Isabela had managed, after a bit of time spent arguing with a shop manager who didn't know what he was talking about, to get a game system to rent. It was high time that she had a look at this game Penelope had mentioned. She'd been wondering about just how she came off, and she knew Aaron had the night off. So why not. Jack might be able to help them as well, if he was home.

As she came back to the flat, she set her burden down. "Jack?" she called, looking around. "Aaron?" There were boxes everywhere, and Isabela had to carve a path through the living room to get to the television. "Anyone at home?"

	Page 1 of 3 << [1] [2] [3] >>

(Post a new comment)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 03:06 am UTC (link)
	Jack stuck his head out of his bedroom, smiling. "Hello, Mum. I've been working on getting my room situated. Oh, is that an XBox?" His eyebrows immediately knit. "Are you going to play ... you're not, are you?" (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 03:11 am UTC (link)
	"It is and I am. I'm even going to hound your father." Isabela held up the game package. "I'd prefer to know what it's like and how awful I come off, rather than wonder." She chuckled a little. "Your dad not home yet? I was hoping you might help set this up." (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 03:17 am UTC (link)
	"He's taking a shower." Jack took over to set up the game system, pointing off at the bathroom to let his mother know where his father was. Hotch had just turned off the water and was toweling himself off when he heard his name being mentioned. "Everything all right?" (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 03:20 am UTC (link)
	She did her level best not to ogle in front of Jack, and managed it at least half way. "Any pressing business? Was thinking we could play through this game at long last." Isabela smiled, kissing him on the cheek. (Reply to this)

	doesntblink 2011-06-26 03:25 am UTC (link)
	Hotch smiled and lightly tugged her into the bathroom so he could kiss her properly. Even though he was damp, and likely making her damp as well, he didn't care. "None at the moment besides drying off. Do we even know how to play?" (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 03:49 am UTC (link)
	Isabela didn't care. "I assume Jack does." She grinned, kissing him once more after he let up, hands on his damp waist. "Are they only called knickers if ladies wear them? I've never seen the point of smallclothes, regardless." (Reply to this)

	doesntblink 2011-06-26 03:54 am UTC (link)
	"I believe it's a unisex term. And I wear them because my job entails more running than you'd think." He snogged her firmly, chuckling and nibbling her neck. "Maybe after we play this for a bit, we can go visit Gypsy and Jack can babysit?" He pulled on jeans - pointedly leaving off his knickers - and tugged on a black t-shirt. (Reply to this)

rivainipirate 2011-06-26 04:00 am UTC (link)

He never failed to make her laugh, and she loved him for it. "If it's all right with him." Isabela was grinning, an affectionate hand running along his jaw. "Best to make sure." She didn't want to just press Jack into service; it had been a no-no in Thedas and it was still a no-no here. And well, he knew she didn't usually bother with knickers to begin with. "We'll unbend you yet," Isabela teased, sticking her head back out of the loo. "Jack? Need any extra hands, or is it simple to set up?" (Reply to this)

	doesntblink 2011-06-26 04:03 am UTC (link)
	He turned his head to kiss her wrist, nodding. "Of course." Jack called out, shaking his head. "No, it's all set up and ready for you. Let me tuck wee Jack in, and I'll show you how to play." He scampered off, and suddenly loud giggling could be heard from the younger Jack's room. Hotch beamed and walked with an arm around Isabela's waist toward the sound. (Reply to this)

rivainipirate 2011-06-26 04:08 am UTC (link)

"Thank you!" Isabela called, hearing the giggling herself, shaking her head in amusement. He was so good with the little boy, she honestly felt lucky. And the one thing her son hopefully couldn't begrudge her was staying close to Aaron; she didn't get to do it damned near often enough. Isabela sat on the couch, pulling him down next to her. "Penelope tells me I come off well in this, but she's biased." (Reply to this)

	doesntblink 2011-06-26 04:16 am UTC (link)
	Hotch stood right back up again, amused, wanting to go make sure that he helped to tuck in his son. Once he'd kissed the young boy goodnight, the lad reached out for Isabela as well, making grabbyhands. Teenage Jack couldn't help but smile. (Reply to this)

rivainipirate 2011-06-26 04:18 am UTC (link)

