#oh and the rijksmuseum!!

[vogelmeister]

i should take note of what places in the netherlands are mentioned in goud bc that would be interesting

[andmaybegayer]

A Shepherdess, Paulus Moreelse, 1630

Saw this at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with the attached note:

This alluring shepherdess would never have been engaged in the tending of sheep. She inhabits an idealized pastoral paradise called Arcadia. Dutch 17th-century poetry repeatedly sang the praises of this imaginary land. The shepherdesses there were invariably seductive and licentious. Moreelse made many attractive paintings of this subject matter.

Which immediately made me go "oh, like Hentai"

[acrossthewavesoftime]

"My compliments to all the family except for Lott[e]."

Charlotte Philiberthe von Nassau-Beverweerd (1649-1702) (detail); created between 1675 and 1694, though the hairstyle would suggest a date in the 1670s; in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

For Valentine's day, here's a tale of a romance that did not quite turn out as expected, but left a string of interesting documents.

Let's picture the scene: you're in love. Who do you tell? Well, obviously, you might confide the butterflies in your belly to your best friend, and it just so happens that the lady who's quite turned your head is a distant cousin of his.

This is the situation one Hans Willem Bentinck (1649-1709) found himself in during January and February 1675. His crush was Charlotte Philiberthe von Nassau-Beverweerd, a distant relation (their grandfathers were half-brothers) of his closest friend, then-Stadtholder of the United Provinces and future King of England William III (1650-1702).

William III of Orange and Hans Willem Bentinck; dated to 1676. Collection of Stichting Kasteel Amerongen, via RKD Research.

William interceded on his best friend's behalf, and seems to have taken "Lotte", as he called her, aside when the latter, living with one of her sisters who had married an English noble, paid a visit to the Netherlands.

The Stadtholder, who was friends with Lotte as she was one of the few people who would engage him in some good, old-fashioned banter and, her love for a good joke aside, was an extremely intelligent conversationalist, made her promise to give a reply as to what he should tell his best friend; but that reply never came and so, William, writing to Lotte's brother-in-law, Thomas Butler, the 6th Earl of Ossory (1634-1680), with whom she lived, added a few P.S.-s to his usual (largely political) letters to Ossory:

In late January or early February, William wrote to Ossory:

(P. S.) I beg of you to tell Lott[e] that, all her cruelty aside, I love her with all my heart, and to reproach her that she has neither written, nor even replied to my letter, as she had promised when we parted. I also hope that she will soon declare herself on that which she had promised me to think on when we parted, for Bentinck is very impatient to know how he stands, which seems very reasonable to me. G.*

(* In case you're wondering why William, or Willem in Dutch, signed as "G.", in his private correspondence: it's the abbreviation of the French equivalent of his name, Guillaume.)

However, it looks like Lotte was still ghosting both Bentinck and William, because he signed another letter to Ossory, datable to February 1675, off as follows:

My compliments to all the family except for Lott[e]. G.

A third letter to Ossory lastly mentions Lotte in March 1675:

(P. S.) I beg of you to assure Madame the Countess [of Ossory] of my very humble services, and [Lotte] as well, regardless of my not having any reason to be pleased with her. G.

One imagines that William may have taken his best friend aside and told him to forget about Lotte. Sadly, we have no information on how Lotte reacted to these messages.

If there is anything to be taken from this tale of historical heartbreak, it is that this sort of thing happens. If this Valentine's Day you find yourself unhappy because you're celebrating it alone and rather would not to, remember that you're not alone. Maybe also talk to your best friend, even if they're not a powerful noble in charge of a country.

Oh, and don't be a Lotte and ghost someone with an (romantic) interest in you. Just tell them in polite, but no uncertain terms that you're not into them.

From a historian's perspective, I find it fascinating how the Lotte-letters to Ossory highlight a part of William III's personality that is largely overlooked; posthumously often regarded as a guarded, almost robotically emotionless man, the young William in his early 20s who tries to play cupid for his best friend and adopts a very domestic tone in his missives going so far as to utilise nicknames paints a rather different picture.

Lotte was evidently forgiven, because she became a member of William and Mary's court, and briefly served under Anne as well. She never married, and her motives for doing so have been lost to history.

As for Hans Willem Bentinck, he met a woman called Anne Villiers (1651-1688) two and a half years later: she was, her mother having been the governess of William's bride Princess Mary, the future Mary II, a sort of sisterly figure to the Princess, and the two met through the marriage of their friends/employers. Contrary to William and Mary, for whom love only developed gradually in the aftermath of a fairly traumatic arranged marriage (especially on the then-15-year-old Mary's part), for Anne and Hans Willem Bentinck, their romance was much more organic: they fell in love at their workplace, so to say. To crown their personal happy end, William III stepped in to provide Anne, who was of a respectable family, yet had no fortune to speak of, with a dowry.

For the letters from William to Ossory, see: Japikse, Nicolaas [ed.]: Correspondentie van Willem III en van Hans Willem Bentinck (1927-1935), Vol. II, ii, letters 4, 15 and 16.

