Phoenix
“ Urghhhh ”
The wood feels rough against Beth’s forehead, ignorant of and uncaring for its owner’s troubled mind. It must be nice, she thinks, to be a desk. No worries. No dumb emotions to ruin relationships. No homework. Just an eternal, peaceful, endless life of boring. (...unlife? A desk is technically an amalgam of dead trees, isn't it? Wouldn’t that make a desk some freakish Frankenstein monster from a tree’s point of view?)
...God, she’s musing over a freaking desk of all things. She really fell low here.
“Hey hey hey!” The voice startles her. A shuffling noise follows, so Beth tilts her head to her side to take a good look at the intruder daring to disturb her angsty internal monologue.
Oblivious, or- just as likely- trolling, Josh is staring at her, a large smile on his face.
“Your Favorite,” his voice rolls with an emphasis worthy of an abridged serie voice actor, in such a way that Beth can actually hear the capitalized adjective “and Best brother brought you some tea!” He says in a cheerful tone. Beth lifts her head up- and realizes that, to her surprise, there actually is a steaming cup of warmth at her elbow.
“Thanks.” She nods, taking hold of the handle and a sip out of the cup. It’s warm and pleasant, if a bit bitter- Josh never adds milk to his drinks. Or sugar, for that matter.
Josh, who is taking a sit next to her, staring uncomfortably.
“.......soooo,” he starts. Beth rolls her eyes at how predictable he is. Of course he wants something out of this. “What’s wrong?”
...well, color her surprised, she was wrong. She thought she’d have to deal with the 4chan troll side of her brother today, not the softer protective one. A pleasant, if unfortunate, twist.
“You don't want to know.” she replies because even if he did , there is no way in hell she’s sharing her problem with her older brother of all people.
Josh cocks up an eyebrow, never one to back down from a challenge (unfortunately, as Chris’s collection of lead soldiers would attest). “Try me.”
Urgh. Stubborn, nosy idiot. Beth can’t help but smile at that. “...relationship problems.” That’s one way to word it.
“Aw, and you wanted to deprive me of this sweet sweet salt? I’m offended, Beth.” Josh snorts, then immediately turns serious. “Real talk though. Sam may be one of my best friends, I’m always here if you need an ear, okay?”
Aw, that's cute. And annoying. For god’s sake, she can take care of herself. She’d tell him to take a hint but at this point she’s pretty sure he caught on it and is choosing to push anyway.
Beth stays silent for a few seconds,pondering over the crudest way to word it. “Josh. It’s about our sex life. You don’t want to hear about that.”
Josh blinks rapidly. He opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. Finally, he chooses to bury his face into his hands.
“You did ask.” Beth points out, because she’s not taking the blame for him shoving his foot to the knee in his mouth again. “And I warned you.”
“I did. And you did.” He’s not blushing- not yet? But it’s still painfully obvious in the way he averts her gaze that boy howdy he does not want to have this conversation right now. Or ever. “I mean, you do you, obviously, godspeed and all that, just… you're my sister. No shaming I just. Don’t want to think of you doing… that. Even slash especially with Sam.”
Beth waves a hand dismissively. “It’s fine, I get you.” This isn’t quite the most awkward conversation she’s ever had with Josh, but it’s a close second. (..actually, no, that would be a close third. But that’s more telling of Josh’s general trolling tendencies than of the quality of their current conversation.) “Don’t worry.” She gives him one of her trademark half smiles “I’ll find someone else. I’m very resourceful.”
She doesn’t find someone else.
It’s not that Beth doesn’t have a wide and diverse social circle. There are the people she befriended, and the people Hannah befriended, and the people Josh befriended, and the people these people befriended. This all resulted in the predictably messy and loud group of friend she has today.
It’s not that Beth doesn’t have any choices. It’s that they all. Every single one of them. They all suck.
Sam is out, because duh. Beth’s girlfriend is the very cause of her troubles. Now that would be awkward to bring up. Of course, Beth knows she should bring it up to her at some point, but she’d like to talk it out to someone else first.
