Aurora being the one who has to go to mrs. chamberlain to speak to marian about her marital issues and peggy bing there with her forced annulment is so wow and chamberlain is divorced and aurora soon to be. Also aurora’s dislike towards mrs chamberlain because of her divorce and risky affair when her husband will be the one to have a risky affair for love and force a divorce.
Someone should put them in a room and have them just like air out their laundry together or something.
I've had quite some fun making the latest Best Dressed The Gilded Age Lady gif sets, and I kind of can't let go of the series quite yet. What do you guys think of doing another vote for the ladies with (so far) only minor/one season parts in the series? I was thinking of characters like:
Maud Beaton
Elizabeth Kirkland
Sylvia Chamberlain
Anne Morris
Flora McNeil
Susan Blane
Charlotte Drayton
Athena Trumbo
Lady Sarah Vere
Emily Warren Roebling
Feel free to mention more. Tumblr allows for 12 voting options.
So yeah what do you think? Should we do such a vote?
Summary: Staring down the barrel of her impending wedding night with Mr. Raikes, Marian is feeling rather anxious about the duties of a wife. She comes to Sylvia in search of reassurance.
Word Count: 1,984
Author's Note: This was inspired by a prompt from @leaveitalonesky and was written for the "Virginity/Celibacy" square of my @tgakinkbingo card. Please prompt me for it, the more unhinged the better lol!
Marian had been sitting in Sylvia’s drawing room in silence for a full fifteen minutes. She knew because she’d been counting every last one of them, willing herself to speak and yet remaining mute. She also knew Sylvia was growing concerned as the silence stretched on, her expression slowly growing more and more uneasy as time went by.
She opened her mouth to finally speak, but when she tried, all that came out was a little squeak, which she immediately tried to cover by taking a sip of tea.
If anything, Sylvia only grew more suspicious. “If there’s something on your mind, you can tell me...” she prompted gently.
Marian nodded, attempted a smile, though it was hollow. It remained clear, though, that there was something she wasn’t saying.
Sylvia moved to sit next beside her, extending a hand to rest on her knee. “Whatever it is that’s weighing on you, I promise there’ll be no judgment from me...”
Her hand found Sylvia’s and squeezed gently, grateful for the small gesture of comfort, even if it did nothing for the feeling of unease writhing in her stomach. Finally, she bolstered her courage as best she could, took a deep inhale and, in one breath, uttered the thing she’d ultimately came here to say: “I’m feeling rather anxious about the idea of, well...being deflowered.”
“Ah...”
Marian immediately felt her cheeks pink with embarrassment and she briefly wished the ground might open up and swallow her whole so that she might escape this awkward social situation unscathed. At least Sylvia hadn’t immediately laughed, which was a small blessing.
“That’s understandable,” Sylvia murmured. She didn’t withdraw her hand either, which Marian took as a good sign. “Is there something in particular you’re concerned about or...”
She sighed softly. “My mother died when I was so young that she never really had the chance to...explain things,” she explained. “I’ve been able to piece it together, but...” She trailed off, shaking her head slowly.
Sylvia nodded, understanding perhaps more than Marian had intended. “It’s natural that you might be intimidated,” she said, “It requires quite a lot of trust and bravery to be so vulnerable with someone, even if it it’s someone you love.”
Something almost imperceptible crossed Marian’s face then and, if Sylvia hadn’t been paying such close attention, she might’ve missed it.
“Is there something else?” she prompted gently.
“Maybe it’s wrong...” she said slowly, “I just... I can’t help but wish that I knew the person with whom I first lay was the sort of person I knew to be gentle and kind and trustworthy.” A beat. Then, in a smaller voice, “Someone like you.”
There were a lot of things Sylvia could have said in that moment. Things like, ‘Don’t marry him’. Things like, ‘He doesn’t deserve you’. Things like, ‘I love you’. She said none of them, though.
Instead, she leaned in – slowly, so as to give her time to pull away should she so wish – until their lips met. The contact was brief, but no less tender for the brevity. She did her best to express all the things she was too polite (or, perhaps, too cowardly) to say and hoped that Marian might understand all the same.
