Topic: Laid In Love

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:12 EST
The Galapagos Islands were like paradise to newlyweds Marcus and Kiri Spencer, who, unlike some of their contemporaries, hadn't done much traveling beyond Rhy'Din. If they'd been left to their own devices, they probably wouldn't have chosen it for a honeymoon destination, merely because it was more than the couple could afford, but with people like Jonathan Granger and Mataya De Luca giving it to them as a wedding present, it was hard to pass up.

It was, quite literally, a world away from anything they could have hoped for, and unlike others on this Earth who had to take a plane just to reach the central island of the Galapagos Archipelago, they had arrived by portal, fresher than their companions for the long car journey to the crater where their accommodation was waiting for them. They were a little like children on that trip, craning out through the windows to see all the beauty of this surprisingly unspoilt landscape as they drove through it, pointing out creatures and plants they'd never seen before this moment, much to the amusement of the other couple who shared the vehicle with them.

Once they reached their hotel, they were in further awe of their surroundings. The room that had been booked for them, though not a suite, was far beyond anything either had experienced before. It held a balcony view of their surroundings - lush and green with a view of mountains in the distance to the south, beach and sea to the north. The room was bright, spacious, and comfortable, and as close to luxurious as they couple had ever known.

"Wow ..." Dropping her hat and bag at the foot of the bed, Kiri let out an awed giggle, drawn toward the floor-to-ceiling window and the balcony beyond without needing to think about it. She pushed her sunglasses up into the natural curl of her hair, resting her hands on the balcony, enchanted with the sheer beauty of this place. "And there are other islands here we can visit, too' Can we stay forever?"

Marcus didn't have to drop their bags anywhere, since a bellboy was taking care of all that. He crossed the room to join Kiri on the balcony, as in awe of his surroundings as she was. "Yeah, a bunch of them," Marcus replied, having read the travel brochure Mataya had given them before hopping through the portal to their destination.

"I really didn't know Earth looked like this," she laughed, tilting until her shoulder rested against his. "It's so bright, and clean. Gods, can you imagine if Rhy'Din was this clean?"

"It's not all like this, Kiri," Marcus remarked as he came up beside her to share the view, which was, in a word, breathtaking. "Rhy'Din isn't so bad, once you get outside of the city," he added, though he hadn't had the opportunity to do it very often.

She smiled, twisting to toss her sunglasses through the door and onto the bed. "I don't think I've ever been outside Rhy'Din City," she admitted ruefully. "That's kinda dumb, isn't it' I've spent most of my life on TV, and never actually left the city I was born in."

"I used to go backpacking with friends when I was in college," he admitted with a small shrug. "I miss it sometimes." It wasn't so much the backpacking he missed as it was just getting away from the chaos of city life.

"Where did you go?" she asked curiously, leaning forward onto her forearms as she looked up at him. A teasing sparkle glimmered in her dark eyes as she grinned at him. "And how do I not know this about you?"

He shrugged again as he turned to face her, taking a lean against the railing, able to admire both the beauty of their surroundings and that of his new bride. "It was before we met," he told her simply. Before he'd started working full-time on a career in acting and moonlighting as a bartender to make ends meet.

"Oh, so naturally it doesn't matter," she teased, leaning close to brush a kiss against the corner of his mouth. "You do realize you're going to have to take me packbacking now, right?"

"Backpacking," he corrected with a chuckle, touching his fingers to her cheek a she leaned close to kiss him, his other arm going around her waist to draw her close, dark eyes bright with happiness and just a little mirth. "So, now that we're here, what do you want to do first?"

She snorted with laughter, tucking her arms about him as he drew her close. "Well, I want to ride a tortoise, but they told us we're not allowed to," she admitted mischievously. "What do you want to do?"

He could have answered that any number of ways, as there were any number of things he wanted to do with and to his new bride, but it wasn't like they'd never shared a bed together before, and he was eager to explore their new surroundings. "I was thinking a walk on the beach or something. What do you think?" he asked, playfully touching his nose to hers.

Her lips curled back from her teeth in a bright smile, delighted with that suggestion. "Maybe we should check out the activities the hotel offers," she suggested in turn. "See what we wanna do and make a plan. We've got two weeks to fill, after all."

Marcus pulled away from her, just far enough so that he could affect a theatrical bow. "Whatever thou wishest, my lady," he said with a grin.

"Why, lordy, sirrah, you do great honor," she countered, somehow managing to mangle both Shakespearean English and a southern belle accent all in one go. Laughing, she caught his hand. "C'mon, Romeo, let's go exploring."

