Chapter Text
“Throw one more piece of that popcorn at my TV Bird, and I WILL smack you!” Jo shouted at Greta from the chaise portion of her couch.
There were women strewn all over Jo’s huge sectional, various loveseats, oversized pillows, and dining chairs. Most had already imbibed a few L Word themed cocktails courtesy of Jo’s bartender friend that agreed to work this Gen Q watch party.
“Don’t blame me!!” Greta shouted back to Jo gesturing her hand wildly at the TV. The move had her spilling some of her fruity but strong drink on Carson who was lying with her leg on leg on the couch. “Shane in a committed relationship with an itch to cheat?! Fucking groundbreaking!”
Most of the women loudly signaled their agreement.
Jo shushed them all. “It’s almost over!”
Carson pulled Greta back beside her and kissed her neck right below the ear. “I told Jo four hours of this would bring out the worst in us all.”
“Car,” Greta whispered as she closed her eyes at the sensation of Carson’s lips on her skin. “It’s SO bad.”
Carson laughed, linked their fingers together and brought their hands to her mouth. “It’s almost over Love.”
“What the actual fuck?!” Jo shouted as Finley and Shane danced to ‘My Pony’ on screen for three straight minutes.
As the rest of the third episode dragged on, groans far outnumbered the sporadic giggles. Once the episode wrapped and the scenes for next week finished, most in the room were shaking their heads.
They decided to take a break.
There were trays of drinks spread all over Jo’s huge, southern California living space. Some genius ladies had a podcast called ‘Drinks at Dana’s’, that included a weekly themed cocktail, and Jo picked her favorites, and those she thought would please the crowd.
There were dozens of the ‘Bette Fucking Porter’, ‘Micah Mule’, ‘Walk of Shane’, ‘Cliffhanger Couples’, “Tibette Therapy Sesh’, and “Finley’s Tequila Wedding Surprise’ drinks spread around.
Greta and Carson were the unofficial ‘It’ couple of the group. Many of their other friends were coupled up, but Carson and Greta had been together the longest, and were responsible for a number of pairings that were in attendance that night.
Some people left the party after three episodes, (Some left after one.). Others were playing pool or hanging out in little groups. Carson and Greta settled at a large dining table with soft white chairs, and most of their core group joined them.
Ana sat and slammed her drink down on the table. “So, we’re just ignoring the fact that Dani was arrested last season? Nothing on that through the first three episodes.”
Shirley cleared her throat. She wanted to be the first one to bring it up. “We’re supposed to believe it’s been a whole year, and Bette and Tina hadn’t seen each other once after declaring for the UMPTEENTH time their undying love for one another?”
This resulted in some noise, there were a few seated at the table that were full ‘Tibette is endgame’ die hards. Carson used to be one of them.
Esti had something to add to that. “What was with the ‘Imagine Me & You’, season finale style, Bette chasing Tina’s car scene?”
This further divided the Tibetters and the rivals. May spoke up, “This is showing that Bette has put in the work and evolved!”
“Please, this will end the same as it always does.” Greta added.
Carson chuckled quietly and pulled Greta back in her chair so they were both slightly out of the conversation, “Can you believe these girls?”
Greta just nodded, knowingly. Carson knew exactly what she was thinking and shuddered at the memory of their very first date, all those years ago. Within the first hour she had actually said the words, “Tibette is #relationship goals.”
Carson shook her head to clear it, and raised an eyebrow. “I know you love Kehlani though, don’t you?”
Greta pursed her lips and nodded. “You know I’m a sucker for ink.” She teased.
“Hey! I have tattoos!” Carson sat forward.
Greta opened her mouth and closed it quickly again, nodding her head. Most of the women seated at the table with them had tiny, one-inch peach tattoos on their ankles to commemorate their drunk, lesbian, recreational softball team. “You’re right babe. LITERALLY no difference.”
Carson grinned, but her face quickly changed, and she sat back again. Greta noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
Carson debated just letting it go. The table they were at was large, and they could easily have a quiet chat without making a scene. The old Carson would have just kept it to herself, but after seven years with Greta, she knew her partner preferred to get everything out, all the time. As much more of an internal processor, it certainly took some adjusting on her part.
