Renard was practically fuming at what he'd just witnessed in the menagerie: Vivian didn't even realize how much she'd fucked everything up.
Renard tore at the plants outside in the garden, ripping up whatever he could get his hands on in an attempt to calm himself down before meeting up with Vivian in the evening. Vivian may have ruined things, but it's not like Renard had let her in on the plan to begin with; if she noticed that he was even a little upset with her that would be more damaging then even remotely beneficial. After all, his machinations required her to be in the dark, so it wasn't at all fair to her if he expressed annoyance or irritation at her for something she did unintentionally to foil them.
He hadn't counted on this though, he hadn't expected Vivian to pull this shit on him. Or was it Kyrie that suggested they do this entirely without his knowledge? Either way the result was the same: they had effectively set what progress that he'd made with Kyrie backwards. Instead of being hesitant but interested, now she was hesitant and reluctant; Renard had been able to gather that much from the conversation the two women had. He felt like he had failed both himself and her now, like it would set them back so much. She was weak willed and curious enough to be coaxed into doing something that she might not initially want to if he played his cards right, but she was also too weak-willed to stick with something if she started to feel even remotely uncomfortable! But discomfort wasn't the end of the world! In fact pushing through it could lead to genuinely amazing things, and he had found that to be the case with Kyrie. Renard needed to be with her every step of the way though, otherwise she lost her nerve.
… Really though, if he had known that she was watching, would things have even turned out that differently?
Vivian would've made him promise not to acknowledge Kyrie in any way as a prerequisite for allowing her into the room, and if Renard had followed that to the letter then nothing would be different. Kyrie still would've seen them have sex together, and he still wouldn't have been able to say anything to Vivian to somehow include Kyrie or say anything to Kyrie directly. Perhaps he was just hoping that he'd be able to manipulate Vivian in the moment? Include Kyrie incredibly subtly, enough to not alienate Kyrie but not enough to get Vivian upset. It would've been a very delicate line that he had to walk, but he'd been doing it this entire time anyway so he figured it would've worked out.
Now though... now he might not even have the opportunity to walk it at all!
Or at least, he wouldn't be able to pull the angle of getting the three of them in the same room anymore. This had been his attempt to try and break having sex with Kyrie to Vivian in a way that she might be able to accept, but it was clear to him now that both women were trying to work against his ambitions. Their actions had effectively cut off the smoother way of doing things, leaving Renard back at square fucking one.
Tearing another plant out of the ground with ferocity, he paused for a moment to grind the roots up in his hand, breathing in the scent of fresh soil and plant as he let the dirt spill through his fingers. It was almost soothing in its own way, and slowly he felt himself beginning to calm down. Repeating this process with a few more plants, his breathing soon became steadier, and there was a clarity descending over his mind now that he wasn't seeing red so much anymore.
Sitting back in the grass, he looked upon the carnage he had wrought and wished that he had his cigar. Letting out a soft sigh, he flopped down onto his back, staring up at the wispy clouds lazily floating by in the sky.
He would have to find Kyrie within the next day or two to make sure she wasn't pulling out of this completely, he wouldn't let her just walk away from what they had together. What they had... It wasn't just a fling, it had staying power, and both of them enjoyed each other's company too much for him to accept it just going away. She may feel a bit uncomfortable after watching him and Vivian, but Renard was positive that once he went to her again she ultimately wouldn't want to turn him away.
That main problem remained though: how was he going to make their affair public?
If only they hadn't ruined his initial plan... Now that he was a bit more clear-headed about the whole thing, it really wasn't that fair of him to blame this setback on either of the women: Renard really should've expected something like this from the get go. Kyrie had already shown her penchant for hiding, and Vivian's displeasure at the thought of Renard's attention being drawn away from her was also well documented. It was his own inattention that had failed to account for this.
Letting out another sigh, he closed his eyes as his hands moved to rest behind his head, and he had to resist the urge to gnash his teeth in the absence of his cigar.
He was pretty sure that the only way he was going to be able to expose them now was after having a long talk with Kyrie. That wasn't anything that he could do right at this second, so instead of thinking further about the Kyrie/Vivian problem his brain began slowly transitioning towards thinking about how he would change and improve the plot of land that he'd just ripped up. By the time he opened up his eyes again, he was startled to see Vivian's face staring down at him with slight concern.
"You've done quite a number on this yard."
He winced a little from her observation and promptly tried to disguise that reaction, wondering how she'd approached him without him actually hearing her. Had he just not been paying attention? That would have to be some serious not paying attention to be unable to hear her approach. The rustling of plants wasn't really quiet... Had he fallen asleep for a brief period of time? Whatever the case, he wasn't exactly comfortable with the fact that she had come across evidence of his effective rampage. Still, for all she knew this could be a very normal step in the process of gardening, and he hinged on that being the case.
"Well it has to happen one way or another when I want to change things. It's actually kind of fun, you should try joining me the next time I'm tearing up the yard."
