#lionel toussaint x claire debella

[aparticularbandit]

IDK how you’d feel about this for the physical affection prompts but…7, 9, 15 (feel free to choose one or mutiple) for Lionel and Claire (Post-movie. Platonically? Romantically? Something in-between?)?

physical affection prompts! 7) squishing their cheeks 9) wiping away someone’s tears 15) the biggest, warmest hugs

I combined them all into one longer thing, so I hope that's okay! Sorry it took so long for me to finish!

It has been the most harrowing three days of Claire’s life.

Actually, that’s not entirely true.  Claire has had a lot of singularly harrowing days, and while she wants to say these particular three are the most harrowing she’s ever had in sequence, that’s not really true either.  The trial was.  She couldn’t numb out the trial.  She couldn’t numb out—

     Look me in the eye, Claire!

Claire shivers, rubs one of her arms, and turns away from the window.

Devon hasn’t been able to join them in Greece because the kids haven’t been able to join them in Greece.  They’d decided this together; an international murder investigation didn’t seem like something Rowena or Mark should be involved with.  Besides, they were perfectly happy to stay cozied up at the house, perfectly happy to see their mom in Zoom meetings when they happen to all be awake at the same time (the eight hour time difference is horrible, but they can get around it if they try hard enough).  She’d needed to see them, after.  Needed to see their smiling, happy, enthusiastic faces.

Helen still thought they were all shitheads, but she’d…oddly warmed when she caught Claire with her kids.  She had, of course, assured her that she still didn’t like Claire one bit and insisted that it was just the kids she liked, but that was fine.  Is fine.  Claire hasn’t – isn’t – trying to patch things up with Helen.  She doesn’t deserve her forgiveness and won’t try to get it.

     If we’d only gotten there earlier, she thinks to herself sometimes.  If I’d only let Duke pound the door in.  If we hadn’t—

But regrets and wishing couldn’t bring Andi back.

Regrets and wishing couldn’t—

Claire and Lionel don’t share a room.

For a lot of reasons, really, one of which being that it doesn’t matter exactly how open her marriage with Devon is, they still need to keep some protocol.  They’re all under investigation, even with the truth coming to light, because that’s how these sorts of things work, especially with Miles’s team of lawyers, none of whom any of them can use now like they had during Andi’s—

     She’d just needed oxygen—

But they can’t forbid them from going to see each other.

Sometimes, the three of them who are left – and Peg, of course, because Peg should always have been included with them, even when Miles pretended she shouldn’t, and Whiskey, too, who was turning out to be much better of a woman than Claire had assumed based on how Duke treated her, which really just reminded her that she shouldn’t assume anything about anyone and maybe if she hadn’t—

     Which really just goes down the regrets and wishing train again—

They gather around the hotel pool sometimes.  They don’t go swimming, probably because they all think of the last time they were swimming, when Duke had been so blatant about something and they’d all just missed it, but they stand and stare at the pool and then sometimes go back to one of their rooms for drinks, except that it’s hard to drink now because all of their favorite drinks have been ruined by that last party, by what Miles had used Duke’s drink to do, by…by everything—

     Maybe, if they’d gotten there earlier, if they hadn’t turned on Andi, maybe they would still all be there—

Birdie and Peg share a room.  Whiskey spends a lot of time with them.  Spends a lot of time with Peg, spends a lot of time with Helen.

     She hadn’t thought Andi could actually die.

They have a community room they all share sometimes.  It’s less sharing and more they’re all there at the same time.  Every now and again, Claire thinks she should go talk to Helen, but every time she gets that thought Benoit is there, and she just…doesn’t.  That’s not the worst thing (although Birdie would say it was, Duke would say it was, in that aggravating streamer way of knocking the actual worst thing for something lesser as a sort of joke (and she tries not to think about how he will never, never, never be able to do that again)), but she’d spent so long following Benoit’s cases – particularly after he’d gotten married to Phillip (that, too, had made the news, and she’d thrilled because he was, he was like her, and she’d thought he was and Devon wouldn’t fucking believe her, he was like them) – that she’d built him up as someone who would understand her, who would look at her and know and say, “Guhvanuh Debella, you are uhn uhmazing womuhn,” in that wonderful southern accent of his, and to be honest, he probably does know, given how easily he’d read that shitty murder mystery game Miles set up, given how he’d figured out everything Miles was doing when none of them had even—

She wants to talk to Helen, not to apologize, but just to…to talk.

But Helen terrifies her.

Benoit does even more, the way he sits next to her like the cutest little Pomeranian guard dog with ascot (a different color every day because he’d planned for this, hadn’t he, while the rest of them were still trying to figure out how to get everything clean.  Claire is able to use the hotel’s washer because she has children and everything she has needs to be able to go straight into the washer without worry because Devon isn’t going to pay attention and neither are the children, but Birdie��.  Birdie’s just sending someone out to buy her new clothes every day.  It’s going to get old.  She’s going to run out of money.  They’ll be gone before that happens).  His eyes always seem kinder when he notices Claire, but part of her is convinced that’s just a lie.  Once, out of the corner of her eye, she catches him keeping an eye on her chess game with Lionel.  She bites her lower lip and stares at the board and thinks maybe – maybe – she will impress him.

It is the only time Benoit places a hand on her shoulder, and Claire freezes, expecting him to offer a word of advice or the potential next best move.  Instead, he says, in that adorable accent of his, “If you really want to challenge your mind, you should play Go.”

Claire flinches, freezes, unable to speak, but Lionel looks up, leans on his hand where his elbow rests on the table, and asks, “Do you have a board handy?  We haven’t been able to play in months.”

“Why don’t you ask your benefactor—”

Helen’s voice, then, cutting through their idle conversation, and Claire’s phone vibrates with the call from Devon that led to speaking with her children, that led to Helen peeking in and meeting them.

(Andi’s sister might hate all of them, but she loves children, and like Lionel, she peeks in every now and again and, crossing her arms, barks out a correction when Claire teaches them something wrong.  It’s a small thing, but it’s…but it’s something, maybe.)

Three days of feeling sick and horrible and the worst of the world only made worse because she is the worst of the world, isn’t she, aren’t they all, because if they hadn’t—

     Andi could still be—

And Claire finds herself alone in Lionel’s room.  It isn’t that she’d gone there alone; Birdie had been there, too, briefly, because Peg invited Whiskey to their room, and she hadn’t been particularly comfortable with all of that.  But she’d barely been with them ten minutes before heaving a huge, disappointed sigh and storming out of the room, leaving them both there, alone, while she stomped back to her room.  Lionel stared at her through the window, let out a huff of a laugh, and let the curtains slide shut again as he turned back, “Looks like someone doesn’t like to share—”

But it’s the weight of it all, crushing into Claire’s chest, and suddenly she can’t breathe.  Tears prick at the corners of her eyes.  She sits down hard on the edge of Lionel’s mattress, unable to look at him, unable to look out the window, unable to look at the shitty hotel artwork that’s hanging on either side of the flat-screen tv because every time she does, she just thinks about the stupid college poster Mona Lisa that Miles hadn’t had in his fucked up Glass Onion, unable to look at anything, really, and so she looks down at her thighs where they’re brushed together because her hands are clenching the mattress on either side of her.

“Claire, Claire, hey—”

It’s only a second, and Lionel is crouching in front of her with those knees that he always complains really can’t do this anymore (and yet always, always he still kneels before her), one hand reaching up to gently wipe away her tears with the soft pad of his right thumb.  “It’s okay—”

“It’s not okay, Lionel; she’s dead.”

Claire can’t help the way that she spits it out – she shouldn’t be spitting it out at him because Lionel certainly doesn’t deserve her vitriol – Miles does, but she couldn’t spit at him the way that she can spit now – and, really, she isn’t mad at Lionel, she’s mad at herself.  “She’s dead, and Helen was right – we killed her.”

“No,” Lionel counters, voice as gentle as he can make it.  “No, Claire.  We didn’t kill any—”

“We killed her when lied for Miles over—”

“Miles killed Andi, Claire.”  Lionel’s hands move to her knees, and he gives them a gentle squeeze.  “We couldn’t have known that he would—”

Claire pushes herself off of the bed, away from Lionel’s touch, and starts to pace, arms crossed.  “He wouldn’t have even known that she’d found it if you hadn’t—”

Lionel’s face contorts.  “Now, Claire, be reasonable.  None of us could have guessed that—”

“We shouldn’t have had to guess!” Claire hisses out, turning back to him, arms spread wide, tears streaming down her face.  “We should have stuck with—”

     Look me in the eye, Claire!

The words lump in her throat, choking her, and Claire can’t get them out.  She wraps her arms around herself, and her gaze drops, head lowering.  She feels like a child again, only when she was a child everyone loved her because they didn’t know who wrong she felt in her own skin.  How wrong she feels now, but for an entirely different reason.

Lionel crosses the distance between them again and brushes her tears back with both thumbs at once.  “It’s okay to be mad, Claire,” he says as soothingly as he can.  “It’s okay to try and think of things we could have done, but we didn’t know, Claire.  We were trying to—”

“—to save ourselves,” Claire finishes for him, and she rubs at her tears with the back of one hand.  “It’s exactly like Helen said.  We’re all shits.  All of us.”

