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jenioctaviaTitle: Helpless When She Smiles
Pairing: Rory/Ana
Fandom: Paredolia Omniverse
Theme: #1 - "Look over here..."
Note: All titles are based off songs or actual song titles. (Backstreet Boys - Helpless When She Smiles)
Disclaimer: Paredolia Omniverse is a joint project, with all characters being written with the creator's consent. No characters are meant to resemble people, real or fictional. All writing is done for fun, not profit. Anything else copyrighted that is used is also for entertainment and not meant to rip off the original creator in any way.
Helpless When She Smiles
Their work was important to them. That was always a given. It was their life, their money, their bread on the table, the roofs over their heads. The bigger they got, the better things got, but it also increased the workload for all around. Most of them, band members and staff included, were fairly well-versed in the methods of balancing social time and work time, of how to be efficient without overdoing it, but it was no secret at Rose Thorn Records that two people in particular had a tendency to overdo it.
To make matters worse, the same two that had the most difficulty with it never seemed able to make their moments of feverish working coincide.
This often left one or the other the unfortunate victim of a certain kind of neglect.
The end result was usually someone going home, miffed but trying their best to understand, to remember that they both had that problem and really, they were all in it together and sometimes there was just that extra bit of work to be done, that last page to be written, the final thing to be signed and mailed out in the morning. For Rory, at least, the band always did come first. For Ana, it had, but things had changed, and the longer their relationship went on, the more she longed for a chance to maybe, just maybe switch some priorities around for the both of them without sacrificing as much as they were afraid to.
As per her usual behavior, she never voiced this, and things continued as they always did. He was there late, she was there late, they were both there late but at different ends of the building. Scrambles, rushes, fevered attempts to push this date, set that one, meet this deadline, argue about that stupid little article in some stupid little newspaper. Even weekends became difficult to pull them away again, and Ana found herself thinking back to that day on the hilltop, with the beautiful cherry blossoms and the golden light, wondering just what in the damn hell had happened to 'taking a moment'.
Weeks passed- nearly a month- and her patience was stretched too thin to keep ignoring what she wanted out of the relationship, ignoring what she wasn't getting. Several tactics were tried, and subsequently failed. The answer was always the same. Progress, progress, progress. This needed to be done, that needed to get finished. An apology, a kiss on the cheek, and he was right back to where he'd left off.
Beyond frustrated and near tears with upset, she dragged herself to Hex's late one evening, eventually finding herself curled up in his lap, his tail wrapped comfortingly around her waist and lanky arm draped over her shoulder as he ran fingers through her long, thick, red hair.
"I don't get it. If I'm so damn important to him, then why is work suddenly not the number one thing on my list, but still all he seems to focus on?" she asked tiredly, letting out a deep, drawn-out sigh as her eyes closed.
"Wull, Ana..." Hex began thoughtfully, scratching a finger along his chin. The tip of his tail twitched slightly, seeming to move along with his musings. "This is Rory we're talking about. His focus is even better than mine. Remember when I used to ignore you because I was studying or reading, and I didn't even realize I was doing it?"
"Yeah... I used to have to bounce something off your head to get your attention." Ana chuckled softly at the memory.
"Sometimes that wouldn't even work," Hex said, offering a soft, understanding smile, shifting some strands of red out of her face.
"You were really dedicated to your studies. Far more than me. There were times you'd have to coerce me in to even picking up a book some days."
"And then there were times you'd have to remind me there was a world beyond them. Like when you threatened to break my favorite toy if I didn't come outside with you."
Silence lingered after that, both mulling the words over in their minds. Finally, Hex straightened a little, head tilting a little when another light smile played across his lips. "You know, that's something to think about there."
"What is?"
"Rory's like me in that sense. You have to remind him from time to time that there are things he's missing by having his nose to the notepad twenty-four-seven. Have you ever thought about giving him a distraction he couldn't ignore?"
Ana's eyes fluttered open slightly, green shifting to the carpet below the couch, gears obviously turning overtime in her mind. Suddenly she sat up, a look of near-surprise on her round features that quickly slipped into a giant, ear-to-ear grin. She turned, practically tackling her big brother in a huge, tight hug, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"You're a genius! A damn genius! Thank you, Hex!"
