'TIS THE SEASON - - - vikah.

[juniper]

as much as he loved hogwarts, coming home every christmas was growing more enjoyable every year. it seemed the longer he was away, the longer he felt the need to come back and reorient himself with the family happenings. how his cousins were faring in their muggle schooling - how horrendous! - how his mother was dealing with an increasingly quiet and empty large house, and what his grandparents had sent him as a present. and with such a rich family on his mother's side spoilt little luca could always look forward to huge, shiny, new, expensive presents under their eight foot tall norwegian pine tree, complete with decorations, baubles, and enchanted little pixies holding small candles, giving the whole affair a floating, ethereal feel. the servants were more jovial than ever, the entire air festive and charming. and amidst it all, alucard had invited his new girlfriend to join in the festivities, bringing someone home for the first time who wasn't simply a friend. carson spent a lot of time at his house - sucking up to his mother and installing himself solidly as the 'favourite son' - and persephone spent time here, equally to get away from her family as much as carson wanted to get away from his. and of course, his fiery-haired, heavily-accented, beautiful young gryffindor mother had welcomed them all with open arms. too welcome, a jealous alucard might say, since his mother, despite having doted upon him as a child, relished his friends seemingly far more than she relished him. it was always a point of contention between best friends of his and himself; but there wasn't any real argument in there, it was all in jest. it was christmas, after all; who can be sour at christmas? the main thing was that in this huge manor house, only the few human servants, the house elves, his mother and father, and he and nina had the run of the acres and acres of space that had been bequeathed to his mother on the death of her father.

the more than main thing was that in this huge house, they had full run of the entire top floor, which his mother did not venture into because it took too much effort scaling five flights of stairs, and which his father did not venture into because he appreciated the sense of privacy and seclusion that a teenage boy required when he brings a lady friend into the house. and alucard, upon realising that his papa was rather immensely proud of him, swelled with self-impressed importance and carried himself about the household with his head held high and chest blown out to an ego of epic proportions. he was the man of this house, yessiree! but christmas was swiftly arriving, only a few days away now, and the huge tree in the living room in the left wing was littered with presents, most of which were for him but some were for nina. his mother had taken to shopping endlessly this past week, finding jewellery and other feminine comforts which she felt benefited a woman of nina's status. (not only was she terrified of the wrath of her esteemed and perhaps well-feared family, she also wanted to make sure her own was placed on a similar pedestal, when the time came for comparisons between the two). most notably missing was his gift to nina, something which had been eating away at his conscience. he simply couldn't figure out anything that even came close to what she deserved. no matter now, he had an idea in his head and to him, it would be the best gift money could buy; or in his case, which money couldn't buy. did that make it priceless? he liked to think so. anyway, that wasn't anything to think about. come christmas morning nina would find her gift, tastefully wrapped, quite far from the tree in the main atrium of the house and rather up on their solitary little floor. for now, he comforted himself in the grace of her presence and lounged about on one of the many settees littering the hallway, awaiting her walking past and planning his move to grab her around the waist and tickle her to death. ah, it was the little things in life that made one happy, wasn't it.

so you know, this is in ireland, in the foothills of the very east and surrounded by countryside. where he lives in absolute splendour like the spoilt brat he is. i can't be bothered with a template, truly i can't. caution can go sleep with its own mother right now because i am drunk wooo. in other news this thread will be enjoyable. it's christmas what fun! naked luca with a ribbon tied around him nbd

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

Nina’s animagus might as well have been a chameleon: her personality turned a hundred and eighty degrees, changing from a grumpy snob to a heartfelt sweetheart, simply because her surroundings inspired her to be good. Well, maybe not ‘good’, but better. She was genuinely trying to be liked by everyone who mattered to Luca and so far, she seemed to be doing okay. Although she would have loved to be a leglimens and be able to actually pry in that Mother hen’s brain, she was satisfied enough to be smiled at, fed and cherished. That alone was much more than she’d ever gotten from her own mother. The sheer thought of Luca someday, sometime, potentially asking her to meet her parent terrified her beyond words. The mental images she got when she put ‘mom’ and ‘Luca’ into one sentence were eternally scarring and absolutely embarrassing, especially now she had seen what a warm nest he came from. The Remoires were all about love, affection and family pride, whereas her own mom was all about death, dishonour and family pride. She would accept Luca because of his blood, no doubt, but she would betray the lovelessness to him and make him feel sorry for her. She didn’t want to be a pitiful charity case, she was far too proud for that. Apparently, mom’s ideas had been drilled into her, after all.

However, for now, she was having a blast. The ambiance of the place was so relaxing, filled with only a slight speck of tension, excitement concerning the Christmas gifts, that it felt like a spa to her. She could be gentle here, without seeming weak. She could show her snarky, sarcastic side at times and be called intelligent for it, rather than impossible. This was heaven. And right when she walked out of one room, heading for another in order to find her angel, some God made him pop up voluntarily and grab her. He had figured out that she was ticklish that particular day in the Room of Requirement, so she squirmed and squealed and swatted at his hands, trying to wriggle out of his grasp and finding that she was no match for his enormous figure. ”Luca! LUCAAAAAA~!”

[juniper]

he had her all to himself. all to himself! and unlike the usual christmases he spent with family, playing impromptu games of quidditch with enchanted tea scones, and ripping open presents with glorious, reckless abandon, he was actually going to enjoy himself and not at the expense of others. oh, sure, maybe his mother might get a little iffy that he was holing himself up on the fifth floor and avoiding her, but she could deal. he'd heaped his love upon his mother for the past eighteen christmases he'd ever had, so she could make up for one when he had guests to entertain. there were more important things in life, really. like expressing his abject adoration for his girlfriend, or ... no, really, that was about it on his to-do list. "you look stunning. as always." as she always did when she was this happy, happier than he had seen her at any time in the castle. in any case, that was an expression of abject adoration that would gain him benefit as well, which were the kinds that he liked most. it was always such an effort reminding people that he loved them for no real reason other than because he felt like it. with nina, he felt like it every second of the day, every day of the week, and so it felt like hardly any effort at all.

with big bear hug arms around her waist, he pulled her onto his lap and held her there with ease, despite her feeble struggles, which only heightened his self-importance, because if she didn't want to be there she would put up a much better fight. she was so tiny, she was practically like fine bone china, and luca was most definitely the bull in the delicately stacked shop. he was a damn fine bull, though, with handsome horns and a well-groomed coat. then, with a look for a moment that must have appeared to nina like he suddenly saw a giant spider on the ceiling above him, he realised that in essence that metaphor inferred nina was a cow. thank god he had not been thinking aloud, or else that might have ended remarkably terribly. he was often rather cute with his musings, saying exactly what popped onto his brain at the moment, but he could not say that would ever have gone down well. speaking of things that went down well, he brought himself back to the present, and the rather attractive young woman on his lap. "no, you're not ticklish at all," he teased, lightly poking and tickling along her stomach and hips. "not at all."

he had to admit, it was rather a relief to finally see her out of uniform more than once in a blue moon. the first term had been a drag - those uniforms were so outdated and ridiculously ugly; grey pleat skirts down to the knees? no thankyou - so now he was just glad he could wake up in the morning and choose between his vast array of clothes, rather than having to choose between which grey pants he would wear. oh, the monotony. if all went well in the long run, he might never have to worry about seeing her in those ugly uniforms again. with a start, he smiled stupidly at the thought. he looked at nina with big brown puppydog eyes, all cloudy with the feeling of utter helplessness he felt soar through him whenever he thought about her and that creepy word that danced in front of his eyes - the future. but the helplessness was becoming a good feeling, slowly, but surely. this was the season to be merry, was it not? and he could be honest with himself, thinking about future christmases with nina made him very merry indeed. "merry christmas, my love," then again, if all went well in the very near future, the only uniform he would see her in would be the ones that were definitely not invented for academic endeavours. heheheh. a man could dream, couldn't he?

oh cafe wifi, oh cafe wifi, oh you are so dear to me. in any case N'AWW NINA SO CUUUTE

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

Maybe Nina stayed with Luca because of selfish reasons. Although she did care for him in a way she’d never cared for a human being before – she was even tempted to call it love, at times, but then she shied away from such drama – she sometimes thought she was with him for herself, rather than him. Because as much as he mattered to her, that alone wasn’t a reason to stay by his side. No, it was sooner a reason to leave. Nina saw herself as an incurable monster, he was a million times better off without her and all that jazz. So, remaining his girlfriend was the utmost deed of utter selfishness. He made her feel better about herself, he made her forget and most of all, he made her feel like she actually mattered. Never before had people bothered to make her feel like she was worth their time and she had to admit, the feeling was addictive. A little more and she wouldn’t be able to cope without his constant positive attention – that was a thought that terrified her.

