Coffee and Contemplation, Martin
Steve sat in the carriage with Joyce and his kittens, well, with Jane at least. Martin was driving the carriage with Dustin sitting on his shoulders and messing with the feather on his hat, and Max, his rambunctious girl, was sitting on the horse, Nancy’s, shoulders, giving Steve and Joyce a mini heart attack everytime she bounced too high or too hard.
They had just come back from the newest restaurant, Le Petit Cafe and were now on their way back to the manor. Jane had a small tussle with Maxine, play fighting of course, but fighting nonetheless and had ruffled her little purple bow so Madame Joyce was fixing it back to it’s perfect state as best she could, but was having a little trouble due to the little kittens curious nature that made her want to look at everything passing by.
He finished it in just the right time as they pulled up to the manor. He grabbed Jane’s hand to help her down after Madame Joyce got down, he saw Martin help Dustin down and fix his little tie, before attempting to help Maxine down, but she had chosen to jump down instead. Thankfully, Martin had fast reflexes and caught her small body before it fell into the mud and onto her dress.
Steve could only shake his head and grab his daughter's hand, “Now children, what do we say?” He spoke calm and clear with his deep french accent. He waited for Dustin to go first, like he was taught, “Thank you mister Martin, for letting me ride on your shoulders!” Steve smiled as Martin patted a soft hand across his curls that were just as untameable as Steve’s before assisting Madame Joyce inside, now it was Max’s turn, he nodded at her to speak.
“Thank you Miss Nancy, for letting me ride on your back!” She smiled with a small curtsey that made Steve smile as well at her good manners. Nancy smiled and tipped her hat at her, “You’re very welcome Miss Maxine, it was my pleasure.”
Max giggled and ran to Steve who brushed a hand down her long ginger hair, “How was that, Mama?” Steve grinned at her, “Very good darling, that was very nice.” He began a conversation with Nancy as the children ran ahead into the home, small trips to push past each other were futile. Dustin fell a little behind, “Wait for me! Wait for me!” Then Jane cried out louder than the others, “Me first! Me first!” Then they all were squished together in the doorway.
Max squinted at Jane, “Why should you be first?” she huffed. Jane turned up her nose, “Because I’m a lady, that’s why!” she then squirms her way out from between them to touch the carpet first. Max rolls her eyes, “Huh, you’re not a lady.” Her green eyes glinted with mischief, Dustin made eye contact and nodded, “Yeah!” He shouted, grabbing the end of Jane's tail, “You’re nothing but our sister!” The other two got out from the door and shut it while Jane puffed her cheeks, muttering under her breath, “I’ll show you if I’m a lady or not.”
Dustin and Jane began chasing each other around and around the living room while Max, ever the mastermind, hid under a chair, “Yeah! Get her Dustin! Get her!” Meanwhile, Dustin had started tickling Jane, making her shriek in laughter.
Jane had grabbed Dustin's tie to pin him down, he hissed at her, “Fight fair, Jane!”
Max snorted from her seat, “Haven’t you learned anything, Dustin? Females never fight fair!” She then jumped from her seat to help Jane by tickling him as she helped keep him down, all of them laughing loudly.
In the forum, Martin was waiting by the steps with his watch, waiting for Jim Hopper to arrive, the man was more burly and usually rougher than their other guests, but having known the man for a few years has helped build his tolerance. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath when he heard the door open as loudly as the person speaking that opened it.
“You don’t tug on superman's cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim!”
Martin sighed, Jim was always singing that song along with his most favorite line- his thoughts were interrupted by an arm around his shoulders, “Ah, good day sir. Madame is expecting you, sir.”His words fell upon deaf ears as Jim threw his hat toward the rack where Martin had begun to put his jacket, catching it before it fell to the floor. “Another ringer sir, you never miss.” He spoke sarcastically under his breath.
He saw Jim making his way up the stairs, “Come on Martin, last on up the stairs is a nincompoop!” He called out. Martin sighed deeply, “Sir please, if we could take the elevator?”
Jim bellowed a laugh as he locked arms with Martin and drug him up the stairs.
“Mornings are for coffee and contemplation, Martin!”
“But sir, I-”
“COFFEE and CONTEMPLATION!”
Upstairs, Steven was laying across the couch as he watched Joyce finish brushing across her wavy brown hair, “There now, Steve. That’s better. We must both look our best for Jim, he’s our oldest and dearest friend, you know.” She makes eye contact with Steve who nods and uses his own brush to fix a few tangles in his own hair, purring at the tone of approval in Joyce's voice when she looks over it and deems it fit.
The two sit in silence as the door slams open, startling Steve more than Joyce, Martin comes in with his pants falling, he is huffing loudly out of breath. “Introducing….Monsieur…..Jim…..Hopper.” He gets out the last word before he slides down the door, whilst Jim saunters in, “Ah, Joyce, I’ve missed you!”
Joyce clasps her hands together in happiness and stretches her hand for him to kiss, but he mistakenly grabs Steve’s overly fluffy tail, making the cats eyes widen and cover his mouth to smother a small laugh.
Jim kisses it and smacks his lips, sighing, “Just as soft as I remember.” Joyce laughs and shakes her head, “You’re a shameless flatterer, Jim Hopper.”
Martin nodded and took it as his leave to go downstairs to prepare a light snack for the madame and some warm milk for the kittens.
Joyce and Jim had begun dancing wildly around the room while Steve watched with a naive and loving light in his large brown eyes. Soon the dance ended as Joyce fell back into the chair she was in before and Jim danced on his own in the middle of the floor. “Now, Jim, be serious, I called you here on an important matter!” Jim flopped down into his chair behind the desk that was only reserved for when they had business transactions. “Alright, Alright, I hear you, now who do you want me to sue, eh?” He pulled out the papers and adjusted his glasses on his face, peering and squinting at the papers.
They talked for a long while as Steve played with the shiny gems and crowns on his seat, using Madames mirror to look at himself at different angles. He caught the end of the conversation with his cat ears flickering when he heard the word ‘cats’ and ‘kittens’ in the sentence.
“No, no, no Jim, with my cats” Joyce spoke lightly
“Oh you’re cats?”
“Yes, Jim.I simply wish for my cats to inherit first, then at the end of their lifespan, my entire estate will revert to Martin.” Joyce spoke with a sense of determined finalization.
Down in the kitchen, Martin had heard the entire conversation through the pipe phone located on the wall with his jaw dropped, “ Cats inherit first! And I come after the cats! I-- ME, after --- no! It’s not fair!” He then began muttering about the lifespans of each cat including the nine lives included, making himself go into a sense of hysteria. He pulled at the strands of his hair and caught the eye of the large pot of milk, looking down into the milk that was bubbling, he nodded.
“Those cats have got to go.”
Steve, after he became bored of the crown and jewels and the conversation in general, he took it upon himself to look for his children. He was walking calmly down the carpeted stairs and into the hallway, he then heard the telltale sound of his children's laughter. Unaware of the danger lying wake in his future.