cornerstone

I think David and I accompanying you everywhere for emotional support should absolutely become part of your contract requirements. And yes, DC representation is important. Someone has to remind Marvel that we’re cooler and moodier over here. Your ego absorbs praise like a sponge. I love it Leather Mother really sounds like a villain who seduces people and then steals classified government information. Which honestly? I could make work. But now I’m fully committed to next year. The pressure’s on. We can’t casually talk this big and then show up looking normal.

don't mind me redrafting these terms, and i hope you two are prepared. keep bags packed since i travel a lot. cooler, moodier, perfect aesthetic, i don't know why people even remember marvel when it's got nothing on us. you've figured that out about my ego, because complete truth, and can't blame me when it comes to compliments from you. classified government information? is she working for someone, or this is just leather mother's idea of a fun friday night? i know, and it's a good thing we've started planning early. maybe early enough that they'll build the theme around us instead, which you know my ego would never recover from.

nick, you're such a fun jester during unserious moments that i wish a laugh is the only thing i needed from you. and what about now? with your communication skills, i mean. still shitty, i assume. but, what do i know? why would space be good for us when we never even got a chance to talk about what happened? it's like you were there one moment, then gone the next. napa was one thing, but being in forced proximity with you at an award show or premiere may happen, too. i dunno how else to admit the fact you may have been lucky adele was there as my distraction.

it's a good thing most of my moments are unserious then, since it makes you laugh. don't suppose you'd do me a solid and tell me what you need from me? communication skills still shitty, it's like you know me. well, we weren't exactly having fun around each other, so i'm not sure what else i was supposed to assume on that. though i'm open to talking if you still are. i'm not worried about premieres or press since we're both professionals and know how to do our jobs. but an awards show? you're being generous suggesting i'd be at one of those, and pretty sure those would be the one place you wouldn't have to worry about seeing me. but i didn't even talk to you at the concert. what, were you glaring at me from across the room, wishing you superman's laser vision to burn off whatever's left of my hair? i'm just trying to picture the scene.

we can curse him. he had to take me away and not let lex interact at all. please them being friends would have been interesting and i would have been all for it. exactly! i'd be up for anything. i'm glad. thanks for spending time with me and indulging in silly little adventures with me in napa. hope you didn't get too wasted while listening to adele. i can say i wouldn't bring you back to your room. not strong enough for that, haha.

they can be friends in our dreams, at least until we convince james that it'd completely be the right move to make for those two. and nothing for superman. hey, i'll always spend time with you, no question, and thanks for taking me along on said adventures. for once, i didn't get too wasted, which good thing since i did want to enjoy her concert sober. she's that good. and you wouldn't have guided me back to my room? what about staying with me on the floor if i'd passed out? the true friendship test.

You want to work with me just because of a cake? I don't know how I feel about this one. I only make one cake, really. Chocolate. Super basic. Cooking and baking really isn't my thing... take out is what I have most nights for dinner. It's a good time. Do you have any specialties? Cause it's going to be give and take here.

not solely, though days on set can be pretty long and i'll always appreciate anyone who makes the effort to add a little whimsy to them. although did google betray me on this and you don't like baking? nothing wrong with having takeout most nights, i get it. although do you have a restaurant you visit so often, they know you and your order in advance? and not really, other than being on wikifeet. my score there isn't even that high.

I guess I do, or I'm really good at looking like I'm terrified of being in space, because that's not me acting. Thanks, bud, I appreciate that. I love going for the more unusual stories, and sometimes they happen to be in space and involving a lot of wire work. It's tough, but somebody's gotta do it.

that shouldn't make me laugh when i'd probably be the same way in a space situation, though you do make it look good, to be fair. i hear you when i love an unusual story myself, though i say that like there aren't certain people i'd love to work with on any sort of story at all. so if we ever work together, it'll be all on you to make sure the script is actually good.

it was one of the stage names the company offered to me so definitely considered it. i think cause v is really simple and with it standing for victory, i couldn't resist. i get it and honestly, it would have been cool. let me just tell younger me to go with lex instead. i'd easily give you bragging rights for that.

so close, yet so far. i can understand choosing victory though, even if i'm still a little sad about past you not choosing lex. i suppose as long as you think he's cool, my heart will heal. though i am sort of curious why that was offered alongside victory. was there meaning to that, or it just sort of rolls off the tongue?