She’d read somewhere that people have such a thing as chakra and that all chakras have particular colours. As far as she was concerned, her own was poisonous green. Not because of her preference for the snake house, but because of the poisonous thoughts that constantly circulated in her little head. A dementor had nothing on the pressure she put on herself. Even now, in Luca’s arms, giggling and having a good time, it nagged at her. The thoughts were the tide that caused erosion to her bay of joy. ’A little more and he’ll leave. He’ll wake up and realise what you are and he will leave leave leave you.’ She was unable to silence the serpent, but she had learnt to ignore it. Looking at Luca and squinting as she chuckled, spazzing and contracting her muscles to try and make the tickling less bothersome, she saw his expression shift. This may have been a reason for extra concern, if she didn’t know him. She, however, did. Luca had an inner mind theatre, his brain always strayed and got imaginative at the most unexpected moments, didn’t it? ”Daydreamer. What’cha thinking of?” Her ‘cha’ sounded more like a ‘dga’, but who cared? ”I am not.” She shook her head firmly, just as he put his hands on her hips. Nearly jumping up, she shrieked, somewhere between tickled hysteria and amusement. ”Cut it out! Luca! Please!” Her hands clawed at his shoulders, holding herself up with the help of that, as if they’re having sexy times.

That little action reminded him of how physically fit he was, so the sparkle of innocent delight turned changed into something more cunning. She hadn’t come unprepared, she’d brought Christmas gifts for Alucard’s father, a nice little something for his mother and some random gifts that could be used by the entire family, but her favourite was her Christmas gift to him. It was ingenious, if she dared say so herself, shameless, but awesome. ”Merry Christmas, you cheesy, cheesy young man.” She smirked at him, stroking from his shoulders to his chest and keeping her hands there. She could feel his heartbeat through the clothes, which reminded her that he was really there, alive, kicking and full of affection. ”I do hope you got me the best gift in the universe, hmm? If I’m disappointed, I just might chop off something you need.” Her hands swayed down as she spoke, looping into his belt holes and making a point. She was kidding – was she?

i just fucking love ninucard.

[juniper]

damn it, she had spotted his little mind shift. daydreamer; that was him in a word. if it wasn't for his overactive imagination he might have paid attention in class and actually scored well in his o.w.l.s, but as it stood he'd had to enlist carson's aid to pull his ranks back up from trolls to something more befitting a head boy. but whatever, so long as it didn't strike in the middle of serious conversation with nina - there were remarkably very few of these, since neither of them seemed to want to breach the subject of 'the future' - or while he was flying, it didn't have too many disastrous consequences. he screwed up his face a little, twitching his nose to the side to express his mild distaste for what he was about to impart. "uh, i was imagining myself as a highland cattle," he confessed truthfully, seeing as he'd never want to lie to nina about anything, let alone something small and meaningless. her accent and the way it mangled such an americanised saying as 'whatcha' threatened to mess up his expression, but he reined the feeling in. "with big horns and everything. but then i realised that made you a cow and i got a little scared of what you'd do to me." he shrugged, pasting on a huge grin instead. who cared what she'd do to him? he'd bet a knut to a galleon that he'd enjoy it, probably criminally so. he laughed like a madman when she tried very hard to protest her unticklishness. because the very moment she finished the statement she burst into gales of helpless giggles which only affirmed his earlier suspicions.

and then, with a sudden lapse of her better judgement - which he could only presume arose from the fact that there was nobody around but him, whom she didn't have to impress since he already loved her like nothing else - she actually admitted defeat. admitted it, in words and everything. it was a momentous occasion, and luca took a moment to savour it, melodramatically closing his eyes and removing one tickling hand to place it over his heart. " a moment of silence, please, to commemorate the loss of nina's masculinity in this relationship. thankyou." he opened one eye a crack to view her reaction, hoping it would be a good one. he relished the feeling of her hands on his body, because quite honestly, who wouldn't? especially not someone of his sense of self-importance which, when stroked in such a way, only grew to such great proportions it threatened to knock on the ceiling. he was already enjoying the feeling of having her so close - and having nobody to walk past and judge, wolfwhistle, throw pillows and other such objects at him, or roll their eyes - and of her small yet strong hands raking along his shoulders. it reminded him that despite how helpless she was in his arms - he could carry her around with one shoulder if he needed to, and if she would let him, which was hardly going to happen but it was the thought that counted - she was still incredibly strong, mentally. despite his imposing height, his athlete's build, his cocky attitude, she had a hold over him that nobody could break.

with a lofty smirk, he poked her softly in the centre of her chest, the - albeit minimal, much to his personal glee - space between her breasts which housed her collarbone, sternum and the beginnings of her ribs. "young? i'm not the young one here. any younger, and this," he leaned forward to kiss her once, "would be illegal." but then, that sense flew away with a raspberry like a half-inflated balloon suddenly released, and his face fell visibly. he doubted even a blind man would not be able to sense that he was feeling suddenly miserable. despite his puffed-up ego, when he was around nina he craved her opinions more than anything, which meant mood swings ahoy! was his gift the best in the universe? he hoped she didn't want anything special, no diamonds or dresses or anything. he had the galleons, truly he did: but that wasn't the point, because nothing even came close to what she was worth. how did you find a material gift for someone who was priceless to you? he gulped as her intentions were made rather clear, and knowing nina she might not have been carelessly kidding. if his gift was sub-par, he might just lose something very valuable to him - made all the worse because that something was his gift. he placed a hand behind his neck and rubbed the back of his head, grinning nervously. "of course i have! would you ever doubt me?" damn it, now he was really worried. nothing he could get her could ever compare: diamonds weren't bright enough, silk wasn't smooth enough, the sun and the moon and all of the stars couldn't hold a candle to her brilliance.

i seriously love ninucard more than i love bacon

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

She didn’t mind. Luca was so close to perfection, it intimidated her more often than not. He was good-looking, well-spirited and all that jazz, while all she had to plead for her case were large boobs. In all honesty, she probably wouldn’t ever believe that she was good enough to have been with him. Have been. She was thinking in the past tense already, expecting him to dump her when he left school and that moment was creeping up on her with the speed of light. Before she knew it, he’d be gone, and the school would have a new Head Boy that wasn’t her charming, silly boyfriend. So if he wanted to daydream and bathe in the positivity of his brain, she wouldn’t stop him, even if she could have. ”Cattle? Why the fuck would you do that?” Even though she cursed, she did it more out of habit. She didn’t need to convey negativity to Luca, she supposed that, having been exposed to her awfulness for so long, he was radioactive with the atrocity her flaws already. Although being compared to a cow wasn’t flattering, the fact that he was so worried about it made her smile. ”Not necessarily. You could be a bull and I could be a sheep, and we could never be meant to be.” she nodded, bringing the cold-hearted statement with yet another smile. It seemed very much like the truth to her, even though it was bound to ruin his jolly good mood. They were two entirely different kinds of people, they weren’t even supposed to interact much, let alone have a relationship. Yet, here they were, giggling, tickling, laughing and being generally cuddly together. She’d never thought she’d live to enjoy something like this.

