Thief (Esmeralda/Medea).
Title: Thief
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,275
Characters: Esmeralda Selwynn, Antonin Dolohov, Medea Yaxley
Prompt: 015. Devious
Summary: AU - Esmeralda is not best pleased that the women she sleeps with keep finding somewhere else to go.
Warnings/Notes: Alternative Universe of lumos_founders. A bit of a back-and-forth with musaic :P
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling.
Not many people would have tea with Antonin Dolohov, not since the death of his mother had left him far more disturbed than he had ever been before. There had always been the morbid fascination with cutting things open and death, but it seemed that his mind could not handle his mother's death. Very few people knew that he blamed himself for it, knowing that the heart attack had come after she had seen him "playing" with a Muggle from down the store. The boy had recovered, but Antonin's mother had not and that had been the year the boy's trademark smile had faded away. But Esmeralda had known him for far too long to let a little thing like insanity scare her off.
"How are you today, Antonin?" the redhead asked as Antonin let himself fall into the chair. There was a stain on his jacket, stubble on his chin and his hair had a definite unkempt look about it. "Obviously you have not looked in a mirror anytime recently."
The blonde man shrugged. "Tom and I have been busy," he said. "I think I've almost perfected the-" Antonin hesitated and glanced around, as though just realizing where they were. "The art. But he intends on leaving soon, not that I'm surprised. He should never have taken that job at Borgin & Burkes, far below his talents."
Interested though she was in what Tom was up to, Esmeralda had not asked Antonin here to talk about him. "We can talk about Tom later. I asked you here because I have a problem that I may need your help with."
Antonin's previously dull eyes lit up and a smile played at the corners of his mouth. "You know that I'm always willing to help with any problems that you might have, Esmi." His hand drifted towards his left hip, where Esmeralda knew he kept the knife he had named in honor of his mother. "When might you be needing my help?"
"Not right now." Antonin's smile faded. "In fact I cannot be sure if I will ever need it for this particular matter, but I'm telling you now so that you can come up with something creative and unique." She leaned closer and beckoned for Antonin to do the same. "This is the situation..."
Esmeralda was seated on her bed, leafing through outline of the next ballet that her company was putting on, when the door to her room creaked open and Selene gave a hiss. "Shush, Selene," Esmeralda said absently, not looking up from the pamphlet. It still puzzled her a little that Selene only truly hissed and got anxious when one person was in her company. Not even those righteous people at school had set her on edge like that.
"Aug said you were waiting up here." Medea did not move from the doorway, eyes fixed warily on Selene. "Does she act like this with all your other lovers?"
"I don't have other lovers," Esmeralda said for what felt like the tenth time in as many days. "I have other women that I sleep with. But the strangest thing has happened with the last few... they've all stopped sleeping with me." She glanced up at Medea with cold, dark eyes. "Isn't that odd?"
"Very odd," Medea agreed, a very slight smirk forming on her lips. "And here you just had all these admirers after the play. Like that Prewett girl, she was quite the pretty little thing."
"Yes she was," Esmeralda agreed. "As you would know from personal experience."
Medea blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, but I heard all about it. Prewett came up to me this morning looking quite upset as she told me that she could not continue sleeping with me again. Naturally, I had to know why... and it took awhile, but she finally told me." Esmeralda's voice took on a dangerous edge. "I think that you probably know what her reason was, don't you?" Medea did not reply as Esmeralda slipped off the bed and walked up to her, eyes snapping. Her voice became higher, "I'm so in love with that beautiful, green-eyed woman who came to your dressing room after opening night. She came up to me the next night and I just couldn't resist. Medea is so beautiful... I can't sleep with you anymore, Esmi, please understand... don't be mad at me, I just fell in love."
"You do a fair impression." Esmeralda slapped her and Medea reeled back against the door, a red mark appearing. "I'll never make the mistake of thinking that all a dancer's muscles are in her legs again. That bloody well hurt."
