InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "What is that card?!"

Elaine Hammond (elaine_hammond) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2013-03-07 21:46:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2013 03, character: bud hammond, character: elaine barrish hammond

RP: Elaine and Bud
Who: Elaine and Bud
Where: Their house
When: Thursday, March 7, 2013
Summary: Bud and Elaine must finally talk

They had moved in on Tuesday. The move itself had been easy and the cover was just as easy. She and Bud had pretended for years, inside and outside the White House. They didn't need undercover classes to learn how to lie. They could probably do it better than any of these agents. No, the move had been fine, the shopping this morning had been perfect. It was the last of work that was a problem. Everyone else was busy helping with the move, but she and Bud were hardly the people to help carrying furniture.

During the day, they had Mother around to distract them, but for the third night in a row, they found getting ready for bed, with backpacks to the side of the bed. Elaine got in bed and turned her head to face her ex husband. "Are we ever going to talk about this? Not if I leave it up to you." She knew her husband well enough to know that Bud could convince himself that it was real until everyone thought that it was real. While it worked for their cover, it didn't work for their lives. She also would not waste time reflecting why she thought of him as 'her husband' just as many times as she thought of him as her ex.

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bud_hammond
2013-03-08 02:58 am UTC (link)

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that," he said as he stretched his legs out under the covers in search of just that right, most comfortable spot. He loved Elaine, despite all the times he had cheated on her, she was the love of his life. And despite the circumstances they were in, he was glad she was with him and the rest of their family.

"How are your eyes, Sugar?" He asked, still remembering the afternoon when it had happened, it was burned into his mind. He chuckled a bit remembering his own reaction and her smart ass, but accurate, retorts to him.

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elaine_hammond
2013-03-08 03:03 am UTC (link)

"Because you are a smart man, smart enough to not actually answer the question. You know that you'd better off talking to me, before Mother asks in her lovely way, possibly at dinner and with the children, real and fake, and respective spouses present." Mother did have perfect time when it came to insult Bud.

"Remember when the press wrote that I looked like a mean harpy and I could kill with a gaze?" At least those had been the comments during the primaries against Garcetti. The articles had a very different tone the second time around. That wasn't the point, though.

Elaine smiled. "I can actually kill with a look now. But, to answer your question, the migraines have subsided. They are only a problem when we train for too long, which hasn't happened lately." She patted his leg over the blanket. "Don't worry, Sweetheart, I'll protect you against the big bad monsters," she teased.

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bud_hammond
2013-03-08 03:11 am UTC (link)

"Well, thank you for the credit, Sugar." He considered what she was saying. It was certainly true. And it would be best to talk about it now, even if giving Margaret ammunition could be fun. Not that she ever needed to be given ammunition she was able to find enough on her own as it was. He laughed, "Fake child, that's a good one. If only our real children were able to take care of themselves as well as the fake one can."

Bud roared with laughter. "I had forgotten about those. How prescient they were. I wonder what my power will end up being and if there were any articles prescient about that. If we were back in our world and you had your power, no one could accuse you of not being willing to defend America." Okay, so maybe that sounded funnier in his head. Oh well.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. And you better protect me against the monsters. You know how weak and defenseless I am." He said it playfully, not mockingly or spiteful. He was playing along, plus he knew damn well Elaine could protect him.

"If there is anything politics taught me, it is to know when to grab the bull by horns, so let's talk," and this was one of those times. "I've always loved you, Elaine."

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elaine_hammond
2013-03-08 03:23 am UTC (link)

"Now stop that. The boys are doing well," she said. "They aren't soldiers or agents, but they are holding their own. TJ is happy. Even with all the problems we're having, he is happy, and he's worrying about Doug, taking care of him. When have we ever seen him take care of Doug?" Maybe she'd never given TJ enough credit in the past, but she was proud for what he was doing for his brother. "And Dougie? I admit that he scared me for a while, but he seems to be a little more like himself around Doctor Isles. I don't care how fake this wedding is. If it helps him snap out of his mood, then I'm all for it."

She sighed. "I talked to them. About the new discovery and not being able to go to a doctor or a hospital. I'm hoping that Doug sees that unless things change, going with the group is the best choice. Then again, TJ pointed out how we thought the opposite until a month ago, so we should wait and see. I can't believe TJ is being the reasonable one."

Elaine rolled her eyes "You know that if I used my power, I'd be a monster. If you used a power, you'd be the next Savior. I think we have this well divided. I take care of the monsters without a camera or a newspaper column, and you take care of the ones with the cameras and columns."

