Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Janine
Fandom: Lost Girl
Pairing: Bo/Lauren
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Bo is overjoyed to finally have met another succubus, but her fascination with Saskia leads to some expected problems.

Note: This follows in the same timeline as Bittersweet Symphony and Conversations about the Complicated.

Part I

The music in the club thumped hypnotically in the background as alcohol laden, sweat covered, horny bodies gyrated nearby. Normally, in an atmosphere like that Bo's attention would have been focused on the people, the prey, around her, but on this particular night Bo's mind was swirling and energy thrummed through her for an entirely different reason.

Saskia sat across from her on a plush couch situated just beyond the robes separating the dance floor from the lounge. She rested against the back of the couch easily, her legs drawn up on the cushion, looking so effortlessly sexy that Bo might have been jealous if she hadn't been so impressed. Enticing people had never been a problem for her. She was attractive and as a succubus she unconsciously radiated a sexual energy that drew people to her, but she still had to try when she wanted to appear alluring. 'Try' didn't seem to be part of Saskia's vocabulary.

"If you have a favourite pet," Saskia was saying as Bo dragged her eyes up the length of the other woman's body so that she was looking at her face again, "and we all have our favourites," she continued smirking in a way that made it impossible for Bo not to return the grin, "you need to make sure that you mark them."

"Mark them?" Bo asked, arching a dubious eyebrow. "How?"

"Not what you're thinking," Saskia responded laughing airily. "The lycanthropes may be into that, but we have a much more sophisticated way of letting others know what's ours," Saskia declared haughtily.

"Okay, I'll ask again. How?" Bo inquired even though she wasn't sure that she was quite comfortable with the idea of 'marking' Lauren. There was already too much of that going around in Lauren's life and she didn't want to become part of the problem.

"Succubae read energy," Saskia began throwing her legs over the edge of the couch so that she was free to lean closer to Bo. "Right now, you only know how to pull energy from others, but it's also possible to release it. That's how we mark our claims."

"We ... breathe on people?" Bo asked in an effort to clarify since that didn't seem particularly sophisticated to her.

"We shower them in the essence of our being," Saskia replied loftily, tilting her chin up so that she was looking down her nose at Bo.

"A football player offered to do that to me at a frat party once," Bo responded smirking. "I not so politely declined."

Saskia laughed at that and leaned back against the couch, observing Bo as her laughter slowly tapered off.

"It really is good for your skin," she commented lightly, her lips twisting up into a smile once again at the expression that came onto Bo's face. "You've been living around humans for too long," Saskia commented a little sadly a second later. "Succubae should not feel shame in that which gives us, and others, pleasure."

"A frat boy bukkake would not have given me pleasure," Bo muttered glowering a little though she was able to recognize some truth in Saskia's words.

When she had first discovered that she could have sex with Fae without killing them, she had indulged the instincts that she had been forced to deny in the years that followed her first disastrous sexual encounter. Dyson had been her drug of choice at the time, but she had found others, and had explored and experimented with them for hours, often until she collapsed into a blissfully fucked out state of semi-consciousness. In the morning however, she had always been greeted by Kenzi's increasingly wide and incredulous eyes, and though she knew her friend didn't mean to look disapproving and grossed out, she did, and Bo had curbed her night-time activities in an attempt to be slightly more socially acceptable.

"You don't know that," Saskia said pointedly, but then she leaned forward and reached for her drink seemingly willing to drop the conversation thread which Bo was grateful for.

"Can anyone besides other Succubae tell when we've marked someone?" Bo asked, intrigued with certain aspects of the concept despite herself.

She didn't like the way the Fae world operated, but as she spent more time steeped in their world, she was beginning to understand that not liking it didn't change what was. The fact was that Lauren was vulnerable to other succubae, and having seen how unscrupulous both the Light and Dark Fae were, Bo worried about how easy it would be for one of her kind to take advantage of Lauren. She didn't like the idea of putting a claim on Lauren, but if Lauren agreed to it and she was able to learn how to do it, leaving her signature on Lauren would at least offer her a measure of protection from others of her kind. Even so, Bo had to take into consideration the fact that Lauren already wore the Ash's mark, and therefore she needed to be quite certain that marking Lauren with her essence wouldn't put her in danger before she even broached the subject with the blonde.