"Eheh..." Hex chuckled softly, cheeks briefly flushing pink. Ana detached, and in a flurry of red and dark gray, she had her jacket and was out the door, calling back Hex's praises from the stairwell.
***
It wasn't a long drive from Hex's apartment to the studio, and thankfully her arrival showed at least one light still burning brightly within the building. She parked in the near empty parking garage, Rory's bike confirming his presence inside, and bolted up the stairs, using the landing at the second floor to compose herself and smooth her loose hair down.
Entering the area found him exactly where she'd left him almost a half an hour before- pacing about his own small office, tapping a pen to a pad of paper and muttering things to the ceiling, stopping every couple of seconds to jot something down only to cross it out again with an irritated scrawl after another bit of contemplation on it. If he was making 'progress,' as he so claimed, this time around seemed to be slow going.
A wistful smile found Ana's lips and she approached his open door, leaning against it with her hip cocked, suit jacket hanging open with her usual white button-down below it. A few buttons had been let loose, providing a tantalizing peek at what was below.
"Still here?" she asked. Rory only paused for a moment, glancing out from beneath the brim of his hat to quirk an eyebrow at her, resuming pacing not milliseconds later.
"... Yeah, working," he grunted. "Thought you want home."
"... I did," Ana dragged out, resisting the urge to sigh on top of the wary tone.
"Ah," was all Rory dared to respond with, as if anything beyond monosyllabic acknowledgment would completely break his thought process all together. Another word written, only to be scratched out again, the hint of a growl trailing on the end of the scribble.
Sauntering in, doing her best to keep hips swaying like a metronome, Ana turned and planted herself on the one clear spot she could find on the edge of his messy desk, crossing her legs and sliding a finger down to loosen another button, all motions that went seemingly unnoticed.
"You know, you should consider taking a break. A few minutes outside, fresh air, all that. Might help your creative process some," she offered quietly, darkened eyes tracing his erratic movements across the room.
"No, no, I'm fine," he said, slightly strained, hand waving at her as if shooing off a child.
Ana winced, hurt tugging at her heart and dragging her shoulders down. Teeth worked over her lower lip, a tiny voice inside her head urging her to just give up, go home and try again another day when it wasn't already so late.
But Hex's words rang through her mind again - 'give him a distraction he can't ignore' - and she squared her shoulders with new resolve.
"Right. I get to do this the hard way, then."
The shirt came unbuttoned first, bra coming completely off through the sleeves in that way of finesse that only a woman could properly master, then the skirt and lacy panties joined them on the floor, ending at last with the nylons and pumps. Through all the rustling and movement, all the increasingly apparent skin that was showing up in his office, Rory never once looked over, eyes completely and totally focused on the notepad and his inane mumblings.
Knowing it really was going to take some drastic measures, she loosened her tie then promptly planted herself right back on the edge of his work desk, crossing her legs and draping an arm across her thigh, positioning the other upward to rest curled fingers against her jaw bone.
"Rory."
"Mm?"
"... Rory."
"What?"
A sigh.
"Rory Dunkirk, if you do not look over here right this second, I will fire your ass so fast you won't know what happened."
"What, god damnit?! What do you wa-... a... uh... um..."
Eloquence rushed from the man, pen sliding from his fingers to the floor, joined only seconds later by the flutter of his notepad. He gulped, but seemed unable to force proper English back to his vocals, only shocked and dumbfounded syllables able to come forth. The unflappable Rory Dunkirk had not only been stopped in his tracks, any conviction he had to complete his work had quite readily flown the coop, leaving him a bit weak-kneed at the sight before him.
For all her half-naked glory, and the anger that had been exhibited in her voice when she snapped, a warm, sly smile played on her full lips, eyes shimmering in the light of the office with a devious and mischievous nature.
"Are you just going to stand there like a slack-jawed moron, or are you going to give me some damn attention, now? Hm?" came her sultry drawl as she leaned forward ever-so-slightly, curves and bends in her body catching shadows just right, just enough to make him practically drool with anticipation. A near-nervous lick of his lips, a slight twitch of his hand, and finally mind willed body to advance, hands finding hips beneath the thin cotton of her loose shirt.
"A... aheh... whatever you say, Miss Manager, Ma'am. You are the boss, after all."
Ana's smile broke into an all out grin, and arms looped about his neck as she pulled him close to brush her lips over his with a chuckle. "Damn straight I am..."
