Myshuno Prompts #10, #11, #12, #13, & #14
I decided that I will make that big push for a Myshuno Blackout (especially now that my eyeballs aren't melting out of my head). Only ten more to go!
Here is my card for everything so far. I hope you like them!
***
Prompt: Puck and Erin's Honeymoon
Characters: Puck Summerdream and Erin Devereaux
Rating: PG
Summary: A conversation between Puck and Erin on their honeymoon. Somewhat spoilery as it mentions upcoming events in the story.
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #10 provided by silverbelle1220
Word Count: 782
***
Puck leaned against the frame of the sliding door and watched Erin as she leaned on the balcony railing of their hotel room. A gust of wind picked up one of her red curls and blew it across her face. He watched as she irritably pushed it away and tucked it behind her ear. When her shoulders heaved in a sigh, he joined her outside.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Another gust of wind whipped through her hair. His fingers gently pushed the red strands from her face. "Windy day, huh?"
"It's early spring. I'm surprised it's not raining. It probably will later today," she said glumly.
"You're upset about something."
"I didn't plan for any of this to go this way. This isn't what I wanted."
His stomach dropped. There were a lot of things he could assume she didn't want. Her brother's death was a big one. The lawsuit was probably another one. He could understand those. But he was worried she might have been talking about other things she didn't want.
Her marriage to him.
Her being pregnant with his child.
He licked his lips and swallowed a couple of times. "What exactly didn't you want?"
"This!" She thrust her hand out in front of her.
His brow creased as he looked out over Belladonna Cove. From their vantage point they had a full view of the city as well as the ocean beyond. He couldn't see what was wrong. "I think it's nice," he said quietly.
Erin sighed again. "It is. I know that and it was really nice of my parents to pay for the hotel room for the weekend so we had some sort of honeymoon. But it's like, I dunno, like we owned a house on Twikkii Island! Stupid Alexander Goth!" She spat out.
"Is that all?"
She looked at him and pursed her lips. "'Is that all?'" she quoted. "You make it seem like it's nothing. Alexander--"
He held up his hand. "I know what Alexander did. I was there. And I'm not saying that it's nothing. It's just--"
"You deserve better."
He raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"You deserve to not be stuck in the middle of all this family drama. You--"
"Erin, oh my God. Don't feel bad about it because, really, it's not it's like something you could control. And even then, I happen to agree with your mother's stance on the entire situation. I don't care if the family lost practically everything. Like Eden said, money can be re-earned. Stores and vacation homes can be re-bought. I don't care about possessions. I care about you. I care about the baby. Everything else..." he shrugged. "I love you. That's what matters to me."
In response, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're too good for me."
He scoffed and wrapped his arms around her waist.
After a few moments of silence his brow creased. He inwardly debated with himself, not wanting to ruin the nice moment. He sighed inwardly and said, "Ere..." and then stopped. He didn't know how to phrase his question.
"Hmm?"
He rolled his eyes at his own reluctance, took a deep breath and asked, "Ere, you love me, right?"
She jerked her head back and her face had a startled expression on it. "What? Of course I do! I married you. I'm pregnant with your child!"
"You and I both know that, for a lot of people, that doesn't really mean anything."
"But...why would you think that?"
He shrugged uncomfortably. "You don't say it. You never have. In fact...nobody in your family really says it."
She stared at nothing over his shoulder as if she were recalling something. "Huh. You're right. The 'rents really don't say it at all, do they? But..I dunno. It's obvious, I think. Even more so lately. But I never really doubted it." She shook her head and looked back at him. "Puck, I do love you. Very much. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm so sorry you seem to think I don't, because I do."
He ducked his head with a wince. "No no no no no. I'm sorry. It's stupid. I shouldn't have said anything. I don't doubt it. It's just...it's nice to hear it every once in a while, that's all."
She threw her arms around his neck and planted kisses all over his face. "I love you, I love you, I love you. And I will make sure that I tell you so all of the time, okay? And if I don't you can tell me so. Deal?"
He grinned and kissed her. "It's a deal."
***
Prompt: Cold Nights
Characters: Eden Devereaux, Rhys Fitzhugh
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A phone conversation between Rhys and Eden
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #11 provided by biglenny
Word Count: 577
***
"...So I figure that so long as there isn't a major snowstorm, the kids and I can come up there for the weekend." Rhys' voice crackled slightly over the phone as the reception in Three Lakes was rather spotty.
Eden sighed. "Filming is pretty hectic here. We're trying to film as much as we can before the blizzard strikes. I don’t know how available I'm going to be."
"Don't care."
"My mother is being pretty intolerable, isn't she?"
"Ede, when isn't she being intolerable? If I wrote down all the instances, I'd have a pretty hefty sized novel. But that's not the reason why I want to come up with the kids."
"It's not?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
He was silent for a moment. "Okay, it's a pretty big reason. The other reason is that the kids miss you."
She smiled at his unspoken words. Rather, she smiled at the words she assumed were unspoken. "How is the potty training going, anyway?"