"Not Romeo," he corrected. "Romeo didn't have a happy ending. How about ....hmm, Orlando?" he ventured, picking a role off the top of his head. "Of course, that makes you Rosalind," he told her with a grin, as he took her hand.

"Not Ganymede?" she chuckled, moving toward the door, hand in hand with him. "I mean, I know I'm not busty, but that's a little harsh. Mind you, you married this boobless wonder."

"Uh, I think I'd prefer you as Rosalind," he said, seeing as how he was perfectly content with her, just as she was. The thought of her disguised as a boy was amusing though, but not one that brought any lusty thoughts to his head.

"Yeah, well, I happen to like you as Prince Charming," Kiri countered impishly. "Got the key?" She wasn't taking her bag with her - all they were going to do was explore the hotel and surrounds for now, there was no need for anything more than the key.

It had only been a few months since they'd played those parts on stage, and they had both enjoyed every minute of it. Marcus had always preferred the comedies to the tragedies anyway. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, tugging it out of his pants pocket to prove it.

"Good, 'cause I have nowhere to put it on me," she giggled, pulling him out through the door. The heat here wasn't heavy; it was a dry warmth that was alleviated by the breeze off the sea, comfortable to be in the direct sun for a few minutes at a time, but more comfortable to be in the shade for longer. "Which way should we go, do you think?"

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:13 EST
He laughed as she dragged him out through the door, though he was willing enough. "Lady's choice," he replied with a grin, which wasn't much of an answer at all. It didn't much matter which way they went, as they'd likely end up in the same place either way. "Beach?" he asked, thinking they might both want to wiggle their toes in the sand.

He knew she had a weakness for warm sun and a childlike eagerness to be on an actual, real beach for once. She nodded excitedly, squeezing his hand. "Beach," she agreed. "And I promise not to jump in the water until I'm dressed for it."

"Nothing wrong with getting your feet wet," he teased, swinging her arm back and forth with hands clasped as they headed out into the warm sunshine to explore their surroundings.

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed, skipping to match his stride as they headed out of the crater on the lip of which the hotel rested and down toward a beach that was blessed with the whitest sand and bluest water Kiri had ever seen outside pictures. "I still can't believe Jon and Mataya paid for this. I didn't think they'd go that far!"

"I know they said we don't owe them anything, but we kinda do," Marcus said, feeling as awkward with accepting such an extravagant gift as she was, despite how the pair had insisted on it. "What good was having money if you couldn't spend it on your friends?" the pair had pointed out.

"Gods, they don't owe us anything at all," Kiri agreed, a little wild around the edges as they discussed this. "We owe them hugely. How the hell do we even start to repay them for the faith they've put in us?"

"I don't know," Marcus replied thoughtfully, but it wasn't really something he wanted to think about on his honeymoon. "Maybe we could buy them a souvenir?" he suggested, with a smirk, knowing what insufficient thanks that would be.

She snickered softly. "Like we weren't going to do that anyway," she laughed warmly. "I was thinking we should get them something really tacky, proper touristy. And force them to put it up in their offices."

"Like snowglobes?" he suggested with a snicker, though he was sure there were even tackier gifts than that. The sun felt warm on his skin, and he could smell the ocean on the breeze as he took a deep breath. "This place is like paradise."

"Straw donkeys," she laughed, releasing his hand to hug her arm about his back as they found the edge of the beach together. She breathed in with him, almost startled by how easy it was to breathe here. "It really is," she agreed softly. "And we get to enjoy it for two whole weeks."

"Not worried about getting bored?" he asked, tossing a gaze her way as they strolled along, his arm going around her shoulders to draw her close. He already knew there was no chance of them getting bored - not here, where there were plenty of things to do and places to explore.

"With you? Never." In fact, two weeks was never going to be enough time to fully explore the archipelago - to see everything there was to see and really absorb what it was this remarkable place was going to teach them. But it was two weeks that belonged entirely to them, away from work and family and friends, on the vacation they'd been promising themselves since they'd first got together but never actually managed to take until now.

Marcus led the way toward the beach, where a gentle surf and soft sand awaited, strolling slowly, as if they hadn't a care in the world. This had been a long time coming, and if it hadn't been for the generosity of their employers, it might have never happened. He came to a halt suddenly and turned to face her with a soft smile on his face, his arms going around her waist. "I love you, Kiri, and I'm the luckiest guy in the multiverse to have you."