Josh and Hannah are also immediately out, for obvious reasons. No matter how close she is to Hannah- no matter how much Josh likes to cheer on his friends whenever someone gets laid- no. Just. No.
Chris and Ash are both out too, because Beth can’t for the life of her imagine either of them being any help on the communication front. Maybe if they ever get over their endless pining, but Beth would rather solve her problem within the current decade. Besides, they already have a lot to deal with, what with the whole “recovering from a drug addiction” (for Ashley) and “just newly started taking testosterone” (for Chris)
Left are Jessica, Matt, Mike or Emily.
On paper, either sound like a good choice; they’re experienced, they would be all too willing to lend an ear, and might even give out some helpful advice once they’re done laughing at her (because, let’s be real, they will.)
In practice that is a different story though, since they are all irredeemable chatterboxes . Telling anything to Jess or Mike is just asking for the whole squad to know about all the specifics of her woes. Matt would only ever tell things to Jess- but that brings up the same problem.
And Emily… oh, Emily would keep the information to herself alright. Preciously. As blackmail material, that is. Beth is not nearly that desperate yet, thank you very much.
So, yeah, Beth really doesn’t have any alternative to brooding in silence. But if she did, here what she would like to put into words:
Sam is hot.
That’s a fact. Josh agrees. Mike agrees. Jessica agrees (though she needs a handful of liquor to admit that.) She’s attractive. Nothing groundbreaking. Being buff as shit will do that to you.
The thing is, at times, Sam gets kind of… dominant, for lack of a better word. Seductive.
Not in a bad way.
In a very. Very attractive way.
They’re playing Super Smash Bros, and Josh brings up the idea of playing in teams. Sam and Beth against Josh and Hannah.
“We won’t lose to you!” Josh says, pulling his tongue out. Hannah cheers at his side, pumping her fist into the air.
Sam laughs at that, and slides an arm around Beth. “As if you could beat us!” She leans in to press a kiss to Beth’s cheek, and
in a very
very low voice
she whispers
“ You won’t disappoint me, will you, Beth? ”
Sam pulls away in a second and goes back to her usual cheerful self- but Beth feels shivers running down her spine the whole game.
They still lose, because for all her bravado Sam sucks at video games and Josh is way too skilled with a controller. Beth takes it with only mild complaining, because let’s be honest, she didn’t expect to win in the first place.
“Alright, team switching now!” Hannah chirps “Give me back my best friend, you heathen.”
“Alright, alright.” Beth rolls her eyes as she clicks to change her team, but she smiles, nonetheless. As much as she could do without the passive-aggressive jealousy… well, Hannah is her sister, and Beth can’t help but feel happy when she’s happy. And feel happy when her girlfriend is happy.
Josh pats Beth’s shoulder roughly. “Bad move, Hannah, you should have stayed with me, you would have been among the winners this way!” He turns his head and grins wide, all teeth out like an advertisement model. “Let’s go, lesbian, let’s go!”
Sam pulls her tongue out. “Oh, we’ll crush both of you!”
Beth can’t help but wonder if she imagined the suggestiveness in her tone.
Or- they’re out wall climbing, the four of them (Chris declined as soon as he realized physical efforts would be involved, Matt unfortunately has a football game that day, and none of the others were interested). They stick to the shortest walls, the one they can climb without any security other than the cushioned floor, because they’re lazy and because Josh wants to race them all and that requires everyone to have free hands at the same time.
The results are. Mixed.
“This is… harder… than it looks…” Josh pants, holding the water bottle close to him. Beth would make fun of him, but she’s just as flushed and breathless as he is.
Hannah laughs, out of breath, and swiftly steals his water bottle. She did a lot better than Beth had expected. (Which is… as awful as it is to say, kind of a blow to her ego. Hannah has always been the scrawnier twin. Beth thought she would at least be toe to toe with her.)