"It's pretty hit or miss. Erin's mostly trained. So long as she doesn't wear any pants, underwear, or diapers. She hasn't mastered the art of pulling down her pants. Quinn's a bit behind her. They're getting there. With no help from your mother, I would like to add. She just keeps saying, 'Blah, blah, blah, Eden was potty trained much younger, blah, blah, blah, I'm a bitch, blah, blah, blah.'"
"Rhys..."
"Ede..." he replied, nearly mimicking her tone.
She laughed. "Rhys, obviously if you want to come up, you can. I'm just saying that I'm not going to be here in the cabin that much."
"That's fine."
"It would be nice to come back to the cabin with a fire lit and stuff. It's awfully cold here."
"I will totally do that. And cook dinner. And, well, I'll warm your cold bed for you, too." She could hear his smirk.
She laughed and looked at the bed in question. "Well I don't know it that's necessary. I have something already that makes me think of you every night."
"Oh?"
She bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. "Yep. It's big, warm, and electric."
She knew he was pursing his lips as he tried to think of a response. "Dammit, Ede, I told you: I refuse to be replaced by a vibrator."
She began biting the inside of her cheeks as it grew harder not to laugh. "Why would you automatically assume I'm talking about a vibrator?"
"Big. Warm. Electric. What else am I supposed to think?"
She couldn't contain it anymore. "I'm talking about an electric blanket, Rhys," she said through her giggles. "I miss having a furnace laying next to me every night."
"Well, my dear, I can't help it if my hotness radiates off me. I suppose an electric blanket is fine. Though, ugh, not while I'm there, okay? They're too warm."
"Though now that you mention it," she began, not able to resist teasing him some more, "a vibrator and an electric blanket..."
"Babe, you know I'm better than both combined."
"This is true. They pale in comparison."
"Darn right they do."
"Well I look forward to seeing you this weekend then. We can put it to the test."
"You sure you're going to have the time?" His sarcastic tone was teasing.
"For you, Rhys? I'll make sure I find the time. Mwah," she said, blowing a kiss over the phone.
"Mwah," he responded. She could hear his grin.
***
Prompt: Reading a Newspaper
Characters: Mary Devereaux, Quinn Devereaux, Erin Devereaux, Rhys Fitzhugh
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #12 provided by dicreasy. This takes place shortly after the twin's nighttime trip with Emily in Chapter 6.2. I got a little carried away with this one, but this scene was set so firmly in my mind I had to write all of it.
Word Count: 1315
***
The day had been long.
No. The week had been long.
Hell no. The past three months had been an eternity.
Eden would be home the next day, something that Rhys was incredibly grateful for. If he had to tolerate Mary, alone, for much longer, he truly felt he was going to snap. Heck, he already harbored fantasies where she was institutionalized for being a crazy bitch. Part of those fantasies involved him being the one who called the asylum and the guards were kind enough to let him be the one who locked her away.
He was also fantasizing about what sort of jig he'd dance upon her grave. But that was much more vague seeing as it appeared that she was going to live forever, just out of spite.
All of this went through his mind, for the upteenth time, right before he entered the house. He felt a momentary sense of satisfaction when he saw that Mary was nowhere in sight. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to have a nice few moments alone to read the newspaper. In peace.
It was pretty sad when his most prominent fantasy these days involved that instead of sex. He would make sure that changed when Eden got back.
He debated momentarily about pouring his standard after work drink, scotch on the rocks, then decided against it. It had been a busy day at the bookstore and his feet were killing him. He walked into the living room, flopped down onto the couch, kicked off his shoes, and wiggled his toes with a satisfied sigh. He closed his eyes and groped around on the couch searching for the newspaper he had thrown there. With another pleasant wiggle of his toes he opened his eyes and looked down at it.
On the front page there was a picture of Alexander Goth.
"Uck," he grumbled out loud and he flipped the page. His eyes automatically went to the horoscope section.
Scorpio (October 24-November 21)
Hide the porn before she finds it. Seriously, you sick pervert.
"Well that's just unnecessary. Is there a specific reason why you want to get all fucking personal? Jebus." He shook his head and went to one of his favorite sections of the paper:
The Pants Embargo Corner
"The Naked Man."
He read the article with interest. Though he currently didn't know any shy people, he mentally filed the advice away for possible future use.
After about ten minutes, he heard the school bus pull up. A few seconds later, Erin and Quinn ran through the door and into the living room.
"Hi Dad!"
He tilted the paper down and grinned at them. "Hey, guys, how was school?"
"Goooooooood," Erin said with a wide smile.
"It was fine," Quinn said. He pointed at the end table next to Rhys. "Where's your drink you always have?"
Rhys shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't make one. Do you guys have homework?"
"Nooooooooo," Erin said as she continued to smile at him. He raised his eyebrow at her and turned to his son.
"I do, yeah," Quinn said. "I'll go upstairs and do it right now."
"Remember you're grounded until tomorrow. No video games or television," Rhys reminded him.
"Yeah, Dad, I know."
Rhys nodded and went back to reading the paper. After a moment he had the strange feeling that he was being watched. He partially folded the paper down again and found Erin still smiling widely at him. "Yes?" he asked.