"Have I ever once stolen a woman from you?" Esmeralda demanded. "No, I haven't! But every time you find out who one of mine is, a few weeks later or perhaps a few months, she will suddenly have developed feelings of love for a witch with black hair and green eyes. Once may have been coincidence. Five times? No, I think not." It did not do good things for Esmeralda's self-esteem to know that Medea could take away the women she found. She is a brilliant actress... much better than me. That was probably why.
"What can I say? You have very good taste."
"Alicia was hardly pretty!"
"Pretty enough."
Esmeralda stamped her foot. "Stop stealing my women, Medea Yaxley! With another week of performances and then a new ballet coming up, I hardly have time to find someone else."
"That's a terrible shame."
"You're starting to annoy me."
"Do you really think that you can prance your birds around without me doing something about it? I have my pride."
"How can pride affect this when no one knows? But again, I must point out the fact that I have never once touched one of yours."
"You never know which one I'm with."
"I live with Augustus, do you really think that I don't know? I know, I just don't do anything because none of them are ever serious." Esmeralda put her hands on the wall to either side of Medea, trapping her, and leaned in. "You will stop this breaking up of my affairs."
Medea began to fidget and broke eye contact. "I will do no such thing," she said, shocking both of them. She had never told Esmeralda no.
"You're telling me no." Medea licked her lips and nodded. "Why are you doing this to me? Prewett was perfectly functional."
"She was too clingy. Had I not stepped in she might have thought things were serious with the two of you. I can't let that happen."
"As though I'd let something go on if she fell in love with me." Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "But truly, she was good for pre-performance nerves. What am I supposed to do now? There are no other witches in the cast."
"You could always send an owl to me when those nerves hit."
"That'd be practically every night."
"I'm available."
Esmeralda tapped her fingers against the wall next to Medea's ear. "You won't get anything out of it."
"Yes I will. The pleasure of knowing that I helped you perform better."
"I mean it, I'll be too nervous to be concerned about what you want."
Medea trailed her fingers against the base of Esmeralda's throat. "I'll be too busy being concerned about what you want to care about myself."
"You're terribly frustrating, you know that?" Esmeralda asked, tilting her head back. "But I suppose... tomorrow night at six o'clock, be in my dressing room and we'll see if you can get rid of my jitters."
"I will."
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,275
Characters: Esmeralda Selwynn, Antonin Dolohov, Medea Yaxley
Prompt: 015. Devious
Summary: AU - Esmeralda is not best pleased that the women she sleeps with keep finding somewhere else to go.
Warnings/Notes: Alternative Universe of lumos_founders. A bit of a back-and-forth with musaic :P
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling.
Not many people would have tea with Antonin Dolohov, not since the death of his mother had left him far more disturbed than he had ever been before. There had always been the morbid fascination with cutting things open and death, but it seemed that his mind could not handle his mother's death. Very few people knew that he blamed himself for it, knowing that the heart attack had come after she had seen him "playing" with a Muggle from down the store. The boy had recovered, but Antonin's mother had not and that had been the year the boy's trademark smile had faded away. But Esmeralda had known him for far too long to let a little thing like insanity scare her off.
"How are you today, Antonin?" the redhead asked as Antonin let himself fall into the chair. There was a stain on his jacket, stubble on his chin and his hair had a definite unkempt look about it. "Obviously you have not looked in a mirror anytime recently."
The blonde man shrugged. "Tom and I have been busy," he said. "I think I've almost perfected the-" Antonin hesitated and glanced around, as though just realizing where they were. "The art. But he intends on leaving soon, not that I'm surprised. He should never have taken that job at Borgin & Burkes, far below his talents."
Interested though she was in what Tom was up to, Esmeralda had not asked Antonin here to talk about him. "We can talk about Tom later. I asked you here because I have a problem that I may need your help with."
Antonin's previously dull eyes lit up and a smile played at the corners of his mouth. "You know that I'm always willing to help with any problems that you might have, Esmi." His hand drifted towards his left hip, where Esmeralda knew he kept the knife he had named in honor of his mother. "When might you be needing my help?"
"Not right now." Antonin's smile faded. "In fact I cannot be sure if I will ever need it for this particular matter, but I'm telling you now so that you can come up with something creative and unique." She leaned closer and beckoned for Antonin to do the same. "This is the situation..."