“It’s not just a matter of brute force. It’s all about technique.” Sam says, smiling. She’s sweaty, but compared to the Washington siblings she looks fresh as a blooming rose under the rising sun. She walks to Beth, who is sprawled on the floor like a big floppy starfish, and extends a hand at her girlfriend. “I showed Hannah the other day. C’mon, I’ll teach you.”
Beth’s muscles say no. But her pride says yes, so she grabs the offered hand anyway.
“It’s not that complicated,” Sam says, placing her in front of the wall again. “the thing to remember is that not all holds are made to be grabbed from the upside. All you have to do,” Sam’s hands trail up Beth’s arms to lace their fingers together, and then gently tilting her wrists “is take them sideway.”
Sam suddenly steps closer, pressing her front against Beth’s back. “Another thing,” her tone is even, as if she was discussing the weather. But if her voice is innocent, the way her hands leave Beth’s to settle firmly on her waist definitely isn’t. “keep your hips close to the wall. Very. Close.” Her lips are at Beth’s ear now. Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Too close. Too close. It feels like her hands are all over her, like she’s completely at Sam’s mercy, god fuck .
And, in a flash, Sam steps back. “And keep your feet sideway on the holds, it helps with balance!” She finishes cheerfully. “Hey Josh! You back to life yet?”
Beth’s face feels really, really hot.
….she needs a drink.
Or another day- they’re baking spinach cakes, the four of them; Sam, Hannah, Beth, Josh. Because Sam has been meaning to teach them her vegetarian ways for a while now, and the realization that none of the Washington could cook to save their lives was the one drop that made the jar spill.
“It’s not like we need to cook.” Josh grumbles “that’s what private chiefs are for. Or we can order stuff or go to the restaurant like normal people.”
“Bold of you to assume normal people are as filthy rich as you.” Sam teases back with a pat on his shoulder. It’s easy to forget that Sam isn’t actually a part of the family. She got brought in by Hannah and then solidified in by Beth and Josh rolled with the new addition and now she’s by default included in anything the siblings do. “Besides, don’t you want to pick up gals?”
Josh groans- but goes on with his baking, seemingly convinced enough. Hannah giggles next to him and fistbumps Sam. “It’s good for your health anyway.” she says.
The oven beeps and Sam cracks her knuckles. “Alright, pass me the oven mitts, I’ll take them out this time.”
Beth frowns as she passes them- though she’s not actually offended. “It was one time.”
“One time too many.” Sam sticks out her tongue as she pulls out the tray. “I like your hands too much to let you burn them so stupidly, honey.”
The cakes look good, if nothing else. Josh scrunches his nose, the unappreciative heathen, but Hannah reaches out for one… only to get her hand slapped away.
“Wait for them to cool, you animals.” Sam rolls her eyes, amused.
“Aw, come on, aren’t they better when they’re still hot?” Hannah argues, fingers still outstretched.
Beth decides to back up her twin and turns on the charm. “Come on, Sam.” She steps close, closer to her girlfriend. Beth never mastered the gentle art of doe-eyes. But she has other ways; she sets an o-so-casual hand on Sam’s waist, leans in to kiss her cheek, and says “pretty please?”
Sam blushes lightly, obviously barely holding back a grin. She moves to peck Beth’s temple, sweet and soft.
Then she whispers so quietly Beth could have as well imagined it.
“Maybe if you get on your knees.”
A shivers run down Beth’s spine.
Oh.
Oh god.
The moment is broken, however, by a yelp of pain and Josh suddenly jerking his hand away from the tray “They’re hot!”
“I told you so!”
So, yeah. Beth thirsts. Beth thirsts hard . When she’s in the shower, when she’s joking around with friends, when Sam is making love to her, Beth’s mind wanders- to rougher, rawer places, filled with words in her ear and nails in her hips.
“So…” Sam interrupts Beth’s thirsty introspection. It occurs to her that fantasizing about how much greater she could get fucked when she literally just had sex is kind of a poor move, but hey, her mind her rules. “Can I talk to you about something embarrassing?”
Of course she can. Beth loves Sam very, very much, for a lot more than just sex. Of course she can.