She smiled, shaking her head as he wrapped his arms about her. "I'm the lucky one," she insisted. "You saved me from going down a very dark path, and you didn't even know you were doing it. I love you, Marcus. Always will."

"You need never go down that dark path, so long as I'm around," he told her, touching his lips to hers, as if to seal that promise a kiss. Their lives might not be perfect or easy, but they were happy, and that was all that really mattered.

Her smile softened into his kiss, her body leaning into his all the proof he needed of how deep her trust in him really was. She trusted him to keep her on the straight and narrow, to stop the stresses of being always under scrutiny from overwhelming her. She could only hope that, if he ever felt those pressures intruding on his life, she could do for him what he did every day for her. "So ..." she mused, tilting her head as she looked up at him. "Do you think they have, like, sharks in that water?"

He arched a brow at her question, as they both came up for air, so to speak. "I think if they did, they'd post a warning," he reasoned. He couldn't imagine there being any danger in a place like this, though he supposed it was possible. "Shall we find out?" he asked, that mischievous smirk on his face once again.

"Yup." Simple as, just a "yup", and Kiri was pulling away, bending to pick her shoes off her feet before seizing his hand once again. "Wanna race" The sand is toasty warm."

"You're on!" Like her, he was doing the same, tugging the shoes from his feet to wiggle his toes in the sand, before starting hand-in-hand toward the tide, laughing like a child. But it wasn't so much about winning a race as it was about feeling gloriously free.

Shoes abandoned on the sand, it was wonderful to discover how warm the water was as they splashed into the surf like a pair of excitable children. The sea was almost crystal clear, their passage disturbing rays and little schools of bright fish. "Oh, we have to go diving," Kiri declared, delighted to find a tiny octopus wrapping itself around her ankle.

Marcus was just as delighted, peering into the crystal clear water to find all kinds of colorful sea creatures circling their legs. At least, they could both swim and had no fear of water. "I think you've found a friend," he said, regarding the octopus with a chuckle.

She laughed, raising her foot for a moment before dropping it back into the water. "At least it isn't trying to eat me," she shrugged, fighting the temptation to sit down in the water. Her underwear would not thank her for soaking it in seawater.

"He's a little too small to eat you," he said with another chuckle. "Do you want me to get him off?" he asked, unsure if she was freaked out or enchanted by her small tag-along.

"Well, we can't really go anywhere with him stuck to me," she considered thoughtfully, smiling down at the tiny octopus that was hugging her foot. "What if he can't find his way back?"

"That's a thought," he said, crouching down to gently pry the little octopus from Kiri's ankle, which was not as easy as it sounded. "He's really stuck on here!" he told her, adding, "It's too bad we can't keep him." Cute or not, he thought that would be cruel.

And yes, while the little thing was cute, it was also suckered onto his wife's foot with incredible strength. "Yeah, we're not keeping anything that doesn't know when to let go," she informed Marcus with a grin, wincing as he pried the little creature off her.

It took a bit of doing, but he finally managed to pry the little guy off, leaving a few marks on her ankle where the octopus had latched on, but nothing serious or worrying. Thankfully, it hadn't decided to make a meal of Kiri's leg. Marcus was careful not to let it latch onto him as he sent it on its way, back into the ocean. "Be free, my friend!" he encouraged it as he gave it a little shove off.

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:13 EST
"Swim like a bird in the ocean of your ....uh ....sea!" Cackling at her own dreadful declaration, Kiri tucked her arms about her husband, her chin on his shoulder. "My hero," she teased fondly. "Saving me from the teeny scary squidger."

He was just glad it hadn't been something bigger. Was there anything to be afraid of in this place" He hoped not. It was too beautiful and too perfect for that, though he knew there were dangers inherent in every place, if one wasn't careful. "It really is beautiful here, Kiri," he said with a sigh, as he wrapped his arms around her, the waves lapping gently at their ankles.

"We should come back," she suggested softly, leaning into him, her cheek against his shoulder as she looked out over the sparkling sea. "On our tenth anniversary or something. Make it a goal to work toward."

"Do you really want to wait that long?" he asked, not really surprised by her desire to want to return, but only that she'd suggested waiting ten years to do so. Then again, there were plenty of others places to explore in the meantime, if they could afford it.

"It won't stay special to us if we're always coming back here," she murmured, fingers stroking his back through his t-shirt. "Besides, we might need ten years to save up enough for it in the first place." She laughed at the thought of that - she wouldn't put it past Jon Granger and Mataya De Luca to have paid a really ridiculous amount of money for this honeymoon.

