Envy's Duplex, The Hegemony Compound, Ribeirao Preto, Friday Afternoon

[whenshewasnice]

The process of Envy having part of her apartment converted into a home studio was still in the planning stages. While her intention was mostly just to have the means to record high quality demos in the privacy of her home instead of anything for actual publication, she still didn't want it to be some half-assed thing. So her favorite audio engineer out in New York was planning it for her. It'd get here when it got here.

But, the new sound system for her living room? That had just been installed. Top of the line audio quality and supporting every damn format you could think of (and probably some you couldn't). She'd had it imported from her world and then upgraded by someone from this one. And soon, she'd check out how some of her own latest recordings sounded on it.

But for now...

There's a starman waiting in the sky --

Even Envy wasn't so self-centered as to christen her new sound system with her own oeuvre rather than the best of Bowie.

[ooc: NFB but open for all the usual!]

Comments

[lockestheway]

Hopefully she wouldn't mind a knock cutting through her music.

Peter was on break. And everyone knew how he liked to spend his breaks, these days.

[whenshewasnice]

Harassing the woman everyone else called his girlfriend behind his (and her) back? Yeah, they knew.

Envy didn't seem to mind the interruption, or maybe Bowie had just softened her enough to smile when she came to the door. "Hey."

[lockestheway]

"Hey," Peter said, smiling back. "So I hear you finished some renovations..."

[[ thanks for the notif, DW. ]]

[whenshewasnice]

"Yes, the audio system is up and running at full capacity." Because surely the currently-blasting Life on Mars? wasn't giving that away. "Wanna come in and take a listen?"

She knew he was likely to care very little.

[lockestheway]

"Sure, and then you can explain to me at length why any of it is good," Peter said jovially, slipping into the apartment.

[whenshewasnice]

"And you can nod as if you understand," Envy replied as she closed the door, "like only a politician can."

[lockestheway]

"Glad we've worked out the process here," Peter joked. "Like a well-oiled machine."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mm-hmm," Envy agreed, as she caught up with him, only to wrap her arms around his waist from behind, because that was teh kind of day she was having. "It's kind of been our thing from very early on."

[lockestheway]

Peter leaned back into her arms and smiled. "I like it when we're competent," he said jovially.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy sighed, quietly pleased.

Even with how long this had all been going on by now, somewhere inside her there were traces of a teenaged Natalie who remembered what it was like to be afraid to touch him without specific permission. Envy did it without hesitation, these days, but the subtle thrill of his response hadn't fully worn off yet.

She kissed the back of his neck. "Lucky you then, that we are, most of the time," she murmured. "And reasonably good fakes, when we're not."

[lockestheway]

"More than reasonably good," Peter decided. "We are the creme de la creme of fakes, when we aren't."

He turned around, his own arms sliding around her waist.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy pressed a quick kiss to his chin before ducking her head to nuzzle the side of his neck. She had different moods on different days, and apparently this was today's.

"I think we're the crème de la crème of a lot of things."

Trust the Montrealer to pronounce that with care.

[lockestheway]

"Some days you're so terribly French," Peter said, patting the small of her back. He tilted his head, trying to catch her mouth.

[whenshewasnice]

"Quebecoise, philistine," Envy murmured because she could - right before tilting her head to give in to that quest of his.

Kissing him was not a chore.

[lockestheway]

Neither was touching her. Or being touched by her.

But it was a miracle what time and age could do to take the blinders off your eyes, wasn't it?

Peter kissed her slowly, lazily, his eyes closed and his body pressing tightly against hers.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy wound her arms around his neck. Or, really, one went around his shoulder, while her other hand slid to the back of his neck and settled there to brush the tips of her nails lightly against his skin. That little, tiny bit of sharpness to go with the soft of the kiss.

Because that was what it was. Slow and lingering.

[lockestheway]

A sigh brushed through Peter's body.

He pulled away. Barely. And pressed his forehead against hers. "So... music," he said softly. "Before we get otherwise excited."

[whenshewasnice]

Envy exhaled a breath that was half sigh, half a quietly amused noise. She kept her eyes closed.

"It's already all around you."

It wasn't an exaggeration: the system had been designed so that there were speakers all around the room so that when you were close to the center of it - like they were, right now - the sound was coming from everywhere around you. It was like being surrounded by music, enveloped in sound.

And conveniently, Golden Years was just starting up.

[lockestheway]

"You were waiting for that moment, weren't you," Peter teased softly.

[whenshewasnice]

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," said the woman who'd probably orchestrate her entire life to music if she could.

She was swaying a little. Just a little movement of the hips.

[lockestheway]

"Well, with that level of certainty, how can I argue?" Peter wondered, as his hands settled over her swaying hips.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy snorted, then stole a quick kiss from him. His lips were there, she wasn't going to bother holding back the urge.

"Anyway," she said. "You can hear it, right? The way it just... wraps around you."

Much like her arms wrapped around his neck, keeping her close to him. Anchored.

[lockestheway]

"I can definintely hear something," Peter said. He didn't have the greatest sense of rhythm in the world, but with her leading, he could keep up. "What is this?"

[whenshewasnice]

And she wasn't looking to do anything flashy here. Just casual movement.

"This is the incomparable David Bowie," she murmured. "Patron saint of changing your whole vibe when change is what you need."

[lockestheway]

"I didn't know we needed a change of vibe," Peter mused, but he tilted his head and listened.

He'd never be fantastic at picking out the intricacies of music. Certainly not the way she did. "Why this one?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I was just telling you what this is," Envy told him, her lips quirking in a quietly amused smile. "Or, who." And why it was significant to her, though she'd never be as crass as to actually spell it out. "I wasn't suggesting a change."

[lockestheway]

"I'm just checking," Peter teased. "Making sure I'm not missing any subliminal messages."

[whenshewasnice]

"I mean, I'm also not saying Golden Years doesn't fit a little," Envy mused. "But it's surface-level stuff. Pretty insignificant."

Nothing was ever really insignificant.

[lockestheway]

Peter made a soft, amused noise. "Nothing with you is ever insignificant," he said.

He kissed her again.

[whenshewasnice]

You know what, Envy wasn't going to argue with that. She liked things meaningful. It kept things interesting.

She kissed him back. Couldn't really say 'hey, you get me' through that, but she could try.

[lockestheway]

"But nice try," Peter teased gently, moments after.

[whenshewasnice]

"I did say 'pretty insignificant', not that it was completely insignificant," Envy pointed out, because she was a pain in the ass like that.

The way she bit his lip after she said it... Well, she could be a pain in the ass like that, too. "Anyway. It's Bowie. There's always something relatable"

[lockestheway]

"I can't say I've ever had that issue with Bowie," Peter said, his tongue flicking out over the spot in his lip where her teeth had been moments ago. "Besides that I've heard that space song a million times at dedication ceremonies and it drove me insane."

[whenshewasnice]

"There's more than one space song," Envy replied, amused - and briefly watching his lips more than his eyes. Just briefly, though. "But what do you know about music, anyway? Apart from everything I force upon you."