"I finished all of my homework, I got two A's on tests today, I super duper cleaned my bedroom this morning, I put away all of my clothes, and I studied all my skills so much that I'm pretty sure I could call and get scholarships today if I really wanted to." She took a deep breath and ended her spiel with a firm nod.
"Well, uh, okay. Good." He went back to his paper.
"Daddy?"
He hung his head with a sigh and folded the paper in his lap before looking back up at her. It was an effort not to laugh. "Erin, you stopped calling me 'Daddy' when you were three. In fact the only time you call me 'Daddy' is when you've either done something, or you want something. So what did you do or what do you want?"
"Nothing," she said in a sing-song voice. "I just wanted to tell you I love you." She grinned at him even wider than she had before.
He raised his eyebrows and he locked his eyes on hers. They stared at each other, unwavering, for a long moment before her eyes quickly darted to the television and back at him. He smirked.
"Uh huh. No television. No video games. No telephone. You're grounded until tomorrow. It's only one more day, Ere. I'm sure you're brave enough to survive. I have the utmost confidence in you."
"But-"
"No buts. Go...learn the recipe for Lobster Thermidor or something."
With a woebegone sigh, her shoulders slumped and she walked out of the room as dramatically sad as only a ten year old child can. He covered his laughter with a cough and shook his head.
His mirth was cut short when he heard Mary's voice shriek, "What on earth are you doing, young man?" The newspaper crumpled in his hands as he bolted from the couch and into the kitchen.
In there he saw two glasses with brownish liquid in them. One of the glasses had two ice cubes in it. Mary was glowering down at a cowering Quinn. "Well explain yourself!" Mary demanded.
"Grandma-"
"What. The. Hell." Rhys said. He gently pulled Quinn away from the woman and pushed him behind his back. "Seriously, Mary. What the hell?"
Mary jutted her jaw with a sniff. "Well, Eden's son has picked up your dirty drinking habit it seems. I caught him red handed drinking from one of the glasses." She smirked at him triumphantly.
Rhys glanced at the only bottle that was on the counter. He held it up to her. "Cool your shit. God! It's apple juice!" He shook it and said again, "It's apple juice. What's wrong with you?"
Mary stammered indignantly before she just settled on glaring at him. He closed his eyes and fantasized about her in a straight jacket. "Go. Away." He said. He suddenly felt very tired.
With a toss of her head, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room. Rhys hung his head with a sigh.
"I just wanted to make your drink for you," Quinn said quietly.
Rhys looked at the glass with the ice cubes in it. In a way, it did kind of look like his regular scotch on the rocks. If the bottle of apple juice hadn't been sitting next to it, he would have almost understood Mary's outburst. He smiled and ran his hand over Quinn's curls. "Thank you." A hopeful look crossed Quinn's face, which made Rhys snort. "No television. No video games. You're grounded until tomorrow."
Quinn's shoulders fell. "Okaaayy." He looked up at Rhys. "Are you gonna drink your drink?"
"Yes I am," Rhys responded and he solemnly took a sip and nodded his approval.
Quinn mimicked him with a smile. After he took another sip he asked, "Dad? Is Grandma the B word?"
Rhys' juice splatted all over the front of his newspaper and he began choking. Just a little further down the alphabet and you'd be spot on, kiddo, he thought. But even he knew that would be entirely inappropriate to say out loud. Instead he just wiped his mouth and patted Quinn on his shoulder. "Finish up your juice and go do your homework."
He looked down at the now wet newspaper. The juice had splattered all across the picture of Alexander Goth. Rhys felt it was an improvement. He grinned happily and threw it away.
***
Prompt: Pleading for a Loved One
Rating: G
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #13 provided by leilia
Word Count: 160
***
The funeral service hadn't started yet. The church was mostly silent with the exception of a few murmured voices near the entry way. Hands reached out for him as they spoke their useless platitudes.
He brushed them off. He couldn't stand to hear them.
He was drawn to the urn at the front. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. His insides quaked and his knees trembled. He balled his fists and kept walking.
He breathed an unsteady breath when he reached the altar. For a moment he was mesmerized by the horrifying, heart wrenching, impossible name engraved on the urn.
Quinn Devereaux
He slowly sank down to his knees and clutched his trembling hands together. He brought them up to his forehead. His knuckles turned white.
It was an effort to unclench his jaw. He licked his lips and tilted his head back.
He opened his mouth and whispered one word. "Please."
It was all he could manage.
***
Prompt: Mary's Afterlife/Ghost Tea Party (Combo prompt)
Characters: It's a Devereaux family reunion (for most of the main line at least)
Rating: PG
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #14 provided by both rosefyre and bellemistoire
Word Count: 1166
***
Mary forced her smile to be patient as she looked over at the stubborn blond haired man. "Grandfather Joshua, would you please put away that diary? It's awfully rude to be writing in it when we're all together."
"No," was all Josh said as he clutched the ghostly book close to him. "People need to know."
"Know what?"
"Everything. Everything That Woman has done."
Mary continued to smile as she looked over at her mother, Kitty. Her mother, however, was no help at all.
"Josh is a bit touched in the head," she said with a laugh.
"Yeah, only a bit," Sebastian chimed in sarcastically.
Mary pursed her lips at her parents' irreverence towards an ancestor. "I'm quite sure he's just exaggerating, don't you agree Grandmother Joshina?"
The blond woman Mary was speaking to raised her eyebrows. "Well, the fact that you don't remember my real name just proves that while Josh might be a bit...eccentric, his written words are still effective."
Mary could her cheeks burn. "I apologize, Grandmother Kelly. I...I--"
"Don't worry about my father, dear," Ansley said, "he's just being belligerent for the sake of being belligerent. He wasn't even invited anyway, right?"
"Well it would be rather rude of me not to let him have some tea. He showed up. It would be wrong."
Josh reached over Kelly's shoulder and snagged a tea biscuit with a grin. "You are absolutely right: it would be very rude to ignore me. I don't like being ignored. It's what That Woman did to me the entire time I was alive. I am the founder of this family, you know."
"Oh, but I do know!" Mary said earnestly. "And I am ever so pleased that you decided to come over and attend my tea party."
"And if it's good enough, I will write about it. How many Nice points do you have anyway?" Josh asked.
Mary blinked and gave him a confused look. Kitty leaned in and whispered in her ear, "He's allowed to break the fourth wall because the legacy was observational when he was around." Mary still wasn't entirely sure what her mother was talking about, so Kitty answered for her. "Mary is 5/5/6/3/10."
Josh scoffed and rolled his eyes. "A Pisces with Ten Nice Points. So you aren't an evil spawn. Pity."
Mary bristled. "No. I most certainly am not evil! I don't care what my daughter's husband says. Was it wrong of me to want Eden to have the best? He was a terrible influence and I found it positively shameful how she allowed him to treat me the way he did. I wasn't the evil one. He was!"
"Mary, settle down. Nobody is calling you evil," Sebastian said. "You just sort of have a stick up your ass, that's all."
She gave her father a cool look. "That is also what my daughter's husband said about me. And I would kindly thank you if you refrain from speaking like this during tea time."
"So he was just calling it like he saw it, huh? What was his name anyway? You're kind of like Grandpa Josh over there with his 'That Woman.' You just refer to Eden's husband as 'That Man' or 'My Daughter's Husband.' Who’d she marry? Voldemort?"
Mary slammed her hand on the table. "He was not 'calling it like he saw it.' He was a vile, evil human being who made my life miserable! He does not deserve to be named. And when he and Eden die, he is not welcome to my tea parties. And I will have many, many tea parties. And every single one of them will be Perky. Every one will be Pretty. Every one will be--"
"Perfect," everyone around her chimed in. Then they all began laughing.
Mary jutted her jaw forward and tossed her head. "Well they will be."
Ansley leaned over and patted her hand sympathetically. "Believe it or not, I know where you're coming from, Mary. I used to be a lot like you."
"And then she got better," Kitty muttered under her breath.
Mary chose to ignore her mother's comment. "I don't wish to argue anymore. It's done. I can move on. Grandmother Kelly, would you like some tea?"
"Yes I would."
"Mary, I'm sorry," Sebastian said. "I shouldn't have--"
"It's okay, Dad. I know you didn't mean it. The unpleasantness is behind us. Think nothing more of it. I won't."
As she was pouring the tea, she noticed a red haired man standing off to the side. She noticed that his hair was styled in that detestable fauxhawk her daughter's husband was fond of wearing. Her eyes narrowed and she tossed her head, choosing to ignore him. She forced a smile on her face and she continued to pour tea for her relatives.
The young man stepped closer and cleared his throat. "Hi, Grandma," he said shyly.
Mary almost spilled the tea. She looked back up at him with astonishment. "Quinn?"
He nodded. "Can..can I join your tea party or is it too late?"
She looked him over. He was the spitting image of both his parents. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "You are wearing your hair differently," she said.
Quinn shrugged and grinned widely. "Yeah. Dad showed me how to style it like his. That's right. It was after you died that he showed me. It's been so long that I forgot about that."
"Mmm. Well you always did love your father," she said noncommittally.
Quinn's face fell. "Yeah, I really did," he whispered. "I wish I would have been able to tell him."
Something clicked in Mary's mind. "Wait a minute. If you're here, that means that my daughter has also died. Where is she? Oh, it's just like her to completely ignore me. It's so rude. The least she could have done was come by to let me know how much time has passed. I know it's your father's influence over her! She always said that she loved me, but now I know. Oh and I suppose your sister has also decided to--"
"Grandma, no." Quinn interrupted. "That's not it at all."
"Oh, I'm sure that-"
"Grandma. Mom and Dad are still alive. I died in a car accident just this past Christmas. They aren't ignoring you."
"'Car accident.' Yeah right. I'll bet ten million simoleons that That Woman had something to do with it," Josh scoffed. Everyone ignored him.
Mary felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach as she processed what her grandchild had said. At that moment, she put herself in Eden’s shoes. "Oh," she whispered. "Poor Eden." And then another feeling rose up in her. No matter how she she had disliked the man, she could never deny that he had loved his children. "Your poor father. Poor...Rhys."