So she’d said please. That was not a big deal, right? People used that word all the time, out of politeness against waiters or to manipulate cheesy fathers. Why was it such a drama when she – oh, who was she kidding. Nina had given in and shown some weakness and she knew it, although she would much rather deny those very few seconds of her existence. ”You can’t proof anything. There is no evidence. Shut up.” she prodded him in the chest with an opened palm, trying to shove him but failing to even make a dent in the muscle tissue. Trying to pick a physical fight with him was about as clever and useful as running, jumping and face-forwarding into a concrete wall. She had better chances of winning the lottery than winning against him. ”Lalalalala, I will not hear this. My masculinity is just fine. Lalalala.” When she covered her ears and closed her eyes and hummed, she could block out the words he spoke and pretend that crap had never happened. She got childish when defending her dominance, apparently.

Eventually, she lowered her hands again – onto Luca’s glorious body. Looking down to stare at the prodding finger was uncomfortable for her neck, so she looked back at his face soon after. No snarky remarks came about the prodding itself, he had all the right in the world to play with his property. As emancipated as she was, she still whole-heartedly agreed with the dangerous fact that she was his. ”Doesn’t matter, females mature quicker when it comes to-“ the kiss came too unexpectedly to answer, but it was over before she knew it anyway. ”When it comes to mental shit.” She repeated herself a little. ”So technically, I’m even older than you are. Up in here.” She tapped his temples with both index fingers, thinking of herself as a brain-draining kind of muggle machine, then shrugging that random thought off. He seemed to be taking her little comment about gifts a little too serious, though, so she smiled at him again. ”Okay, okay. Don’t wet your pants just yet, princess.” And she was back at it!

[juniper]

he shrugged. in actual fact, he could not have described to her how his mind worked if he tried, and if he wanted to. as much as he would have liked to share everything with nina, he truly couldn't bring himself to do it. the way his thoughts twisted and moved was like a beast unto itself, and in those rare moments of clarity where even he understood his train of thoughts, he wouldn't have been able to put it into words. so instead, he was truthful, and admitted it to her. "i have no clue." it was better than thinking up some colourful story, oui? well, with his worst fears allayed - nina was not offended and thus he could be safe and not in pain or worse, in danger of becoming suddenly single - he relaxed slightly more, and just smiled stupidly at her, like he usually did. he didn't have proper reasons for smiling anymore; his brain didn't say, 'i am smiling because the way her cheek dimples is really cute', it just smiled and smiled and smiled about everything, all the time, and didn't even bother to rationalise it any further than that. do you watch red dwarf? 'i'd get a cow and a sheep and breed horses'"i think if that were to happen, we'd be like those animal pairs that are unlikely duos. like the tiger who reared two puppies when her cubs died. we'd be a good-looking highland cattle and his badass sidekick sheep." there, that made sense in his head, and he would be damned if it was going to not make sense outside in the open air. even if it didn't, he would struggle blithely on. he had made it his mission to ensure that nina was enlightened as to every single thought that passed through his head. she seemed to find it cute, anyway.

he had learned to pass off her negativity as if he were some kind of bad emotion transformer, taking in all the nasty negative electron emotions and sending them out the other side as completely pure protons of positivity and happiness. at first, when their relationship had been in the budding stages, he had almost cried every time she took all his compliments and turned them into cutting, harsh little statements. it was a talent of hers, for sure. but now he was getting better at it, not letting it sink through his very, very shallow skin. he still looked utterly dejected sometimes though, he couldn't help that. "i don't need to prove it. i will remember it for the rest of time. i've locked it away in my secret vault, filed under 'things i can blackmail my girlfriend with'." instead, he just laughed off her attempts to prod him, because not only was she flattening out her weapon of choice in using her palm, she was so small and he was so bear-like that it really made no difference at all. she might as well have been throwing miniature marshmallows at him for all the pain he was enduring here. "oh, you're so mature, ninaboo." he took her hands in his, dwarfing the petite, slender things in his wide-set, spider-fingered ones, and pulled them from her ears gently, but with enough force to overcome whatever resistance she might put up. "i didn't mean it," he said, mock-consoling her in a soothing, sing-song voice. stroking her hand and her hair alternately, he crooned softly at her, laughing all the time. "i take it back. shh, shh, everything will be okay. there now, my masculine little lover, it's alright. there there."

releasing her hands again so they could slide back onto their rightful place - on his body - he felt suddenly bad when she watched him poke her and then looked back at his eyes again. as much as he enjoyed the one bit of dominance he had over her - that which came with his size and muscularity - he would have hated himself immensely if that somehow accidentally caused her any pain. when he had been younger and going through immensely torturous growth spurts, when his body had ached continually as the muscles could not keep up with the rate his bones were shooting up, he had not known the limit of his own strength from one day to the next. still now he moved around with all the grace and poise of a bear sniffing out honey; he knocked things onto the ground, he bowled friends over when trying to hug them. and were he to, for instance, crush nina in a bearhug, or bruise her with his grip, he couldn't forgive himself. "what do you mean, technically? practically anyone is older than me up there." he mimicked her movement, but loopily and with a slightly deranged look on his face. he had been getting worried for a moment, but with one word she quelled his fears. princess. oh, how he had grown attached to that little moniker, a nickname he had first felt offended by but then grown to feel a kinship with. damn straight, he was a princess, he was her princess, and he was bloody attractive at that. and he could be proud of the prince charming who'd rescued him, because she was damn fine and they had some glorious royal happily-ever-after sex. so long as that sufficed as a gift, his gift to her, then he would have nothing to worry about. and no vital organs were going to get chopped off by a dangerous offspring of dolohov.

i think i want them to win couple otm. just because they are so wonderful. then again, finlee.

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

It didn’t necessarily matter why he thought the way he did. He was a marvellous creature and Nina wasn’t a scientist, so she didn’t feel like dissecting him to find out how it all functioned. She wasn’t a psychologist either, so she didn’t bother to figure out why he acted the way he did. As far as she was concerned, he was a loving creature with a heart of cheesy gold, and that was more than enough to keep her happy. She disliked the fact he had such a great impact on her, being happy because of him felt like a kind of addition, she had to rely on his presence, but it felt so good. He was comparable to eating chocolate; she knew it was bad for her health, still the sugary sweetness, hormonal rush and pure joy that came with eating it ---lol eating it--- made up for all of that. ”Okay.” she shrugged it off. He could have pink glitter and a factory of fairies inside his skull for all she cared, he was still Lovable Luca. She swallowed the positivity and puked up a darker, poisoned version of the very same statement. It was like a match of tennis, with words being balls: she bounced them back and they turned pitch black, he served them back and made them pure white, and so on, and so on. ”I’d be forced to have baby lambs with some kind of stupid stag and then be eaten for Christmas. The end.” That was very likely to happen in reality. Her mom wouldn’t accept him as a semi-son-in-law until she’d seen him and Nina was very much inclined to keep her mom and Luca as far apart as possible, for as long as possible. If she could postpone their meeting, she could postpone the inevitable break-up. Girls took after their mothers, right? Well, if he saw the square-jawed, cold albeit beautiful, bitter face of hers, he’d run away screaming for help.

