been dying to write a Fringe/The Goonies crossover and have been wondering, who the hell would read this? I'd read it. Bonus for a Fringe/Dawson's Creek crossover.
Peter/Olivia curtain fic from the short-lived grey-verse.
Alt-Lincoln & Alt-Charlie gen; drinking, talking baseball, playing video games, discussing Lincoln's hair. Whatever.
Gen fic of Walter, Astrid, and Olivia as a made-family in the amber-verse.
Peter, pre-series, being the con-man that he is.
Things I wouldn't like: I'm deeply uncomfortable with anything that casts alt-Olivia as the bad guy, so I'd rather pass on that.
What I can do: Fic and icons. Really, I'll write damn near anything.
What I can't do: I am rubbish at vidding.
Pinch hitter?: Yep! Both for fic and icons.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 01:07 am (UTC)E-mail: pestoparty@aol.com
Things I'd like: alt!Lincoln/alt!Liv- The day the altverse ends, Walter&Astrid (friendship)- making Thanksgiving dinner, Peter/Olivia- anything set in s1, or the second half of s3. Oh, and if anyone would feel up to writing a Parks and Rec/Fringe crossover, I would probably die. Tom/Astrid would be a great addition, but certainly not a requirement.
Things I wouldn't like: No slash, please. Anything goes song-wise for vids. Nothing too angsty for Peter/Olivia.
What I can do: Het and gen fics. I can do vids, but no promises on length.
What I can't do: Icons, or anything related to photoshop.
Pinch hitter?: As a writer, sure. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 03:08 am (UTC)Blog: tvnut014.livejournal.com
Email: rocky_grrl@hotmail.com
Things I'd like: Fics involving my favourite pairing Peter/Olivia, gen or het. And if the fic could involve a mystery, that would be awesome. Fluff is always welcome with me, but some conflict is good too. :) (So Peter/Fauxlivia is okay in the case of conflict xD) icons and vids and videos of Peter/Olivia area also always welcome. Also, any icon featuring Walter and/or Gene. That would totally make my day! (And any rating is fine. ANY rating.) :)
Things I wouldn't like: Peter/Fauxlivia, or Peter/Astrid, and no character death please! (Unless it isn't permanent. Or unless there is a declaration of love first. xD)
What I can do: I can definitely write fics! I am best at het, I don't usually do gen (but it can be easily done), and I can attempt to do slash. I've written it for friends before so I can attempt to do so here. I'm definitely comfortable with working on Polivia stuff. I'm just starting to get into the realm of making icons but I would definitely love the chance to work on more.
What I can't do: I should specify, I can't really do femslash. But again I suppose I could try, however it wouldn't be too graphic. And I can't do vids. (Sorry!)
Pinch hitter? Sure! I could stand in as a writer.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 07:22 am (UTC)E-mail: alyelle [at] gmail [dot] com
Things I'd like: Ficwise - Olivia/Peter anything would make my life; an epic adventure/romance especially so. I'd also quite welcome an ensemble Christmas crackfic (bonus points if it involves Olivia and Peter being shippy or if Walter makes cake!), red!verse Lincoln/Fauxlivia and something to do with baby Henry, or icons. I never say no to icons.
IN GENERAL: I like my smut smutty, and my romances sappy. I have no problems with AU so long as the characters are... well, in character. My favourite fics tend to be either a bit surreal and highly evocative, rather like my favourite poets (Sylvia Plath, TS Eliot, ee cummings), or just plain hilarious. I usually prefer my icons without borders and text, unless the text is hilarious and appropriate.
Things I wouldn't like: songfic, character death, anything that involves non-con scenarios, graphic bloodletting, Fauxlivia/Peter or blue!verse Lincoln/Olivia.
What I can do: Olivia/Peter, for preference, or ensemble. I'm fairly comfortable with most genres and ratings. I do quite enjoy writing crack and/or bizarre sciencey stuff as well as romantic pairings (that's a leftover from writing for Doctor Who for so long). I'm also willing to have a go at Fauxlivia/Peter or Lincoln/Olivia, but basically, if I don't want to read it, it's pretty safe to assume I won't want to write it. Also I will happy make icons/headers and fanmixes. Fandom underestimates the power of a really good fanmix. At the moment I'm a couple of weeks behind US airings, but that should be caught up by the time this is due, so assume I can write for whatever has aired.
What I can't do: Walter/Astrid, rape or non-con, violent stuff, and slashy porn. Also I can't vid, sorry. :(
Pinch hitter?: For icons, yes, sure. For fic, it would depend; my working hours are actually exactly like Olivia's. If you're desperate, shoot me an email. The worst I can say is no.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 09:14 pm (UTC)E-mail: alizarin_nyc@livejournal.com
Things I'd like:
1. Fic. Since I haven't followed every plotline to the letter, something that involved heavy duty canon knowledge would be wasted on me. I love creepy stuff, gore, wacky science, characters being unaccountably awesome, sex, smut, kink, emotional depth, humor. Not all at the same time, of course, unless it fits the bill. I love Olivia, Lincoln and Astrid. Slash, het, femslash, all to the good.
2. Vid. I've just started vidding and love the concepts. Sell me a pairing that's not obvious, or catch the characters in some light-hearted moments. Go arty if you want. I also like teasers or trailers, so feel free to do a "short" too.
Things I wouldn't like: kidfic, out of character fluff, pregnancies.
What I can do: I can vid, but I'm new to it, so the request would have to be more general than specific. I can write stuff. And things. Usually I write slash, sex, mystery plots and heads getting bashed in.
What I can't do: See above re: vidding. I'm not great at writing Peter, I think, though I have not tried. And won't be able to comply with heavy canon specifics because of incurable brain fog.
Pinch hitter?: In the event of someone not being able to complete their gift are you willing to be stand-in writer, artist, or vidder? YES. ASK ME.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 10:03 pm (UTC)E-mail: above handle at gmail dot com
Things I'd like:
Character-wise, Blue!Olivia/Blue!Lincoln, Amber!verse versions, although given this my tumblr tag, I'll take any and all permutations in a pinch, from Olivia/Alt!Lincoln over Liv/Lincoln to ye olde parallele pairing, Liv/Alt!Lincoln. My biggest wish of them all is another vid for Olivia/Lincoln. Like, only the third one in all the world. I would love it and hug it and call it...whatever you name it, really. That said, I tend to like canon best of all; depending on where the show takes us until mid-December, I'd also be thrilled about anything involving Astrid, in particular Astrid/Olivia. Nina is another favourite of mine, and could always do with more screen/pagetime. I'm all for the Alt!verse team too, especially Charlie, whom I miss madly.