The slow smile that rose to his features was enough to get Vivian to stop questioning him, but she kind of doubted that this would be the process if he was perfectly calm. It was clear that he didn't want to talk though, and so she met his smile with one of her own. Flopping down on the ground right up next to him, she figured she could at least make an effort to cheer him up from whatever mysterious thing was bothering him.
"I'll only do it so long as you can ensure to me that I will have fun."
She briefly gave him a sultry smile at that, as if to say that if she didn't find the actual gardening fun then he'd have to compensate, and he reached up to take the side of her face and pull her down for a kiss. Before her lips met his though, she lightly put her hands on his chest, stopping herself right before connecting with him.
"Wait, I have a surprise for you."
"Another one? If it's anything like the first you'd better be ready to be stuck here for at least the next few hours."
She lightly swat his shoulder at that, but she was smiling, an indicator that she wasn't really so upset about the prospect of that at all.
"Not that kind of surprise! Well, not really, anyway."
Renard knew what was coming, she was likely going to be showing him the pictures that Kyrie had passed off to her earlier, but he would have to act surprised that the drawings even existed at all. He hoped that he'd be convincing in his act, though it shouldn't be too hard to be pleased with the existence of Kyrie's drawings; he may not approve of how they came into being, but he was just as interested to see the fruits of her labor as Vivian had been, especially after having seen the ones Kyrie drew of her and Isaac. It would be interesting to compare the two couples.
Vivian pulled a small bundle of papers out of her pocket, and Renard sat up a bit so that he'd be able to get a better view of them. His expression was one of idle curiosity, because if he didn't know that these were Kyrie's drawings, he would have no idea what it was that Vivian had to show him. Vivian rarely brought papers to him, after all. She was careful to keep the papers pointedly facing away from him, to increase his anticipation towards them just a little bit. When his brow started to furrow in slight impatience she finally stopped acting coy. Giving him a wide smile, she slapped the papers in Renard's lap, excitedly presenting them to him as if it was something she personally had made.
"And there you have it! Lovely pictures of us done by the stunning artist Kyrie!"
Leaning over his shoulder as he slowly picked up the first picture, her eyes eagerly watched his to see what his reaction would be, and she had to admit that she was not disappointed. His expression read a bit of wonder as he studied the picture in his hand: the drawings certainly were stunning as usual, and he had to thank Kyrie for being so good because it really helped add to the act of his surprise. Slowly the surprise and awe wore off though, and he knew that Vivian would be expecting some kind of response. Turning his gaze towards her, he smiled to see how eagerly she was watching, but soon he was trapping her face by grabbing her chin. Moving her head a little, he lightly bit at the side of her face, almost as if in playful reprimand.
"You little minx! Sneaking Kyrie into the room while I was asleep!"
Letting out a happy purr of sorts, Vivian pressed herself close to Renard, kissing at what she could of his face within the confines of his grip.
"I've said before that you have to watch out for me... But you've only seen one of the pictures! Don't stop there!"
Giving Vivian one last nip to express his displeasure, he had to take care not to take out his anger too much on her. The more he harped on this point the more suspicious she would get, and better to not have her get suspicious before he'd fully figured out what he was doing next. To that end he turned back to the drawings in his lap, and slowly flipped through them while Vivian looked on. He had to admit though, looking at these drawings was a little bit surprising, mostly because he was showing so much more emotion than he would've thought. Honestly, when he looked at these drawings they were quite reminiscent of the ones that Kyrie had drawn of her and Isaac. The dynamic between him and Vivian was different, but the amount of emotion on their faces... He didn't always do that, did he? He'd always thought that he was so careful with his expressions... Thinking back to the other pictures Kyrie had drawn of him, he couldn't really think of other times where it was that obvious. He'd been more controlled in his sex with Kyrie, and he kept up a good wall when interacting with people publicly. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder... Were those pictures only controlled because he'd known that Kyrie was watching?
He wasn't sure if he was concerned by this fact or not, but it certainly was interesting to know. It also raised another question in his mind, and that was did he show as much emotion as he did because it was Vivian specifically? No... That couldn't be right. Sure she was the one he slept with the most, but that didn't mean that he'd have a preference for one girl over another. It might be that he was letting more emotion show in their interactions with each other because of the fact that they were making such an effort to get closer outside of sex. It was likely similar to the fact that since Kyrie had seen his anger he was more unconsciously willing to show that to her. He didn't realize his walls had been lowered so much around Vivian though, he would have to be more careful in the future... He didn't like showing others his vulnerabilities, and if he felt comfortable enough around Vivian to let bits and pieces show then that wasn't really ideal.
Vivian let him study the drawings in silence, because he really was closely scrutinizing each and every one. She was itching to hear his opinion on them, to know what he was thinking as his eyes traced the lines on the pages of their combined bodies. So after giving him a respectable amount of time with the last picture, she just couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
"Aren't they beautiful? She did such a good job with all of this, the drawings really make you feel like you're there again."
