connections ➯ chris evans

017 ➸ ELLEN

   Arden got out of the black suburban before Chris did, as she was less of a fuss to the crowd than he. Bodyguards surrounded her nonetheless and shouts were thrown her way.

   "Are you single?"

   "Why are you here with Chris?"

   "Team Cap or Team Iron Man?"

   "Which do you prefer? Dating an amputee or a man who wears a chinstrap helmet in his uniform daily?"

   The last one made her laugh, and she hoped Chris had heard it from behind her.

   When they made it safely inside, an assistant escorted them to their dressing rooms while they waited for their segment on the show.

   Arden heard Chris come up from behind her as he asked a question, "So, which one?"

   "What could you possibly mean, Chrissy?" Arden gave a few laughs at her dumb nickname for the Bostonian. He ignored it this time before going on.

   "Dating an amputee or chinstrap guy?"

   "Oh, date an amputee hands down."

   Chris gasped and feigned a hurt look, as if she had just gave him a nasty blow to the stomach or nuts, "Is Captain America not good enough for you?" he asked after he finished his little scene.

   "Oh, no, it's just that I have this thing for metal arms..."

   "Good thing he loses it in this movie, then Cap will have an actual shot."

   "Probably not. Chinstraps are ugly." Arden confessed, her voice monotonous.

   "Have you seen Steve Rogers, though? He's a total stud." Chris had a dreamy look in his eye at the mention of his character.

   "Quit inflating your massive ego and get into your dressing room. I'll see you out there."

--

   "Please welcome two members from Captain America: Civil War, Arden Liu and Chris Evans!" Ellen shouted to the primarily female audience, who roared in response to the names, especially Chris Evans's.

   Arden walked out first and waved, Chris close behind. They both gave Ellen a hug before sitting on the white couch across from her.

   Once the audience's cheers lulled and everyone was well situated in their seats, Ellen said, "Hi guys! How are you today?"

   "Well! How are you?" Evans charmed, giving Ellen that million dollar smile and wink.

   "Not gonna work on me, Chris." Ellen replied, not letting the cheeky man phase her. Everyone laughed before they continued.

   "So, Arden, you're new to the cast. How have you felt since joining?"

   "Awesome. Honestly, everyone in this movie and even in movies past have been so kind to me! I've never felt so accepted and myself with a group of people than with these guys. I'm so happy I was casted, like you have no clue. I know it's early in filming, but I can tell these people will have a long lasting effect on my life." Arden beamed, her grin widening as she quickly thought about all the great instances and memories she's already had with the cast.

   "That's wonderful. So, Chris, what's it like having newbies like her and Chadwick Boseman joining the cast?" Ellen turned the questioning over to Chris, who was grinning as he had his right shin resting atop his left thigh and his hands holding onto the shin. He quickly switched positions, moving his left arm to wrap around Arden and pull her closer to him.

   "Love it. Chadwick is amazing and I love working with him. However, this one here has been the worst. So terrible that I can hardly stand sitting next to her right now." He chuckled, looking at Arden's shocked expression. She pulled away from his grasp, crossed her arms and legs, and huffed.

   "Nah, I'm only kidding. Arden here has been amazing and I'm so happy to have met her. The cast loves her and we can't wait to shoot more of the movie with her."

   "And what character will you be playing, Arden?" Ellen inquired, looking at Arden, who's now relaxed and smiling again.

   "Oh! I'm playing Janet van Dyne, also known as Wasp. I'm basically like Ant Man, except way cooler if you ask me." Arden responded, a smug look on her face.

   "Ah, so you and Paul Rudd should be working in quite close quarters. Good luck with that! Onto the next, and inevitable question, any romances on screen for either of your characters?" Ellen asked the two, who looked at each other.

   "Well, my character doesn't because she just likes to kick ass. But, as we all know, Cap here can't keep his hands off the ladies. I won't say who, but I can tell you now that it will have a mixed reaction." Arden disclosed as Chris blushed unintentionally, thinking about Cap's odd romance with the Carter lineage. Arden found the whole situation hilarious and slightly disturbing, but ignored it for the most part.

   "And off screen?" Ellen pressed and then Arden began blushing beet red, "Are you two doing the fondue?" she continued, making the two even more squrmish.

   Finally, Chris spoke up, "I can't speak for Arden, but I can say that I'm mostly single."

   "Mostly single? How can you be mostly single?"

   "I don't kiss and tell." Chris replied, winking as Arden slapped his leg.

   "What about you, Arden? Any special person in your life?"

   "Yep. Myself." Arden quipped, smiling happily.

   "Alright, alright. Well, when we come back, we're going to be playing a little game for charity with these two. Stay tuned!" Ellen signed off before going back and talking to Arden and Chris.

--

   "So, today we achieved a lot. I admitted I'm still kinda, not really seeing Minka, you proved you're a narcissist, and I got Ellen on Team Cap and Macvanstan." Chris listed as the black suburban drove himself and Arden away from the building.

   "I thought you wanted to keep the Minka thing private, though?"

   "Eh, we're kinda done with it. She's got some new foreign guy and I've been too focused on this to give her enough attention." Chris admitted and Arden held back a laugh.

   "So, basically, you're saying that Minka Kelly is free?" She asked, wagging her eyebrows. She didn't have an actual crush on Minka (Arden preferred to call it a deep appreciation), but she couldn't help playing it up just to make Chris squirm.

   "Did you just entirely ignore the whole 'new foreign guy' part or?"

   "Foreign guy who? All I hear is a chance for me to make a move," Arden said before pulling out the underwear from Chris's giftbag, "Oh! These are nice. I bet Minka would love them. Can I borrow them?" she teased, holding up a pair of blue ones with white stripes on them. They actually were nice, but she was too embarrassed to admit that she was imagining Chris wearing them, and actually liking it.

   "Jesus Christ, Arden. No. Can you give me a moment to process my loss before you try to pounce" Chris retorted, snatching the underwear out of her hands and stuffing them back in the bag.

   "Okay, fine. I'm being unfair. I do want to be there for you. I just like to make jokes. I'm sorry."

   "It's fine. But, based on all the guys I've seen at your trailer, you can't be getting anything at all."

   "Doesn't mean I can't end this dry spell, bitch. Maybe I'm choosing a life of celibacy." Arden quipped, blushing because she was telling Chris of all people about the traffic–or lack thereof–in and out of her vagina. Yet, by joking around with him about it, she felt the bond between them strengthening.

   The best part about that, though, was that Chris noticed it, too.