"When's she gonna be home?"
"Soon, hopefully."
"But I miss her now."
"I know, me too."
"It feels like she's been gone forever."
"It's been two whole weeks, that is forever."
"As soon as she gets home I'm going to tell her how much I missed her."
"Me too! And I'm going to ask her to show me everything she learnt while she was away."
Ah, so that was the reason for all their chattering and whining. John sighed loudly, making sure they got the message that he didn't appreciate the disturbing of his quiet time, closed his book with a thump and glared around at his irritating siblings, all four of them.
"May I remind you all, yet again, for the third time in as many days, that she just so happens to be my wife and that she is not public property?"
Scott snorted, unconcerned by such a declaration. "She's my best friend, if I want to hug her and tell her I missed her I will."
"Yeah, and she's our sister, so we get to miss her too," Gordon added, probably just to be annoying.
"Oh, I see," John said placidly, nodding slowly. "It's because you missed her so much."
They all nodded.
"And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the reason she's been away is because she was on a ten day massage and aromatherapy course?"
"Nope, nothing to do with that at all," Virgil promised, actually managing to look quite innocent, a minor miracle in his family.
"Obviously not," John agreed, picking his book up again. "Though just so you all know, as her husband, I have all the rights and that means that I get to be the first person to benefit from any new skills she may have learnt to do with her already quite talented hands."
"Obviously, but I did just have that mountain rescue that wrenched my shoulder a little," Scott mused, rolling the shoulder in question like it hurt him.
"And my back has been playing up recently," Virgil added, stretching lightly, his back letting out a protesting pop as if to prove his point.
"And you know that I ache a lot in general," Gordon tossed into the mix, "you know, since I was in a devastating hydrofoil crash and then trapped inside my own craft when it was crushed underwater."
"And what about you?" John asked Alan, who had stayed reasonably quiet. "Anything you want to add?"
"I'm just hungry," Alan said with a shrug.
John snorted in mild amusement, at least he had one honest brother. Alan, out of all of them, had grown the most used to Selene and her tendency to spoil them all with their favourite foods. He obviously had no desire to continue raiding the freezer for a microwave pizza any longer than necessary.
"You're all liars, apart from Alan, and just want to take advantage of my wife's good nature. Besides, my point still stands, perks of being her husband mean I get to go first. So suck it." He'd never, ever, thought he'd hear himself utter the words 'suck it' yet apparently he'd been wrong. Desperate times called for desperate measures and if there was such a situation that warranted that less than choice phrase, it was now. Anything to make a point to his brothers.
Disappointed groans echoed around the room as he opened his book, done with the conversation. The others obviously realised that he meant business because they gave up their inane mumblings and settled down to their own tasks once again. Not that the peace would last long, it never did in their house.
"Hang on," Gordon yelped so loud that all heads swiveled in his direction. Yep, he'd spoken too soon, peace was once again shattered.
"You said it was a ten day course, so why is she still there?"
John lifted one eyebrow, his only outward sign that he was even slightly impressed. He'd been wondering if they had been listening properly, but he was still surprised to find that it was Gordon who had done the math.
"She stayed on for a few days to do an extra module," he answered, his eyes staying firmly fixed on his book. Any second now...
"An extra one?" Scott, who had sunk down in his seat, sat bolt upright, suddenly so very interested again. "What is it?"
"She's learning about the connection between massage, nerve endings and the release of feel good serotonin when the correct application and pressure of-"
"In English, John," Gordon groaned.
"She'll be a professionally trained back scratcher," John explained with undisguised pride and more than a little hint of smugness.
This time the groans that sounded out dripped with anticipation.
"Oh my God."
"That sounds amazing."
"I didn't even know that was a thing but now I want it."
"Again, husbands perks."
"You," Gordon said, pointing an accusatory finger at his brother, "are a lucky bastard."
"Yep." John grinned. "So if you guys want some of her time and attention you had better think up something nice to do for her before she gets home tomorrow. You know, to prove how much you missed your darling sister."
All four brothers looked at each other. What the hell could they do?
-x-
"Are you sure this is really for her?" John asked, popping the last bite of his morning bagel into his mouth as his brothers finished their rather heated debate on how best to earn his wife's favour and had split up into two teams. "Because this still seems like something that will benefit you more than her."
"It's for her," Scott insisted. "Think about it, she said that she wanted to be of more use to us in a practical way and decided this would be a good thing to add to her skillset. We agreed-"
"Of course you did."
"We agreed," Scott continued as if John hadn't interrupted him so bitchily, "that if she was going to do this for us, because she wanted to feel more useful, she would need a lovely place to do it in."
"Because otherwise you're going to have us all oiled up on your bed," Gordon added with far too much eyebrow wiggling for John's liking.
