Her lips were parted, her eyes wide, her body motionless. She didn’t make a sound, not one, before Olaf arrived in a burst of terrible timing to lay their desserts before them.
He disappeared quietly, and then it was just the two of them again.
She bit her lip, eyes downcast, and Marcus knew. Without her needing to say a word. He waited anyway, prepared to absorb the blow.
The answer was as clear to her as it was to him, evidently.
How could he hold the interest of a woman like her? He couldn’t. He didn’t.
“I’m sorry, Marcus,” she began, her voice quiet and reluctant, “but I don’t think that’s a great idea.”
And there it was. The kick to his chest he’d expected.
“Okay.” He didn’t say more. Couldn’t, not through the ache beneath his ribs.
“It’s just—” She hesitated. “It wouldn’t work. Not under the circumstances.”
Even though he hadn’t asked for more of an explanation, it seemed she was giving him one anyway. He just hoped she was kind enough to cushion the blow, rather than saying it outright:You’re too shallow and stupid for me.
And how could he blame her for thinking that, when she’d spent almost an entire meal in the company of his public persona?
“I, um, writeGods of the Gatesfanfic,” she said, her cheeks suddenly rosy. “Including some stories that are... kind of explicit.”
Now he was the one startled into stillness and silence. Shewrote fanfiction?Sexyfanfiction? And given both her Twitter handle and the photo she’d posted, her OTP must be—
“I write almost exclusively about Lavinia. And Aeneas. So you can see how it would be a little weird to date you, after devoting hundreds of thousands of words to you—” She paused. “Well, notyou, really, but an Aeneas wholookslike you. Anyway, after devoting hundreds of thousands of words to a you-looking Aeneas falling in love and, um—”
Fucking.
The word she was looking for was definitelyfucking.
“—being intimatewith Lavinia,” she finished.
Hundreds of thousands of words about Aeneas and Lavinia. Which meant she wasn’t a short-timer or a newbie. No, she’d been posting for a while. And he’d be willing to bet her fics were as intelligent and incisive as she was, which meant she wouldn’t go unnoticed on AO3 by the Lavineas community.
He’d almost definitely read her work, then.
She might even—no. He’d know if she were on the Lavineas server. Somehow, he’d know.
Still, he had to ask. Just to be certain.
“I’ve read fanfic on occasion,” he said slowly. “Out of curiosity, what name do you post your stories under?”
Her teeth had sunk into her lower lip again, and her flush had washed away her freckles. On the tablecloth, her fingers were clasped together tightly.
She released her lip. Exhaled.
Then, with clear reluctance, she finally answered his question.
“I’m Unapologetic Lavinia Stan,” she said. “Don’t tell anyone, anddon’tread my fics.”
LavineasServer DMs, One Year Ago
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:No matter what LavineasOTP might argue, I firmly believe that you can’t call your fic a “slow burn” if they bang in the first chapter. That’s a violation of all known slow-burn principles and subject to various penalties, including—but not limited to—major side-eyeing by yours truly.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I was a bit surprised too. To be fair, however, it’s an arranged-marriage AU. For succession purposes, they have to sleep together. The slow-burn part can refer to the emotional ties they form, maybe?
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:They banged and enjoyed it. If it’s a perfunctory boning, only mildly enjoyable for all involved, sure, I can overlook the transgression. But if multiple, mutual orgasms are had: NOPE.
