the book (hosie)

intro

Doctor Josie saltzman was working alone in the basement laboratory of Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Chemicals bubbled all around her as she worked on her latest experiment. The beaker in front of her was the correct color and consistency that Josie was looking for. It seemed that it was finally finished; there was only one more thing she needed to add.

With that, Josie placed her safety goggles over her eyes. She then grabbed a small vial full of clear liquid and carefully popped off its rubber stopper. Slowly and with precision, Josie tipped the vial along its side until a single drop dripped into the beaker.

The solution fizzed and crackled and popped. It proceeded to turn a deep shade of purple. Josie smiled and lifted her goggles from her eyes. She turned around and grabbed her datapad. She typed 'Solution 54...'

Suddenly, Josie heard the sound of the fizzing grow in volume. She turned around and found the solution had gone from dark purple to a violent shade of orange. Josie sighed as she placed her goggles over her eyes once again and took cover behind a table. Sure enough, a split second later there was a loud explosion.

Josie raised herself from behind her cover and saw the beaker in pieces, the solution dripping off of the table. Sighing once more, Josie grabbed her datapad and looked back at what she typed.

'Solution 54... NEEDS IMPROVEMENT' she added.

Just as Josie was starting to clean the mess up, she heard the door open. She smiled upon seeing who it was.

"I'm gone for one week and already I find you making a mess of my lab," said Hope mikelson, the head of Overwatch's Science Research Division, a world-renowned geneticist, and most importantly, Josie's girlfriend.

Josie rolled her eyes. "Well, I missed you too, Hope," she said sarcastically. The tall redhead smiled and approached the shorter blonde, giving her a quick kiss on her lips.

"And I as well, m'aingeal," Hope said.

Smiling, Josie asked, "So, how was the conference in France?"

Hope sighed. "Rather dull, to be honest. During any one of my presentations, I would lose just about everybody in the room anytime I uttered a word with more than three syllables."

Josie giggled. "Maybe you were just using terms they weren't all that familiar with."

"Or maybe, it was the fact I was the smartest person in the room," Hope commented with a self-satisfied grin.

Josie gave Hope a light slap against her shoulder. "You're so full of yourself."

Hope chuckled and wrapped her arms around Josie's back. She brought the both of them together, eliciting a small squeak from the younger woman.

"You wouldn't have me any other way," Hope said into Josie's ear.

Josie, albeit reluctantly, pulled away and went back to cleaning up her mess. "Other than the conference, how was France?"

Hope shrugged. "It was alright. I had some time to kill towards the end and I allowed myself to wander away from the touristy parts of Paris. I actually brought something back."

"Ooh, what did you bring?" Josie asked.

Hope smiled. "Well, here I was walking down this small, cobblestone street in one of the older parts of the city when my eyes catch this small and quaint bookshop. Intrigued, I stepped inside and found books piled all over the place."

"I made my way to the back, and immediately a certain book caught my eye. I read the title and thought how much you would definitely love it. And so, I bought it."

Josie smiled in excitement. "Do you have it?" Hope's smile grew.

"Of course, my dear," she said as she reached into her pocket and withdrew a small, black, hardcover book. She handed it, title cover down, to Josie, who quickly grabbed it.

Josie turned the book over to look at the cover. "Madame Chéron's Settings," she read. "Hundreds and hundreds of..." Josie's voiced trailed off as her eyes widened and her face reddened.

"...roleplay scenarios for the adventurous lovers," she finished. Josie looked up at Hope; her smile turned into a wolfish grin.

"Um, d-did you grab this by accident?" Josie asked, her voice wavering.

Hope shook her head. "Absolutely not. I grabbed this book to give us ideas on some new things to try for our...bedroom activities."

Josie's face reddened further. She was at a loss for words. "Hope, I-I don't exactly-"

"Oh, now come on, Jos," Hope said as she rested her hands on the other's shoulders. "Our sex life can be described as 'enjoyable, but dull' or 'pleasurable, but lackluster'. This book will help us spice things up a little bit."

Josie looked once again at the book in her hands. "It's just that when we're with each other, it's us being us. I don't think I'd be able to act out a role."

"You'll never know until you try it," Hope pointed out. She lightly gripped Josie's hand and made it open the front cover. "Tell you what, you can pick the first scene for tonight."

"What?!" Josie said loudly.

Hope nodded. "We haven't seen each other for a week, and although I'd like nothing more than to ravish you without a care in the world, this book changes things." She looked at the clock and said, "I have a report to fill out for kaleb, so how about you look the book over and send me what scene you chose."

Josie shook her head and laughed lightly. "Hope, I don't think-" "Bye, Jos. Don't work too hard," Hope interrupted and immediately turned tail and left the lab, leaving the red-faced Swiss doctor alone again.

Josie looked at the book. She found herself reaching to turn the first page. She delicately gripped it in between her thumb and index finger. Taking a deep breath, Josie turned to the first page, which contained the first "scenario".