“It’s hard not to acknowledge the parallel with the Bette and Tina career thing.” Carson said.
Greta knew. She knew the moment it happened on screen what Carson was thinking. She felt her stiffen ever so slightly. “I know. I’m sorry, Car.”
“I wish we could have finished talking about it is all.”
Greta put a hand on Carson’s leg. “I told you we could bail on this stupid thing.”
“I know, I know.” She half laughed. “I didn’t think they’d be recycling all these old story lines. I thought it would be a good distraction for a minute.”
“Tell me what I can do.” Greta also wished they could have finished the conversation before having to rush over to Jo’s. She felt awful. She had totally bulldozed over Carson and her feelings. She had been so caught up with work over the last…She shook her head at herself. If she was being honest, work had become the third member of their relationship over the last six months. NOT the kind of throuple either of them would consider.
“I think I’ve been really patient since your promotion.” Carson started.
“You have!”
Carson gave her that look. Greta had a tendency of trying to respond quickly to everything Carson said, which was essentially just interrupting her before she could finish a thought. She pressed her lips together in silence to let Carson continue.
“Since the promotion,” Carson continued, “We’ve taken kind of a backseat to your job, and that’s OK.” She quickly finished before Greta could speak up again. “That happens all the time in relationships as long as ours.”
They were, by far, the longest relationship Greta had ever had. She could never survive more than two years with the same person. She always got to a point where the realities of truly merging two lives into one became way too much effort, and Greta deemed it not worth it. She had never felt that with Carson. From the beginning, and through all of their years together, she wanted to make room in every part of her life for them.
“I just thought we could at least have a dialogue about it, but you just dismissed me out of a hat.” Carson looked at her hands.
Greta hated the fact that she’d put that look on Carson’s face. “Car, I was not dismissing YOU, I just didn’t think we would even want to consider moving right now.”
“It obviously wasn’t something I was looking for. When Mr. Baker offered me the chief of staff position in San Francisco, I was floored.”
Greta realized exactly how careless she had been over the last few months, and she loathed herself for it. She used her long index finger to direct Carson’s face up by the chin. “Carson Shaw. You work harder than anyone I’ve never known. Of course, he offered you the position. No one deserves it more than you.”
Carson smiled. “It is a lot more money, and you do love the city.”
Greta took a moment to actually consider the proposition. “I do love the city, you’re right.”
“Can we just talk about it, really talk about it, when we get home?” Carson asked.
Greta leaned forward and pressed her lips to Carson’s. “Of course, we can, Chickadee.”
The pair leaned back into the table to rejoin the conversation just as Jo suggested they watch the fourth episode. Only the core group really agreed and migrated back to the TV.
Within 15 minutes, they all regretted the decision.
Carson kept thinking that the episode carried on forever, not in a good way. At first, she just laughed at Greta’s reaction to the Shane/Kehlani car scene.
But when Greta’s patented, “Ooooo.” Escaped her lips, Carson knew that meant she was actually really into it.
She put her hand on Greta’s thigh and gave it a squeeze.
When Greta turned to face her, her tongue was pressed into the corner of her mouth.
Carson raised both eyebrows in question, she knew that look well. She all of a sudden knew what they would be doing when they got home, probably before their chat. It made Carson squirm in her seat. She continued staring at Greta, even when she turned her attention back to the screen.
By the time Shane was wearing a drink…again, most of the group had their heads in their hands. They didn’t even bother to adjourn the table, they all stayed in their seats, complaining.
Lupe was the first to weigh in. “Unpopular opinion, I know, but I’m with Dani. I don’t think Finley’s schtick is charming. And her going after Shane like that? You can’t just arbitrarily make someone your idol and then tear them down for being human and making mistakes. Isn’t that half of AA? Realizing people are flawed?”
The only OWL in the group, Beverly, chimed in for the first time of the night. “What’s with T-boning Gigi with a truck and having her go back to her human valium of an ex? Give the people want they want; Dani and Gigi are HOT!”