[bonesandthebees]

o(-( im so sorry I didn't want to scare you auaghgshgd the air raid alarm goes off every first monday of the month at 12 midday through the entire country, nothing to worry about 👍🏼

OH lol ok good to know. We were in the Rijksmuseum at that time so that’s probably why we didn’t hear it (gorgeous museum btw loved everything there)

[uitzinnigmp3]

1, 4, 10, 11? :)

thank youuu jo <3

1. favourite place in your country?

okay another place i really love is, very boringly, the rijksmuseum... yes it is in amsterdam & i don't like amsterdam very much but the museum is soooo sick. i discover new paintings there every single time & the building is just so beautiful

4. favourite dish specific for your country?

i'm gonna be so honest dutch cuisine is fucking boring. anyone serves me basic potatoes, vegetables & meat it's on sight, but i do like a good stamppot boerenkool. OH also poffertjes. thats a peak meal

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

kut is my best friend my beloved i can't imagine a world without her... i use it way too much, i'm also a fan of tering & tyfus. add -zooi to any of those & i can make a 15 word sentence if you want

11. favourite native writer/poet?

i do not really read dutch lit which i honestly should do more, but when i was younger i read a lot of simone van der vlugt who writes historical fiction! my fav is 'jehanne' which is abt joan of arc. it's really really good

send me an 'i'm not from the us' ask!

[jlf23tumble]

Top 5 museums/museum exhibits you've visited.

Oh, this is a tough one because they don't necessarily match, so I'll just divvy 'em up.

Top 5 museums:

Hollywood Museum

Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation

DDR Museum

London Transport Museum

Museum of Brands

HONORABLE MENTION BECAUSE IT'S DEAD/GONE, Black Velvet Painting Museum (rip)

Top 5 exhibits:

Heavenly Bodies at the Met

Yayoi Kusama's retrospective at the Broad

Art Is Therapy at the Rijksmuseum

Reigning Men at LACMA

African-print Fashion Now! at UCLA

[dracothelizard]

Guess I'm doing 'Coffeeshop AU but make it Dutch' fanfic again :D

Will star Ed, who is tired of his Blackbeard coffeeshops and the legislation, and gueststar Jackie as the mayor of Amsterdam because I could.

Stede has only been in the city of Amsterdam for five minutes, but he already hates everything.

Oh, not the city itself, which seems fine, if rather busy for his tastes, because the cyclists are everywhere.

No, his problems lie with his companions. Nigel, whose stag do they’re on, and his twin brother Chauncey are the worst. They’ve always been the ring leaders when it came to bullying Stede, the rest of their group of school chums joining in cheerfully. It was just teasing, just a prank, some bit of fun, take it like a man, Stede.

Stede sighs as he trudges after the rest, dodging the other people on the busy sidewalk. The only reason he was invited and the only reason he’s here is because it’s what was expected. Nigel Badminton is getting married for the second time, so of course he’s invited all his old school chums. And of course all his old school chums accept the invitation for a week long stag do in Amsterdam.

Mary, his ex-wife, had been jealous at the invite, talking about the art museums she’d love to visit. She’d tried to cheer him by pointing out that surely there’d be time in the schedule to visit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, and that the Mauritshuis was only a short train ride away.

Stede had hoped the same, and that he’d be able to sneak a visit to the Keukenhof to watch the tulips bloom.

But no, Chauncey is in charge of the schedule and it is filled to the brim with visits to the Red Light District, the sex museum, and of course coffee shops. He’d laughed when Stede suggested a visit to an art museum.

[thinkragelive]

2023 : Denied! [Europe Trip Day 02 Amsterdam]

Rijksmuseum sold out! Wasn’t prepared for needing to book museum tickets in advance. Never needed to in the past. Oh well. We’re rolling!

[gammarion]

Oh, Amsterdam!

Mari kita pergi ke Amsterdam, menengok lukisan di Rijksmuseum sampai petang. Kalau kita sedang beruntung karena hari itu tidak hujan, kita bisa menaiki sampan dan menyusuri Kanal Singelgracht sampai menjelang malam. 

Menikmati wafel renyah dengan sirup karamel di antaranya, oh, atau roti lapis isi daging ayam alih alih slice ham. Lalu aku akan bercerita mengenai Si Pemotong Telinga satu itu. Serta mengapa The Bedroom dan Stary Night bisa menjadi salah satu lukisan favoritku hingga saat ini. 

Tak perlu risau, kita bisa pergi ke Bloemenmarkt keesokan harinya. Melihat pasar bunga terapung tertua di Belanda. Ia masih berada di Amsterdam, tak perlu trem untuk kesana. Lebih tepatnya di Kanal Singel, diantara Koningsplein dan Muntplein. 

Saat itu, ku kira, dunia tak terasa terlalu kejam rasanya, dan kau terasa nyata, lebih nyata dibanding mimpi mimpi di sore hari kala demam tiba. Sampai hari itu tiba, bertahanlah, dengan apapun kau berpegang kepadanya, bertahanlah, 

berjanjilah.

[mydysfunctionalvampirefamily]

How fun! I haven't seen tag games in along time.

Colour: turquoise, and gold.

Currently reading: I have a hard time reading books because my concentration is not great so I either do audiobooks, or reading fanfcition.

Last song: I'll be good by Jaymes young. Super angsty, but it's part of the playlist I made for my dnd character that died Friday. So I've been listening to that a lot.

Last series: Critical role really, it's pretty much all I've been watching for a good while now.

Last movie: oh boy, I think it was a documentary about how the rijksmuseum tried to get all the vermeer paintings in the world together for a big exhibit. That is super lame probably, but it was really interesting.

Currently working on: for the first time in years I'm actually working on writing again, the fact that it is smut should not be the focus. 😂

tag game!! V●ᴥ●V

tagged by @nobodysugly

tag 9 people sheeeesh

FAVORITE COLOR: pink!

