One For The Money [Cole/Chloe]

[Layne Riley]

Scarily enough, Layne didn’t really doubt that in some way, Cole would figure out, just as he had said, the color of her bikini. Well sheesh, had she known that it would create such problems, she wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place. Actually, she was already regretting doing so, and wondering if there was some way she could get him to forget that she had mentioned it at all. No…she highly doubted that he would forget. Cole had a nose for these sorts of things, or a memory…or the eyesight. He could have been a spy if the subject was always women and their undergarments. Yeah, he’d make the best detective out there. Unfortunately though, in that profession, you actually had to do things that were worthwhile, so he had been sunk in that field. Instead, he just pestered her about what she was wearing. Hopefully she could just ‘lay low’ in terms of not mentioning it and he would forget himself because of his attention being focused on trying to get the treasure that was in these caves. Treasure beat out your own desire to see female undergarments, right? Right!

Though with Cole, one could never be so sure that was the case.

Okay, onto bigger and better things for her to think about, there was Chloe and her need to destroy absolutely everything that moved if it scared her at all. Before treasure, came this discussion. It hadn’t really been one that had been settled in years, since Cole had badly thrown a grenade. Chloe hadn’t really been the same when it came to grenades since then, but her own love of using her big-ass gun to blow up the entire world terrorized her and Cole enough to make up for the experience of the grenade. Was Layne the only one that didn’t seem dead set on traumatizing people? It seemed like it, but hey, she preferred not to blow up entire cavern systems, so that the whole thing didn’t collapse on her. Rule one of exploring a cavern, take away Chloe’s big guns, at least if you wanted to make it out alive. And there went Cole, being his normal self and saying that it was possible that he wanted her to kill them by causing this place to collapse. Rolling her eyes heavenward as if asking for patience, Layne palmed her face. “Real smooth Cole, just have her for real decide to reorganize the caves why don’t you. Don’t encourage her suicidal behavior with her gun.”, she lectured slightly.

She found herself laughing aloud after Chloe called Cole’s masculinity into question, quickly snapping a hand over to try and stop herself. Really, there was absolutely no way Cole would ever lean the other direction. He was just about as much of a woman lover as you could possibly get, and she had never doubted his sexuality. Very…very straight. Still, Chloe’s comment had her laughing, which of course Cole had to go and ruin it by saying that she was as interested in his underwear as he was in hers. Throwing up her hands to shoulder level, she stopped her laughter, but couldn’t contain the smile on her face. “You’ve got me Cole. My whole purpose in coming down here was to figure out if you wear boxers or briefs,” she said sarcastically. Again…she had just done it again. There was no way he was going to let this one go either, she realized, until he had settled for her what he wore. She should really just stop talking before they were all having a nudist colony started somewhere. NOT…of course, that she would ever think about anything like that, it was just-…she should really stop thinking too, it tended to get her mind in trouble.

She simply ignored his rant about how he was more prepared than either of them. Layne knew that it wasn’t true, but arguing with Cole was like arguing with a brick wall when he had his mind set on something. (A quality she would NEVER possess of course.) No, if he thought that he had been more prepared this time, then he would think that until his dying breath, so it was just best to allow him to think that and move on. Especially when Chloe was moving on…with a chest that had to be full of her treasure.

Stepping up beside her, Layne grabbed at it too, before telling Chloe promptly whose treasure it really was. And it wasn’t Chloe’s, that was for sure. Tugging lightly at it, she heard Chloe call Cole an ass and then tell her that it went to ‘finders keepers’. “Hey! You wouldn’t have found it first had you not been blowing up the place and making us run for cover, right Cole? Am I right?”, she badgered, seeking his help on this one. “So you cheated, and thus, mine!”, she said as she gave it another tug, this time not so gentle.

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Words:; 986
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Caves
Outfit:; That one I linked!
Tagged:; Cole and Chloe
Notes:; This thread...so much amazing
Listening To;: Colors of the Wind - Disney

[chloe]

Chloe just wanted to get over with the chit chat and get to finding that treasure, but hey, the sooner she took off…the sooner they’d be in pursuit of her. Shaking her head a bit at Cole, she couldn’t help but fold her arms across her chest. Apparently someone somewhere thought she had a problem with blowing things up. No, that wasn’t necessarily the case, it just happened to be the first thing her hands went for in regards to the bugs that had been trailing after her. A little pistol wasn’t going to do anything. There was no need to debate this, because…she knew in the end she’d just stretch their time here even longer than needed. So with a sigh, she waved a hand and dismissed the subject altogether, let them think she was insane or something…that was their own problem. Besides, wouldn’t you be scared of someone who was a little explosion happy? That always added for good effect…especially when that someone was Chloe, someone who could play the part more than really well.