"Get oiled up on your own beds."
"Or on the couch in full view of everyone," Scott chimed in.
"Did not need that visual, thanks." John shuddered at the images his brothers' words generated in his mind.
"Don't you think it would mean a lot to her to have a workplace of her own? It's our way of showing we care and appreciate her," Virgil said.
"Fine, fine, get to it, just remember she's coming home this evening so you don't have much time to get it finished. I don't want her to be made to feel like she was an afterthought."
"As if we ever would," Scott sniffed in a tone that spoke of deep offence. John knew he was faking it.
"Don't worry, we got this," Gordon promised, slapping John on the back. "Take a chill pill."
John looked like he wanted to tell his brother exactly where he could shove his chill pill.
"I'll make sure they all behave," Virgil assured him.
"You can't possibly promise that," John snorted.
"I can, because I'm taking Gordon with me."
John thought about it for a second then nodded. "He is usually the trouble maker."
"Hey!"
"Don't even try to deny it, Squid," Scott laughed, pushing Alan ahead of him towards the hangars. "We're borrowing Thunderbird Two!"
"You'd better not crash her!" Virgil yelled after them, already regretting allowing them to take his carefully researched list to the mainland on a supply run. "And no ragging her engine, no trying to fit through gaps that you aren't sure she'll clear and no eating in the pilot's seat!"
"That was one time, Virg, one time!" Scott yelled back, vanishing around a corner before his brother decided to full on body tackle him in an effort to protect the big, green love of his life.
"Which one was one time?" Gordon had to ask.
Virgil sighed, a deep, put upon sigh that John felt right down to his soul. "All of them."
"And on that note, I shall take my leave," John said, making a swift getaway before he got drafted in to help.
"What now?" Gordon asked as soon as John had gone.
"I think the first thing we should do is find a good location, don't you? Do you happen to have any suggestions?"
"It needs to be near enough to the infirmary and the hangars that if one of us gets a bit bashed up and needs a little TLC it's not too far to go, plus close to the showers if we want to get dressed after, oil soaks right into your clothes and stains."
Virgil stared at his brother as if he'd just dropped his pants and started to dance the macarena.
"What?"
"Nothing," Virgil assured him. "I just wasn't expecting all that, actually quite sensible, information from you."
"Years of swim meets, Virg. A post race rub down was always the highlight of the day."
"Good point," Virgil acknowledged, though his mind was whirling as he mentally scrolled through all the rooms they had available to make over. "There's nowhere down there that would be suitable, not where we could create the atmosphere that she would want, you know she won't work for long in a room without windows and anything that close to the infirmary is underground."
"Huh, you're right." Gordon pondered for a moment or two, as if hoping that the villa would magically create a new space that was perfect for their needs, like a tropical island version of the room of requirements. "There isn't anywhere, is there?" he finally conceded when said room did not bend to his will and appear.
"Not really," Virgil admitted. "Maybe we need to think about it a different way."
They both fell back into silence.
"Thinking of a different way is hard," Gordon groaned a few minutes later, giving up when his brian refused to cooperate.
"Let's think logically, what do we usually do when we can't think of another way?"
"Call John?" Gordon shrugged.
"Exactly." Virgil touched the small comm nestled in his ear to activate it. "Thunderbird Five?"
"I've only been gone ten minutes," John responded, his voice one of long suffering disbelief. "I haven't even left the island yet, what do you want?"
"You've not left yet?" Gordon sounded a little too relieved and eager for John's liking.
"I'm not helping with the decorating."
"Oh come on, you're the one that keeps reminding us that it's for your wife."
"And I'm still not going to help, it was your idea, you do it."
"Fair enough," Virgil agreed, knowing that pushing John never worked out well for any of them. "Just help us out with a question?"
"Fine, what do you want to ask?"
"We don't know which room to use, you know Sel will want somewhere with natural light, so the hangars and infirmary are out. But, as Gordon pointed out, we want somewhere close enough to them that if anyone is sore or injured they don't have to move far."
"And close to the showers," Gordon added, butting into the conversation once again. "For oil purposes."
"Right," Virgil acknowledged. "So we don't know where to put her."
"I really have no idea why you all insist on complicating things that are so simple," John said, his sigh echoing around the room.
"How so?" Gordon demanded. "My reasoning was flawless."
"So you say," John argued. "Yet you didn't realise that the simplest thing to do would be to keep some robes down in the locker rooms, strip off your uniform, put a robe on, then simply get into the lift and come up to the actual house?"
Gordon and Virgil looked at each other.