Esmeralda was seated on her bed, leafing through outline of the next ballet that her company was putting on, when the door to her room creaked open and Selene gave a hiss. "Shush, Selene," Esmeralda said absently, not looking up from the pamphlet. It still puzzled her a little that Selene only truly hissed and got anxious when one person was in her company. Not even those righteous people at school had set her on edge like that.
"Aug said you were waiting up here." Medea did not move from the doorway, eyes fixed warily on Selene. "Does she act like this with all your other lovers?"
"I don't have other lovers," Esmeralda said for what felt like the tenth time in as many days. "I have other women that I sleep with. But the strangest thing has happened with the last few... they've all stopped sleeping with me." She glanced up at Medea with cold, dark eyes. "Isn't that odd?"
"Very odd," Medea agreed, a very slight smirk forming on her lips. "And here you just had all these admirers after the play. Like that Prewett girl, she was quite the pretty little thing."
"Yes she was," Esmeralda agreed. "As you would know from personal experience."
Medea blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, but I heard all about it. Prewett came up to me this morning looking quite upset as she told me that she could not continue sleeping with me again. Naturally, I had to know why... and it took awhile, but she finally told me." Esmeralda's voice took on a dangerous edge. "I think that you probably know what her reason was, don't you?" Medea did not reply as Esmeralda slipped off the bed and walked up to her, eyes snapping. Her voice became higher, "I'm so in love with that beautiful, green-eyed woman who came to your dressing room after opening night. She came up to me the next night and I just couldn't resist. Medea is so beautiful... I can't sleep with you anymore, Esmi, please understand... don't be mad at me, I just fell in love."
"You do a fair impression." Esmeralda slapped her and Medea reeled back against the door, a red mark appearing. "I'll never make the mistake of thinking that all a dancer's muscles are in her legs again. That bloody well hurt."
"Have I ever once stolen a woman from you?" Esmeralda demanded. "No, I haven't! But every time you find out who one of mine is, a few weeks later or perhaps a few months, she will suddenly have developed feelings of love for a witch with black hair and green eyes. Once may have been coincidence. Five times? No, I think not." It did not do good things for Esmeralda's self-esteem to know that Medea could take away the women she found. She is a brilliant actress... much better than me. That was probably why.
"What can I say? You have very good taste."
"Alicia was hardly pretty!"
"Pretty enough."
Esmeralda stamped her foot. "Stop stealing my women, Medea Yaxley! With another week of performances and then a new ballet coming up, I hardly have time to find someone else."
"That's a terrible shame."
"You're starting to annoy me."
"Do you really think that you can prance your birds around without me doing something about it? I have my pride."
"How can pride affect this when no one knows? But again, I must point out the fact that I have never once touched one of yours."
"You never know which one I'm with."
"I live with Augustus, do you really think that I don't know? I know, I just don't do anything because none of them are ever serious." Esmeralda put her hands on the wall to either side of Medea, trapping her, and leaned in. "You will stop this breaking up of my affairs."
Medea began to fidget and broke eye contact. "I will do no such thing," she said, shocking both of them. She had never told Esmeralda no.
"You're telling me no." Medea licked her lips and nodded. "Why are you doing this to me? Prewett was perfectly functional."
"She was too clingy. Had I not stepped in she might have thought things were serious with the two of you. I can't let that happen."
"As though I'd let something go on if she fell in love with me." Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "But truly, she was good for pre-performance nerves. What am I supposed to do now? There are no other witches in the cast."
"You could always send an owl to me when those nerves hit."
"That'd be practically every night."
"I'm available."
Esmeralda tapped her fingers against the wall next to Medea's ear. "You won't get anything out of it."
"Yes I will. The pleasure of knowing that I helped you perform better."
"I mean it, I'll be too nervous to be concerned about what you want."
Medea trailed her fingers against the base of Esmeralda's throat. "I'll be too busy being concerned about what you want to care about myself."
"You're terribly frustrating, you know that?" Esmeralda asked, tilting her head back. "But I suppose... tomorrow night at six o'clock, be in my dressing room and we'll see if you can get rid of my jitters."
"I will."