"No," Saskia responded. "The residual traces of Succubus energy that remain on someone after we've marked them are only visible to us. Why?" she asked suddenly focusing her full attention on Bo, studying her closely. "Do you have a favourite?" she continued grinning.

Bo shrugged nonchalantly but knew that her skin had coloured slightly giving some of her feelings away.

"Possibly," Bo admitted as Saskia continued to study her. "But due to certain ... uh, circumstances she might not want to."

"Want to?" Saskia repeated slowly, feeling the words out as she spoke them as if she had never heard the words before. "You were going to ask ... permission?" she continued sounding both amused and befuddled by the idea.

"Well, yeah," Bo responded scrunching her eyebrows together as Saskia began to laugh again, not certain that she liked how amusing Saskia found the idea of her seeking Lauren's consent. "Of course. Just breathing my energy all over someone without asking would be rude."

Saskia shook her head slowly. "You are a strange succubus," she sighed. "You probably want to get married," she continued laughing again, though the laughter died quickly when Bo looked away from her uncomfortably. "Bo," Saskia began seriously, but before she could get any more out, Bo's iPhone began to vibrate where it rested on the table in front of the couch.

Bo looked at the phone. She had ignored it the other times it had gone off, not wanting to put Saskia off by making it seem like the other woman had less than her full attention. She enjoyed hearing the elaborate histories that Kenzi came up with for cab drivers after getting a look at their ID badges, but this time she was going to have to wait until she got home to hear the story. She couldn't risk alienating Saskia.

"You should get it," Saskia said noticing Bo's look, just like she had noticed Bo look over the other times the phone had vibrated, and like she had noticed the tortured look on her face when she'd turned away without picking it up. "Your sulky friend may have an emergency."

"We're talking," Bo said looking over at Saskia again, "I don't want to just ..."

"Go ahead," Saskia said waving her hand dismissively. "I have wine to distract me."

"Okay. Sorry," Bo said apologetically before reaching forward to pick it up.

[FYI, Dr. Hot Pants is NOT Dr. Happy Pants. Call her ASAP & handle ur shit, or u'll b riding the 'party of 1' train 2 Pleasure Junction 4 the next 'long ass period of time'. K]

"Bad news?" Saskia inquired, watching as Bo's eyebrows scrunched up and her lips pressed together into a thin line.

"I really, really don't want to, but I have to go," Bo said tucking the phone into her bag as the screen went dark again. She wasn't sure why Kenzi thought it was important that she immediately call Lauren, but she was willing to trust her friend's instincts. She might have been able to bend someone to her will with a touch, but Kenzi was much better at reading people's body language and vocal cues than she was. If Kenzi felt that immediate action was required then she would trust her instincts.

Saskia was silent for a moment and then her lips curved up slightly, a knowing expression coming into her eyes.

"Your bitch just called, didn't she?" Saskia asked sounding distinctly amused. Bo seemed agitated and distracted, but not upset so Saskia doubted that anything serious had happened to the short annoying one she had been with earlier. However, if Bo was jumping up and heading out after one text, it had to have been from someone important to her, which left the pet.

"Lauren's not my bitch," Bo grunted, shooting Saskia a disgruntled look as she rose to her feet.

"Mm," Saskia hummed, watching as Bo quickly tugged on the thin leather jacket she had abandoned wearing after about ten minutes in the club. "I think you're right about that. After all, you're the one answering the whistle."

"It's not like that," Bo said frowning, even though it was a little bit like that.

"And it shouldn't be," Saskia stated emphatically. "We're succubae, Bo. People come to us. You call your pets to you and they come running. Not the other way around."

"Lauren's not just 'people' and she's certainly not my pet," Bo said, meeting Saskia's eyes for the first time since she had gotten Kenzi's text. "She's ... special to me. I care about her. I know that makes you think that I'm a moron and that it's just more evidence that I'm the worst succubus ever, but I don't give a shit. I'll never be able to adequately express to you how much meeting you means to me, and I really do want to learn the things you have to teach me. But if you talk about Lauren like she's a meaningless thing not worthy of basic consideration again, I'll smack you in the mouth," Bo concluded holding Saskia's eyes for a second longer before she decisively tugged on her jacket, pulling it into place. "Are you still going to come tomorrow?" Bo asked a moment later.

