regency au } of secret rooms and opening doors

[cunningwolf]

Kate: [... well then. This is curious. She steps back, glancing to make sure that no one else could see where she was going before grabbing a torch and making her way inside, closing the wall behind her before moving forward]

Peter: [it's been some time since he's been in this particular tunnel for more than just sliding through. Halfway around the stairwell there is going to be a small area of pillows with a basket full of tiny broken toys.]

Kate: [she pauses for a moment, before making her way closer and crouching down to examine them more]

Peter: [they are all obviously boy toys, little wood, metal and cloth toys that were broken in ways there weren't really from use, but more for anger, and then there are hints of them trying to be fixed]

Kate: [her head tips to the side as her fingers brush over the toys, picking one of them up, one of the ones that had tried to be fixed and pocketing it for now, before continuing down the path]

Peter: [further down, there is another little bubble that opens out, and it's a tiny art studio. the walls are covered in different pictures - coal sketches mostly. Scenery, inanimate objects... but the easel is covered in a very thick layer of dust so it obviously hasn't been touched in a while]

Kate: [that she mostly observes from a distance and doesn't go to touch. She doesn't want to do anything that would have her presence here noticed, and she doesn't think those are his]

Peter: [maybe they are, maybe they aren't. But she will notice that as the tunnels continue, it will leave the area that was always Peter's and head to rooms that were once Laura's as a child. The middle point - there's the hidey hole that has a lot of love. There's more pillows and books and games and there's a feel that there was a lot of time spent here by more than one child. Two - a boy and a girl.]

Kate: [She recognizes the area of the house she's in and she can guess what happened here. She isn't sure if it's Derek and Laura or Laura and Peter, but it's still cute all the same]

Peter: [it's actually is neither. And if she looks at some of the papers on the floor, she will see papers that have a handwriting she won't recognize, and some doodles that have the tiny letters TH at the bottom]

Kate: [ahhhhhh there we go. That actually makes a little more sense, but Kate never actually knew Talia. Her father and brother kept her away from the estate at that point]

Peter: [and seeing that he rolled a nat 20, Peter is going to sneak up behind her in the hallway, doing his creepy stalker thing] This was Talia and my secret room.

Kate: [she jumps, but it's not much. She trusts Peter not to murder her in her sleep at this point so she just relaxes back against him] Were you hiding from someone?

Peter: Our father. Talia was supposed to focus on more important things, and I was an arrogant pup with more cunning than God should give one man. He felt I would corrupt my sister, and so he forbade me to spend time with her. My mother... bless her soul, showed us these tunnels, told us that we could play in here so he wouldn't find us. My father wasn't a wolf, so he wouldn't be able to smell us.

Kate: [small smile] Sounds like she loved you two a lot.

Peter: She did. [nuzzles against her neck a bit] My mother and my sister both. They understood me better than anyone. Even myself, I think.

Kate: [her neck tips back towards him, letting her head rest against his shoulder] It's good to have people like that.

Peter: Did you have that kind of relationship with one of your brothers?

Kate: [she shrugs slightly] Chris always looked out for me, but he was so much older than Daniel and I that I think it was expected for us to make due with each other.

Peter: And did you?

Kate: I wasn't fond of being talked down to by my baby brother. So no.

Peter: I don't blame you there. Tali wouldn't let me talk down to her. She was practicing at being Alpha, and I was her first beta in line and she made sure I knew it.

Kate: Well, my family wasn't as progressive as yours.

Peter: Well, now it is.

Kate: How fortunate for me.

Peter: [kisses her neck a bit] So do I want to know why you're playing in secret passages?

Kate: [closes her eyes as one hand comes up to rest against the side of his neck] I got bored and happened to stumble across it. Decided to do a little exploring.

Peter: Well, just be careful. The tunnels continue to what are now Laura’s rooms. They used to be Talia’s, but Laura took them over as she was getting to her marriage age.

Kate: Mmm. That's definitely something I don't want to walk in on.

Peter: Though mine does lead back to my bedroom.

Kate: [there's a small pleased noise at that before she turns to face him] That sounds much more promising.

Peter: [he reached up, cupping her cheek with one hand] Perhaps I can show you the way then

Kate: [she nods as she leans into his hand] Lead the way.

