Jack walked up to Merida's door, he had been on dates before with the English Princess Elsa, but they were façade's to hide the true purposes of the Order of the First Frost, which took the edge off. He and Elsa had always enjoyed their time together but they always had a purpose as they searched for corruption, eavesdropped for information, or just planed on being distracting for an alibi while their people were at work. The strategic events were for all arguable purposes: "dates," and he had grown closer to Elsa because of them. As they worked more and more, they felt more natural and more like courtship, but he had never been on a date for the sake of being on a date before.
Jack and Cole were nervous, and once again Cole was thanking the Almighty God that his clueless hands weren't fumbling around in the driver's seat.
Jack rolled his eyes at him, but at least admitted that he had some training in propriety and courtship, however he had no way of knowing how far that would go in this universe. He clutched the flowers that he had bought, he had asked Zie if he should get them, and she nearly attacked him and swooned at the same time insisting that he should. So he bought red roses because they reminded him of Merida's red hair.
He swallowed hard and knocked on the oversized door and his wonder as to why it was so large were quickly answered. There was a strange step thump, step thump, that approached the door and Jack's jaw couldn't have fallen lower in frightful surprise if North himself came charging in at him in full battle regalia when the door opened.
"So you must be the laddie I've been hearing 'bout all evening." The man in the doorway eclipsed all but a fraction of light that came from the modest hallway chandelier hanging behind him. He was easily three times Jack's size and could even Dwarf North in sheer muscle mass if they stood side by side. Jack's natural fight over flight instinct that was usually so reliable, urged his legs to spin around and run.
"Yes sir, my name is Cole Deaux, I am here to pick up Merida." Jack fought every urge he had to shake in fear, but couldn't help the slight quiver in his voice that the man raised an eyebrow when he caught wind of it.
"My name is Fergus and I am Merida's father, please come in, I've been expecting you," Fergus's face was in a displeased glower and his voice promised so many threats that Jack's legs almost wouldn't move to take him into the house. Fergus wielded a cane and when he stepped out of the way to let Jack in he put enough weight on it that Jack could see it bend. "Please wait in the living room, Merida is still getting ready." Fergus motioned with his free hand to the room to his right with a larger than average entryway that contained a modest amount of furniture that looked well used. Behind him was a staircase that ran along the wall in the hallway to the upper floor and on the opposite side of the hallway from the living room was a doorway to a room with a large table and six place chairs wrapped around its shape. As Jack walked in and turned toward the living room he noticed there was a small step down from the hallway to the living room and he handled it with ease.
When Jack stepped into the living room he took his place standing around the couches, he didn't want to be rude and accidentally sit in the master-of-the-house's seat. That was when he heard the crashing sound of a tree falling and turned around to see Fergus on the ground, he hadn't taken the living room step as gracefully as Jack had.
Jacks face blanched and he dropped the roses onto one of the couches and rushed over to Fergus, "are you alright sir?"
"Do I look alright, help me up lad." Fergus commanded authoritatively.
"Um sir-"
"Yes?"
"Uh-"
"Well spit it out laddie!"
"Is your leg supposed to be bending like that?" Jack asked pointing at Fergus's leg.
Sure enough when Fergus looked at his leg and it was not bending the right way. "Well that is troublesome," Fergus looked only mildly troubled by an injury that should send any man to the hospital wailing in pain. "How is your stomach lad?"
"Excuse me?" Jack asked wearily as Fergus righted himself so that he was sitting on his rear.
"This is nothing, we just need to reset it." Fergus said in a matter of fact way as he turned it with a few sickening clicks. "Ok I need you to grab me foot and pull."
Jack swallowed hard, and grabbed Fergus's foot.
"Alright lad, on three pull as hard as you can, and I'll make sure it gets in the right spot. One... two... THREE!"
Jack pulled as hard as he could but instead of pulling the leg slightly out of its socket, he pulled the leg all the way off! Jack landed with a crash on his butt and looked at the leg still in his hand and back to Fergus who was staring at him.
"AHHHHHHH!"Jack yelled.
"AHHHHHHH!" Fergus roared.
"AHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
** ** **
Elinor was admiring Merida's hair, this was the first time Merida had allowed her mother to take her to a stylist and her hair had never looked so gorgeous, "Now remember," Elinor instructed while Merida sat in front of her vanity with a whole new assortment of makeup. "With makeup, you should almost never look like you are wearing makeup. It should be used to enhance your features not cover them up. Less is more."