"As long as it's after noon," Saskia drawled causing Bo's shoulders to sag a little in relief. "Being the Cagney to your Lacey sounds fun and all, but I need my beauty sleep," she continued lifting her hand up to touch the soft skin under her left eye, tracing non-existent circles.

"After noon, got it," Bo said smiling, relief flooding through her. She hadn't wanted to alienate Saskia, but she couldn't let the other woman's comments slide either. She was just glad that she wasn't going to have to give up learning about her heritage because of it. "And you know you're flawless."

Saskia shrugged demurely and waved her hand in Bo's direction coquettishly. "You're right of course," she murmured shamelessly.

Bo smirked at her, and then turned her head to look over her shoulder in the direction of the exit.

"Thanks for everything. Really. I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

Saskia nodded lazily and with that Bo turned and headed towards the bright red exit sign.

Part II

"Dude, I can so tell you're not used to having a 'special someone'," Kenzi sighed into the receiver as Bo made her way through the parking lot outside of the club.

"So she sounded mad?" Bo asked scrunching up her face at the thought as she finally located her car and began to wrestle her keys out of the ridiculously small pocket of her jacket.

"She's Lauren. I'm not sure she's capable of making mad sounds," Kenzi responded, and Bo could tell from the tone of her voice that she was making a face on the other end of the line. "But she did sound ... frownier than she usually does. Not that I can really blame her," Kenzi continued.

Having been ditched by Bo earlier that evening she was much more sympathetic to Lauren's plight and was currently sharing the blonde's sour grapes.

"But I didn't do anything," Bo complained as she slipped into the driver's seat. "Why is she frowny and why don't you blame her?"

"Dude," Kenzi replied drawing the word out as long as humanly possible. "Are you for serious with that shit?"

"What?" Bo asked starting up the engine. "Yes, I'm for serious," she added a second later when Kenzi didn't respond. "What am I missing here?"

"Bo, you're my girl and I love you, but damn! You are an ass sometimes," Kenzi declared, and once again Bo just knew that she was shaking her head from whatever surface she happened to be perched on.

"I'm an ass?" Bo repeated sounding confused, though a touch of indignation seemed to be working itself into her tone. "Why am I an ass? I didn't do anything. I've just been hanging with Saskia."

"Exactly!" Kenzi said triumphantly jabbing her finger into the air in front of her even though Bo couldn't see her pokey gestures of victory.

Bo sighed deeply as she finished reversing and began to drive towards the end of the parking lot.

"Please just tell me what I've done," Bo muttered not able to handle Kenzi's cryptic responses any longer.

"It's what you didn't do. As in, 'you didn't meet Lauren at that Ethiopian restaurant for your date because you were too busy getting your drunk on with another woman' ... you ass," Kenzi replied, adding the last two words in there because she was mad at Bo, though the rest of her scathing tone was for Lauren's benefit. She and the doc weren't bro's or anything, but the Girl Code demanded she give Bo some shit for standing a lady up, even if that lady was Lauren.

"Shit," Bo exclaimed, just barely resisting the urge to slam her head against the steering wheel.

"Indeed. That is what you are knee deep in," Kenzi responded sounding more amused by Bo's plight than she normally would have because of her whole being mad at Bo thing.

"How frowny did she sound?" Bo asked as she pulled a U-turn, reversing her direction from home to the direction of Lauren's place.

"Uh," Kenzi hummed. "I'd stop at a pawn shop and see if you can find some pretty jewellery. Also, unless you plan on using your succubus-fu to turn her into a Bo-sessed puddle of girly lust, you should probably prepare yourself for that Party-Of-One Train to Pleasure Junction. At least for tonight."

Bo groaned and made a mental note to keep her eyes out for pawn shops.

"Poor Bo," Kenzi sighed. "Able to look at the Hot Pants but not get in them. Send my condolences to your vag."

"Hanging up now," Bo muttered darkly.

"Uh, you meant 'thank you so much for paying more attention to my social life than I do and stopping me from being frozen out of Lauren's secret garden forever, oh whatever would I do without you Kenzi?' hanging up now before my gratitude overwhelms me, right?"