"We don't need five guest rooms in the main house, we have the round house for that and we never have that many people staying on the island anyway. My suggestion would be the guest room to the east, the one close to Virgil's studio. It's hardly ever used as it doesn't have its own bathroom and the light is bright but not too bright that it will make it hard to relax. Plus it's close enough that the person having the massage can simply return to their room after, shower in their own bathroom and get dressed."
"He really is a genius," Gordon whispered in awe.
"Is that all?" John asked, not bothering to acknowledge the genius comment, they all knew it was true.
"For now," Virgil grinned. "But don't go anywhere."
"Thanks, John!" Gordon called after him but their brother had already disconnected the call.
"Come on then, Squid, let's get that room cleaned out. We've got a bed to dismantle at the very least, we can probably leave the bureau and the closet in there for storage of towels and things. Then we just have to freshen it up with some new paint and we're good to go. I reckon we can get it done before Scott and Alan get back."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Scott hates shopping, you know he'll try to get it all in one shop if he can. My bet is they'll be home in an hour."
-x-
"So, what do we need to get?"
Alan looked at the lists on his phone, both the one that Virgil had sent him and the one he had made himself from what little research he had done. They were worryingly long.
"Erm…"
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah."
Scott rocked back and forth on his heels, hands stuck in his pockets as he weighed up their options, trying to come up with some kind of game plan.
"Aren't there any one stop shops?" he asked, not really expecting a positive answer but ever hopeful.
"Nope." Hope shattered.
Scott huffed out a sigh. "Didn't think so."
"I guess we could start with the bigger items first, pack them away in Two and then go back for the smaller things?" Alan suggested for want of anything better, if he waited for Scott to figure it out he'd be waiting all day.
"Good plan," Scott said, grabbing Alan's hand and yanking it up into the air closer to his face so he could see the phone screen, his eyes skimming the list. "Get the big things, then I think we could stop for some lunch, then the smaller items and then head back home. Hopefully Virg and Gordo will be done by then and won't make us help."
Alan stared at his big brother in amazement. People always thought that John was the sneaky one, but clearly Scott could teach him a thing or two.
"The most important thing would probably be the bed," Alan mused. "I guess she could make do with anything else to hand but that is essential."
"Wouldn't want to be oiled up on the couch now, would we?" Scott said, a sly grin on his face as he recalled how Gordon had teased John about it earlier.
Alan made a face. " I don't get what all the fuss is about, personally the idea of my sister massaging me is a bit too weird."
"It's not that kind of massage, Squirt."
"I know that!" Alan yelled, scowling at his brother. "I'm not an idiot. It's just…the thought of it squicks me out a little, that's all."
"Spoken as someone under twenty who doesn't wake up in the morning already aching. Believe me, when you do, you'll be thankful for all the help you can get. Besides, it's good for you, and I for one can't wait."
"You gotta fight John off first."
"Not if he gets a sudden call to Five just as Sel happens to be coming home."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, I would. All's fair in family and muscle rubs."
Once again Alan pulled a face. "Please, never say that again."
-x-
"We are not painting the whole room yellow."
"Why not? It's the cheeriest colour In the world."
"Because I'm very sure that Sel doesn't want to spend hours feeling like she's standing in the center of the sun."
"Sure she does."
"Think again, Squid."
Gordon pouted for a moment, then came in with his counter offer.
"What about just one wall? As a kind of feature. You know you love a feature."
"That's true, I do," Virgil admitted slowly. "That could work if we balance it out with a nice, warm cream."
"Boring."
"But calming and relaxing."
"So the walls make you fall asleep before the massage does?"
"It won't be that bad. We'll do some nice decorations and things, make it really feel like it's her room."
"She could have had a room of her own already, we offered to make her an office and she never took us up on it. She prefers to hang out with us or in John's room."
"Then it's about time she got somewhere of her own," Virgil said decisively. "You know what she's like, she never wants to put anyone out or make us go to any trouble. Even if she had wanted one back then she would never have accepted it. The only way to do something for her is to do it without asking."
"That's true."
"So, I was thinking it might be nice to do a mural of some kind," Virgil continued, finally getting into his stride.
"Will you have time for that?" Gordon asked, digging through yet more half used and abandoned pots of paint they kept in the hangar storeroom.
"It'll be tight, but I'm sure I can come up with something," Virgil assured him. "Did you find any of that one coat, one hour stuff?"
"Yep! We got some yellow, some blue, some white and I think I saw some cream at the back but I can't reach it."
"Good, that'll do nicely."
-x-
"We have standard and electric models. Fully adjustable of course, up to six different height settings on some of our more upmarket models. We have ones that heat up and cool down, ones that come with an optional removable extra mattress on top, ones that vibrate and ones that-"
"Maybe we could just take a look at some?" Scott asked, interrupting as politely as possible.
