God I hope someone reads this!!! I don't speak a word of Spanish and the online translation of this post is SUPER choppy, so I decided to write my own little ficlet about this absolutely STUNNING art! Enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zach had just finished arguing with the resort manager and was storming back to his limousine when his phone lit up with a text:
D: Would you like to see your bride?
Would he? Was that even a question? Slamming the limo door shut and barking at the driver to take him back to his jet, Zach typed back:
Z: Aren't you the one who said I'm not allowed to see him?
A response came almost immediately:
D: Yes, but he doesn't like my work, and if SOMEONE doesn't appreciate me in the next five minutes, I may faint from grief
Zach rolled his eyes, and responded:
Z: What if I don't like it either? I'm not paying you if I don't like it
D: Oh, you'll like it, darling
However smug and brazen his texts sounded, none of this meant that his stomach didn't flip when his phone buzzed again, signifying the receipt of an image.
Anticipation building in his core, the CEO unlocked his phone, opened the messaging app, and immediately forgot all of the stress of the last few hours.
The picture on the screen was the most beautiful sight Zach had even seen, a fantasy come to life that would soon be right in front of him.
The man in the picture was dressed in silver and white, in a strange, but elegant bridal hybrid between a dress and a suit. A short veil sat in his soft-looking brown hair, and the faint pink glow of Donita's pose beam surrounded both him and the white cat-like creature resting on his hips.
Though it was classic Donata couture, Zach could understand why Chris wasn't too happy about this additional accessory.
His enemy. His constant obstacle and headache. His. Only His.
Chris didn't even seem to be aware that his picture was being taken; he was looking off to the side wearing a mix of innocent bewilderment and distress on his face. He was probably wondering how he had ended up there.
Zach wasn't entirely sure himself.
All he knew was that he had found out the Aviva and her Blue Boy were getting married, and his mind had immediately wandered to Chris, who wasn't THAT much younger than his brother.
It was only a matter of time before it would be Chris's turn. Could he handle watching from afar, as he always had, as Chris fell in love with someone else, married them, promised to stay with them forever, and then lovingly raised a family with them?
The longer he delayed, trying to work up the nerve to just TALK to the zoologist, the greater the chance that someone else would snatch him up became. So Zach had snatched first.
Of course, Chris had been incredibly resistant to their impending marriage, but Zach was undeterred. The sooner their marriage was on paper, the less chance someone else could take Chris away. There would be plenty of time to get Chris to like him after that.
After all, Chris was the most forgiving, kind, optimistic, and caring person he knew. He would get over the less than romantic start to their marriage once he saw what Zach could give him.
His eyes remained fixed on his nervous bride in the picture. He would give him anything he asked for, anything his vast amount of wealth could provide, if it would make the sweet beauty smile.
He hadn't seen Chris's usually ever present smile since he had taken him, and once the zoologist realized his brother and friends likely wouldn't find them in time, he had spent his days looking very sad.
Maybe Zach could bribe Donita to take the cat off of the dress. She'd probably squawk about her artistic vision, but any idiot would know that Chris would rather have it walking around than frozen in place, even if it was still breathing either way.
It wasn’t as though the removal of the kitty would detract from the beauty of the outfit, so Zach hardly cared. His world had narrowed to a single view, the view of Chris looking so breath-taking he was prematurely irritated that anyone else would see him dressed that way.
If they didn’t need to have witnesses, the lovely view would only be for him. Just like the lovely zoologist was.
Zach’s gaze scanned the photo once more, heartbeat increasing with attraction and excitement. The light colour of the suit/dress offset Chris’s tan skin perfectly, making his features appear soft and innocent. The ‘skirt’ of the outfit fanned outwards just below the frozen cat, creating the illusion of a curved waist that Zach very much wanted to grab.
The younger Kratt was so perfect, he wasn’t sure he could stand it.
Reluctantly, he closed the photo to send a brief text:
D: I thought you might be
------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris stared into the tall mirror, a sick feeling sneaking into his stomach. He hardly recognized himself in the soft, flowing, WEDDING clothes Donita had put on him.
It wasn’t necessarily an ugly outfit, in fact, on the right person, it might have been beautiful, but the problem lay with what it represented: him marrying Zach.
Zach had never been kind to him, never showed any interest in him beyond throwing petty insults, and had certainly never hinted at any romantic interest in him. But out of nowhere, the CEO had decided that he wanted to marry Chris, and no one else’s opinion on the matter, including Chris’s, was necessary.
Attempts to talk the inventor out of the marriage had been unsuccessful: Zach hadn’t been nasty or ordered Chris to stop talking, but it was blatantly obvious that he wasn’t listening to anything the younger Kratt had said.
And he wanted to subject Chris to an entire life of that: being ignored and discounted except for when Zach wanted a pretty doll to dress up and look at?
It was obvious that Zach didn’t care about his feelings; if he had, he never would have let Donita trap a white African lion cub and put it on the outfit he expected Chris to get married in.
Chris gave the animal a little stroke, which he knew that it could feel, despite being unable to physically respond to the touch. The poor thing must be so frightened.
A sharp, accented voice from behind him chastised: “Darling, don’t cry. You may stain the fabric, and anyways, I know you’re not crying for the right reasons.”
Donita sashayed over to stand beside him, cappuccino in hand. “Save the tears for your wedding, at least then, it won’t look out of place. I can practically guarantee you Zachary is going to cry.”
The zoologist hadn’t even realized his eyes were wet. Whether he was crying for the cub, or for himself, he was unable to decide.
Quietly, he said: “Donita, I don’t want to do this.”