Dua couldn’t stop the smile that softened her face the second Nicholas’ hands settled against her. Earlier in the year, everything between them had been distraction, flirtation, late-night conversations to temporarily drown out heartbreak. Somewhere along the way, though, Nicholas had become some sort of comfort too. Her body reacted to him instinctively now, leaning into his touch before her brain even had the chance to catch up. Her lips met his easily, warm and familiar, lingering for just a second longer while one of her hands slid to the nape of his neck. The short growth there brushed against her fingers, earning her the faintest smile against his mouth. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” Dua said softly once she finally pulled back enough to properly look at him. And unfortunately for her own sanity, he really didn’t. The open collar of his shirt, the scent of his cologne, the way he somehow managed to look put together and relaxed at the same time, it was deeply unfair. She let her gaze drift over him for a second before brushing her fingertips teasingly along his jaw. Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she caught his lower lip lightly between her teeth before letting him go again.

the familiarity nicholas felt with dua, down to the way his hands anticipated the curve of her back and traced it instinctively, spoke to the time they'd spent together. nicholas found himself looking forward to that familiarity every time he was in dua's company. it wasn't something he thought too much about, but something that simply happened organically, completely on its own. yet every touch of hers he didn't have the chance to anticipate, like her fingertips caressing his new growth near the nape of his neck, it was electric and his body instantly craved more of her touch, more of the way she made him feel wanted, more of her. of course, dua looking him over the way she was in that moment, with approval of his look, made his confidence spike with her being a fashion icon in her own right, even with a casual look. the fingertips along his jaw and gentle nip to his bottom lip, which nicholas couldn’t stop himself from smirking over even as he pulled his bottom lip in to soothe with his tongue, only made him feel more confident about his choice of outfit. dua always had a knack for surprising him, one of the things nicholas appreciated about her. but the realization she'd cooked a meal solely for the two of them to enjoy went beyond surprise somehow, into completely disarming him when it was such an intimate gesture. even with dua's mock offense, he had a moment of feeling the need to explain himself. "i didn't-" he'd started, then redirected, if anything just as quick to establish control over himself. "why, do people suspect that regularly?" nicholas offered instead, a touch meek rather than his usual playful bravado as he allowed dua to slip from his arms.

That's what most people come to tell me all the time. That Eric's whole "damp, traumatised man emotionally attached to a cat during the apocalypse" thing feels deeply relatable to them, which perhaps says something worrying about us collectively. But I think your self-awareness would be your downfall here. Although, truthfully, I don't know if I'd fare much better. I like to imagine I'd suddenly become incredibly resourceful and brave in an apocalypse, but realistically I think I'd last about three business days before getting distracted by something stupid and immediately taken out. Eric at least tried. My poor boy. We, on the other hand... first ones to die.

that we all should just follow cats when these things happen because they don't seem to have a worry or care in the world? which yeah, probably worrying for us collectively, but cats! i just know myself and also doubt i'd try very hard to survive. we'd all like to think we'd be resourceful and surviving and perhaps outsmarting whatever it is, but in reality? i'd be dinner or dead, basically, so another thing we have in common. would you be one of those folks taken out because they thought a helicopter was flying over? because guilty. i think the only reason i'd try to survive is my kids, but they're already more resourceful than i am, so i'm sure i'd just slow them down. eric not only tried, he won by the end and protected the cat! a proper final girl if i ever saw one.

and see, nick... you're always able to keep me grounded. that's one of the many things i love about having you around. do you have any favorites in your notes list so far of what your kiddos have said? maybe by the time i see you next week in napa, i'll be able to share some of my own. listen, i really do want to get as excited as you when it comes to basketball now. let's totally go to a game together, courtside, and i'll promise not to show you up. i live in los angeles now, so whenever you get a chance to circle back to me from your busy schedule, i'll make sure to free up my day, too. the only people i know right now are lebron and luka... you may be in for a treat teaching me or a world of frustration. either way, i'm down. i'll go incognito so i'm not pointed out as the celebrity who fakes like they're into sports. by all means, i'm hoping you steal all the attention away from me.