The entire table roared with laughter.
“Roxy was fucking hot though too!” Terri added. “I hope she comes back.”
Jo added, “I mean, can we talk about how well these ladies have aged though? But especially Jennifer Beals? Jesus!”
Greta threw back the rest of her drink and sat back. “I didn’t expect the new season to change my life, or anything, but it has been WAY worse than I expected.”
Her comment seemed to bring the vibe down a little. Carson picked up the slack. She nuzzled into Greta but spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. “It’s OK Gill, we’ll go back and watch the Gigi/Nat/Alice throuple scenes when we get home.”
Her comment did the trick. Most of the ladies laughed and picked up other conversations.
**
Two hours later, Carson and Greta stumbled the three blocks down to their place from Jo’s, pretty buzzed.
Greta was still fuming about the show as they approached their front door. “I just don’t get it Car, why is it so hard for us to get halfway decent story lines still in 2023?”
Carson propped the taller woman into the wall by their Ring doorbell as she tried to fish her keys out of her pocket. “I don’t know,” Carson said, “There’s this queer baseball show that supposed to be really good. We could try that.”
She stopped digging for her keys when Greta pulled her face in for a kiss. Her hands went immediately into Carson’s hair as the shorter woman leaned into Greta. She squeezed Greta’s waist and tilted her head to deepen the kiss.
Carson wondered if there would ever come a day that Greta couldn’t melt her to the core with just a kiss.
Greta let their tongues intertwine for the better part of two minutes until she could feel Carson start to vibrate. Greta pushed Carson gently back to catch her breath. She stood upright off the wall and grabbed Carson’s ass. “I was promised throuple scenes.” She laughed as Carson opened the door to let them in.
Greta was already unbuttoning her shirt as Carson closed the door. They stumbled together through their living room, past the kitchen to their master. They both took care of their own jeans before coming together at the foot of a four-post king size bed.
“That scene really worked for you huh?” Carson asked as she pulled her own sweater over her head.
“When have I ever needed an excuse to jump your bones?” Greta asked before their mouths met.
Greta seemed hungry. Carson acknowledged that it felt more apologetic than just straight lust. She smiled into the redhead’s mouth. She’d never tire of how they communicated even without words. Carson couldn’t explain how, but she could feel the penance in Greta’s mouth. She gave in immediately.
Greta’s tongue explored every corner of Carson’s mouth as one hand traveled into brown layers to the back of her head. No closeness was close enough for Greta in this moment. With her free hand, she unclipped Carson’s bra and guided her to the foot of the bed to lay her back.
Carson took the cue and backed herself onto the bed, sliding her cotton panties down as she moved toward the headboard.
Greta followed her path but stopped at Carson’s midsection to press her lips hard into the shorter woman’s hips in the exact spot she knew Carson loved.
Carson’s eyes pressed closed at the feeling. Greta could do the same exact thing to the same exact spot a million times, and it would always drive Carson crazy.
Greta moved from her hips to her ribs, dragging her tongue firmly over Carson’s skin leaving a trail of goosebumps in her wake.
Carson reached down to pull Greta up towards her. She locked their mouths together and used her legs to pull the redhead firmly into her center.
Greta rolled her hips slowly to spread Carson’s legs wider.
Carson’s eyebrows knit together, and she exhaled into Greta’s mouth.
It always drove Greta crazy when she caught Carson’s breath in her mouth, but she was determined to keep her blood cool enough to continue apologizing. She moved her mouth to Carson’s jawline and slid down to focus on her breasts. Carson was always so reactive to attention there.
Greta brushed her thumb over her left nipple. Even that made Carson’s back arch off the sheets. She dipped her mouth to lightly suck on her right nipple while gently pinning the left between her thumb and forefinger. Carson’s breath audibly caught.
She released Carson’s nipple and pulled a hair tie off her wrist to gently secure her curls out of the way.
Carson loved watching her do that. It had become a part of their foreplay. Carson liked to watch Greta go down on her and her partner knew that full well. It heaped anticipation on top of every interlude.
Greta smirked at Carson as she settled between her legs and bit her lip. She pressed her tongue into Carson’s center to pull out her arousal and slide it over her clit.
