6. "How was your day?"
Morwenna Dufraine had really grown to hate Flynn Rider.
Logically, she had no reason to. She'd never met the man. He'd never stolen from her, which would've really ticked her off. So why did she hate him?
Well, it'll become apparent in a matter of minutes.
Carefully, she picked up the plate containing the slice of apple pie that had been prepared half an hour earlier. It had not been prepared by her. Not that this was important; the Captain certainly didn't keep her around for her cooking skills.
"Morwenna!" an irritated voice boomed from the sitting room. "Where's that damn pie?"
"It's coming, dearest!"
"Well, make it come faster! I've had a rough day!"
Oh, I'll bet you have, thought Morwenna, rolling her eyes. And you're going to tell me all about it, whether I want to hear it or not...
On her way out, she caught sight of the mirror in the hallway and struck a pose, sucking in her stomach and sticking out her chest. No harm in reminding him just why he kept her around, after all, even if it wasn't enough to get him to marry her... yet. She glanced at her reflection, her hand on her waist and the plate in her hand. Privately, she thought she looked like the perfect wife. She beamed at the reflection, tossing her red hair away from her face-
"MORWENNA!"
"Alright, I'm coming!"
She sighed dramatically and strode into the room, trying to replace her bored expression with one of extreme concern. After all, her beloved was upset, right? She had to act like she cared.
"Took you long enough," growled Captain Rusthaven as she placed the plate in front of him.
"Well, I'm sorry, dearest, but pies take awhile to cook." Not that she'd know, since she never cooked them herself.
"You could've made me something else."
"But you sounded so upset," Morwenna simpered, perching on the arm of his chair. "And it's apple pie; your favourite. I thought it might cheer you up."
It was the worst piece of acting she'd ever done. Had she been back on the stage, the audience would've seen through it in a matter of seconds, but it actually seemed to work on the Captain. He smiled, muttered something about "appreciating the thought" and bit into the slice with all the grace of a pig at the trough. Morwenna wrinkled her nose. The Captain didn't notice.
This certainly wasn't the glamorous life Morwenna had expected. When she'd taken up with Rusthaven, she'd expected something which befitted her new social status; beautiful dresses, fancy jewellery, all the stuff she'd dreamt about as a girl. At the very least, she expected to be married by now. The story Rusthaven had come up with, about her being his housekeeper, was looking more and more ridiculous with each month. It looked particularly ridiculous when you saw their son, who was nearly the spitting image of his father. People had already figured out what she really was, and they were talking. Morwenna couldn't stand talk unless she had some control over what was being said. Her only way of retaining some kind of dignity was to get the Captain to marry her; so, every day, she made an effort to look like an ideal wife. She pretended to cook him food, pretended to wash his clothes, did things to him that couldn't be discussed in public... and she asked him that question.
"So, Roddy, how was your day?"
The Captain put down his pie. "Oh, where do I start? First the men were being layabouts, as usual. Then one of the horse got out and nearly trampled the stable boy. Oh, and to make things worse, Rider struck again at lunch..."
He settled back in his chair, clearly preparing himself for a long rant.
"We were sitting there, eating, when word got to us that he'd stolen from some Count something-or-other and was running through the high street. I rounded up ten of my best men, because I was definitely gonna catch him. You remember the trouble we had last time, didn't you?"
Morwenna nodded. How could she forget? He'd gone on about it for days.
"Yeah, I told you, didn't I? So we got on the horses and everything should've been alright. He was in the high street, after all. He couldn't have got far, could he? He isn't that smart; no one can find a hiding place there, it's full of people!"
"But he did. We got there, and he was gone. No one was giving us a straight answer – if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were helping the man..."
"Oh, I highly doubt that," muttered Morwenna, although she wasn't entirely sure.
"Well, it almost seemed like it... and suddenly, he comes bursting out of an alleyway. Nearly scared the horses! Well, most of 'em, anyway; Maximus was well-behaved..."
A small smile appeared on Rusthaven's face as he remembered his horse. Morwenna noticed it and, for some reason she couldn't figure out, felt a pang of jealousy.
"So, we chased after him. People got out of our way, we didn't have any more annoying bystanders... we were doing really well, and I was certain we were going to get him at last! Certain! Then he gets to the gate, and what happens? He vanishes again!" He banged his fist on the armrest. "How does he do that? How does he vanish in the middle of a crowded street?"
Morwenna shrugged.
"I mean, he's not got magic powers, has he? He's scum! Criminal scum! It shouldn't be that easy! He shouldn't be able to just... poof away like that! None of the other criminals can do it, so why can he? What does he do?"
"So we go off looking for him again, and no one can find him! No one! Ten of my best men and they can't find one thief! Even Maximus couldn't figure out where he'd gone! Then Tranur starts talking about how he's probably slipped out of the gate, but how could he do that? We'd have seen him! Maximus would've been able to find him easily if that was all he'd done, but it can't have been! Where did he go?"
He banged his fist on the armrest again, so powerfully it made the chair shake and almost knocked Morwenna off. She tried to ignore this disrespect to her person and stroked the Captain on the shoulder.
"Oh, dearest," she cooed. "It wasn't your fault. I'm sure you were doing a marvellous job. You always are."
The Captain sighed. "Tell that to the victims," he groaned. "This guy, this Count; he was furious. Shouting all sorts of stuff at me. I can't repeat it; not the sort of thing a lady should hear. But he was just shouting at me, and I suppose I should be used to it by now, but it still ticks me off! Rider's the one he should be blaming! Rider!"
His hand clenched into a fist, and Morwenna braced herself for another attack on the chair. This time, it didn't come. Instead, he slipped his other arm around her waist as he ended his rant in the usual way.
"I'm telling you," he said. "I can't wait until he finally slips up. I can't wait for the day when we finally get him. There's a cell waiting for him, and I won't rest until he's in it; or swinging from a noose. Even better. Then I'll wipe that smirk off his face."
Morwenna couldn't wait, too, but she didn't like the odds. Rusthaven had made a similar promise a couple of days ago, and several more days before that. In fact, barely a week went by without the Captain ranting about Flynn Rider; rants which Morwenna was forced to listen to. It was either that, or admit that she just didn't care; which, of course, would get her kicked out of the house, and that'd be three years down the drain. But every rant was becoming harder to listen to. They were always the same, and there was always another one just around the corner.
That was why Morwenna hated Flynn Rider. She'd never met the man, and he'd never stolen anything from her. But she did wish the Captain would just shut up about him.
A/N: This was another idea that came barging into my head. I liked the idea and I just worked with it as best I could.
Please let me know if I did anything wrong, particularly in terms of their relationships, and please, please let me know if Morwenna (or any of my other OCs, for that matter) needs to be improved. I've been feeling a bit paranoid lately.
Thanks for your patience and your reviews. I'm glad so many people like these oneshots; I didn't expect them to be as popular as they are and I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon.