Elysian Fields RPG

(while filming The Avengers)

"Whose idea was it to make it six am again?" Gwyneth asked as she handed Scarlett a coffee, they took it in turns to get the first one. "Can we fire them?" she asked, grinning at her friend. "With extreme prejudice?" She sat down and tried not to fall asleep. "Or whip them, at least? Mind you they'd probably like that," she shook her head. "Sadists. Whoever invented six am calls was definitely one. But how are you?" she asked, smiling. "Don't let me keep talking or I really will do it," she laughed. "You should hear my brother go on about how I talked before I breathed."

Jessica was sitting at the bar, sipping on sparkling water and people watching. She wasn't 'on duty' per se, but the staff knew that if anyone came in looking for a submissive, she was available, unless she said otherwise. She could always make the choice, but she was there if someone needed her. She was a little lonely with Taylor away recording, not that anyone else could make her feel the way Taylor did, but it was sometimes nice to have company. She was thinking of calling John up, when she saw a familiar face. "Marshall!" she waved.

Liam wasn't sure that today was a good first or a bad first. After the most devastating event of his life, losing his wife and Mistress, he'd had a lot of firsts. Some of them were good, like the first time he'd realised that yes, he could go on with his life, or the first time he'd made himself come and not felt bad that he hadn't thought of her. Some were bad, like the first time he noticed her mark on him and realised he'd never have that again, or the first time the boys woke up crying for her after they hadn't for a while. Today was the first time he'd been to the club without Natasha. That wasn't good, but on the other hand, feeling okay about it was a good thing, so overall it felt like a good first.

He ordered a Guinness, and sipped it slowly as he looked around the bar. There was the usual mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces, and he was thinking about heading upstairs to his room - he didn't keep a house in LA any more, he'd had to keep the place in New York because that was the boys' home, and he couldn't sell the place in England, but LA had been just too connected to them, and Vanessa had taken it off his hands. So he had decided to stay at the club for this visit, and he was thinking about heading upstairs. It wasn't like he was looking for someone.

Glancing up, Liam saw a familiar smile, bright enough to light up the room. "Bradley?" he murmured to himself, and he remembered...

Remembered shooting in the jungle. Flirting, and not feeling guilty about it, but not being able to take it further. Except for one kiss, on the last night of the press tour. The kiss that had made him harder than anything but serving her had in years.

"Bradley!" This was a call, one intended for the other man's ears. Liam smiled, maybe he'd at least found some company.

Liam wasn't sure that there had been any kind of a conscious process in holding today's barbecue. He'd just picked names out of his phone at random and about half of them had turned up, to his surprise. It made things noisy and crowded, but it wasn't awful. Still he'd found what felt like the last quiet piece of the house, and he was sitting down, drinking a beer, when he heard someone walking in.

Liam tried not to groan, and then he smiled, because he'd realised who it was, and well, if he had any problems being alone with someone as gorgeous as Scarlett, he couldn't think of them. "Hi," he said. "This is so typical of Chris, he tends to forget some of us like a little quiet." He smiled, though, it wasn't a bad thing about his brother at all, really.