Elinor had fallen in love with today and already loved this Cole boy, she had never been able to spend so much time with Merida on the finer things of femininity and have her take such an interest in them or relinquish so much of her hold on her tomboyish tendencies. She didn't want to overwhelm her daughter, she had accepted that her daughter was no debutant, but a little mascara, blush, lip gloss, and pampering never hurt anyone. Elinor wondered if eyeliner would be too much and when she tried to apply it, Merida straightened her back and squared her posture like a proper lady.
Merida was grateful her mother's help but she drew the line at certain places, but not as many as she had before and was grateful that her mother had respected them. She knew for a fact that she was going to be outside waiting in line for a good portion of the evening and insisted on wearing jeans and was surprised when her mother took her to a place in the mall that had both practical and fashionable Jeans, and that her mother had forked over the cash to pay for them. But only on the condition that Merida would wear them and try not to spill paint or sawdust on them.
Knock, knock, knock.
Merida and Elinor both turned their heads when they heard the door knock, Elinor checked her watch for the time. Cole was five and a half minutes early, they heard Fergus walk over to get the door and the incoherent rumbling that came from their masculine voices through the door of Merida's room.
"He's here," Merida said nervously, "he's early." Merida looked up at her mom expecting some kind of guidance.
Elinor saw the anxiety in Merida's eyes, this boy must have been really special to her. Fergus better not mess this up for her, and Merida too of course. "It's alright sweetie we are done, now just let me get one last look at you," she walked behind Merida and stood her in front of the Vanity mirror. "You're so beautiful," Elinor sighed with bliss and kissed the top of her daughter's head and ignored the chemical taste from the hair product.
"Do you think Cole will think so too?" Merida asked.
"If he doesn't there is something wrong with him," Elinor wrapped her arms around Merida in a motherly embrace and basked in their closeness.
Crash!
There was a loud thud that caught both of their attention, their heads turned in sync towards Merida's door. Then they made eye contact wearily.
"Just wait here, I will make sure everything is okay." Elinor rushed to the door and prayed everything would be fine, but when she opened it, the sounds of blood curdling screams erupted from the living room downstairs. Elinor burst from the door and stampeded down the stairs, once she was midway down the stairs she witnessed a sight that horrified her and then infuriated her. Fergus was missing a leg and on the ground sitting only a couple feet away from a young man with white hair who was holding Fergus's Prosthetic leg.
Fergus and Cole exchanged yells of fright and horror until Cole realized that the leg he was holding was a prosthetic and that Fergus had pulled one over on him. In sync a smile curled on their lips and they pointed acknowledging the prank to one another and rolled over on their sides laughing at the shenanigans, their yells of horror became howls of laughter as tears began spilling from both of them.
"FERGUS!" Elinor's face was fury red and her voice as sharp as a honed pickaxe but they didn't hear her at first. "FERGUS DUNBROCH! FATHER OF MY CHILDREN AND THE DAMNATION OF MY SOUL!"
Fergus heard his wife, he picked himself up and wiped a tear away from his eyes, "hi Elinor, I was just funnin' with the lad."
Elinor gracefully stormed the living room with all the grace of bear on the prowl, she smiled pleasantly and held her hand out for Fergus's prosthetic leg in Jack hand. Jack could see the glint of ferocity hidden behind her smile, and handed it to her without hesitation. She then turned her wrath on her husband, she handed him the prosthetic, then with the power and control befitting a mother bear she hoisted Fergus painfully to his feet by his ear as he wallowed in real pain under her stifling punishment.
Jack couldn't help but smile at the exchange while Elinor reprimanded her husband, but Jack dared not let loose a stray giggle and risk her ire.
"What is going on?" Merida couldn't stay put any longer, she was no good at it as she descended the stairs and caught sight of Cole's fabulous smile while he sat on the ground. It was that smile that sent all manner of shivers down her legs and she had to grasp the handrail on the stairs and lean her hip femininely against it, it was all she could do to keep herself from falling down the stairs. He was dressed in a designer black jacket over a light blue v-neck t-shirt over a lighter blue dress shirt and faded fitted jeans.
