For muses_w_remotes - 7.6 Casino Royale Quote
7.6 "I have no armour left. You've stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me - whatever is left of me - whatever I am - I'm yours."
| Casino Royale
[Co-written with notskywalker | Set Saturday Nov 22nd afternoon]
Tab waited for the porter to leave before she squealed and ran up to the giant bed and jumped up on it. She bounced up and down, her petite frame not exactly threatening to make the bed collapse underneath her. She grinned at Luke who was standing in the middle of their room and kept bouncing. "How fucking awesome is this place? I've been here five minutes and I'm already in love. Don't worry though, there's plenty of room for you in my life still."
Luke pulled a face as dragged all of their luggage into a part of the room they wouldn't trip over it. "I still feel like I've forgotten something," he said, having been unable to shake the feeling since they left. He peeled off his t-shirt and started to kick his shoes off. "Man, it's hot. I can't wait to get to the beach. Are we meeting anyone there?"
"Have you got your board shorts, or whatever it is you cool blokes wear to the beach? Sunglasses? Sunscreen?" Tab stopped bouncing as she walked to the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes and pulled off her t-shirt to reveal the plain black bikini top underneath. "Like I'm complaining about weather that's going to have you walking around without a shirt on. However, unlike most of the people we just flew with I'm more interested in you showing me the ways of the beach than shagging. And I think probably only Riley and Evie are going to make it. Everyone else seems intent of fucking their brains out."
"And your brother declaring to all and sundry he's not taking his clothes off," Luke laughed. "It's going to be an interesting beach trip. Us all there sunbathing and Riley in his Levis and t-shirt sweating himself into heatstroke. I think you need to take him aside and give him a twin slap. Pat and Aiden were going back to their room. They're going to hold the beach off until tomorrow, Tara and Lachlan looked like they could use a sleep after the plane trip. Benny and Jules were heading directly for the nudist beach. The others, I'm not sure about. Remind me to make an effort to get to know them better while we're here."
He picked his suitcase up and put it on the end of the bed to flip it open. He started pulling out all the items that indicated he was very much built for the beach. Oakley sunglasses, Aussie Bum boardies, Quicksilver thongs, Billabong towel and SPF 30+ sunscreen. "I swear, I packed everything. I just feel like I missed something." He smiled at her and went over to the windowsill. "Oh look, looks like you have a delivery," he said lightly, nudging at a large arrangement of gerbera daisies, with a note that said 'To my only Lucky Charm'.
"Hey, me too. Although I think Flynn's day is going to be spent trying to talk his Cajun into wearing something other than jeans to the beach. I swear boys can just be so stubborn sometimes. I'm so lucky I got a beach bum for a boyfriend. He won't deny me some skin."
"I got a present?" She hopped off the bed to where the flowers were and smiled. They were perfect. Bright and colourful and so not funeral flowers but Tab wasn't going to mention that. Not again. She turned and hugged Luke as she kissed his jaw. "Thank you! And I'm your only Lucky Charm who's not going anywhere."
"Well, to be fair, the Cajun might not strip down. Lachlan is adamant he won't because of the scars. The Cajun might be feeling a bit the same. He didn't even seem to be able to stand for very long. It's good they came, though. It's going to be fun, I think."
He kissed her back and gave her a squeeze. "I hope not. It would be a shame to have paid this much for the holiday for you to bugger off and leave me behind. I'd be forced to spend it as a third wheel to Pat and Aiden and I doubt they'd appreciate that." He unzipped his jeans and started to pull them off so he could change into his board shorts.
"Yeah, I guess not. I'm just glad Flynn seems a lot happier now that the Cajun is at least somewhat on his feet. It's kind of a shame they won't even feel safe when it's just our group, you know? It's not like we're all going to gape."
Tab smiled, watching him undress. It was her prerogative as his girlfriend to get to watch him change. For the moment she kept her jeans on, content just to be in the bikini top. "Probably not, but it wasn't really the holiday I meant. I'm not leaving at all. I'm staying in New York, keeping local. Staying with you."
"It will take time. Lachlan, maybe not ever. I spoke to him the other day. He came to New York to try and face his fears with the singing thing. He kept at it over and over until he was singing without ending up in a near panic attack. We were there for hours, but we spoke in between. There is a lot of scarring. He wouldn't show me but he said it spans from just under his chest right down to his groin. He had his appendix out a little while before the shooting and you can't even see the appendix scar anymore. We spoke about a lot. He's just as scared to be a father and start a family as I am, believe it or not," Luke revealed with a small laugh and pushed his boxers down.
