#tw0f4ced

"Don't flirt with my man, Baron!" - @tw0f4ced

❛ perhaps you should teach your dog a few new tricks . he does seem remarkably fond of me ... judging by the amount of attention he's been giving me . ❜

i know this was meant to be ooc, but this is much funnier*

‘Such a waste? Oh, Harvey, don’t flatter yourself. Waste is for things that vanish without so much as a bruise.’

There was a bite to that, but no cruelty, only the sort of sharp disbelief that came from hearing a lie he recognised too well. Lucien knew that miserable little trick. Bleed for something, break yourself against it, keep crawling back for another try, and the moment it leaves you marked instead of triumphant, you sneer and call the whole affair meaningless. As though pain cancelled value. As though failure only counted if it looked noble enough for other people to admire. ( Hells, men did love turning their own suffering into a cheap verdict. Much easier to call it worthless than admit it got its hands inside you and rearranged the furniture. ) His eyes stayed on Harvey, fixed there with none of his usual games, because pity would have earned a knife and false comfort would have deserved one.

‘It got under your skin. It stayed there. It still has enough of you to make you talk like this. That is not waste, darling. That is damage, and damage always means something.’

‘Depends entirely on the hand.’

A faint, wicked smirk pulled at his mouth, subtle at first, then warmer with the sort of satisfaction that made it clear he had no intention of being repentant. Harvey had handed him a line like that and expected what, restraint? A charming thought. He looked far too pleased, eyes alight with that dangerous little spark he wore whenever the conversation slipped into something playful and just sharp enough to leave a mark. ( There was ease in him, no stiffness, no embarrassment, only the smooth confidence of someone who knew exactly how suggestive he was being and chose not to soften it. ) The teasing sat naturally on him, curling into something flirtatious without ever losing its edge, because Lucien was at his most insufferable when he was enjoying himself and Harvey had very clearly given him reason to. Sympathy for that was limited. Nearly nonexistent, in fact.

‘Be sweet to me and I may settle for a warning nip.’

@tw0f4ced