one of the many things? you do know how to stroke a lad's ego, carey, and for that, i'll always be around to keep you grounded. some gems in the notes list always include the characters i've played anytime i've had to make any physical changes, because you know my kids won't let me get away without some commentary. my oldest thinks lex's nickname should be mr. potatohead since that's apparently how my head looks. any your kids have come up with since napa? perfect, i'm all for going to basketball games, and promise you'll have the time of your young life. plus the fact that you live in la just means i'll be dropping in to keep you company whenever i'm in the city, congratulations! it'll be fun teaching, always is, and i never get frustrated with any excuse to talk about basketball. people always expect to see me at games, so i don't mind hogging the attention if you're playing it cool.

Things had always felt easy between her and Nicholas. Earlier that year, they had both stumbled out of breakups and messy endings, finding comfort in each other in that very specific way two people sometimes do when they’re both trying not to think too hard about their own lives. A little bit of distraction and a little bit of misery loves company. What had started as blowing off steam had somehow turned into a friendship with flirtiness and playful banter. Even when they didn’t see each other for weeks at a time, Nicholas always managed to make her laugh. There was nothing calculated about him. He said exactly what was on his mind, sometimes to his own detriment, and Dua found that refreshing in a world where people constantly danced around what they really meant. She had never been good at wasting time herself. If she felt something, she said it. If she wanted something, she went after it. Maybe that was why being around him felt so uncomplicated. Unfortunately, Napa had flown by too quickly. Between the wine tastings, dinners, late nights, and endless groups of people pulling them in different directions, they’d barely had a proper moment alone to catch up. Not even a glass of wine. So before they’d both gone their separate ways again, Dua had invited him over to her flat.

dua had a familiar and a new presence in nicholas’ life, familiar for the way the two of them had always seemed to circle each other’s hemispheres over the years, yet recently new for how easily their shared pain had closed the distance, drawing them together in a magnetic dance of distraction. the end of nicholas’ marriage had called for plenty of distraction when he didn't want to spend too much time with his own thoughts, not if he could help it. and knowing dua was in the same mental state, it made sense that the two of them could find comfort in each other, that nicholas didn't have to explain anything when vulnerability really wasn't his forte. he was better at cracking jokes, keeping people laughing even with his oversharing, rambling, and flirting. he loved that it made dua laugh, and in turn, it made him feel good about himself too, even during the times that very act was a challenge. she didn't judge, never told him to tone himself down, and more and more, even if nicholas found looking to the future impossible for all the uncertainty surrounding him in the present, he could see dua's presence remaining in his life. it was something he certainly hoped for, that maybe the two of them would still have a place with one another outside of the upheaval that had brought them together.

The Met is basically just six straight hours of being overstimulated in couture. I love that your solution is apparently 'the entire Superman cast should attend together as emotional support.' I mean, that would’ve made it more fun. We would've gotten some pretty amazing DC representation there. And please, you already look annoyingly good. Now you’re just becoming too aware of it. Hmm, leather mother sounds even more threatening? Like a supervillain name. But I'm also loving it. Let me be a villain. But next year, yes. Full commitment to the bit. Did you have fun though? That's the most important thing.

i guess at least it’s being overstimulated in style, right? i know personally i’d never looked better while also wanting to hide in the dark. that’s the logical solution, that you and david should accompany me everywhere and calm my nerves. too much to ask? plus like you said, dc representation when we always need to be showing marvel we’re better. what can i say, you feed my ego once and the good feeling lasts five years. leather mother it is then, and you already have an interesting villain origin story. i did have fun that night, and at least being around the other prada folks made it more so. though you and i have our plan for next year, and no one will recover when they see us walk in.

i know you've done a bunch of great movies so far like x-men and superman, but nothing will ever beat about a boy for me. that scene of your character walking down the hall singing along to shake ya ass? hilarious. now, is it true you were hit by a bus a year after that movie??

appreciate that you like my films! i feel like i'll never live about a boy down, which i guess is okay since people find it memorable and didn't think i was an awkward kid, or an endearing one, i guess. who knew a dance and song would resonate so much? have you been doing research about me on the sly? because yeah, that happened, although i was lucky not to have gotten more than some bruises. though if you talk to my mom about it, and she was on the set when this happened, you'd think i was in a coma afterwards.