When Jack heard Merida's voice he turned his head towards the stairs in the hallway and he lost all sense of himself and his jaw may as well lost itself to oblivion. She was beyond the description of common words that could describe her beauty and a thousand sonnets in a million languages couldn't do justice to the smile and the twinkling eyes of the vision who stood transfixed on the stairs. Her ferocious red hair was wavy and styled to one side of her head revealing a simple studded earing. She was wearing comfortable shoes that had modest heels, her form fitting jeans caressed her hips in all the right places. She had a crop hoodie on with white sleeves and a dark teal torso and white Celtic designs, it was over a white tank top that hugged her toned stomach and had lace fringe that contrasted the dark color of her jeans an inch below the shirt. Every inch of her was hugged in fabric that both would protect her from the cold and accented her womanly curves honed by chasing her three brothers around and all the woodwork that she did.
At first, every reprimand his wife threw at him was a shark springing out the water to nip off another sense of his ego and pride. Then he noticed that the stick boy hadn't moved and that he was sitting on the floor staring at something, there was even a speckle of drool that was rearing its head at the corner of his lip. "Elinor..." Fergus tried to get his wife's attention, "Elinor..." ....Nothing, "Elinor!"
"What, Fergus?!" she spat.
Fergus rolled his eyes, he literally picked up his slip of a wife and turn her around so that she could accurately see both Cole and Merida.
"Oh, ooooh," she said acknowledging the sight and smiled grateful that Fergus hadn't screwed everything up. She nodded to him and they both knew exactly what to do.
Fergus lifted the stick boy to his feet and walked over to his daughter. Elinor retrieved the flowers and placed then in Cole's arms and used a clean handkerchief to close his mouth and wipe away the drool.
Fergus stood next the hand railing at the floor level and held out his hand for Merida, she took it and he led her down the stairs with his shoulders squared and one hand behind his back. He led her to Cole and the two kids stood there not saying anything for a long moment.
Elinor cleared her throat and elbow Cole gently, "Give her the flowers." She whispered.
Jack came to himself, "h-here these are for you." Jack held out the roses and Merida took them she hugged them and smelled them, nobody had ever given her flowers before, much less roses.
"What do you say?" Fergus whispered.
"Oh, uh thank you they are beautiful," she swayed left to right hugging the roses.
"Give her a compliment," Elinor whispered.
"Merida, words can't even describe-" Jack was cut off with a more aggressive elbow from Elinor.
"Try," Elinor said through clenched teeth.
Jack paused for a moment asking Cole for help and then said, "Merida, you're so pretty that you'd make snow blush."
Merida giggled and swayed back and forth. "you look really nice too."
Elinor rolled her eyes, "that will do," she grabbed the flowers. "I'll find a vase for these, don't you kids have somewhere to be?"
"Oh ya," Jack snapped back to reality and checked his watch, "We really need to get going or Zie is going to have my skin."
"Yes, right, bye da, bye mum." Merida kissed her parents on the cheek and walked with Jack through the front door.
Fergus and Elinor stood in the doorway and watched the kids.
"What movie are we seeing?" Merida asked.
Jack told her the movie name that Zie told him.
Merida's eyes bulged to twice their size, "No Way! I have been so busy that I forgot that it came out today," Gone was the shy star struck Merida, and back was the energetic young lady that Jack knew so well. Jack opened her door for her as she continued chattering excitedly about how long she had waited for the movie to come out. Jack gave one last wave to Merida's parents and entered the driver's side of the car before pulling away from the curb.
"Do you remember our first date, love?" Fergus said watching the car drive away.
Elinor smiled and smelled the roses. "Yes I do." Her smile never failed while she cradled the roses and leaned her head on her husbands arm. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight for what pulled with Cole." She closed the front door.
Fergus's smile wilted into astonishment and realization of the consequences of his 'little prank.'
"But Elinor..." Fergus pleaded.
** ** **
Welcome back my fellow travelers, if you are reading this then you haven't given up on me yet which is a good sign. I had a lot of fun with this chapter and imagining how everyone would react to one another. Fergus is one of my all time favorite characters and I love playing with
character chemistry.
I'll leave the exact movie up to your imagination, but what movie is it that you think everyone is so excited to see? What movie would you be so thrilled to see? Do you think that this is going to be a good first date for them or not? Is Jack forever trapped since Eugene is in the way or will his and Elsa's training bring them closer? Join me and we shall find out together.