"How do you speak for such long periods of time without stopping to breathe?" Bo asked, smiling at Kenzi's rant despite the fact that Lauren was frowny, and that she was – apparently – an ass.

"The same way you can bump and grind until the ceiling collapses without breaking your punany. It's a natural gift."

"Okay, first of all, the ceiling didn't collapse, it just cracked a little. I already apologized for ruining your bowl of Capt. Crunch. And secondly, goodbye," Bo said turning off her phone before Kenzi could come up with a smartass reply to that too.

Part III

Hangdogs could have learned a thing or two about how to engender sympathy from the look on Bo's face when she pressed Lauren's door bell and waited with her hands behind her back for the blonde to come to the door.

"Bo, it's late," Lauren said tiredly, pulling her robe around her body to ward off the cool fall air once she pulled her front door open.

"I know," Bo said quickly, drawing her hands from around her back to present Lauren with a bouquet of flowers, a box of Pot of Gold, and a long, thin, velvet black box. "I'm sorry. I brought you things," she continued looking down at the outstretched gifts in her hands. Lauren remained silent but her eyes followed Bo's first to the flowers and then to the box of chocolates before finally resting on the thin, black box. "It's an antique," Bo volunteered smiling hopefully.

Lauren remained quiet for a moment longer, then she sighed softly and stepped back allowing Bo to move further into the house so that she could shut the front door.

"Come on," she said, turning around to face Bo again once the door was closed. "Let's go into the kitchen, we should get those in water," she continued nodding towards the flowers.

"Okay," Bo murmured, stepping to the side to let Lauren slip past her so that she could lead the way. Lauren wasn't yelling at her, which seemed like a good thing, but she wasn't sure that Kenzi's idea of bringing gifts was actually working because Lauren still looked quite frowny.

"So," Lauren said a minute later as she moved through the kitchen, opening and closing cabinet doors until she found the one she was looking for. "Kenzi finally got a hold of you."

Lauren sounded calm, but Bo could hear a little Kenzi voice at the back of her head chirping 'she's tricking you' and decided that this was the tone of voice Kenzi had heard over the phone and referred to as frowny, which meant that Bo was going to need to proceed with caution.

"Lauren," Bo said moving towards the doctor where she stood in front of the sink. "I'm so sorry," she breathed out moving in behind the blonde before tentatively wrapping her arms around her waist. "I didn't mean to forget."

Lauren released a humourless laugh and dropped her head down so that her chin was tucked against her chest.

"People rarely mean to forget, Bo," she murmured not trying to hide the hurt in her voice. "But that doesn't change the fact that I slipped your mind." Lauren moved her arm as she spoke, breaking the circle of Bo's arms so that she could turn on the tap and begin filling the vase she had pulled out.

"You didn't slip my mind," Bo said immediately, dropping her hands to Lauren's hips so that the blonde could move freely without Bo having to stop touching her entirely.

"Bo," Lauren interjected a bit irritably, because it seemed quite obvious to her that she had slipped Bo's mind since she found herself sitting alone in a restaurant for an hour waiting for her.

"I'm serious," Bo insisted. "The date slipped my mind," she admitted, wincing slightly as the words fell from her lips, "but you didn't. I was thinking about you. I'm always thinking about you," she whispered, hesitantly moving to wrap her arms around Lauren again, nuzzling her face against the blonde's neck when Lauren made no move to stop her from increasing the contact. "I know I messed up. I really am sorry," she continued before pressing a small kiss to Lauren's neck.

Lauren breathed in deeply, and then slowly exhaled, concentrating on the relaxing warmth of Bo's body around her. Bo wasn't a very good liar and Lauren could tell that she was sorry. She also knew that in general Bo was a rather disorganized person. She didn't wear a watch, she didn't own a calendar, the first time she had seen Lauren's day planner she thought it was a diary, and Kenzi kept track of all of their appointments. Bo wasn't used to keeping a schedule, and having never been in an adult relationship before Lauren knew that Bo wasn't used to the demands of dating someone. Lauren reminded herself of this, and it helped her keep perspective, but it didn't erase or even really ease the hurt she felt and had been feeling all evening.

"Where were you?" she asked softly, closing her eyes as the sound of running water and the feel of Bo's eyelashes fluttering against her skin relaxed her.

