( Apologies For The Late Reply ) - Tumblr Posts

     𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚  𝐝𝐢𝐝  𝐡𝐞𝐫  𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭  𝐭𝐨  𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩  𝐡𝐞𝐫  𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞  𝐟𝐨𝐫  𝐧𝐨𝐰.     she  hoped  that  it  looked  more  like  a  divide  and  conquer  scenario  with  the  press,  rather  than  her  not  wanting  to  be  anywhere  near  him  right  now.     it  gave  her  time  to  think  of  a  new  strategy  when  it  came  to  homelander,  threats  had  only  gotten  the  one  person  she  loves  put  at  risk  and  she  would  do  anything  to  make  zoe  was  always  safe.     she  needed  to  figure  out  another  way  to  work  him,  to  give  him  what  he  wanted  and  find  a  way  to  keep  him  in  line  without  putting  people  she  loves  at  risk.     victoria  answered  questions  about  a  wedding  she  had     𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨  𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭     in  planning,  but  she  gave  the  press  exactly  what  they  wanted  and  she  knew  that  she  could  at  least  stay  in  control  this  way.     homelander  was  a  different  issue  and  she  just  to  figure  out  exactly  what  it  was  he  wanted  more  than  power.

     𝐬𝐡𝐞  𝐡𝐚𝐝  𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭  𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤  𝐨𝐟  𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞  𝐚𝐧𝐝  𝐬𝐡𝐞  𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝  𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟  𝐭𝐨  𝐠𝐞𝐭  𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝  𝐛𝐲  𝐚𝐥𝐥  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤,     glad  that  the  wedding  talk  had  stopped  and  she  could  talk  about  politics  in  a  way  that  made  her  feel  a  little  more  in  control  again.     she  no  longer  felt  rattled  and  she  no  longer  felt  like  she  was  losing  something  she  couldn't  afford  to  lose.     yet  she  has  to  try  not  to  stiffen  when  she  feels  him  touch  her  arm,  forcing  a  smile  on  her  face  as  she  looked  up  at  him  and  there  it  was.     he  kept  focusing  on  her  daughter,  on  her     𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲     and  she  knew  exactly  what  he  needed.     love  and  attention.     she  may  have  just  figured  out  how  exactly  to  get  an  upper  hand  on  him,  she  had  to  start  small  and  make  it  seem  like  she  was  just  doing  as  she  was  told.     nodding  her  head,  she  looks  at  him,     "     of  course,  it's  time  we  make  our  move  home,     "     after  saying  a  few  goodbyes  to  people  that  mattered,  seeing  her  security  detail  following  them  towards  her  car  to  take  her  home,  finding  herself  almost     𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞     with  him  knowing  her  secuity  wouldn't  dare  approach  homelander.     stopping  for  a  moment,  her  hand  moving  to  touch  his  arm  to  get  him  to  look  at  her,     "     i  wanted  to  apologise  for  earlier.     i  was  out  of  line  and  it  won't  happen  again,     "     victoria  was  almost  surprised  by  how  sincere  she  sounded  as  she  looked  up  at  him,     "     i'm  sorry.     if  this  is  going  to  work,  we  need  to  try  and  get  along,  right?     we  can't  be  fighting  and  then  acting  like  everything  is  okay  in  front  of  people,  i'm  not  gonna  be  able  to  do  that,     "     she  wasn't  an  actor,  she  wasn't  used  to  being  told  what  she  should  say,  talking  points  was  one  thing,  being  scripted  was  another.    but  she  refused  to  let  herself  feel  that  scared  again,  she  couldn't  do  it  and  she  had  to  hope  that  this  new  way  of  handling  him  actually  worked,     "     how  about  you  come  over  for  dinner  tomorrow  evening?     i'm  pretty  good  cook  and  we  can  discuss  how  this  going  to  work  moving  forward,     "

The rest of the event goes smoothly without Victoria trying to corner him again, he keeps an eyes on her just in case she wants to go rebel again or say something she'll regret later though he knows that she knows it's to her benefit if she keeps her mouth shut, after all he did threaten her little daughter, why no one can do things he just tell them to?! Is it too hard to follow a simple order? John feels like a kid that being deprived of a toy and now that they give him the same toy, he doesn’t want to play with it anymore, hard to keep him interested for a long time, he loses interest in Victoria the second the reporters bring up the wedding plan again. He forces a wide smile, eyebrows shooting up, fauxing surprised "it's all up to our dear bride, but yeah, probably spring!" All this social interactions bored him and he feels exhausted already, maybe it isn't too bad reading from a script? 

It's still close to ten when he decides he had enough and wants out. Politely excusing himself in middle of a political talk with some thinks-he's-big-name and goes to find his future wife, Victoria. Touching her arm gently and he thinks with himself that he has to get her a ring soon if he wants others to buy their story better, maybe he'll regret it in future, who knows. "Dear, we have to go now, Zoe is alone at home.." He whispers to her but loud enough that few people standing too close can hear him, there are 'aww' s spreading between the crowd, they think what a kind and caring husband he is, and a nice father to little Zoe, too. He hopes she gets the signal and just follow him outside, he's tired of standing around and looking useless and he doesn't care if she's having an important conversation now.