Content-wise, I want it all but am happy with everything that gives me strong characterisation. I adore humour and off-beat portrayals; I'm in awe of people who write plot well. Rating-wise, higher is better (but of course, as ever, the erotic is better than writing explicit sex just for the sake of explicit-ness. Is that a word? It should be). If you are like me and very much into specific prompts, check out this one, or that one, or ohhh, look! :)
Things I wouldn't like: I'm not hugely into unhappy endings, angst, or sap. While I've shipped Olivia and Peter for many a season, they're also not what I crave right now.
What I can do: Are you great at a certain genre (gen, het, slash)? I write and make icons, both reasonably well if you like dialogue, character interaction, and twisty turns of phrase. My fanart is sadly not up to tumblr standards, but I'm in possession of a copy of PhotoShop and perfectly willing to make you a wallpaper or somesuch of a character, pairing, or scenario you can't find out there.
What I can't do: Am not good with Peter or Walter; the Bishop boys are in more capable hands elsewhere.
Pinch hitter?: Alas, no.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 03:58 am (UTC)E-mail: yahtzee63@gmail.com
Things I'd like: (1) Anything exploring the friendship between Astrid and Walter from Astrid's POV; she seems to care about him greatly, though she does far more for him than he does for her, and I would like to get her POV on why. (2) Blueverse Olivia meets Redverse John Scott. What's he like? What happens? Would prefer something not particularly shippy, but a reminder of how far she's come. (3) Peter, Olivia and Walter in a cozier, happier moment. Maybe something Fringey happens that is actually really lovely for a change?
Things I wouldn't like: Redverse Olivia/Peter, Walter/Astrid as a romantic 'ship, character-bashing of any stripe
What I can do: I write fic! Enjoy het more than slash but will write whatever.
What I can't do: I'd rather not write threesome fic or redverse Olivia/Peter.
Pinch hitter?: Maybe?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 08:39 pm (UTC)E-mail: kerithwyn at yahoo.com
Things I'd like: For you to write what you like, whether gen, het, or slash. I have a particular fondness for Lincoln of all permutations, especially Red. A Red!Lincoln/Blue!Olivia vid would make me cry with joy.
Otherwise -- Blue!Olivia and Astrid, friendship. Peter paired with anyone *but* Olivia, just to be contrary. ;) The world needs more fic featuring Broyles and Frank Stanton and Nick Lane and OMG, Charlie Francis. So much Charlie Francis fic.
Threesomes are *awesome* in any combination.
Things I wouldn't like: I read fic for the things the show won't give me, so P/O isn't my first choice. (Not allergic to it, though.) Heavy angst not so much, either.
What I can do: Gen, het, slash, mostly dialogue and characterization. You probably don't want me writing your epic Peter/Olivia romance, but otherwise I'm flexible. Haven't written a lot of Peter or Walter but willing to give it a shot.
What I can't do: Graphics or vids, sadly. Big action!fic unlikely as well.
Pinch hitter?: Writing. Depends on RL circumstances, but sure, drop me a line if there's a crisis.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 10:07 pm (UTC)E-mail: kea337@hotmail.com
Things I'd like: Fic set during Season 3, as it's my favorite season so far, exploring some aspect of the Other Side and its impact on either/both Fringe teams. I love casefic and teamfic, both our team and the Other Fringe team. I generally prefer happy stories over angsty. If you want to write pairings, I'd love to read some fun Alt'Olivia/Alt'Lincoln/Alt'Charlie. If icons are your thing, my fav characters are the Olivias, the Lincolns and Alt'Charlie.
Things I wouldn't like: I would prefer not to have stories/vids that dwell mainly on Walter and Peter's many, many issues.
What I can do: I'll write any fic you like, any pairing, whatever.
What I can't do: I can't make vids or icons.
Pinch hitter?: No, sorry.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 11:24 pm (UTC)E-mail: norgbelulah at gmail
Things I'd like: I'm thinking mainly fic for what I'd like to get. I'm currently in the midst of a torrid love affair with blue!/amber!Lincoln and so pretty much pairing him with anyone is good for me. I think I'd prefer blue! or amber!Olivia, but red!Olivia or Astrid or Peter or even Charlie Francis would be just fine as well. Threesomes are amazing (I just had a craving for some permutation of Olivia/Lincoln/Peter, actually), so there's that. Genre-wise I kind of like anything, but especially hurt/comfort and sort of angsty stuff. I also really like domestic fic and sneaking around scenarios. I can stray into dark!fic if it's done well. I like canonical AUs, like re-imaginings of how characters meet or if one thing was changed just a bit. I think that's why I'm such a fan of the show! I am always searching for good icons, too.
Things I wouldn't like: I'm not really a vid fan, unless the are profusely recc'd to me. And while I love seeing Walter in fic, I'm not so into seeing him in my pairings.
What I can do: I'm about even at writing gen, het, and slash, though all of the Fringe writing I've done thus far has been het or gen. I have no go to Fringe slash pairing, but if I get a little encouragement from the show, I could see Peter/Lincoln happening for me in the future. I'm good at characterization and dialogue heavy stuff and I LOVE hurt/comfort with a fiery passion (reading and writing). I'm not a vidder, but I can make icons, though that would not be my choice as the sole gift.
Pinch hitter?: I would be very willing.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 05:32 am (UTC)E-mail: idea que sti ons at h ot mai l do tcom
Things I'd like: First and foremost, anything Olivia/Peter or FauxLiva and Lincoln. Astrid rocks, and so does Charlie.
I would love some fic or icons. Fic is an instant rush and fantastic. Icons are the gift that keeps on giving.
For the fic, any rating is fine, though some level of touching would be nice so if it can be above PG-13, that would be great. If anyone has read my fic, I have no problem with graphic sex.