Themes Completed - 2/30
Pairing: Rory/Ana
Fandom: Paredolia Omniverse
Theme: #1 - "Look over here..."
Note: All titles are based off songs or actual song titles. (Backstreet Boys - Helpless When She Smiles)
Disclaimer: Paredolia Omniverse is a joint project, with all characters being written with the creator's consent. No characters are meant to resemble people, real or fictional. All writing is done for fun, not profit. Anything else copyrighted that is used is also for entertainment and not meant to rip off the original creator in any way.
Helpless When She Smiles
Their work was important to them. That was always a given. It was their life, their money, their bread on the table, the roofs over their heads. The bigger they got, the better things got, but it also increased the workload for all around. Most of them, band members and staff included, were fairly well-versed in the methods of balancing social time and work time, of how to be efficient without overdoing it, but it was no secret at Rose Thorn Records that two people in particular had a tendency to overdo it.
To make matters worse, the same two that had the most difficulty with it never seemed able to make their moments of feverish working coincide.
This often left one or the other the unfortunate victim of a certain kind of neglect.
The end result was usually someone going home, miffed but trying their best to understand, to remember that they both had that problem and really, they were all in it together and sometimes there was just that extra bit of work to be done, that last page to be written, the final thing to be signed and mailed out in the morning. For Rory, at least, the band always did come first. For Ana, it had, but things had changed, and the longer their relationship went on, the more she longed for a chance to maybe, just maybe switch some priorities around for the both of them without sacrificing as much as they were afraid to.
As per her usual behavior, she never voiced this, and things continued as they always did. He was there late, she was there late, they were both there late but at different ends of the building. Scrambles, rushes, fevered attempts to push this date, set that one, meet this deadline, argue about that stupid little article in some stupid little newspaper. Even weekends became difficult to pull them away again, and Ana found herself thinking back to that day on the hilltop, with the beautiful cherry blossoms and the golden light, wondering just what in the damn hell had happened to 'taking a moment'.
Weeks passed- nearly a month- and her patience was stretched too thin to keep ignoring what she wanted out of the relationship, ignoring what she wasn't getting. Several tactics were tried, and subsequently failed. The answer was always the same. Progress, progress, progress. This needed to be done, that needed to get finished. An apology, a kiss on the cheek, and he was right back to where he'd left off.
Beyond frustrated and near tears with upset, she dragged herself to Hex's late one evening, eventually finding herself curled up in his lap, his tail wrapped comfortingly around her waist and lanky arm draped over her shoulder as he ran fingers through her long, thick, red hair.
"I don't get it. If I'm so damn important to him, then why is work suddenly not the number one thing on my list, but still all he seems to focus on?" she asked tiredly, letting out a deep, drawn-out sigh as her eyes closed.
"Wull, Ana..." Hex began thoughtfully, scratching a finger along his chin. The tip of his tail twitched slightly, seeming to move along with his musings. "This is Rory we're talking about. His focus is even better than mine. Remember when I used to ignore you because I was studying or reading, and I didn't even realize I was doing it?"
"Yeah... I used to have to bounce something off your head to get your attention." Ana chuckled softly at the memory.
"Sometimes that wouldn't even work," Hex said, offering a soft, understanding smile, shifting some strands of red out of her face.
"You were really dedicated to your studies. Far more than me. There were times you'd have to coerce me in to even picking up a book some days."
"And then there were times you'd have to remind me there was a world beyond them. Like when you threatened to break my favorite toy if I didn't come outside with you."
Silence lingered after that, both mulling the words over in their minds. Finally, Hex straightened a little, head tilting a little when another light smile played across his lips. "You know, that's something to think about there."
"What is?"
"Rory's like me in that sense. You have to remind him from time to time that there are things he's missing by having his nose to the notepad twenty-four-seven. Have you ever thought about giving him a distraction he couldn't ignore?"
Ana's eyes fluttered open slightly, green shifting to the carpet below the couch, gears obviously turning overtime in her mind. Suddenly she sat up, a look of near-surprise on her round features that quickly slipped into a giant, ear-to-ear grin. She turned, practically tackling her big brother in a huge, tight hug, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"You're a genius! A damn genius! Thank you, Hex!"
"Eheh..." Hex chuckled softly, cheeks briefly flushing pink. Ana detached, and in a flurry of red and dark gray, she had her jacket and was out the door, calling back Hex's praises from the stairwell.