She reached over and took Quinn's hand into hers. She squeezed it and said, "I..I'm so sorry. Your poor parents. I'm so, so sorry."
***
Here is my card for everything so far. I hope you like them!
***
Prompt: Puck and Erin's Honeymoon
Characters: Puck Summerdream and Erin Devereaux
Rating: PG
Summary: A conversation between Puck and Erin on their honeymoon. Somewhat spoilery as it mentions upcoming events in the story.
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #10 provided by silverbelle1220
Word Count: 782
***
Puck leaned against the frame of the sliding door and watched Erin as she leaned on the balcony railing of their hotel room. A gust of wind picked up one of her red curls and blew it across her face. He watched as she irritably pushed it away and tucked it behind her ear. When her shoulders heaved in a sigh, he joined her outside.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Another gust of wind whipped through her hair. His fingers gently pushed the red strands from her face. "Windy day, huh?"
"It's early spring. I'm surprised it's not raining. It probably will later today," she said glumly.
"You're upset about something."
"I didn't plan for any of this to go this way. This isn't what I wanted."
His stomach dropped. There were a lot of things he could assume she didn't want. Her brother's death was a big one. The lawsuit was probably another one. He could understand those. But he was worried she might have been talking about other things she didn't want.
Her marriage to him.
Her being pregnant with his child.
He licked his lips and swallowed a couple of times. "What exactly didn't you want?"
"This!" She thrust her hand out in front of her.
His brow creased as he looked out over Belladonna Cove. From their vantage point they had a full view of the city as well as the ocean beyond. He couldn't see what was wrong. "I think it's nice," he said quietly.
Erin sighed again. "It is. I know that and it was really nice of my parents to pay for the hotel room for the weekend so we had some sort of honeymoon. But it's like, I dunno, like we owned a house on Twikkii Island! Stupid Alexander Goth!" She spat out.
"Is that all?"
She looked at him and pursed her lips. "'Is that all?'" she quoted. "You make it seem like it's nothing. Alexander--"
He held up his hand. "I know what Alexander did. I was there. And I'm not saying that it's nothing. It's just--"
"You deserve better."
He raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"You deserve to not be stuck in the middle of all this family drama. You--"
"Erin, oh my God. Don't feel bad about it because, really, it's not it's like something you could control. And even then, I happen to agree with your mother's stance on the entire situation. I don't care if the family lost practically everything. Like Eden said, money can be re-earned. Stores and vacation homes can be re-bought. I don't care about possessions. I care about you. I care about the baby. Everything else..." he shrugged. "I love you. That's what matters to me."
In response, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're too good for me."
He scoffed and wrapped his arms around her waist.
After a few moments of silence his brow creased. He inwardly debated with himself, not wanting to ruin the nice moment. He sighed inwardly and said, "Ere..." and then stopped. He didn't know how to phrase his question.
"Hmm?"
He rolled his eyes at his own reluctance, took a deep breath and asked, "Ere, you love me, right?"
She jerked her head back and her face had a startled expression on it. "What? Of course I do! I married you. I'm pregnant with your child!"
"You and I both know that, for a lot of people, that doesn't really mean anything."
"But...why would you think that?"
He shrugged uncomfortably. "You don't say it. You never have. In fact...nobody in your family really says it."
She stared at nothing over his shoulder as if she were recalling something. "Huh. You're right. The 'rents really don't say it at all, do they? But..I dunno. It's obvious, I think. Even more so lately. But I never really doubted it." She shook her head and looked back at him. "Puck, I do love you. Very much. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm so sorry you seem to think I don't, because I do."
He ducked his head with a wince. "No no no no no. I'm sorry. It's stupid. I shouldn't have said anything. I don't doubt it. It's just...it's nice to hear it every once in a while, that's all."
She threw her arms around his neck and planted kisses all over his face. "I love you, I love you, I love you. And I will make sure that I tell you so all of the time, okay? And if I don't you can tell me so. Deal?"
He grinned and kissed her. "It's a deal."
***
Prompt: Cold Nights
Characters: Eden Devereaux, Rhys Fitzhugh
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A phone conversation between Rhys and Eden
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #11 provided by biglenny
Word Count: 577
***
"...So I figure that so long as there isn't a major snowstorm, the kids and I can come up there for the weekend." Rhys' voice crackled slightly over the phone as the reception in Three Lakes was rather spotty.
Eden sighed. "Filming is pretty hectic here. We're trying to film as much as we can before the blizzard strikes. I don’t know how available I'm going to be."
"Don't care."
"My mother is being pretty intolerable, isn't she?"
"Ede, when isn't she being intolerable? If I wrote down all the instances, I'd have a pretty hefty sized novel. But that's not the reason why I want to come up with the kids."
"It's not?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
He was silent for a moment. "Okay, it's a pretty big reason. The other reason is that the kids miss you."
She smiled at his unspoken words. Rather, she smiled at the words she assumed were unspoken. "How is the potty training going, anyway?"
"It's pretty hit or miss. Erin's mostly trained. So long as she doesn't wear any pants, underwear, or diapers. She hasn't mastered the art of pulling down her pants. Quinn's a bit behind her. They're getting there. With no help from your mother, I would like to add. She just keeps saying, 'Blah, blah, blah, Eden was potty trained much younger, blah, blah, blah, I'm a bitch, blah, blah, blah.'"