sometimes, yeah. it's a gift and a curse, especially where i'm at right now. got a few songs in my head that no one's heard yet so not really much to do with it. you working in your own lines from things is actually pretty iconic. do you clock everyone who doesn't catch where it's from right away?

you're working on a new album, or just writing in general? that's really cool either way, though pretty sure a lot of people would be excited by a sneak preview of sorts. it's a good test on whether they've seen the things i've been in, right? and if they don't recognize the lines, i banish them from my life, clearly. but no, my parents are probably the only ones who realize i'm doing it because they're so used to it.

yeah, i'm sure seeing you in skimpy clothing is as easy as me asking... and anyone else, right? i simply want to be able to enjoy the spa and resort without running into someone who was confused about wanting me in their life or not. maybe we'll get lucky and only have to see each other at the pairing dinner tomorrow night. i'll think about playing nice if it's less than an hour.

and? didn’t take you as the type to slut shame, zoe. hold on, there were admittedly a lot of things i was confused about, but you being in my life wasn’t one of them. though it’s not like i was the best at communication so that’s on me. i thought maybe some space would be good for us, but this certainly isn’t the conversation i imagined when you reached out again. okay, so five mile radius but if that’s breached, an hour’s the limit before it should be restored. just taking notes.

I’ll admit, I do like the idea of being distracting enough to ruin your concentration. Oh yeah? Which scenes should we be doing? You're such a sweet talker. Did you know that? But I can't say I hate it. I do wonder, though, what you were thinking about that night? I'm feeling generous, so who knows, we might end up recreating those dreams. Can't say I brought a gold dress to Napa, so you'll have to make do with nothing at all. I'd say this is a fair arrangement, don't you think? But then again, making you wait and use your imagination might be much more fun for me. It'd be like delayed gratification.

is it an idea when you are distracting enough to ruin my concentration? i genuinely don't even remember the rest of the film. hate to be a cliche, but said scenes are definitely better shown than told. although i suppose if you're offering to recreate, i could give you some hints. you did spend part of that dance with some guy's face between your thighs, and all i could think was i want a taste of that. additionally, sorry to some guy because i'm sure i'd recognize him otherwise, but like i said, i was distracted. very fair arrangement, i'd say, since i'd never argue with seeing more of you. i've been using my imagination, though there's a certain intensity that comes with the wait, so i respect it. and i'm not questioning in the least if you can handle it.

Depends. Some people are real lone wolves and would rather die than confess. Sad really, when you take a moment to think about it. Well, when you put it like that, how could a girl refuse the pleasure of your company? I missed having you around. It's nice to know I don't have too much competition on my hands, especially when it's comes down to spending time with you. I wouldn't want to fight someone over that, but I definitely would. That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Thank you so much, I might have to get it tattooed so I never forget. It simply means that I'm laying the foundations of our friendship down in your mind, so you know I'm too stubborn to be replaced. I'll always be there, in the back of your mind. Well, when you put it like that, how could I refuse? In fact, I think I would love nothing more than have you follow me around and spoil you from time to time, even though I do fear your fans would track me down and have my head on a stick. Napa it is. Can't wait to see you. What a wonderful location to reunite. Does this mean you'll play photographer if I want any photos taken to post on my Instagram?

that's not really a life i want to live, so let's agree neither of us ever become lone wolves, deal? or i won't let you become one by bugging you incessantly, if anything. see, it makes me smile knowing you missed having me around. you're scrappy, so i'd feel bad for anyone you decided to fight, though good thing the competition isn't something you need to worry about. lucky for said person and me. a tattoo? that sounds perfectly whimsical to me, so i support this. you always want to be in the back of my mind, which is rather sweet when you think about it. i like the sound of that, anyway. i didn't know you had this fantasy of me following you around all the time, anya! though a little spoiling goes a long way, so i don't think you'd have trouble keeping me happy, just to balance the trouble you'd get into with my two fans. i can start pratiscing for this by taking pictures of you for your instagram, so happy to help you out. plus what's a more perfect vibe than wine sipping?