Carson let out a loud gasp.
Greta focused on a spot Carson loved just off the center of everything. She flattened her tongue to press firmly on and off of it, which she knew shot Carson halfway to orgasm every time.
Carson couldn’t keep her eyes off of Greta. Watching how she titled her head at times for the right angle, seeing flashes of her tongue as it moved over her, into her, catching her eyes when they drifted up to check in, it all drove Carson crazy. She ran her hands through her own hair as Greta directed her attention to her throbbing clit.
“Fuck!” she loudly whispered. She could see Greta’s responding smile.
Greta knew she was on edge. Without slowing her tongue, she slid one finger barely inside and pressed up slightly. She didn’t like all the deep attention, sometimes she didn’t like inside at all. That was an insecurity of hers initially, how different she was than other partners she’d had in the past. Greta had taken every opportunity to prove that it didn’t matter HOW she got pleasure. She convinced Carson that it was truly her greatest joy to make her feel so so good, and that every orgasm, no matter how it was arrived at earned a place in her heart and her memory.
Now as Carson’s hips bucked into her mouth, there was no anxiety or pre-occupation, just the familiar, yet still frantic chasing of release.
Carson clenched hard as she tripped over the edge. Greta felt her finish on her fingers and breathed out into Carson as she trembled. Greta removed her finger, knowing that Carson preferred to finish an orgasm with only outside. She wrapped her arm around her thigh to pull her hard into her mouth to just press. Carson reflexively half sat up as she peaked right before becoming too sensitive.
Greta slowly removed her mouth and pulled her lower lip under her tongue. She would never get over how obsessed she was with how Carson tasted, even after so many years.
Carson’s breathing returned to normal, and she focused on Greta’s smirk. “So, there was one good thing to come out of the show.”
Greta laughed. “Highlight, for sure.”
Carson sat up again to pull Greta to her left side. “So,” She started as she slid her hand slowly down Greta’s torso. “When I feel how wet you are, should I assume it’s because of Kehlani?”
“Car-“ Greta’s breath hitched as Carson sunk her fingers into her arousal. The long fingers of her left hand gripped the side of Carson’s face. “It’s always for you, it’s ALWAYS, you.” She moaned the word, ‘Always’, as Carson found her clit.
Carson nudged Greta onto her back and put herself almost on her knees between long legs. She returned her first two fingers between them and started moving them in a come hither motion letting the pads drag over where Greta was throbbing.
“Fuck, that feels good.” Greta said, letting her head press into the pillow beneath her.
Carson loved to watch Greta like this. The strong, gorgeous, intelligent, intimidating woman let herself be putty in Carson’s hands, and Carson treasured that. It was giving over control, yes, but it was more that Greta still seemed surprised, at times, by their connection. When work was so insane that Greta would say she probably couldn’t focus enough to play, Carson proved time and time again that their passion could drown out all the other noise and re-center her.
Carson lowered more of her weight onto Greta which made the pressure from her fingers more intense. She rolled her hips in rhythm with her hand, so each drive of her hips pushed firmly into the redhead.
Greta wrapped an arm around to grab the small of Carson’s back. She tried to pull her in harder. Carson took the cue and lowered the rest of her weight down. She picked up the speed as she watched Greta’s eyes cloud over. She knew she was close. She dipped down to kiss her, desperate to swallow her moans. She continued to grind into her faster and harder until Greta pulled her mouth back to curse. She gripped Carson’s inner arm hard, sure it would bruise, but she couldn’t help it.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, God!” She exclaimed as she leaned into the orgasm. She released Carson’s arm in favor of the back of her neck as her body shook.
Carson found her tongue and swept over it once before pulling back, then again, pulling back.
When Greta’s hand relaxed on her neck, she kept their mouths together to ride out the aftershocks.
Carson moved her fingers and laid slightly to the side of her lover.
“OK,” Greta said. “Once my brain function returns, we can talk.”
“Tomorrow, Love.” Was all Carson said.
They fell asleep in that position, naked, spent and intertwined on top of the covers.