“I think the term is shitheads—”

Claire punches Lionel’s shoulder.  Then she leans forward, rests her forehead on his shoulder.  “We fucked up.”

“Then we need to do our best to make it better.”  Lionel shifts again, lifts Claire’s head, squeezes her cheeks.  “You’re allowed to be cute while we try to save the world, Claire.”

“We’re not saving anything, Lionel,” Claire says, although with her cheeks squeezed like they are, her words sound muffled, wrong, and she laughs at the sound before pulling herself away.  “We’re just saving ourselves.”

Lionel offers her the gentlest of smiles.  “Sometimes saving the world starts with saving ourselves.”  He reaches forward and boops her nose with the tip of one finger.  “So we stood up to Miles too late.  We learn.  We do better next time.  And maybe nobody dies.”

“Nobody should have died this time—”

But before she can finish, Lionel wraps his arms around her.  He always was good at giving hugs, and this time is no different.  She crumples in his embrace, buries her head against his chest, and lets herself cry – glad that he apparently brought trashy clothes with him so that when she gets snot all over his shirt, it won’t be a problem.  He strokes her hair gently, and when she’s finished enough, she murmurs into his chest, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lionel doesn’t ask her to stay with him because with the police and journalists who are likely to be swarming the place and waiting for something like that, she can’t risk the further blow to her reputation.  But she stays for as long as she believes she is reasonably able, curled up against him, letting herself rest.

[jjsmaybank20]

If someone doesn't start making glass onion fanfics soon I'm gonna scream. I desperately need them.

[pickledpascal]

The Missing Link

Chapter Four: Hindenburg

Warnings: Panic attack, Miles Bron is closeted (?), some swearing.

Word Count: 7.4k

The Missing Link Masterlist

Previous Chapter  |  Next Chapter

Out of all the people Detective Blanc expected to arrive at the dock earlier that day, Ezra Wayne and his daughter were not one of them. Birdie Jay, why wouldn't he? She was the problematic fashionista who was clinging onto relevancy by trying to come up with something new and revolutionary every few years. Duke Cody was a men's rights activist, pleading for his audience to trust everything he said. And they did, not thinking to make at least one Google search to check if he was telling the truth or not. Claire Debella and Lionel Toussaint were similar in that much of their money to do their work was provided by Miles, in turn they'd basically support everything he did.

Ezra Wayne was the outlier. 

Why would he come all the way to Greece to meet an old friend who he was very vocal about not liking anymore? He didn't owe anything to Miles as far as Blanc knew. Ezra started his acting career from nothing. No help or reassurance was given to him by any of his past friends.

He knew this because of some of the interviews he'd seen. It was safe to say Benoit was a fan. Who wouldn't think the tall, dark, and handsome man wasn't the best looking in all of Hollywood anyway? He was also a great actor too, starring in anything from a silly rom com to the scariest of horror movies. Blanc liked versatility in his men.

Seeing Ezra in person was certainly something. His gray's were much more prominent than in the movies, showing his age. Maybe he hadn't gotten around to re-dyeing it yet. Then there was the part where Birdie deadnamed him. Ezra didn't seem that bothered, just annoyed. 

When he got his chance, Blanc smiled kindly as Ezra turned to him. "I must say, I absolutely love your films! I've seen almost all of 'em, you're amazin' in every single one." He was nervous but he needed to get that out as he looked Ezra up and down. It felt like he was a teenager again, talking to the most attractive boy at school. Ezra always looked absolutely beautiful on screen but it didn't compare to seeing him in real life.

Once on the boat, Benoit wanted to get an inkling to each person's personality. It just so happened that he was walking into the boat to talk with Lionel when Elle waved him over. It was hard to say no, especially with such a beautiful man in the room. But nerves, they were never something Benoit got over easily. He was a relatively calm person, even after the sheer amount of dangerous cases he's been through that would send any sane person running. Who takes on the mysterious case of the death of the mystery novel writer? Apparently, Benoit Blanc does. When Benoit did get nervous, though, they didn't leave as swiftly as he would hope.

After all, meeting your celebrity crush and escaping a near death experience are two completely different things. Although, they might meet on this isolated island.

Conversation with the father-daughter duo was certainly interesting and insinuated something Benoit wasn’t sure he wanted to admit. As much as he wanted to focus on the matter at hand, it was hard with someone as determined as Elle to make both himself and Ezra a blubbering mess. 

Benoit pursed his lips, he might as well use this time to try and eliminate Ezra from his suspect list. Or try to. “Y’know, Ezra, you and your daughter seem to be out of place among all these…. Eccentric personalities. For an actor, it’s strange of me to admit such a thing.” It was peculiar that Ezra was here. If he wasn’t the murderer–which would be horrible for Benoit–-then why was he here?

“I like to think it’s because I grew up poor and didn’t compromise myself or leech off of others in order to get rich and famous.” The brunette explained with a hum. Benoit nodded at Ezra and looked down at his hands.

The others happened to grow up in middle class families, besides Birdie–she was the daughter of a famous model, making her famous even before she was born. And Lionel, a little different too. He intimately worked with Miles, being employed by him for the sake of doing what he always wanted to do. Only for the sake of science of course. 

—------

Now, Benoit did not know of Ezra before his transition but the actor was always open about that time, sharing photos of himself and even his deadname but Benoit didn’t think it was that difficult to call Ezra by the name he goes by now. Apparently it was very hard for Miles. 

“Liz-Ezra…. You look amazing. Great, actually. I’m glad you’re here.” Miles’ eyebrows furrowed as he corrected himself. Benoit observed him as he walked the length of the glass dock. It seemed Miles was blushing a little but it didn’t look like embarrassment.

Huh, interesting…. Oh.

Oh.

Well, it’s reassuring that Benoit isn’t the only one attracted to Ezra. He glanced at Helen who stared at Miles. His main objective was to get her some answers, he needed to focus on that. If he happened to get a boyfriend out of this case, well, that would be nice. Benoit closed his eyes for a moment to get his head in the right mindset, fixing his sunglasses.

“Can we just take a second and fully inbreathiate this moment together?” Miles said with a gentle smile. Benoit pursed his lips and cocked his eyebrow, he ignored it but something inside him was saying that he needed to remember that for later.

Benoit was quiet as the tour started, mostly hanging around Helen to give her some semblance of comfort. Someone here killed her sister so he didn’t blame her if she was tense and weary of everyone, even if some of them seemed too dense to commit a murder. 

“Get settled in! Change. Let’s meet up at the pool.” Miles told everyone with a happy smile. “We’ll have a chill afternoon and then the game begins!” He announced, letting everyone fiddle with the bracelets around their wrists to find their room. As expected, Miles requested Benoit come with him for a private chat.

—-------

The pool seemed to be calmer but that meant it was time for Benoit to start gathering some information, among other things. He looked around the rectangular pool, catching sight of Birdie and Claire on the pool chairs off to the side while Miles was playing a tune on the guitar. He made his way over the Miles and grabbed one of the drinks inside the cooler. 

“Oh! Baby Blue!” Benoit exclaimed, a light smile on his face as he twisted the cap open and took a drink. His nose wrinkled slightly at the taste. It was like Jared Leto somehow bottled how he smelled. Benoit had never met him before but that’s what he imagined he’d smell like.

Duke took a sip of his drink, “Yeah. Miles, you remember when you almost pancaked me outside Andi’s–”

“Anderson Cooper’s birthday party? Yeah, Coop's parties are memorable.” Miles laughed with an almost nervous smile as he grabbed a bottle as well.

Benoit stood from his crouching position and looked over at Ezra and Elle. They were talking with each other. No one seemed to want to talk to them. Peculiar, with such a close-knit group like this. He made his way over to the pair and sat at the other pool chair next to Ezra. “Have you always been…. The outcast in a group like this?” He asked, careful but still blunt.

“Eh, kinda.” Ezra lowered his sunglasses so they covered his eyes, the sides of his lips were tense. “I was the only one who wanted a job in the performing arts and then I told them I was also trangender, kinda put the nail in the coffin.”

“Hmm.” Benoit nodded, catching a glimpse of the scars ever so slightly showing from underneath the half-open shirt on Ezra’s shoulders. “You look…. Great.” He said with a light smile, knowing his face must be some shade of red. He assumed crimson. It didn’t take the detective much to get him a blushing mess. It just depended on the person and if they had the means to.

Ezra let out a small laugh at the compliment. “Thanks, Detective. I could say the same for you.” Benoit bit the inside of his cheek. Was he flirting with him? Holy shit. “I mean, I would be very proud of myself if I was the most attractive detective alive.” Ezra shrugged.

Benoit let out a flattered laugh, feeling as if he was a boy again. “Some might say you’re the most attractive actor alive.” It was weak, but it was all he could come up with. It was like his brain was short-circuiting. Only for a second.

—------

After the little stunt at the pool, Helen and Benoit met in the gym as it seemed no one was using it or was going to use it in the short time they were there. Of course, that led to Benoit snooping around the compound to eventually find Duke watching Miles and Whiskey…. Doing their thing in front of a window. Honestly, though, how could Miles not see Duke. Weird. 