“Well…” Sam sits a little straighter, causing the blanket to slip and reveal her very naked and very distracting breasts.
“Okay, so, sex with you, that’s usually pretty great.” A lesser soul would have been offended by the 'usually’, but Beth knows that’s about the nicest way to refer to their first few times. She likes to think they both got better though.
“I was just thinking…” considering how straightforward Sam usually is, Beth is pretty surprised by how much she’s stalling. “Well, do you want to, ah, try, spicing things up I guess?”
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Beth rolls on her side to face he girlfriend. “Tell me, what did you have in mind ?”
Sam flushes, swallows. “Just… don’t get mad, okay? You don’t have to agree, I know it’s not. Usual. Just… hear me out.”
Sam tells her.
For a few seconds, there is silence.
Then Beth bursts out laughing.
Sam flushes hard and covers her eyes with her palms. “I-I know it’s, kinda weird, but you don’t need to- make fun of, me y’know.”
Beth shakes her head. “It's not that.” There’s still laughter in her throat, something loud and borderline hysterical. “It’s just- I- you-” words fail her. The irony of it all sound like a Shakespeare dick joke. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, something so much worse, but I was so scared that’d you’d freak out, and- and it turns out you- you’re also a kinky hoe.”
Sam stares, eyes wide as saucers. For a few seconds, she’s speechless.
“... How much worse are we talking?” She asks finally.
Beth tells her.
As things turn out. Sam would like that. Very, very much.
Getting the Washington parents out of the house isn’t really a problem. If anything, it’s having them present that proves difficult.
Hannah and Josh, though, that’s a different story.
“There’s a butterfly exposition in town.” Beth starts carefully. She’s talking to Josh first, because it would be both too cruel and too awkward to tell Hannah to leave her sister and best friend alone for a day.
Josh laughs quietly. Oblivious. “Oh damn, Hannah is going to have a field trip, isn't she?”
“She really is.” Beth can’t even remember when did her twin’s butterfly obsession start. She vaguely recalls a book about first-nation people beliefs? “It would be really nice if you could go with her there.” Beth continues subtly.
Obviously too subtly, because Josh hums softly. “Let’s make it a family trip! It would be pretty fun.”
Beth sighs. She guesses she could- and should- try again to pass the message discreetly. But god. She’s one tired, thirsty gay.
“Josh.” She tries again. “I need you and Hannah to leave the house for a day.”
Josh stares at her, brows knitting together, and if Beth was feeling merciful she’d let him figure the implications out by himself. As it is, Beth is growing increasingly irritated, and if she’s going to embarrass herself then screw it she’s dragging him in her tomb.
“Josh, I’m going to get rawed by my girlfriend.” she bites, and manages to only mildly blush at that. “Take Hannah and get the fuck out of the house.”
Slowly, Josh works to pick up his jaw. He closes his eyes, breathes in heavily, as red color his cheeks. Gently, he sets his palms on her shoulders.
“Beth,” he articulates carefully, “I will do literally anything you want if promise me to never, ever, share that much information with me again. Ever.”
Sometimes, Beth finds herself annoyed at how naive Hannah can be. (Though to be fair, Beth would challenge anyone to not be annoyed by Hannah’s puppy crush on Mike. The guy isn't interested !! He’ll never be interested !! And that’s fine!! Accept it and move on!! Beth has had enough crushes on straight girls to know the drill. And yet here Hannah is, arm wrapped in gauze from a tattoo of all things. Come on .)
Today, though, Beth can’t help but be thankful of it. She’s positive Hannah doesn’t notice Josh’s wink when he comes to whisk his sister away for a “wonderful surprise!”
He just couldn’t not embarrass her, could he.
“At least we got the whole house for ourselves!” Sam laughs, blushing. If nothing else she’s quicker to bounce back.
And suddenly it dawns on Beth that oh, god, they’ve got the whole house for themselves . It’s happening. It’s happening .
She swallows hard. She wants this. There’s no doubts that she wants this. She’s nervous nonetheless. Fuck. It’s like her first time all over again.