"Of course," the sales assistant chirped with the sunniest smile Alan had ever seen, all white teeth and hamster cheeks. "Would you like to see the ones that include the electrics, or the ones that have individual pieces or-"
Alan looked at Scott in desperation, begging him with his eyes to make the torture stop. Scott shrugged as if to say 'what do you want me to do?' Alan, in almost an exact replica of John, lifted one eyebrow as if to say 'I don't care, just do it quickly'. Scott nodded and cleared his throat, interrupting her sales patter once again.
"Show us the most expensive one you have."
"Certainly sir, that would be our Olympus 3000," she moved to stand beside a bed that wouldn't have looked out of place in Thunderbird Five. "It comes with twelve-"
"As long as it has all the optional extras we'll take it. We don't need to know the details, we wouldn't understand them anyway, it's for our sister."
"Certainly sir, let me just take down your details," she simpered, whipping out a small tablet from her pocket and calling up an order form. "If you would just fill this out please."
Scott got to work, filling in their address as the flagship building of Tracy Industries, added his secretary's number and the family expenses account details then handed it back with a smile. They were very nearly done.
"Thank you, sir. I'll just process your order and we'll have one with you in under a week."
"A week?" Alan groaned. "That's far too long. We need it today."
"I'm afraid that would be impossible, sir," the sales lady said, smiling regretfully. "We don't keep them in stock, they aren't our standard purchase you see and it will take us that long to order one in."
Alan glanced at Scott, once again demanding without words that he do something.
"Can we not just take this one?"
"That is our display model, sir."
"But it's the real deal, right?" Scott argued. "Like it does everything it's supposed to? All the bells and whistles? All the up and down, hot and cold and a million other things I didn't understand? If we plugged this in now would it work just as well as any brand new one?"
"Well yes, but-"
"We'll pay double!" Alan threw in, desperate now.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to do that," the woman said, clearly wavering under the combined power of Alan's puppy dog eyes and Scott's dimples of doom, known to knock a woman down at ten paces.
"Sure you can," Scott turned his smile up a notch, adding a small wink for good measure.
"I really should ask my manager…"
-x-
"Gah!"
"Gordon! What's wrong?"
"MAX just splattered paint in my eye!"
MAX, who was cheerfully painting the opposite wall, both arms flying in different directions (along with the paint his sprayers contained) seemed oblivious to his actions.
"Help me! I think I'm going blind!"
"Oh for the love of-" Virgil set down his own spray gun and grabbed a damp rag.
His brother was flailing, his arms alternating between windmilling and desperately wiping at this face.
"Will you keep still?" he ordered, trying unsuccessfully to navigate through Gordon's attack arms to his face. "How am I supposed to help you if you won't stop moving?"
"It burns!"
"No it doesn't, it's water based and non-toxic, you know that's all we use. You're just being dramatic."
"I'm telling you it hurts! Get it off!"
Not knowing what else to do, Virgil grabbed his brother's arms and pinned them down with one hand while cleaning off his face with the other. Gordon, like a cat that had given up fighting, went limp and submitted to the treatment without further fuss.
"There, all clean. Well, as good as you're going to get anyway." Virgil tossed the rag aside and stretched out his back, which once again cracked loudly.
"It's looking good," Gordon said, his now clean eyes travelling over the freshly painted walls. The wall opposite the windows had been painted with the cheery yellow, a yellow that hopefully would match the blinds that he had just reserved for Scott and Alan to pick up. The rest of the walls had been painted in the cream, MAX doing the two side walls and Virgil the window side, not trusting MAX to do it right. "But it still looks a little bare."
"That's where you come in."
"What? What do you mean? You're not planning on hanging me on the wall are you?" Gordon joked, although the look on his brother's face made him worry just a bit.
"Something like that," Virgil said, his words accompanied by an evil looking grin.
Gordon gulped. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
-x-
"Is there anything else you require today?"
"No, I think that's all."
"We have a lovely range of massage chairs too."
"Massage chairs?" Scott looked at Alan who checked his list. Alan shrugged, he had no clue.
"It's not on the list so I don't think we'd need-"
"Oh but you do," the manager insisted. "You said your sister was setting up a business?"
"Well, not exactly-" Scott started to protest but she cut him off, her lips stretched in a smile so wide he could see all of her teeth, rather like a shark that had scented blood.
"Then of course you'd want her to have the best of everything, you wouldn't want her to simply make do rather than have everything she might need, would you?"
"No?"
"Exactly," she snapped out, clapping her hands sharply like they were dogs she expected to follow her without question. "If you'd just follow me over here I'll show you some of our range. Now of course you will be wanting one with an adjustable headrest, padded arm and knee supports, along with a tilting seat."