“Sylvia, I-I...” Marian stammered once they’d pulled back from the kiss. She didn’t seem to know what to say, which Sylvia couldn’t blame her for, given the unexpected forwardness of the gesture.
She shook her head. “You don’t need to say it,” she murmured, “I know it was inappropriate and even selfish of me, I just... I wish for you a deflowering that’s tender and loving and all the things you truly deserve. I can’t help but feel that Mr. Raikes won’t give that to you.”
For several long moments, Marian remained silent, mouth open slightly as if on the verge of words that wouldn’t quite form. The longer she remained wordless, the more guilty Sylvia felt, the more she wanted to justify and explain and defend herself, but she too couldn’t seem to form speech in the face of her own actions.
Finally, Marian grew bold. “C-can... Can I kiss you?” she stammered, though she was already fairly certain what the answer would be. Sylvia looked up sharply, taken aback by the request, in spite of everything. Marian was looking at her with something akin to hope and she knew then that the request was genuine.
She cupped Marian’s cheek, a tender thumb stroking across her cheekbone, and spent a moment looking into Marian’s eyes, a soft smile playing about her lips. Finally, she drew her in for another kiss, this one with all the passion she’d been holding back the first time for fear of frightening her.
Marian surprised her by returning the intensity – a little more timid, perhaps, but still there – and Sylvia couldn’t help but feel a small flicker of hope in her chest that maybe, just maybe, there was something more than friendship in Marian’s heart as well...
...
Marian thought that once the doors to Sylvia’s bedchambers closed behind them, once things became well and truly real, she would feel anxious. That she’d begin to have doubts and second thoughts. She was surprised to find there wasn’t a single misgiving in her heart.
While she hadn’t intended for this to happen, she couldn’t say that she was disappointed by this particular turn of events. In fact, it had turned out far better than she could have hoped.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Sylvia murmured beside her ear, pressing soft kisses along her spine as she worked on unfastening the laces of her corset. “If you’re having doubts, there’s no...”
She shook her head gently, pulling the last pin keeping her hair in place so that it might release from its careful arrangement. “I’m merely thinking how very remarkable and mysterious the way of things can be...”
“How so?” she asked, nuzzling her nose into Marian’s hair as it tumbled down about her shoulders and inhaling the sweet floral scent of it.
Marian smiled softly. She turned her head slightly so that she might capture her lips once again. “I came here anticipating a very uncomfortable conversation and instead... Well...” She trailed off with a little laugh, perhaps a bit nervous, but no less eager for it.
Once Sylvia had finished divesting her of her clothes, Marian suddenly felt a frisson of shyness race along her spine now that she was so exposed and vulnerable. As if reading her mind, Sylvia reached for her hand, bringing it up so that she could kiss her knuckles. “You need only say the word and it’s as if none of this happened...”
What struck Marian first was how very deeply Sylvia respected her boundaries – in a way that Mr. Raikes did not seem to share. It was followed quickly by the bittersweet note of missed opportunity at the idea of not following through on what might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... Bolstering her confidence, she drew Sylvia close enough that she might lean her forehead against Sylvia’s. Lips but a breath apart, she whispered, “I trust you.” She knew that would be enough.
With clumsy fingers, she freed Sylvia from her corsets as well until she was just as exposed, just as vulnerable, and suddenly Marian didn’t feel quite so afraid. Even as she laid back on the delicate linens that clothed Sylvia’s bed. Even as Sylvia laid eyes on her bare skin.
Even as Sylvia’s fingers blazed paths along her body where she’d never been touched, higher and higher along her inner thigh, until they found their target. Marian gasped sharply, a twinge of euphoria sparking from Sylvia’s touch.
“Good girl,” Sylvia purred as she relaxed into her ministrations. “Just let yourself enjoy this.”
She fought it for a brief moment, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts – about the impropriety of what they were doing, what her aunts would think if they only knew – and her body unconsciously stiffened up, fighting against the pleasure Sylvia was trying to give her.
