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carlyinromeTITLE: And What Was Meant to Happen, Happened
RATING: PG-13
FANDOMS: Angel
PAIRING: Lilah Morgan/Ilona Costa Bianchi
SUMMARY: Lilah doesn’t speak Italian.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: Written for
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
femslash_minis Round 64 for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
beer_good_foamy, who wanted an office party, snark, and chicken, without violence or fluff. Couldn’t quite work the chicken in there, but I did give you another bird. “Luce dei miei occhi, mi piace da morire!”
Lilah doesn’t know where Ilona finds the energy to talk, but she hasn’t stopped: not through a bottle of champagne, not through the party dragging on into the wee hours of the morning, not in the elevator up to her penthouse, not on her way to orgasm. Ilona’s fine body arches, writhing against the bedclothes, and her mouth keeps running.
Lilah doesn’t know where Ilona finds the energy to talk, but she hasn’t stopped: not through a bottle of champagne, not through the party dragging on into the wee hours of the morning, not in the elevator up to her penthouse, not on her way to orgasm. Ilona’s fine body arches, writhing against the bedclothes, and her mouth keeps running.
***
Lilah doesn’t speak Italian. She took a little French in high school, then learned Latin in college, a necessity for all the legalese and demon raising she’d need to do in her career. Italian came from Latin, and Lilah can hear similarities, but there’s a completely different energy about the language. Latin is so staid and grim, solemn, but Italian is bubbly and alive. Lilah knows that if she spoke Italian, it would just be Latin with a different vocabulary; she doesn’t do bubbly. But it’s pretty to listen to, and a little dizzying, like champagne for the ear.
Lilah lets Italian bubble past her ears as she sips some real champagne, the good stuff; one of the perks of Wolfram and Hart parties is they never stiff on the booze. Lilah’s visit to the Roman office just happens to coincide with the firm’s annual Christmas party, and she may as well not have left LA; except for the difference in language, the offices are near identical, and it’s not like Lilah will be spending her holiday out in the city. It’s a working vacation, just like all the others.
“Lilah, bellissima, poor sparrow, so far from home this Natale.” Ilona Costa Bianchi, who has not stopped welcoming her since she walked through the door two days ago, flits by and refills Lilah’s champagne.
Lilah shrugs, smiles a closed-mouth smile, and raises her glass. “Just part of the job.”
“Oh, me, cucciola, so brave.” Ilona pats Lilah’s cheek, her fingers chilled from the champagne; Lilah manages not to flinch. “Allora, such a good little worker; we will be so sad to see you go back to your Los Angeles.”
“It’s not exactly mine,” Lilah says, her tone sharper than intended. It really is good champagne.
“Magari!” Ilona cries. “Yes? Just wait, stella mia; you keep working, and one day, you will be running the LA branch.”
Lilah feels herself flush, and she’s sure it isn’t the champagne. Ilona cozies herself close to Lilah, her fingers resting lightly on Lilah’s arm, her breath tickling Lilah’s ear.
“Why do you think I asked for you to come, and not your partner, that Lindsey?”
“Lindsey doesn’t look this good in a dress,” Lilah says, but she can feel something burning in her stomach, that old familiar hunger, the one that took her to law school and the top of her class and first round draft at Wolfram and Hart. The one that brought her here.
Ilona laughs, long and loud, throwing her head back. Her breasts bob attractively; her lovely throat is bared. Lilah has a sudden, wild impulse to sink her teeth into the soft flesh. Instead, she rests her hand on Ilona’s bare shoulder, rubs her thumb over the silky skin.
“Dolcezza,” Ilona purrs, “ho voglio di te.”
And for a second, Lilah wishes she understood Italian, but then Ilona kisses her, and that she understands.
Lilah lets Italian bubble past her ears as she sips some real champagne, the good stuff; one of the perks of Wolfram and Hart parties is they never stiff on the booze. Lilah’s visit to the Roman office just happens to coincide with the firm’s annual Christmas party, and she may as well not have left LA; except for the difference in language, the offices are near identical, and it’s not like Lilah will be spending her holiday out in the city. It’s a working vacation, just like all the others.
“Lilah, bellissima, poor sparrow, so far from home this Natale.” Ilona Costa Bianchi, who has not stopped welcoming her since she walked through the door two days ago, flits by and refills Lilah’s champagne.