Scott could practically hear his credit card screaming as the manager raced on ahead, leaving them with no option but to follow along behind like the good little sheep they were.
-x-
"Stand still, I only get one shot at this."
"I'm trying, but this box keeps wobbling and I can't get any closer to the wall."
"Well you're going to have to try, we don't have time to make a proper stencil so I'm working with what I've got." Virgil pushed Gordon's shoulder further back towards the wall, ignoring his painted squeak. He yanked the pencil out from behind his ear and quickly drew around his brother's shoulders, up alongside his neck and around his head.
"Why are you drawing around Gordon?"
Virgil jumped violently, as did Gordon, causing his already precarious perch to shake under his feet, pitching him sideways.
"Don't fall!" Virgil yelped, ignoring John's question in favour of slapping a big hand to the middle of Gordon's chest, pushing him back against the wall, knocking the wind out of him in the process.
"Virg," Gordon gasped, "you saved me. I didn't know you cared so much."
"I don't," Virgil growled. "I just don't want to repaint this bit if it messes up, now stay still."
Gordon huffed in disbelief. "That was cold, man."
Virgil ignored that, continuing to draw around Gordon's left leg.
"I guess I'll leave you both to it," John muttered, retreating to a safe distance once again.
-x-
"What's next on the list?" Scott asked Alan as they locked the hatch of Thunderbird Two and headed back across the parking lot to the mall.
"Let me check." Alan pulled out his phone again.
"We've got the table, we picked up Gordon's blind order, the rug that Virgil picked out and the blankets, pillows and towels, which are stored away along with the beanbags-"
"I still don't know why you got them, they weren't on any of the lists."
"Because everyone loves a beanbag," Scott answered with a shrug.
Alan didn't know how to answer that so he returned his attention to the list, reading aloud.
"We still have the smaller things to get, like a selection of oils, heating and cooling creams and the hand held massagers. Then we apparently need to get," he paused to check his list again, "things to decorate with. Virgil says he wants 'Sel's usual type of stuff' whatever that means."
Scott thought about it for a moment or two. "Isn't there one of those new age shops at the far side of the mall? You know the older section? I'm sure Sel dragged me there once when she wanted to get a new set of those little stone things with the symbols on them."
"Runes."
"Gesundheit."
"No," Alan groaned, rolling his eyes. "They're runes."
"What are?"
"The little stones with the- urgh nevermind. Let's just get on with it, this place is giving me hives."
"Sure, but first, we eat."
-x-
"Wow, that actually looks amazing," John said, his eyes roaming the mural his brother had created on the previously plain wall.
He'd drawn around Gordon with pencil first and then thickened the lines with first a black line and then a golden outline. He'd then masked off the lines with decorators tape so he could fill in the middle.
Starting with red at the feet he'd brought the colour up to the tops of the thighs and the start of the lower body, where it transitioned smoothly into orange. Moving up the orange melted into a beautiful yellow mid stomach, a yellow that blended into a soothing green over the heart. The colour continued to blend upwards, blue at the throat, indigo on the forehead and finally violet right at the crown of the head.
The colours had been blended almost like one would a water colour, all softness and light with swirls and blotches here and there.
Over the colours, in the exact points where the chakras were located he had painted a simplistic version of the correlating symbols, done in a clean pinstriping style, all elegant lines and perfect swoops and curls.
Virgil had been in the process of removing the protective tape when John had wandered back in.
"You think she'll like it?"
"She'll love it," John assured him. "It's perfect, bold enough to make a statement, but subtle enough to not overpower the room."
"Good." Virgil was all business again, his previous doubts vanishing, if John said she'd like it he believed him, his brother never lied. "How are you getting on with that dresser?"
Gordon looked up from his painting to check out the wall.
"I look great!"
"That doesn't answer my question, Squid."
"I'm getting there…"
"No, you're not, you've barely gotten anything done," Virgil accused, his eyes roaming the dresser critically. "Scott and Alan will be back soon and we need that done in the next hour so it has time to dry before we move it back."
"I'm just so hungry," Gordon groaned, setting aside his spray gun to rub his stomach. "I think I can feel my stomach shrinking."
"You're so dramatic," John snorted.
"Please, Virg," Gordon whined, ignoring John to gaze hopefully at his other brother.
"Fine," Virgil sighed, giving in gracefully. "We'll grab a quick bite as soon as the dresser is done. John, grab that spare gun and help him, you'll get done quicker. We can eat while it's drying."
"No way, I'm not involved in-"
"Just do it!" Virgil snapped, fast losing his patience. Who made brothers so annoying?
-x-
"Do you want oils based on their scent or their properties?"