For icons, I like little quotes, textures, though no bright colours or flashy cuts. A quote here or there would be good - it doesn't have to be from the show, just something that fits the image.
Things I wouldn't like: Absolutely no character death. No permanent splitting of my OTPs.
What I can do: Fic, pretty much a one-trick pony these days, though I can write anywhere from gen to NC-17 with het pairings. I would prefer to write for Olivia/Peter as I've written them before, but would also happily try FauxLivia/Lincoln. Or a character study/gen fic of any of the other characters.
What I can't do: Everything else. I guess I could dust off my photoshop skilz, but it's been a while and they could be that my PS muscles have completely atrophied.
Pinch hitter?: Let me know, I could be available, but I'll be running
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 10:02 pm (UTC)E-mail: my user name at gmail dot com.
Things I'd like: (1.) I'd love some Walter & Nina & William Bell back-story. What was it like being them and being young back in the sixties? Sex, drugs and rock and roll? Or not so much? Or anything you'd like to write about them, past or present. Gen fic would be great. (2.) Alt!Livia had a baby which apparently no longer exists in the Amberverse? Does she have any inkling of what she's lost? (3.) Related to number two, the only pairing I love is Alt!Livia and her Lincoln, which seemed doomed from the get-go in the Redverse, and really doomed in the Amberverse, as I'm assuming she's still with Frank. What is that like for him? For her? For Frank? For Charlie? No need to have them end up together. Messy and unhappy and doomed works fine for me, although if you want to get these two crazy kids together and can make it work, knock yourself out. (4.) Cross-overs! I love cross-overs! If you can somehow cross-over Sherlock BBC with Fringe I will love you forever. Or Stargate SG-1. Olivia heads a gateteam! Walter gets recruited to work for Stargate Command! Or, hey, what about The X-Files! (5.) Astrid and Walter friendship fic. Alt!Olivia and her Lincoln and Charlie friendship fic. Anyone and Anyone friendship fic. (6.) Amberverse: our Olivia and our Lincoln. They seem almost as doomed as their counterparts in the old Redverse, but still I can see him falling for her pretty easily. (7.) I love vids but I'm really picky about music and have very old-fashioned taste. For example, I love Joni Mitchell and jazz from the thirties and forties and Chopin. That being said, an Alt!Olivia/ Her Lincoln vid would be watched and re-watched even if I had to mute it to do so. (7.) Icons! Of any of the female characters especially! Or any version of Olivia with any version of Lincoln. Ooh! I know! How about some cross-over icons?! (8.) Casefiles! Plotty, genfic casefiles!
Things I wouldn't like: Long, overly detailed sex scenes. Kissing is good. I love kissing.
What I can do: I can write fic, pretty much to reader specifications, including pairings I don't ship (see Yuletide, see
What I can't do: Make vids. Make good icons.
Pinch hitter?: Sadly, no.
The One Where Olivia is Bored
Date: 2011-12-19 05:12 pm (UTC)Spoilers: Early season 3. Takes place Over There between "The Plateau" and "Amber 31422."
During this performance, the part of Red!Olivia Dunham will be played (albeit unsuspectingly) by Blue!Olivia Dunham.
*
Olivia never knows what to do with herself while Frank's away.
Well. As far as that goes, that's what fingers and toys and detachable variable-pulse showerheads are for. But she can't stay home and play "hello, kitty" all the time.
She also can't hook up with the guys, not that way; it's against the rules. Or at least against The One Rule, like it's a magical artifact from that movie Lincoln likes with the midgets. ("Hobbits!" she can hear him protest in that wounded tone of voice.) The One Rule, never stated but always obeyed, is that she and Charlie and Lincoln only sleep together the night after the conclusion of a Fringe mission.
Frank knows, of course, but he never asks. Olivia does her best not to rub it in his face, showering off their combined sweat before she goes home. She doesn't ask what he gets up to, either, when he's stuck for months in a hot zone. This is their unspoken agreement, and it suits them both perfectly.
Olivia looks at them, her guys: Lincoln sprawling against the desk, Charlie leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up. Across the room, Farnsworth is pouring over her screens and Broyles is in his office and all is right with the world, for the moment.
She can only say "I'm fine" so many times, and it's mainly true. Physically, she's ready to go. Mentally...everything seems to be in place barring the occasional glitch, like the hallucination...vision...whatever that keeps showing up out of the corner of her eye, some guy she doesn't recognize. Brain injury has unpredictable effects, the docs keep telling her, and she's choosing to believe them, because the alternative is unacceptable.
But Olivia's found that since getting out of the psych ward she wants to spend more time with her guys, and not just in the bedroom.
She keeps getting this odd...thrill whenever she catches sight of Charlie for the first time every day, like seeing him is somehow unexpected and wonderful. That's the last thing she'd ever tell him, of course. It feels kind of like the same weird impulse that has Olivia talking to her mother more often, like every conversation is a gift. She's more aware of Charlie's presence these days, and all she can figure is that nearly losing him to her own malfunctioning brain has made her appreciate him even more.
It's even weirder with Lincoln. She knows him, trusts his judgment, relies on his expertise in the field. He's got the specific technical training that she and Charlie lack and frankly, they couldn't function as a team without his lightness to counterbalance them both. Olivia is as comfortable with him as she's ever been, except for a handful of odd moments, like two days ago when they were racing down I-95 toward the latest event and she looked over and--just for a second--had no clue who the hot guy in the passenger seat was. That particular glitch seems to be fading by the hour, though, and she'll be glad to see the end of it entirely.
In other contexts Lincoln also feels like a newly discovered toy, but Liv knows better than to play with him too roughly. Most of the time that's fine.
Other times she wants to bring him home and tie him to the bed and keep him there. Maybe even until Frank gets home so they can share. He's a doctor, he knows what a prostate can do. ...and that's definitely fantasy fodder to save for her next long shower, but no more than that. That part of their arrangement ends at the apartment door and neither of them wants it any other way.
The point is, it's about more than the sex with Lincoln and Charlie. When it's a rare slow stretch at division and Frank's not home, the three of them always end up having the same conversation about what to do after work, that weekend, on their days off.
"We can go back to Coney Island this weekend. Charlie can throw up on you this time."
