[That Night] [Dinner]
Dinner at the Wilson Estate had become unusually quiet, although nobody at the table was actually focused on the food.
Halle, Chloe, Angelina, Caroline, and Trixie sat along the table, slowly eating while pretending they weren't watching the same thing.
Every pair of eyes kept drifting toward Alex and Max.
Max sat beside him with one leg crossed beneath the chair, her phone held casually in one hand while she scrolled through something with the expression of a woman who couldn't possibly care less about anything happening around her.
Alex held her fork.
He cut a small piece of chicken, lifted it toward her mouth, and waited patiently.
Max kept staring at her phone before opening her mouth and accepting the bite without even looking at him.
Alex pulled the fork back, picked up another piece, then reached over with a napkin when he noticed a little sauce near the corner of her lips.
Max leaned slightly toward him so he could wipe it away, still acting completely uninterested. 'Yeah, that's right. Treat me like a princess. How dare you have fun without me?'
Across the table, Caroline slowly lowered her wineglass and leaned toward Angelina. "I don't know if I'm watching a romantic dinner or a hostage negotiation, but either way, I'm scared to move too fast."
Angelina kept her eyes on her plate while whispering back. "Considering what happened to the elephant, I think we're currently observing the punishment phase."
Chloe heard them and covered her smile with her glass. "He also burned her favorite bench, so I'm pretty sure the punishment phase has several chapters left."
Trixie took another bite of mashed potatoes and whispered proudly, "Technically, we burned the bench together."
Halle turned her head slowly toward her. "You really shouldn't sound proud when you say that because your mother is sitting two seats away."
Trixie looked toward Chloe, who immediately raised an eyebrow.
Trixie lowered her voice. "Technically, Alex burned most of the bench."
Alex heard that and looked across the table. "That's some impressive revisionist history coming from the person who kept yelling, 'Hit the big crack.'"
Trixie calmly stabbed a piece of broccoli with her fork. "I was under adult supervision, so legally I'm pretty sure you're still responsible for everything."
Caroline nearly choked on her drink.
Max's lips twitched, although she kept scrolling through her phone.
Alex noticed the movement immediately. "You almost smiled."
Max didn't look up. "No, I didn't. I'm still furious."
Alex lifted another forkful toward her mouth. "You definitely almost smiled because I saw the corner of your mouth move."
Max accepted the bite and chewed slowly before finally glancing at him. "That was probably leftover rage escaping my face."
Angelina lowered her fork and murmured toward Halle. "She's enjoying this way too much."
Halle smiled into her water. "Of course she is. She's getting all his attention."
Caroline leaned closer to them. "He also massaged her shoulders before dinner, made her chocolate cake, promised to rebuild the bench personally, and ordered a landscaping team to rescue the elephant tomorrow morning."
Chloe whispered, "He wanted to buy her a new elephant hedge."
Caroline's eyes widened. "A completely new elephant?"
Chloe nodded while fighting a laugh. "Max said the old one had emotional value."
Trixie leaned into the conversation. "She said buying another one would be like replacing a family member."
Caroline slowly looked toward Max. "I didn't realize the hedge had reached family status."
Max finally looked up from her phone. "Keep talking, blonde, and I'll add another name to the endangered species list."
Caroline immediately returned to her dinner. "Your elephant was beautiful and I respect its contribution to this household."
Alex laughed under his breath while cutting another piece of food for Max.
Max glanced sideways at him. "Why are you laughing when you're the reason Gerald looks like he survived a forest fire?"
The entire table froze.
Alex stopped with the fork halfway toward her. "You named the elephant Gerald?"
Max gave him an offended look. "Obviously I named him Gerald."
Trixie's eyes went huge as she turned toward Alex. "You didn't tell me his name was Gerald."
Alex stared at her. "I didn't know the hedge had a name."
"What?! How could you know his name?" Max asked with a surprised expression.
Chloe dropped her face into one hand while laughing. "This somehow makes the whole disaster worse."
Angelina looked toward Max with genuine curiosity. "How long has the elephant been called Gerald?"
Max casually returned to her phone. "Ever since we moved in, and he never caused trouble for anybody until the flamethrower twins decided he needed a haircut."
Trixie raised one finger. "For the record, I said we should stop after the first ear."
Alex turned toward her in disbelief. "You suggested burning the other ear so they would match."
Trixie slowly tried to look away like a guilty kid. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Halle burst out laughing, and the rest of the table followed immediately.
Even Max finally lost the fight. She covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile, although a laugh slipped through anyway.
Alex pointed at her with the fork. "There it is. I knew you weren't staying mad forever."
Max straightened her face again and looked back at her phone. "I'm still mad, and you're still feeding me dessert. Then foot massage, and then carry me to my room."
Alex smiled as he picked up another bite. "I can live with those terms."
Max leaned toward the fork, accepted the food, then quietly rested one hand on his thigh beneath the table.
Across from them, Caroline noticed and leaned toward Angelina again. "Hostage negotiation is officially over."
Angelina took another sip of wine. "Give it five minutes because somebody still has to explain Gerald to the gardeners tomorrow."
Trixie immediately looked toward Alex and whispered, "So, you're safe now. What should we burn next?"
Chloe cleared her throat.
Trixie quickly said, "I'm sorry, Max. We should've been more careful."
Max gave Trixie a soft smile before shooting Alex a deadly look. "Sweetheart, you're ten, so I'm blaming the grown man who thought handing you a flamethrower was a good idea."