Rolling her eyes at Cole and Layne, Chloe just was debating on when to make her move, literally, when to flee from this place and go find some treasure, but with a finger pointed in her direction, she put on a cheeky smile as if there were a spotlight raining down on her. “Well gee, thanks Cole, Layne, because these are the nicest compliments I’ve gotten in a long time. You poor people, not getting these wonderful compliments like I am. Either I’m a gun-happy psychopath or just dumb. I appreciate it.” And she sounded really serious…as if it had been a compliment, but all and all, her words dripped with sarcasm, and after her words and a cheesy thumbs up towards Coulson and Layne, her face went deadpan, hands on her hips as she looked to the two, her eyes wandering a little bit past them and finding the treasure. What, was Cole still talking? Well tough noogies, Chloe saw treasure and it was going to be in her hands now. Smiling and walking past them…taking the treasure, Chloe was ready to haul ass-

And there was Layne, ready to steal her glory.

Frowning at the blonde, Cole’s fueling the flames here certainly didn’t help. Being tugged even harder, causing Chloe to be pulled forward, but her hands never slipped from the treasure chest, the side she had a good grip on at least. Gritting her teeth and digging her heels into the ground beneath her feet, she let Layne have a little leverage on her side which Chloe prepared herself. “Hell to the no, Layne! I still would’ve found it before both of you, I am after all…the greatest treasure hunter in Ivalice, it’s practically a fact. So…HANDS OFF.” She said with a mighty tug of the treasure in her direction, using the force of her feet having been firmly placed on the ground as she heaved trying to just rip that chest from Layne’s hands. If it really came down to it…Chloe could go for that gun-happy psychopath act…maybe blow a hole in the ceiling of this room, take the treasure and run for her life. She was so close to having won this round…damn it Cole and his being…Cole! Turning the girls against one another…he must be awfully proud of himself, but Chloe didn’t have enough time to spare him anymore words aside from telling him he was an ass, her focus was on Layne…and her grip on the treasure.

“If you let go…I promise not to blow anymore holes in this place. If you don’t, I can’t make any guarantees.” She said in a mischievous tone, raising an eyebrow towards Layne. This was going to be mighty interesting, that was for sure.

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Words:[/color] 742
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Cole, Layne
Wearing:[/color] Already linked
Listening To:[/color] Stuff
Notes:[/color] None

[Coulson Pike]

What concerned Cole about Chloe was less the fact that she might blow them up, but more the fact that he didn't know what she was wearing underneath her outer clothes, either. Okay, not really, but as the women exchanged a few more jousts about that subject and due to the fact that he wasn't actually so concerned about it (he was getting nearly blown up all of the time), he did study her for a few seconds to wonder about the same thing for himself. But then she got into one of her extra-sarcastic bouts which he almost listened to with a raised eyebrow, wondering how far she was going to go with it. He didn't say anything once she was done, though, just kept the slightly confused expression on his face and giving Layne a quick glance before his eyes moved back to the brunette, again getting back to the previous subject and deciding not to get into her little performance there, because boy did he not want to encourage her to do that very often, if ever again.

But, right, he had to do some more poking at Layne for her bringing up his underwear right at the moment he was getting down to figuring out the color she was wearing. And he had to do it to stop that incessant laughing of hers. What, he couldn't get a laugh but Chloe's odd little comments could split her side? What was up with that, anyway? Proudly, he nodded to her comment that her interest in his underwear was the whole reason she was here to begin with. Well, of course, he'd known that all along. "Then I'll give you three guesses. And if you take three tries to guess between two options, then I think you might have some issues going on..." Because Cole definitely was the last person in the world to mind if a woman - a pretty woman - was interested enough to be curious about his underwear, especially if she wasn't yet slaying him for being interested back. He made sure to shift himself in place and stare at her expectantly, waiting for an answer oh so intently. Chloe could also guess too, that would be perfectly alright...but, of course, she'd been opening herself up...figuratively...for the same discussion.

But, regardless, Cole knew they hadn't come down here for a discussion about who was or wasn't wearing what, and though he was definitely in favor of finding out considering he was in a dark cavern with two women, he still had the primary goal on his mind. Getting the jewels and getting all kinds of praise from the Rozarrians - and all kinds of money - for returning them in a timely manner when no one else as of yet had been able to do so. But, considering Chloe's grabby, tanned hands was already on it and he really didn't feel like chokeslamming a woman he happened to really really like...not that he'd really chokeslam a woman he didn't like either...he had to be a little creative. And creativity was Cole's calling card...well, outside of smooth-talking and...getting into trouble and...yeah, all those other not-so-endearing things.