“You, ah, know your safeword, right?” Sam asks, rubbing her wrists with shaking hands. At least Beth knows she’s not the only one fumbling.
Beth nods. “‘Hannah’, right?” nothing like your sister’s name to kill any mood. Though it occurs to Beth that if this was one of those trashy romance novels she loves to hate, the whole 'calling the wrong twin name’ during sex would actually be pretty likely-
“Alright.” Sam interrupts her train of thoughts. “Alright. Alright.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
Gently, Sam kisses her.
It’s something soft and sweet, almost chaste, really. For a time, anyway. Soon enough, Beth feels teeth nibbling at her lower lips. She hums appreciatively. Out of habits, Beth raises her hands to lace her fingers in Sam’s hair, pulling her closer, harder-
Suddenly, Beth feels hands on her shoulders- and she finds herself roughly pushed on the bed.
“Nuh-huh,” Sam smiles (cocky and sassy and unlike Sam at all) “hands. Off. Until I say otherwise.”
Oh, oh g od, that voice . It’s that small glimpse of tease Beth kept seeing in the past- but more intense somehow. This is bullshit. Fucking bullshit. Sam barely even touched her yet, that voice alone shouldn’t make her clamp her legs shut.
Oblivious (or maybe not so much) to her inner turmoil, Sam tilts her head to pepper her neck with kisses. Beth feels a hand sliding under her shirt, fingers drumming over her stomach. Another between her thighs, slowly spreading them.
She sucks in a breath when Sam’s teeth scrape her collarbone, barely managing to keep her hands on the sheet. She’s going to kill Beth. A palm comes up to cup her breast. She’s going to kill Beth.
“S-Saaam…” Beth moans when she feels a tongue over the shell of her ear. Idly, her hand goes up, reaching for Sam’s exposed skin.
A mistake.
Sam honest to god growls when Beth’s fingers touch her hips.
“I said.” She raises her head, looking at Beth straight in the eyes with that gaze that could cut steel
“Hands.” She takes hold of Beth’s wrists roughly, like a dragon claiming her gold.
“ Off .” Sam slams Beth’s hands back on the bed, pinning her down. Beth wiggles some, to see if she can get free- to no avail. Sam is simply too strong.
Sam could do anything she wants to her at this instant.
The thought makes Beth’s breath hitch.
And Sam does. Fuck, she does . Sam keeps her hands firmly locking Beth’s owns, but she demonstrates herself creative soon enough. Teeth and tongue there, on Beth’s ears and throat and lips. A knee here, nudging between her legs, pressing .
“Behave.” She whispers when Beth squirms. “I have a surprise for you~”
Tease. She’s being a huge, fucking, damned tease . Beth’s hips buck, try to get some friction, but Sam only moves her knee. Beth tries to catch Sam’s lips for a kiss, but she only gives her this devious smirk of hers and bends to nip at her jaw. Tease. Down her neck. Tease. Front of her throat. Tease .
“S-Sam, please .” Beth manages to whimper. Her head is swimming. She wants. She wants. Fuck , she’s never been kept on edge for so long, Beth needs to get fucked. “Sam, I-I’ll do any-thing, please .”
Sam chuckles. It’s the single hottest thing Beth has ever heard. “ Anything , huh?”
And suddenly Beth’s hands are free, Sam’s weight completely off her. Beth can’t do anything but blink blankly, disoriented by the sudden lack of contact. Sam smiles wide and fumbles with her belt buckle, pulling down her pants to reveal-
She’s wearing a strap-on.
Holy shit, she’s wearing a strap-on.
“Sur~prise!” Sam sing-songs. Beth’s mind runs like a kid after an ice cream truck. How long has she had that on? For the whole makeout session? For the whole morning ?
Sam pulls her up for a kiss- a full one, heated and wet and oh god there’s tongue . She feels the toy against her navel, hard and proud and so much thicker than fingers. The anticipation makes her shiver.