Lincoln scrunches his nose. "Pass."
Olivia thinks about suggesting they wander around the mall, but that always winds up the same: watching Lincoln geek out at The Sharper Picture and not-listening to Charlie bitch about "the old days" as if he was thirty years older than her, when he's not even ten.
"There's a new show at the planetarium," Lincoln says, and Charlie and Liv immediately exchange identical how did we get saddled with this nerd expressions. Lincoln frowns at them. "C'mon, guys, it's science! This is relevant to your interests."
"SCIENCE!" Liv and Charlie both exclaim in their best Dolby voices, and that's the end of that suggestion. It's a little unfair; Olivia does, actually, spend a lot of her down time reviewing the latest journals and articles and reports from other Fringe teams. She's not gonna let herself or anyone else get eaten by a Fringe event if she can help it. She's even started rereading ZFT, slowly and carefully trying to parse the truth behind Director Bishop's clever veneer of lies. The science is very relevant to her interest in survival.
But Lincoln's pouty expression is too precious to relent.
"Anything new at the movies?" she asks, but a quick check determines they've seen everything recent of any interest, and all the old shows multiple times. New film production has slowed to a crawl as more and more people have become afraid to leave their houses. As if a vortex didn't have an equal chance to spontaneously materialize in a theater or a kitchen.
"Bar," Charlie says, and Liv shakes her head.
"Don't love sitting around watching you two get plastered while the bartender glares at me for drinking club soda all night."
Lincoln shrugs off his disappointment to put in his bid. "But you get to kick our asses at darts."
"That'd be more fun if you wimps would put some money on it," she throws back.
"Not a chance. Already lose too much at the Thursday poker game." Charlie pauses. "...you guys ever wonder if maybe we spend too much time together?"
They all three look at each other solemnly, and then break up laughing. If not them, who?
Olivia could always call up some girlfriends, sure, head over to the strip club to watch the pretty gay boys (and the ones who are only faking it for tips) grind against each other. She sometimes thinks it'd be fun to take Lincoln along but A) she's not sure he could resist launching himself up on stage and B) she's not sure she'd try to stop him.
The truth is Olivia's finding it harder and harder to relate to anyone who doesn't work for the division, or who at least (like Frank) knows what's really going on in the world. She can't really blame ordinary people for not wanting to recognize the full horror of their situation, but at the same time, their lack of knowledge combined with her impatience with trivial mundane crap limits potential topics of conversation.
"Maybe we need a new hobby," she muses, and both Lincoln and Charlie look at her with something approaching horror. They're wishing for a nice little class 2 vortex right about now, she bets. So is she, because that would at least count toward satisfying Rule One.
And it's not like they don't already have hobbies. She and Lincoln are feared combatants in the division soccer team; Charlie had opted out, claiming it interfered with his Little League coaching. A blatant lie, since he shows up at all of their matches. Lincoln and Olivia return the favor for his team's games, sitting in the stands and heckling Charlie (but not the kids) for every call. He's awesome with the rugrats, and Liv and Lincoln are in absolute agreement that he'd make a kick-ass dad. Sure, the usual way doesn't seem likely considering the bugs in his blood, but Fringe Division collects all kinds of genetic material from its agents. They've got her eggs frozen and squirreled away somewhere, so odds are they're got Charlie's pre-infection swimmers too. He can grumble all he wants, but the option's there if he wants to take it.
(She's never told Frank this, and she's especially never told Lincoln and his motor-mouth, but if Charlie ever starts talking about wanting to be a father and he hasn't found the right person to do it with, Olivia's going to offer her eggs for insemination. She probably can't carry a baby, considering the way VPE spreads through families, but her base genetic material should test clean.)
"Last time you said that, you suggested skydiving lessons." Charlie leans forward, face intent. "Let me reiterate my previous response: Hell. No."
"I'm with him on this one, Liv," Lincoln drawls, which is just revenge for them ganging up on him about the planetarium. This is how it always goes with them, two against one, with constantly shifting alliances. But in the end they all wind up in the same place and God, she loves them both.
"What about," she starts, and then all the wall screens flash with amber light and data starts scrolling across their pads at a rapid clip. Colonel Broyles comes charging out of his office like he's been shot by a catapult.
"Wake up, people! We've got a possible class 4 incursion in Bangor."
Class 4, definitely enough to get the heart pounding. A class 4 event had nearly killed Lincoln, Liv's first month on the job, before she knew better than to dive in and yank him out. Olivia got chewed out for such a rookie move but she secretly swore that she'd never know better, if it meant she could save one of her partners.
And it's-- it's definitely wrong to have a different kind of Pavlovian response to a world-destroying eruption of chaos, especially when there's gonna be property damage and people are probably gonna die, but Olivia just can't help it. Stupid sexy partners and their stupid sexy everything.
But now it's time to get her game face on. The room's exploded into activity, Broyles shouting orders and Farnsworth calling back details as fast as she can wrangle them. The three of them look at each other, too many emotions flashing between them to name, before their faces all settle into appropriate expressions of resolve. They'll go and they'll save as many people as they can and they'll fight to keep what remains whole and stable and sane. The world isn't going to end today, not on their watch.
Give the chaos its due: Liv's definitely not bored any more.
Set Us Spinning 1/2
Date: 2011-12-19 11:45 pm (UTC)Spoilers: All aired episodes.
Notes: My attempts to write porn without angst have fizzled dramatically. So... this is none of the above? But it is threesome, so let's go with that. Also, this fic is very Amber!verse because I am making interpersonal shit up, just so you know.
Set Us Spinning
After the first 3 AM date begins and ends with Olivia falling asleep on her couch and calling him frantically two hours later (yes, he was still awake) to apologize, they start meeting at each other’s places and walking to the all-night diner together.
Olivia says she doesn’t need much sleep, just naturally, and he can’t decide if it’s the truth or a serious form of denial about her insomnia. But he likes the company at the diner. They do paperwork together, or get some reading done, or just chat over their decaffeinated tea. He learns more about Olivia in the one week they do this than in the all four weeks he’s worked for Fringe Division combined.
