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elvisabutler · 2 years

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caught in a trap pt. 4

fandom: elvis ( 2022 ) pairing: elvis/living past 42, past priscilla/elvis, current priscilla and elvis loving each other too much always. several bits of linda/elvis. word count: 1768. rating: t, tbh. it's got cursing, it's got elvis's drug use. warnings: drug use. the usual bullshit with elvis. use of the word mommy in relation to refer to a significant other. implied terror/fear from a child. the colonel being the colonel. author's note: i don't. i'm not even gonna pretend i have an excuse. also reading my pairings and author notes for this fic now that i write real elvis is hilarious to me. whoever reads this, enjoy. gonna try and finish it by the new year. we'll see. i don't know. previous parts can be found in the masterlist. y'all know this is a fix it fic. this really is just austin elvis vs elvis elvis. i just kind of borrowed elements to fit my needs. directly previous part here.

The thing about Priscilla is that in the entire time Elvis has known her she's been a fabulous listener. Even after they've gotten divorced she still listens when he calls sure the conversations are usually a bit- a lot- shorter but Elvis takes what he can get with her even though he has Linda and even though Priscilla has moved on. It's perhaps a little codependent still but he never claimed that he's necessarily the most healthy when it came to his relationships. So sue him for wanting to keep his ex-wife closer to him than any man probably has any right to.

She listens as Elvis talks- as Elvis tells her what Jerry had told him that- as much as he's loathe to admit it might have made him pass out like he did. He expects her to be more shocked, more taken aback by the knowledge but instead he's greeted by a lack of reaction that if he wasn't so bone tired and exhausted and it wasn't Priscilla acting that way- it would have likely lead to him biting her head off. Instead it just lets his anger deflate, allows him to relax to a certain degree. He likes to think that's just Priscilla's effect on him sometimes, but he knows it's more just her knowing him better than almost anyone.

"I'm gonna fire 'im, 'Cilla. I did, but- everythin' ain't finalized yet, we're doing that tomorrow, but I'll finally be done wit' him." Elvis says as he finishes catching her up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Priscilla has shifted a few times in her chair, and her feet are currently planted firmly on the ground as she leans forward, eyeing Elvis as if he's a puzzle that needs solving. It takes her a moment before she stops giving him that look and just lets out a very heavy sigh, shaking her head just slightly. "Remember the last time you told me you were firing the colonel you ended up here. remember what I said Elvis?”

His lip curls up into something faintly resembling the beginning of a snarl. Was Priscilla really bringing that up? Bringing up how he promised her that "business was business" and that he "owed it to his face to let him know in person" as if the Colonel would have done the same thing for him, granted him the same sort of courtesy. There's a part of him that knows she's right, knows that he had said that he was going to fire him only to be stuck under the multiple feet of snow like she predicted but it still bothers him to have her point it out. Jerry looks at Elvis from his chair, waiting for him to actually say something in answer to what Priscilla said before Elvis just sighs and shakes his head. "Don't let him clip your wings, yeah, 'Cilla, I remember. It's different this time."

She licks at her lips slowly before humming softly. "What's different about it, baby? You're really done this time? Can't stand being in the snowstorm any more?"

"Somethin'- 'Cilla, I don't know, a'ight? I don't know! I just don't wanna be doin' this. Don't wanna be slavin' away for 'im only to realize I ain't got nothin' to show for it but a daughter I don't get to see and a body that's breakin' down faster than I can try and fix it." He know he shouldn't yell, shouldn't be like this to Priscilla but his frustration about all of this is getting to him. His regrets about everything are starting to get to him. He could be so much happier right now, he could- he could be touring the world. Even- He could still be married to Priscilla but even if he wasn't he could take Linda around the world. Hell, he could take all his girls around the world. They deserve it for what they've done for him.

He waits for Priscilla to get up, to remind him that as much as she loves him, she did not come here to be yelled at, to have him be belligerent at her, but she doesn't. Instead she turns to look at Jerry and motions to the door. "Can you give us a minute? For us to talk." A pause. "Alone."

Which is to say she didn't want to have any interruptions from him or anyone else Memphis Mafia related or even Linda. This was strictly a conversation she wanted between the pair of them. Jerry nods moving to stand up and crossing the room in a few strides. "I'll be outside, Priscilla." He nods at Elvis. "EP."

Priscilla stands up as soon as Jerry leaves the room and moves to sit on the bed, not bothering to ask for permission because what's a lack of space between someone you've been married to and as much as she is sometimes loathe to admit it but someone who knows practically every bit of you because he had a hand in helping shape it.