CURRENTLY READING: nothing because I'm illiterate (ᵔᴥᵔ)

LAST SONG: semi-automatic by twenty one pilots!

LAST SERIES: final space!!!!

LAST MOVIE: baby driver~~~

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: studying math and a papercraft King dedede hammer!

Tagging:

@unyanizedcatboys @hxneyboy @bogpaws @hksodapop @neo-cult-ure @liesminelli @beeboysupreme @transdelgado @lukewarmsunshine

[radioprune]

favorite museum?

ohh definitely the natural history museum here in new york <33 i was OBSESSED with it as a child and begged my parents to take me there nearly every day after school and since my grandma volunteered there we could get free tickets (and also the back entrance is pay by donation ;) ) they usually obliged me. i could probably still recite the entirety of the human evolution exhibit and the black holes movie and i just applied to work there and i love it so so much

[clove-pinks]

An 1838 "Behind the Scenes" cartoon by Gavarni published in Le Charivari (Rijksmuseum).

"Oh you will give me a beautiful little role, my author love!"

The actress and the playwright both wear strapped trousers; her frock coat looks much better than his loose paletot (this might be the style called twine anglais).

I'm going to have to look it up but I swear there's at least one academic journal article about Gavarni drawing women in male drag—it is his thing. (And this is why Gavarni is the best).

[bonesandthebees]

Hi Bee, hope your train ride is fun!

Fun fact: one of our smoke detectors decided it needed to let hs know the batteries were getting low at 4:30 yesterday and we did not figure out which one it was (and that it wasn’t stuck to the ceiling, so easy to get) ‘till 6 a.m.! I did not go back to bed after ripping the batteries out of its wretched carcass and it was a long day so despite getting a decent amount of sleep tonight, I am still tired.

Anyway, tell me about your day. You did Edinburgh, right? (Please tell I read the correct name) The picture we’re very beautiful and it looked like a really pretty day. Did you do anything other than visiting castles. Also what museum did you go to?

-🌲

Hi spruce ty!!

Oh NOOO literally there is almost nothing worse than a smoke alarm going off bc of low batteries. There’s basically nothing you can do till you figure out which one it is and even when you do sometimes taking the batteries out still doesn’t make the noise stop. It’s happened to me at like 2 am before it sucks so bad 😭 I’m so sorry spruce we are both running on very little sleep rn

Yes I was at Edinburgh yesterday!! It’s such a pretty city. But tbh I’m glad I spent most of my time in Scotland in Glasgow. Edinburgh is pretty but it doesn’t feel like a real place people live if that makes sense?? Like I know plenty of people do live there but it’s so touristy it just feels like a prop piece as Firesnap described it. Glasgow feels like more of a real city

I still had a lot of fun in Edinburgh tho!! I actually didn’t visit any castles bc the big castle in Edinburgh requires you book your tickets in advance and I didn’t know that 😭 all the pictures I posted where pics of cathedrals and other random monuments around the city. The buildings literally just Look Like That.

I went to two museums while I was there! The National Museum of Scotland (which was fun but the stuff they had on display isn’t really the kind of stuff I like to go to museums to se except for the fashion they had a whole fashion exhibit I was obsessed with), and then I went to the National Gallery. The Gallery was where I got to see all the gorgeous art and that’s definitely up there with the museums I went to. It was a smaller art museum compared to the Rijksmuseum and the Kelvingrove but the paintings they had on display were huge and stunning.

Also I went to this visual illusion museum type place that was really not worth the £20 admission price so the TripAdvisor reviews lied to me a bit. They said it was fun for kids and adults but it was definitely geared mostly to kids. But the staff working there were really funny and I got some cool pics out of it so I still enjoyed it

Oh also after the national museum of Scotland I went to this whisky and gin bar nearby and I had the best cocktail I’ve had in ages. Also I ordered a scotch egg there and it has to be one of the best things I’ve eaten on this trip. Scotch eggs are so good wtf

So my final rating of Edinburgh was very good for a day trip, glad I didn’t spend more than one day there though Glasgow definitely is a better place to spend your time at

[newtonsheffield]

Imagine if I just dropped a little teaser for From The First Old Fashioned

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, November 2021

“Kate, can we stop fucking around and get out of there please?”

Edwina’s voice was dry in the intercom, and Kate could almost see her sister’s eyes rolling from her position in the van, still three streets away.

Kate chuckled, backflipping over the final trip laser. “So I added maybe a few more flips than necessary, but I have to give my admirers at Interpol something to fuss over.”

“You didn’t have to go through there at all. You literally could’ve just walked round.” Sophie sighed, the keyboard clicking in Kate’s ear, loud from the office building on the other side of the street, “Yes, what would it be without your little signature?”

Kate hummed, as she took out the screw driver. “Have we got the heat sensors off?”

“Yep, they’ve been off for 15 minutes while you did your little acrobatics.” Sophie tutted while Edwina hummed.

No doubt watching her carefully carve her moniker into the wall beside the Degas “Why are you the way you are?”

Kate turned towards the security camera and did a little bow before she got to work, gently removing the screws holding the painting in place, her mind wandering, “Did I tell you guys What I got Anthony for his birthday?”

“If it’s more lingerie I really don’t want to know.” Sophie sighed.

Kate rolled her eyes, smirking a little at the look that always spread across her husband’s face when he saw his auxiliary birthday gifts, her body wrapped in tight lace, his voice excited. Off. Take them Off Mrs Bridgerton! “Other than that.”