Peter: [well, he will in a minute. He's going to lean in and kiss her first]

Kate: [she doesn't care, she's a fan of the kissing too. She takes a step in closer, reaching out to let her hands rest against his sides]

Peter: [and he will keep kissing her, and then smile] And who would have thought you would be another woman coming to know me better than myself.

Kate: [her eyebrows go up at that] If I didn't know any better, Lord Hale, I would almost mistake that for you saying you care. [more than he should anyway. This was an arranged marriage of convenience after all]

Peter: Contrary to popular belief, I actually do have a working heart.

Kate: And you're giving it to me? [not to say that she hasn't been feeling the stirrings of something herself, but she's never given her heart away before. With the men in her life, she always held it tightly for safe keeping]

Peter: Sharing. For now. [there's his sly smirk] You still have more work to do.

Kate: [she laughs at that before leaning in to kiss him again] Guess I better get started.

Peter: [he grinned against her lips, and he started to walk he back through his art studio - which was mostly Derek's these days - his own spot, and then to the bookcase that hid his personal library on this side of the tunnel before opening into his library on the manor side]

Kate: [follows after him, letting him lead the way but making note of the landmarks in case she needed to use the tunnels to escape again - or go be nosy some more]

Peter: [like stealing his kid toys?]

Kate: [not stealing! Borrowing. She'll put it back later.]

Peter: [she better. But for now, he's going to bring her over to his bed]

Kate: [excellent. That's exactly where she wanted to be going. And is already pulling at the ties on her clothes so that they're easier for him to get her out of]

Peter: [and he will be all for that, sliding her down onto the bed and helping her get the rest of the way naked before he starts to work on his own]

Kate: [and she's very willing to help with that herself, pushing through the layers until her fingers are trailing over the skin of his chest]

Peter: [and once they are naked, he will start doing the one thing that he's becoming very good at again all because of her]

Kate: [and she is very pleased with how good he's become, though at this point she's sure that he's comfortable enough that she won't hesitate to flip him onto his back and take control - at least until he tries to take it back]

Peter: [and he's going to laugh at that] This is new.

Kate: I like to try something new every once in a while. [she leans in, trailing kisses against his neck] Keeps things interesting.

Peter: [tilts his head for her, closing his eyes] I'm all for learning something new now and then.

Kate: [pulls back after a moment to look at him] Have you not done it this way before?

Peter: You assume that I have a lot of experience.

Kate: [well, he was married, and happily. She assumed that they did the requisite amount of exploring. But she recovers quickly before leaning in to kiss him again] Well then, handsome, hang on and enjoy the ride.

Peter: [his wife had gotten pregnant quickly, so there hadn't been much time. But he just grinned] Show me what you got.

Kate: [and she will pretty much ride him into the sunset, rolling her hips evenly against him as she keeps an even pace]

Peter: [yup, she can ride him like that all night long, he's good. thank you.]

Kate: [and she will eventually drop down next to him, sliding off with a happy sigh]

Peter: [And he's sweaty and sated, laughing a bit as he rolls over and pull her into his arms] I would not complain about doing that again.

Kate: [she grins, going where she's pulled] Most don't. Especially when you don't have to do any of the work.

Peter: That is not the reason why. [he smiled and kissed her]

Kate: [laughs as she kisses him back] I'm sure it's not.

Peter: You were enjoying yourself.

Kate: I never said I wasn't.

Peter: Oh, I know you have been. But this time you were really enjoying it. Perhaps being in charge is a turn on for you.

Kate: [her teeth tease her bottom lip for a moment] I like control. Who doesn't?

Peter: That is a true statement. I tend to be a bit controlling at times.

Kate: I've noticed. [she's married to you after all] But, I should also note that I don't mind being challenged for control either. Most men just can't put their money where their mouth is.

Peter: [stroking her face, smiling] I think so far we have done well at sharing it.

Kate: We have. [and she appreciates that. conceding to her when she needs it rather than trying to break her into submission] But I trust you enough to let you take it too. [she likes the challenge in it, giving her something to rise to, rather than more of the same]

Peter: [just sighs happily, relaxing back into bed] As do I. Perhaps the things we need in our lives come in the packages we don't expect them to be in.

Kate: I guess they do.

Peter: [and he's going to just lean in and kiss her]

Kate: [kisses him back, sinking back into the bed as she relaxes into the kiss]

Peter: [and he will just happily kiss her until they are ready for actual sleep]

Kate: [yep, same here. lazy makeouts until they're both passing out]