Isabela, awkward as it sounded, had sort of forgotten about tucking the little Jack in; she'd sort of assumed the elder Jack would see it through. But of course she came along when Aaron got up, and when the little Jack reached out to grab her, Isabela damned near blushed. She knelt and wrapped her arms around him, smiling when he hugged back tightly. It all really was rather sweet. (Reply to this)

	doesntblink 2011-06-26 04:27 am UTC (link)
	Wee Jack kissed her gently on the cheek. "G'night, Misbela." He kissed Hotch good night in turn, and then the older Jack before hugging a plush Captain America doll and rolling over to sleep. The teenage Jack walked out of the room and grabbed the controller, sitting down and waiting for his parents to settle near him. (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Isabela smiled, looking down at the little boy for a minute before following Aaron and Jack back out to the main room. "Thanks, Jack, for looking at this with us. It's ... I don't know, I'd rather have seen at least bits of it. Your Aunt Nell says I come off all right, but I want to know if she's telling the truth." She was only half teasing. (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 04:37 am UTC (link)
	"Oh, she is." Jack propped his legs up on the coffee table, starting the game. "All right, so there's a main character that is basically Hawke. You get to choose how they fight, and if they're male or female." (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 04:43 am UTC (link)
	"A male Hawke, how odd." Isabela looked over at Aaron, smiling perhaps a trifle nervously. "I suppose you ought to choose, though; you're the one seeing this for the first time. I lived it." (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 04:46 am UTC (link)
	Hotch selected a female mage, if only because that was the one he figured Isabela had known. Jack leaned over and hit the button to select her officially. (Reply to this)

rivainipirate 2011-06-26 05:06 am UTC (link)

Isabela nodded, watching as he set starting points in what looked like different attributes - agility, magic resistance, mana pool and all that. It seemed logical. "The story starts ... where, in Kirkwall?" She turned to Aaron, briefly explaining. "Hawke told me that she and her family fled the Blight and came to Kirkwall. A Blight happens when an Archdemon is awakened by ugly little things called Darkspawn. It's ... devastating." Her face got somber for a moment. (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 05:09 am UTC (link)
	Jack shook his head. "It starts in Lothering." He said it quietly, handing the control over to his father and pausing as he explained what the buttons were for. Hotch looked to Isabela, reading her face and wrapping his arms around her. (Reply to this)

rivainipirate 2011-06-26 05:14 am UTC (link)

Isabela appreciated it, kissing him on the cheek. "It's all right, really. Honestly, I was on the sea for most of the recent one. I didn't lose anyone I knew. Just, it's not something nice to think of, or look at. Blights only stop when Grey Wardens kill the Archdemon, but a Warden usually has to sacrifice themselves in order to kill it. It's just ... all about death and misery." Her tone was calm, but quiet. "Hawke came from a place called Lothering, in Ferelden, and she lost everything, as far as I recall. Obviously, she made something of herself, but it can't have been easy." She smiled at Aaron, then Jack. "Anyway. This isn't the game about the Blight, right?" She might want to stay away from that one, for a multitude of reasons. (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 05:16 am UTC (link)
	Jack shook his head. "No. Hawke escapes Lothering with her family in the first bit." Swallowing, Hotch leaned against Isabela and started to play. "It's too bad I can't move forward to the bits with you." Jack wrinkled his nose. "I hope you don't pick Mum as the romance option." (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 05:20 am UTC (link)
	"Romance option?" Isabela echoed, raising an eyebrow. She watched the beginning, with Hawke, her siblings and her mother. She marvelled; the darkspawn were ... alarmingly real. "It's as if someone took one of those camera things along for the ride with Hawke." (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 05:22 am UTC (link)
	"Please pick Fenris or Mum, or they end up ... " Jack wrinkled his nose. "Or just don't take them around with you. Or just take Mum." He shrugged. "Or pick nobody, that's an option as well, that's what I did. Flirting with Aunt Merrill felt strange." (Reply to this)

	rivainipirate 2011-06-26 05:47 am UTC (link)
	"We end up ..." Isabela trailed off, but it didn't take long for her to put it together. "Ha. That really did happen." But she knew Aaron's little ... thing about Fenris. As stupid as it was. "Can you choose Varric? He and Hawke would be charming." She was only half teasing; they did have a rather cute relationship. (Reply to this)

	minihotch 2011-06-26 04:53 pm UTC (link)
	Hotch's mouth settled into a line, but he had to remind himself that it was in her past, that Fenris had existed for her before he had. Jack shook his head. "No, nobody gets to shag Varric. I just assumed he was sleeping with most everyone at the Hanged Man." (Reply to this)

---

	Page 1 of 3 << [1] [2] [3] >>

---