Helen got a little closer, wanting to hear what the pair was talking about behind the glass. Benoit pursed his lips, shaking his head at her. She was good but damn if she got caught, that'd be the end of their investigation.

—------

"My mom took me to Paris when I was six years old. First time I looked at this lady, it changed my life. You know Da Vinci invented a technique for brush strokes that leave no lines?" Miles gushed over the real Mona Lisa, the one in songs and meant to be the museum of art in France. Guess not these days. "That's how you can look straight at her and her expression changes every time. Her smile's there, then it disappears. Is she happy? Is she sad? Is it something else?"

Benoit never was one to be interested in art, at least not high art like the Mona Lisa or any of Goya's paintings. He appreciated it, sure, just not one to dedicate his whole life to caring about them. It seemed Ezra was similar in that aspect, taking a sip from his glass with an unbothered look in his eyes. 

Helen kept staring at the painting, nodding. "It really is something." Benoit glanced up at the painting before he looked back at Miles.

Claire looked from Miles to the painting and narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute, Miles. Why do you have the Mona Lisa in your living room?" Her tone was pointed, like she knew something the rest didn't. Or, that Claire knew Miles was gonna do something she didn't like.

Miles let out a breath, a cocky smile appearing on his lips. "In one week, I've invited world leaders and members of the press from all over to unveil the future." He said as he grabbed a crystal-like object from his pocket and showed it to everyone in the room. Most looked confused…. But Claire and Lionel…. "You know what this is?"

"You know damn well we do." Lionel gritted out, tapping at the lip of his glass. "What's going on, Miles?" 

Benoit raised his hand, letting out a strained laugh. "Uh, I don't." It seemed, neither did Ezra or his daughter who's attention was peaked at the crystallic object. They seemed to have felt the rise of tension in the room.

"Don't drop it." Miles threw it at Benoit who caught it with ease.

But Claire, she was concerned. "Oh my god!" Perhaps something would have happened if the little crystal touched the floor. They were all in trouble, then. 

Benoit looked at the crystal between his fingers, carefully staring at the grooves and small bubbles that seemed to be trapped inside.

"That's a new solid hydrogen fuel. It's incredibly powerful." Miles explained, "It's radically efficient. Zero carbon emissions, and it's derived from abundant seawater. I call it Klear, with a K." Because of course he did. "And at this event, we are going to announce 'Klear America.' Our affordable home power solution. Klear is going to be powering people's dreams, all over this country, by the end of this year."

Ezra shook his head, he may not have been a chemist or anything that had to do with the sciences but the looks Claire and Lionel had on their faces weren't hard to read. They were concerned, devastated even. 

Lionel slammed his glass down on one of the podiums, causing the glass on the Mona Lisa to lift back up. It was protecting itself, from what? It didn't know just yet. "No. No. Because I was clear with you. I told you I need two years minimum to test this stuff to see if it's safe or even viable. Claire and I are not gonna be responsible for putting something out in the world before it is tested. And–" He paused once Miles pointed up at the air around them.

"Shit." Ezra breathed. So much for being safe on this summer vacation. They were walking around in a ticking time bomb….

"Oh, no." Lionel realized as well, stepping back from Miles.

Miles nodded with a smirk, "Oh, yeah."

Benoit's eyebrows furrowed as he looked back at the small crystal in his hand. "You're running this entire place off this?"

"The whole Glass Onion is powered by Klear." Miles let out a light laugh. He was giddy, his dreamlike fuel was working. As far as he knew. "Come on, let's…. Let's eat!"

It was clear that both Lionel and Claire weren't sure they could trust Miles anymore. He was being reckless. More reckless than he usually was. Elle narrowed her eyes at Miles before she looked at Ezra who let out a light breath. Maybe they could get through this night and leave as soon as possible in the morning. Ezra didn't want to stay too much longer if the whole island was dangerous and he also didn't want to feel responsible if something were to happen to his daughter.

This was a huge mistake.

—----

Dinner was short-lived, Benoit solved Miles' "mystery" in just a few short seconds and Ezra had to refrain from the urge to laugh once he saw his defeated face. The pair went upstairs, leaving Ezra and Elle with everyone else who deemed it was time to get royally hammered after their weekend was ruined. 

Duke's notifications went off, causing the glass vault to go back up. "You know, you could just power it down." Lionel suggested to Duke. 

"Ah, it's my Google Alerts. Got them for all you guys." Duke explained, taking a sip from his glass. "Whiskey, sports I like, general interests."

Ezra rubbed Elle's back while she leaned on him. She was tired even though it was only 8:30 but he couldn't blame her. The whole day was filled with…. things out of the ordinary. Plus she found another father figure and half her time was spent getting him and Ezra together. Well, Elle's work seemed to be done. They may never see each other again after Ezra leaves tomorrow. It was sad, thinking about the future and the fact that each time Elle would look at a magazine with Benoit's solved cases on the front cover, she would ache for something that could have been.

Lionel was unimpressed as Duke's phone rang yet again. "You have a Google Alert for the word 'movie?'"

"I like movies!" Duke defended. "Don't hate. Nerd." Says the guy who started off on Twitch as a gamer. 

Ezra took a sip of his drink, looked at the red table in front of him. His eyes glazed over as he thought about what may happen after this. He'd be glad to go home, back to his normal life. Which was weird to think that being an actor everyone sought over was normal. But it was for him. Though, Elle knew differently. He longed for someone to be with, and if that someone just so happened to be Benoit Blanc…. Well, wouldn't that be nice?

Birdie let out a relieved sigh as she sat down on the couch, "Thank God for Benoit Blanc. We don't have to spend the weekend spelling hedges." She sipped her drink through her straw.

"Well, I'm outta her. Tomorrow morning. Gone." Duke stated, waving his hand.

Whiskey shook her head, "We just got here." She was on the floor. Ezra wasn't sure why or how she got there and he didn't really care either.

Duke mockingly whined like a baby. Elle's gaze hardened at him, she could treat Whiskey much better than him. If only she could let him go and leave him, Duke didn't deserve her. Not to mention, Duke was at least twenty years older than Whiskey. "You can stay. Have fun."

"Fine. You're murdering my vibe." Whiskey grabbed the bottle of tequila next to her and stood up, walking outside.

Birdie whined, "No! Miserable in paradise. We've all earned this."

Andi walked towards the group, "Yes, you have." She seemed more tense than before. Perhaps she was gonna blow up again.

Ezra helped Elle stand from her place on the couch and retreated outside with her by his side. He didn't want to hear whatever argument that was going to happen. It would have been entertaining but Ezra's brain was close to shutting off. And if Elle was anything like her father, he knew it was the same for her.

Soon, Andi was leaving too. She stopped to say a few words to Whiskey then made her way to Ezra. 

"You-you are the only good one. And I don't blame you for leaving all those years ago." She said before running off. 

Ezra cocked his head somewhat confused while Elle looked off into the distance, admiring how the moonlight danced with the water. Whatever happened in there, must've been enough to set her off. Not that Ezra blamed Andi at all. After everything that's happened between her and Miles and suddenly she's cut out of the company. Ezra didn't know many details about why but he assumed it was because of something big…. 

His eyes widened, shaking his head a little. He was being dumb. It was because of that Klear stuff, wasn't it? Andi knew it was dangerous and didn't want Miles to be distributing across the entire country. No wonder….

—-----

Well, they certainly picked the wrong time to make their way back inside. Duke looked as if he was choking, falling down on one of the coffee tables until his harbored breaths were silenced. He died. Right in front of their eyes. Ezra immediately shielded Elle's eyes, holding her tight to his chest while Benoit inspected his body. 

"I'm afraid Mr. Cody is…. Is dead." Benoit said as he looked up at Claire. There was a certain sense of bewilderment in his eyes. He's seen plenty of deaths before, it was a part of his job, but none quite like Duke's.

Birdie started to scream while Whiskey cried, "No, Duke! No!" 

The rest of the conversation seemed to buzz in Ezra's ears. Someone killed Duke. That much was obvious. The question was who? And, well, there were only a select few on the island.

"Fuck." Ezra cursed under his breath, loosening his grip on Elle. "We have to get the fuck out of here." He ran a hand through his hair.

Sure, Claire could see the headlines but Ezra could see them too. He was an actor, a transgender one at that so criticism was something he was used to. But this…. This would be a whole new level. Ezra hated red-pill "truthers," so being on an island with one who just so happened to die would automatically blacklist him. Progressives in Hollywood wouldn't cast him anymore and the conservatives didn't cast him at all because he was trans. 

"My dear, hey, you're gonna be alright." Benoit told Elle softly, wrapping his arms around her for a moment while she sniffled softly.

Even if Duke was an asshole and a bitch, witnessing his death wasn't something Elle was particularly fond of. Sure, he might have deserved it with the harm he caused on little boys minds but…. This…. This was different. It would haunt Elle for the rest of her life, she was sure. 

"Boat can't come till low tide in the morning. Six am at the earliest." Lionel announced as he walked back.

Benoit patted Elle's shoulder for a moment before he looked at Lionel. "Do they understand the situation?" He asked with a frown.

