Part of a 60 day art challenge with friends on Gaiaonline. 2022.
I took this prompt a little out of context and drew Evelyn from the Mummy movies. I loved those movies growing up and still do to this day. They’ve become one of my comfort movies to watch when I’m having a bad time or need something on in the background.
Happy birthday, @tinydooms! The mental image of Rick wearing knickerbockers for a fashionable country party they’re invited to was too good to pass :D I unfortunately did what I’m sometimes wont to do, which is rush to do the assignment without (re)reading the instructions, which is why I ended up yesterday with a much more autumnal vibe and had to rework the colours in a hurry to make it more May-like. (Putting the original under a cut if you’re curious!)
So joyeux anniversaire ! Thank you for the excuse to draw these two in period-accurate clothes, that’s always a lot of fun :o)
Todays stress free, therapeutic and chill painting - Rick & Evie (The Mummy; 1999) Also got Ardeth Bay in the works All for now, goodnight my freaky darlings. Hulia out.
Absolutely a sucker for the “ARE YOU HURT” once over. The wandering hands, frantically checking for blood or pain just SOMETHING. ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of what they might find while searching. The panicked look on the face of the person doing the checking, the glossy, confused “I’m fine” from the person being checked. HOO BOY just inject that shit right into my veins
The cool evening breeze blows in through the window in the hall as Rick passes, and though he’d killed the bastard himself, he wonders if he’ll ever not be on alert again. What with the creep’s magical ability to waltz in through the window and whisk away himself – and anyone of his choosing – in a flurry of sand. What the hell is this life?
Rick shakes his head to clear his thoughts, his hair falling in his eyes. He stops outside the door and clears his throat, haphazardly pushing his hair away from his face. The action is futile; it only flops right back over his forehead.
He pauses a moment, then lifts his hand and knocks. When the door opens, he forgets to breathe. She looks so goddamn beautiful. The ends of her hair are damp, and her cheeks are flushed — she must have just stepped out of the bath. As his gaze falls lower, he sees the sheen of water glistening on her neck and chest. “Hi. Hello.” He snaps his mouth shut and forces his eyes back to hers.
“Hello,” Evelyn says softly. She’s smiling, and tilts her head. A curl slips loose from her braid, and Rick wants to reach out to touch it.
“I just—“ he hesitates, shifting his weight to the other foot. “I wanted to see how you were. How you’re doing. Y’know. After all that. So are you good? You’re good?”
Evelyn’s smile widens, and she pulls the door open further, stepping back to gesture inside. “I am. Would you like a drink?”
Rick takes a breath and nods, stepping past her. He waits as she closes the door, then catches her hand on her way to the drink cart. She meets his eyes, and he pulls her in, slipping his free arm around her waist. He can feel the warmth of her skin through her thin nightgown, and he tightens his grip on her. He lifts her hand, settling it on his chest before brushing his fingers along her jaw. She’s so goddamn beautiful; so goddamn perfect, he can’t stop the worry that she’s going to come to her senses and realize she’s made a terrible mistake. That she shouldn’t be associating with the likes of him – a scoundrel. Perhaps she’ll chock it up to the heat of the desert and the adrenaline of near-death. But now, safely back in Cairo, she’ll come to her senses.
“What is it?”
Rick blinks, her gentle voice pulling him from his thoughts. He realizes she’s staring up at him, watching closely, the line between her delicate brows furrowed. “I’m just counting my blessings, is all.” His thumb brushes her cheek, and her fingers curl around his shirt. He leans down, brushing his lips against hers before capturing them in a slow kiss. She sighs into his mouth, and he pulls her closer, his fingers slipping back into her hair to cradle her head. His tongue begs entrance, and he groans quietly when she allows him.
They part, breathless, and he rests his forehead against Evelyn’s. “I should let you get some rest,” he whispers, though he pulls her closer.
Evelyn’s hand slips up his chest, grasping the back of his neck. “I’m not at all tired, Mr. O’Connell.”
His eyes are closed, but he can hear the smile in her voice. Even so, he feels that fear rising in his throat. Terror is more like it. “No, I know, I just– I don’t–” He’s not unfamiliar with the feeling: his whole life has been one terror after another. Trauma, fighting, loss… But for the first time, he feels like he’s finally found something worth holding onto. He feels like if he lost Evelyn, he might finally perish. It is with astonishing clarity and horror that he realizes he is wholly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with her.
“Rick,” she whispers, and her lithe fingers trail his jaw. Rick opens his eyes to meet hers, and he sucks in a breath. He loves the sound of his name on her lips, and he never wants to go a day without hearing it. “What is it?”