Cuteness was weakness, it was proven to her once more. Still, while she would’ve freaked out and become aggressive, had this happened around any other person, she felt more of less cool with being vulnerable around Luca. By now she’d realised that the guy was much too kind to do anything to hurt her, so if he ever did abuse her weak moments, it would be by accident. She could deal with that. ”Where is that fault?” She squinted her eyes at him, grinning like a rebellious child. ”I must find it and burn it, then dump the ashes into the Arctic Ocean to make sure no one ever finds them!” She tried to come off as badass, shoving him, but it only resulted in her tiny, cold kitty claws being held by his enormous bear paws. Although she didn’t want to hear his superior crap, refusing to admit defeat even when it was rubbed in her face, she had no choice but to remove her hands. Resisting him was as impossible as sneezing with your eyes open. ”Actually, I am. Someone’s got to be in this ‘ship, right?” She couldn’t say the word relationship just yet – even though months had passed from the moment they’d kissed, she wished she’d kept track of time – but she came pretty damned close. A little more and maybe, maybe, she would find the strength to utter three words. He already knew she thought them, still it would be nice to be able to physically pronounce it. It would be her first time. His words were soothing, but the tone betrayed his lack of seriousness. She snapped, growling the words from the back of her throat. ”Shaddup before I bite your tongue off. That hurts like a bitch, I tell you, and you won’t be able to talk until it’s healed. Which takes about a month.” Okay, maybe she was lying a bit over there. She didn’t actually have a clue as to how long it took to heal such matters, sue her.

He was enormous, strong, fluffy Luca and she was tiny, fragile, armoured Nina. Things made sense that way. Even if he did have the mental maturity of a fifth-grader, even if certain words and phrases still could make him giggle like a girl, she liked him just the way he was. Had he been any different, she might have not noticed him in the rough sea of muscular, handsome Quidditch players the school had. ”I know. That’s okay, baby.” She didn’t mean it as she R&B, sexual kind of endearment – she wanted to insult him by calling him an infant - still it came out that way. Screw it. Suddenly greedily craving even more physical contact, she leaned forward, so her entire upper body could lean against the brick wall that was his frame. She found that her crown fit underneath his chin and that her hands were incredibly comfortable when resting on his shoulders, so she just squished herself against him and buried her nose between his pecs. The last time she’d pressed herself against him this way, she’d been crying in secret, which was something he was trying to forget. Breathing in his scent, feelings his warmth, noticing he was near with every sense she possessed, she was quite happy.

[juniper]

he couldn't imagine what the hell he had thought he was doing before nina. probably jack all, which was in all exactness very close to the truth. he'd rested on his laurels, using a combination of being hufflepuff's star seeker, his height and physique and somewhat boyish good looks, his charisma and his overarching popularity - to name but a few of his reticent talents - to string a few hapless fangirls along. he had casually told himself and others that he was perfectly alright being single, that he could imagine himself in anything close to a relationship and that exclusivity was really for more serious types and old married couples, not young, famous, sexy men like him. but even though he had none of the maturity and nina had none of the self-confidence to be able to throw themselves in the deep end, to be able to openly and seriously talk about themselves. but deep down inside luca, at least - he could hardly speak for nina, merlin knew she had a voice of her own and trying to speak for her was possibly deadly for all involved - felt like he was doing something real for once in his life. which was something he was rather proud of; he let himself admit it during those times when he sat down with himself and talked, at a mirror or his ceiling or to an empty space. he could accept that yes, he was finally doing something worthwhile and spending his time and energy on someone other than himself. his mother, needless to say, was always utterly astounded; she had raised him, after all, she knew him the best. luca had at first agreed with her openly outspoken sentiment that any girl more than half-sane would drop him after a few hectic, lust-filled weeks if she knew what was good for her. which had simultaneously made him smirk at the thought of their hectic, lust-filled months, and grimace at the fact that his mum so calmly accepted that her only son and apple of her eye was so disposed to rampant relationship-type things. it was ... gross.

all that aside, nowadays he grew defensive when they joked about that same sentiment: he wasn't that bad of a catch, surely. his father agreed but, as he had all his life, he sided with luca's mother. well, apparently nina had no clue what was good for her, because she was still here, hanging around with his royal fluffiness the marshmallow princess, king of cowards, cheesy chancellor, señor self-centred, prince of pumped-up pomposity. well, as mama remoire - as carson insisted on calling her - would say: more fool her. well, maybe he liked fools, anyway. he couldn't deal with someone so serious all the time. nina, despite all her black humour and dark looks, had a quirky side that skulked around like a fox in the night. handsome and sly and only popping out when you least expected it; it caught him by surprise most of the time and something about the dryness of her humour, the darkness with which she chuckled, turned him on in some inexplicable way. "you're getting the story wrong, again. i'm the stupid - yet undeniably handsome - stag, and you don't have to have lambs if you don't want to. and as for getting eaten for christmas... well." and with a twist of disgustingly awful innuendo, luca, master of avoiding conflict, tried very hard to ignore the serious undercurrent there. it essentially went, 'it sounds like i'm talking about farm animals, when really i'm casually bringing up the notion of having kids.' all this talk of future - of little lucas and ninas with baby booties and gurgling giggles - made him wonder. nina had met his parents, and his parents loved her. his dad found her a little short for his liking, and his mother found a peculiar taste in her mouth when she thought about the girl's father, but that was the only thing they could fault her on. so when was luca going to be show-paraded about in front of nina's mother? he already knew the basics: purist, cold-hearted, strict. the classic slytherin mummy.

but he wanted more than a pencil-sketched outline, especially if he was considering continuing this ... relationship - it was still had to say it, even in his head - after he left school and nina went on with seventh year studies. damn it, there was the future again: why did it have to keep cropping up amidst their perfectly shallow physicality? he grinned at her as she began wildly planning to destroy all evidence of her cuteness. "it's up here," he said, pointing to his head. "so unless you want to do all those things to this gorgeous face, i don't think you'll be getting at them so easily." there were plenty of other things she could do to that gorgeous face if she so desired which he would be much more happy to acquiesce to. being burned and scattered into the arctic ocean wasn't really on his list of things to do. then again, he had been setting himself up for that, calling her something as ridiculously cute as 'ninaboo', but nothing came of it. she was slowly succumbing to the nickname thing, yes! soon he'd get to the point where he could do it in public and she didn't hit him. soon maybe, but not right now. he tested out the word, rolling it off his tongue. "this ship. the s.s. ninacalibur. let's hope we have better luck than the titanic, no?" smooth. comparing your relationship to the titanic. real smooth. never mind, it just served as a lesson in why luca had never held down a proper girlfriend. as she growled in the back of her throat, he wondered if this counted as a proper girlfriend or a proper beast. never mind; he could laugh away her threats like they were nothing, because she had failed to harm him yet. physically, that was: emotionally she could do some pretty scarring things if she wanted. first of them being leaving him for someone else; second of them being leaving him because of something he did. actually, they all involved nina leaving in some way, shape, or form. it showed his mental state right now.