***
It wasn't a long drive from Hex's apartment to the studio, and thankfully her arrival showed at least one light still burning brightly within the building. She parked in the near empty parking garage, Rory's bike confirming his presence inside, and bolted up the stairs, using the landing at the second floor to compose herself and smooth her loose hair down.
Entering the area found him exactly where she'd left him almost a half an hour before- pacing about his own small office, tapping a pen to a pad of paper and muttering things to the ceiling, stopping every couple of seconds to jot something down only to cross it out again with an irritated scrawl after another bit of contemplation on it. If he was making 'progress,' as he so claimed, this time around seemed to be slow going.
A wistful smile found Ana's lips and she approached his open door, leaning against it with her hip cocked, suit jacket hanging open with her usual white button-down below it. A few buttons had been let loose, providing a tantalizing peek at what was below.
"Still here?" she asked. Rory only paused for a moment, glancing out from beneath the brim of his hat to quirk an eyebrow at her, resuming pacing not milliseconds later.
"... Yeah, working," he grunted. "Thought you want home."
"... I did," Ana dragged out, resisting the urge to sigh on top of the wary tone.
"Ah," was all Rory dared to respond with, as if anything beyond monosyllabic acknowledgment would completely break his thought process all together. Another word written, only to be scratched out again, the hint of a growl trailing on the end of the scribble.
Sauntering in, doing her best to keep hips swaying like a metronome, Ana turned and planted herself on the one clear spot she could find on the edge of his messy desk, crossing her legs and sliding a finger down to loosen another button, all motions that went seemingly unnoticed.
"You know, you should consider taking a break. A few minutes outside, fresh air, all that. Might help your creative process some," she offered quietly, darkened eyes tracing his erratic movements across the room.
"No, no, I'm fine," he said, slightly strained, hand waving at her as if shooing off a child.
Ana winced, hurt tugging at her heart and dragging her shoulders down. Teeth worked over her lower lip, a tiny voice inside her head urging her to just give up, go home and try again another day when it wasn't already so late.
But Hex's words rang through her mind again - 'give him a distraction he can't ignore' - and she squared her shoulders with new resolve.
"Right. I get to do this the hard way, then."
The shirt came unbuttoned first, bra coming completely off through the sleeves in that way of finesse that only a woman could properly master, then the skirt and lacy panties joined them on the floor, ending at last with the nylons and pumps. Through all the rustling and movement, all the increasingly apparent skin that was showing up in his office, Rory never once looked over, eyes completely and totally focused on the notepad and his inane mumblings.
Knowing it really was going to take some drastic measures, she loosened her tie then promptly planted herself right back on the edge of his work desk, crossing her legs and draping an arm across her thigh, positioning the other upward to rest curled fingers against her jaw bone.
"Rory."
"Mm?"
"... Rory."
"What?"
A sigh.
"Rory Dunkirk, if you do not look over here right this second, I will fire your ass so fast you won't know what happened."
"What, god damnit?! What do you wa-... a... uh... um..."
Eloquence rushed from the man, pen sliding from his fingers to the floor, joined only seconds later by the flutter of his notepad. He gulped, but seemed unable to force proper English back to his vocals, only shocked and dumbfounded syllables able to come forth. The unflappable Rory Dunkirk had not only been stopped in his tracks, any conviction he had to complete his work had quite readily flown the coop, leaving him a bit weak-kneed at the sight before him.
For all her half-naked glory, and the anger that had been exhibited in her voice when she snapped, a warm, sly smile played on her full lips, eyes shimmering in the light of the office with a devious and mischievous nature.
"Are you just going to stand there like a slack-jawed moron, or are you going to give me some damn attention, now? Hm?" came her sultry drawl as she leaned forward ever-so-slightly, curves and bends in her body catching shadows just right, just enough to make him practically drool with anticipation. A near-nervous lick of his lips, a slight twitch of his hand, and finally mind willed body to advance, hands finding hips beneath the thin cotton of her loose shirt.
"A... aheh... whatever you say, Miss Manager, Ma'am. You are the boss, after all."
Ana's smile broke into an all out grin, and arms looped about his neck as she pulled him close to brush her lips over his with a chuckle. "Damn straight I am..."
Themes Completed - 2/30