"I guess not," he replied with a small frown, though he supposed she was right. At least, they didn't have to pay for transportation - just food and lodging. He touched a kiss to her forehead before pulling away to continue their exploration of the surf and sand. There were other people around, some of them swimming or sunning themselves, while others were farther out to sea in boats, but the place wasn't nearly as crowded as most tourist traps.

"You know, Mataya told me there are pink iguanas on one of these islands," Kiri offered conversationally. "Apparently it's really hard to reach where they live, and they didn't even know they were there until about a year ago or something. But seriously ....pink lizards?"

Marcus smiled as she changed the subject, probably knowing that his mood had shifted briefly. Sometimes he just thought too much. "Maybe we should get her a stuffed one for her office," he suggested, wondering how cheesy that would be.

"Not a real one!" Laughing, Kiri poked at his navel. "I think we should try and find Jon a giant tortoise that sings the Macarena whenever he walks past it. And make him put it on his desk at the theater."

"No, not real," he laughed again. When he said stuffed, he meant like a stuffed toy. "Oh, Gods, no!" he said, with another laugh at her suggestion of a gift for Jon. "He'd only bring it to rehearsal and make us do it all the time!"

"Oh, wouldn't it be awesome to see Kruger doing the Macarena, though?" she giggled cheerfully, glad she'd managed to head off his dipping mood. "Although ....The Time Warp would probably suit him better. He's all about the thrust, right?"

Imagining Kruger doing either one got Marcus laughing again. "I would even pay money to see that!" he said, though if that were to come to pass, he probably wouldn't have to.

"Maybe we should suggest it, when we get back," she grinned, turning with him as they walked slowly through the lapping surf, just enjoying sand and sea and sun together. There was plenty of time to explore their options for enjoying themselves here, after all. Who would begrudge newly-weds a quiet afternoon just with each other"

It was only their first day there, with two weeks more to fill with activities, both fun-filled and romantic. One of those fun-filled activities was snorkeling, but not just any ordinary snorkeling. Snorkeling in the Galapagos meant snorkeling underwater with the hope of encountering and swimming with sea lions.

Despite their reputation, sea lions in general just aren't aggressive. Meeting them in their natural environment was just a bonus, though they were certainly shy. Kiri trod water after her third dive, spitting out a mouthful of seawater as she looked around. "Is someone playing a trick on us?" she asked impishly.

"Maybe they heard we were coming," Marcus replied as he trod water nearby to keep himself afloat. They hadn't been in the water very long, and he knew they had to be patient, but it was hard when they were both so anxious to get up close and personal with the wildlife here. But it was a perfect day with crystal clear water, and they'd seen plenty of brightly-colored schools of fish anyway.

"What, are we somehow offensive to sea lions?" she asked in amusement.

Their handler just chuckled at the pair of them, sitting snug in the boat he'd brought them out in. He knew exactly what was about to happen, and he was looking forward to seeing how the couple handled it.

"How should I know?" Marcus countered with a smirk and a shrug of bare shoulders. "Do I look like an expert on marine wildlife?" Whether they saw sea lions or not, they could deny they were having fun, but that had been the point of this particular excursion and he knew she'd be deeply disappointed if they were unsuccessful.

"Well, you should know, you're the man in this relationship," she informed him laughingly, not meaning a word of it even if it had made sense. "So what happens if -" At that moment, however, a sleek dark body swooshed past them just beneath the surface, one flipper splashing a more than healthy dose of water right into their faces.

"Do I look like I have a Marine Science de -" Marcus started to playfully argue, trailing off when they got got splashed by a mysterious figure that had just swooshed past them. "Hey!" he exclaimed, laughing, as the seal lion disappeared beneath the water. He tossed Kiri a grin before submerging himself in the water again and placing the breathing tube in his mouth.

Startled, Kiri burst out laughing, wiping her face before settling her own snorkel back into place to follow him beneath the water. And there were the sea lions, as promised, more curious about them than they were about the creatures they'd been hoping to see. Whiskered faces came close to inspect them, flipping away gracefully, deliberately nudging them, letting them run fingers over their smooth bodies. They were surrounded, and Kiri absolutely loved it.

There were few places on Earth or even on Rhy'Din where one could come so close to marine life as this, as if this place wasn't beautiful and special enough without this. Marcus felt a surge of joy and adrenaline rush through him, as happy a kid on their first roller coaster ride. And what made it even more special was that he was sharing it with the love of his life.