"go on, bite it off. i dare you." he poked out his tongue, waggling it a bit, teasing her to no end and giving her the hugest, most atrocious wink in the history of seedy winks. he took her comment in his stride - yes, he was her baby, he could deal with that, he much preferred the more fluffy terms like 'honeybunch' and 'babycakes' but baby suited him just fine - he only grinned widely and watched as she leaned closer to him, almost suffocating him in her presence. which was his brain's nicer way of saying that he was dying in a sea of cleavage, and he was completely okay with that. who wouldn't? but her height ruined it a few seconds later, meaning they fitted together like jigsaw pieces. it was almost hilarious in that even as they lay side by side, it appeared they were spooning; when they hugged, it looked like a bear-like man was inappropriately touching a bouncy-haired child. who, when she returned from the hug, was very well endowed for a child and that just made things awkward. but luca didn't care much for what people saw them as - shock horror right there: luca always cared what people thought about himself but he rather violently thought, fuck them all if they judged nina - since he was just so eternally happy whenever she was near him. resting his chin on top of her head, wrapping his strong arms around the tops of her shoulders, he breathed a heavy sigh in and out, though not in a depressed way, in a simply contented way. one hand moved to slowly tangle itself in her long curls, and his mouth moved and his tongue formed sounds his brain had not placed its seal of approval on. "nina," he said, then stopped, because though he wanted to be formal about the whole thing and use her full name, he knew she loathed it with a passion, "i love you." he wasn't speaking to her; their eyes couldn't meet, because her face was smooshed into his body. but he meant it, as fully as anyone could. despite his childishness, despite his unserious behaviour and his self-centredness, he meant it.

i love vika. why is everything i write so needlessly rambly

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

Nina’s history of relationships could be divided into two parts: life before Luca and life after him. Technically, there hadn’t ever been a ‘relationship’ in her life before this cuddly mess, mostly because all the boys she’d had an interest in, had preferred the snogging-banging-fleeing tactic. She had been perfectly fine with that. She’d never whined about being left in the morning after meaningless sex, or even the very same evening, if the guy had been particularly heartless. Even losing her virginity to an uncaring monster hadn’t seemed like much of a problem to her, because she’d done the very same thing to those three boys. She’d used them, waved them goodbye and gone on. As despicable as it may sound, she didn’t regret a single thing she did, mainly because it had kept her safe. That couldn’t be said of Luca. It wasn’t as if he was a massive threat; the guy was about as dangerous as a pissed off pigmy puff, at worst. He didn’t have a cruel soul either, but he had seen her be vulnerable. Six years in a row, from the moment she’d had to migrate to the bloody United Kingdom in order to attend Hogwarts, Nina had crafted a mask of indestructible fun. Surely, she was the girl who sneaked in vodka and danced in the common room, but she always danced alone. Nobody had ever made her cry – or so they thought – and she would very much like everyone to stay under that assumption. As long as she was considered untouchable, people would stay at an arm’s length. But then along had come princess Luca.

She hadn’t ever considered him as someone who could come so close to her, the universe and her sidekick life had thrown him in her face and given her no other option but to accept him. Thinking back of the time, the weeks, when she’d doubted whether kissing him would be a good idea, made her smirk to herself. She had definitely done the right thing, for once in her life. Accepting him and taking the risk of being turned down had led to this; it had led to her being cradles in his enormous Quidditch-star arms, breathing in his scent, which was threatening to become a component of her Amorentia ingredients. He dealt with her, which was more than enough to let her l- l- l- lo- locker. Okay, so she still couldn’t think the word. In some odd way, she soundlessly, thoughtlessly felt it anyway. ”Uhuh. You’re the best stag ever. Just look at your enormous horns, wow. A lass sheep can’t help but fall for your charms.” It was as sarcastic as it came, obviously. She’d very rarely honestly compliment someone on purpose. Occasionally, she did call people handsome or clever, but those were blunt outbursts rather than tactical moves to flatter people. The sexual innuendo made her smirk, so badly she had to smack his chest. ”Alucard!” She didn’t protest any further, though, for obvious reasons. She’d been stupid enough to get close to a fault line in the earth crust: the subject of a common future. He’d been a hero and avoided it. That was the end of that episode, all’s well that’s ignored.

”Say bye-bye to your handsome face then.” She dryly muttered, raising a fist to his face, threateningly. The size of her balled up, tiny hands was unimpressive, though, and she ended up stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. Even threatening him too much seemed like a crime against humanity. Or worse – animal cruelty. He was her little puppy, if he couldn’t trust her to treat him well, what would he do? Still, she was impressed by her own tactics. Destroy the evidence, lie until they believe you, kill all witnesses. Nina could be pretty logical when there was a need for it, so she suddenly got an idea. Once more, it involved the future, but she’d spilled it before she knew it. It happened at times; as long as she didn’t feel the supreme urge to keep something a well-buried secret, she had little control over her tongue. ”I’d make a wicked special agent, though. Maybe I should go work in the Ministry once I’m done.” Although the ministry was a crooked place right now, hunting the other species ruthlessly, she didn’t feel ashamed mentioning it. Hell, her daddy had served under the Dark Lord himself, there was very little she could do to make her own reputation worse. She’d need to slaughter puppies and kick kittens, and even then, people would see her as a weaker, less evil version of her old man. Just thinking about him made her throat tighten, making breathing hard. His prints, his stains, were all over her being. She’d never been born without him, but damn it, she wished she could find a way to step out of his shadow and become a person of her own. Luca had a way of distracting her, though, she snapped back to reality. ”The S.S. Ninacalibur is indestructible. Duh. The only way to get off it is to be kicked out by me. And that’s not going to happen right now.” Lies. If he wished, he could scream ‘save yourself’ and jump off this unmanned ghost ship. Still, she liked to pretend like she got a say in all of this. As long as she faked believing she had any self-worth, people wouldn’t question her. The last thing she needed was an obligatory ‘you are worth something, honey’ talk. She’d had a couple of those in her first year, when a couple of professors had spotted her weakness and seen through her mask, which had been thin back then. She’d learnt a lot since then. Oh, she hadn’t learnt to love or respect herself, not at all. She’d simply learnt how to act a bit better, how to be a more convincing, confident bitch.

His face made her laugh. Instead of covering her mouth, she simply lowered her head, shoving her face out of his line of sight. This worked too, this too prevented him from seeing the odd, wrinkly mess that was her laugh. Too bad she couldn’t muffle the audible laughter, she would’ve liked to do that too. ”Is daring me really a good idea?” she looked back at him when she was done, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Then, it was time to try and suffocate herself against him. Pressing her chest against his might not have been the most comfortable thing for her, but she was cool enough to think of how it would feel to him, and that was good enough. If she had to drag around that heavy chest, at least someone had better get some benefits from it. If she couldn’t get those herself, she was more than willing to offer it to him. Making him happy was more important than feeling good herself, anyway. It was a lot easier, too. She got the evidence of that murmured against her hair – he loved her. She dared say he knew her, he’d seen most of her mood swings and he’d dealt with most of her crap already, and still he had the heart to say such a thing. He was too good. ”I…” she purred against his chest, feeling her voice vibrate against his shirt. She had to try again. He deserved it more than a person ever could, it was a goddamned miracle. ”I…” She cursed herself, swallowing and taking a breath in to choke the tears down. This wasn’t a time to cry, fuck her, this was a time to rejoice! Why did she have such a hard time separating love from tears? ”I…” This was painful, she felt like a stuttering Gryffindor, a stupid Puff, rather than a misplaced, badass Russian. It was unacceptable. Had her father lived to see this, he would have smacked her up, no doubt. He probably would’ve disapproved of Luca to begin with, but who knew? Maybe he would’ve cared for his daughter, maybe her affection for a pureblooded boy would’ve been enough to keep him satisfied. "I…” It just didn’t work. Why didn’t it work? Stupid English, stupid words, stupid, stupid, stupid. Growling against him, she tried one final time. ”Ya tebya lyublyu.” There. She’d said it. In Russian, but still, it was there, out in the open.