"There is no other landing point, and Miles' dumbass Banksy dock was set to low-tide height and it isn't buoyant. It is a piece of shit." Lionel explained, tone very reasonably pointed at the man who decided to have said dock. 

Ezra wrapped a blanket around Elle's shoulders, knowing that sometimes she needed the weight to feel normal again. This certainly wouldn't help all the things going on inside her brain. And, holy shit, was Miles saying someone was trying to kill him and not Duke? Well, then they royally fucked up. Poison in the person's drink was rather cliché wasn't it? And clumsy because shit like this could happen. You could mix up the drinks and accidentally have given it to the wrong person. 

Hm, maybe Ezra could be the new Harlan Thrombey…. Without all the parts of suicide and…. Well, Benoit Blanc appeared in Ezra's life too. Maybe that was a sign.

"Forget about his phone. Look." Lionel pointed at Duke's holster…. Which was missing the gun. The gun that Duke was famous for always keeping with him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…." Ezra ran a hand through his hair, squeezing Elle's shoulder to comfort her. Now someone was roaming around the island with a goddamned gun. So much for a little light hearted fun. 

Elle shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "I can't believe this is happening." Her lungs were screaming for air, her esophagus closing up. "D-Dad…." She said weakly. She could feel her heartbeat going faster and faster. She couldn't breathe. 

She was having a panic attack.

Ezra's eyes widened. He knew these signs. He didn't care about what was happening behind him, he needed to focus on his daughter. "I'm right here, Elle, c'mon look at me, okay?" He tilted Elle's head towards him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Take a few big breaths, honey. I'm here for you, whatever you need, okay?" Ezra squeezed her tight, not missing the concerned look Benoit had for her. But it was like he knew Ezra would help her through it. 

"Blanc, you have to help me. Help me! Help me!" Miles yelled right before Benoit slapped him across the face.

Benoit shouted, "What happens at ten o'clock!" 

As soon as those words left his mouth, all the lights powered down. They were showered in darkness, the only light that didn't turn off was the lighthouse just outside. It rotated, causing only a sliver of light to run through the house. 

Against Benoit's wishes, no one stayed in the living room. Well, besides Elle and Ezra. Weirdly, the light seemed to help Elle out of her panic attack. Her heart was still beating fast but she could breathe again which helped marginally.

"Alright, that's good, sweetheart." Ezra said calmly, cupping her cheek softly as he wrapped a blanket around her. "I'll grab you some water, okay. Stay here." Turning on the flashlight from his phone, he found his way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fill it with water. Once he was back in the living room, Elle took it gratefully and downed it. Her throat was feeling better, less dry than before. "There we go." Ezra kissed the top of her head. "I love you, kiddo."

Elle buried her face in Ezra's chest, letting a few tears flow. "I love you too, Dad. So much."

—-----

"Who?" Claire asked, that's the thing all of them were thinking but it seemed only Benoit had the answers.

Benoit, looking off to the side for a moment, smacked his lips. "Well, I keep returning, in my mind, to the Glass Onion." Ezra cocked an eyebrow at him. He's heard of the weird ways Benoit had explained the truth of a case but…. What did the Glass Onion have to do with any of this? "Something that seems densely layered, mysterious and inscrutable. But in fact, the center is in plain sight. And that is why this case has confounded me like no other." Benoit gently rubbed Elle's arm before walking the length of the living room.

"Why, every complex layer peeled back has revealed another layer and another layer and come to naught." Benoit looked around at the room, at the different people standing in front of him as his eyes narrowed momentarily. "And that was the problem, right there. You see, I expected complexity. I expected intelligence. I expected a puzzle, a game." Where was he going with this? Ezra kept Elle close, not knowing if they were in a room with a murderer or not. "But that's not what any of this is. It hides. Not behind complexity, but behind mind-numbing obvious clarity. Truth is, it doesn't hide at all."

Ezra looked around the room. Who would be the most obvious choice to murder both Andi and Duke? He could think of many reasons why all of them would want to kill Andi but Duke? He was dumb, he had no ill intentions. At least, not to them. To the greater public? Probably. 

"I was staring right at it." Benoit sighed, feeling somewhat dumb for not assuming it at first. "The killer nearly struck my Achilles' heel. But thank high heaven, at the last moment, I realized what had teased my brain through this entire case… "inbreathiate." It's not a word." Benoit shook his head, glancing at Ezra for a moment. 

It seemed obvious he would start to catch on out of all of them. Not to say that Whiskey wasn't smart or the rest weren't but they all believed Miles and how "smart" he portrays himself to be. Ezra, on the other hand, does not. 

Lionel shook his head for a second, not getting how this related to anything. "What?" 

"'Inbreathiate.'" Ezra repeated. "It's not a real word, it just sounds like one but it's…. Made up. Like something a kid would say to sound smart." He explained, blinking a little as the pieces started to fall into place. 

"Precisely." Benoit nodded, "And "reclamation," that is a word. But it's the wrong word." His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, sighing. "This entire day… A veritable minefield of malapropisms and factual errors." Now, Ezra would be lying if he said he knew any of the words Benoit used in that single sentence but he was sure the detective was using them correctly. After all, Benoit had this way of speaking that felt like he would be more at home in the 40s or 50s if he should ever set foot in that time period.

Benoit turned and pointed out the window. "That is the Aegean Sea." Right…. Miles said the Ionian Sea. But if what Benoit was starting to say was true then… It was Miles all along. But he couldn't, right? Miles was too dumb to pull off a murder. 

"Oh, yeah. It is, it is." Claire said, not understanding what Benoit was trying to explain.

"His dick doesn't float. His wonder-fuel is a disaster. His grasp of disruption theory is remedial at best." Aw, and just when Ezra was going to turn to the dark side. Yeah…. No. "He didn't design the puzzle boxes. He didn't write the mystery. Et voilà. It all adds up. The key to this entire case. And it was staring at me right in the face." Benoit then clarified, clicking his tongue as turned back the group. "Like everyone in the world, I assumed Miles Bron was a complicated genius."

Ezra chuckled, shaking his head. "First mistake, Detective." He shrugged. Miles couldn't come up with his own idea if it saved a million lives. 

Ezra knew that and he warned Andi against partnering with Miles… but she didn't listen. And that's why he left. Sure, the transphobia was part of it but he couldn't bear to watch Andi throw away all her ideas and let Miles get all the credit. Alpha was hers, never Miles'. He just so happened to run into Andi and she took him along for the ride. 

Benoit glanced at Ezra, a slightly amused look in his eye. "Look into the clear center of this Glass Onion… Miles Bron is an idiot."

Whiskey covered her lips, a little shocked Benoit would say such a thing. Miles' jaw tensed, "Oh, please." He grumbled, shaking his head as he crossed his arms. "Just tell us who tried to kill me."

"No one tried to kill you, you vainglorious buffoon." Benoit countered, shoving his hands in his pockets. If Miles was the murderer, Benoit certainly did not seem scared when he insulted him to his face.

Miles exclaimed, growing frustrated and not in the way that would make him seem innocent. "Duke took my glass!" He wouldn't make a great actor, Ezra could see all his tells easily.

Keeping his composure, Benoit looked at Miles unpressed. "That's what you told us he did. He must've picked it up by mistake, you told us, right after it happened." Ezra cocked his head slightly as he started to remember. It was right in front of them. Miles couldn't be that dumb? To attempt murder right before their eyes. "Ignore his lies, everyone, and think clearly now! What did we all actually see?"

"Y-You handed Duke your own glass. In front of us! And you lied. Made us think you didn't." Ezra said, letting go of Elle once it seemed she was alright. "I must admit I'm not sad that he's dead but…. You traumatized my kid for life.

"Blanc, Ezra… you're telling us Miles killed Duke?" Lionel asked in disbelief. 

Benoit nodded, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the night Andi sent you all the emails, when Duke got to Andi's house early on his motorcycle he saw Miles leaving. Was almost struck by him." Benoit explained, Ezra wasn't following this time. What email? "In fact, he told all of us. Right in the open, he told us. That night, at Andi's." 

Claire nodded, rubbing her chin slightly. "That night…. Duke told us he almost got in an accident. He… pancaked?" She realized.

"Okay yeah, but Miles had been living in Greece the past six months." Lionel said. He couldn't accept the fact Miles would kill one of their closest friends. Even if Duke was…. Duke.

Benoit let out a light huff, a laugh almost. "No." It was clipped. "Whiskey." He made his way over to her. This piqued Elle's interest, what did all this have to do with her? "Miles saw you on your birthday in New York. Gave you that necklace for your birthday. You're a Taurus." He whispered.

"I am." Whiskey said in a light whisper as well before she realized, "Two weeks ago. May 9th."

Benoit shrugged as Peg ran back into the room. "Forget the hydrofuels, and the sweatshops, and the consensual cuckolding for cable news assignments." Cuckold? God, that had to be the first time he's ever said that for a case. It made Ezra snort out a laugh. 

"Sorry what?" Peg asked, face clear with confusion. 

"And focus! On the envelope." Benoit motioned with his hand to a staircase.

Everyone's heads turned at the staircase to reveal Andi descending from the steps. Birdie let out a shriek, while Claire yelled a few curses. Ezra, on the other hand, was utterly confused.