Bursting onto the surface once again, Kiri gasped for breath, still giggling as she felt an overly friendly sea lion rubbing against her side as it swam past. "This is awesome," she admitted. Even if nothing else happened for the rest of the two weeks, this made the half hour of random swimming with pretty fish all worth it.

Marcus followed, surfacing beside her and spitting out the tube to take a breath of air, a huge grin on his face. "Isn't it?" he asked, though it was a rhetorical question to which he wasn't expecting a real answer. There was no better word he could think of to describe it but awesome.

She giggled, swimming closer to kiss him. "I love you," she promised tenderly, letting the water's motion draw her back from him as her over-friendly sea lion friend poked its face up between them. "Can we take this one home?"

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:14 EST
"I love you, too," he replied, the water lapping gently around them as he touched his lips to hers, laughing as the sea lion came between them. "I think he's jealous," Marcus teased.

"Yeah, but he'll bite my face off if I try and kiss him," Kiri pointed out laughingly, giving the sea lion a gentle push to send him on his way again. "This was a brilliant idea. Thank you for pushing me into this!"

He hadn't really had to push that hard, but he was glad he had. It would have been a shame if they'd come all this way and missed this. "Don't thank me. Thank the boss!" he said, pointing out once again that it had been Jon and Mataya who'd arranged all this, not him.

But their time wasn't spent entirely filled by activities that Jon and Mataya had arranged for them. Oh, there was rock-climbing, horse-riding, tours of the reserves on the various islands, but there was plenty of downtime, too - time they were able to spend any way they chose. Time they spent hiking over every inch of Santa Cruz they could find, exploring the unspoilt beauty of the landscape together and, of course, consummating their marriage because, let's face it, it was their honeymoon.

Despite the plethora of activities open to them and places to explore, it was always the quiet moments that Marcus enjoyed most, whether it was walking on the beach at sunset or watching the stars or making love in the moonlight. Because it was their honeymoon and honeymoons were made to be romantic.

Romance wasn't something that could be created, or forced. It just happened, drawn into a moment that might otherwise just be standard by the connection between them. Which explained why, of all the evenings they spent on the border between the forest and the beach, Kiri remembered the one where a giant tortoise had pushed them over as the most romantic of them all. Or perhaps the most romantic moment had been when Marcus had decided on breakfast in their room, and somehow kept her asleep long enough to set it all up on the balcony before waking her up with a kiss.

There were many such moments during their two-week stay, some romantic and some full of laughter, but all of them as memorable as the rest. It was toward the end of the trip when Marcus had arranged that breakfast, complete with mimosas. He knew they'd both be sad to say farewell to this place, but he also knew they loved it enough that they'd come back here someday. "Kiri," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

She mumbled a little reproachfully, one hand wriggling free to try and wave away what was tickling at her. His wife was very attached to her sleep - she'd been known to sleep through an entire wardrobe collapsing right beside their bed.

"Kiri," he whispered again, a little more insistently, touching a kiss to the place right beneath her ear. "Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he urged her. If that didn't work, there was always the smell of coffee and bacon to tempt her out of bed.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled, but she was speaking, so therefore ....Her eyes opened reluctantly, taking a moment to focus on her husband hovering over her. "Did I miss the alarm again?"

"No alarm, baby. We're still on vacation," he reminded her, smiling softly as he touched a kiss to her cheek and pushed a tendril of hair from her face. "Can't you smell the sea breeze?" he asked, knowing if she took a deep breath, she'd smell breakfast, too.

She smiled sleepily, twisting half onto her back as he kissed her cheek. "Mmm, morning," she managed finally, drawing in a slow breath as she stretched beneath the sheets, reaching up to pull him down into a slow kiss. "Mm ....is that coffee?"

He chuckled a little as she broke their kiss with that question. "You know I can't start my day without it," he replied. Whether they were working or not, coffee was a staple for breakfast. "What would you like to do today' We only have a few days left."

Kiri's sleepy face creased with a fond smile. "Can I imprison you in bed for the whole day, or would that be a waste of our honeymoon?" she asked innocently, pushing herself to sit up.

"I don't think I'd mind," he assured her. How could he mind when this place was so much like a paradise" Life here was meant to be slow and languid and tranquil, even if they were only here for a few more days.

"But breakfast first, right?" she asked, sliding to the edge of the bed to stand, wrapping herself up in the sheet. Tempting as it was to eat breakfast naked, the balcony was a little exposed to dare.