"Rhys..."
"Ede..." he replied, nearly mimicking her tone.
She laughed. "Rhys, obviously if you want to come up, you can. I'm just saying that I'm not going to be here in the cabin that much."
"That's fine."
"It would be nice to come back to the cabin with a fire lit and stuff. It's awfully cold here."
"I will totally do that. And cook dinner. And, well, I'll warm your cold bed for you, too." She could hear his smirk.
She laughed and looked at the bed in question. "Well I don't know it that's necessary. I have something already that makes me think of you every night."
"Oh?"
She bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. "Yep. It's big, warm, and electric."
She knew he was pursing his lips as he tried to think of a response. "Dammit, Ede, I told you: I refuse to be replaced by a vibrator."
She began biting the inside of her cheeks as it grew harder not to laugh. "Why would you automatically assume I'm talking about a vibrator?"
"Big. Warm. Electric. What else am I supposed to think?"
She couldn't contain it anymore. "I'm talking about an electric blanket, Rhys," she said through her giggles. "I miss having a furnace laying next to me every night."
"Well, my dear, I can't help it if my hotness radiates off me. I suppose an electric blanket is fine. Though, ugh, not while I'm there, okay? They're too warm."
"Though now that you mention it," she began, not able to resist teasing him some more, "a vibrator and an electric blanket..."
"Babe, you know I'm better than both combined."
"This is true. They pale in comparison."
"Darn right they do."
"Well I look forward to seeing you this weekend then. We can put it to the test."
"You sure you're going to have the time?" His sarcastic tone was teasing.
"For you, Rhys? I'll make sure I find the time. Mwah," she said, blowing a kiss over the phone.
"Mwah," he responded. She could hear his grin.
***
Prompt: Reading a Newspaper
Characters: Mary Devereaux, Quinn Devereaux, Erin Devereaux, Rhys Fitzhugh
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #12 provided by dicreasy. This takes place shortly after the twin's nighttime trip with Emily in Chapter 6.2. I got a little carried away with this one, but this scene was set so firmly in my mind I had to write all of it.
Word Count: 1315
***
The day had been long.
No. The week had been long.
Hell no. The past three months had been an eternity.
Eden would be home the next day, something that Rhys was incredibly grateful for. If he had to tolerate Mary, alone, for much longer, he truly felt he was going to snap. Heck, he already harbored fantasies where she was institutionalized for being a crazy bitch. Part of those fantasies involved him being the one who called the asylum and the guards were kind enough to let him be the one who locked her away.
He was also fantasizing about what sort of jig he'd dance upon her grave. But that was much more vague seeing as it appeared that she was going to live forever, just out of spite.
All of this went through his mind, for the upteenth time, right before he entered the house. He felt a momentary sense of satisfaction when he saw that Mary was nowhere in sight. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to have a nice few moments alone to read the newspaper. In peace.
It was pretty sad when his most prominent fantasy these days involved that instead of sex. He would make sure that changed when Eden got back.
He debated momentarily about pouring his standard after work drink, scotch on the rocks, then decided against it. It had been a busy day at the bookstore and his feet were killing him. He walked into the living room, flopped down onto the couch, kicked off his shoes, and wiggled his toes with a satisfied sigh. He closed his eyes and groped around on the couch searching for the newspaper he had thrown there. With another pleasant wiggle of his toes he opened his eyes and looked down at it.
On the front page there was a picture of Alexander Goth.
"Uck," he grumbled out loud and he flipped the page. His eyes automatically went to the horoscope section.
Scorpio (October 24-November 21)
Hide the porn before she finds it. Seriously, you sick pervert.
"Well that's just unnecessary. Is there a specific reason why you want to get all fucking personal? Jebus." He shook his head and went to one of his favorite sections of the paper:
The Pants Embargo Corner
"The Naked Man."
He read the article with interest. Though he currently didn't know any shy people, he mentally filed the advice away for possible future use.
After about ten minutes, he heard the school bus pull up. A few seconds later, Erin and Quinn ran through the door and into the living room.
"Hi Dad!"
He tilted the paper down and grinned at them. "Hey, guys, how was school?"
"Goooooooood," Erin said with a wide smile.
"It was fine," Quinn said. He pointed at the end table next to Rhys. "Where's your drink you always have?"
Rhys shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't make one. Do you guys have homework?"
"Nooooooooo," Erin said as she continued to smile at him. He raised his eyebrow at her and turned to his son.
"I do, yeah," Quinn said. "I'll go upstairs and do it right now."
"Remember you're grounded until tomorrow. No video games or television," Rhys reminded him.
"Yeah, Dad, I know."
Rhys nodded and went back to reading the paper. After a moment he had the strange feeling that he was being watched. He partially folded the paper down again and found Erin still smiling widely at him. "Yes?" he asked.
"I finished all of my homework, I got two A's on tests today, I super duper cleaned my bedroom this morning, I put away all of my clothes, and I studied all my skills so much that I'm pretty sure I could call and get scholarships today if I really wanted to." She took a deep breath and ended her spiel with a firm nod.
