everyonelives | why is it you always get to sit in the shade

[He shakes his head, because he knows that they likely see it as a failing that she couldn't convince him to stick with the plan. Marriages were never meant to be about love. They were meant to be about power.]

My parents don't understand what a marriage actually is, or they wouldn't have tried to make me and Jaq get married in the first place.

And they married each other. What's the coin toss land on for them? I never asked, were they arranged?

( Was it political? ... Are they fourth cousins? )

[He shrugs.]

As far as I know, yeah. No one's really married for love in the major families for centuries.

[There are no odd matches in his family tree. But there are some heirs that went missing to make room for the spares. But Hugo and Catherine only had one child, so he broke the trend by virtue of needing to exist.]

( That is a blow to romance but it earns his husband an earnest, loving kiss. )

That's my man. Always going against the grain.

[He laughs, because while he appreciates the compliment ...]

Always is a bit of a strong word.

[But he smiles as he leans into the kiss.]

But I wouldn't have learned how if it wasn't for you.

( Maybe not always, but slowly scratching along the opposite way underside the grain? Totally his husband. )

You know, you thank your husband enough for rescuing you from unasked for possession and it'll go to his head.

[He grins a bit before leaning in closer.]

Well, I think it's one of those things I'm okay with him having an ego about.

And my only.

( A doctor with an ego? Him? Yes, he is. )

As much as I like laying here discussing all of my best qualities, we should make something of ourselves. Maybe check in. What do you want to do before dinner?

( He says dinner, but he knows they're expected for pre-dinner cocktails. This is the Colony after all. So much sinister formality. )

[Dinner is definitely going to be a whole affair and he's not looking forward to it.]

I should probably see if I have something to actually wear to dinner. But beyond that, I think we should whatever we want, because after dinner we may not have time to do much of that.

( Whatever he finds, Ezra detours them to the gym on campus and then to the restaurant to get a pre-cocktail snack to bring back to the room. They didn't have breakfast, just crashed Hallewell's. While the boys get ready back in the room...

... Jaq receives a text message.

Did you ever come face to face with Hallewell? )

We did.

[How to explain what actually went down.]

David snapped his current siphon bond a little too easily for my taste.

David's always had power he doesn't know how to handle. No one really knows what was leftover from the influence of that demon. If you ask me, his parents did him a favor.

Snapping a bond that powerful couldn't have ended well for the Baron.

Went from looking forty to looking eighty in less than a minute. It was surprisingly satisfying.

[She would have let him age further but sadly David was being responsible.]

He doesn't have many fans in the white and under forty crowd. You're not the only one who'd think that.

Good work

He was dangerous

( she might have been worried. )

He still is. He nearly flipped our car as we were driving him here.

Emphasis on "nearly." I'm fine.

[She doesn't think Sierra really cares about David or Ezra.]

I doubt you'd have mastered incorporeal iMessage. I got the message you're alright.

I could be texting you from a hospital room with a broken spine and tubes everywhere. That doesn't necessarily qualify as fine.

[She's kidding. Mostly. But she really is fine.

That's likely how Sierra knows she's fine.]

You could be.

Glad things didn't get hairier. Stay in touch. Stay Gainor close.

( With a slightly fuller stomach and a much more Gainor-approved look, Ezra steps away from the full length mirror ready for the event that awaits them.

"You know, we could skip altogether. Eat at that Fundruckers off the interstate. Say to hell with our diet."

Avoid his husband's family. )

As much as that sounds like a much more enjoyable evening, that's just a recipe for my parents joining us at Fuddruckers and generally ruining the ambiance.

[He places his hands on Ezra's shoulders and leans in closer.]

One more dinner, and we probably won't be stuck in a stuffy formal event with them for at least six months.

( And that says something, when it comes to Fuddrucker's ambience. (It's nonexistent.) )

You say that now, but you know what happens. We come in from the cold and then it's three months later and one of your neighbors is dead or possessed.

Oh, babe. Bold of you to assume our neighbor isn't already dead and possessed.

[He knows how his parents work. Nothing surprises him at this point.]

( There's that dry sense of humor of a Gainor. )

The sooner we show our faces, the sooner we can get back here and binge watch something mindless.

( While, probably, stewing in whatever existential dread the Gainor family instill in them. But, it's an inevitability they can't avoid or deny. )

Exactly.

[And with that they will wander down to dinner, where the elder members of the Gainor family are waiting for them. Catherine and Hugo are seated on a diagonal from each other, clearly already playing divide and conquer. Both look to be in their mid-fifties, though they're likely older thanks to the anti-aging powers of their magic. Catherine is a brunette like her son, with it swept up into a sensible updo, wearing a dark colored suit as she scrolls through her phone.

Hugo, on the other hand, is a good glimpse at what older David will look like, but with a salt and pepper style and a charming smile, quite the counterpoint to his wife's ice queen persona. He's dressed in a navy suit and tie, and chatting with the the waiter about the wine list while he waits.

David stops when he sees that the seating options are limited, and glances back to his husband. The silent glance reads Which one do you want? Mom or Dad?]

( Well, there is no winning here. He gets both whether he wants neither or who he initially chooses. He doesn't want to throw his husband to the wolves. He has both heard about Catherine and seen her in action and she will get her digs in no matter where he sits.

So, he chooses her. The woman that would punish rather than teach. )

[Catherine sits on the far end of the row and glances up curiously as he slides into the seat next to her. She might, if the delicate raise of her eyebrow is any indication, be impressed.

David takes the long way around, placing a hand on his father's shoulder as he moves around the back, and then leaning in to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.]

Mom. Dad.

["It's nice to have you home, darling," Catherine practically purrs. "It's been too long." She then acknowledges Ezra fully. "Ezra. How's Mystic Falls?"]

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