He paused, boxers in hand. "I just want you to do what makes you happy, Lucky Charm," he told her.
"See, you did get to help him after all. And there you were thinking you wouldn't know what to do. That's great that you just let him sing like that. I hope he does wind up going through with the Karaoke thing. I think it'd be good for him. Oh my god, that's crazy. I didn't realise the scarring was so expansive. No wonder he doesn't want to take his shirt off."
Tab kept her eyes above his waist, her gaze locked with his as she smiled. It was warm, and genuine and didn't hold a single sigh of the strain she'd felt under for the past few weeks. "Does this look like a face that's unhappy, smexy? This is what makes me happy. I don't need any of that big circus shit. I just want to play and make records when I want, and be a bar wench, and wake up next to you every single damn day. I'm not giving that up for anything."
"He came to me," Luke explained. "Tara spent the day with her parents, so Lachlan came to the bar and asked me to help him. That talent... it's such a shame it's been wasted in his grief. There is not a thing wrong with his performance, he's just so fearful." He nodded. "I didn't either, but he had three surgeries after it. He said preventing scarring wasn't a priority of his doctors when they were trying to save his life. He remembers small pieces of being in a coma, too. How weird is that? Someone holding his hand, another time two people arguing over him, the sound of Tara crying."
He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "You've made my year saying that. Aiden could've made you a star, you know. He would've done everything he could to make sure you got everything you wanted."
"He can remember the coma? That really is weird as all fuck. I can't even begin to understand what he's been through. It's good that he's starting to heal. Seems like it'll be a lengthy process no matter what, and I'm not surprised. He's been to Hell and back." Tab nodded as she thought about the times she had seen Lachlan perform. "He's amazing, no doubt about it."
Tab hugged him back and rose up on her tiptoes to nuzzle against the crook his neck. "I know, but I don't need to be a star. I really don't. And he still is going to get me everything I want. He's going to up my profile here in New York and get me a few more venues in the City. I'm sorry I fucked you around. I just... I had a lot to think about. I needed to be sure before I made the jump."
"Just slight pieces, but enough to stay with him. He told me about the time he told Tara he didn't love her anymore, too. After he found out he was infertile, he wanted her to have everything he couldn't give her, so he told her he didn't love her anymore and didn't want to be with her so she would leave him. He said it was the worse thing he ever did in his life and still remembers the look on her face. She gave him the ring back and walked away." He shook his head. "Just makes me feel lucky to have you. I'm not sure I'd survive through something like that."
He nodded a little and started to climb into his boxers. The whole thing with Tab and her career had hurt. He felt like he'd just been hanging on waiting for her to say she was going to leave anyway. Then he'd wondered how well they really could function when he was here in New York and she was away becoming a huge star. He hadn't been able to see a way it would've worked. He loved her like he'd never loved anyone in his life, but he wanted to be her equal, not her part time handbag when she had a bit of free time in her schedule to maybe throw him a phone call or a day back in the city. He had lost so much sleep worrying about it and wondering what he had done to find everything he wanted, only to be facing it being torn away. "I can understand that," he said with a smile.
"I don't know I'd be able to survive something like that either. I wasn't even sure I'd survive the past few weeks," Tab admitted with a heavy sigh.
She worked on wriggling out of her jeans; glad she'd decided to wear her bikini on the plane. Made the getting changed quicker, even if Luke wouldn't get a show. She had been so lost these last few weeks and even if she’d tried to talk to both Luke and Riley about it, it wasn't until the last week that she really knew what she'd been trying to say. And that it was okay to let go of her childhood dream. It was like she'd told Aiden-dreams changed. She kicked the denim aside and reached out to take Luke's face in her hands as she smiled up at him. "I love you, Lucas Alexander Jackson. I love you to the point where I feel like I won't be able to breathe if you're not there. Pat says it's just because we're in the early stages." She shrugged. "I still think I'd struggle to breathe once we get to the whole content stage."
Luke visibly tried to fight back his emotions and he cleared his throat. "I spent these last few weeks hardly being able to breathe myself," he told her. "It was like you were already gone."
"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so, so sorry." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. "I haven't gone anywhere, okay? I'm right here and I'm always going to be. So we can both breathe."
Luke nodded, wetting his lips and then kissed her, deeply and desperately like he had wanted to for days when he'd felt the distance between them. It was time to get things back on track how they were meant to me. All around them their friends were doing the same thing and he figured that together, they were just as strong as their friends were.