"Well, uh, okay. Good." He went back to his paper.
"Daddy?"
He hung his head with a sigh and folded the paper in his lap before looking back up at her. It was an effort not to laugh. "Erin, you stopped calling me 'Daddy' when you were three. In fact the only time you call me 'Daddy' is when you've either done something, or you want something. So what did you do or what do you want?"
"Nothing," she said in a sing-song voice. "I just wanted to tell you I love you." She grinned at him even wider than she had before.
He raised his eyebrows and he locked his eyes on hers. They stared at each other, unwavering, for a long moment before her eyes quickly darted to the television and back at him. He smirked.
"Uh huh. No television. No video games. No telephone. You're grounded until tomorrow. It's only one more day, Ere. I'm sure you're brave enough to survive. I have the utmost confidence in you."
"But-"
"No buts. Go...learn the recipe for Lobster Thermidor or something."
With a woebegone sigh, her shoulders slumped and she walked out of the room as dramatically sad as only a ten year old child can. He covered his laughter with a cough and shook his head.
His mirth was cut short when he heard Mary's voice shriek, "What on earth are you doing, young man?" The newspaper crumpled in his hands as he bolted from the couch and into the kitchen.
In there he saw two glasses with brownish liquid in them. One of the glasses had two ice cubes in it. Mary was glowering down at a cowering Quinn. "Well explain yourself!" Mary demanded.
"Grandma-"
"What. The. Hell." Rhys said. He gently pulled Quinn away from the woman and pushed him behind his back. "Seriously, Mary. What the hell?"
Mary jutted her jaw with a sniff. "Well, Eden's son has picked up your dirty drinking habit it seems. I caught him red handed drinking from one of the glasses." She smirked at him triumphantly.
Rhys glanced at the only bottle that was on the counter. He held it up to her. "Cool your shit. God! It's apple juice!" He shook it and said again, "It's apple juice. What's wrong with you?"
Mary stammered indignantly before she just settled on glaring at him. He closed his eyes and fantasized about her in a straight jacket. "Go. Away." He said. He suddenly felt very tired.
With a toss of her head, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room. Rhys hung his head with a sigh.
"I just wanted to make your drink for you," Quinn said quietly.
Rhys looked at the glass with the ice cubes in it. In a way, it did kind of look like his regular scotch on the rocks. If the bottle of apple juice hadn't been sitting next to it, he would have almost understood Mary's outburst. He smiled and ran his hand over Quinn's curls. "Thank you." A hopeful look crossed Quinn's face, which made Rhys snort. "No television. No video games. You're grounded until tomorrow."
Quinn's shoulders fell. "Okaaayy." He looked up at Rhys. "Are you gonna drink your drink?"
"Yes I am," Rhys responded and he solemnly took a sip and nodded his approval.
Quinn mimicked him with a smile. After he took another sip he asked, "Dad? Is Grandma the B word?"
Rhys' juice splatted all over the front of his newspaper and he began choking. Just a little further down the alphabet and you'd be spot on, kiddo, he thought. But even he knew that would be entirely inappropriate to say out loud. Instead he just wiped his mouth and patted Quinn on his shoulder. "Finish up your juice and go do your homework."
He looked down at the now wet newspaper. The juice had splattered all across the picture of Alexander Goth. Rhys felt it was an improvement. He grinned happily and threw it away.
***
Prompt: Pleading for a Loved One
Rating: G
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #13 provided by leilia
Word Count: 160
***
The funeral service hadn't started yet. The church was mostly silent with the exception of a few murmured voices near the entry way. Hands reached out for him as they spoke their useless platitudes.
He brushed them off. He couldn't stand to hear them.
He was drawn to the urn at the front. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. His insides quaked and his knees trembled. He balled his fists and kept walking.
He breathed an unsteady breath when he reached the altar. For a moment he was mesmerized by the horrifying, heart wrenching, impossible name engraved on the urn.
Quinn Devereaux
He slowly sank down to his knees and clutched his trembling hands together. He brought them up to his forehead. His knuckles turned white.
It was an effort to unclench his jaw. He licked his lips and tilted his head back.
He opened his mouth and whispered one word. "Please."
It was all he could manage.
***
Prompt: Mary's Afterlife/Ghost Tea Party (Combo prompt)
Characters: It's a Devereaux family reunion (for most of the main line at least)
Rating: PG
Notes: Myshuno Prompt #14 provided by both rosefyre and bellemistoire
Word Count: 1166
***
Mary forced her smile to be patient as she looked over at the stubborn blond haired man. "Grandfather Joshua, would you please put away that diary? It's awfully rude to be writing in it when we're all together."
"No," was all Josh said as he clutched the ghostly book close to him. "People need to know."
"Know what?"
"Everything. Everything That Woman has done."
Mary continued to smile as she looked over at her mother, Kitty. Her mother, however, was no help at all.
"Josh is a bit touched in the head," she said with a laugh.
"Yeah, only a bit," Sebastian chimed in sarcastically.