"Getting schooled," Bo murmured, feeling her own body unspool slightly as Lauren leaned into her embrace.

"As far as explanations go, that was completely unhelpful," Lauren responded sounding frowny again.

"Right. Well, Kenzi and I were at this club and ..."

"You were at a club with Kenzi?" Lauren asked tensing in Bo's arms, her voice sounding as frowny as Bo had ever heard it.

"No," Bo said immediately, sensing doom. "I mean, yes. But it was for the case," Bo added quickly hoping that the fact that she was trying to right wrongs and restore justice would make Lauren somewhat more sympathetic to her. "We were interviewing possible witnesses."

"And then what happened?" Lauren asked knowing that interviewing witnesses wasn't what had detained Bo. Kenzi had been at The Dell when she had spoken to her and Bo had not been with her which meant that they had parted ways hours ago.

"There was this woman there. Saskia," Bo began, unable to keep some of the awe Saskia inspired in her out of her voice. "She's a succubus," Bo continued quickly when Lauren tensed and then shifted in her arms, trying to break the hold Bo had on her.

"A succubus?" Lauren repeated softly, curiously, no longer struggling within Bo's embrace though her posture remained rigid.

"Yeah," Bo replied, the happiness she felt at finally having found someone else like herself shining through in her voice. "And when I told her I'd never met another succubus before, she immediately told me that she'd help me. Well, actually first she was like 'Really?' but then right after that she told me that she'd help me."

"So that's where you were?" Lauren asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I just ... I had so many questions, and ... and normally it's like pulling teeth to get a Fae to answer anything directly, but she just kept on telling me things," Bo responded carefully, knowing that she was still in trouble even though Lauren was no longer visibly agitated with her. "And she knows so many things, Lauren. What she can do ... it's like I'm still learning my multiplication tables and she's working for NASA. The power in her touch ..." Bo enthused.

Lauren sucked in a deep breath at that, and shifted uncomfortably in Bo's arms as her mind filled with a barrage of images of Bo and a beautiful stranger tangled together in increasingly sweaty and passionate embraces assaulted her brain.

"Lauren," Bo began cautiously, uncertain how to interpret the return of the blonde's agitation.

"The water," Lauren said blinking rapidly, trying to excise the thoughts of Bo and a woman that was not her wrapped up together from her mind. "It's overflowing. I need to ..."

Bo released Lauren from the hold she had her in and Lauren reached for the tap, trying not to make it obvious how glad she was to have a little space between them for the moment.

"Do you need some help?" Bo asked, watching as Lauren moved to tip the vase on its side to empty out some of the excess water.

"It's just a vase Bo," Lauren said smiling stiffly as she looked back at the brunette. "I may only be a human, but my muscles aren't quite that pitiful. I can manage," she continued easily tipping the vase and letting water flow from the top.

"I didn't mean it that way," Bo sighed, dropping her eyes down to the floor. "I know you're not weak. I ... just wanted to help."

Lauren's voice wasn't so frowny anymore but she was still tense and clearly troubled by something.

Lauren righted the vase so that it was standing in the sink and then placed her hands on the edge of the sink, taking a moment to compose herself because she knew that she was being unreasonable. She didn't know for a fact that anything sexual had happened with Bo and the other succubus, and even though their date slipping Bo's mind hurt her, it was understandable how meeting someone else like her could have preoccupied Bo's thoughts.

"Bo," Lauren started, her voice rough with emotion as she turned around to face the succubus.

"Do you want me to leave?" Bo asked before Lauren could say more.

"No," Lauren breathed out immediately, reaching her hand out until her fingers brushed lightly against Bo's which were hanging dejectedly at the side of her body. "I don't want you to leave," she continued, stroking Bo's thumb gently with her own until the brunette looked up and over at her. "I know I'm being mopey but I'm glad you're here," she said flashing Bo a smile that reached her eyes before she took a step towards Bo, closing the scant distance that the brunette had put between them.

"I'm sorry," Bo repeated again, feeling compelled to say it even though Lauren was acting friendlier than she had since Bo had shown up.

"I know," Lauren breathed out, leaning forward to brush her lips tenderly across Bo's.

