Work Text:
Rio prepares for her new job by: getting up at her usual time (7:15am), eating her usual breakfast (cottage cheese mixed with sofrito and a dollop of crunchy peanut butter, spread over tostones), and listening to her usual music (Fall Out Boy), at the usual volume (18) on the way into the office.
A completely ordinary start to the work day with no sign of anything remarkable on the horizon.
The spark of remarkableness hits Rio in the office kitchenette, about to open a top cupboard when a woman slides in front of it. A warmth spreads down her body following the path trailblazed by intensely blue eyes.
"Vidal, I presume."
Rio, who never goes into a situation without the proper preparation, knows the woman preventing her from opening the cupboard is Agatha Harkness, one of her new partners.
"I'm Rio."
Rio's hand twitches on the handle, mere inches from Agatha's head, the only thing stopping her from slapping herself in the face with it. Morona. Agatha obviously knows who she is.
Rio watches a smile spread across Agatha's face. "O-kay. Ri-o," Agatha sing-songs, her smile transforming into something Rio imagines a prey animal sees before its escorted from this mortal plane as a meal. Time dilates as her focus is so drawn to Agatha's mouth, that it takes a moment for the pain to break through.
Rio's brow wrinkles as her brain races to catch up to the input: Where is the pain? In her arm. Which arm? Her right arm, the one extended. What caused the pain? Teeth biting into it.
Rio snaps back to the present moment, to see Agatha pulling away from her arm.
Agatha wipes at the corner of her mouth, as if she's brushing away a crumb, before she saunters away with a parting remark. "Welcome to the firm."
Rio is left with indents in her forearm and the echo of Agatha's smirk. She traces the dips and bumps.
Not that Rio minds being bit by a beautiful woman, but a little context might be nice.
(A slight change in the atmosphere, accompanied by a chill running down her spine, is the only warning Lilia gets before Agatha bursts into her office.
"Why is there a new name before mine on the sign out front?"
A deep sigh greets her in return. "Agatha, this is why you need to check your emails."
Agatha scoffs. "Not on vacation, I don't."
Lilia's eyes roll so far back, one might be concerned they were trying to escape from her head. "You got back from vacation three weeks ago."
"Agree to disagree." Agatha bares her teeth. "Who the fuck is Vidal?"
"If you had read the emails, you would have seen that Jen and I decided on our new partner: Rio Vidal."
"And as a fellow partner, I don't get any say in this?"
"Again, Agatha, if you had shown any interest in this process at the start or replied to any of the numerous emails—" Lilia stops, takes a breath. "Rio provides a boost to our client base after Wanda left with a third of them, we need her."
Irritation itches Agatha's shoulders. "Doesn't explain why she's listed before me."
"We weren't the only ones interested in her, we needed to make the offer more enticing."
Seeing that Agatha is rearing up for a proper fight, Lilia raises her hand. "It's done, Agatha. Rio will be starting tomorrow."
Agatha expels her energy into short laugh, mouth upturned enough to show a hint of teeth. "I'll be sure to give her a proper welcome then.")
Rio settles into the rhythms of a new firm, the first few weeks mainly filled with learning the peculiarities of its employees. She observes no one else shares Agatha's biting eccentricity. Sadly, Agatha has also not shared her biting since their first meeting.
In a continued education into the firm, Rio flips through stacks of case folders, the box containing them balanced between her chest and the shelf. She turns her head at the sound of the file room door, its creaking turning into a crash as it's haphazardly flung open by Agatha.
"What did you do with my latest puppet?"
The question is emphasized with the door swinging back closed.
Rio grins. "Do you mean Ralph?"
"I'm not going to bother with an associate's name till they do something worth remembering." Agatha's upper lip curls. "I may never learn his name, he's barely a step above a zombie."
Rio pokes her tongue into a cheek, stifles an agreeing laugh. "Why are you looking for him then?"
Agatha gets closer. "The associates are mine."
Rio feels the drag of Agatha's fingertips, the weight of them mapping pathways across her back. A breath of air hits her neck. Rio's grip tightens on the file box, an attempt at grounding herself; back muscles twitching from how tight she's holding on.
In response, a finger digs into muscle. Rio gathers every possible drop of willpower she has available to keep a low groan from escaping. It betrays her by turning into an audible sigh instead.
Agatha chuckles. Meandering fingers turn into a firm hand gripping onto Rio's upper trap muscle, thumb pressing in where the deltoid connects while the other holds onto her bicep.
"And I'm possessive about what's mine."
Teeth sink into Rio's shoulder. Her knees buckle. The box wobbles.
"Oops, careful." Agatha releases Rio to push the box further back onto the shelf. She pats Rio's shoulder; each pat searing the freshly made mark deeper and deeper into Rio's subconscious. "Tell Randall to report to me immediately."