And he went to watching, as he stood up and fell in behind the pair of friends from his youth, the beautiful scenario that he had created. Continuing his feigned, intellectually sound indifference, Cole watched the two yanking back and forth a bit. These were not fragile women, he knew, so this was nothing if not a good show so far. Could be better, but he wasn't going to push things. Nope, he had to...stay here and continue to seem innocent, which was good for his health. And he also couldn't take sides, either, which made him look to them both thoughtfully as Layne directly questioned him. "That is a good point...she did use excessive force, which is kind of unfair..." Cole crossed his arms over his chest. "But then...Chloe also walked a few feet with it in her arms, which gives her some claim to it... I don't see how I could call one over the other, you two will have to settle that for yourselves."

Yep. Strategic brilliance.

Words - 762
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Smooooth operator.[/size]

[Layne Riley]

Layne shrugged when Chloe started in with her sarcasm. “If the shoe fits.”, she mentioned lightly after the dark haired woman mentioned the two options. She caught the sarcasm of the situation, but that didn’t really matter. Chloe really…did have some problems with bringing caves to ruins, so Layne was totally justified in this, as was Cole! Or at least she thought so.

Her thoughts were neatly interrupted by Cole’s foolishness. Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have fed into it by giving him any attention on this particular subject, but around him, she found that it seemed to be a pattern to speak without thinking and then have to try and backtrack when he found some way to twist her words. That happened way too often, perhaps she should really be finding out a way to thwart him on things like this. Well whatever, she had opened her mouth and made the crack about his undergarments without thinking. Oh well, this was Cole, she was used to dealing with him, even found that she enjoyed the bantering at times. Giving him one of her ‘looks’, Layne finally laid a palm on her forehead. “You’re ridiculous Cole, you do know that, right? And what about boxer-briefs? There’s technically three guesses.” She would look to Chloe for some support on the subject – no pun intended, but she doubted that she was going to get it. Chloe had made it perfectly clear all those years ago that she didn’t care about Layne’s underwear, so she figured that nothing had really changed in all those years.

She wasn’t quite sure if she was relieved or not when the situation went from arguing about who wore what and Cole’s continuously trying to figure out just what they were wearing underneath their clothes, to a tug o war between her and Chloe. As far as she was concerned, she had gotten here first, so Chloe could just hand over her loot and that could be that! Unfortunately for her, Chloe seemed to have other ideas, and even told her-…woah! “That’s not true and you know it! I do believe you have nothing on me Chloe Frayzer, so I definitely would have found it first had you not tried destroying the place all around me and distracted me for a few moments.” Layne firmly believed that in her mind. It was so much easier to work when you didn’t have some chick blowing up walls and ground or the ceiling around you.

Since Chloe wasn’t seeing eye to eye with her about it though, Layne applied some steady pressure toward pulling the loot from her grasp while she enlisted the help of their third companion. At first, a triumphant little smile appeared on her lips, before she heard the second part of what he said. Frowning, Layne sent him a glance over her shoulder to tell him he should have just stuck with the first part and dropped the last. Some friend he was! So she was going to have to settle this…

Well it wasn’t going to end in Chloe walking out of here with all the treasure, that was for sure! The nerve of her, thinking that Layne would just let her walk away from here with a chest possibly full of treasure. On second thought…they could just be wasting their time here, and it might not have anything to do with the treasure at all. Well that would be embarrassing. As if thinking thoughtfully about it, Layne finally came up with somewhat of a truce. “Okay…so we don’t even know if anything worthwhile is in here Chloe. What’s to say we set it down and figure it out before we do anything? After all, you weren’t thinking of lugging that thing out of here like that, were you?” Okay…that could work. Layne was strong and lithe, she could wrestle Chloe down if it turned into an out and out wrestling match over it. And Co-…crap, she had forgotten about Cole. Well…she could handle that when the moment rose. Distract him by throwing her bikini top a-…okay no, she wouldn’t go there. Moving on!

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Words:; 846
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Caves
Outfit:; That one!
Tagged:;
Notes:; I was thinking...that this chest wouldn't have much except an odd looking key or something, that they'd have to take further into the caves to get to some tomb or some odd room, where they could go Uncharted style and have to work together to open some secret door, and...after that, they can have to squabble over the jewels and then split/chase each other back to the Margrace home while trying to get it? Also...we're gonna have to fit a Chloe/Layne water catfight in here...I did promise Cole...*long notes are long*
Listening To;: Let go - Red