frozenfractals: (negative) anxiety, concern (craving a darkness as I sit tucked away)
Elsa of Arendelle ([personal profile] frozenfractals) wrote in [community profile] cityarcade2014-11-05 04:17 am

MEME: Arranged Marriage AU

We were craving a meme, so after some digging around, we've got something new and different for you guys, with a huge hat-tip to the [community profile] bakerstreet RP memes comm (original post here). Let's get some of those marriage feels sorted.
Time to get your faux-historical/fantasy novel on. For today's meme, your pup is getting married, whether they want to or not. It's arranged marriages time!

HOW IT WORKS
❧ Post a comment with your character's name and any preferences. This should include whether you're open to full threads or mostly dialogue, Test Drive-style, if you have a preference.
❧ If there's a specific set of circumstances you like best, set the scene.
❧ Or leave your comment blank and let others use RNG to choose the scenario. Feel free to mix and match.
❧ Or even just write drabbles to any (or none) of the prompts.
❧ Please note the prompts below are merely suggestions and you're more than welcome to come up with your own situation.
❧ Have fun!

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR MARRIAGE
1) Station → You come from a royal, noble, or otherwise distinguished family who has chosen a suitable spouse for you.
2) Feud → You are being married to put an end to the bitter enmity between your two families.
3) Economics → Your economic state and/or your station will improve through the union, though one of you may be marrying down.
4) Empire → You and your spouse are merging your businesses and/or property to create something more influential or profitable.
5) Tribute → You have been offered as a gift or appeasement; alternately you're the spoils of war.
6) Bloodline → Carrying on your distinguished family name has fallen to you and the equally well-bred spouse of your family's selection.
7) Disapproval → Your marriage has been arranged to keep you away from the person with whom you truly wish to be.

POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
1) First meeting → This is the very first time you're meeting your future spouse.
2) Courtship → To get to know each other and encourage affection, your family has approved of you going on dates.
3) Engagement party → Be it a huge, formal affair or a small, intimate get together, you're celebrating (or pretending).
4) Wedding day → The big day!
5) Reception → The big party!
6) Wedding night → Every meme needs a smut prompt, right?
7) Honeymoon → Where will you go with your new spouse and what will you do there?
du_vallon: (past battles)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-12 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
This is unexpected, but certainly what he wants. Porthos breathes out, a bit shakily, and licks his lips until he can put his attention purely focused on that hand touching him. "I can tell you what I like," he murmurs, voice soft for Athos' sake. "I like it a bit slow, exploring, but no teasing. No stopping."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-13 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
Athos’ nod is faint, but serious, and his exploration is slow and unhesitating. He watches Porthos expression intently, shifting his touch as the other man responds, and gaining confidence as he goes.
du_vallon: (angles)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-13 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos refuses to take his eyes off Athos, stubbornly holding his gaze as he rocks into the touch, the warmth overwhelming as he feels gentleness instead of harshness. He doesn't know how long this situation will last, but he can't help but indulge while it's here. He snakes his hand through Athos' hair to kiss him, hard, while he brings him off, as if reminding him of what he's been missing.
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-13 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Athos gasps softly into the kiss, the shiver it sends through him still a delicious and unexpected rediscovery. Porthos’ mouth is warm and inviting, rough and greedy, the kiss utterly unlike those he has shared with women, and yet the passion is the same. Athos shifts closer, so that when their lips part, their foreheads can lean together.

This tryst of theirs can’t last, not when the shame and the consequences are so great. Now that the war is done, former allies already clamber to tear each other apart, and the Comte de la Fere has angered too many powerful men over the years to be left in peace now. Especially when one of those men is the First Minister of France. If any of them were to discover this unexpected result of the Cardinal’s little joke--

But none of that matters now. Now, there is only the heat between, powerful enough to block out everything outside this small room.
du_vallon: (Default)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-13 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)

Porthos leans greedily forward to take in every kiss, every touch, every thing he possibly can, given how much he desperately wants it to keep going, but his body is not on the same page, willing himself to give over and to be undone. It's not very long before he finds an end, gasping with it and letting out a remorseful little sigh as he lets his limbs fall with exhaustion on the bed, staring up at Athos with a wary look on his face, mostly for how much he'd enjoyed all of that.

somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-13 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Athos watches as desire and relief turn to uncertainty in Porthos’ eyes; he has every right, and Athos feels much the same, but it stings a bit anyway. He moves away, fetches a towel to clean his hands, and when he returns, sits on the edge of the bed. Though he cannot quite look at the man, he runs a hand through his hair, and brings it to rest gently on his shoulder.

What now? That is the question he cannot quite articulate.
du_vallon: (look down)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos sniffs as he comes back to himself, glancing at Athos before he tucks himself properly back in his trousers and redoes the buttons of his shirt. "It'd be a shame if you and I had to become non-speaking allies," he muses pointedly. "Wouldn't it?"
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-14 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Athos clears his throat, belatedly reaching for his own shirt and breeches. He pulls the linen over his head, feeling his locket hot against his skin. “That would be a disappointment indeed,” he agrees softly, on impulse covering Porthos’ hand with his own.
du_vallon: (hugs)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos looks up with a boyish, surprised look on his face. Even after everything, it's the tenderness he's most surprised by and it comes across by the way he stares at Athos with a sheepish and half shy look, like he's not expecting to be treated this well. "Maybe you and I, we could have an arrangement of a sort. Where you can find solace when you want it."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-14 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
“The servants will talk.” Athos isn’t objecting, exactly - his words are more a statement of fact, a gentle warning. “But they are loyal to me. Word of this will not pass these walls.”

