I watch The Royals mostly for Jasper/Eleanor and nothing else. So here that goes.
Spoilers for all of S2 I suppose, but this takes place during S1.1
It's basically a retelling of that time Jasper blackmails Eleanor from his perspective. Trying to get back into the flow of writing (I am so, so rusty.)
The haze of the sunlight coupled with the heady stench of the drugs from last night did not hinder Jasper's razor-sharp mind. He read people with dizzying clarity and had spotted Princess Eleanor's snobbery from a mile away. She was like what he'd read of the tabloids of her. She'd had a sardonic little mouth, with a face that was remarkably like a feline, but it was her yellow eyes that crackled with furious electricity that he'd found irresistible. He'd barely given her a glance when he'd gotten up after she told him to get out, but he saw that last night's makeup, smudged and old around her eyes only heightened the chaos within her. She was broken, presumably from the death of her brother. He'd felt sorry in the way a stranger had felt sorry, but she would live. She had money, after all.
"What do er... you remember from last night, anyway?" He asked this with the fumbling, clumsy facade he'd developed, the kind that nobody would suspect. He heard her tap away at her phone as he pulled on his shirt and began to line up the buttons.
"Erm..." she said, though she didn't seem to be thinking about it too hard before delivering her verdict. "Nothing, Jasper. You were perfectly forgettable," she drawled, in that lofty, bored voice.
Perfectly forgettable.
There was something about her tone of voice, that haughtiness that only came from being born and bred and pampered as a brat that eked a thrill of annoyance down his spine. This feeling was new to Jasper; he was normally cool, collected and being forgettable in his line of work was a very necessary skill. He wasn't much of a risk-taker, but Princess Eleanor was everything he hated in a person and the way she had just fired him bothered him. It didn't occur to him until later on that of course he had played the forgettable role of a bumbling British newbie bodyguard and so of course she had fallen for it.
But now he wanted to prove her wrong. Prove to her that he had been memorable, if out of spite. And when she discovered that he'd take the Koh-I-Noor... He wanted to see that pretty little mouth of hers pull back in anger at having been duped.
It was with these thoughts that Jasper, his brain still working furiously, said, still in that false accent softly, yet seriously and more in tune to the kind of person he was, "It's just that I remember everything."
He fought against turning around. She had a model's body, he had discovered when he knew her intimately. Her body was bony, easily crushable and she was limber in his arms, he'd discovered. Eager to touch and please and seek the heat of his skin. She'd gotten him hard embarrassingly quickly just by breathing harshly into his ear after he'd pulled her hair. Do it harder, Frost, she'd snarled into his ear, biting the lobe afterward. There was something animalistic about how she treated him and how he'd treated her last night. The other girl, beautiful as she was, that had shared their bed was all but forgotten.
But now she laughed a tinkling laugh, slightly worn from the last night. "Yeah, well, like I said..." she said, her voice unnecessarily hard. He wondered if she was angry at him, or the world. She always seemed like a strange combination of angry and defeated. "You're very welcome."
He felt his blood boil too, and he didn't know why. "I remember being at the club." The false accent was almost gone. "And I remember the drugs that I put in your drink." She didn't say a word; this was probably nothing new to her. What was he but another bodyguard to him?
He went on, his accent purely American now, his voice growing deeper, rougher, anything that would damage Eleanor with his next piece of news. Though Jasper didn't like taking risks, when he did, he went all in. If this plan crashed and burned, he was pulling all the stops. "And I remember every sordid, depraved self-loathing thing that you did after that."
He wanted to hurt her, he wanted her under his control. But these words only seemed to mildly surprise her. He felt her look up from her phone, moreso from the reveal of his accent and voice, than what he'd said. He had to wonder about that; perhaps she already knew that she hated herself. Perhaps the things he was saying were the things she'd already been told. He wanted to see her face again.
He got up, his shirt not fully buttoned and turned around. "You know when I forget, I can always just watch the video." He flashed his phone at her. He didn't offer to turn it on, but his eyebrows, usually so grimly set against his green eyes were now raised and his mouth quirked up into a smile that betrayed how irritating he found her.
Forget this, princess, he thought to himself as he watched something chip away at her anger. To his utmost satisfaction, she sighed, looking defeated. He felt a drop of pity for her when he saw that expression. She'd skipped shocked and horrified, and had skipped right over to giving up, as if she knew all along he would betray her. She hadn't even demanded for his phone or proof which was a relief; if she'd asked for it there would be nothing on his phone.
She was so incredibly stupid right now, due to the hangover of the alcohol and drugs, but he could see that she was finally starting to become lucid. "I think I'll keep this job." He ripped his black suit out from underneath the covers, exposing her naked body. He had seen her scrawny frame, had even been drawn to it, but he had to appear cool and collected and so resisted the urge to look at her.
She was still wordless, so as he left the room, he couldn't help but say, "I like the benefits."
But the only benefit Jasper truly wanted right now was seeing her crumble. He imagined he would be satisfied.
But then plot twist, he WASN'T.
Hahaha, I love this couple so much my heart hurts. Did anyone see the painting scene in 3.1? I DIED. I DIED. I HATE THIS SHOW.