Things change, as they inevitably do, the night she has a glass of whiskey in her hands when she opens her door. She asks if he wants to stay in tonight, she says she has a headache again. He smiles, understanding, and he drinks with her.
It’s a surprise to him when they fall in bed together, but apparently not to her. She says she liked seducing him. She says she thinks she gets a thing for her partners. She assumed it was a one-off deal with John, the partner that died, but now she’s wondering if it’s a thing.
He tells her that early on he had a similar thing going with Robert, until his partner got married, and he’s okay with a thing with her too, more than okay. They smile and fuck again, but they don’t sleep.
It’s just that Lincoln can’t shut his brain off. It wears on hims and he’s sure Olivia notices it. He knows he looks tired, sees it in the mirror in the mornings, and sometimes at the end of the day he’ll catch her watching him with tight lips. He hasn’t slipped up, made any glaring mistakes yet, but he knows the longer this goes on, that it’s just a matter of time.
He wonders if he could have hidden it better if they hadn’t started this thing between them, but he doesn’t regret his decision. He’s closer to her than he was before, much closer, and it makes him feel like he’s really her partner, like he’s really becoming a part of Fringe. He knows she’s going to do something eventually, but he’s having a hard time predicting exactly what.
The last thing he expects Olivia to do is bring Astrid in on the problem.
She corners him in the hallway, outside of Walter’s unoccupied room. He can tell something is up by the way she’s looking at him, like he’s a puzzle that needs to be solved.
“Olivia says you’re not sleeping,” she begins without preamble. “I have something that might be able to help.”
“Really?” he says, genuinely surprised. “What is it?”
“Just a sleep aid my therapist prescribed a while back. I haven’t needed it in a while,” she replies. “I don’t have any with me though, can I drop it off at your place later?”
Lincoln hesitates, saying, “I live in a hotel in... not a great neighborhood. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
Astrid puts her hands on her hips, like she’s just daring him to say she can’t handle a rough neighborhood. “Not if you want to sleep tonight.”
“What is it?” Lincoln asks skeptically. “Are you so sure it’s going to work? I’ve tried some over the counter stuff already.”
“Hey,” Olivia interjects approaching them from the lab and looking like she’s heard most of what they’ve said, “Lincoln and I have been meeting to go to this all-night diner together recently. We planned to go tonight, so you can drop whatever it is at my place, okay? We’ll see if it works out and if it doesn’t we’ll bum around the diner for a while. You can come too, Astrid, if you want.”
Lincoln gives her a significant look and asks slowly, “You’re okay with me hypothetically crashing at your place?” He’s not sure how she feels about letting other people in on what’s been going on between them. He’s not sure how he feels about it either.
“Sure, why not?” she answers naturally. “It’s not like I want my partner sleep deprived,” she says this with that teasing tone that makes her voice sound a little lower, a little scratchy, really sexy. “Astrid, does that sound good?”
Astrid glances between them, rather suspiciously, and then nods. “Yeah, that’s perfect.”
“The important thing to remember when you take this,” Astrid says several hours later, standing in Olivia’s entry way, holding out the little white pill she’s already told him is an ambien, “is you should really get to bed, like immediately.”
Lincoln looks down at the little pill. “Or what?”
Astrid’s expression is a little uncertain as she replies, “Nothing too terrible. My doctor just told me a few stories about people sleepwalking, or doing things they normally wouldn’t do, then waking up and not remembering. There’s kind of a whole website about people’s ambien adventures, look it up later if you want to. But, I always paid attention to the directions, so I never really had a problem.”
“Well,” Lincoln says, looking at Olivia sort of helplessly. “Where do you want me?”
“Oh, my bed’s fine,” she answers and Lincoln knows his mouth has fallen open. She smiles and walks past him to her kitchen, where she begins filling a glass of water. “It’s really fine. My sister took the guest bed with her when she moved out, and I haven’t had the time to go get a new one. I don’t think the couch is going to be comfortable enough for you. It’s not very big and there’s a lumpy spring right in the middle.” She’s smiling like she’d planned it this way.
Lincoln frowns and glances over at Astrid, who shrugs. “I really didn’t mean to put you out like this,” he says, turning back to Olivia, trying not to put too much of his discomfort in his tone. “I can just take it over at my place.”
“No way,” Astrid interjects. “I want to make sure it works. I don’t trust you not to lie about it and you need to sleep, Lincoln.”
He looks between them both and considers if this is some sort of weird conspiracy against him. Does Astrid already know about Olivia and him? Then he looks at the little pill and thinks about how badly he wants to get some rest, for real. The weeks of nights spent with his mind racing, muscles twitching and nervy, going over and over again all the crazy cases, Peter, Robert.
He takes the pill from Astrid’s hand, kicks it back dry, and then snatches the glass of water from Olivia. He takes a few gulps and walks over to set that glass on the counter. He fixes her with a stubborn look and says, “You’d better actually be okay with this.”
“It’s fine,” she says smiling. “It will be fine.”
“Lincoln,” Astrid admonishes, “you have to get to bed, now.”
He lets himself be pushed by Astrid through the wide french doors and into the next room, Olivia’s room. She pulls off his coat and they get sort of tangled in arms and sleeves. When Lincoln turns around to face her, unable to hide his annoyance, he sees that Olivia’s followed them.
“The closet is next to the washer and dryer,” Olivia tells Astrid. “Can you go hang that up? I’ll deal with this.”
She begins to pull at his tie and he grabs at her hands. “She’s going to come back in,” he says glancing at the door. “Are you going to tell her? I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.”
“Astrid is discreet,” Olivia says patiently, pulling down his hands and loosening, then removing his tie. “I’ve worked with her for a long time. She’s perceptive. If she didn’t know before she got here, she will figure it out before she leaves. If you were so concerned about it, you should have thought things through before you took that pill.”
Lincoln breathes a laugh that turns rapidly into a sigh of defeat. “I hope I won’t be sorry I did.”
She smiles up at him and, having laid his tie on the bed, begins to work on his buttons. “You won’t be. Trust us.”
“I do,” he says without thinking, and realizes it’s true. He blinks slowly and wonders if that little pill has loosened his tongue already. “And I can get those myself.”
“You want me to start on your belt?” she asks in a low voice, her smile wicked and real.