She’d met Anthony five years ago, in Monaco of all places, his eyes burning across the hotel bar at her, sunglasses on, a handsome smile tossed her way while her stomach had burned, even as she chastised herself, slowly watching him make his way over. Don’t Kate, Don’t make this messy. You’ve done this job, you’ll get the money for Edwina to go to university and now you can get back to your real life.

“Hey, this is going to sound like a line: But I couldn’t help but notice you over there.” His voice was smooth, rich, deep, his hand running confidently through his dark wavy hair, but his eyes were kind when he slid his glasses up, and something about him had tugged at her.

“That’s your best line? I’m a little disappointed. You looked like your were thinking so hard about it when you came over.” She’d hummed, her legs crossed on the stool.

“So you noticed me too.” He’d caught her out, grinning a little too charmingly. “You wanna hear my best pick up line?” He’d leaned in conspiratorially.

“Of course I do, and if I like it, you’ll buy me an old fashioned and you can ask me what you really came over here to ask.”

He’d chuckled, the sound warm and thrilling, his hand snaking confidently around her waist, burning at the skin there. “How long did you lose your driver’s license for when you drove me crazy?”

And despite herself, despite the anxiety she’d felt in the pit of her stomach from the moment she’d taken this job, she’d thrown her head back and laughed. “Buy me a drink pretty boy.”

“Anthony, I’m Anthony.” The hand he’d held out towards her was warm, inviting and she couldn’t help herself.

“I’m Kate.”

She’d fallen into his bed a few hours later, and before she’d known what she was doing, she’d left her name and number neatly penned on his bedside table.

“Foul.” Edwina said distastefully, and then, “The same car’s driven by me three times, black sedan, I’m going round the block to follow.”

Kate hummed, not perturbed, “Anthony, appreciates my acrobatics.”

Sophie made a disgusted noise, and Kate could almost see her face, screwed up in distaste, staring at the monitor. “Anthony is an accountant. The sex cannot be that good.”

“Oh a Ballet Dancer Ben is so creative? Aha! Victory ladies!” Kate crowed as he tugged the painting from the wall, and then she heard it… a very faint click.

Panic whirled in her chest, her mind racing, “Fuck! Soph, there was a pressure sensor behind the painting.”

“Fuck!” Sophie hissed, tapping at the keyboard furiously, that wasn’t listed in the security brief, it must be new. Fuck!”

“Oh We have a bigger problem than that.” Edwina hissed, the engine revving in the back ground as Kate raced through the museum the same way she’d come in, boots skidding on the floor, fingers fumbling with the case as she locked the frame in, securing it to the pulley.

“How much bigger?” The adrenaline was pounding through her veins, sweat sinking into the knitted mask she wore, and still she couldn’t help but smirk when she looked back at the wall, Much Love,

Viscountess

Etched there.

“Fucking huge. That Car just pulled up outside, a man just got out in a fucking Interpol jac- Oh What the FUCK?!”

It was racing through her veins now, the adrenaline, the panic the fear, as she tugged on the rope sending the painting soaring up through the ceiling, flipping across the floor to avoid, the sensors, seeking her own exit.

“Painting’s out, Soph, get the drone, I’m nearly there.”

“Kate, just get out, just get out right now. Holy Fuck, Holy Fuck. It can’t be him.” Edwina’s voice, usually so calm, so carefully controlled was full of panic, as Kate made it to the stairwell, footsteps thundering behind her.

“Bring the car around, I’m about to descend.” Kate spat quickly, her legs burning as they carried her faster and faster up the stairs, lungs on fire. She’d made it, made it to the edge of the building, forgoing the climbing harness, wrapping the rope tightly around her arm, “Is the drone at the pick up?”

“Yep.” Sophie’s quick calm voice came.

“Kate-”

“Put your hands up or I’ll fucking shoot!”

Kate went cold, the wind knocked out of her as the voice she’d know anywhere rang across the rooftop, with more authority and venom than she’d ever heard it. It couldn’t- It couldn’t be him.

“Kate, It’s Anthony. The Interpol agent is Anthony.”

“I mean it. Fucking put them in the air.”

Kate slowly lifted her hands, her mind racing, confusion sweeping over her, her stomach churning. What the Fuck was-?

“Okay, not turn around and slowly, take off the mask.”

Kate turned, as slowly as she dared and there he was. Anthony Bridgerton. Her husband. The man who slept beside her every night, the man who made her eggs in the morning, and held her when she cried, the man who kissed her on the cheek every morning as they left for work. Anthony the accountant. Well. Apparently not.

He was dressed in a dark suit, a bulletproof vest with Interpol splashed across the front, his hair whipping in the breeze, that same crease between his brows that she’d run her fingers over so many many times, his eyes hard as he stared at her unblinkingly down the barrel of a gun. A .45 she thought. Not that it mattered. And what choice did she have?

Kate raised her hands slowly, and tugged her mask free, her own hair swirling around her for a moment as their eyes locked together.

Anthony’s mouth fell open in shock, his gun dropped to the ground, as she cleared her throat. “Well, I think dinner’s going to be a little late tonight, Honey.”

And without warning, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he dropped to the ground.

[feistypuppythatwantstowatchball]

Hiya, sorry this isn't football related😅I'm visiting Amsterdam for the first time this weekend (well we're flying this evening), but have nothing planned😅, do you have any recommendations for places to visit?