They'd both become so much more relaxed here, neither of them worrying too much about clothes. What was the point of clothes when you didn't need them for warmth and no one seemed to care if you were wearing them or not' Marcus was clad only in a bathrobe, courtesy of the hotel, and there was one for her, too, once she realized it would be easier to eat breakfast in a robe than a sheet. "Breakfast first," he replied, as he waited for her to get up.

"You spoil me," she accused, coming to the decision about the bathrobe as soon as she realized that the sheet was still somehow tucked into the foot of the bed. "If I become a diva, I'm blaming you." Tugging the belt of the robe tight about her waist, she grinned, turning to kiss him properly. "Good morning, Mr. Spencer."

"And here I thought you already were a diva," he teased, a grin on his face as he helped her into the robe. "Good morning, Mrs. Spencer," he replied, returning that kiss to give her a proper greeting.

"C-list celebrity, thank you very much," she corrected him, giggling into that kiss. "So when did you have to get up to arrange all this, and how did I not notice it all being brought in?" Another thought occurred to her, making her eyes widen. "I didn't have my ass out, did I?"

"No!" he said, laughing at her question. Though it might have been amusing, he didn't want anyone else to enjoy that view but himself. He didn't bother to answer her first question, except for a shrug. It hadn't taken that much effort to arrange for breakfast to be brought up and set out on the balcony. All it had really taken was a call to room service. "Come on," he said, taking hold of her hand to lead her toward said balcony where breakfast awaited.

Her smile was edged with relief at his reassurance, easily lead out onto the balcony to where the table had been laid up. Out in the crater, what she had been assured were the giant tortoises and not large rocks were moving slowly toward water, apparently beginning their own day as the humans who visited them began to wake up.

The view itself was breathtaking, but the view Marcus was enjoying at the moment was that of his bride, still mussed from sleep, but bright-eyed and radiant. Breakfast consisted of a delicious mix of cooked and uncooked foods, cheese, bread, fruit, coffee, and of course, the mixture of orange juice and champagne that were known as mimosas.

"Mmm ..." Kiri sighed happily as she sat down, raising her eyes to Marcus with sleepy fondness as she reached up to pull the headband from her hair. "I'm going to miss lazy mornings like this."

"There's no reason we can't have lazy mornings back home," he pointed out, taking a seat for himself once she was settled, after having pulled out her chair for her.

"Yeah, but we don't have a view like this," was her counter as she reached to pour out the coffee, cramming a handful of grapes into her mouth for the time being. It wasn't an attractive sight, but hell, she was on vacation. "Whiff remies me ..." She swallowed. "Which reminds me ....we have time to go house hunting properly before the auditions for the Shanachie come around again. Horizons is on summer hiatus, and I'm pretty sure I'm being written off anyway."

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:14 EST
"I'm sure Mataya would hire you full time," Marcus remarked as he poured them each a cup of coffee, smirking a little at her attempt to talk with her mouth full. "Getting tired of listening to the neighbors argue all the time?" he asked, though he knew that was only part of the reason she wanted to look for a house. They were married now, after all, and wanted a place to call their own.

"The arguing is fine," she pointed out with a low chuckle. "It's the incredibly faked orgasms he still hasn't caught onto that are annoying." She flashed him a grin, raising her cup to her lips to sip. "Besides ....don't you want a house of our own?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked, with a chuckle of his own. "Of course I want a house of our own, but I don't want to rush things. I want to make sure that when we do buy a house, we buy something we're both happy with."

"Shame there isn't anywhere like Maple Grove for people who aren't Grangers," she shrugged. "We'll have to hope we get insanely lucky and someone decides to sell up their lovely house on premium land for a stupidly low price to get something we're both happy with." She stuck her tongue out at him impishly; she wasn't that picky, but she was holding out for a garden.

"Not necessarily," he replied, preferring to take a more optimistic view. "It just depends on how close you want to live to the theater," he reasoned. West End wouldn't have been his first choice to buy a house and eventually raise a family, but there were plenty of other options.

"We have a car, it's not that necessary to live in a district that isn't known for being good to be in after dark," Kiri pointed out in amusement. "And there are the teleport pads all around the city, too. "Anyway, we might not always be involved with the Shanachie."

"What else would we do?" he asked curiously, as he took up a slice of toast and slathered it with jam. Acting was all he'd ever wanted to do, at least, as far as a career was concerned. Did she have other ideas in mind"

She smiled gently. "There are other theaters," she reminded him. "You might go into TV, or movies. No one stays attached to the same theater, the same studio, for a lifetime, Marcus. How else do you grow in the craft without spreading your wings?"