lol ninucard posts, y u keep growing <3

[juniper]

whatever kind of magic or universal destiny had decided it was a good idea for luca to be in the room of requirement at that time once upon a september, luca was eternally within its debt. they were about as unlikely as duos came - luca could think of only a few exceptions within the school, namely a lestrange-longbottom pair that kicked history in the face - but through his good luck, stubborn determination and a big helping of perverse optimism he had muddled through and somehow ended up here. and where was here? here was christmas with someone who meant something to him, waking up in the morning and wanting nothing more with an entire day than seeing her face, and a healthy dose of sex: always something that brightened a teenage boy's prospects of his near future. all that aside, he finally felt like something had passed into his heart - sometimes it felt like a flaming arrow, but other times it was like a gentle feather - and it was something truly real. tilting his head from side to side and straightening his back, he was the picture of the flattered fool. "you're too kind, nina," he said, blithely ignoring the sarcasm and sailing through like a dread pirate captain through a tempest. instead, he took his hands from around her waist and stuck them on his head in a pathetic pantomime of a magnificent stag's headpiece. "but stags have antlers," he added as an absent-minded aside. no matter about that, the peculiar pedantics of the english language could escape her all they wanted so long as she was here with him - on him - and besides, he found it endearing. he only grinned as she whacked him, knowing by that reaction his comment had plucked the desired strings. romantics could be left for valentine's day in two months or so: right here and now he was going to be as base as his fluffy little mind could be.

throwing his hands to his face to protect it from her flailing little fist, more a representation of the possibility of her rage than something that actually scared him, he made a small attempt at a feeble yelp and finished with a, "no, nina, not the face! anything but the face!" before remembering her earlier threat she had made and paling all the more potently. she tended to make a habit of threatening his most important features. next she would be cutting out his abs and using them as a cheese grater, or making his bicep-clad arms into a weird mounted wall-feature like hunters used to do with exotic creatures. shrugging non-committally, he nonchalantly added, "mmhm, and then you'd work for me." it was an actual fact for him: he was beyond the point of thinking to himself, 'i want to be the next minister for magic,' but rather thought, 'i am the next minister for magic.' but as something passed across nina's features that evidently was irritating her, caught in her throat, luca's reaction was to instantly lighten to mood. if nina wanted people to know about something that afflicted her, she would tell him. besides, he was so ineffective at consoling people it was probably best she only told him if she desperately needed to. until then, he would be comic relief. flinging up his hands in a gesture of innocence and giving in - something he was doing often lately, which should have annoyed him but he was beyond the point where he could be annoyed at anything right at this moment - he took on a begging tone. "don't kick me off, captain, i can't swim. spare me, captain, i'll do anything!" he could hear her laughing, but couldn't see it; as much as he would love to, she had hidden her face far too well. she was practiced at that, using whatever was available: her hands, her cloak, himself - evidently.

"daring you is a great idea. if you don't do it, i'll bite you instead: if you do... well. see? it's a win-win situation. i've thought all this through, nina, i'm smarter than i look," he said with a stupid grin, even though he was technically talking to air. hmm, he should really rectify that situation. he placed a hand under her chin, sneaking it into a gap he made between her face and his chest by breathing in harshly all of a sudden. with that giant bearpaw he gently brought her face back up to the open air to face him, readjusting her by placing both hands on each hip and plonking her down more comfortably on his lap so that each could see the other. with a lazy flick of his wand, luca wordlessly summoned one of the many sprigs of misteltoe hanging around the household to hover above them and tinkle slightly, like miniature bells or the sound fairies made when they laughed. the leaves and berries showered the pair in a soft rain of powdered icing sugar which his mother had decided was a tastier, cheaper version of faux snow. smirking, he looked up and then back at her, daring her gaze to follow the path his had taken, challenging her. but suddenly, all the silliness faded away from his face and his grin started to turn into a straighter, more serious thin line, for one of the very few times in its ridiculous life. his mouth always had a smile hovering at the corners, ready to burst onto the scene at a moment's notice: for it to disappear altogether meant something was seriously going down. instead, he watched her with a slightly bemused look on his face, something luca liked to define as 'benevolently confused'; having no clue what was happening but casually appearing as if you're all cool with it.

it took a lot of effort for him to maintain this stance and not do something stupid, make a face, tease her, mimic her stuttering or pretend nothing was serious. as much as he would have like to echo her with a 'you? you?' he didn't, and he reckoned he should be commended for that herculean effort right there. with only the most invisible of twitches of his features he kept a straight face and, though she probably knew her deeply playful, maverick boyfriend was merely painting on a serious mask - to think otherwise would insult her intelligence - he only hoped she appreciated the fact that he was putting on a brave face for this, something he never did. it was so difficult for her to say those three words, eight tiny letters which - unless written in luca's gargantuan, cursive handwriting, developed for when professors asked for 'two pages' in an essay - really should not have required this amount of effort. he could make all kinds of excuses if he wanted: what with a father like hers, a mother like hers, a surname like hers, a legacy like hers, what chance did she have? but he was above that kind of blatant prejudice. instead, he just felt a little sad at the circumstances that made nina so incapable of expressing her love. it was a sad world when a young girl, beautiful like nina and so deserving, was forced into a situation where to declare her love became an act of weakness, opening herself up to be attacked by the unscrupulous and cruel. and in the world in which they lived, that could well be a possibility. he only thanked his lucky stars that nina was not some kind of supernatural - other than unnaturally hot - or else he might have had to get rather cranky and maybe even admit to being under the famous harry potter's - and, therefore, james' - command. well, he wouldn't allow it to happen: he would be here for as long as she wanted him, and he would tell her and tell her until she knew it to be true even deep inside that part of her which always doubted herself.

then again, it could always be argued that she simply didn't love him, but, ever the optimist, alucard refused to admit the existence of that possibility. he waited for her to finally say it if she was going to, but when it arrived it took a guise he initially did not recognise. it took a bit of thought - never luca's strong point, if truth be told - to realise that nina, being russian, might be able to speak russian. combining this realisation with his basic knowledge of her heavy accent, and a bit of very dumb luck, he arrived at the conclusion that she had told him she loved him, in russian. now that he had reached the thought it didn't seem so difficult, but it had been a bit of an uphill struggle. "nina, did you... that may just be the best christmas present i've ever been given." not to be outdone, and released from his duty of seriousness, he grinned at her and leaned down slightly to plant a kiss on her nose. summoning up his best impression of an inhabitant of his father's native northern france, he replied, "j'taime," speaking into the skin of her nose quietly like a murmur, his eyes off-focus and soft and seeming to look far beyond her forehead, which was what was immediately in front of them. well, wasn't this a turn of events and a half? it was a story he could tell his children: it had taken them the best part of three months, but she had said it. in russian, no less, and the most perfect of circumstances. he couldn't think of anything he could wish for more. a christmas kiss under misteltoe in the morning of christmas eve, before everything got so hectic, before the new year came along and made everything difficult, a bearhug on a sofa, love in as many languages as you pleased. now, what more did a relationship need?

because ninucard = infinite muse. also because their size reflects the proportions of their subjects. ...yeah. also i noted that nina's app is now ridiculously out of date, specifically the 'number of boyfriends' and 'amount of times she's had sex' bit. helpful jun is helpful.

