Ch. 5: Preview #4

Chapter's about wrapped up now, might post it this weekend. Here's another chunk:

Theo’s jaw kept trying to fall open.  She looked seriously convincing now: the very image of a mature, world-wise, savvy grownup relaxing after a day in the office.  Leaning back languorously, idly swirling her glass, her mouth upturned in a private half-smile as if she knew something he didn’t.  Between that and her oppressive beauty, he both wanted to veer his thoughts elsewhere and couldn’t.

“Well, aren’t you gonna watch somethin’?” she remarked, her youthful energy clashing with the rest of it slightly.  “The remote’s right there.”

He picked it up off the floor, bumbling with the power button and—

“Wait.”  Jen leaned forward abruptly, her eyes lighting up.  “You were watching our highlights!”

The damning proof was onscreen: his ‘Most Recently Watched’ list had come up on the Youtube app.  All three were of the show.

“‘Mighty and Mouse Episode 6: Full Replay,’” Jen read aloud.  “‘Wonder Jen’s Most Epic Moments’.  Awww!  And – hey, no.”  Her fingers snapped sharply when he tried to navigate away.  “Go back to that.”  Which he did with a groan.  “‘Mousey Fails, Vol. 6: Little Mouse in BIG Trouble’!” she laughed her way through.  “Wonder who that’s about, huh?”

He positively squirmed, and thought about running away …

“Did you watch the whole vid?”

“I … yes, I—”  A hard knot formed in his gut as he lied.  “No,” he confessed, blushing harder.

“’K.  Watch it, then.”  Her mouth tugged upward at the thought.  “While I finish this.”

It finally connected that ‘this’ was the House Rules.  In her hand.  Ready for her to add to.

Anxiety enwrapped his chest like a snake.  “I … W …”

His daughter’s eyes sparkled as she gave a ‘tut’ noise and a circling motion with her hand, indicating for him to turn back around.  “You’ve got your orders, buddy.  Start watchin’.”

This couldn’t be happening.  He … Oh god … Oh no …

Jen realized belatedly that her inhibitions may have slipped a little and she may’ve gone a touch too far.  He could handle so, so little before freaking out; and between the list and the video, he might be done for.  Lol, her buzz told her to just roll with it … and hey, with a few more wriggles now and then, he got through it just fine!  She tuned this wacky video mostly out, then the next one, taking her time to lay out quite a fantastic list.

Theo was dying on the floor, just minutes in.  He couldn’t think of a more excruciating video to watch with his daughter—his Mighty—in the room.  His real face was stuck in a permanent wince as his on-screen self made an absolute fool of himself.  Blunder after inexcusable blunder; made worse by the YouTuber’s scathing commentary and unfavorable cuts, sure, but there was just no hiding how abysmally he’d performed.  Not only could he understand Jen’s seething anger onscreen, but he worried right now in this very living room his daughter’s rage might be rising again.

At the very moment when she was laying down rules for him to obey.

The Worst.  Possible.  Time.  For her to be doing so.

He was honestly afraid to look back but summoned the courage a couple of times.  Each time, her expression was impeccably serene, placid, and utterly unreadable.  The little tug on her lips could’ve been a scowl or a grin (but would that really be any better?).  Her eyes met his one of these times, and he whipped his head forward in a tenth of a blink.  The next video autoplayed: from a different episode; different contestants.  He didn’t dare say anything, though.  Just sat in dismal silence as her pen made more and more scritch-scritch-scritch sounds on the paper on her lap.  So much writing …

Anxiety weighed him down when at last the couch groaned and her barefooted steps thumped up to him.  He stayed frozen, as if her vision was based on movement.  But it wasn’t; her hand appeared and plucked the remote from his grasp.  The TV turned off, and without further warning he was airborne again, like a doll in her strong hands.

The indignity of being set on the coffee table was too much for him, stood up so they were once again virtually eye-to-eye.  His inch or two height advantage meant nothing in this position.  She was in complete control, and words just started flowing out of him.  Words of panic and self-preservation.  “I take full, TOTAL responsibility for … f-for everything on that video.  All of it!!  I was completely in the wrong – I see that now!  Y-You gotta believe me!! I won’t do anything like that next round.  I swear!!”

Whatever he expected to develop from her blinking, inscrutable expression, it wasn’t this: a muscle-bound, boob-squishing, rib-collapsing bear hug so tight he swear he saw literal stars swimming past her shoulder.  His feet had left the ground for god knows how long before she returned him to the coffee table and he could breathe again.  Now her eyes were shining and she’d started laughing; a deep, affectionate chuckle he could feel through the soft masses of her breasts before she nudged him away.

“That was the sweeeeetest thing you could’ve said, buddy,” she chortled, her emerald eyes dancing.  “You know you’re really cute when you’re nervous?”

“I… Wh-What?”  He tried to jerk back.  Her grip didn’t allow it.