"I suppose," he replied, frowning thoughtfully for the first time in days. He hadn't been with the Shanachie very long, but he was happy there and couldn't really imagine himself doing anything else - for now, anyway.

They both had different experiences of the craft they loved - Kiri's lucky experience differed wildly from Marcus' experience of struggling for roles in theater and on television. "Do you really think they'd take me on as a full time cast member?" she asked then, a little nervous of actually asking for that when the auditions came around. "Annabeth is the star of the Rep company, and deservedly so."

"There can be more than one star, Kiri," Marcus pointed out. "Theater isn't like television. Theater is about being part of a group, and each member of the group is necessary for each production. Some people might get more of the limelight than others because they are more experienced at their craft, but eventually everyone gets a turn to be the star." Casts changed, roles changed, unlike on television where things remained more rigid unless one moved on.

"It's such a different culture to what I've experienced," she admitted ruefully. "And everyone's so nice. I haven't come across even a fraction of the bitching that goes on in a studio. Is it always like that in the theater?"

"Not always," he replied with a chuckle. He'd been part of plenty of theater groups where there was jealousy and bickering and back-biting, but he could say with all honesty that there wasn't much of that at the Shanachie that he'd noticed. "We're just lucky, I guess," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Anyone who works at the Shanachie is lucky," Kiri agreed. "Seriously, have you read the stuff about compassionate leave in the contract' Subject to management's approval, fully paid, and with no upper time limit' How do they manage to keep anyone on and actually working?"

"Not everyone wants to have children?" Marcus guessed with another shrug. Children was not something they'd spoken much about yet, as they seemed to be taking first things first, in a logical order - marriage, home, children. Did she even want children" He didn't really know.

"No, I get that, but it's such a generous policy," she pointed out. "Nowhere is so generous with leave, that I know of." She bit into a mouthful of bacon, making a dent in her breakfast finally. her head tilted as she considered his phrasing. "Do ....do you want children?"

"Do you?" he asked, turning the question back around to her. Up until now, he hadn't really thought much about children, but now that they were married, it was something to think about.

She rolled her eyes at him, raising one brow. "Nice non-answer," she drawled sardonically. "I've never really thought about it. I mean, it's not the reason we got together, or got married, or the reason we're going to get a house. I don't feel ready to have a kid. But if it happens ....I wouldn't be sorry about it. Would you?"

He shrugged again, but made no apology. He did give her an answer though finally. "No, I don't think I'm ready yet either, but I think I'd like a family someday," he admitted. Maybe they should have talked about it before they'd gotten married, but it had never really come up.

Kiri smiled gently. "Someday," she agreed, her expression soft as she looked at him. "I don't need children to know that I love you, Marcus, and that I want my life to be spent with you. But someday, I'd like to see you as a dad."

He smiled at the thought of that, though he knew he wasn't ready yet. "Someday," he repeated, reaching across the table to take her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "But that still doesn't tell me what you want to do today."

She laughed, lifting his hand to press a kiss to his fingertips. "I thought I did," she pointed out. "You, me, no clothes, all day. Maybe a moonlight swim after dinner."

"I see," he replied, dark eyes bright with amusement. "Are you sure the tortoises and sea lions can live without you for one day?" he teased, though it was more of a question whether she could live without them.

She blushed, laughing at his tease. "Maybe today I wanna be a grown-ass woman with my grown-ass husband," she suggested impishly. "Rather than a hyperactive twelve-year-old."

"I think that can be arranged," Marcus replied with a playful waggle of eyebrows. He couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than spend a quiet day with his wife, naked or otherwise. "But if we're going to shag all day, I'm going to need some sustenance," he added, skewering a bit of bacon onto a fork before popping it into his mouth.

Laughing, Kiri flicked a fingerful of water at him, turning her own attention back to her breakfast. "So romantic, Mr. Spencer," she teased in turn. "How many hours do you think we can keep up our shagathon for?"

He chuckled, flinching a little at the water she'd flicked at him. "Until my thing feels like it's going to fall off?" he teased in reply, though that was hardly likely.

"Your ....thing?" she asked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you suggesting some part of you is loosely related to Johnny Storm and may decide to leave at some point if we spent the day in bed?"

Kiri Calderon

Date: 2017-08-19 09:16 EST
"What has Johnny Storm got to do with it?" Marcus asked, her reference to the Torch's teammate known as "The Thing" going completely over his head.

She laughed warmly. "Seriously, you've never heard of Ben Grimm, The Thing?" she asked in amusement. "Big orange stone guy who was part of the Fantastic Four on Earth before he moved to Rhy'Din and settled down with some woman?"