Tabitha London Browne (& Luke Jackson)
Original Character
Words: 2048
All characters referenced with permission.
| Casino Royale
[Co-written with notskywalker | Set Saturday Nov 22nd afternoon]
Tab waited for the porter to leave before she squealed and ran up to the giant bed and jumped up on it. She bounced up and down, her petite frame not exactly threatening to make the bed collapse underneath her. She grinned at Luke who was standing in the middle of their room and kept bouncing. "How fucking awesome is this place? I've been here five minutes and I'm already in love. Don't worry though, there's plenty of room for you in my life still."
Luke pulled a face as dragged all of their luggage into a part of the room they wouldn't trip over it. "I still feel like I've forgotten something," he said, having been unable to shake the feeling since they left. He peeled off his t-shirt and started to kick his shoes off. "Man, it's hot. I can't wait to get to the beach. Are we meeting anyone there?"
"Have you got your board shorts, or whatever it is you cool blokes wear to the beach? Sunglasses? Sunscreen?" Tab stopped bouncing as she walked to the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes and pulled off her t-shirt to reveal the plain black bikini top underneath. "Like I'm complaining about weather that's going to have you walking around without a shirt on. However, unlike most of the people we just flew with I'm more interested in you showing me the ways of the beach than shagging. And I think probably only Riley and Evie are going to make it. Everyone else seems intent of fucking their brains out."
"And your brother declaring to all and sundry he's not taking his clothes off," Luke laughed. "It's going to be an interesting beach trip. Us all there sunbathing and Riley in his Levis and t-shirt sweating himself into heatstroke. I think you need to take him aside and give him a twin slap. Pat and Aiden were going back to their room. They're going to hold the beach off until tomorrow, Tara and Lachlan looked like they could use a sleep after the plane trip. Benny and Jules were heading directly for the nudist beach. The others, I'm not sure about. Remind me to make an effort to get to know them better while we're here."
He picked his suitcase up and put it on the end of the bed to flip it open. He started pulling out all the items that indicated he was very much built for the beach. Oakley sunglasses, Aussie Bum boardies, Quicksilver thongs, Billabong towel and SPF 30+ sunscreen. "I swear, I packed everything. I just feel like I missed something." He smiled at her and went over to the windowsill. "Oh look, looks like you have a delivery," he said lightly, nudging at a large arrangement of gerbera daisies, with a note that said 'To my only Lucky Charm'.
"Hey, me too. Although I think Flynn's day is going to be spent trying to talk his Cajun into wearing something other than jeans to the beach. I swear boys can just be so stubborn sometimes. I'm so lucky I got a beach bum for a boyfriend. He won't deny me some skin."
"I got a present?" She hopped off the bed to where the flowers were and smiled. They were perfect. Bright and colourful and so not funeral flowers but Tab wasn't going to mention that. Not again. She turned and hugged Luke as she kissed his jaw. "Thank you! And I'm your only Lucky Charm who's not going anywhere."
"Well, to be fair, the Cajun might not strip down. Lachlan is adamant he won't because of the scars. The Cajun might be feeling a bit the same. He didn't even seem to be able to stand for very long. It's good they came, though. It's going to be fun, I think."
He kissed her back and gave her a squeeze. "I hope not. It would be a shame to have paid this much for the holiday for you to bugger off and leave me behind. I'd be forced to spend it as a third wheel to Pat and Aiden and I doubt they'd appreciate that." He unzipped his jeans and started to pull them off so he could change into his board shorts.
"Yeah, I guess not. I'm just glad Flynn seems a lot happier now that the Cajun is at least somewhat on his feet. It's kind of a shame they won't even feel safe when it's just our group, you know? It's not like we're all going to gape."
Tab smiled, watching him undress. It was her prerogative as his girlfriend to get to watch him change. For the moment she kept her jeans on, content just to be in the bikini top. "Probably not, but it wasn't really the holiday I meant. I'm not leaving at all. I'm staying in New York, keeping local. Staying with you."
"It will take time. Lachlan, maybe not ever. I spoke to him the other day. He came to New York to try and face his fears with the singing thing. He kept at it over and over until he was singing without ending up in a near panic attack. We were there for hours, but we spoke in between. There is a lot of scarring. He wouldn't show me but he said it spans from just under his chest right down to his groin. He had his appendix out a little while before the shooting and you can't even see the appendix scar anymore. We spoke about a lot. He's just as scared to be a father and start a family as I am, believe it or not," Luke revealed with a small laugh and pushed his boxers down.