"Andi?" Lionel asked, appalled.

Ezra looked from Andi to Benoit, "What the fuck is going on?" She was dead not more than two minutes ago when he thought she was dead, the grief was just starting to set in until she came back.

"Who did the envelope threaten?" Benoit didn't expect Ezra to know, maybe he should have explained but it's not like Whiskey really would have known either. "Miles Bron." Almost as if Miles' mom just died in a house fire, his expression became sour and hardened. "That night, Lionel faxed Andi's email to Miles who received it in New York. The one thing that could destroy his empire of lies, the truth in the hands of the only person unafraid to tell it. So Miles drives his Baby Blue Porsche to the scene of the crime, and Andi let's him in." Benoit cocked his head at Miles, eyes narrowed.

Benoit never had any remorse unveiling the truth, especially with cases with such…. Shitheads. "Of course she did. Miles' machine of lawyers and power could destroy her through sheer dumb force. But Miles himself? Oh, she was clever enough not to fear Miles." If this was going where Ezra thought this was going… then who was the woman that looked exactly like Andi? "But she didn't see the real threat, the obvious threat until it was too late. Duke alone knew you were there that night, but he didn't know Andi was dead." 

Ezra ran a hand down his forehead. Wait… Andi had mentioned she had a sister to him, maybe a few times just when families were brought up in conversation. She didn't happen to say her sister was twin but… What else could this be? The actor looked up at the "imposter"—if he could really call her that–and realized. That had to be Helen.

"No, no, he didn't know that until this evening." Benoit continued as he pointed out, "Right here, when he got a Google Alert on his phone, which has now fallen strangely silent." He made his way around Miles and grabbed something from his pocket to reveal that Miles had Duke's phone ever since he died. Ezra was somewhat scared Benoit was feeling him up or something, thankfully it didn't seem Benoit had a kink for villains. "Which he showed to you… because you don't own a phone." 

"Did you really think you could stop all of them from finding out about Andi's death? They all have phones." The blonde made her way towards the group, her southern accent was thick.

"He didn't need to hide the death, he just needed to hide that Duke has shown him the death moments before he was killed." Benoit spun the tail a little further… Well, not so much spinning, more like weaving. Putting the pieces together so they could see the finished product more clearly. "Right out in the open, Duke showed him. And told him exactly what he wanted in return for his silence. So what does Miles do?" The Detective stepped away from the man in question.

The woman followed Benoit, "Does he keep a vial of poison in his tooth or something? Is that some rich person thing?" If it was, Ezra was in trouble. 

Benoit sighed, shaking his head in slight disappointment. "No, no, no, no, it's just… it's so much stupider than that. Birdie, what are the ingredients to your Cuban Breeze?" He asked.

Suddenly the attention was on her and it winded her for a moment. "Um, vodka, amaretto…."

"Oh, God." Whiskey gasped, raising her hands to her mouth as she realized. 

"And… pineapple juice." Birdie finished after a little while.

Benoit strained, slightly disgusted and appalled. "An allergy!" 

"He can't even have a drop." 

"Pineapple juice!" The detective exclaimed in frustration. "He just put pineapple juice in his whiskey! It's so dumb." He shook his head, raising a hand to his forehead to rub at it. It teased his brain in the worst way possible. 

Birdie, probably drunk, gasped in amazement. "It's so dumb, it's brilliant!" 

"No! It's just dumb!" Benoit exclaimed, rubbing a hand against his forehead.

Ezra didn't need to check as he went up to her while the rest went to check their phones, reading off the first article about Cassandra Brand. "You must be Helen Brand…" He said softly.

"You know Helen?" Claire asked. It seemed none of them knew who she was, or they didn't pay much attention when Andi told them about her.

Helen glanced from Claire to Ezra. "We met once. He was in Alabama for some movie and recognized me." She explained, fiddling with the red envelope in her hands as Miles realized… The person he just tried to kill wasn't Andi at all. But an entirely different character all together.

"And now we come to Helen's attempted murder. Which, I have to give you credit for, did have a sound foundation of thought." Benoit said, earning him a glare from Ezra. The actor could see it being a bad habit already, the detective praising a criminal for their creativity just because it tested him enough. But Ezra didn't mind if that was the worst thing about Benoit. "You realized the opportunity laid out in front of you. You have a house on a remote island, filled with desperate people, all of whom have a real-life reason to wish this woman harm. You–" Benoit paused suddenly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Miles. Something started to become abundantly clear in his mind.

Benoit continued, somewhat weary, "Furthermore, you have a loaded gun conveniently within reach. And the lights had even been turned off." He let out a heavy sigh as he brought a hand to his forehead. "Heavens to…" Ezra didn't want to laugh but the sound escaped him anyways. Benoit may have described Ransom and Harlan in an older case as "drama mamas" but he wasn't exempt from that description either. "You dim-witted, brainless… jackass!" Elle jumped a little as she wrapped the blanket tighter around her form. 

"Your one murder, with any panache at all, and you stole the whole idea from me." It seemed he knew how it felt now. Andi got her ideas stolen by Miles for years, the napkin wasn't the only thing. They all knew that.

Lionel cocked his head, "And after all that, you…. You still kept the envelope? Didn't burn it or anything?" He asked. It could have been seen as a trophy of some sort but if someone–like Helen–were to discover he still had it then his empire would fall. 

"You recognize this?" Helen asked, almost smug as she took the napkin out of its packaging. "Andi's handwritin'. I got you, son of a bitch." Miles almost looked scared. 

Miles shook his head, "Oh, let's slow down there, sister. Okay? Because first, how could you ever prove that that's the original?" He countered. "She might have copied mine."

"No. The bar closed nine years ago, and hers has one thing that yours just doesn't." Helen pointed at something, Ezra couldn't see what since he was standing behind her. However, Ezra was prepared to jump Miles if Helen asked him to. 

Miles hummed, glancing over Helen's shoulder to meet Benoit's eyes. "Okay, but second…." He clicked on his light to set the napkin aflame. 

Benoit and Ezra ran over to Helen. "What the hell did he do?" Benoit exclaimed as he looked at the pile of ash that suddenly formed at Helen's feet. 

"He just burned it!" Helen gasped as Benoit squatted down to see it for himself.

"Burned what? I didn't see anything." Miles shrugged.

Ezra growled, "You are acting worse than a child! And I should know, I have one." Elle pouted, shaking her head. At least Ezra raised her right. Who knows what Miles' parents were like. 

"This will not stand." Benoit ground out, his jaw clenching. 

Miles chuckled, "Uh-huh. Well, did you see this proof, this smoking napkin, Blanc?" He asked with a knowing smile. They had no more evidence. Nothing that could prove Andi's death. "No. Did anybody?" The group casted their gaze downward, defeated and silent. They couldn't go against Miles, he had them in his pocket. "Okay, then wow! Wow! We got some big accusations flying around here. Except, everybody seems to have a very foggy recollection of what they actually saw–"

"Well, I did see you burn something." Ezra countered.

"And there's nothing but totally circumspective evidence." Miles continued, completely ignoring Ezra like he did most of the time a decade ago. "So, if this was just us playing my murder mystery game, which we should have been doing all weekend, then Blanc wins an iPad Pro this time." He joked softly. "But this is the real world. And in the real world you need more than a neat, little detective story. You need evidence. And you've got… nothing. Do you?"

Ezra looked from Benoit to Helen. He was right. You need evidence and you need witnesses. And if Ezra was going to be the only to side with Helen then the courts would never work out in her favor. Miles had the majority here. 

Benoit pursed his lips, a sad glaze rolling over his eyes. He hated losing in a game as serious as this. "He's right." He sighed, pursing his lips. "The contents of that envelope and his possession of it were our only physical evidence."

"Right." Miles pointed at him, clicking on his lighter yet again to fiddle with it. "Wanna take that to the cops? You wanna take that to the courts?" He laughed quietly, "Look, pick your poison. Anywhere you go, it's going to be your word against mine. How do you think that's gonna go?" 

Benoit took his jacket from the glass pedestal he hung it from and put it on as he walked across the room, ushering Ezra with him by setting a hand on his back.

Miles shrugged, clicking his tongue slightly. "I think it's gonna go about like it went for Andi."

"Jesus." Lionel whispered under his breath, glancing at Helen. He could have been good. But no. Lionel wasn't quite there yet. 

"And I do want to say, your sister was a complicated woman, but she meant the world to me." Miles pursed his lips, trying his best to sound sincere. But if it was sincere… would he have ever killed her? "And I'm so sorry for your loss." 

Dejected, Helen made her way over to Benoit. "Blanc. I need you to do something." Tears started to form at the edges of her eyes, threatening to fall. After all this work and… nothing. 

"I'm sorry, Helen." Benoit shook his head, eyebrows drawing together. "I gave you the truth. This is where my jurisdiction ends. I have to answer to the police, the courts, the system. There's nothing I can do." He took a quick breath as he grabbed the glass with 'Andi' written on it. "Except maybe… offer you some courage." Benoit handed Helen the glass. "And a reminder of why your sister walked away in the first place." He quickly handed her something else, Ezra could only imagine what it was. 