"There's a difference?" Scott asked, glancing at Alan to see if he had any idea what the man meant. Alan just shrugged, he had no idea why oils would have anything to do with the property market.
"Do you want oils for relaxation, oils for rejuvenation, oils to help with muscle aches, oils for tiredness, oils to wake you up?" the man intoned like he was reading from a wine list.
"Erm...I don't actually know," Scott admitted tiredly. How had a simple shopping trip become so confusing? He had assumed that he and Alan had the easy task, the simple one that would be over and done within an hour, two tops, leaving them time to have a leisurely lunch and maybe allow Alan to check out the game store where they could waste some time before they headed home. Now they were fast running out of time, Selene would be home in less than six hours and they hadn't even gotten everything on the list.
"You have to know," the man said. "This is a very serious business, you can't just throw some oils together and hope for the best."
"You can't?"
"Indeed not. Some might clash, some might cause irritation, others might nullify the benefits when mixed with one that is incompatible."
"We're buying them for our sister, she'd just finished a course so I'm sure she knows all of that by now," Alan informed him. "We were just told to get her a nice selection to start with."
"I'm sorry, but in order to properly advise you I need to know what you need them for. I wouldn't want you to go home without the ones she really needs."
"What are your best quality oils?"
"All our oils are of the highest quality, sir," the man sniffed, clearly insulted by the apparent insinuation that he might be trying to sell inferior oils.
"Of course they are," Scott quickly assured him. "I wasn't implying that they weren't I just meant that we'd-" he stopped abruptly when Alan rammed an elbow into his side. The expression on the man's face said he was currently thinking up the best way to throw them out.
Scott, not knowing what else to do, fell back on their tried and tested method of go big or go home, not that going home sounded like a bad thing at that moment, he could very much do with a nap. Unfortunately he knew that that was not going to happen any time soon.
"We'll take one of everything," he said decisively. That had to be the answer, didn't it? They couldn't mess up by taking the entire selection home, that way she'd have everything she needed.
"Everything?" the man clarified, his eyes widening even as his face smoothed out from irritated to delighted.
"Everything," Scott confirmed, nodding firmly. How bad could it be? They'd take home thirty or so oils, some creams and some kind of herbal stuff and be on their way.
Alan's eyes grew wider as the man picked up not the bag they had been expecting but a large wooden box, and began to walk the shop, picking out oils and packing them into the straw that lined the inside.
"Scott…"
"Erm, just how many oils do you carry?"
"Over ninety essential oils, fifty preblended options and fifteen carrier oils. Your sister will have everything she ever dreamed of and more," the man answered gleefully as he set aside the full box he held and fetched another.
Sighing, Alan pulled out his phone again.
-x-
"They should have been back by now," John said, checking the time on his phone with one hand while eating a hotdog with the other.
"Alan texted five minutes ago to tell me that Scott just bought an entire shop's worth of oils," Virgil sighed.
"Seriously?"
"Yup. Apparently his method of operation today has been to throw money at it and take everything on offer."
"We're gonna need to put up some shelves," Gordon mumbled around his mouthful. "'Cause that's not all gonna fit."
"I think there's a small bookshelf in storage room 3," John commented absently, his focus on his phone as he replied to a text from Selene.
"We could mount it on the wall, that might look nice," Virgil mused. "But we'll need to paint it to match."
"Good luck with that," John said, swallowing his last bite and rising from his chair. "I've got a wife to pick up."
"What? No, we're not ready yet, Scott isn't even back!"
"Then you had better hurry," John smirked, putting his empty plate in the dishwasher and rinsing his hands at the sink.
"Distract her!" Gordon begged, his words muffled as he hurriedly stuffed his last few bites in his mouth. "Take her out somewhere, hell, keep her in somewhere, just give us a few more hours."
John pretended to think about it. "You're asking a lot, but since you're my brother, I'll see what I can do."
-x-
"I don't know what half this stuff is," Alan admitted, looking around the dimly lit shop, it's walls lined with shelves stuffed full to bursting. Wind chimes hung from the ceiling, something Scott's head had been up close and personal with three times already.
"Neither do I, but it definitely looks like the sort of things that Selene would buy, so I say we just grab whatever catches our eye and be done with it. If she can't make use of it then she can give it away."
"Good plan."
"Can I help you, gentlemen?" a wispy voice crooned from somewhere in the direction of a giant marble looking hand.
"God?" Alan looked all around, his eyes wide. Scott nudged him to shut him up as a woman so tiny she could have been a pixie, wafted out from behind the hand. She wore a gauzy skirt that hung down in points and a sparkly vest top, further solidifying the fairy image.
"Oh, uh, no thank you, we're just here to pick out a few things for our sister," Scott told her, trying to brush her off as politely as possible.