He paused, boxers in hand. "I just want you to do what makes you happy, Lucky Charm," he told her.
"See, you did get to help him after all. And there you were thinking you wouldn't know what to do. That's great that you just let him sing like that. I hope he does wind up going through with the Karaoke thing. I think it'd be good for him. Oh my god, that's crazy. I didn't realise the scarring was so expansive. No wonder he doesn't want to take his shirt off."
Tab kept her eyes above his waist, her gaze locked with his as she smiled. It was warm, and genuine and didn't hold a single sigh of the strain she'd felt under for the past few weeks. "Does this look like a face that's unhappy, smexy? This is what makes me happy. I don't need any of that big circus shit. I just want to play and make records when I want, and be a bar wench, and wake up next to you every single damn day. I'm not giving that up for anything."
"He came to me," Luke explained. "Tara spent the day with her parents, so Lachlan came to the bar and asked me to help him. That talent... it's such a shame it's been wasted in his grief. There is not a thing wrong with his performance, he's just so fearful." He nodded. "I didn't either, but he had three surgeries after it. He said preventing scarring wasn't a priority of his doctors when they were trying to save his life. He remembers small pieces of being in a coma, too. How weird is that? Someone holding his hand, another time two people arguing over him, the sound of Tara crying."
He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "You've made my year saying that. Aiden could've made you a star, you know. He would've done everything he could to make sure you got everything you wanted."
"He can remember the coma? That really is weird as all fuck. I can't even begin to understand what he's been through. It's good that he's starting to heal. Seems like it'll be a lengthy process no matter what, and I'm not surprised. He's been to Hell and back." Tab nodded as she thought about the times she had seen Lachlan perform. "He's amazing, no doubt about it."
Tab hugged him back and rose up on her tiptoes to nuzzle against the crook his neck. "I know, but I don't need to be a star. I really don't. And he still is going to get me everything I want. He's going to up my profile here in New York and get me a few more venues in the City. I'm sorry I fucked you around. I just... I had a lot to think about. I needed to be sure before I made the jump."
"Just slight pieces, but enough to stay with him. He told me about the time he told Tara he didn't love her anymore, too. After he found out he was infertile, he wanted her to have everything he couldn't give her, so he told her he didn't love her anymore and didn't want to be with her so she would leave him. He said it was the worse thing he ever did in his life and still remembers the look on her face. She gave him the ring back and walked away." He shook his head. "Just makes me feel lucky to have you. I'm not sure I'd survive through something like that."
He nodded a little and started to climb into his boxers. The whole thing with Tab and her career had hurt. He felt like he'd just been hanging on waiting for her to say she was going to leave anyway. Then he'd wondered how well they really could function when he was here in New York and she was away becoming a huge star. He hadn't been able to see a way it would've worked. He loved her like he'd never loved anyone in his life, but he wanted to be her equal, not her part time handbag when she had a bit of free time in her schedule to maybe throw him a phone call or a day back in the city. He had lost so much sleep worrying about it and wondering what he had done to find everything he wanted, only to be facing it being torn away. "I can understand that," he said with a smile.
"I don't know I'd be able to survive something like that either. I wasn't even sure I'd survive the past few weeks," Tab admitted with a heavy sigh.
She worked on wriggling out of her jeans; glad she'd decided to wear her bikini on the plane. Made the getting changed quicker, even if Luke wouldn't get a show. She had been so lost these last few weeks and even if she’d tried to talk to both Luke and Riley about it, it wasn't until the last week that she really knew what she'd been trying to say. And that it was okay to let go of her childhood dream. It was like she'd told Aiden-dreams changed. She kicked the denim aside and reached out to take Luke's face in her hands as she smiled up at him. "I love you, Lucas Alexander Jackson. I love you to the point where I feel like I won't be able to breathe if you're not there. Pat says it's just because we're in the early stages." She shrugged. "I still think I'd struggle to breathe once we get to the whole content stage."
Luke visibly tried to fight back his emotions and he cleared his throat. "I spent these last few weeks hardly being able to breathe myself," he told her. "It was like you were already gone."
"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so, so sorry." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. "I haven't gone anywhere, okay? I'm right here and I'm always going to be. So we can both breathe."
Luke nodded, wetting his lips and then kissed her, deeply and desperately like he had wanted to for days when he'd felt the distance between them. It was time to get things back on track how they were meant to me. All around them their friends were doing the same thing and he figured that together, they were just as strong as their friends were.
Tabitha London Browne (& Luke Jackson)
Original Character
Words: 2048
All characters referenced with permission.