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

Nina didn’t believe in a god. If there was a higher entity, it surely couldn’t have allowed all that suffering to happen in the world. If there was a god, he’d never allow muggles to be born with magical powers and be either labelled as ‘freaks’ in their own world, or banished from the magical world as ‘mudblood’ outcasts. Although she wasn’t allowed to show mercy, Nina’s soul was soft, weak enough to show pity on those poor creatures. Their suffering was the ultimate proof that there was only mankind and heartfelt humanity that kept the world spinning. Then why, why on earth had she ever run into Luca? It would be silly to say that he was sent from above, she wasn’t that obsessed or naïve, but it came pretty close. She would’ve never guessed that she’d have a decent conversation with the head boy. Let alone decent sex. Or a decent relationship. He made her feel a million times better about everything, even when she was being an utterly negative bitch and threatening to ruin the mood, bless him. ”Nawh, you’re too kind, princess.” Although her tone was playful, she meant it. Her mood had just, once more, turned a hundred and eighty degrees, though it was for the better this time. She’d gone from bitterly turning herself down, to complimenting him, which usually raised both of their moods. He was a puppy whose ego needed constant stroking, she was the grumpy old lady whose blood pressure could only be lowered by that very same stroking. It was a match made in… a mad house, really, but still a match. The madness continued in his pantomime of an animal, which literally made her snort. ”Don’t make a fool of yourself, retard.” The constant undermining of his masculinity was but a game: when she put her hand on his shoulders, trying to force him to lower his arms, she was once more reminded of his strength. Round, glorious muscles rolled underneath his skin. She nodded approvingly, more to herself than anything: he was hot.

Threatening him made her laugh. It was sad but true. Her entire life, Nina had been a grumpy little thing, first as a girl, then as a young woman. Threatening people with violence and hurling things at them was part of her daily routine. She’d never expected to find someone who could fully cope with that quirk of hers, let alone like it and make something positive out of it. Yet, here he was. His yelping made her laugh. Not sadistically, as a Dolohova ought to, but cheerily. ”I shall punch the face if I feel like it. It’s my fucking face.” She let out, once she was done with giggling like a retard. (God – his retarded giggle appeared to be contagious. She’d better keep him away from her mother. If she ever heard her parent chuckle like that, she would get a legit heart attack.) However, instead of hurting him, she stretched her spinal column until she was at the level of his face. There, she smooched his lips, holding hers on his for a few seconds, before she pulled back and opened her eyes. It was hers. If she wanted to kiss it twenty-four-seven, she could. ”Technically, yes,” she agreed quickly. ”You’d be my boss at work, but everyone would know you’re under my thumb for the rest.” She refused to sacrifice her masculinity. Even if he was the one who was making her giggle like an actual girl, even if he tickled her until she begged for mercy and fucked her brains out, she was still the top cat. That came with great responsibilities, however. She had to protect him from her inner demons, so she fought those all by herself. ”Anything, hmm?” she grumbled, somewhere in-between her laughing. ”That’s a dangerous thing to say. You’re my personal slave now. I think today… I’ll order… a massage.” Her back hurt most of the time – whose wouldn’t, if you had to carry around such a chest on such a tiny body? – so a back rub was more than welcome.

Daring her to bite his tongue off. Had he been anyone else, she literally would’ve made him bleed. Tongues could be healed quite easily, she wouldn’t feel bad about sending someone to the sick bay, as long as he literally challenged her. However, they were out of Hogwarts and this was Luca. The closest nurse was in St. Mungo’s, many miles away, and she’d much rather tear off her own flesh than hurt him. Distasteful, but true. ”Fine.” She frowned, trying to look as dangerous as she could, but failing to hide the twinkle in her eye. She happily took advantage of his shift in position, allowing him to rearrange her limbs as if she was a doll to be played with. This was more comfortable, anyway. And once her face was lifted to be closer to his, she leaned in and took a hold of his lower lip with her teeth, tugging on it lightly. ”Grwwrwrl.” it was supposed to be a menacing growl, although it sounded more like something a pup would roar while playing with its favourite chewy toy. She let go of him once things got serious, though.

He loved her. He’d said it before, but now, it was time to say it back. More or less. Nina had never stuttered before, so the sensation of the words getting stuck in her throat was entire foreign to her. Her throat suddenly seemed like the most important place in the world. She vaguely registered his slightly positive, confused facial expression – which she’d learnt to mentally call ‘idfk, yay’ – and approved of it. At least he was making an effort to wait for her to speak. She suddenly thought that, as awkward and painful it may be to her, he couldn’t be entirely comfortable with it either. When he barfed up those three words, things were still okay. It didn’t mean nearly as much to him, did it? He was a loved little boy, he probably heard and said it all the time. But to Nina, that short sentence meant the end of the world. Saying it in English felt like a lie. She didn’t think in that language, nor did she love in it. She was brutal, closed off and secretly generous, as any decent Russian. It was only suitable that if – when – she actually said it, she’d do it in her native tongue. She – she – she – she – она его любила. He’d better deal with it. At the end of it, she felt like she’d given birth to twins. Her heart was racing and her blood pressure was unnaturally high. Instinctively, she felt she needed to pet a cat, and since none of her favourite creatures was around at the moment, she settled for gently stroking up and down Luca’s chest. It was equally warm and satisfying, anyway. ”It better be.” she grumbled, slowly slipping back into her normal, non-I-love-you mode. But no, he had to drag her back to that fuzzy hell by repeating it in French. She snapped, biting the air so close to his chin with ferocity. ”Mda, da, da. Doesn’t matter in which language you say it, the context is the same. Chill out, princess, and get me coffee.” She wasn’t thirsty, but she needed an excuse to get off of him for now, before she did something silly as cry or have mad sex with him in an open hallway.

[juniper]

he couldn't help himself but wonder what the bloody hell she was doing spending her time here with him. when worst came to worst - when he looked in the mirror he could see past the hazy brilliance of his glorious form, unlike usual - he could tell that he certainly was not what one would call 'boyfriend material'. self-centred, vain and utterly melodramatic, he could hardly be expected to make rational decisions concerning himself, let alone another person. well, he'd put a lot of effort into trying to change for nina. despite a few innocent mistakes, he'd stayed steadfastly true to her; and what was possibly the fiercest reminder of his desire to remain hers and only hers, he had actually made an effort to care about her problems. this had never happened before. not even carson could speak to him at length about his life - his girly troubles or his family woes - without luca becoming unashamedly bored. with nina, it was like he actually cared about someone who wasn't himself. perhaps because he had started seeing her as a kind of extension of himself: he cared what she did when he wasn't around because people saw them as a couple now, people saw her as a representation of him. so if nina was - merlin forbid - running amok and torturing first years or protesting against muggle rights or something equally absurd, he would in some way be held responsible. he didn't mean to be so callous about these things, but it was just the way things were: he couldn't help himself but be mortally aware of how people viewed him. it was his lifeblood, the warmth of the spotlight's glow kept him functioning normally. and though the warmth of nina's body against his also kept him functioning, it just wasn't the same. old habits died hard. giggling at her unladylike snort, he continued despite her playful insults. he just flicked his hair back with a cocky grin - he had let it grow too long over the holidays again, he needed a haircut - and teased her in a sing-songy voice. "you know, if you're going to insult me, you should at least quit feeling me up first. makes it seem at least a little more realistic." he couldn't care less when she insulted him: unless, of course, she actually meant it. that had only happened once or twice - maybe a few more when he hadn't realised it - and it had stung. when it was this kind of playful banter being tossed to and fro, he was the happiest boy in the world.

