Mind Over Matter - Chapter One
Mind Over Matter - Chapter 1
By Abby
Chapter Rating: PG
Summary: Post-Movie. Megamind and Roxanne adjust to the challenges of married life, facing other threats along the way.
Notes: This will be the first chapter in a series, and I am really excited about what you all think. The summary is a little vague, but I will adjust it as the story moves on. As always, feel free to leave reviews, be they positive, critical, or otherwise. Many thanks to avaaricious/avarice for volunteering to beta for me! *hugs*
-M- -m- -M-
“What are you doing, woman?!”
Megamind hopped from foot to foot in an anxious manner, obviously distressed by what Roxanne was doing. For her part, Roxanne looked over at him with exasperation.
“This is the last time I let you into the kitchen with me, I swear.” She put the glass container on the counter and started to unscrew the lid. “All I want to do is add some garlic to the sauce. No need to get all worked up over it.”
“But it doesn’t say to add garlic! We have to stick to the plan!” He pointed to the recipe with emphasis, and Roxanne shook her head. Megamind was obviously approaching this whole cooking thing in the same manner that he approached any other project; with painstaking attention to detail. Cooking became chemistry, and any type of deviation from the formula spelled disaster. She wondered if he had the notion that the meal would blow up in a horrifying mess like an experiment gone wrong if she took any liberties with the ingredients.
A night like this wasn’t a normal occurrence. Roxanne had convinced Minion to take the night off from dinner duty. She’d sent the fish out on a very long patrol of the city in the invisible car, and coaxed her husband into the kitchen in the hopes that they would bond over the making of a romantic meal. Having only been married for seven months, she still had a lot to learn about the blue alien’s living habits, and she was trying to take them in stride as much as she could. Really, most of the time Roxanne was simply amused by his odd mannerisms rather than annoyed by them.
With the salmon finishing off in the oven, and the asparagus grilled and set aside to rest, she was currently working on the final touch; a lemon-dill sauce. She pulled a teaspoon out of the drawer and made a face at Megamind’s horrified expression as she doled out a small measure of garlic powder into the sauce. “Calm down. It’ll taste better, I promise.” He looked at her with suspicion. “I tell you what. You can set the table and I will join you in a moment.”
Megamind took another second to eye the bastardized sauce and nodded in agreement. She felt that it was better for him to remove himself now before he upset himself further, imagining all the times Minion possibly went off-recipe without him knowing it. Megamind pulled open a cupboard and removed the plates, hurrying out of the kitchen.
In order to reach the dining area, Megamind passed through the door and was suddenly crossing a vast expanse of the lair. As life with Roxie progressed, the need for normal living quarters increased, and he and Minion were slowly cornering off a section of the old warehouse and adding rooms. The framework for the soon-to-be hallways was erected, but there was yet to be any drywall. Looking up, he could see the metal girders holding up the enormous roof and thought idly that it would be a rather odd thing indeed for someone from the outside to enter to see their completed house within the larger building. But this was the best he could do at the moment. He didn’t feel quite comfortable enough with living in a public dwelling, what with him being who he was. Any house of theirs on a tree-lined street would be destined to become a target for anyone wanting to seek revenge on the hero of Metro City.
Entering the dining room, he set the plates on the round table. A brain bot was already present, hovering with a humming noise over the lacquered wood, lighting the candles with the igniter on the tip of its spindly limb. Megamind patted its dome in appreciation, smiling as the electricity under the glass arced up to meet his fingers. He then tapped it on the side in an unspoken order to leave the area, and it floated off with a farewell bowg. He returned to the kitchen just in time to see Roxanne picking up their completed plates, so he joined her on the journey to the dining room, carrying two pieces of stemware and a bottle of wine.
Half an hour later, he had already consumed his fish, utterly convinced that Roxanne’s venture with the garlic powder was a success. She seemed amused by his enthusiasm, stopping in her meal to take a sip of the Riesling. "I told you that it would work out. I may not be a gourmet chef, but I know my way around the spice rack, at least." She reached up and pushed her hair out of her eyes and regarded Megamind from across the table, appreciating how the candlelight cast shadows and sharpened his features. The glow made his skin appear almost cyan, reminiscent of tropical seas. "Do you have any business to attend to tomorrow?" She asked, hoping they’d have some downtime tomorrow together.
He shook his head, still chewing on the remains of his meal. It was a particularly peaceful time currently in the city, and in the last few weeks nothing had come up that the Metro City police couldn't handle. He and Minion had been using the spare time to work on the framework of the house and also to clean out the far-reaches of the lair. It felt nice to work on unimportant things, take some time to relax and clear his head. Megamind watched his wife as she traced her fingers over the condensation on her glass. He was momentarily transfixed, but shook his head when he remembered that he had some news to share. “Oh!” he exclaimed, his mouth still full of food. Roxanne cringed at the sight, and he remembered his manners and swallowed. “I have another name to try out on you.”
Roxanne’s interest was piqued. For a while now, Megamind had been bent on finding a name for himself. Not there was anything wrong with the name Megamind, he claimed. After all, it was an accurate description of his staggering intellect. But he had come to realize that now that he had an existence outside of the hero-work, it would be nice to hang up the Megamind name like the proverbial jacket-at-the-door when he when he stepped out of costume and into his newly-acquired domestic life. She leaned forward over the table, indicating that he had her attention. “Okay, then. Let me have it.”
Megamind paused for dramatic effect. “Yoo-Jean,” he said in a low tone, underlining the invisible name with his hands as if it were floating in the air right in front of him.
She tried not to flinch. “Eugene?” She repeated, pretending to be concerned with a piece of lint on her brand new pink silk blouse in order to hide her look of incredulity. Finally, she decided to take the name as seriously as possible and looked back up to face her husband, who was waiting with bated breath. “Hmm…” she pondered. “Eugene…” Roxanne tried the name out once before saying it again in a markedly different tone; smooth and sultry. “Eugene.” And then once more, in what appeared to be barely concealed ecstasy. “Eugene!” When Megamind’s black eyebrow raised in question, she dead-panned and shook her head, going back to her meal. “Nope. That name won’t work.”
Megamind seemed disappointed. “And why not?” He had put a lot of thought into this month’s selection.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Well,” she began, trying to find a way to put it delicately, “I would sound a bit silly screaming out ‘Eugene!’ in bed, don’t you think?” Seeing him blushing purple at her words, Roxanne smirked. “Not the sexiest name in the world.” She reached across the table and patted his hand in apology.
The alien seemed a little put out at first, but recovered with amazing grace, bouncing back to his usual bright demeanor. “Back to the drawing board, I guess.” He picked up his fork again and dug into the rest of his food. “I want to make sure I pick something out that sits well on the tongue of my lovely lady, don’t I?” He flashed a toothy grin at her.
She fluttered her eyelashes at him under the veil of her lengthening bangs, getting caught up in the silly mood. “Why, thank you, my handsome blue man.” She took a bite of her asparagus and let her fork linger on her lips, chewing on the tines in a seductive manner.
Megamind felt compelled to finish their meal right then and there, but was loathe to waste the food that they spent a lot of time preparing, and so began to eat with a renewed gusto.
He intended to contact Minion to tell him not to bother coming back from his patrol until a very late hour, indeed. As for Megamind, he was cooking up a plan that included him, his blushing bride, and their bedroom. A plan he didn’t want interrupted.
-m- -M- -m-
Or, if you feel like reading it on FFN, the link is here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6924902/1/Mind_Over_Matter