Benoit turned away, whispering to Ezra, "I suggest you and your daughter come with me." He said. It was a very serious tone and Ezra hadn't had the time to think it through much so he followed his instructions.

Ezra grabbed Elle by her arm and walked outside, following Benoit to the docks. He wondered why Benoit was in such a hurry to leave. Or maybe… not? He didn't seem that worried. 

But, well…. The entire Glass Onion blew up a few minutes later and Ezra would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the fireworks. 

"Disruption." Benoit laughed as he took a drag from his cigar. 

"Fuckin' A." Derol laughed as well, his joint firmly between his lips as he lounged on a chair.

Ezra ran a hand through Elle's hair while a proud smile was on his lips. Helen sure knew how to shake things up, Ezra didn't mind though. Miles deserved to have his house blown up.

[7u7mmm]

Reseña de glass onion: una historia de glass out

Bueno la vdd esta pelicula fue muy refrescante y atrapante como la primera película. Vamos por puntos empecemos con las primeras escenas donde nos regalan (asi como en toda la pelicula y su entrega anterior) una gama de colores preciosa y una fotografia muy buena cortesia de Rian Johnson.

la trama es sencilla recordandome un poco a los episodios de sccooby doo;es ese tipo de misterio detectivesco que no deja de ser un misterio atrapante pero a la vez simple sin sentirse oscuro o sinistro pero sin perder ese toque atrapante del mismo.

Los personajes empezando por benoit blanc ( daniel craig ) que interpreta a nuestro querido detective que como anteriormente no deja ver su perspecacia y sarcasmo tipico de detectives pero en el se siente incluso amable y no presuntuoso cosa que no pasa pir ejemplo en entregas del mismo genero como enola holmes ( muy buenas peliculas por cierto) el es el puente de la historia ya que de una forma tan organica la une .

Ahora el elenco es muy bueno dandonos muchas caras conocidas como Edward Norton ( American History X ) como Miles Bron que es una clara critica a la ricos que usan su dinero de manera quiza absurda.

Luego tenemos a la bellisima y talentosa Janelle Monáe (Andi Brand) quien logro muy bien este papel y nos trajo el plot de la película su mirada transmitia muchas cosas y era de las cosas mas llamaba la atencion en la pelicula a mi criterio.

Kathryn Hahn (Claire Debella)quien últimamente recordamos por su papel de Agatha en Wandavision y una larga lista de papeles exitosos y aunque el personaje ( ojo personaje no actriz o actuación) me parecio algo flojo no dejo de ser una buena aportación a la trama regalandonos momentos muy buenos dejandonos ver como influencia los patrocinadores a los politicos y tratan de limpiar continuamente su imagen para asi ganar votantes.

Un personaje que me parecio interesante y me hubiera gustado explorar un poco mas en la película ya que estaba lleno de detalles y comentarios muy interesantes fue le de Leslie Odom Jr. ( Lionel Toussaint) creo que en general fue un buen elemento a la trama y nunca abandono su estado neutral y misterioso el representa como todos los perosnajes en esta pelicula la satira del cientifico que aunque no quiera o le parece correcto por caprichos externos realiza experimentos o pruebas.

Una querida por el publico Kate Hudson quien interpreta a una supermodelo con opiniones muy interesantes quien actualmente diseña ropa y esta en la decadencia de su carrera esta Birdie Jay es clarente una satira a las estrellas polemicas que siempre estan en el culmine de su carrera hasta que tiene una nueva polemica; su personaje se degusta muy bien tiene esta situación de estar en el medio entre caerte pesimo pero decir no puede ser ella es realmente asi de idiota y ya no te cae tan mal visualmente te regala muchas escenas como la del vestido arcoiris que es muy importante en la trama. Este personaje esta acompañado por su personaje de apoyo su asistente interpretado por Jessica Henwick esta peg quien se preocupa mucho por el futuro de birdie y por el suyo mismo es gracioso verla entre escenas siendo ese lado poco glamuro de birdie pero también el mas eficiente quein sin ella su carrera probablemente se iria al caño. Jessica nos dios una gran interpretacion como peg y como no si nos entrego perosnajes como Nymeria Sand en juego de tronos y testor en star wars.

Luego tenemos a un personaje con el que tengo uan situación mezclada mientras lionel y claire tenian ocupaciónes y personalidades perecidad birdie y Duke cody interpretado por dave bautista hacian los mismo duke es este perosnaje que desde que te lo prrsentan dices dios es un imbecil y la vdd es que lo es, el representa al perfecto american jerk que tiene un arma donde quiera que va no mide sus consecuencias, tiene una novia cual nombre es whiskey y la trata mas como un objeto, vive con su madre y tiene una canal de twich. Y bautista lo interpetra tan bien que te lo crees conforme avansa la trama te das cuenta que el no es malo solo es un completo imbecil.

Por el lados contrario tenemos a su novia Whiskey intepretada por Madelyn Reene Cline quien actuamente podemos ver tambien en outer banks. Su personaje parece ser la chica bonita que solo esta con el imbecil por que le conviene y asi es pero su personaje como su actuación tiene cosas por las cuales soprendernos.

Apartir de aqui vemos a varios personajes secundarios que le agregan lo necesasrio a la trama para hacerla fresca y comica en este panel tenemos: jackie Hoffman , dallas roberts como recurrentes y Ethan Hawke aparece brevemente como el asistente de Miles (acreditado como "Hombre eficiente"), Hugh Grant hace cameos como Phillip, la pareja de hecho de Blanc , y Joseph Gordon-Levitt expresa el reloj de Miles, el Dong por hora; Gordon-Levitt tuvo un cameo vocal en la película anterior como Detective Hardrock. Varias celebridades hacen cameos como ellos mismos, incluidos Stephen Sondheim , Angela Lansbury , Natasha Lyonne , Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Yo-Yo Ma , Jake Tapper y Serena Williams . Sondheim y Lansbury murieron antes de que se estrenara Glass Onion , y la película está dedicada a ambos. Las imágenes de Jared Leto y Jeremy Renner aparecen en botellas de kombucha y salsa picante , respectivamente.

Esta película la recomiendo mucho si quieres pasar un rato en familia o en pareja incluos tu solo y verla por la tarde mientras te relajas

[pickledpascal]

The Missing Link

Chapter Five: Into The Fire

Warnings: Some legal jargon that’s probably not right, 18+ themes, swearing.

Word Count: 2.1k

The Missing Link Masterlist

Previous Chapter  |  Next Chapter

Police boat sirens wailed in the distance, red and blue flashing against the ocean water as they got closer and closer to the island. Ezra blinked as Elle tightened his tie slightly, pulling him back from his memory. He gave her a light smile and pressed a kiss on her forehead as he brushed a few hairs away from her face. As expected, Miles wanted to go to trial. Helen did burn his entire house down but he helped inadvertently. The public didn’t necessarily know that just yet. The unfortunate part about all this was that it’s been a few months since everything on the island, the seasons had slowly started to change.

Ezra hasn’t seen Benoit much in that time.

Of course, he knew why Benoit was turning him down. He didn’t want Miles’ lawyers to try and manipulate the narrative that Ezra only sided with Helen because he had a crush on Benoit. They would probably explain it as some twisted way to appease the detective. If they wanted that, they should investigate Birdie instead.

With the way the media was these days, there was so much coverage on the trial and what happened at the island that it made Ezra dizzy. He was used to the flashes of cameras but not all these questions about stocks in Alpha or how it was strange he barely had any scratches on him when leaving the island. How the fuck would they know that? 

Benoit and Helen’s lawyer, Matthew Murdock, walked up to Elle and Ezra. Matt was a recommendation from Ezra for Helen, he took a lot of work pro-bono so she wouldn’t have to pay him if she couldn’t. Not only were Mr. Murdock’s services free but he was highly experienced and won a lot of the cases he was involved in. If Ezra was Miles’ lawyer, he would be sweating bullets. Thankfully, Matt was on their side. Ezra’s heard stories of the way he’s absolutely destroyed an opponent in court. His speech was fluid, to the point, and his tongue was sharp like a razor. 

Matt was everything that made a good lawyer.

“Just remember the questions I briefed you on.” Matt said as he adjusted his red-lensed glasses. He leaned slightly on his cane before he made his way inside the courtroom to take his place next to Helen. 

Ezra let out a small laugh. If he could remember a ten page monologue then he was sure he could remember a few questions. “This is gonna be fun…” He sighed as he shook his head slightly.

“You’re tellin’ me.” Benoit joked softly. He was dressed in his signature tweed suit, something Ezra wasn’t able to see in real life until then. It was a little depressing that this was the first time he’d seen Benoit like that. 

Elle wrapped her arms around her father in a hug. Thankfully, they didn’t even attempt to call her to the stand. Ezra was very protective of Elle and didn’t think that being put on the spot in such a way would make her feel better about anything that came out of this. “Kick some ass, dad.” She winked, lightly punching Ezra’s shoulder.

“You know I always do.” Ezra shot back with a light laugh as he disappeared behind the courtroom doors. 

Benoit stared at the door after they closed and leaned down slightly to whisper to Elle, “He’s a nervous wreck, ain’t he?”

