(A/N) Hello!
So recently I rewatched "The Carnival Job" episode and the house of mirrors fight inspired this short film. Basically, I had the idea that Eliot and Molly bonded of what they don't like what they see in the mirror. And Eliot's speech later in season 4 of how he wanted to find the kid he used to be in the mirror before he became "unclean". So yeah.
I also got the idea from Tumblr user Therantygeek, so thank you for the inspiration!
Hope you enjoy!
One look. One look was all it took for Eliot. He didn't even mean to do it either. He was just grabbing some clothes to change into before bed while Kaira put the kids to bed. But he caught a glimpse of the mirror by his bed and that was it.
He stood there looking, shirt off, still in his jeans. Before he used to look at the mirror and see someone not good. Someone who had blood on his hands. Someone who wasn't clean. With some help from his family, he got comfortable with the image he saw. But something was different about this time.
Eliot at first couldn't place it. He was still in good shape, which admittingly was getting tougher each day. His hands were rough. He still had good mobility, so that wasn't it. He looked at his face. Wrinkles had formed under his eyes. It wasn't enough to be totally noticeable if you didn't get too close, but it was there. He had slightly grey hair at his temples, which also wasn't noticeable unless he had his hair up.
Then it hit Eliot. He was getting old. The greying hair, the wrinkles, the slight pudge he had developed around his waist. He was getting older. Which meant he was gonna get slower. He could feel it too. It took longer for him to recover from a fight. It took longer for the bruises to heal. If the weather was just right, his shoulder would act up. And his hands some days would ache. Some days he couldn't move them.
How ironic that the man who should've been dead a long time ago is getting old. Eliot was taken out of his trance by Kaira kissing his neck.
"Hey babe." She smiled at him.
He turned to face her and placed a kiss on her lips. She had a robe on.
"Kids asleep?" Eliot asked her.
"Yeah. They put up quite the fight though." Kaira said playfully, her hand on Eliot's bare chest.
"Hmm. Wonder who they get it from." Eliot teased back.
"Their father." Kaira played into it, kissing Eliot's lips again.
"No, they get that from their mother." Eliot teased again, holding Kaira's face and kissing her.
They both chuckled. Then Eliot caught a glimpse of the mirror again, and his smile dropped. Kaira sensed something was wrong and turned Eliot to face her.
"Hey, baby, what's wrong?" Kaira asked Eliot, keeping her hand on his face.
Eliot took a breath.
"I'm slowing down, Kaira." Eliot admitted painfully.
Kaira cocked her head at him curiously.
"Eliot, we ain't in our 20s anymore. It's normal to slow down." Kaira told Eliot, lowering her hand from his face and grabbing his hands.
"I know that, but it's dangerous." Eliot explained.
He let go of Kaira's hands and rubbed his face.
"Kaira, it takes me longer to recover, okay? The bruises take longer to heal. And the pain sometimes is a lot. How am I supposed to protect us, them, our kids if I'm slow?" Eliot was getting upset at himself.
Kaira just shushed and held his face to look at her.
"Baby, look at me." Eliot reluctantly looked at Kaira.
"Eliot, I want you to listen to me. I know people like us, we don't exactly have the longest life expectancy. How many times when we were on a job did we think it was the one, huh? The one where we cashed in those tickets to Hell?" Kaira asked Eliot.
"A few times." Eliot reluctantly answered.
"Exactly. And yet, here we are. And luck's only part of it. Cause baby, we're the best there's ever been. That's why we're here. Cause we're damn good at what we do." Kaira rubbed Eliot's cheek.
"It's not about being fast anymore, baby. It's about being smart. So maybe we just gotta be smarter. Take longer breaks to allow us to recover, have contingencies that make your job easier." Eliot touched his forehead to Kaira's.
"I'm so damn lucky to have you, Kaira." Eliot chuckled lightly, tilting Kaira's chin up slightly.
"Me too Cowboy." Kaira smiled and kissed Eliot.
When they let go, Eliot's face dropped again.
"What is it, babe?" Kaira asked Eliot, concerned.
"How can you still love me when I look… old?" Eliot asked Kaira.
Kaira exhaled and had a small smile on her face.
"Cause what I love about you is more than just your body, Eliot. Here." Kaira turned Eliot look at the mirror.
She was standing behind him, her cheek against his. Her arms wrapped around Eliot's body.
"What do you see?" Kaira asked Eliot.
"An old, broken man with regrets. But somehow he got lucky." Eliot admitted.
Kaira just nodded.
"That's not what I see. I see a man who gives all he has, who isn't scared of a fight cause he won't win but is scared the fight isn't fair. So he tries his damnedest to make the fight fair. He has the biggest heart of anyone I know. He's also the biggest pain in my ass." Kaira chuckled.
Eliot couldn't help but chuckle.
"But I love it. Cause there ain't no men like mine, baby." Kaira moved to stand in front of Eliot.
"And I'm damn lucky he's mine." Kaira leaned in and planted a kiss on his lip.
She then moved beside him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm the lucky one, sweetheart." Eliot smiled a bit.
Kaira just hummed and chuckled and kissed him again. Kaira still stood behind him.
"You aren't gonna point it out?" Eliot asked Kaira.
"What?" Kaira asked, acting oblivious, though she knew what he meant.
"This!" Eliot finally exclaimed, gripping part of his stomach.
Kaira gave him a look.
"Eliot, it's okay! You're not 20 okay? There's no reason to hate it. It's just more for me to hold onto at night." Kaira said.
Eliot stammered a bit. Kaira then went behind Eliot a bit and dropped her robe, revealing just her undergarments. Eliot was both shocked, turned on, and stammering, which may have been the point. Kaira then switched places with Eliot, her in front of him, looking at the mirror. Her body was still good, even covered in scars and haven carried three kids. Kaira pointed to the scar on her stomach.
"This one? Brian stabbed me when I tried leaving him." Kaira pointed to her shoulders, which had multiple hole-shaped scars.
"The train, in DC?" Kaira then turned Eliot so they were facing each other.
"Somedays I have difficulty looking at the mirror. But the scars, the marks, the bruises, they all tell a story. Our story, Eliot. There isn't anything wrong with it." Kaira held Eliot's face.
"We're getting older. So what? We're lucky, Eliot. And we still have forever, baby." Kaira told Eliot.
Eliot smiled.
"Till our dyin' day?" Eliot questioned.
"Past that. When we get the robot bodies." Kaira teased, causing them to laugh.
"Really?" Eliot questioned Kaira.
"What? Don't wanna keep this fine ass forever?" Kaira teased Eliot, up against him.
Eliot had his hands on Kaira's waist.
"Oh I plan on keeping that fine ass forever, sweetheart." Eliot leaned in and kissed Kaira.
She chuckled and kept teasing Eliot by touching his chest. Eliot chuckled.
"Keep doing that, Princess and see where it gets you." Eliot got flirty, warning Kaira.
"That a threat or a promise, Cowboy?" Kaira teased, leaning in to kiss Eliot.
He then picked Kaira up by the and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. They shared another kiss as Eliot sat Kaira on the edge of the bed. They were breathing heavily.
"Why not both?" Eliot told Kaira.
Kaira just smirked and pulled Eliot onto the bed. And enjoyed the night doing whatever the hell they wanted.
(A/N) Thank you so much for reading this! Hope you enjoy it!
So next short will be more Bloopers/behind the scenes stuff as suggested by AO3 user Aphrodite! So stay tuned!
Remember to subscribe, comment, share, and give kudos! Much love to you all! Stay safe!
Kaylee