Mary pursed her lips at her parents' irreverence towards an ancestor. "I'm quite sure he's just exaggerating, don't you agree Grandmother Joshina?"
The blond woman Mary was speaking to raised her eyebrows. "Well, the fact that you don't remember my real name just proves that while Josh might be a bit...eccentric, his written words are still effective."
Mary could her cheeks burn. "I apologize, Grandmother Kelly. I...I--"
"Don't worry about my father, dear," Ansley said, "he's just being belligerent for the sake of being belligerent. He wasn't even invited anyway, right?"
"Well it would be rather rude of me not to let him have some tea. He showed up. It would be wrong."
Josh reached over Kelly's shoulder and snagged a tea biscuit with a grin. "You are absolutely right: it would be very rude to ignore me. I don't like being ignored. It's what That Woman did to me the entire time I was alive. I am the founder of this family, you know."
"Oh, but I do know!" Mary said earnestly. "And I am ever so pleased that you decided to come over and attend my tea party."
"And if it's good enough, I will write about it. How many Nice points do you have anyway?" Josh asked.
Mary blinked and gave him a confused look. Kitty leaned in and whispered in her ear, "He's allowed to break the fourth wall because the legacy was observational when he was around." Mary still wasn't entirely sure what her mother was talking about, so Kitty answered for her. "Mary is 5/5/6/3/10."
Josh scoffed and rolled his eyes. "A Pisces with Ten Nice Points. So you aren't an evil spawn. Pity."
Mary bristled. "No. I most certainly am not evil! I don't care what my daughter's husband says. Was it wrong of me to want Eden to have the best? He was a terrible influence and I found it positively shameful how she allowed him to treat me the way he did. I wasn't the evil one. He was!"
"Mary, settle down. Nobody is calling you evil," Sebastian said. "You just sort of have a stick up your ass, that's all."
She gave her father a cool look. "That is also what my daughter's husband said about me. And I would kindly thank you if you refrain from speaking like this during tea time."
"So he was just calling it like he saw it, huh? What was his name anyway? You're kind of like Grandpa Josh over there with his 'That Woman.' You just refer to Eden's husband as 'That Man' or 'My Daughter's Husband.' Who’d she marry? Voldemort?"
Mary slammed her hand on the table. "He was not 'calling it like he saw it.' He was a vile, evil human being who made my life miserable! He does not deserve to be named. And when he and Eden die, he is not welcome to my tea parties. And I will have many, many tea parties. And every single one of them will be Perky. Every one will be Pretty. Every one will be--"
"Perfect," everyone around her chimed in. Then they all began laughing.
Mary jutted her jaw forward and tossed her head. "Well they will be."
Ansley leaned over and patted her hand sympathetically. "Believe it or not, I know where you're coming from, Mary. I used to be a lot like you."
"And then she got better," Kitty muttered under her breath.
Mary chose to ignore her mother's comment. "I don't wish to argue anymore. It's done. I can move on. Grandmother Kelly, would you like some tea?"
"Yes I would."
"Mary, I'm sorry," Sebastian said. "I shouldn't have--"
"It's okay, Dad. I know you didn't mean it. The unpleasantness is behind us. Think nothing more of it. I won't."
As she was pouring the tea, she noticed a red haired man standing off to the side. She noticed that his hair was styled in that detestable fauxhawk her daughter's husband was fond of wearing. Her eyes narrowed and she tossed her head, choosing to ignore him. She forced a smile on her face and she continued to pour tea for her relatives.
The young man stepped closer and cleared his throat. "Hi, Grandma," he said shyly.
Mary almost spilled the tea. She looked back up at him with astonishment. "Quinn?"
He nodded. "Can..can I join your tea party or is it too late?"
She looked him over. He was the spitting image of both his parents. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "You are wearing your hair differently," she said.
Quinn shrugged and grinned widely. "Yeah. Dad showed me how to style it like his. That's right. It was after you died that he showed me. It's been so long that I forgot about that."
"Mmm. Well you always did love your father," she said noncommittally.
Quinn's face fell. "Yeah, I really did," he whispered. "I wish I would have been able to tell him."
Something clicked in Mary's mind. "Wait a minute. If you're here, that means that my daughter has also died. Where is she? Oh, it's just like her to completely ignore me. It's so rude. The least she could have done was come by to let me know how much time has passed. I know it's your father's influence over her! She always said that she loved me, but now I know. Oh and I suppose your sister has also decided to--"
"Grandma, no." Quinn interrupted. "That's not it at all."
"Oh, I'm sure that-"
"Grandma. Mom and Dad are still alive. I died in a car accident just this past Christmas. They aren't ignoring you."
"'Car accident.' Yeah right. I'll bet ten million simoleons that That Woman had something to do with it," Josh scoffed. Everyone ignored him.
Mary felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach as she processed what her grandchild had said. At that moment, she put herself in Eden’s shoes. "Oh," she whispered. "Poor Eden." And then another feeling rose up in her. No matter how she she had disliked the man, she could never deny that he had loved his children. "Your poor father. Poor...Rhys."
She reached over and took Quinn's hand into hers. She squeezed it and said, "I..I'm so sorry. Your poor parents. I'm so, so sorry."
***