“Well, this is enlightening,” Astrid says from the doorway, humor in her tone.
Lincoln looks up and feels his cheeks burn red.
Astrid just smiles at him and walks over to sit on the bed. “I figured something was going on, but I didn’t want to say anything.”
“I told you,” Olivia says, smug as hell, and pulls Lincoln’s shirt off, leaving only his white undershirt. His hands have become pretty useless since being confronted with Astrid.
He looks down at her and feels his brow furrow.
“I won’t tell anyone,” she says sweetly. “I think it’s nice. So don’t look so worried.”
He looks back at Olivia and she smiles, raising her hand to wrap around the back of his neck. His bones and joints feel weirdly pliable, relaxed he supposes, and she pulls his head down easily, pressing her lips to his forehead. “I told you,” she says again.
He leans into her touch and hums some kind of grudging agreement before she carefully removes his glasses and then unceremoniously pushes him down onto the bed.
“It’s kicking in, isn’t it?” Astrid asks, now next to him, though he has to look up to meet her eyes.
Lincoln thinks about it. He’s not sleepy, but he is relaxed, and it’s not a drunken relaxation, it’s more fluid, somehow more natural. “I guess so. Do you think it’s weird I’m sleeping with Olivia? Because I was thinking it might be a little bit weird. But I guess that didn’t really stop me, huh?”
Astrid laughs, and lays back on the bed too. She must have taken off her own coat when she hung up his, he realizes. She’s wearing a deep red sweater with a deep v-neck. He’s trying not to be obvious about enjoying the view. She turns her head to meet his eyes and hers are playful as she answers, “It’s a high stress job, Lincoln. And with her track record, I don’t think it’s weird at all.”
“You make it seem like I’m one in a long line,” he hopes he is not pouting, but his lips seem to be beyond the control of his brain.
Olivia is taking off his shoes and he’s not sure why he no longer feels embarrassed about being undressed in front of Astrid. It’s not like he can’t do it. He hasn’t lost his motor control, he’s pretty sure. It just seems so much more nice having Olivia do it. So, he talks to Astrid and let’s Olivia do what she wants. “There hasn’t been another one she didn’t tell me about, has there?”
Astrid seems to find his question very amusing, maybe it’s the curious tone in his voice. “Well, I wouldn’t know about any other lovers, but there definitely haven’t been any other partners.”
Olivia’s fingers begin to work at Lincoln’s belt, and she leans over him, glancing sidelong at her assistant. “We actually entertained the idea a few years back. As Astrid said, it’s a high stress job. There’s not a lot of people who would understand.”
Lincoln’s eyebrows rise. “But?”
Astrid’s eyes seem big and luminous in the solitary light from Olivia’s bedside lamp. “I decided I didn’t want to be that girl.”
“Which girl?”
“The one who sleeps with her boss,” she answers with a regretful smile. “Partners are a little different.” She twists her body so she’s on her side, now facing him, and she props up her elbow, sliding her hand behind her head and suddenly Lincoln can’t take his eyes off her.
“Would it be weird if I told you I think you’re beautiful?” he says, because she is.
Her lips quirk, and he can tell she’s trying not to laugh at him.
“You are,” he insists and twists on the bed, leaning towards her, catching her lips with his. She’s not expecting it, and he hears Olivia make a funny little sound either of surprise or mirth, as Astrid first stiffens, then accepts his kiss.
He tries to make it slow and nice and he really likes the feel of her mouth, soft and warm against his. He groans when Olivia takes the opportunity to pull off his pants. He hears them fall to the floor and feels her settle on the bed, on his other side.
He pulls away from Astrid and looks up to find Olivia leaning over him, her waist and legs pressed against his side, her hair spilling loose across her shoulders. She’s stripped down to a tank top and just her underwear and he has no idea when that happened.
“You’re getting distracted,” Olivia says. “You’re supposed to be falling asleep.”
Lincoln finds himself smirking wickedly. “How can I do that now?”
Astrid sits up as well and pulls her sweater over her head. She smiles when his eyes get big and she tell him, “If I’m going to stay to see if it works, we might as well all stay in the same place.” She wriggles out of her jeans, kicks them off her feet and onto the floor with his.
Together, Astrid and Olivia pull him further up onto the bed, but when he reaches for Astrid again she catches his hand and shakes her head at him. “Not tonight,” she says, anticipation in her voice.
“Why not?” he frowns, letting her push him back against the pillows.
Olivia raises her eyebrows, but speaks patiently when she answers, “Because tonight is about you sleeping, not about anything else. And, we’re going to wait until that pill wears off, so you can really think about it.” She pulls the covers up around all three of them and Astrid’s arm is across his chest, lightly pressing, keeping him lying back.
Lincoln’s frown deepens. “I am thinking about it.” But they just shake their heads again and smile softly, like he’s the one being unreasonable.
Olivia reaches up, runs her long fingers through his hair, slides them soothingly across his scalp, twists the strands gently, and he lets out an involuntary sigh. His muscles have liquefied, his bones are gelatin, but then his mind skips over to things that science can actually do to his muscles and bones and he stiffens.
“Close your eyes, Lincoln,” Olivia says softly. “Stop thinking.” She stretches herself out next to him, down the length of his body, and he feels Astrid do the same on his other side.
“No,” Astrid murmurs into his ear. “What you’re going to do is stop thinking about whatever just snagged you like that. You’re only going to think about being relaxed, about being in a safe place, about being home.”
Olivia presses her lips to his shoulder, skin to skin, her breath comes in short, quiet bursts, even, rhythmic, drifting across him. He settles further, sinks down, into the bed, a place that’s now become quite comfortable, safe even.
He murmurs something, he’s not even sure what, and he feels Olivia’s smile against his arm. He turns his head and breathes in the scent of her hair, loving that she is right there, next to him. Her hand is still carding through his hair, while the fingers of her other hand have slipped through his, lacing together, and her thumb is rubbing slow circles across his fingers and knuckles.
“Yeah, that’s just fine,” Astrid says. “Here is fine, Lincoln.” Her hand is resting, comforting, on his stomach, close to his hip. “Now, go to sleep.”