Rio waits a few moments to ensure Agatha's out of view before her eyes close, head slumping forward to rest against the box; a few more minutes pass to allow the bite to fade some. Rio resolves to try to wear sleeveless button-down shirts more often.
A sudden cool breeze hits Rio in the face. She looks up to see Agatha bobbing a packet of files at her. "Lilia says I have to use you as a shiny new toy."
Rio pushes the files down to the desk. Her eyebrow quirks. "Lilia said that?"
Agatha bats at the air like she's shooing away a pesky fly. "I'm giving you the tldr, be grateful." She sits on the edge of the desk, points at the files. "Justin Hammer's client files, yes, the man is aptly named, he is a tool."
Agatha sniffs, adjusts her hair back. "I may have told him as much in our last one-on-one meeting."
Rio's quirk moves down to lift the corner of her mouth. "So am I a shiny distraction for him?" She cocks her head. "Or for you?"
Agatha huffs, purses her lips. "Your expertise may be of some use; I'm meeting with him at 2pm."
Rio laughs, shakes her head. "It's 1:30 now."
"Oh, really?" Agatha places a hand on her chest, a picture of false innocence. "You better start reading then."
Rio reaches for the top file when Agatha grabs her hand. "I like a clever boy."
A quick twist and her teeth are on Rio's wrist; not moving, but undeniably there. Agatha gazes up at Rio. Slowly, achingly, her teeth graze skin, to a crescendo of a sharp bite. "I'd hate to be disappointed."
(If asked, Rio would be happy to report that even with only a 30 minutes notice, she is more than capable of meaningfully contributing to this meeting.
Rio is not asked.)
The couple minutes before the meeting are spent with Agatha and Rio outside the conference room. Rio stares at Agatha while Agatha stares resolutely forward. Rio notes her focus on the firm's lobby, arms crossed, the fingers of her left hand tapping on her sleeve.
"Agatha, baby, it's been too long."
Rio hears Justin before she sees him, her attention drawn to the newly revealed vein in Agatha's forehead. She looks over to see a smaller man, dressed in a gray three-piece suit with arms extended, a severely smarmy smile on display, walking towards them.
"Some might say not long enough," Agatha grits out under her breath, behind a severely strained smile.
Rio chuckles, low but audible enough for Justin to tilt his head like a confused dog before spinning like a dog trying to impress enough to get a treat; he then gestures to the room. "Shall we move this somewhere more comfortable?" A wink is bestowed before he enters.
Rio grimaces. "Oh, so he's an idiot too."
Agatha laughs, gives a quick squeeze to Rio's wrist, her thumb pressing on the bite mark. "Come, let's see how clever you are."
During the quarterly partner's meeting, Rio undergoes a full-frontal assault by Agatha. An arm brushes against Rio's under the guise of Agatha reaching for a pen. Rio feels every movement of Agatha writing afterwards from its close proximity. A knee pushes Rio's thigh when Agatha turns to point something out about an employee performance report. Her foot taps Rio's while Jen goes over the financials.
Jen finishes the presentation. "Anything else before we wrap this up?"
"I need some new blood." Agatha's stiletto heel drags along Rio's ankle. Rio twirls a pen around her fingers in the air as a distraction, elbow resting on the table.
"I agree with Agatha, we should hire some new summer associates," Rio translates.
"Lilia, any objections?" Jen asks. "No? Great, that covers everything then."
Agatha rests her hand on Rio's shoulder. "Rio, if you don't mind staying behind, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
The pen stops twirling.
Lilia leaves first; Jen has only just crossed the threshold, when Agatha chomps on Rio's bicep, so conveniently exposed by another sleeveless button-down. Rio's hand involuntarily flexes, the pen skittering across the table.
Agatha smiles, smug. "Thanks for the assist."
"Was that the last chocolate doughnut?"
"Yes." Rio grins like the cat who stole the canary's dream. She wiggles what's left of the mostly eaten doughnut at Agatha.
"I wanted that," Agatha growls.
Rio pops the last piece in, chews, opens her mouth wide, tongue out to show it's gone. "I ate it." Rio licks her lips, a pleased smile coaxing forth. "So what's the plan, Agatha?"
Agatha takes Rio's now empty hand and guides the thumb into Agatha's mouth. Rio is transfixed by the sensation of it gliding on hard teeth, the warmth of Agatha's tongue slowly licking away any resemblance of doughnut. Agatha closes her teeth around the tip as she releases it from her mouth.
Each finger is given the same treatment; Agatha thoroughly licks and scrapes each one against her teeth, the fingertips bitten as they're removed. Rio refuses to blink after the first finger, loses the need to breathe after the third, decides she's lived a full life and is ready for death after the fifth.