Bo had expressed a deep longing to meet someone else like her in the past and Lauren knew that meeting this Saskia woman was a significant event for Bo. Saskia was a connection to Bo's heritage, she was a chance for Bo to learn more about who she was, and perhaps more importantly she was a way for Bo to learn more about her natural gifts and how to control them. Succubae by nature were nomadic, and one of the least populous species of Fae. Before meeting Bo, Lauren had never encountered a succubus and had only met one incubus. She and Bo had found a way to manage Bo's hunger, but Lauren knew that she didn't have the resilience or the knowledge to really help Bo discover what she was capable of. Saskia, however, did have the knowledge to teach Bo, the means to teach Bo, and most importantly the desire to stay in one place long enough to actually give Bo the guidance she needed, and that was not something that Lauren could oppose or object to. It was a rare and precious opportunity and Lauren reminded herself to concentrate on that instead of how close Bo and Saskia were likely to get in order for Bo to learn all that she needed to learn.

She was going to have to get used to sharing.

Though, from her continuing hostilities with Dyson, Lauren knew that accepting Bo's need to be polygamous was easier said than done.

"Thank you for the flowers," Lauren whispered against Bo's lips as their kiss broke, "and the chocolate. And for the ... antique," she continued smiling a little ruefully as she realized she didn't actually know what Bo had gotten her.

"You didn't even look at it," Bo whined a little though her lips curved up into a smile at the sight of Lauren's.

"I'll love it," Lauren assured her feathering another kiss across Bo's lips before stepping back from her.

"You don't know that," Bo said allowing her eyes to roam, appreciating the sight of Lauren in her robe in a way she hadn't been able to when she was worried about Lauren sounding frowny and freezing her out of her secret garden forever.

"I do know that," Lauren said moving over to the center island where Bo had rested the flowers. "I'll love it because it's from you," she continued enjoying the embarrassed blush creeping up Bo's neck as she walked past with the flowers to place them in the vase.

"What if it's the wrong kind?" Bo asked trying to pretend that she wasn't blushing like a virgin on prom night, even though Lauren had clearly seen her a moment before.

Lauren turned from the flowers she had been fiddling with and arched a curious eyebrow at Bo.

"The wrong kind?" she breathed out inquisitively.

"Now you're curious, aren't you?" Bo asked grinning, but after a moment her smile turned bashful as she realized that there was only one way to really find out if Lauren would like the gift. She watched Lauren uncertainly for a few more seconds, and then she slowly reached out for the box and picked it up, flipping it open as she moved over to where Lauren was standing.

"Well? Did I mess up again?"

"My God ... where ... no ... it's perfect," Lauren breathed out, immediately reaching a finger out to trace the handle of the antique scalpel resting in the box.

She had an old scalpel set encased in glass and mounted on the wall in the living room. She suspected that it was a morbid sort of decoration, but before becoming involved with Bo she had hardly ever entertained, and therefore decorated the house how she saw fit. Not unexpectedly, Bo had asked her about the set once they were on civil terms again, inquiring specifically about the one empty slot at the top of the column of blades, and Lauren had explained that she had bought the incomplete set years ago and had slowly been adding to it until all that was missing was the blade that fit that one spot.

"How?" she breathed out finally tearing her eyes away from the box to look up at Bo.

"Kenzi really does have a connection for everything," Bo murmured smiling timidly. She'd had to grovel for almost five minutes straight before Kenzi would even start making calls, and she was going to have to succubus drinks for herself and Kenzi at human bars for the next couple of weeks in order to pay for the gift, but it was worth it to see the look that had just been on Lauren's face. "I just ... I thought you would like it better than a tennis bracelet from a pawn shop."

Lauren's lips twitched once and then again before finally curving up into a bright smile.

"Yeah," Lauren admitted sheepishly. "I know it's a weird hobby. Thank you," she whispered again before leaning towards Bo so that she could press her lips to the brunette's cheek.

It still stung that Bo had stood her up earlier, but it meant something to her that Bo had remembered a brief conversation they'd had weeks ago, and that she had left Saskia - and all of the answers she had been so freely sharing - in order to come to her and try to make things better.

"Come on," Lauren breathed out a few seconds later, taking Bo's hand into her own and squeezing it gently. "Let's go sit down and you can tell me more about Saskia and what you learned during Succubus 101."

The End