Lilah shrugs, smiles a closed-mouth smile, and raises her glass. “Just part of the job.”
“Oh, me, cucciola, so brave.” Ilona pats Lilah’s cheek, her fingers chilled from the champagne; Lilah manages not to flinch. “Allora, such a good little worker; we will be so sad to see you go back to your Los Angeles.”
“It’s not exactly mine,” Lilah says, her tone sharper than intended. It really is good champagne.
“Magari!” Ilona cries. “Yes? Just wait, stella mia; you keep working, and one day, you will be running the LA branch.”
Lilah feels herself flush, and she’s sure it isn’t the champagne. Ilona cozies herself close to Lilah, her fingers resting lightly on Lilah’s arm, her breath tickling Lilah’s ear.
“Why do you think I asked for you to come, and not your partner, that Lindsey?”
“Lindsey doesn’t look this good in a dress,” Lilah says, but she can feel something burning in her stomach, that old familiar hunger, the one that took her to law school and the top of her class and first round draft at Wolfram and Hart. The one that brought her here.
Ilona laughs, long and loud, throwing her head back. Her breasts bob attractively; her lovely throat is bared. Lilah has a sudden, wild impulse to sink her teeth into the soft flesh. Instead, she rests her hand on Ilona’s bare shoulder, rubs her thumb over the silky skin.
“Dolcezza,” Ilona purrs, “ho voglio di te.”
And for a second, Lilah wishes she understood Italian, but then Ilona kisses her, and that she understands.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 01:02 am (UTC)Thank you! I'm glad you liked it; now that I think about it, I've never written Lilah before, which means that both characters were new to me.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 08:05 am (UTC)I enjoy Lilah's wry, slightly detached POV!
Lilah doesn’t speak Italian. She took a little French in high school, then learned Latin in college, a necessity for all the legalese and demon raising she’d need to do in her career. Italian came from Latin, and Lilah can hear similarities, but there’s a completely different energy about the language. Latin is so staid and grim, solemn, but Italian is bubbly and alive. Lilah knows that if she spoke Italian, it would just be Latin with a different vocabulary; she doesn’t do bubbly. But it’s pretty to listen to, and a little dizzying, like champagne for the ear.
Lilah lets Italian bubble past her ears as she sips some real champagne, the good stuff; one of the perks of Wolfram and Hart parties is they never stiff on the booze. Lilah’s visit to the Roman office just happens to coincide with the firm’s annual Christmas party, and she may as well not have left LA; except for the difference in language, the offices are near identical, and it’s not like Lilah will be spending her holiday out in the city. It’s a working vacation, just like all the others.
Everything here is SO GREAT. Lilah doesn't do bubbly! Lilah feels more of a kinship with staid, grim solemnity! It's a working vacation, just like all the others.
Ilona Costa Bianchi, who has not stopped welcoming her since she walked through the door two days ago, flits by and refills Lilah’s champagne.
Lilah shrugs, smiles a closed-mouth smile, and raises her glass. “Just part of the job.”
“Oh, me, cucciola, so brave.” Ilona pats Lilah’s cheek, her fingers chilled from the champagne; Lilah manages not to flinch. “Allora, such a good little worker; we will be so sad to see you go back to your Los Angeles.”
“It’s not exactly mine,” Lilah says, her tone sharper than intended. It really is good champagne.
I super super enjoy your Lilah POV. She's not someone who has all the answers or is always able to pretend she does; she's not necessarily the master of her own reactions all the time; she's not a natural extrovert, either. She appreciates beauty and pleasure, but her ambition is the biggest turn-on and the most real thing to her--at this point in her life, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 04:58 pm (UTC)Oh, thank you so much, honey. I'm so glad you liked it; I've never written either of these characters before. I've always been a little afraid to write Lilah, because I feel like I don't get her the way I do some other characters.
<3
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 10:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 04:59 pm (UTC)Thanks; I'm so relieved you liked it!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 10:22 pm (UTC)I really like the way you captured Lilah and Ilona. Very believable characterizations. :D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 11:23 pm (UTC)Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 10:43 pm (UTC)Perfect Lilah deadpan (but never self-deprecating) humor. Great job! I could so use more of these two!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 11:23 pm (UTC)Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the story.