Alex sighed, accepting his fate.
Dinner returned to its usual noise after that, although nobody at the table would ever look at the elephant hedge the same way again.
That night, Alex had to work really hard, and he gave Max another nice massage, carried her upstairs, and put her to sleep after a small makeout session. Max wanted to jump on him and just have sex, but sadly, no sex for 6 weeks. He also put the twins to sleep beside her. Then finally, kissed Asher and Halle goodnight before shifting his attention toward the X-Men audition tapes.
--
[Iron Man Set] [Los Angeles]
The workshop set was already running hot by the time filming started.
Crew members moved between tool benches, lighting rigs, robotic arms, and sections of unfinished armor while Robert Downey Jr. stood near the center of the room wearing the early testing pieces around his boots and forearms.
Clone Alex 1 sat on the director's chair, while the main Alex took control over him. He had enough time to direct the film before he meeting with the Russo Brothers.
The scene focused on Tony testing the armor systems for the first time, long before he became comfortable inside the suit.
Alex wanted the sequence to feel messy, dangerous, and slightly ridiculous.
The first test involved the repulsors.
Robert stood inside a marked section of the workshop while practical light effects fired from his palms. He delivered his dialogue and the pulling rigs yanked him backward, making it look like he got smashed against the wall due to too much power.
Next he did flight test 2. Compressed air kicked loose papers across the floor as he tried balancing the force between both hands. But he crashed on the tool desk.
Alex kept the camera rolling.
Robert recovered, adjusted his stance, and tried again, only for the second burst to twist his upper body sideways.
Several crew members quietly laughed behind the monitors.
Alex smiled.
That was exactly what he wanted.
The next setup involved the flight stabilizers.
Robert wore reinforced boots attached to a hidden wire rig while the stunt team completed one final safety check. Once everything was ready, the cameras rolled again.
The thrusters activated beneath his feet.
Robert lifted several feet into the air before immediately tilting sideways. His arms shot outward as he fought for balance, and the wire team slowed the movement before he slammed into the nearby equipment. He landed awkwardly, took several steps forward, then looked around the workshop with the expression of a man realizing his brilliant idea might actually kill him.
Alex loved the take.
They shot several more attempts, each one becoming slightly more controlled.
Tony slowly learned how much force to use, how to shift his weight, and how to stop fighting the movement.
By the final take, Robert rose smoothly above the workshop floor and stayed there.
Only for a few seconds.
Still, those few seconds changed the entire scene.
Tony had gone from experimenting with dangerous pieces of machinery to realizing that he had actually created something capable of flight.
Later, they moved into the first full armor fitting.
Mechanical sections locked around Robert while practical suit pieces combined with hidden effects rigs. The red-and-gold armor looked heavy and powerful.
Watching through the clone's eyes from New York, Alex leaned back with a satisfied smile.
'Can't believe I'm making Iron Man,' Alex thought.
That day, they shot the first flight scenes. Some of the scenes were shot surrounded by green screens and a motion capture suit. While others were shot around the city using rigs and wires. Robert did all his stunts, and at the end of the day, he was exhausted. Shooting inside the suit wasn't an easy task, even though Alex had the suit team build cooling pads inside it.
Alex checked on Robert a few minutes after the crew wrapped the last flight setup.
Robert sat inside one of the cooled recovery rooms with his undershirt half soaked through, two ice packs resting across his head, and another pressed against the back of his neck. A portable AC unit blasted cold air directly toward him while someone from wardrobe carefully removed the heavier pieces still attached around his legs.
Robert looked up when Alex walked in. "You know, I really appreciate the motion capture suit and green screen stuff now. I thought I'd hate doing those shots, but after spending half the day inside that armor, I'm ready to marry the green screen."
Alex laughed as he pulled over a chair and sat across from him. "That bad?"
Robert adjusted one of the ice packs and gave him a tired look. "The suit looks amazing, so I'm not complaining about that part. But it feels like somebody locked me inside a fancy metal oven. The cooling pads help, but once the lights hit and we start doing wire work, I'm basically cooking in there."
Alex nodded because he'd already noticed Robert slowing down during the final setup. "I've been thinking about changing that for the next shoots anyway. We'll probably remove almost everything except the chest piece, and maybe the helmet when we need it."
Robert lowered the ice pack slightly. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Alex said as he leaned back in the chair. "We've got the new Hybrid Matrix Motion Suit ready. It can track your full body, the smaller movements, the way the armor shifts with your shoulders, all of it. We'll build the suit around you afterward and keep the practical pieces only where they actually help."
Robert stared at him for a second before smiling. "You're telling me I can play Iron Man without actually carrying Iron Man around all day?"
"That's pretty much the idea," Alex replied. "You'll still wear the chest so the lighting hits your face properly, and I might keep the helmet for close work. Everything else can be handled through the hybrid system when the scene gets too physical."
Robert leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes with obvious relief. "Alex, I take back at least thirty percent of the bad things I thought about you while hanging from those wires."
Alex laughed. "Only thirty?"
"I'm saving the rest until tomorrow because I know you're going to make me fly into something again."
Alex stood and gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Tomorrow should be easier. The suit team will test the Hybrid Matrix setup in the morning, and if it works the way I expect, you'll get a lot more freedom."
Robert opened one eye and looked at him. "If you tell me I can actually move without feeling like a refrigerator fell on me, I'll give you the performance of your life."
Alex smiled as he headed toward the door. "Good, because that's exactly what I'm planning to get from you."
--
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