tampered | (no subject)

When; Friday afternoon/evening
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Harry Dresden (

dresden4hire) and Sultana Ananova (

crete_goddess)
Summary; Harry confronts Ana, deciding it's time they talk about doing something they've put off for a while.

Harry grinned as he leaned against the frame of Ana's door. She had been sewing most of the afternoon and the few times he had walked by he couldn't help but notice how adorable expression of concentration was. It was easy to forget how young Ana was when she was constantly looking after them all. Not that twenty-five was terribly young, especially in her culture, but seeing her there with her brow furrowed in concentrate over the needle and thread she looked her age.

It had been a couple of months since he had returned to the City after being gone for more than a year, at least in his time, and part of him was glad he had forgotten this place, forgotten her. It was a horrible thought but the thought of knowing about her and being without her were... well they just weren't something he wanted to think about.

"Please tell me that's a two piece swim suit you're working on," he said, his grin spreading.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Really, two days before, she had ripped the seams and started this project over once already. Ananova wasn't perfect, in fact, she knew she wasn't a very good seamstress at all. She was passable. Especially for someone who had never picked up a needle and thread in her life.

Instead of sewing and cooking, she learned how to ride horses, shoot arrows, and use swords. Still, she enjoyed it...learning how to do these things. Cooking was her great love, of course--especially with such a household to cook for...and when a dish turns out especially delicious, or when a batik looks especially lovely..it's a wonderful feeling.

At the voice, she paused her project, giving a secret smile. Ana wondered how long he had been standing there...sometimes, she caught him looking, out of the corner of her eye...

She looked up with a wry smile.

"Something considerably more covering, I assure you."

"Ahh well," Harry said with a bit of a dramatic sigh before he smiled again and moved towards her. "I wonder how you would take knowing that the fact that you keep so covered up drives me crazy too. And that with the way you move it doesn't matter what you wear, it's still alluring."

His smile quirked into a smirk as he leaned over and kissed her softly on the forehead. Ana was fun to tease and she was a good sport about it. Which was good because she had the whole "warrior princess" thing going on and could tie him in a knot before he knew what was going on.

Her smile widened, and she chuckled as he placed the kiss on her forehead, folding the cloth in her lap. "Cheeky, Harry Dresden, very cheeky...amazing how you can manage that, and still be so charming."

Ever secretly, she liked his naughty jokes, his less-than-proper implications and whatnot...gently coarse advances. They made her laugh. He made her laugh. And she loved him for it, and a hundred thousand other things.

"If you must know, I'm working on a wrap for Ivy...when it starts getting cold again. She could use it." She smiled lightly down at her project.

"Winter months do like to sneak up on us, you know. The climate is ridiculously unpredictable."

"She'll like that, Ana. She'll like it a lot. That's very nice of you," he told her as he sat down on the bed next to her. He had never even thought of anything like that. Maybe that's why he had a cat and a dog, no need to change clothes or anything like that.

"You're so thoughtful."

He leaned over and kissed her neck, lips moving softly along her smooth skin, nibbling up to her ear before reluctantly pulling back.

"That's one of the many things I love about you."

Ananova smiled, and giggled at his attentions. She lightly recalled when he first started this sort've thing, it made her blush, turn away, giggle like a young school girl...

Well, she still giggled. And blushed from time to time...but it was much less unfamiliar..and she adored it.

"As long as you love me, darling, that's all I care about."

She laid the wrap aside and smiled at him.

"Of course," he told her, lips still moving along her skin. "I wouldn't think of stopping even if I was able to."

And it was true, Harry really did love her. As stupid as an idea that probably was here he loved her and he was willing to try and make things worth with her. He knew this sort of thing was too valuable not to try and make work. His face turning a bit serious, Harry turned to look at her.

"Ana... there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Neither would I, darling."

It was moments like these, everything seemed to...lift away. As stressful as Ananova kept her life, gentle moments like these, with him, made everything feel as right as rain. She never had a single care in the world, comforted and kept. This is what their life would be like. And how she loved him back. With everything she had.

At his change in tone, Ana placed her hand on his, hit with concern.

"Of course, Harry...anything. Is something the matter?"

"No, of course nothing is wrong," he said, trying to reassure her as much as he could. And it wasn't, of course. At least not as wrong in the way she thought. But they needed to talk about some things, even if Ananova might not be comfortable with that.

"There's something that we talked about doing. A while time ago," he said, taking her hand in his own and looking in her eyes. He liked that he was able to do that, having already Soul Gazed her he could look into her without worrying about that happening again.

"I know it's a subject you're not entirely comfortable with but I want to discuss it with you. I thought here... on your bed... would be a good place to do it."