Work The Problem.

Gosh, we really have just been getting spoiled with great Margo x Sergei fic lately haven't we?

>> [Margo] seems to be such a tightly wound individual. So I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about the roots of her tension. Because she seems like there’s so much repression, she’s holding so much in, but she expresses it through little moments that mean volumes when they come from her.

In season 1, there is this really kind of dynamite scene between Molly Cobb and Margo. And it’s right after a sim goes wrong, and Molly storms out, and Margo says, ‘What are you doing in there?’ And essentially, Margo says, ‘No no no, you have to be perfect.’ There is no room for air because, you know, a guy can mess up and he’s gonna get ten more tries. A woman messes up once, and that’s, you know, you’re done. So I think to a certain degree what you are seeing is that [...] Margo has to play things close to the vest. Because she knows […] she can’t make a mistake. So I think in some ways what you are seeing is her tracking something, or maybe something flickering across her eyes where there’s a little bit of reaction, but then she’s gotta cover that. And I think what’s been kind of interesting is that you see for three seasons how that evolves, as she becomes more and more powerful, and also more and more seasoned. I think sometimes, too, another interesting thing is as you become more experienced, there are certain things that maybe you show a little bit more about what you think, because you’ve seen so much and there really isn’t someone that is above you anymore. But then, in season 4, because Margo’s kind of thrown back to the bottom of the pecking order, she really has to keep everything buttoned up. And I also think that’s because Margo’s playing the most intense game of chess. Literally her life is at stake. And I think once she’s been interrogated and then becomes part of Roscosmos, she just never knows how  the tectonic plates beneath her feet are shifting. I think that’s part of it, too – she doesn’t know how much of it is safe to share. She’s always been a very private person, but I think in season 4 it’s really– now I’m working for a woman who if you really cross her once, you’re gone. […] And that’s one of the reasons that I felt like it was so fun to play all of the scenes in episode 6, in the storage room. You get to see this picture of her, up close, where she’s not having to kind of mask what she thinks.

I need a new beat. Let's gooooooooo

This is for @burritoagain , whose ask I accidentally deleted while flailing on mobile 😅

Happy new year! Your card is the Queen of Wands.

Wands are the suit of passion and creativity, and the Queen represents the feminine side of those things. She takes the perspective of a mature, wise woman, looking inward at the thoughts and feelings that come with this fiery, spirited energy. This year brings opportunities to deepen your creativity - not in terms of output, but in how you experience the process. Let yourself embody her good-natured, enthusiastic approach to all your endeavors.

Can you tell me that you could pass up on this gorgeous man reclined on a sofa? Pshaw!

As @historysquib calls them, a Palate Cleanser fic:

Margo entered her office and shut the door softly behind her. Turning, she slumped against the door briefly and released a sigh. It had been the most tiresome of evenings. Three hours building support for a new proposal by the recently defected Sergei had been needlessly tedious. Margo was well practiced at moving political levers, but new Russian defectors had a break-in period for trust building in the wider political sphere that could not be abridged.

She turned to her drinks cabinet and turned on the lamp above it. She considered how many fingers of brandy that loss of time was worth, before finally settling on a light pour–any more would turn her out like a light as tired as she was. Margo pondered what she would ideally need to relax: a stiff drink or… Her thoughts trailed away and found their home on her sofa.

On her sofa Sergei reclined with a hand thrown back behind his head. The other hand was draped across his chest and trapped a creased report that threatened to slide to the floor. His relaxed countenance flooded her heart with warmth as she crossed the room towards him. She flicked on the lamp at the side table behind his head and observed his slumber. He looked markedly improved from his Lefortovo stay. His hair had grown back in, disheveled from his repose on what she knew wasn’t the most comfortable of couches. He seemed to be managing his traumatic stint in jail by leaving his frail self behind with wild hair, wilder beard and a filling out of his frame. It was an improvement of his physical health and image that she made no secret of liking.

Taking a seat near him on the coffee table, she set aside her brandy and removed the report from his grasp. Briefly scanning the report, she replaced it with her hand, she called to him softly, “Sergei.”

Sergei mumbled some indiscernible Russian in response and shifted slightly. Margo shook his hand lightly and called to him again. He blinked awake and smiled at her.

“Did you need your Soviet expert?” Sergei groggily asked.

Margo leant forward, “Something like that,” she drawled before placing a soft kiss on his smirking lips. Sergei responded slowly, kissing her softly in return. His hand came up to caress her face before sliding into her hair. Margo pressed a light kiss to his lips before she eased back to her seat beside him. She glanced at the time on her wrist and looked at him shrewdly.

“Were you waiting for me or for the resolution on your proposal?”

He grinned at her and levered himself up, leaning towards her to plant a kiss on her cheek before whispering into her ear, “Both, naturally.”

He drifted more kisses down her neck before she halted him, both hands clasping his head and redirecting him up to face her.

“Sergei,” she chided, eyes semi-serious. She was tired and needed to go to bed. The sooner she could maneuver him out of her office the better. She would get no rest otherwise. “I need to go to bed and you need to go home.”

“Ah, but home is where you are, Margo,” he replied quickly. “I cannot sleep without you.” He made to continue his onslaught of her neck, but was forestalled by Margo’s halfhearted evasion.

She snorted and shook her head, “And just now?” She gestured to the sofa.

"A convenient rest of the eyes,” Sergei rejoined. Margo raised her eyebrows. “It may have gotten away from me,” he amended with a shrug. He pursed his lips before smiling that absolutely obnoxious, and in no-way devastating, grin at her.

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded in response. “I'm off to bed.” She took off her shoes and bent to retrieve them. Sighing gratefully at their removal.

"Do you need help finding your way there? Perhaps an expert on navigation could help?” Sergei murmured with no small amount of cheek. “Perhaps another Soviet first?”

Sergei stood up and took her shoes in one hand and her hand in the other, pulling her to her feet.

“A Soviet first?” Margo questioned, exasperated.

“Exploring the bedroom of the NASA director, a first for all man-”

Margo interrupted him with a slap to the back of the head.

“Ah, woman!” Sergei cried in mock pain.

Margo walked briskly forward, leaving Sergei behind. She hesitated at the office door while Sergei stood rubbing the back of his head. The smile on his face sent shivers up her spine. She couldn't and wouldn't send him away no matter what she threatened and he knew it.

“Perhaps you are right. A Soviet first,” she said with some emphasis. At that she turned the lock on her office door and briefly stopped at the threshold of her bedroom, “You coming?” She called behind her.

Sergei followed diligently, carrying her shoes.

Good news, he ran away from the KGB, he's fine now

FOR ALL MANKIND | 3.03 ALL IN

Honestly I don't know which theory is cuter - (1.)that Sergei is indeed a total lightweight or (2.)that he goes along with it because it spares him from admitting it only took like 2 hours of her undivided attention to get him from this:

to this:

Sergei + being a smug bastard (complimentary)

#when bae looks spiffy

Kiss the fourteenth, in a rush of adrenaline.

For All Mankind, Margo x Sergei. AU set a little ahead of S4, but diverges from S3. Margo had never wanted to go to space.