She prided herself for knowing her husband, even more so than her children, but for once, she was left sitting there, speechless for a few moment, before regaining her composure. "Was this before or after you cheated on me? No, never mind, we're not going to start that. You can't be suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

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bud_hammond
2013-03-08 04:12 am UTC (link)

"That's a good point about TJ, I haven't given him enough credit," he rubbed his chin with his thumb, "or spent enough time with him recently." At the mention of the trip to Florida, Bud grinned. "I don't care what the reason is. I will be so glad to be back in the Southeast. Granted, it isn't nearly as nice as North Carolina. But it is better than the dry heat that will heat in a couple of months." True they had gone to school out West, so Bud knew quite well what the weather would be. But the Southeast was always his favorite.

"Who would have thought TJ would be the reasonable one, indeed," he added the last part with emphasis as if he didn't quite believe it. "I guess we shouldn't be that surprised; this world turns everything upside down." He reached out and took hold of Elaine's hand.

Bud laughed again at Elaine's description. "We all have our roles to play, Sugar," he added with a snide smile.

"Before, during, after," he held his hands up some in a gesture of surrender. "I will atone for how I wronged you and lied to you for the rest of my days. But I am suggesting what I am suggesting, Sugar. There is no more speaking circuit, no more foundation to run, no more presidential library to oversee, no more campaign. All I have is you and our boys and your mother. And that makes me happy."

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elaine_hammond
2013-03-08 04:20 am UTC (link)

"You never have," Elaine said with a sigh. "He really wants your approval, Darling. Talk to him when you have the chance. He'd really like that, and don't joke," she added. "I might get the joke, but they are both very... prickly at the moment." She chuckled. "And don't say that you don't care why we're going. It's Doug's wedding. Another one. At least we're invited this time, and the bride is actually asking for my help in the wedding. Maybe everything really has turned upside down."

She squeezed Bud's hand. "He's a good kid. I guess he's not a kid anymore. We've always treated him like a child, but now that people expected him to be an adult, he's acted like one."

Laughing, she shook her head. "You love it. You love every camera, every tape recorder." She looked at him, knowing that if he wanted to lie, she'd never know it, but she believed him. It didn't help. "Are you saying now that you have nothing better to do, I should let you come back?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

She knew before his answer that he didn't meant it like that, but this wasn't a press conference and a little more of the real Bud Hammond shone through, and the truth was that has much as he loved their family, he loved the spotlight more. She'd always known that, and now that there was no spotlight, they could put their children first. They could do it together. "I made you ask three times the first time. You'll have to ask a forth time." It might not be legally valid, but she'd still make him ask the question.

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bud_hammond
2013-03-09 09:58 pm UTC (link)

Bud nodded solemnly, both realizing he had failed his son and resolving to change that. "I will, Sugar. I promise. I'm glad you get to help plan a wedding for one of your children." He still found it unthinkable that Doug had tried to elope with his first wife. Why wouldn't you want to be showered with attention? Attention was an addictive drug for Bud.

He grinned. "I do every camera. It is one of my many flaws." He then shook his head. "No, I'm saying that I've not been with or chased another woman since July 2011. These circumstances isn't what made me want to marry you again. And they aren't why I've not tried to get with another woman either."

"Then I'll ask a fourth time," he said with a snicker. He just wasn't going to do it in a bed.

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elaine_hammond
2013-03-09 10:16 pm UTC (link)

"I'll hold you to that, or I'll sic Mother on you. She'll rip you a new one for fun, but she'll be especially thrilled if she's doing for TJ." She was teasing, but only in part. Her mother was very protective of TJ. They all were, and maybe that had been part of their problem.

Elaine turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't been with anyone else for a year before we came to this dimension, is that what you're saying?" The last year wasn't a stretch, because there was no one to chase, but before that? It was uncharacteristic at best. "Was it because of the campaign?"

She sat back again. "Then you'll get an answer when you do ask."

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bud_hammond
2013-03-17 04:18 pm UTC (link)

"I know not to have your mother set on me, just like I know to avoid wild bears and Special Prosecutors." Granted, he wasn't always the best at avoiding the latter. He did pride himself on having avoided wild bears, at least to date.

He smiled softly at Elaine. "Yes, no one in the year before we came here. It wasn't because of the campaign. It was just before TJ ODed at the club. I knew I needed you back, Sugar, and I knew there was no chance of that happening if I was still sleeping with other women." It was one of the few decisions in his life that wasn't motivated by politics.

"Good," he replied quietly.

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elaine_hammond
2013-03-17 04:50 pm UTC (link)

Elaine rolled her eyes. "You didn't have that many problems with the Special Prosecutors, if I remember correctly. The more the Republicans tried, the more people loved you. Such a waste of money, too," she said with a sigh. Men, they really thought only about their dicks, even when they were dealing with politics at the highest level. "We could have founded so many programs with that money."

She looked at him. She had no illusion that she'd know if he was lying on not. She could predict his political moves, but she'd believe the lies just like everyone else, and maybe this was a lie, maybe not, but she chose to believe. "Good," she repeated with a smile, before leaning in and kissing him. "Good night, Bud."

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