"Wonderful," she breathed, clapping her hands together slowly and delicately. "We have many many beautiful and unique things. I'm sure you'll find exactly what you're wanting, the spirits tell me so."
"Oh, well if the spirits know we wouldn't want to let them down," Scott said, moving decisively towards a shelf that held nothing but candles.
"The spirits move me to guide you in your shopping journey," she continued, her voice still sounding like a mixture of tingling bells and soft wind, but it now held an edge of steely determination to get a sale.
"It's alright, but thank you, we can be guided by our own," Scott said as Alan shuffled a little closer to his side, ready to use his big brother as a human shield if needed. Selene in witch mode was slightly scary but interesting at the same time, this woman just screamed plain crazy.
"No, you must allow me to help you, I wish for you to have the best shopping experience today, here we do not sell things, we provide a way of life."
"Really, we're fine, our sister is a-" Scott was abruptly cut off by the striking of a gong that she had whipped from somewhere on her person like a magician pulling a string of handkerchiefs out of her sleeve.
"You will follow me."
Alan nodded obediently and took a step forward, leaving Scott with no option but to follow.
"Now, we have scented candles, blessed candles, all natural candles, natural incense, resin incense, powdered incense, incense sticks, incense cones and their accompanying burners. We have wall hangings, altar cloths, original artworks-"
-x-
"Where the hell are they? They were supposed to be back three hours ago, we've only got an hour before John said he'd be back and," Virgil paused, lifting his arms and spinning in a circle to encompass the entire room, "look at this place!"
"It looks great, stop worrying," Gordon soothed from his spot kicked back on the floor, a cool drink in his hand.
"Gordon, it's empty."
"It's not, there's the bookshelf, the dresser, the closet…" he trailed off.
"Yeah."
"I guess it is a little bare."
"There's not even anywhere to sit, you're lying on the ground."
"It's surprisingly comfy."
"Sel is going to walk in an hour and we'll yell 'surprise, we have an empty room for you, enjoy'." Virgil slumped, defeated. "They had one job, one."
"Yeah, we've done all the hard work, all they've had to do is shop."
"They probably stopped for a nice, leisurely lunch, wasting time so they didn't have to help us while we slaved away."
"They wouldn't know hard work if it stepped up and introduced itself."
"Thunderbird Two to base," Scott's voice, sounding surprisingly tired, floated through the comm they had left on the dresser for just that reason. "Approaching Tracy Island, will require assistance upon landing."
"Bring MAX," Alan added just before the line went dead.
"What the hell do they mean, bring MAX?" Gordon wondered as Virgil reached out a hand to drag him to his feet.
"I've no idea," Virgil answered. "But it won't be anything good."
By the time they had made their way to the hangar the big green machine was already in her usual spot, although she wasn't parked quite as straight as Virgil would have liked and there was a large, suspiciously white splatter of something on her nose cone.
"You left her near the trees again, didn't you?"
"There was no other choice," Scott snapped as he lowered the ramp of the pod. MAX beeped in excitement. Virgil and Gordon just stared.
"What in the name of all that is holy have you bought?" Virgil finally broke out of his shock to ask.
Scott's sigh was long, heartfelt and very dramatic. "Everything."
-x-
"So they actually missed me?"
"So much so that they are apparently doing something nice for you as we speak, hence our little detour for chicken."
"It was very good chicken," Selene sighed, remembering just how good the chicken mayo sandwich had been after two weeks of extremely healthy food cooked by the onsite chef.
"It was, although I do wish you'd order your own fries now and then."
"What's my rule?"
"Stolen food tastes better," John parroted obediently as he checked the navigation system and pulled up a report to study on the journey.
"Which it does." Selene sighed, leaning her head back against the wall of the elevator where the fold down passenger seat was located. "It'll be good to be home."
John made a small noise of agreement, his attention on the screen in front of him.
"Are you sure them missing me wasn't to do with my food providing services or the fact that I was learning something that will benefit them?"
"I asked them the exact same thing."
"And what was their answer?"
"Well, Alan did say he was hungry…" Selene snorted in amusement but he ignored it to continue, "But the others assured me that it was nothing of the sort."
"And you believed them?"
"Of course not, I know them. But I do think they missed you, just a tiny bit." He turned his head to give her a cheeky grin.
"And what about you, my darling husband, did you miss me?"
"Maybe a little."
"Just a little? I missed you a lot."
"Maybe more than a little if you come over here and remind me of what, exactly, I have been missing out on for the last two weeks."
"Babe, we dock in less than two minutes."
"Just a preview then."
"You drive a hard bargain, but you did feed me." She unbuckled her seatbelt, finally comfortable enough after three years to move around the small cabin of the elevator without worrying that it would fall out of the sky the minute she left her seat.