Agatha keeps hold of Rio's hand. A gentle, repetitive rub of her thumb on the palm, combines with a slight pout to overwhelm any lingerings of Rio's dignity.
"Okay, Agatha." Rio nods, determined. "I'll go buy more chocolate doughnuts."
Agatha smiles like the canary who domesticated the cat.
"Good girl."
"And that's how you put in a ticket for IT." Kamala looks around, lowers her voice. "Hey, a bit of advice."
Billy leans in closer. "Yeah?"
"Watch out for Agatha, she bites.”
Billy laughs nervously. “Like her bite is actually worse than her bark?”
“No, I heard she literally bites."
Billy's jaw drops. "That can't be true."
Kamala shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe not, but people say that's why Rio is often wearing long sleeves."
"Really?" Billy asks incredulously.
Kamala puts up her hands. "Okay, maybe I'm the only one saying that, but I swear yesterday I saw Rio with rolled up sleeves talking to Agatha and then when I saw Rio like 2 minutes later, her sleeves were down."
"Maybe she was just cold?" Billy reasons.
Kamala gives Billy a disbelieving look. "We're in the middle of a heatwave and the building's AC has been broken for three days," she says flatly.
Billy opens his mouth to respond, when Kamala frantically hits him on the shoulder. "Shut up, shut up, Rio is coming this way."
They both duck down further into the cubicle, closely resembling children trying to hide ill-gotten cookies from the forbidden jar. Curious eyes follow Rio as she walks past, her attention directed at Agatha.
Agatha crooks a finger at Rio. Rio smiles wide, fiddles with the button on her cuff, her pace picking up. Agatha chuckles, turns and continues down a hallway, obvious in her full expectation of Rio following. Rio is a dutiful shadow, an image of a knight keeping close to their lady.
Kamala sighs dreamily. "I am so shipping them."
Sharon motions for Rio to come into the office. She enters it to find that Agatha is already seated in front of Sharon's desk. A dirty look over the shoulder is her greeting from Agatha. Rio responds with a puzzled face and sits down in the chair next Agatha.
"I've asked you both to see me due to an HR complaint that I received."
Agatha leans back and crosses her arms. Rio waves a hand in the space between them. "Regarding Agatha and I?"
Sharon glances down, fidgets with some papers on her desk. She sighs, looks back at Rio. "Well, yes. Specifically that Agatha bit you."
Rio can feel the heat of Agatha's glare. "I didn't report that."
Rio leans forward. "Who reported that?"
Sharon waves her hands, titters. "Oh, that's not something I can disclose; all HR complaints are confidential." She hesitates, then visibly steels herself. "But I will say, we received multiple complaints for the same incident."
Agatha throws her hands up. "What's this world coming to, if two adults can't participate in a consensual—"
"Oh!" Sharon perks up considerably. She leans down, opens a desk drawer and disappears from view. "In the case of a relationship, you'll need to fill out this form and of course, inappropriate public displays of affection are still not allowed—"
"We're not in a relationship," Agatha interrupts.
Rio smirks. "Yet."
Agatha's attention snaps to Rio. "Yet?"
Sharon sits back up, her face forlorn. "I don't have a form for yet…"
Rio grins giddily, takes Agatha's hand. "Can I take you out to dinner?" She turns back to Sharon. "How many dates before we have to fill out the relationship form?"
"There's not really a quota to meet," Sharon replies, her voice trailing off in bewilderment.
Agatha pulls Rio out of the chair and towards the exit. "After consummation then, got it Hart."
Rio watches a wave of red crest Sharon's face. "Please do not discuss sleeping," Sharon sputters, voice rising in pitch, "t-t-together in the workplace, especially with me!"
Sharon stands up as Rio is a willing planet to the gravity of Agatha's sun, now several steps past the door from Agatha's continued movement forward. "We still haven't talked about disciplinary actions to resolve the complaint!" Sharon cries out, panic palpable.
"Sign us up for the next 'Healthy Dynamics in the Workplace' seminar," Agatha yells back.
Rio gets forcibly maneuvered into a small empty hallway, until her back hits the door at the end of it. Agatha takes a step back, chews on her bottom lip. Rio feels her soul dissected by Agatha's searching gaze.
"Were you serious back there?"
Rio hates the uncertainty in her voice, compelled by it, she steps forward and cradles Agatha's face. "This is something I very much want to do. Agatha Harkness, please go out with me."
Rio wishes she could bring Leonardo da Vinci back to life to paint the smile that causes from Agatha.
"Then come find me after work."
Rio's smile in return is a perfect match. "Can't wait."