Lincoln thinks vaguely that maybe he fell a long time ago, that falling asleep wasn’t something he could do when there was nothing there to keep him tethered, nothing to bring him back. But this is different. This feels more like floating up and not away and Olivia’s still holding his hand.
He feels like he’s drifting in the sea.
And the sea isn’t a shroud, black and vast and cold, it’s warm and soft and it slips over him like a blanket.
Re: Set Us Spinning 2/2
Date: 2011-12-19 11:46 pm (UTC)Something warm fills her up when Lincoln asks, “What about here?” And Astrid tells him yes, here is fine. Olivia looks up, smiling to his skin, and sees his eyes are closed. She wonders if he even knew he’d spoken.
She and John rarely spent time in her place, they went to his place or to hotel rooms, and when the alternate her spent those months living Olivia’s life, it took what seemed like an eternity to make this place feel like home, her home again.
She loves that Lincoln can think of it as safe. It seems like a step in the right direction and she knows she hasn’t been taking many of those lately.
Olivia presses her lips, her forehead to Lincoln, relishing his warmth, his nearness. She wonders for a moment if all this is a bad idea, then she looks over at Astrid, who seems captivated by Lincoln’s sleeping form.
A while back, when Olivia had first been entertaining the idea of Astrid, they’d let it lie, justifiably worried about the imbalance of power between them. Astrid was her assistant after all, and relationships like that were risky. But with all three of them, it feels a lot less like power games and a lot more like a team effort.
Olivia smiles at the thought and catches Astrid’s eye.
Astrid thinks this is something they can do. She really does.
They all can do it in a way that she and Olivia couldn’t before. She smiles at her boss over Lincoln and Olivia smiles tentatively back.
“This will be good, I think,” Olivia says. “He and I, I like it. But, he needs something else, someone else to talk to. The things that bother people about this job... they don’t bother me so much. I don’t know why, maybe there’s something wrong, something broken in me. I’m frightened by the job, I’m awed by it. But it doesn’t disturb me. It doesn’t make me lose any sleep.”
Astrid tilts her head. “But you’re still not sleeping.”
Olivia shrugs. “I just don’t sleep that much. Haven’t since I was a kid.”
“Maybe we can do something about that, too,” she replies. “While we’re working on Lincoln.”
They both look at him and share a fond expression as he shifts on the bed, curling himself around where his and Olivia’s hands are still clasped.
Astrid makes herself the big spoon to his little one, resting her arms crossed one over the other on his curved shoulder. She considers Olivia and the other woman meets her gaze fearlessly.
Astrid has always loved Olivia’s quiet strength, but lately she’s seen it growing frayed and brittle, as she worries over everything and everyone except herself.
“I’m glad this happened,” Astrid says then glances down at Lincoln. “Do you think he’ll be as receptive to this tomorrow as he was tonight?”
Olivia smiles, it’s a grin of pleasant uncertainty, “You know, I’m really not sure. He’s not always what you expect.”
Astrid thinks that’s par for the course in Fringe Division.
Re: Set Us Spinning 1/2
Date: 2011-12-19 11:51 pm (UTC)\o/
Will be back. With love!
Re: The One Where Olivia is Bored
Date: 2011-12-20 03:00 am (UTC)This is beyond awesome, love the interaction between the three of them, and the glimpses of their lives beyond Fringe div, Olivia and Lincoln heckling Charlie at little leagues made me all warm inside. Brilliant.
Re: Set Us Spinning 2/2
Date: 2011-12-20 03:23 am (UTC)Re: Set Us Spinning 2/2
Date: 2011-12-20 06:16 pm (UTC)I guess Santa told you I was a good girl this year? (Fooled HIM.) Because this is the bestest present EVER.
The interpersonal shit *g* feels very true, and oh, oh, the three of them. This show, you know? All the potential threesome combinations work.
Sleepy Lincoln is *adorable.* And Astrid and Olivia taking over, even moreso. Completely lovely, and I can't wait for author reveal to tell you again in "person." :D
Snow and Lights
Date: 2011-12-20 07:13 pm (UTC)The SUV skidded to a stop, bumping into the curb with a final crunch. The wind was howling outside, whipping the snow into blinding waves. Olivia unclenched her fingers from around the steering wheel. The lights of the house blazed like a beacon through the snow. Smiling, she braced herself and opened the door.
The cold caught her breath away and her eyes watered. She dashed up the sidewalk, ploughing through drifts that were forming against the front of the house, then skidded on the wooded steps, made slippery with snow. She caught herself with one hand and muttered, "Fuck."
Peter flung the door open while she was still fumbling for her keys, shivering on the porch.
He was frowning, brow creased and mouth set in a tight line that she'd learned to associate with her doing things that he thought were dangerous, and well, he probably had a point tonight. He pulled her inside and slammed the door, wrapping her in his arms. "Jesus Christ, Olivia."
She shivered. "It's not that bad."
He started pulling off her snow-caked scarf and hat. "By your standards or the rest of the world's?" His voice was terse and low.
"Peter..." She tried to catch his hands in hers, but he batted them away to get to the buttons of her coat. "I didn't think it would be that bad." He nodded stiffly, and his cheek felt hot when she cupped it with half-frozen fingers. "I'm fine."
His eyes were bright when he looked up at her, wide and stunningly blue. Her stomach clenched at the naked worry in his face. She took care of herself - she'd always taken care of herself. Peter had slipped past her defenses unnoticed and now that he was there Olivia couldn't remember what she'd done without him worrying about her.
"I'm fine," she repeated.
He pressed his fingers over hers. "You're freezing."
"It's cold."
Peter rolled his eyes and pulled her away from the door. Olivia looked over to the darkened parlor-turned-bedroom. "Where's Walter?"
"Stuck at Astrid's. They're watching Torchwood until the roads are clear, which will probably be sometime next week." He walked her backwards to the foot of the stairs and she sat, letting him deal with her shoes. She wasn't sure her fingers could negotiate the laces just yet.
Peter glanced into the living room. "I decided to make use of the time. Surprise him."
The room was littered around the edges with boxes, the center taken up by a tree covered in silvery garland and white glass globes. He looked sheepish and anxious. Olivia leaned forward and kissed him, rubbing her cold nose against his warm one. "Perfect."