Oh man, I honestly rarely go there so wouldnt know much apart from the typical sights (rijksmuseum, van gogh museum, anne frank house)

@meadosawfc lives in the city, maybe she knows some better spots?

[clandonnachaidh]

Light Across The Seas That Severed (Ch3)

AO3

Even after years of friendship, of seeing each other through some of the best and some of the hardest times of their lives, Jamie Fraser would still need to catch his breath at the sight of Claire Beauchamp when she really laughed. With her head thrown back, her whisky eyes would screw shut and she would run her long fingers into her beautiful hair in comedic exasperation.

If watching her laugh was a sight to behold, making her laugh was the best thing in the world.

They were sat across from each other surrounded by a pungent cloud of smoke, both of them situated on plush sofas of green leather that was cracked and worn from use. With each passing minute, Jamie felt like the sofa was beginning to swallow him. He made the mistake of voicing his concern to Claire.

She thought the whole thing was hilarious, obviously, and told him so before taking a bite out of the space cake that she had cut down the middle to share.

“Edibles are stronger, you’ll only need half anyway,” she had said in her matter of fact way that she had, taking charge of the situation from the minute they’d stepped foot in the coffee shop.

Jamie Fraser, being the good catholic boy that he was, had never been inside such a place and he certainly hadn’t experienced anything like the Red Light District that they had just walked through. Of course he had heard of Amsterdam’s relaxed laws when it came to sex work and drugs but seeing it first hand was something entirely different. When he caught sight of the first woman in the window, her long blonde hair tumbling around her bare shoulders, he felt the blush rise to the very tips of his ears as Claire just laughed and dragged him by the hand, deeper into the belly of the beast.

The plan had been for them to spend two days in the city before they said goodbye. Claire was following her heart (which took the shape of one Frank Randall, the same bastard who’d stood her up the night that Jamie and Claire had kissed for the first and only time) to Boston where she’d managed to get a placement in a surgical programme while Frank would teach at Harvard. It had taken everything in Jamie not to break when she told him, the smile that she had plastered on her face not quite reaching her eyes as she surveyed his reaction over her coffee cup. He had swallowed the rising panic in his throat and felt as it soured in his stomach but he managed to calm himself long enough to take a deep breath and tell her the truth — that he was proud of her and he would miss her. He would miss her so much.

Jamie knew that she was lying about not being able to book a more straightforward trip from London to Boston and he strongly suspected that she had orchestrated the two day layover in Amsterdam for the sole purpose of asking if he’d like to join her, a mini break that they both sorely needed after an arduous final year at university. He hadn’t even needed to think about it before he agreed and in the week leading up to it, he had struggled to think of anything but watching her as she wandered around the Rijksmuseum, oblivious to the art hanging on the walls when he had his own masterpiece right in front of him.

“I canna believe I’m in such a place wi’ ye, Sassenach, and for breakfast no less,” he said, hearing a laugh that didn’t sound quite like his own. Frowning at himself, he looked across at her as she chuckled kindly at him, her index finger dabbing a crumb from the corner of her mouth before popping it between her lips. The lips that he had tasted just once years ago in what had been agreed as a funny drunken lapse of judgment in a grubby old pub on the edge of their college campus.

“You just need to relax and you’ll enjoy it, I promise,” she said. It had been her idea to get high first thing in the morning and then spend the remainder of their final day together strolling around the museums and parks of the city, allowing themselves to get into the spirit of the place and cut loose for once.

He watched her waggling her eyebrows suggestively, looking to him like furry brown worms, “You seemed to enjoy the ladies outside well enough.”

He went bright red and tried to sit up straighter amongst the sofa cushions that were trying their best to swallow him, “Dinna be daft, ye ken I wouldnae pay a woman to do that sort of thing.”

“A lot of people pay for sex, Jamie, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Two consenting adults and all that.”

He had always known that Claire was a very liberal thinker and she spent a lot of time and energy educating herself on things to broaden her perspective of the world. Jamie admired her for it even if he did enjoy poking fun at her sometimes, just to watch the spark catch fire in her eyes as she told him precisely why he was wrong.

“Aye well, that’s all fine an’ weel but I winna be dealing wi’ it myself, thank ye.”

“Oh, live a little, Fraser. How long has it been since Annalise? Seven months?” She asked him directly as he made a very Scottish noise in the back of his throat in an attempt to dismiss the conversation about his ex-girlfriend.

“I’ll thank ye to leave her out of our weekend,” he warned her jokingly, delighting in the corner of her mouth quirking upwards in amusement. Before he knew it, the words were tumbling out of his mouth, “Besides, Lise and I, we never…”

He watched as Claire’s eyes almost burst from her skull as she leaned forward, her beautiful mouth gaping at his revelation. Why the hell had he told her that? They never spoke about the personal details of their respective relationships, it was the unspoken rule between them. Don’t ask, don’t tell. Jamie could think of nothing worse than sitting and listening to Claire regale him of her sexual exploits with the uptight historian. It also meant that Claire didn’t know exactly how much sex Jamie wasn’t having.

“Never?! You were together for a year!” The amazement in her voice was evident and Jamie flopped backwards in the sofa, raising his hands to his face. He cursed the effects of the marijuana that had relaxed him to the point where he was divulging information that he would usually keep behind his teeth.

“Never, okay?”

“Wow… okay… not sure what to do with that but okay,” she mirrored his body language, collapsing back onto her sofa and tucking her legs up underneath her. “So you’ve not had sex in what, just shy of two years? Good God, you must have the patience of a saint.”