The fashionista sighed. “Oh, I know. You’re being terribly overdramatic about this whole matter, it isn’t as bad as you are making it seem. You get to marry one of the richest men on the planet, and you look STUNNING!”
She slipped behind Chris, carefully adjusting the skirt and veil to her satisfaction. “Perfect! I am a GENIUS! Zachary will not know what to do with himself when he sees you!”
At Chris’s anxious expression, she elaborated: “He adores you, he always has. You will never want for anything, and if you do, you can always divorce him and take half of his money.”
As if Zach would ever allow him to divorce him. Chris had a suspicion that Zach had no intention of a short marriage.
But something else Donita had said stuck in his mind.
“He doesn’t adore me. He’s always awful to me, even when I’m nice to him.”
“He tries to hide it, but I can always tell.” Donita said, smugly. “You will see it in his face when he sees you walk down the aisle tomorrow. He will not be able to conceal his feelings, I am certain.”
“Well, naturally.” The fashionista patted her flowing purple pants, in search of something unknown. “He is too desperate to be with you to wait even a day longer than he has to. As a matter of fact, he is on his way here to see you right now.”
When Chris continued to look nothing short of worried, the Italian added: “Don’t worry, I will not let him accost you and ruin my work. But I cannot help you after your wedding, so be grateful you have time to prepare yourself.”
She patted her pockets again, this time with more intensity. “Dabio! Where is my pen?”
“I don’t know, Donita!” Her assistant answered from the next room.
“It is your job to know!” The diva snapped, storming towards the other room. “How can I write Zachary an exorbitant bill without it?”
As she disappeared from sight, Chris’s stricken eyes travelled back towards the mirror, very much feeling the weight of the veil in his hair.
The villains expected him to marry Zach tomorrow?
He had known what Zach’s intentions were for the past few days, and Donita putting him in a wedding dress had made that already clear picture transparent, but….tomorrow?
How was he going to escape? Until arriving at Donita’s studio, Zach had never left him alone for a second. Until that exact moment, Donita had not either.
But what good was the few moments of privacy he had before Donita recovered her pen? The room he was in had no windows, and he didn’t know his way around the designer’s home enough to quickly find a room that did.
Her elaborate pink phone sat not far away, but Chris had not forgotten what had happened to Martin when he had tried the same tactic.
He still had his own freedom of movement, as Donita had turned the pose beam off after forcing him to put the bride outfit on, but one misstep could turn him into a living, breathing mannequin.
Much like the poor little cub resting on his hips. Chris touched it’s fur again, silently apologising to it.
‘You must be so scared.’ He thought. ‘I’M scared.’
Once he indulged in his own feelings, there was no stopping the flood of emotions.
He didn’t make any sound, and didn’t draw attention to his state, but when Donita walked back into the room, pen in hand, she immediately noticed that he was crying.
The designer sighed again. “Oh for goodness sake, Christiano, go into the next room and take my masterpiece off if you’re going to do THAT!”
As he silently moved to do as she said, wiping fruitlessly at his eyes, the zoologist thought he heard Donita say:
“You should not waste your tears, nothing you do will change Zachary’s mind.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------
When the CEO arrived at Donita’s villa, he all but pushed Dabio out of the way, rushing through the hall like a man possessed until he located the designer.
“Where is he?” he demanded, without bother for pleasantries.
The diva scoffed. “Hello to you, too, Zachie.”
“Nevermind that, where is Chris?” The CEO looked around the room, but the beautiful bride was nowhere to be seen. “If you’ve done something to him…”
“Oh, DO calm yourself.” Donita rolled her thickly outlined eyes. “He is perfectly fine, he is simply in the next room changing.”
“Why? I would have liked to see him before I pay you, you know?”
“Well, yes, but he started crying, and we can’t have him getting married in one of my designs with tear stains on it, now can we?”
“Wait, what?” Zach's eyes paused in their search for any signs of Chris to glare at Donita. “What did you say to him to make him cry?”
Donita huffed. “I resent your accusation, Zachary. I did nothing. In fact, I left to get my pen, and when I returned, he was crying. And not because of how beautiful he looked.” She paused, frowning a little. “You may need to talk to him before he sobs his way down the aisle tomorrow.”
Zach resented the implication that marrying him was so abhorrent that their upcoming wedding would cause Chris to cry, but his heart still went out to his bride. He was probably crying because he missed his brother, or his friends, or he was upset about the cat stuck to him. He really did need to talk to Donita about that.
But a good husband would first make sure that Chris was alright, at least, that was what Zach assumed. It wasn’t as though his father had been a good role model of a husband, or anything else for that matter.
Without another word to Donita, he strode across the room and knocked on the door the designer had indicated.
He knocked again. “Chris? Chris, open the door.”
Impatience and worry took over, and the CEO pushed the door open without further warning.
When he burst into the small side room, the first thing he noticed was how cold the temperature was compared to the rest of Donita’s home.
The second thing he noticed was the pile of white and silver fabric on the floor. He didn’t need to pick it up to recognize the outfit Chris had been wearing in the picture only half an hour earlier, aside from the little white cat, which was nowhere to be seen.
The third thing he noticed was the single brown boot, lying unlaced and alone in the middle of the floor.
The fourth, and final thing he noticed was the open skylight in the middle of the ceiling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Slightly bruised, and missing a shoe from the climb to the skylight, Chris readjusted the still frozen cub in his arms. Aviva would know how to help the little lion, even if the Wild Kratts had to break in and destroy the pose beam…again.
The last thing he heard before slipping away towards freedom was an angry shout, echoing through the otherwise quiet forest:
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
gummygunk
izzy806
gracieabrams