Sam grabs her shoulders again, and it feels almost too easy for her to flip Beth around, shove her head first on the mattress. Sam kisses the back of her neck so gently it feels like she’s mocking her, but she presses harshly between Beth’s shoulder blades when she tries to lift herself up.
“Face down, ass up.” She whispers with a lick on Beth’s ear. “That’s how I want you.”
Beth doesn’t dare disobeying when she feels the bed tip and Sam moving behind her, hands all over her ass.
It doesn’t take long for Sam to work her out of her pants. Afterwards, though, it feels like she takes forever . Palming, groping, squeezing- her cheeks and thighs and dripping self. Rubbing the toy all over- Beth feels it sliding over her lips, brushing her clit, but still- not - inside her-
“ Sam .” Beth calls. Fucking, fucking tease. Getting her bent over and ready to beg and still denying her. Fucking, damned tease .
Sam laughs. Asshole. “You’re right, you’re right. That’s mean of me.” She seizes Beth’s hips, fingers digging in her flesh, and-
Fuck .
But if the buildup had been insufferably slow- Sam seems determined to make anything past that very much not . She’s all speed and strength and rough bucks, manhandling Beth like she had no weight.
God. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It’s all so much. It’s all too much. The fabric rubbing against Beth’s cheek and palms and knees. The firm grip on her waist. Her legs slipping and spreading and offering new sensations as the angle shift. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam.
The sheets fail to muffle her scream when she feels the heel of Sam’s palm pressing against her clit.
“Come on,” she taunts, her voice sounding very far and yet so loud through the haze of Beth’s mind. “I know you can scream louder than that .”
And she’s right, she’s right, and Beth keeps getting dragged higher and higher and higher -
The world turns white .
She comes back to her senses slowly, her own panting ringing in her ears. Vaguely, she registers Sam sliding out, and lets her legs fall flat onto the bed.
The mattress shifts again, and she feels Sam’s lips gently kissing her temple. “You doing okay hon?”
“Y...yeah…” Beth manages to answer, breathless. “Yeah, I’m… I’m good.”
Hands take hold of her sides, and carefully, she’s rolled on her back. Her vision turns from sheets to Sam, her Sam, looking at her from above with smiles in her eyes.
“Hey there.” She says. She reaches for the bedside table and drags a bottle back to Beth. “Here, drink this.”
The water feels deliciously cool to Beth’s drenched throat. It takes her a moment to empty it, hands still trembling and breath barely starting to even out.
“Anything else you want?” Sam asks with light concern. “More water? A bath? A massage?”
“Cuddles.” Beth spreads her arms in her best imitation of a fried egg. Sam snorts and flops next to her, dragging her into a hug. The toy feels wet against her belly, which kind of weirds her out, but she quickly brushes it off.
“So… up to your expectations?” Sam asks, sheepish.
Beth barks out a laugh in response. “God fuck yes. That one voice you made, Sam. I’ve never been this wet this fast.”
Sam giggles and kisses her cheek. “Aw, thank you. I’ve been practicing actually.” Of course she’s been. Sam is nothing if not a perfectionist at heart. The thought of her girlfriend in front of a mirror trying to sound sexy still makes Beth snort though. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“It was really great. You were amazing.” Beth kisses the tip of her nose, then pauses. “Though, next time, maybe go a lil lighter on my hips? This is gonna leave a mark.” She frowns and glances down. “Ten marks.” she corrects at the obvious finger shapes on her skin.
Sam gives her a thumb up. “Gotcha.” For a few seconds, no one speaks, simply enjoying each other’s embrace. “So, what do you want to do now?” Sam eventually asks. “Round two? Or we could watch a movie, your call. Matt lent me his Disney collection.”
Beth hums quietly. “Well, you didn’t come, right?” Sam shakes her head, and Beth smiles. “You know I hate leaving you hanging. Give me ten minutes and we can try that one face-sitting fantasy you told me about.”
Sam flushes at that, smiling wide. “I’d love that.” She pecks her girlfriend’s lips. “Take your time. We have the entire day.”