John made room for her to sit between his legs, sharing the seat in the only way they could, his arms wrapping around her to draw her back against his chest. She tipped her head back to rest against his shoulder, turning her head to meet his lips with her own.
She had been right, two minutes was nowhere near enough time, but the few brief kisses they managed would be enough to tide her over until bedtime.
"So, what's this surprise then?" Selene asked as they left the hangar, heading for the main house.
"You'll see," he replied cryptically, earning a little scowl from his wife.
"Come on, give me a little hint, you know I don't like surprises."
"I know, but it's not mine to tell. My job was to keep you away for a bit longer to give them time to finish up. I've done that, so my conscience is clear."
"You're sneaky and mean."
"Extremely." He didn't sound too bothered by her accusation as he pushed open the door to the upper living quarters and led the way down the long hallway towards the south end of the villa.
"Has Virgil finished his latest piece?" she guessed, but John simply shook his head, continuing past the closed door of his brother's studio and the room beyond to the one at the end of the hall.
"A guest room? Please don't tell me my surprise is that my mother has come to stay. I love her but I just don't think I can handle that right now."
"As if I'd ever allow that," he scoffed, coming to a stop outside the closed door and knocking loudly.
Selene raised an eyebrow questioningly as a mad scrambling broke out inside the room, along with frantic whispering, for a moment or two before going quiet. She looked at John who shrugged. It was another minute before the door swung open and Gordon's grinning face poked out.
"Oh, are you home today? We didn't know."
John rolled his eyes at the blatant lie, as did Selene.
"Just let her in, I want to sleep at some point today," Scott called from somewhere inside the room.
"OK, what the hell have you idiots been up to while I was away?"
"Idiots she says, she's been home two minutes and she's already insulting us."
"Maybe if you let her in instead of being an idiot she wouldn't call you one," John commented.
"Harsh, dude, I'm your brother."
"Gordon for the love of-" Gordon was unceremoniously yanked away by an unseen brother, although she suspected Virgil, purely from the strength of the yank, and the door swung open.
The inside of the room was bathed in a soft yellowish glow, looking far more welcoming than it had the last time she had been in there, which, she had to admit, had probably been her wedding day. Then her brother had been staying in there and she had been a bit too preoccupied to pay much attention, you know, with the whole getting married thing.
Before it had been decorated in tones of white and blue. Calming, yes, but also quite cool in her option, very neutral and without the homey feel of the rest of the island. Now, as she entered, she could see that not only had the walls, apart from the one directly opposite the window, been repainted in a warmer cream tone, but the contents of the room had changed dramatically too.
Gone was the king size guest bed that had dominated the center of the room having been replaced by a very fancy looking massage couch. The moment she saw that was when her confusion melted away and she realised exactly what she was looking at.
She turned in a wide circle, her eyes taking in the room as a whole, first the dresser and closet that had been repainted in a soft dove grey colour, to the items that they held.
What seemed like a million little bottles had been arranged in neat rows on a small shelving unit on the wall, along with bigger bottles of oil, pretty vintage looking china bowls for mixing and on one shelf a selection of massagers, rollers, balls and the like.
A softly glowing salt lamp, a gently flowing fountain bowl and a number of candles were arranged on top of the dresser, along with a small singing bowl and incense holders.
Tucked in a corner were two beanbags, their purpose as yet unknown, and to the side of the couch was a massage chair and a wheeled stool. Under the table was a soft looking rug and the walls had been hung with a couple of obviously hand printed cloths of some description.
But the most amazing of all was the full sized chakra map that had been painted on the smallest wall.
All four of her boys were watching her with identical expressions of excitement, mixed with a little bit of 'did we just screw up?'
"I… I don't know what to say," Selene stammered, overcome by the time and effort, not to mention money, that had gone into the room in such a short space of time.
"Just saying that you like it would be a good start," Scott teased, although there was a hint of apprehension in his tone.
Selene nodded, still overwhelmed.
"You do like it, don't you?" Alan asked, a little tentatively.
She nodded again, unable to form words. It was so sweet of them, just the nicest thing they had ever done.
It was Virgil that broke rank to pull her into a hug. She immediately began to sniffle against his shoulder.
"Are these good tears?"
She nodded.
"Still can't speak?"
She shook her head.
"Glad to be home?"
She nodded again and snuggled tighter into his hug.
"Well that's all that matters," he promised her.
"That and the fact that she has to try all this new stuff out," Gordon added. "I volunteer as tribute."
Yes, it was definitely good to be home, but if Gordon honestly thought he was going to go first, after she's spent ten days away from her husband, he could think again.