It wasn't that the Monarch didn't enjoy his wife being home. She was the wonderful light of his life. ..mmmost of the time. But right now? He really, really wanted to play with his new cave.
He was glad to have the Copycat incident sorted, but her increased vigilance- 'to prevent any more mix-ups'- was less than ideal. Even with her preoccupied by work most of the previous day, it felt like he was constantly in the corner of her eye. So he just… sat, and smiled, and waited.
Now, the following morning, he was more than a little antsy, praying she didn't notice or ask why he was fidgeting more than usual.
Currently, there were lying in bed, her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her, having… some idle conversation. Apparently he was replying? But had he been quizzed on the topic, he wouldn't have been able to give an answer. Most of his active attention was split between wondering what other secrets his new egg sac may hold, and wondering if 21 had been able to dig up any more obscure Blue Morpho appearances, and- after having realized stopping his foot from fidgeting entirely required far more effort than it was worth- trying to ensure it was at least toned down compared to how pronounced a tic it could have been at the moment.
Finally, she snuggled against him and lamented, "I really should start getting ready for work, sweetness."
"Nh? No it's no problem." She moved and leaned up to kiss him, and he pulled her more into that. Also, his hand apparently moved of its own accord to squeeze her ass- not that he was complaining.
She grinned down at him wryly. In a hushed tone, she remarked, "You should've asked sooner, but I really do have to get up right now if I'm gonna be ready for the Guild to pick me up."
His nose wrinkled a moment, but just reaffirmed, "Yeah it's cool." She rose to her knees and leaned up further to kiss his forehead, then worked her way out of bed and began her morning routine.
The Monarch, meanwhile crossed his hands over his chest and stared at the ceiling, his foot twitching a little harder. 'The Guild' my ass, he thought. He knew she meant him. Eugh. They had plenty to fight about lately without dwelling on that, and they'd already hashed it out a little when Killinger first formed the new Council.
Oh but sweetie, he thought mockingly, (not really understanding why his mental voice got slightly higher when mocking his wife but whatever), it's different now! He rolled his eyes. He's a really decent guy when he's not going electro-shock axe crazy and overthrowing authorities! He just needs another chance. I definitely don't still want to bang him or anything!
He took a deep breath and huffed it out perhaps a bit too quickly. He did trust her, so at least there was that saving grace. He just didn't trust Limb, and knew his wife could sometimes be…. easily persuaded. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite worth fighting about right now, which meant he just got to choke on his disgust for a while instead.
"Uh-huh," he heard himself saying. ...Oh, crap, was she still- were they still talking? Shit. What about?
Oh hey, she was getting in the shower! That meant she'd be occupied for a little bit! He sat up in bed and looked toward the open bathroom door. "Nnn.." She was definitely still trying to talk about.. something.. Something Guild-related it sounded like? ...But. Egg sac. IIIiiiiihhhhhh just a few minutes he just needed to see it. Just if he could.
He scrambled out of bed and out the bedroom door as quietly as he could, then rushing downstairs. Manolo and a few of his men were working in the hall.
"Señor Monarch," prompted Manolo. "Eggshell or semigloss?"
"I don't care," the Monarch nearly hissed. "Whatever you think is better." What he was really interested in right now was- "Twenty-one!"
His faithful henchman was indeed up, and seemed to be looking over some sort of nerd magazine while eating a bagel. He looked up from that as his name was called, though. "Morning, boss. What's u-"
"C'mon we're going to the egg sac!"
"...The what?"
"It's my new name for our secret lair! It's butterfly-themed!"
21's face twisted a few ways for a moment and he set down both his magazine and breakfast in order to gesticulate his confusion, but then made a ceasing gesture instead. "Okay, that aside. Dude no. We can't go down there when your wife's home, you know this."
The Monarch's full body fidgeted a moment and he let out a small whine, and then, "C'mooonnn, just for a second." Turning, he called. "Hey Manolo! You can keep watch, right?"
Manolo shrugged. "I guess so."
The Monarch smiled as he turned back to 21. "Seeeee? So hurry, while she's still in the showerrrr."
21 pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why can't you just wait like a half an hour for her to leave?" Because that was too looong. The Monarch just kept up his pleading smile. … The henchman sighed. "Fine. But for the record, this is a stupid idea."
Well, that wasn't the Monarch had been expecting. How could 21 ever think he'd even consider-
"Señor Monarch? Your wife is coming down the stairs."
Panic. "Crap. RUN."
… Incidentally. "Running up this many stairs in fuzzy slippers should be illegal," the Monarch hissed, half to himself.
"Dude I told you this was dumb," 21 hissed back.
They just managed to make it up and close the door before she entered their line of sight, but they were in a weird place and out of breath and there was no way this didn't look sus-
Suddenly, the Monarch's back was against the bookshelf, and 21 was moving in. W-what?!
For a moment, their kiss- kisses, technically- the other day sprang to mind. Was 21 that bold all of a sudden?! And in front of Dr. Wife? -He… he felt like he should have protested but he didn't want to. Instead, in that fraction of a second, he found himself really hoping…
But those hopes were quickly dashed, in a way that also left him relieved. But wait, was this any better? The fucking tango, really 21? At least he could follow along. ...When did 21 learn to tango, anyway? How did he know the Monarch knew? Did he know, or did he get lucky? What would he have done if the Monarch hadn't been able to follow?
Fortunately they didn't have to find out, since he could… and did… Follow, that is. 21's lead. ..21's… surprisingly strong, borderline forceful lead. Oh dear God his heart was still all aflutter and he didn't know what to do with himself uh-
As he was dipped and Dr. Wife came back into view, his surprise was borderline legitimate as he exclaimed, "Sweetie! H-hi!"
They managed to play off the tango, and while it seemed for a moment she was still going to be suspicious, that fear was lifted as a laugh crept into her voice. He had to wonder if she was laughing at rather than with them, but he could deal with that. Crisis averted.
He was a little stung to realize she was missing date night- but realized too late that he could make that work. Several days monitor-free? How could he not encourage her to go?
As suspected, her douchebag ex was there to pick her up- or carpool, or whatever the hell it counted as with those Guild Dorks driving. Was-
Was that a fucking kiss? Was it on the cheek or mouth? (Did he even fucking care? Not really.) Was it just Limb kissing her or was it mutual? He couldn't tell from this angle.
Several screeching alarms blared in his head, but being able to complain to 21 made it better. … As did imagining no less than a dozen gruesome death scenarios for the invisible douche. Yes, that was much better.
And fortunately, he had another fantastic distraction all lined up. For the moment they drove away, he declared, "TO THE EGG SAC!" ….. Oh wow. Okay, maybe 21 was right. He'd uh… need to think about that.
