berlin | feel real

Senna felt the warmth of his hand through her thin top and couldn't help but imagine what the captain might look like in one of Lina's portraits. Standing in a gallery full of nude portraits the question begged to be asked. With him at her back, feeling the rumblings of his words through his chest, invisible threads of magnetism and attraction connecting them, it was quite easy for her to get lost in those sorts of thoughts.

She hummed an agreement at Harlan's note, agreeing easily. These all felt personal and she was glad that he felt that too, that it wasn't just her associated her last experience with Lina and her camera and projecting it onto the art she saw in front of her. "Maybe you do," Senna mused before turning her head to look at Lina expectantly, but the other witch just laughed and shook her head. "Was worth a try," she murmured as she took another sip and stood up fully, already missing the warmth of him at her back.

With a glance up at him, Senna had to know. "So what do you think?" she asked as she half-turned to face him, Lina drifting closer to stand beside her. "Would you do one?" she asked, knowing Lina was after the answer too, but of the two of them, Senna had always been more impatient and it was obvious in the way that Lina laughed lightly and swatted Senna's arm. "Senna," Lina scolded and Senna just smiled and mouthed back a silent 'what?' before she glanced back at him, explaining. "I'm just curious."

Senna had asked what he thought and the question registered belatedly— hadn't he just shared what he thought? When he realized what she was actually asking, he tore his gaze off the portrait that had immediately caught his eye to land on the two of them who (at some point) had turned to face him more expectantly, almost mischievously.

Did he want to do one?

There was certainly a comment to be made there, but Harlan bit his tongue into a smirk.

"Getting ahead of yourself then," He tilted his head curiously to watch Senna as she admitted to her curiosity, as if that much hadn't already been obvious in the way that they were together. He could feel it too.

After clicking his tongue, he turned to her friend who had that same kind of anticipation painted over her features, though less obviously. In all the jest, he knew that the proposal was genuine. "Lina, I imagine there's some sort of artist, muse confidentiality agreement, yeah?" Harlan couldn't help the grin that pulled at his mouth as he glanced to Senna, satisfied.

"Sorry," He wasn't. The idea of teasing her a little bit had proven already to be entertaining.

Getting ahead of herself? She just smiled, her eyes glittering and shook her head in quiet disagreement. Playful, teasing, whatever you wanted to call it, Senna was sure she felt something in the in-between. It was in the way touched her side and in the way his eyes gleamed, in the way his aura seemed even more golden tonight.

Muse? He was calling himself a muse now. She huffed a laugh and quirked her head to one side. She could see it. And it was obvious in how quick Lina had been to offer that she was very interested in this working out. But it took her a second to realize what Harlan was 'apologizing' for, looking at him for a beat before it dawned on her. "Hey," she said in complaint, a smile at his teasing turning up the corners of her mouth.

Two could play at that game. "Yes, tell us about your confidentiality clause and such, Leelee," Senna said as she took a step forward so she was on his side now, both of them looking at the photographer, Senna wrapping her arm around his elbow. "You know, if we were perhaps to do a portrait session together.."

Harlan had just about settled into his victory in the quiet battle they had forged somewhere along the way that night (or had it started when they met?) when Senna appeared at his side. He quirked an eyebrow, already prepared to call her out on her bluff as his gaze narrowed on where she had wrapped herself around his forearm. Perhaps too easily, he leaned into it.

"Oh, would we?" He wondered, emphasis on the we of it all, a broad grin pulling at his mouth.

He turned back to Lina whose eyes had lit up despite what he imagined was her sense of professionalism seeping in. It was clear she wanted whatever it was going to be to happen organically, and Harlan respected that. Not that there was much of anything he could be talked into doing once his own mind was made up against it.

And despite himself, he was curious to know just how far Senna intended on letting the charade go on.

Senna met his gaze at his question, hearing his emphasis and understanding his question intuitively. She gave him a nod, it was an easy answer for her. Was it not obvious? “We would...” she echoed, making her side clear, a hint of a question in her voice for him.

She glanced back at the portrait of the couple, glorious in their nudity, and a frisson went through her, sending tingles through her body at the thought that she could be the subject of such art too with the man beside her. A man who felt like someone she had already known for years but also felt brand new. The dichotomy of it was so intriguing.

“You could, the two of you, if you wanted. We could put something on the books,” Lina offered, glancing between the two of them with a knowing look.

“I’m always camera-ready,” Senna told Lina with a little smile in her direction, another small question on her voice as she nudged Harlan lightly in the side with her elbow.