“Yeah…” Elle pursed her lips then shrugged, “He likes to go by the saying, ‘fake it till you make it.’” She looked back up at Benoit and gave him a slight smile of reassurance. “He’ll be fine.”

Somehow, they both doubted that. 

—-------

Miles’ lawyer began with a simple request. “Can you state your name and occupation for the court, Mr. Wayne?” 

Ezra nodded, not wanting to be snarky when it could be taken the wrong way. Not only that, but Matt warned him against it as well. “I am Ezra Wayne and I am an actor.” He said simply, his hands clasped in his lap.

“And your relationship with Mr. Bron, Mr. Wayne?” 

Right, they would use this against him somehow. Ezra glanced at Matt before his eyes were fixated on the lawyer in front of him. “We’re not friends but I wouldn’t say we’re enemies either. I don’t like him but I don’t think I despise him.” He explained.

The lawyer hummed and nodded, “With your dislike of Mr. Bron, why did you attend the weekend festivities he was holding at his island?”

“Objection, leading.” Matt raised his voice slightly, just enough for the entire court to hear but he never left his seat.

The judge nodded, “Sustained. Mr. Anderson, reword your question.”

Anderson let out a light huff and nodded. “Mr. Wayne, why did you go to Mr. Bron’s island?” His question was much more to the point without implying too much which was what they–Ezra and Matt–wanted.

“Why wouldn’t you want to go to a Greek island in the middle of summer?” Ezra shrugged with a light smirk. “My daughter was getting stir crazy in our house during the height of the pandemic. We needed to do something and I assumed the island would be isolated–which it was–I didn’t think we would be hurting people by going.” He explained just as practiced. 

Anderson’s eye twitched slightly before he took a quick breath and asked his next question, “It has recently come out that Mr. Blanc,” Ezra’s eyes flicked to the man as he entered the courtroom with his daughter. “was hired by Ms. Brand. Did you know this?” 

“Not at the beginning of the day, no.” Ezra confessed truthfully. He quite simply thought Benoit was going on his own sort of getaway, nothing particularly stood out to him that Benoit had some ulterior motive. Either way, half the time the detective was around Ezra, his face was flushed red both because of nervousness and the feelings he felt for the actor. 

“But you did by the end of the night?”

Ezra cocked his eyebrow slightly then remembered… they hadn’t called Benoit to the stand yet. Possibly to save him for last, to fill in some details the rest of them didn’t know. “Well, yeah. He explained his purpose for being there with a huge speech though I don’t remember many details about it.” 

“What do you remember?”

Ezra pursed his lips slightly, “Details are foggy but the big things were that he explained both the murder of Duke Cody and Cassandra Brand were committed by Miles. Not only that but he attempted a murder on Ms. Brand's life earlier that night.” A ghost of a smile was on the corner of his lips as a gasp broke out among the court, chattering starting as journalists scribbled in their notebooks.

“Order! Order!” The judge smashed down her gavel, quickly shutting up the crowd in the gallery. “Proceed, Mr. Anderson.”

Anderson’s eyes narrowed at Ezra as he pursed his lips before he turned back to Matt and retreated to his place next to Miles. “Your witness.” He said.

Matt let out a small chuckle, he could sense Anderson’s defeat as he stood. “Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne.” He smiled slightly as he approached the witness stand. “Did you happen to see how the fire in Mr. Bron’s house started?” 

“No. Me and my daughter went outside a few minutes before the fire started. She wanted to get some air and relax.” Ezra explained which wasn’t necessarily a lie but just not the full truth. Then again, he didn’t exactly know what was going to happen when he followed Benoit outside the Glass Onion. 

Matt nodded as if he didn’t send Ezra his questions weeks in advance so he was prepared for everything he was going to ask him. “Mhm. Did you happen to know what Klear was?” He asked with a slight cock of his head.

“No.” Ezra huffed out a laugh. “I haven’t spoken with Miles in years before the invitation arrived on my doorstep. To be frank, I’m still not exactly sure why he invited me.” He admitted softly as he adjusted his position in his seat. 

“You didn’t know that Klear was a highly flammable substance?” Matt asked, adjusting his glasses slightly.

Anderson quickly objected, “Leading!”

“Sustained.” The judge responded. At least she was fair.

Matt hummed for a moment before he reworded the question, “Did you have any idea of the properties of Klear?” He asked after a few seconds.

“No. Not until Lionel Toussaint said that it could be unsafe for people to be around.” Ezra explained and pursed his lips slightly. “That was enough for me to want to get out of there as soon as possible. My daughter’s safety is much more important than my own.”

“As one would imagine.” Matt nodded as he leaned on his cane slightly, turning his head in Miles’ direction before he turned it back to Ezra. Anxiety was rolling off the billionaire in waves. “I have no more questions at this time, your Honor.” He said clearly before he made his way next to Helen.

—------

Week passed with each witness called to the stand, more and more pieces started to fall into place. That was until Benoit Blanc made his way to the stand when all the pieces began to fit together, providing information that only he had. Benoit was hired by Helen to find her sister’s alleged murderer and with the evidence available at the time, they believed it to be one of Miles’ friends. They didn’t exactly expect it to be Miles himself though that was one of Helen’s first instincts. But, as they eventually learned, they should have trusted Helen. 

To the surprise of the gallery, the trial slowly turned into a murder trial rather than one about property damage and defamation. And to everyone’s surprise except Ezra’s, Miles was found guilty with first degree manslaughter, life in prison, and no posted bail so no matter how much money the man had, it wouldn’t be enough to keep him out of jail. 

Walking out of the courthouse with his daughter, Ezra met Benoit and Helen at the bottom of the steps and gave them both a light smile. Thankfully, it was night so there weren't too many reporters outside. “The shithead got what he deserved, huh?” He chuckled softly. 

Helen nodded with a laugh. She looked good these days, not as similar to Andi anymore. Her hair was growing out, the ends remained blonde while the roots started to grow out black. “Finally. I think I would have slipped something in his drink if he didn’t.”

“Not the most brilliant thing to say in front of a court of law.” Benoit shook his head with a light laugh.

“Whatever, we won the case. It don’t matter anymore, Blanc.” Helen shrugged as she patted Benoit’s shoulder slightly before she gave the group a goodbye smile and made her way home. 

Elle looked between the two men, both of whom she appointed as her fathers. And well… she could sense something between them needed to be resolved. “Uhhh, I’m gonna wait by the car.” She narrowed her eyes a little and awkwardly skirted past her black-haired father.

The pair watched her walk away until she was out of sight. “I believe I owe you a date?” Benoit asked with a light smile, eyes showing a playful emotion. 

“Yes, you do, Detective.” Ezra smirked, no shame evident in his features as his eyes raked over Benoit’s figure. Something about the way he looked in those colorful ties and tweed suits. “Saturday at six work for you?” 

Benoit nodded with a small hum, “Even if it didn’t, I’m sure I could make it work for you.” He teased softly. The shyness from the island was all gone and Ezra had to admit this sense of confidence made him weak in the knees. 

“Oh, detective…” Ezra licked his lips lightly before he narrowed his eyes momentarily. Giving into his thoughts, Ezra grabbed onto Benoit’s tie and pulled to press his lips against his. 

A light, surprised noise escaped Benoit before he relaxed and wrapped his arms around Ezra’s neck. When Ezra tried to pull away, Benoit quickly chased his lips to keep him trapped in the kiss. The actor didn’t mind it much, in fact, he loved it. He was sure the remaining reporters were taking pictures but he didn’t care. Benoit Blanc was kissing him so hard that he was sure his lips would be bright red afterwards.

It’s been a while since they last kissed and they both craved it more and more with each passing day. The month of August arrived and the trial ended so the dam, with all its cracks, simply broke. The pressure disappeared into thin air. 

[pickledpascal]

The Missing Link

Chapter Three: Complex Layers

Warnings: Swearing, some descriptions of death, 18+ themes, murder.

Word Count: 2.3k

The Missing Link Masterlist

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Emotions were all over the place in just a matter of a few hours. No wonder Ezra didn’t hang out with them anymore. His old friends were much more bearable to be around with Andi, when they didn’t need or want Miles to do things for them. Now Andi wasn’t really in their inner circle anymore either. Ezra sighed as he rubbed his temples, his feet somewhat hot in the sand below his toes. He needed to clear his head. As much as he’d like to blow up on the others, he had a daughter that didn’t need to see just how furious he could be. Elle, on the other hand, wanted to see if she and Whiskey could play some games together on her Nintendo Switch. Which made Ezra start to think she had far more courage to ask someone out than he did.

The sun was starting to set, casting an orange light across the island. It was picture perfect and so Ezra stopped for a moment to admire it. Maybe it was the fresh island breeze making his head spin, Ezra was used to the pollution he’d breathe in everyday when doing even the simplest of things. Living in the north will do that to a person.

As Ezra heard some gravel move behind him, he quickly turned only to see Benoit standing there. “We seem to keep finding ourselves alone together.” Benoit smiled warmly. He was still in the striped pool suit he wore earlier, sunglasses dangling from the shirt. 

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Ezra shrugged, eyes glued to the ground for a moment before they flicked up to meet Benoit’s. “You plan to do anything about that?” He teased softly, his eyes insinuating exactly what he’d like Benoit to do. Ezra was somewhat taller than him so he was going to take that to his advantage. 