He lowered his eyes to her boot laces and said, "I thought you'd like it, too. I know we don't usually do anything for the holidays, what with saving the world taking up all our time, but it's been quiet this year. I thought..." He swallowed hard.
"Hey." Olivia touched his cheek and his tilted his face up towards her. "Thank you."
He stood and stepped back, and she followed, stepping around the puddles her boots left on the floor. She slipped past the boxes and picked up a length of left-over garland off the floor.
Peter flicked the lights off, leaving the room in the cool glow from the blue lights on the tree. "Walter's favorite colors."
Olivia grinned at the blue light dancing off the silver and white, bright and sparkling. "Mine, too." Olivia caught Peter watching her from the corner of her eye. "What?"
He shook his head and stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Nothing. I just like seeing you happy."
She leaned back into him. "Oh, yeah?"
He nuzzled through her hair to her ear. "Mmmhmm."
She turned in his arms and looped the strand of garland around his neck.
Peter laughed. "Want me to get some bows, too?"
She scraped her teeth over her lower lip and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "If you do, does that mean I get to open my present early?"
"Are you sure you've been a good girl?"
Olivia wrinkled her nose at him. "Are you playing Santa, or are you my present? I'm getting confused by the Christmas-themed sexual innuendo."
Peter laughed and she pulled him to her with the garland. His lips curved against hers. He plucked at the silver stuff. "You have some kind of Christmas fetish, Dunham?"
"You have some kind of problem with that?"
"Who, me?" He nipped at her lips and kissed her again. "I think you'd know me better than that by now." She slipped her hands under the edge of his shirt and he flinched away. "Jesus, woman, your hands are cold."
She grinned and pushed her hands down the back of his jeans. His hips jumped forward into hers. "You're nice and warm."
"I wasn't driving around in a blizzard. God, your fingers are like ice. Do not touch my dick until you're warm."
Olivia started laughing, wrapping her arms around Peter to steady herself. There were tears in her eyes by the time the laughter subsided. Peter was grinning at her, shaking his head. He threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her, solid and warm, his tongue pushing into her mouth, spreading heat between them. She raised up on her tiptoes, tilting her head to let him deepen the kiss.
Their breathing was ragged when they separated, and Olivia hummed as Peter kissed her throat.
Peter opened her shirt, kissing his way down as each undone button exposed more skin. He kissed her shoulders when he slid the straps of her bra down. Kissed her nipples when the bra was tossed aside. Olivia swayed on her feet and tightened her fingers in his hair as he kissed a line down her stomach again. He dropped to his knees and nuzzled her belly.
She reached down and tugged on his shirt until he raised his arms to let her pull it off. She tossed it towards the pile of boxes. Peter grinned up at her and licked her stomach just above the waistband of her pants. His grin widened and looked up, past her eyes to the ceiling.
Olivia tilted her head up and laughed at the bundle of mistletoe hanging from the light fixture. "You've gone all out, haven't you?"
"I'm a big fan of a well-crafted plan." His hands were hot as he slid them into her pants, cupping her ass before pushing her pants down, catching her panties as well. He held her steady as she stepped out of her clothing and kicked it away.
Olivia twisted her fingers into his hair as he kissed her thighs, nuzzling between them until she shifted, spreading her legs wider. She gasped at the heat of his mouth, his slick tongue and prickly chin. She tightened her fingers and ground against his face, shuddering when he made a pleased sound. She stepped back and he followed, grumbling when she was out of reach.
Olivia sank to her knees, holding Peter's face between her hands and kissed him. He pushed her back, pausing to kick his pants off, then stretched out beside her. Peter looped the end of the garland around her neck where it tangled in her hair. He brushed his lips over hers, fingers trailing over her stomach. Olivia rested one hand on his hip and smirked. "Can I touch your dick now?"
Peter laughed and rolled on his back, pulling her with him. The string of garland arched between them, glittering in the light from the tree. Olivia kept her weight on her knees, holding herself over him, leaning forward to kiss him lightly.
"I just wanted to make sure."
"Olivia, please."
She ran her tongue over his lower lip, tracing the curve, and he groaned. She teased him with her fingers, light strokes before holding him steady and sinking onto him. He stayed still under her, letting her settle on him, stroking little circles on her hips with his thumbs. Peter slid one hand up her stomach, between her breasts to rest over her heart. His eyes were heavy-lidded and dark, a little collection of stars in them from the reflected lights.
Olivia moved slowly, watching Peter's eyes flutter shut as she rocked her hips. She braced her hands on his chest, felt his heart beating hard and steady under them, matched the rise and fall of her hips to the rhythm. Peter's hands moved over her chest, cupping her breasts, brushing her nipples. Olivia tossed her head back and ground down against him. She stilled for a moment and looked down at him.
"You gonna lay there and let me do all the work?"
His grin was hungry. "Just enjoying the view." Peter's hand drifted down and his thumb skated over the curve of her belly. Olivia sucked in a sharp breath when he rubbed a rough circle over her clit. His other hand tangled with the garland in her hair to pull her down even as he jerked his hips up. Olivia moaned into his mouth.
They moved together, Peter rising up to meet each downward push of her hips until Olivia shuddered and dropped her head to his shoulder. Peter's body locked tight under her, voice strangled as he gasped her name.
Olivia slid bonelessly to the floor, sprawling next to Peter. Peter stretched out next to her and picked little bits of silver out of her hair. She snuggled into him, shivering a bit as sweat dried on her skin. "You didn't put the tree up for Walter, did you?"
"Huh? No. Of course not." Peter reached over her and pulled a blanket from the couch. "And we're deeply in debt to Astrid for keeping him tonight. I didn't count on him getting stuck there because the roads were closed. We probably owe her a new car or a pony or something."
Olivia rested her head on Peter's chest and pulled the blanket tighter around them. The lights of the tree sparkled and Peter's breathing was evening out to a steady, familiar rhythm. She smiled and let her eyes drift closed. "Worth it."
Re: The One Where Olivia is Bored
Date: 2011-12-20 07:48 pm (UTC)Re: Snow and Lights
Date: 2011-12-20 07:51 pm (UTC)Re: The One Where Olivia is Bored
Date: 2011-12-20 07:54 pm (UTC)