Harlan didn't hide the fact that he was skeptical. His brow furrowed and his jaw set but his eyes were firmly on her over his shoulder and down. Much to his dismay there was something about Senna that he couldn't quite place; a lingering question. It was as though he could never definitively tell what angle she was coming from.

As someone who prided himself in seeing all angles, it was fucking infuriating.

So far, she followed through, and at present that meant that there was an actual, tangible, chance that she was going to take it further. Harlan's gaze flicked to Lina, then back to Senna for a half of a breath, then back again. She was always camera-ready. Well, they were going to see about that.

"No time like the present, then," He clasped his palms together, unsure just how seriously he was taking it himself.

She could feel his hesitation as he glanced between the two of them, but Senna just smiled at Lina. She had a good feeling about Harlan, she had since she met him. Good vibes, good conversation, and even if she had done a poor job at reading his palm, she had liked the feel of them. But she remembered how private he seemed to be, or at least wanted to be, so she could only wonder how far outside of his comfort zone this put him.

Truth be told, she had been jittery with nerves when she had sat for Lina, stripped down with only shadows covering her, and that was when she and Lina had been dating so there was an extra layer of trust and intimacy there. He didn't really know either of them that well, even if Senna got the feeling that she knew him. Or at least a part of him.

That was why, she was so surprised when he decided. "Now?" Senna asked, her tone both disbelieving and amused, a hint of suspicion but mostly surprise, turning to face him more fully so she could see his expression. "Are you serious?" She had to ask, especially with him. The idea of doing a session now sent a trill of nervous energy zinging through her, mostly excited but some doubt too. Sure, she had done this before, but not with someone else. The idea did seem fun though and Senna usually made quick decisions on situations when they were clearly in the 'yes' category. But she also felt some faint anxiety at the idea, something she hadn't expected since the idea had originally been for some future distant date, one where she could perhaps make sure her legs and bits were shaved. Fortunately, she was quite comfortable in her own skin and the idea appealed to her on some fundamental level, shedding off an exterior layer to get down to the truth of someone's soul was so intriguing. So as she inhaled slowly, she couldn't stop the smile on her face.

The quidditch captain who hadn't wanted her to tell the world the deep, dark secrets she read in his palm was agreeing to get naked with her and do a shoot. Rhey wasn't going to believe this shit. "If you're sure," Senna said, looking up at him, no challenge in her eyes, but instead the delighted calmness she usually wrapped around herself plus a little wonder at how he kept surprising her when she least expected it.

The moment Senna questioned him, a grin spread over his features. There was an unmistakable knowing look on his face that read, thought so. He was eager to see if her infuriating mind-reading power would tell her that much or if he needed to be more explicit. Likely the latter.

"Always camera-ready, no?" His voice had dipped a register, pausing to let the question linger before finishing it. It was another one of many subtle subtle tactics Harlan felt the need to employ in their quietly forged war. A game of chicken. The real question was who was going to turn the wheel first.

Harlan, for one, had no intention of backing down.

That level of determination tended to become bullish, to the point of a strength turning into weakness.

Senna seemed more impressed than she was shocked. Though she did seem to teeter between a few different reactions, none of which were entirely discernible. "If you're sure," Harlan repeated, only slightly emphasizing the you're.

He was sure Lina had caught on to a certain degree (god damn auras) but another part of him liked the idea of keeping their battle of will between them for just a bit longer. Harlan made a note to be more subtle about smugness. So, they were really doing it. Lina clapped her hands together excitedly (in that impossibly cool artist kind of way), before taking a step closer.

Always camera-ready, no. Senna grinned up at him impishly, her honey eyes bright and nodded. "Sure, yeah," she said, laughter threading through her voice, a little nervous but excited like the feeling she had gotten the first time she had kissed a girl. She could feel the challenge in the timbre of his voice and it pushed and pulled at her like she was floating on a wave of his energy and she liked it.

His triumphant smile made his blue eyes glitter in a way she hadn't noticed before, lines of laughter crinkling around his eyes catching her eye. But more than anything, his certainty felt so overwhelmingly provocative. How could she say no, why would she want to, it was an easy answer.

"I'm sure," she said, echoing the way he had emphasized the pronouns before she sneaked a glance at Lina, smiling widely at the photographer. "Where to then?" she asked with an innocent expression, her hand slipping down where she had a grip on his arm to brush her fingers against his.