“Is she taking care of you still?” Priscilla as she moves to stroke his hair gently. It feels soft like she remembers. “I know you said she-”

“You know how I get, ‘Cilla. Could be takin’ care of me in the best way and I’d find a way to still mess it up.” Elvis laughs softly even though none of what he said was actually funny to either one of them.

"I do." She answers with her own huff of a laugh before her hand moves to his cheek, stroking it as he leans into her touch. “You look tired.”

Elvis doesn't speak for a moment, instead just focusing on how gentle Priscilla's touch feels, at how it feels like a cool balm against his skin and how it touches something and settles something in him that even Linda can't touch on her days that he's feeling so goddamn small. He shrugs when he finally does speak. “Stopped takin’ the amphetamines, course I’m a little tired.”

"You-" She stops herself and just looks into Elvis's blue eyes for any trace of a lie. "For Lisa?"

His answering nod is slow and rather measured as he tries to figure out if he wants to answer her beyond that. She deserves an actual answer out of him one complete with words and an acknowledgment of the exact reasons why. "Can't have her being scared of me. 'Course I did, 'Cilla. For her."

Maybe a bit for himself, if only because it meant he'd still be able to see her, still be able to do some of the things he wanted in his life even if he was confined to doing what he had been doing. His eyes don't leave Priscilla as he watches her face cycle through multiple emotions ranging from what he thinks might be pride and honest delight. For a moment he feels like he does when he sometimes calls Linda Mommy and he scrunches up his face. She finally speaks in a whisper. "Thank you."

For putting their daughter first, for doing something she asked him do so many times, for doing something she knows will help him in the long run even if the effects right now aren't pleasant.

Elvis just shrugs before leaning against Priscilla. "You gonna head t'the hotel? Don't know if I'll be any good company right now."

She opens her mouth to answer, fully intending to say no immediately before she shuts it and just looks at Elvis and sees the tiredness in his face, in his shoulders- in every part of his body. Her answer changes as she takes all of that in and processes it. "I'm tired as you, baby. I can stay here."

A hum leaves Elvis's throat before he can stop it. He doesn't need Priscilla, he's got Linda and Priscilla isn't his first love but- she's also just- she's his 'Cilla. He should tell her no but he's missed her, missed being like this. "If you wanna."

Her choice, not his for once because he's not in any state to choose anything for anyone. Her reply is simply to scoot closer to him and start to doze off. Somehow her presence- or maybe it's just whatever the hospital has him on has him dozing off before he can even really register what's happening.

Jerry leaves some time and that's the only explanation Elvis has for the paper he finds on the little table by his bed and the only explanation he has for his father looking so dejected in the chair that Jerry had formerly been in. At some point his glasses had been taken off and he nudges at Priscilla to see if she can find them as he grabs the paper and tries to focus on the words in front of him. He can't quite read it until Priscilla comes back with his glasses and there's a part of him that wishes she hadn't have brought them after he does read.

“The hell is this?” He asks his lips curling into a pure snarl as he stares down at the paper.

“A bill for services rendered by Jamboree Attractions." His father answers, pursing his lips and exhaling as he does. "The Colonel dropped it off while you were sleeping with Priscilla."

"While I was sleepin', course the goddamn toad did." Because the Colonel can't ever do anything normal, can't give him the decency he knows he deserves. His eyes zero in on one note in particular that has him sitting up and has Priscilla stopping even the vaguest attempt to sit back in the bed with him. “Gas for- I didn’t ask him to come to the hayride! How- is this thing full of bullshit like this?”

Vernon for his part doesn't look phased at the question and shrugs. "I don't know, son, that's why I'm here, I figure we can look over it and- talk to the Colonel. Make arrangements-"

Priscilla cuts him off and places a short kiss to Elvis's forehead. "I'll be at the the hotel if you need me, baby."

Elvis watches her leave and frowns as she does before turning back to his father. "We'll look over it, but unless tha' arrangement ends in me still firin' 'im, I ain't payin' attention to it. I ain't takin' him back."

There's a long drawn out sigh that comes from Vernon before he looks at Elvis and shakes his head. "You might have to." A pause. "Let me see the damage, son."

It is more damage than he thought it would be.

#this is where all those it's not an abandoned wip comments come from.#it kind of is. but also no.#idk.#time is a fickle creature.#austin elvis #austin elvis fanfic #elvis presley #elvis presley fanfic #fix it fic #honestly i don't know what to tag this #it's whatever.#elvis 2022 #ally writes #i'm too tired to be trusting myself to tag this.#and hoping for the best it falls into the tag.#( tags. but i'm too tired to edit a tag. )

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