“Something like that,” he mumbled into his palms, refusing to remove them for the fear of her gaze seeing the truth that he was trying desperately to keep hidden but that was on the tip of his very stoned tongue.

“Longer than two years?” He heard her whisper in disbelief.

“Try 24.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds before it became too much, he had to look at her to gauge her reaction to his honesty. He had expected her to laugh or to yell in surprise but he realised that she mostly just looked curious, like she was trying to figure out the answer to the puzzle that was sat opposite her.

“You’re a virgin?” He nodded in response and watched as her shoulders dropped slightly, smiling kindly at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because we dinna talk about things like this,” he sighed. He could see all the questions that were threatening to slip past her lips.

“Have you not wanted to? Because that’s okay, maybe you’re just not into the thought of-“

“Christ, no! No, I’m definitely into the thought of it,” he laughed. “From the age of thirteen to seventeen, I barely thought of anything else. Besides, I said I was a virgin, no’ a monk. I’ve done stuff.”

She laughed at that, “So why not? I’m sorry, you absolutely do not have to tell me but I- just… how? Why?”

“Was just waitin’ on the right woman,” he shrugged in an attempt to appear nonchalant about the whole thing. Whether she was buying it or not, he couldn’t tell but he was certain that if she listened hard enough, she could hear his heart beating out a rhythm in time with the syllables of her name.

Because that was the real truth, wasn’t it? That he had been waiting for her.

She didn’t say anything in response, just leaned to cut the remaining space cake in half again, offering the larger half to Jamie that he almost snatched from her, anything to distance himself from the conversation that they were having.

He was grateful when she left it at that, being able to intuit that he wasn’t comfortable with the line of questioning. That night, when the effects of their morning had worn off, they rented bikes and attempted to navigate the city like the locals did, getting horribly lost and ending up drinking a beer by the canal as the sun went down. Jamie watched as the rays painted her pale skin gold and the wind caught the folds of her sundress, settling the material delicately against her bonnie wee shins. It had been the perfect day and Jamie didn’t want it to end. But he knew that it had to.

In the morning, she was getting on a plane.

“Shall we head back, d’ye think? It’s been a long day,” he said quietly, pulling her out of the daydream that she was sat in. She turned to face him with a dreamy smile on her face as she nudged his shoulder with her head.

“The best day,” she said simply. “Let’s go.”

They walked the short distance back to their hotel in silence, neither of them needing to fill it with words as they just existed in each other’s company. When they got to their hotel room, he made light work of pulling off his hoodie and collapsed onto his twin bed with the remote in his hand as she shut herself in the bathroom, the lock gently clicking behind her. Jamie ran a hand over his tired face and tried to concentrate on the tv. He had an ear for languages, being the proud new owner of a First in Modern Languages and Linguistics from Oxford, but the rules of Dutch seemed to be far removed from that of the French and German, and a little Italian, that naturally clicked together in his brain.

He strained to listen in an attempt to isolate some of the sounds, let his mind create patterns and try to fill in the gaps but he was tired and gave up quickly, punching the pillow that was under his head to prop up his neck a little further so that he could look out of the window. He heard the bathroom door unlock.

That was when he saw her. Really saw her for the first time. And it wasn’t because he could see more of her skin than he had ever seen before but because of the look that was painted on her face. Her beautiful face radiating a vulnerability and softness that he had never seen the depths of before, never as unguarded as she was in that moment. She smiled shyly at him and her hand came to cover her bare stomach slightly. Panic clutched at Jamie’s chest as he watched her wall build itself back up.

He was on his feet before he even knew it, pulling her hand back down to her side and lacing their fingers together.

It was always easier if they touched.

“What are ye doin’, Claire?” He tried to keep his voice soft, to not let the need he was feeling flow out in every word. She blushed and ducked her head, as though looking him in the eye would break the spell.

“I just thought…” she trailed off before defiantly bringing her head up and fixing him with a stare. “I can’t stand the idea of you having your first time with someone who doesn’t appreciate you.”

She had sounded strong and sure but Jamie’s head was birling. He took a step closer to her, so close that he could feel her breath on his chest and looked down at her body, barely an inch of space between them. The swell of her breasts were contained by a lace bra, a lilac so soft that it made her pale skin look like ivory against it. She was wearing matching underwear, just a scrap of material really, and his cock twitched at the thought of what she must look like from behind. The amazing arse of his best friend that he had shamefully lusted after for so long.

He raised the hand that wasn’t tangled with hers to hover over her heart, not quite touching the skin but watching as the goosebumps appeared anyway. She let out a shaky breath through perfectly pursed lips and he knew then what she was doing, the gift that she was giving him. Because she knew or at the very least suspected how he felt about her. She’d have to be blind not to see it.

She was saying goodbye.

“Claire… lass, we dinna have to do this. You dinna have to do this for me,” he whispered but he barely managed to get the words out before she popped up on her toes and closed the gap between them.

For a moment, they stood still. Neither of them moved a muscle for fear of breaking whatever magic had been cast over them. But then his mouth moved instinctively, applying pressure to her lips in an attempt to open them so his tongue could reacquaint itself with hers, so many years since they first kissed. He heard her, felt her, sigh softly and that was all the proof that he needed to wrap his arms around her and pin her to his chest, his mouth greedily seeking hers. Her hands found his face and thinking that she meant to push him away, he immediately let her go and took a step back from her, breath bursting from his lungs.

