[POLITICAL AIDE AU]

[homosexuals]

AKA MATT BOMERCEPTION

a diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Comments

[homosexuals]

[hawk has eyes. morgan is objectively a stunning woman - the kind that graces the pages of every reputable fashion magazine and sits front row at new york, paris, and milan with designers begging her to wear their pieces. and if he did need some sort of a beard, she certainly wouldn't be the worst choice. maybe even better suited to him than the consideration of lucy nearly a lifetime ago, back when she was the closest thing to a best friend and hadn't indeed married the richest man she could find - some billionaire masquerading as a documentary director - rothschild, if he isn't mistaken. a shame he missed that wedding invite, stationed in velletri and sending a handsome gift after the fact.

but even if he hasn't said as much and it's just their witty banter, of course embry seems to want a straight answer. hawk tips back another swig of the bottle, watching the smoke flow out across the lake, almost black where the moon's light can't catch it, and shoving down the thought that he'd like to shotgun it right out of his mouth on the next blow.]

Well shit, I left the rainbow thong inside.

[it's dryer than the sangiovese he'd had with dinner, but there's a glimmering little twinkle in his eyes as he turns to look at embry head on with a smirk. there was a time where he would have denied it - come up with a lie that would immediately squash any doubts where his preferences might lie, but considering their track record of 2-0, those aren't odds he thinks he can beat. and embry's had enough bullshit to swallow tonight, if his phone and morgan are anything to go by.]

I've been known to have a firm hand. Something about watching a brat count out what they've earned...makes for better manners. A civic duty, really.

[that's only half a joke, and he shakes his head with a low chuckle.]

And your thoughts on the same, Mr. Vice President?

[it's not that he's trying to lull embry into a false sense of security, or even make light of whatever the fuck he was sniffling about in the sand. but asking him straight on seems out of the question, and maybe this is the least he can do to make him feel less alone for now. he'll reassure himself later he's not getting soft - he's doing his damn job.]

[hymen]

[ so it's true. he already knew — had pretty hard proof, really — but there's a sense of satisfaction that comes with hearing it. washington isn't like seattle, or at least not the political side of it. it's not easy to simply be yourself when you have to think about whether it's going to plummet your numbers or not.

he could tell hawk about ash. he could tell him that he wanted to marry him, that he had the chance, twice, and fucked it up both times. merlin's words stick in his mind, gravel in his throat, and the desire passes. the less people that know the better, and besides, he's kept this secret for so long now that he wouldn't even know where to start to undo it. he's a bad lover, and even if there was a chance it wasn't a defect of his personality before all of this, it sure as hell is now.

there is one thing he can share, though, something that hawk might find out sooner or later if they end up back at lyonesse one day. ]

If my partner wants it. I aim to be the best. [ he shrugs, tilting his mouth skyward and attempting a smoke ring. ] Don't get any ideas in your head, but I used to go to Lyonesse with a friend who was training to be a dom. I'm not so much into labels, but he needed someone to learn on, and I didn't have anything better to do.

[ hawk doesn't need to know that it wasn't a friend, it was ash, and it was after jenny's death, after embry had been wandering out in the cold for seven years while ash was happily married, and he'd been desperate to be back at his side and was happy to be beaten, whipped, and fucked into submission as part of ash's education. he'd sworn his allegiance to ash all over again, pledged to stay with him no matter what, and ash had to go and ruin it all over again with another proposal for embry's heart. a heart he can't give without destroying everything they've built.

so of course ash had gone and found someone more willing to be loved. embry turns his attention back to hawk, still puffing on the cigarette as if he has no intention of returning it. ]

I like the fight. I wasn't very good at the submitting part. [ he offers hawk a sidelong grin. ] Too bad about Morgan. She's a brat and she likes to count.