Harlan was halfway to chastising for her 'sure' when Senna reiterated that she was in fact certain, with more assurance that time. He settled back but his eyes still narrowed on her, lingering for a moment too long before flicking back to Lina who was looking at them like they had agreed to save the world with her. It was a dangerous mission, either way, but with all good things—

Where to, then? He followed belatedly to Lina and (for once) patiently awaited their instruction. He hadn't thought that Senna would have gone along with it, but there they were, following the artist and unable to not be touching.

In the back of his mind, the question of just how far their little game was going to go was present, of course, but he brushed it aside as easily as his knuckles ran up the back of her forearm.

"Oh," Harlan mused as Lina led them to an otherwise very bland room. He knew better than to assume that was it. Not her style. His eyes scanned expectantly for some sign of the disguised entrance to whatever it was that awaited them. He hadn't noticed that his palm snaked around Senna's, drawing slow circles with his thumb.

"Lina's big on illusion magic," Senna whispered, an excuse to lean in to him, his hand wrapped around hers, as her gaze landed on the photographer. The dark-haired woman glanced over her shoulder at the two of them and smirked, clearly having heard. The back wall of the very bland room she had led them into dissolved before their eyes and made Senna grin as the illusion of it fell away. She loved the drama of the reveal and knew Lina well enough that she understood her love for it too.

The wall melted away to reveal a wide room with an eclectic gathering of furniture, slouchy couches with brightly colored throw pillows next to a rattan fan back chair that had seen better days surrounded by leafy greens in hand-painted pots, all under a high-arching ceiling where strings of lights drooped down on one side. Frames and loose photographs along with some records littered the set of round wooden coffee tables and tucked back along the wall was a stool, a set of lights and a tripod that seemed lonely without a camera.

Senna watched as Lina moved, not to the workbench where she saw a collection of cameras (one with a red strap that Senna remembered using herself in a playful, kind of sexy shoot that brought a smile to her lips) but instead toward the ice chest where she pulled out some beers. She wrinkled her nose but nodded as Lina held them up, silently asking if they were interested. Better than nothing.

She moved to sit on the arm of the couch, her legs hanging over either side as she cracked open the beer and tapped it against Harlan's, looking up at him, her head tilted slightly to one side. "Have you ever done this before?" She remembered her first nude shoot with Lina and it had been something that she couldn't quite put into words. Taking off her clothes in front of her girlfriend/photographer had felt freeing but also really vulnerable and she wasn't scared necessarily to do it again, but she was curious why he seemed to be so comfortable with it. Maybe he was a secret nudist, she mused as she scratched at the label on the beer bottle.

The magic revealed a room before them that left Harlan wondering if it, too, was an illusion. He hadn't noticed the threshold shrink closed behind them until what was left of the subtle sound from the party was absent entirely. Quiet. It was like they had stepped into a different world. Maybe even a different time.

Lina was big on Illusion magic, Senna had said. "I can tell," He replied belatedly, a hint of awe in his otherwise stoic tone. He had nearly forgotten why it was that they were back there.

Nearly.

"Thanks," He nodded appreciatively for the beer. He wondered if she had something, well, stronger, But, when in Rome...

Harlan reminded himself that he was partial to a piss beer from a can when the opportunity called for it.

Lina mumbled something about an herbal tea upstairs before floating away and seemingly unbothered by any sort of direction as far as the shoot was concerned. It was better that way he thought. "Have you?" Harlan retorted, making it obvious that in fact had not. He half-grinned. It was a strange feeling being the one who was inexperienced with something.

Uncomfortable, but exciting.

"I was certain would you would have backed out by now..." He wondered as he took a step toward the sofa to face Senna on the arm.

Herbal tea? Senna perked right up, flicking her eyes away from Harlan for a moment, as she asked, "The jasmine and baby rose one?" Her favorite, she remembered. A 'sure, babe' floated back from Lina as she disappeared upstairs and Senna rested the beer bottle against her knee, reluctant to drink more when something better was on the way. Her gaze flicked back to Harlan, her face tilted up, an amused smile on her face as she nodded. "A few times," she told him. With Lina mostly. Once without but the vibes hadn't been great. She should've known based on his aura - too much shadow-black and the orange she usually recognized in artists was too dark like rotten pumpkins. Senna had left quickly.

"Is that why you said yes?" she asked, a glint in her eye as she caught on. "Because you thought I would back out?"

He had jumped into a pool with her just because she thought he wouldn't. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised.