it was probably very true that this face - as much as it was his defining feature, his calling card - belonged to her. every high cheekbone, every shy dimple, every french-inspired ridge in his bone structure belonged to her. he shrugged, putting his hands down, giving up and waving the little white flag of surrender. he pointed his chin slightly away, closing his eyes, turning the other cheek like a meek, good little boy. but instead of a punch - however weak the punch he he was expecting: this was nina, after all, she could barely hurt a fly, not that he would ever tell her as much - he received a kiss, on the lips no less. well, that was a much better turn of affairs. "you'd lose a boxing match with those kinds of tactics, nina," he admonished cheerily, "that's not how we punch people here in the uk. you've got to use your fists, yes?" he knew he was being ridiculous, and likely the sledge - however playful - against her eastern european heritage would not go as well as he had hoped. but he had given up on being afraid of what she thought, because after the first few weeks of her falling upon him with some kind of infernal hunger after each of his most stupid moments, he had come to expect that she did actually like him - love him, even - and that nothing he did without actually meaning to hurt her, which he would never do, could get on her bad side for too long. and besides, the make-up sex really was to die for. "nina, i will never be your boss for as long as we both shall live," he said wisely, sliding his hands slowly from where they rested along her thighs, then her hips and across her lower back to rest lightly on her shoulderblades. this stated fact was evidenced by his quiet acquiescence to her demand. "a massage? later, i promise." he skirted around his duty like a deer on ice-skates, not quite so eloquent or grand but he did mean it. his promises were not exactly the most foolproof of things - she was probably brutally aware of that by now - but for nina he'd put in the effort to stick to his word. that or, when later arrived, he'd whine and moan and squeeze his way out of it in his slickly charming way. he looked a little disappointed she hadn't taken him up on her challenge. sure, he wouldn't like her to bite his tongue off but if she made a good go of it he certainly wouldn't be complaining.

there she was, steadfastly grumbling and frowning at him. oh, nina. she was fickle and mood-swingy and vaguely dangerous when the mood took her, and as much as he told himself he liked boring monotony where everyone stayed the same so that he could mould himself to suit them best, her spontaneity - and the threat that presented to him - was a bit of fun he needed in his life, to suit his very unserious personality. he couldn't choose: have people be boring and thus easy to entertain, or have them be exciting and impossible to understand. couldn't he have it both ways and have the best of both worlds? but unfortunately, the world didn't want to let him do that and it wasn't letting him off that easy. he grinned at her grumpy little face, unable to match her even far enough to tease her like he wanted to. staying steadfast as she snapped at him despite the danger her teeth presented - who was he kidding, being bitten by nina was awesome - he just kept his nonchalantly cheerful face blissfully the same, ignorant and charming and just so damn happy. "chilling out, chilling out. alright, alright." with a swift movement, he tossed her roughly to the side to land on the part of the couch they weren't using and leapt up with his usual energy. looking around as he stood on his feet, he turned in almost a full circle before making a thoughtful little hum to himself and striding off without a backward glance at nina, probably sprawled on the couch and looking murderous as he strolled away. whistling, he disappeared into a gallery beside them, returning only moments later with his hands behind his back. "i didn't find a coffee, but i found a kitten," he said, flashing a brilliant smile and cocking his head to the side. he held out marlin with straight arms, the grey tabby munchkin hanging from his armpits in luca's huge paws and swinging his stripy rump around with intense glee. "will that do? we're an irish household, we drink tea," he offered by way of apology, unintentionally echoing what his mother always said through his lifetime and shrugging. his father might have drunk coffee, but his secret store of high-class beans would be destroyed in flames the moment his mother found out about it. luca wasn't about to let down his dear dad like that.

sorry this is so late but it's ninucard so it makes up for it. omg luca, 'i don't have any coffee but i found a kitten, idfk yay'

[vika1]

all i want for christmas is you,

Somehow she’d stopped thinking about the downsides of it all. Only a few weeks ago, she’d been continuously tormented by the horror scenarios. Heartbreak, warfare, blood, gore, crying all around. However, as the things she feared so much weren’t coming true, nor did they seem like they’d become reality anytime soon, she was calming down. Luca had found an incredible way to ease the restless worrywart she was, by simply being there. They didn’t have many deep conversations, which might have bothered other girls, but it seemed like a blessing to Nina. She didn’t want to discuss politics with him, she didn’t want to compare childhoods to find out who was the abused and who was the spoiled one, all she needed was brainless entertainment and he was offering just that. Selflessly. Willingly. Happily. That was all she could ever dream of wanting in her life right now – he made everything so much better. Waking up wasn’t a drag anymore, because besides the prospects of eating, cuddling her kitties and small sadistic pleasures, there was the foresight of him. His cuddles, sex, laughter, lightness of being had somehow slipped into her very core and brightened her too. It was sickingly adorable, but she couldn’t keep away from him. Not mentally – she found that he crossed her mind at the least appropriate moments, mostly in class – nor physically, which was once more proven right now. Her hands seemed to be glued to him and pulling them off would physically hurt. ”I get to insult you whenever I fancy, princess.” she snarled, but her words were softened by the smile in her intonation. ”Just like I’ll feel you up when I want to. The threats are very, very realistic. Don’t you doubt that.” They weren’t. She was all bark and no bite when it came to him, which she knew he knew, and he knew she knew he knew, so it was all harmless as far as she knew.

He was hers. Even though she put it playfully, a part of her meant it, a larger part than she’d like to admit, actually. She squared her shoulders and raised her chin in exaggerated pride as he surrendered and made her victorious, playing along. Getting to act like a primary school kid around him was a blessing, she got to let out all of her playfulness without being judged for it. No, if anything, he judged it positively. Right? He had a talent for making everything about her positive, which she now once more tested by snapping. Any stabs at her heritage, as adorable as they may be, were met with a certain degree of hostility. It was her nature. ”Shut that trap. Here in the UK, you don’t punch people anyway, you look down your nose and club them with your umbrellas and wish them a good day. I can use my fists!” To prove a point, she jabbed at his shoulder with the back of a clutched fist, which seemed pretty hardcore to her. Only when he agreed that she’d always stay superior, did she cool down. ”Damned right you won’t.” His avoidance of the massage irked her too – he was too good, she always felt a miniscule hint of guilt whenever she got demanding and that guilt had just multiplied, for some unmentionable reason. Apparently, he didn’t want to feel her up. She decided to be better than that and bother him right back. ”No big deal. If you don’t feel like it, I can always wait and then ask a Ravenclaw at school to give me a decent one. I’m sure someone will oblige.” Was this an un-subtle, dishonest attempt to make him jealous? Yes. Did she honestly expect it to work? Although she didn’t like to overestimate his intelligence, no, she didn’t. It had escaped from her mouth like a million others stupid things had done before.

Grumpiness kicked in. She was misbehaving again, pouting for no particular reason other than the mess in her head. Even though she constantly blamed him for the smaller things, it was a distraction, a lightning rod, to keep everyone from seeing there was only one to blame for everything, and that one was sitting on the couch with the facial expression of a pug. Normal girls didn’t act like that after confessing their love to their mind-blowing boyfriend, but Nina had given up on trying to be normal somewhere in her second year of Hogwarts. You didn’t get to be a Dolohova without standing out anyway – it was as much of a mark as being a Potter, even though it was on the other side of the historical spectrum. People judged. She had decided to judge them right back. Her frown deepened when she was tossed off of the warm, comfortable sitting spot that was Luca. Even though she’d ordered him to get her coffee, she now realised she didn’t want to be alone. As much as she thought solitude would solve everything, it was much more dangerous than being in his presence. He kept her from thinking too much. So she watched his rolling, walking body as he left and closed her eyes once he was gone. There was plenty to see in the hallway, but she’d seen it already. At this point in time, she preferred to take a few seconds of rest and not think about anything. Calm, lonely, peaceful seconds that passed too quickly and were eventually briskly ended by Alucard’s voice. She jumped up and opened her eyes at the first syllable of ‘kitten’. ”Fuck coffee.” was her eloquent first response. Then, she reached out and, after snatching the kitten from the daddy bear, she sat down on the sofa and cradled the little cat. Everything melted away when she got to cuddle felines, her passion for them was enough to keep her alive. Absolutely ignoring the tall presence in front of her, she focussed all of her attention on the animal and spoiled him, tickling his tummy, stroking his chin and nuzzling the top of his soft little head. ”You’re the cutest tiny little kitty-cat, yes you are,” and the rest of her embarrassing, high-pitched baby-talk melted into Russian.

sorry this is poo.