"Uh ..." Marcus stammered, skewering yet another slice of bacon. "Nope." Apparently, Marcus was not much of a comic book reader either, or he'd have at least known who she was referencing. "Which Earth are we talking about?"

She stared at him for a moment before letting herself giggle. "Never mind," she said eventually, shaking her head with a smile. "Remind me to show you a comic book or two when we get home."

"Show me a comic book or two when we get home?" he teased further, that smirk on his face again. She had set herself up for that one, and he had no apologies for it.

She stuck her tongue out at him, this time flicking a grape in his direction. "Smart-ass," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "You're so lucky I love you."

He opened his mouth and moved his head just so, so that he was able to catch that grape in his mouth, a brilliant grin on his face as he did so. Smart-ass" Yes, but in Marcus' opinion, it was better than the alternative. "No arguments there," he said, in complete agreement with her on both counts.

"I actually think I prefer your ass when it's not smart," she then said, watching him over the rim of her coffee cup. "Looks so much better in jeans than it does in dress pants. Mind you, butt naked is pretty damned good, too."

"You're not so bad yourself," he replied, waggling his brows again as he reached for one of the mimosas, because you just couldn't make a toast with a coffee cup. "To us," he said, lifting his glass to her.

"I'm so glad you feel that way," she giggled, lowering her cup to take up her own glass in answer to his. "To us. And the fact that neither one of us is going to be able to walk in straight line in a few hours' time."

His goal wasn't to cause her pain though; just the opposite, in fact. He chuckled at her toast. "Let's hope we know when to quit," he said, though that wasn't part of his toast. "To a long life together full of love and happiness," he said, turning serious.

"To loving each other, even when things get rough," she countered with a soft smile. Perhaps it was because they were actors that they were so aware that life wasn't like a movie - happily ever after didn't happen without some serious hard work.

"Especially when things get rough," he replied, knowing as well as she did that it was when times got rough that tested relationships and when bonds were truly forged.

She smiled fondly, raising her glass to sip at their toast. "Best decision I ever made, giving you my phone number," she assured him, almost teasing in her playfulness. But it wasn't exactly a tease - she really didn't know where she would be without Marcus.

"Best decision I ever made was asking for it," he countered, touching his glass to hers before taking a sip of his drink. He wasn't teasing either; he could no longer imagine his life without Kiri in it.

"Guess it's a good thing you made an honest woman of me, then," she grinned, setting her glass down. "I cannot believe you got my dad doing the worm at the reception, though. I hope someone got it on film."

"I'm sure someone did," he replied, hopefully. Someday, he might even be able to blackmail her father with that photograph for something. Her father could have entertained the crowd all on his own.

Snickering, Kiri rose from her seat, moving to lean down and kiss him tenderly. "Just think ....that's gonna be you in, like, thirty years," she murmured impishly against his lips.

He returned her kiss, smirking at her comment. "I doubt I'll be able to dance like your dad," he told her, not to mention the fact that he was likely to be more like his own father than hers.

"Baby, no one can dance like my dad," she laughed, twisting away to lean on the balcony. There really was nothing like this on Rhy'Din, that she had experienced, at any rate. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place. It would be gut-wrenching to leave.

Thankfully, they had decided to return, but Marcus wasn't sure he wanted to wait ten years before that happened. "How about we go make up a new dance of our own?" he asked, waggling his brows at her now that they were just about finished eating breakfast.

She tilted her head back at him, one brow raised in amusement. "Make it up?" she asked sweetly. "You mean you still don't know the steps, or are we wandering into the realms of experimental kink here, Mr. Actor Man?"

"Why don't we just wing it and see what comes up?" he asked, making an unintentional pun. The first that was likely to pop up was pretty obvious.

Kiri laughed, reaching down to catch his hand and pull him up beside her. "Honey, if you don't know what?s going to pop up, I think I'm going to have to give you some very thorough lessons," she informed him, pulling him close as her lips found his all over again.

"I have a pretty good idea," Marcus replied with a grin as he was pulled to his feet, arms going around her waist to reciprocate that kiss. No matter how long they'd been together, he didn't think he'd ever grow tired of those kisses.

She giggled against his lips, drawing him back into their room. Whether they were there all day or not, they were definitely going to go through his knowledge of anatomy at length. Just to be sure.

That was one way to spend an afternoon. Marcus had no complaints, and he was going to make sure Kiri had no reason to complain either, if it took all day. Even if it took their lives. That's what marriage meant, right?