“I’m so sorry, lass, I didnae mean to get carried away-“

“Jamie, stop. You’re overthinking this,” she interrupted him by pressing her body back to his and put a steady hand on his cheek, his face leaning in to press a kiss to her open palm. The reality of the situation filled him. When the sun came up the next day, she would pack her things and they would travel to the airport to say goodbye. His chest tightened and he exhaled heavily, trying to take a steadying breath but it shattered in his throat and he tried to suck another in. Noticing that he was beginning to panic, Claire urged him to look at her. “It’s just me, Jamie, it’s us. Do you want this? Do you want me?”

“Oh God, yes.”

Their mouths snapped back together and all was right with the world. He couldn’t stop touching her, desperate to elicit sounds from her that she had kept hidden from him for so many years, ones that he thought he’d never have the privilege of hearing. An errant thought passed through his head, that maybe he should feel nervous about his first time, about not satisfying her, but the way that she was reacting to his kiss put his mind at ease. He would take everything in, commit everything to memory and be attentive to what she seemed to like and not like. She was terrible at lying, his Sassenach, and he was secure in the knowledge that he already knew her better than anyone else on this earth.

He was pulled from his thoughts at the feeling of her hands on his zipper and he groaned into their kiss as her hand brushed against his painfully hard cock through the thick material of his jeans. Everything was happening too fast and at the same time, not fast enough. He wished to be utterly consumed by her, to share something that neither of them would ever be able to take back. Something that he knew he would carry with him until the day he died.

Claire’s skilled fingers divested him of his jeans and he refused to break their kiss as he wriggled out of them, swallowing her giggles when she realised what he was up to. He ran his hands from her hips up the soft planes of her body, feeling her delicate ribs under her skin and brushing around the lace of her bra to where it joined in the back. Whether it was intuition or he fact that he practically ripped the clasp apart in blind need, he had no idea, but his fingers fumbled less than he had anticipated.

“I want to see you too,” she whispered against his lips, pulling his t-shirt over his head in one quick movement before she fixed him with a stare, licked her tongue down the palm of her hand as Jamie’s eyes widened in disbelief before her hand disappeared into the waistband of his boxers.

“Christ,” he shuddered, screwing his eyes shut in an attempt to contain the feel of her warm, wet hand on his cock. Her grip was firm on him as his jaw hung open and she greedily claimed his mouth once more as she quickened the pace.

When her mouth disappeared from his, Jamie opened his eyes in confusion to see that she’d dropped to her knees in front of him, her index fingers taking the fabric of his boxers on the same descent. The sight alone nearly undid him but it was nothing compared to the heat that enveloped him as she took him inside her mouth. Fingers immediately threaded through her hair, he squeezed his eyes shut with a gasp as she took him as far back as she could, which was no small task given the size of him. His mind betrayed him with a memory of Annalise trying her hardest but he was never truly convinced that she had wanted to do it, suspecting that she felt like it was an obligation which meant that Jamie could never really enjoy the act. As though she knew that his mind had wandered, Claire’s fingers gripped him tightly as her mouth kept a steady rhythm and his hips jerked forwards instinctively. An attempt at a stuttered apology was on the tip of his tongue but she beat him to it, moaning around him and sending delicious vibrations down his length. Knees buckling slightly at the sensation, Claire’s whisky eyes peered up at him, her lips plump and wet and with a hollowing of her cheeks and a hard suck, she sent him crashing over the edge, moaning her name as he did.

As the stars that had burst into his vision began to fade, he fought to get his breath back, feeling the brush of her body as she got up from her knees.

“Did that feel good?” She whispered as he nodded furiously, bumping their noses together in his enthusiasm. She laughed quietly and went back to kissing him, the feeling of her smile on his lips.

“It was amazing,” he told her. “Thank you.”

She laughed at his earnest gratitude, “I know how you can make it up to me.”

Taking his hand and leading the both of them towards her bed, Claire didn’t allow for too much space to come between their bodies as she lay back and pulled him down with her. Jamie’s mind raced as the sight. How many times had he imagined this? And how pitiful his imagination had been when conjuring it, missing the exquisite details like the way her her skin trembled at his touch and the softness of the sole her foot trailing up the back of his calf as he lay on top of her.

He knew that he was the luckiest man alive as he kissed down her body and a found a freckle on the inside of her thigh. To know the secret parts of her, to have her share them with him when she kept everyone else at arm’s length. How could he not be in love with her?

“Touch me, Jamie.”

He knew that those were the words that would wake him in a sweat for the years to come as he revisited this moment in his dreams. Hearing them fall from her throat was a blessing and he wasn’t one to squander such an invitation. He was trying to be gentle with her so as to not scare her off but in that moment, his trembling fingers became sure and shredded through the thin lace of her underwear, ripping them from her body with a deep growl that he didn’t know he was capable of producing. He felt her body melt into the mattress as his middle finger found her wet centre, her legs quivering in response.

“Oh, my Claire… how beautiful you feel,” he whispered as she moaned loudly, pushing her hips towards him in an attempt to receive more attention. His warm hand left her and closed around her hipbone as he kept her at a distance, blue eyes blazing into whisky ones with so much love that it made her mouth water. Not breaking eye contact, his fingers flexed around her hip, holding her in place as he brought his mouth to her core.

Claire threw her head back against the pillow, mouth agape.