When Renard turned to look at Vivian's face, he saw that she was looking at the drawings with such fondness, and he couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed. He wasn't even entirely sure why: all he knew was that these pictures had been made in a way that he hadn't initially intended and he didn't like it. Perhaps he felt the desire to punish Vivian then? Even if she had no idea she was at fault he couldn't help the desire to somehow make her at least a little uncomfortable. He could just feel the emotion seeping into his features, and he was thankful that she wasn't looking at him for the moment as he quickly tried to mask up his irritation. Damn... He really did slip up a lot more around Vivian than he used to, didn't he?
… Was that really such a bad thing though? Was there really that much harm in allowing her to see how he really felt? It was clear from the fondness with which she looked at Kyrie's drawings that she preferred seeing his more genuine emotions, so why did the urge to hide them still continue? Wasn't he the one that was supposed to be against hiding? When it came to his own feelings it almost felt like a matter of pride to be able to keep control and it was hard to combat that desire and just be ok with sharing his vulnerabilities.
"Kyrie certainly has proved her excellence in this field once again."
The sentence felt forced in his own throat, but Vivian didn't seem to notice his internal struggle. She was just pleased that Renard agreed with her. Turning back to him, she gave him a warm smile that managed to ease his irritation a bit. How could he stay mad at her when she looked at him like that? With such joy and eagerness?
"Which one's your favorite?"
Deciding that a bit of a distraction would do his mind a load of good, he set the drawings to the side and pulled Vivian into his lap so that her legs wrapped around him.
"This one, I think."
He gave her neck a playful kiss along with his roguish smile, and she laughed slightly as she squirmed from his touch.
"I meant of the pictures!"
Even though she gave him a small token resistance, they both knew that she was horribly flattered by his comment. It was so easy to set her off, he knew every one of her buttons and he could easily get her to sing in his arms. This was what he was most comfortable with, this was where he felt the most in control. Maybe he did show more emotion and affection than he would've thought in these moments, but he still knew everything about Vivian's body, so what was the harm in showing that he enjoyed it just as much as she did?
Feeling less and less concerned as he continued to kiss the sensitive spots on Vivian's neck, she let out a soft hum as he finally got around to responding to her.
"Guess, my dear."
She made a motion to look over him to grab the drawings, but he lightly pinched her backside as she did this, causing her to let out a soft squeal of protest. Before she could say anything in response, Renard was giving her neck another kiss as he spoke.
"Ah ah, no cheating. I want you to guess from memory."
Letting out a soft hum of contemplation then, she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of Renard's continued kisses and thought back to the various drawings that lay scattered on the floor.
"Is it... The one where you started sucking on my nipples after getting them hard?"
He could feel the softest of tremors running through her at the mere thought of that, and he just couldn't resist bringing his fingers to her breasts to give her a couple light pinches where he knew her nipples to be. Her eyes had been closed, so the sudden groping caused her to gasp as she clung to him.
"Ah--!"
"Not that one. Guess again."
He was clearly enjoying teasing her like this, and as her eyelids opened up, she could see from his face that he was going to draw this out as long as he could.
Damn did she love this man.
"Is it the one where we both reached our climax?"
"No... Once more, Vivian. Really think about it this time, and if you get it right I'll give you a reward."
Pushing his hips up into hers to make it clear just what he meant, she stifled a moan as she once again closed her eyes. This was Renard she was talking about... What would his favorite drawing be? Images of their previous encounters flit through her mind, of when it was that he seemed to get the most pleasure. He loved her fight, but that was because he loved it all the more when he so unequivocally won: he liked to be the one in control. Which picture encompassed that the most?
"Is it... Is it the one where you have your fingers in my mouth while your hand gropes my breast and this slams into me?"
She jammed her hips into Renard's at the mention of this, and he let out a groan of his own that sounded almost like a growl as it smoothly transitioned into his response.
"That's the one."
Turning her around now so that her face was getting pushed into the grass, this resulted in her presenting herself to him. She let out a surprised yelp from this action, but now her body simply trembled in want as she closed her eyes against the grass. She loved Renard. Wholly and completely, and she was just glowing with delight to know that she knew Renard well enough to be able to guess his favorite drawing. Though... She couldn't help telling herself that next time she'd figure out his preference in less than three guesses.
Renard let her tremble for a couple moments before his hands slid up her legs, flipping her skirt up to reveal her panty-clad sex. Now that he had a bit better access he grabbed the curves presented to him and slowly spread her lower region apart. Vivian let out a moan that was more a heavy breath than anything, and Renard leaned down so that his face was right up against her clothed sex. Letting out a heated breath of his own onto her sex, this coaxed a proper moan from Vivian, her whole body trembling as her arousal only grew.
"One last thing before your reward, Vivian... Which was your favorite picture?"
Even through the haze of her own arousal, she couldn't help but feel flattered that he cared enough to ask. Basking in how this made her feel for a moment, she squirmed a little as Renard leaned in to give her clothed sex a soft kiss in his impatience. She'd almost been tempted to make him guess as well, but she was quickly finding that her desire for more outweighed her desire to tease.
"One of the beginning ones... Where your hands are sensually exploring my entire body."
He should've known that those would be her favorite: she always did love to be the center of attention.
With his mind satisfied for now, his body was only just getting started.