Being Benoit, he was able to catch on quickly. A blush started to form across his cheeks as Ezra started to get closer to him. “Well, um, that all depends….” He started, stepping backwards until his back was flush against the concrete wall behind him while Ezra set a hand on the wall off to the side of his head. “On, uh, if you’d like me to but I’m startin’ to get the overwhelmin’ feelin’ that you do.” Benoit’s eyes were nervous but not horribly hesitant. It was endearing, in a way. To make this man so flushed and awkward.

“Or maybe I’d rather do something about it myself.” Ezra hummed softly, a smirk on the edges of his lips as he watched for Benoit’s reaction. 

The older man gulped, eyes somewhat fixated on Ezra’s still somewhat exposed chest. But not for the wrong reasons. His eyes weren’t fixed onto the scars underneath Ezra’s pecs but…. On the pecs themselves. Perhaps Benoit liked men with bigger chests and since Ezra was an actor and had to keep himself in shape for the job, well, that resulted in a bigger chest. At least it was the kind that he didn’t mind having. Benoit’s eyes met Ezra’s after a little while before he rested a hand on his cheek and finally went for it, leaning in to finally kiss the other man. 

There weren’t any fireworks going off in Benoit’s mind, just the overwhelming feeling that this was meant to happen. That maybe something more would come out of this. He hoped that it would. Ezra had some of the most enticing and soft lips he’d ever had the pleasure of feeling, it would be a shame and downright awful if he let anyone else feel them. Ezra brought a hand up to Benoit's cheek, tipping his head back slightly as his other hand was splayed on his lower back. This might have been the best first kiss they've both had. Perhaps it was in part because of the experience they had, being able to find the ways to pleasure their partners much easier when they were younger. Maybe Ezra even more so since he was a very giving lover.

"My-my room is just around the corner." Benoit panted quietly once they parted to catch their breath. Ezra glanced down at his lips before his eyes flicked back up to Benoit's. His lips were slightly swollen and pink but Ezra knew he didn't look much better.

Ezra hummed with a nod before Benoit quickly took his hand and pulled him around the corner to his room. Ezra pushed Benoit onto the bed, shushing his gasp of surprise with his lips. It's been a while since either of them have been eager for a lover, to lose their minds over someone. Ezra had to be picky with his men for obvious reasons but something about Benoit made him feel safe to be himself. Well, there was also the part where the detective knew who he was. But Benoit had this aura about him that just screamed sunshine and smiles, even most of the clothes he wore were light in color which added to that aura. 

Ezra ran his hand down Benoit's chest, fingertips gently grazing the exposed skin from his shirt while he deepened their kiss. 

"Blanc! I've been—" Andi burst into the room, causing the pair on the bed to stop and blink at her. "Ezra?" Her eyes widened before she quickly shut the door.

Benoit and Ezra looked at each other blankly before they burst out into laughter. Ezra moved to sit at the side of the bed and fix his now ruffled shirt, "That's my cue to leave." He hummed with a soft smile. He didn't think much of Andi looking for Benoit, maybe they became close during the boat trip. "See you at dinner?" Ezra asked with a wink as he stood and left.

"Yes…. At dinner…." Benoit whispered with a nod. The shock was starting to set in. He'd just kissed Ezra Wayne. The actor. The one in an Oscar nominated movie. Meaning…. He was quite famous. God, what was he getting himself into?

—------

Ezra retreated back to his room, hearing the shower running from the bathroom. So much for taking a shower as soon as he came back. Ezra then began to riffle through his suitcases to find something to wear. Knowing his friends, they’d all dress up for no reason so he might as well do the same. Just in his own way. He took out a long-sleeved navy collared shirt, high-waisted black pleated pants, and some black heeled boots. Ezra also set out some silver jewelry and make-up to put on once he was showered and clean. Ezra’s dark style was something that set him apart from most male actors, most just liked to wear simple black suits to red carpets while he would wear skirts or even dresses. Sometimes parts of his hair would be dyed to match whatever color he was wearing, this was mostly encouraged by Elle. 

Once that was completed, Ezra glanced at the door to the bathroom when he heard the shower shut off. A sly smile started to form on his lips as he went up to the door and gently knocked. “Oh, let our love survive…. I’ll dry the tears from your eyes.” Ezra sang in his best Elvis impression. 

“I’m not even taking a shit! You asshole!” Elle’s muffled voice exclaimed, annoyed, from behind the door.

Ezra gasped jokingly, clutching his chest for a moment. “That’s no way to talk to your father, young lady.” He scolded with a light laugh, shaking his head as he went to lounge on his bed until Elle was done changing. 

When Elle did come out of the bathroom, her hair was still damp and a scowl was on her face. “I regret showing you that TikTok.” She grumbled as she wringed out her hair and sat on one of the plush chairs off to the side of the desk. 

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Ezra teased softly as he got up from his place on the bed, grabbing his clothes to go take his own shower. “See ya in a jiffy.” He winked, saluting at his daughter before he slid the bathroom door closed.

Ezra prided himself on how he presented himself, the eyeliner and boots and jewelry were just a small part of it. It's the way he acted in them that really gave them their shine. They gave him a sense of confidence that he couldn't get from wearing anything else. Besides some other things that weren't necessarily safe for work. Once done getting ready, Ezra pulled on his high-heeled boots and rolled his pants over them.

"Gonna blow their heads off." Elle nudged her father with a smile on her face. She wore something simple, a light sweater and some jean shorts. 

She didn't really care if she seemed less stylish than the rest of the people on the island. It was dinner, not the opera. But she knew her father would want to dress up anyways, he was eccentric like that. Even the smallest of events called for a platform boot or a perfectly tailored jacket. Her 16th birthday dinner with her friends was relatively casual, except for Ezra who wore grungy eyeliner, some fishnets, and a visibly expensive flannel jacket. She was born in October and they lived up north so the jacket was called for…. Just not the price. 

—------

Erza arrived at the dining room with Elle, holding her hand as he led her inside. The entire room was filled with pedestals that had glass sculptures on top. It screamed a billionaire who bought art just because he could and not because he actually appreciated it. Was that a self portrait hanging in the middle of the wall? Elle and Ezra shared a somewhat disgusted look. Assholes did something like that. Elle looked around at the paintings, letting go of her father's hand since the room was large so getting lost would be hard.

When Ezra spotted Benoit, Elle could feel the sparks between them. Oh, yeah, something definitely happened because she could tell their attraction was heightened. Benoit wore something relatively similar to what he wore on the boat. Instead of his shirt being pink and the bandana tied around his neck being blue, the colors were reversed. And it seemed like Ezra was really…. Appreciating the blue shirt on Benoit. Something about that color against his skin tone and his hair color…. Or was it his eyes? Either way, Ezra suddenly loved that shade of blue on him.

"You still drink that aviation martini?" Miles asked as he handed Ezra a glass full of a purple liquid. 

The large martini glass had his name–not his deadname which he was surprised by–in large golden letters with the 'y' from Wayne underlining the first half of his name. Where did he have to commission these glasses? They were pretty but Ezra knew Miles didn't make them himself, he had someone else make them.

Ezra looked at Miles suspiciously before he took a sip of his drink. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either. Much like how he thought the rest of the night would go. Not necessarily the worst thing Ezra's been through, but he certainly wouldn't want to experience this again.

—-----

"God fucking damn it. I was right." Ezra grumbled as the lights went out. He was sure his daughter had enough trauma for a lifetime from watching Duke die in real time…. Although he was kind of a transphobic asshole so maybe not that much trauma? "Elle, c'mere." He quickly grabbed her and wrapped an arm around her to make sure she was okay. The others went on their hunt to find Andi but…. She didn't do this. As much as Ezra would like to believe she did, he knew Andi wouldn't hurt a fly. Well, maybe not the bull-sized fly that was Duke.

Elle sighed out shakily, "Holy shit." As the pair sat on the couch in the darkened room. "Seeing a guy die is much less cooler than in the movies…." She admitted with a dry laugh.

A few moments later, there was a clear gunshot that rang out through the air. Ezra's head shot up in concern. "C'mon." He dragged Elle outside where the others were gathered, trying to find the source of the noise as well.

Someone had shot Andi. Ezra blinked, tears starting to form at the edges of his eyes. A single gunshot and she was dead. Elle looked at him, concerned before she squeezed his hand lightly to make him look at her. She gave her father a sympathetic look. It may have been a while since Ezra had seen Andi before their trip but they remained friends. He cared about her, wanted her to get through everything that's happened with a few scratches. Maybe it wasn't meant to be.

At some point, the group was hailed back to the dining room while Benoit patted Ezra's shoulder for a moment.

"We need to find this bitch and arrest them." Ezra said, gritting his teeth. They had to be on the island, meaning it was one of the 'disruptors.' 

It couldn't be Elle, she was a good kid and didn't like the idea of murdering someone anyways. Ezra knew it wasn't himself, obviously. And Benoit was a detective, why would he change career paths? He barely knew these people to have any real motivation.

Benoit sighed out, "Only one person can tell us who killed Cassandra Brand."