“What the fuck,” she gasped. He had told her that he wasn’t entirely green behind the ears but it was nice to hear the shock in her voice as he set his tongue to work. Within minutes Claire’s body was writhing, one hand fisted in the bedsheets like she was holding on for dear life. It still wasn’t enough and so he shifted his arms underneath her, running them up the length of her back and pulling her closer into his mouth. She squeaked with surprise as she settled her weight onto her shoulders, trusting that Jamie’s strength would hold her steady as he relentlessly licked and nipped at her.

“Jamie, I’m-“

Claire was unable to finish as her words were replaced by a loud moan, Jamie’s growl indicating that he was not willing to let her go without knowing what it felt like for her lose herself on his tongue.

Fingers gripping his curls, Claire pulled slightly and he felt her entire body go rigid as she tried to control the feelings that were coursing through her body. Jamie slid two fingers into her and lightly flicked his tongue against her, holding her steady as she began to convulse in his arms. He was fascinated to learn that she didn’t make a sound, only screwed her eyes shut and let her mouth hang open as she rolled her hips against him, riding out her orgasm.

When he felt her shy away from his tongue, he gave her a final kiss and moved up towards her, delighting in the way that she curled her hand around the back of his neck and brought his mouth down to hers, tasting herself on his lips.

“Not a monk indeed,” she laughed breathily as she ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes shutting slightly as the aftershocks ran through her.

“I’m a man of many talents, if I do say so myself.”

“I wonder what else you’re good at,” she raised a single eyebrow above a pair of seductive eyes and Jamie took the opportunity to press his renewed erection against her thigh.

“Only one way to find out, I suppose.”

Her hands sought out his body again, as though they were always meant to be touching and she moaned a little when she felt that he was hard so soon after his orgasm.

“We can stop here, Jamie. This is your choice. Whatever you want.”

“I want ye so much, I can scarcely breathe. Will ye have me?”

“Yes,” she sighed deliriously, “Yes, I’ll have you.”

“Come here to me, Jamie,” she whispered as she took him in hand and lead him to her opening. He steeled himself, taking a deep breath and basking in the look of wonder on her face, soon replaced by a quiet, exquisite joy as he pushed himself home for the first time.

She was like velvet. Impossibly soft and hot, wet with her need and it was all he could manage not to immediately race to his finish, to take her with a force and a desperation that he knew was painted on his features. With the strength of an army, he stilled himself and raised his face to hers, nearly coming undone when their eyes met.

Claire had never looked at him like that. Her cheeks were flushed from her pleasure, her pupils blown wide and stunned. His soul was laid open to her and hers to him. And he knew that his face showed the unfathomable depth of his love for her, incapable of hiding it when they were joined like this.

Jamie could have stayed that way forever but his physiology had other ideas, his hips responsively snapping into hers. She moaned and tilted her hips to meet him, raising a knee upwards to cradle his side and deepen the angle of him inside of her. Jamie was completely unaware that something could feel this good and he lowered his head to capture her lips as he began to rock his hips against hers.

All worries that he may have had left him when he watched the way she responded to his body, her fingertips digging into the muscles of his biceps until he was sure that they would bruise. She was panting and moaning beneath him, making tiny movements with her body that produced huge waves of sensation in his. He was so distracted by his own pleasure that the first time she clenched lightly around him, he wasn’t even sure that it had happened. Looking down at her, he mimicked the movement with his hips and earned himself another wonderful contraction coupled with an urgent moan that ripped from her chest.

He slowed his pace, not wanting to be undone before she reached her peak and moved his fingers to her mouth which she accepted greedily. Screwing his eyes shut at the sensation, he trailed his hand down her body to the place where they joined and lightly found the bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. She convulsed, eyes snapping open in pleasure and he wished for the hundredth time that he could drown in them.

As his fingers began to stroke her, he watched as her body changed from pliant and soft to frantic and needy. Her hands moved to his arse and pulled him into her, keening at the feeling of his cock coupled by the pleasure that he was seeking in her from his fingers.

“You’re going to make me come, Jamie,” she sobbed in surprise and he doubled down his efforts to find it for her, to let her chase her pleasure before he gave in to his own. What a gift to be able to feel the way her body reacted to his, to know how it felt when she came close to her orgasm. Her tight muscles fluttered around him as he watched the flat plane of her stomach clench in an attempt to control the pleasure that was crashing through her body. It was all too much.

“Give me your mouth, Sassenach,” he gasped as he sealed his mouth to hers, their tongues hungrily seeking the other. It was the moment of combustion when they finally met and her body convulsed once more before she began to shake uncontrollably, noises coming from her that he never thought he’d hear. It was everything he needed in that moment as he began to pour himself into her, unable to stop the frantic jerk his hips as he experienced a blinding white pleasure that he’d never felt before.

Only just managing to shift his body so that he didn’t collapse his entire weight onto her, Jamie rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling as he waited for his heart rate to slow. He was hyper aware of Claire’s body beside him, of the rise and fall of her chest as she descended from waves of pleasure that he had elicited in her. He’d expected for his mind to be running a hundred miles a minute but all he felt was serenity. In that moment, the world was exactly as it should be.

“Christ,” Jamie huffed, unable to stop the air bursting from his lungs. The question fell out of him before he had a chance to stop it. “Is it always like that?”

He didn’t look at her, couldn’t force his eyes to look at her face in case he didn’t like what he saw. But his eyes began to drift closed at the feeling of Claire curling her naked body around his, bringing a bent leg to rest over his abdomen and her hair splaying on his chest.

“No, it isn’t.”