But she wasn't going to back out, the idea was exciting with just a tinge of uncertainty, but the good kind. She was feeling good, powerful even, like every second she had been on that stage, small as it was, felt like she had been living, really living. And this felt like an extension of that. New and thrilling in an intimate way, especially with him. Maybe because of him. Because she hadn't expected it of him and perhaps that was the beauty of getting to know someone better.

Still, she felt a little battle knowing that he hadn't actually agreed in so many words, covering with his playfulness and dry sense of humor. Sen wondered she should try to give him another out, an easy escape before Lina came back, hearing her footsteps on the stairs. But then it occurred to her. Harlan didn't strike her as someone who did anything he didn't want to so as that slotted into place she reached out and poked him lightly on the chest as she scooted off the arm of the couch. "Big mistake because I'm not back out," she grinned and then flitted over to Lina who had spelled together a few steaming cups of herbal tea in three mismatched cups.

"Herbal tea," Lina explained to Harlan as Senna wrapped two hands around her cup and sipped gently. "Might help with the nerves," she added with a wink, Senna huffing a laugh into her teacup, before Lina went over to her table to fiddle with her camera.

Harlan considered the question. Had he agreed because of some bullshit notion that she couldn't possibly have actually gone along with it? Well— come to think of it— that was exactly why. Almost everything he did was fueled purely by proving someone wrong.

He shook his head. "Yes," The word betrayed his posture.

There was a moment of pause as he considered taking that additional step forward so that it was impossible that they wouldn't have been touching, in some small way. The sound of footsteps met his ears and made the decision for him. A bit of distance was his friend.

"Hm..." He approached the cabinet of mismatched drawers that Lina offered a cup of tea. Harlan glanced at Senna who (in an annoyingly endearing way) held the tiny mug between both hands. It looked bigger between her fingers.

"In case it's poisoned," Harlan whispered as he leaned toward her and out of earshot from Lina who had moved to her cameras. He took the mug in his hand, his fingers easily sliding over the outside of her palm then brought it took his mouth. There was no questioning his cautiousness. She drank first and there hadn't been any immediate reactions. At least,  physically.

"I trust this is discrete...?" He lingered on Senna though the question was directed to her friend. Lina seemed to run in similar circles, so he could assume as such. Discretion was of the utmost importance for people like him. Fuck, people like him. Harlan scolded himself for thinking it. Though, a failed potions test could easily ruin his career.

Lina grinned and he easily met it with one of his own. In the blink of an eye, his muscles had relaxed.

Senna smiled wider at him, dimples and all. Even the shake of his head opposed his reply. "I bet that has gotten you into trouble a time or two," she mused, a knowing twinkle in her honey eyes. She wasn't stubborn like him, but she had her own vices that were just as troubling. Like saying yes to anything at least once.. including things like spontaneous nudey portrait sessions.

"Lina would never," she said on a laugh as he came closer and she moved easily with him, extending her arms as his hands covered hers. "She likes me," Senna added with a wicked smile, holding the teacup to his lips, her eyes naturally drifting there too. She didn't mind sharing though, she liked that the pull she felt towards him in the little touches she gave seemed to be mirrored in him as well. Careful in her grasp of the cup so as not to tip it too much, she brought it back to her lips to take another sip after him, already feeling the light floatyness in her limbs.

At first she thought he was asking if the shoot was going to be discreet and she blinked at him. It's not as if everyone from the party was going to burst in the moment they started taking photos? Of course it was discreet. Did he not want to be seen with her was an errant question that filtered through her mind before she met that with reason - most people probably weren't as open as she was to sharing private things so publicly. And she already knew that he was a private person based on her little palm reading venture. She knew it made logical sense. She glanced down at the herbal tea and it occurred to her what he was asking about that. Hmm. It hadn't even realized that he might be concerned about stuff like that. Was it.. not allowed for quidditch players? She really had no idea. Senna couldn't quite look away from his gaze either, a glimmer there in his blues that seemed so intriguing. "Nothing to worry about, honestly," she told him as she licked her lips. "It'll wear off in a couple of hours."

Lina hummed her agreement as she snapped a few test photos, her camera aimed at the exposed brick wall, as she charmed the lighting how she wanted it. Moody but soft, the string of lights twinkling overhead. "Can I do a few test photos for lighting?" Lina asked with a glance at them. Senna took another sip before she held out the cup for and walked backward a few steps, not letting him have the rest of the tea just yet. She patted the stool with her fingertips and a secret smile. "Come on, we can start nice and easy," she said and then her smiled turned impish. "Before we pop your nudey portrait cherry," she added with a snicker.