Finally, he opens his eyes, pulling back just enough to look down at her and meet her gaze. He licks his lips and sighs, losing himself for a moment in her freckles; in the swirls of green and honey that make up her eyes. She is breathtakingly beautiful, and he can’t bring himself to understand why someone as beautiful and astonishingly intelligent wants someone like him. “I don’t wanna push you,” he says finally. He surprises himself – it’s not what he intends to say. He intends to keep it to himself, but once the words are out, it’s like a floodgate. “I don’t want you to change your mind or think you made a mistake ‘cause I’m crazy about you, ‘n’ you’re way outta my league–”
Evelyn presses a finger to his lips, and he stops. Her gaze is intense and intent. “Stay with me tonight.”
Rick’s eyebrows disappear behind his hair. “Evy, I–”
“There’s nothing that could change my mind about you. You can’t scare me off or push me too far. I would expect you’ve figured out by now, I’m not a girl who’s easily frightened.”
At that, Rick smiles. It’s quite possibly one of the things he loves most about her – her absolute unbridled bravery in the face of horror. “You’ve got a point there.” For the time being, he suppresses his worries and drops both hands to her thighs to lift her up. Her nightgown bunches at her hips, and his fingers brush her skin. He kisses her, slow and heated as he makes his way to the bed, laying her back gently. He toes out of his boots and climbs over her, careful not to crush her; his weight braced on an elbow beside her head.
Evelyn’s fingers work at the buttons of his shirt, and Rick gasps against her lips when her fingers slip beneath it. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” she murmurs between kisses, “than I am of how much I want you.” Despite her words, he can feel her heart racing; hammering against her chest. And more than ever, he wants to do everything he can to show her how much he cares about her. To make it special.
He lets her work open the rest of his buttons, and he shifts his weight to shrug out of his shirt, tossing it to the floor. Smirking, he watches as she drinks him in, her fingers delicately brushing over his broad chest. God, he never wants to lose this feeling. He never wants to let go of the way she’s looking at him; the feeling of her fingertips against his skin.
Slipping his hand under her nightgown, he caresses the soft skin of her thigh gently, pushing the silky fabric upward as he ducks his head, pressing slow, soft kisses to her neck, along her collar bone. He’s encouraged by the sound she makes; by the way her fingers grip his shoulders. Breaking away, he sits back on his knees and pulls her up with him, holding her gaze. Slowly, he gathers her nightgown in his hands and tugs it upward; she lifts her arms above her head, allowing him to pull it off. It flutters forgotten to the floor with his discarded shirt. “My god, Evy,” he breathes, shaking his head.
Her hands clasp over her chest as her cheeks flush crimson, and he shakes his head again. He reaches out, gently taking her hands in one of his to pull them away; his other cradles her jaw. “No, sweetheart,” he whispers, licking his lips, “I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as you.” He seals his sentiment with a languid kiss, and he swallows her sigh.
+
The cool evening breeze gives way to the chill of the night, floating in through the white chiffon curtains adorning Evelyn’s windows. Rick sprawls on his back, gripping Evelyn tight against him, her head settling on his chest as the sweat dries on their skin. As her fingers trace invisible patterns on his abdomen, he trails his finger along her shoulder, still reveling in her soft skin, warm against his own. He lifts his free hand to cover hers, stilling it on his stomach.
“I’m in love with you, Evy,” he whispers. He draws in a shaky breath, his heart pounding in his chest. She shifts, lifting herself to her elbow to look down at him. Her dark curls tumble forward, and as his eyes are fixed on hers, he pushes them over her shoulder. “You were never just a contract. Matter of fact, since the moment I met you, I realized you’re the most important thing – the most precious thing I’ve ever held, ‘n’ I… I couldn’t stop it even if I wanted to.”
“Rick–”
“I don’t have much. I know I don’t have much to give you. But I want you. I want to be–”
“O’Connell–”
“–with you. I realized some things out there, and I–” Rick’s cut off by Evelyn’s lips against his own; her small, lithe hand on his jaw. He wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer, lifting his hand to her face.
“I love you,” she whispers when they part, and Rick’s face lights up. “I haven’t the slightest care what you do or do not have, Rick. I care about you.” Her eyes fall to his chest, and she smiles, bashful. The sight makes Rick’s heart swell. She’s so unbelievably beautiful; so perfectly adorable. Though he speaks a couple of languages (enough to get by, thank you very much), there aren’t proper words for how he feels about her. He hopes that maybe one day he can find them. “I care about this. Us.”
Rick bends his knee, pulling Evelyn closer. His fingers trail down her spine as he tucks her hair behind her ear. “I don’t care what plagues you unleash next, as long as I get to hear that, I’m a happy man,” he teases. Before she can protest, he pulls her in for a kiss, smiling against her lips.
It’s then that he realizes how long it’s been since he was happy. Rather, he realizes that he had never truly found happiness. There had been women along the way to ease the sting of loneliness, of course. But no one had ever done what Evelyn had; he had never felt for anyone the way he feels for her. He handed his heart to her in that desert, and he never wants it back.