“Shh,” Sylvia soothed, “Don’t fight it, Darling. Let me take care of you.” She wanted to – God, how she wanted to – but it was so damned difficult to shut off her mind. Sylvia, seeming to sense this, halted in her ministrations so that she could cup her cheek, gently forcing her to meet her gaze. “Just focus on me, Darling,” she instructed, “Can you do that for me?”
She nodded, eager to please.
Sylvia’s fingers were delicate as they stroked her cheek, her smile soft. “You’re so beautiful,” she murmured.
Marian felt her cheeks pink with shyness, but – possibly for the first time – she truly believed the sentiment. She didn’t have long to dwell on the matter, though, before Sylvia’s fingers were once again between her legs.
She spent several long minutes lavishing attention at the apex of her thighs, playing her like a highly skilled pianist – testing out what sounds she could elicit, which touches made her back go taut and her toes curl.
Marian sighed and whined, feeling herself slowly unravelling under her touch...though, towards what, she didn’t know.
Then, Sylvia’s touch slowed, stopped altogether. “This next part might hurt a little,” she warned, “Try to relax, okay?” She nodded, trusting Sylvia explicitly, even if she was rather nervous. “Just breathe,” Sylvia murmured as she eased two fingers into her.
Instinctively, Marian tensed up at the pain, even as a tingle of pleasure blossomed at Sylvia’s touch. She’d never felt this before and her body fought against it, even as Sylvia whispered reassurances. She could sense that Sylvia was growing concerned, was tempted to stop...she didn’t want her to, though. So, she forced what she hoped was a reassuring smile, reaching for Sylvia’s unoccupied hand to squeeze it gently. “Please...” she urged.
She seemed placated by this, returning Marian’s soft smile, and redoubling her efforts. She moved her fingers – slowly, at first, but growing faster, bolder as Marian began to relax into her touch. “You’re doing so good, Darling,” she purred, her thumb finding Marian’s clit and stroking it in counterpoint to the thrusts of her fingers.
Marian keened softly, her hips beginning to roll to meet her touch, seeking out more than she was getting. “Please...” she whined, “I need...” She couldn’t seem to finish the thought, but Sylvia understood all the same.
Finally, it all became too much, too overwhelming and with a gasp, she felt her body go taut as pleasure washed over her in a way she’d never felt before.
It was several long minutes before she was once again aware of her surroundings and she once again felt a surge of shyness rush through her, though she couldn’t have articulated why. She glanced at Sylvia who lay beside her, watching her with something unnameable in her eyes. “What is it?” she asked, fighting against the self-consciousness that had taken up residence somewhere in her chest.
It wasn’t until Sylvia reached out to smudge away a stray tear that had escaped to roll down her cheek that Marian realized she was crying. The self-consciousness grew, though she was once again lost as to explain the source of the emotion.
“Whatever you’re feeling,” Sylvia said quietly, “It’s okay. There’s no judgment here...”
She nodded, swallowing thickly past the lump of emotion in her throat. She didn’t bother trying to justify or define said emotion, knew inherently that Sylvia understood all the same.
Sylvia pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head. She didn’t say any of the things she so badly wanted to tell her... Like, ‘Don’t go through with this’.Like, ‘He won’t love you the way I do’. Like, ‘I’d gladly spend the rest of my life making you happy if you let me’.
She simply held her while she could and hoped that maybe, just maybe, one day that would feel like enough.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Gilded Age (TV 2022)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sylvia Chamberlain/Aurora Fane
Characters: Aurora Fane, Sylvia Chamberlain
Additional Tags: Drunkenness, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Feelings Realization, Pre-Relationship
Series: Part 39 of The Gilded Age of Broadway Divas
Summary:
The humiliation of Charles bringing his mistress into their home simply too great to bear, Aurora throws propriety to the four winds. After imbibing enough wine to make Aunt Ada squeal in disapproval, Aurora ventures out into the night without a coat, a hat, or pocket change to pay the cab fare. To her surprise, she winds up on the doorstep of a woman whom she has excluded for as long as she can remember.
Rather than turn her away, Sylvia Chamberlain takes her in, cleans her up, and offers sage advice. After all, Mrs. Chamberlain has ample experience in matters of infidelity. That she knows what it's like to be the other woman is something Aurora can overlook.