And if any betray him, Athos will have to act swiftly and harshly, and still it might destroy him. He finds himself willing to take the risk. Now that he has allowed himself this bit of comfort, the thought of giving it up is more troubling than he would like.
du_vallon: (watch your eyes)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"You have stables," Porthos points out. "You have all sorts of rooms with locks. I'm not going to ruin you, don't worry. I'm looking for a good life and ruining the Comte de la Fère wouldn't look good on my reputation, would it?" he says, splaying out on the bed as he strokes his fingers over his chest. "For your sake, we probably ought to keep this quiet. Even from your servants."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-14 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Unexpectedly, the thought of being pressed up against the stable wall by Porthos’ magnificent bulk, the earthy smell of horses and hay all around, sends a light shiver down Athos’ spine. “If anyone asks, I have made you my new manservant,” he decides. "In such a capacity, you will have to carry out some duties, travel with me when I go to court…” He glances at Porthos with a faint smirk. “I hope you will not find it too arduous.”
du_vallon: (that's the one)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"What else does a manservant do?" Perhaps it might have come out teasing and sensual, but there is only genuine curiosity in Porthos' tone. He wants to do well by his new position and refuses to abandon it even though he feels a steady undercurrent of need for the man so close to him. "Apart from travelling with you to court, which is far from arduous."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-14 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Athos does, indeed, expect a jest to come, and when none does, he looks at the man with surprise and warmth. Porthos has an innocence about him like nothing he has ever seen before. It reminds him a little of the soldiers he has always felt most comfortable around. But even soldiering men, faced with death every day, grow cynical. And Porthos is surely the opposite of cynical.

Hearts like his are even rarer in Athos’ own social circles, where politics and cunning so often rule the day.

“A manservant would see to my room,” he answers. “Ensure that it is well kept, and the fire going. He would make my wishes known to the rest of the staff, assist my groomsman, run errands, bring me meals when I eat alone. Help me dress in the morning.” He pauses, lifting an eyebrow just slightly.

“I will pay you, of course."
du_vallon: (cold truth)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
He wants to refuse, but he can't. He needs the money to continue making something of himself, and he's so busy being thrilled for what Athos wants of him that he's dazed at the thought of getting paid for it, but then it hits him...

"No," he insists, sharp and fast. "No, you can't pay me. Not if we're going to keep doing this," he says, gesturing between them. "I don't care if you're paying me for honest work, it'll feel like you're paying me for the rest."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-14 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
“You are a member of my household,” Athos insists with a look that is unused to being disobeyed. “I will not keep you as a prize, and I will not ask you to work without compensation. I-“ And he falters, a rare thing for this man of careful control.

“Perhaps it is better that you stick to the honest work. Know that I will keep you on, even without… this." He swallows, looking away, hating how weak he feels, how much he does not wish to lose this bit of comfort.
du_vallon: (bandanna)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-14 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Porthos' face falls to think that he has to decide which he'd prefer -- his honour at not being paid for the physical intimacy he's just learned to love, or losing that. "But I want this," he says, as selfish as he's ever been as he admits the words plaintively. "I'm not a prize, I...isn't there a way you can arrange someone else to pay me. Not your pockets?"
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-15 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
It’s a brilliant idea, one that sidesteps both Athos’ pride and Porthos’ honor, leaving neither of them in the other’s debt. More selfishly, Athos is relieved to hear that soft note of need in Porthos’ voice, his hand on top of the other man’s tightening. “I will arrange something,” he agrees, and more softly yet, adds, “Thank you."
du_vallon: (twirl the giddy)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-15 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos slides his free hand to cup Athos' cheek, offering him a fond smile. "Thank you. Training, a job, money, and intimacy? Our side may have lost the war, but I came out of it feeling as if I've won."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-15 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
Athos ducks his head with a snort that’s almost a laugh. Ironically, he had been thinking something very similar before Porthos came, but in reverse - for a man on the winning side, he had felt no sweetness of victory. Now- now he isn’t sure. “You only say that because you do not yet know me well,” he observes with a rueful twist of a smile.
du_vallon: (considering)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-15 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos gives him a confused look, though there's some mild fondness in it. "Where I came from? No, doesn't matter who you are, I already like the person I've met," he promises, lifting his hand to kiss at the knuckles there. "You should go. Maybe people will talk if you linger too much longer in here."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-15 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
Athos can only shake his head, wondering at the fondness in the other man’s face. Porthos has his reasons for being grateful, perhaps, for a bed and a living, but this warmth he bestows is far beyond what Athos deserves. Isn’t it?

He nods faintly, hating to leave this room, knowing reality waits for him outside like a bucket of ice-cold water, but knowing Porthos to be right. “I will send someone to show you around. And tonight- I will come for you.” The words sticking in his throat slightly.
du_vallon: (athos watching)

[personal profile] du_vallon 2014-11-15 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Porthos feels a spike of desire bolt through him at the promise, nodding and already looking forward to the evening more than anything else. "Only a few more hours before I can really show you my gratitude," he murmurs. "Good."
somepoorsoul: (Default)

[personal profile] somepoorsoul 2014-11-15 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Athos blushes, and though he tries to hide it by looking away, surely Porthos already knows how easily he can make the Comte turn red. He stands, doing up the last buttons on his doublet, and chances to look at Porthos with a smile. “Until tonight, then."