#❪ ⠀ * ⠀ rebecca ⠀﹕ ⠀interactions * bokketo's barney. ⠀ ❫

[entrepy]

@bokketo   :    The kids are tucked into bed and Barney wraps himself around Rebecca, savoring the moment of quiet in the house. His chin hooks over her shoulder as he hugs her close. "I never thought I'd even make it to forty, given the way I lived, and this morning I woke up thinking about how happy I'd be to grow old with you. You've really ruined me, huh."

      She loves her two troublemakers with all her heart, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t look forward to this period of calm and quiet as the two finally drift off to sleep and their house turns from an active warzone to just a dormant one. She sinks happily into the embrace that comes around her, just as she’s done peeking into the twins’ room, to make sure they were well and truly in for the night and no late night conspiring was happening under the blankets. 

      She lets herself feel the embrace for a moment, hands hanging onto the arms wrapped around her chest, then turns herself around to face Barney, making him out in the dim hallway light. She touches her fingertips to his cheek, admiring the good work that time has done on him, seeing shades of the years spent together, good and bad in the face she wakes up to every morning. ‘ You are far from ruined, lover mine, ’ Rebecca murmurs, a fond smile growing as she lifts on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He may not be entirely wrong, about the way his life was headed. But there were a string of choices that they’d both made that have brought them here to this moment, and Rebecca can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what was in the cards for Barney all along. She can’t imagine what a tragic world it would be that never allowed Barney to become a father . . . what a desolate life she would have led if she had listened to her head instead of her heart when Barney asked her out on that first date. 

      ‘ You’re lucky you look so damned good with grey hair or I might reconsider growing old with you, ’ she teases, fingers sweeping along his temples, and pulling him in for another soft kiss. ‘ You have a long life ahead of you, handsome, and nothing would make me happier than for you to spend it irritating the hell out of me. ’

[masqe]

💋 SMOOCH MY BABIES YOU KNOW WHO (but also feel free to pick randomly lol)

A kiss for Ivan from Keith, pressed chastely on the mouth as they part ways that morning for their respective jobs.

A kiss for Eva from Shiro, pressed aggressively to her cheek, right before he snaps a selfie with her in front of the Disneyland Star Wars Launch Bay, their Mickey Mouse headbands knocking together.

A kiss for Barney from Rebecca, on the back of his neck as she wraps him up from behind, a smattering of more kisses along his shoulder.

A kiss for Riley from Sam, pressed delicately to her forehead, in a rare moment of quiet between them, the space between them usually filled with teasing, laughter, and quick-wit.

A kiss for Ji-Ying from Shiro, brushed, barely there, on the back of his hand a moment after Shiro reaches for it across the table, meeting his eyes over his knuckles to assess whether this was acceptable.

A kiss for Jane from Thor, aimed perhaps for her cheek but gets her on the corner of her lips --- she's a long way down from him, okay ? --- and lingers a moment as he realises before pulling away with a nervous smile and a change of subject.

[masqe]

“it doesn’t do any good to get worked up.” // barney "king of tact" barton @ rebecca -_- sent by @bokketo .

‘ I am perfectly capable of having this conversation with you regardless of how angry I am at you. ’ There’s no one more capable of getting under her skin than Barney Barton --- it had been the case when they’d met at court and it was even more the case now that they knew each other intimately well and there were greater stakes on the line. Every time Barney goes and does something that betrays Rebecca’s trust, it’s not only him that she’s betrayed by, but herself, too, sent into a tailspin of doubt, wondering whether she had been stupid to believe that she could make this work with Barney. One thing Rebecca hasn’t had to worry about in her life, is doubting herself, but now there was plenty of that to go around with Barney a crucial part of her life. ‘ So don’t you worry about me. Worry about yourself and how you’re going to explain yourself this time. Because I am sick of you making light of your promises, and making a trusting fool out of me. ’

[masqe]

❛  i’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.  ❜ // barney @ rebecca

‘ yeah ? what kind of thoughts ? ’ said absently as she thumbs through a stack of witness reports that never should have left her desk, strictly speaking. she does have the mind to reach across to barney, giving his thigh a good, acknowledging squeeze, but for the most part remains entrapped in her work, the tone of his words not quite enough to set of any alarm bells, though the words themselves may make more of an impact if she were to properly tune in.  

[masqe]

‘ i can’t be happy if she’s not. ’ // okay but rebecca overhearing barney saying this, sent by @bokketo .

Rebecca can hear the muffled sounds of Barney talking on the phone, out on the fire escape, despite the evening nearing and the temperature dropping. She quietly appreciates his back profile, hunched over the railing, jacket sitting so flatteringly on his frame that it looked tailor made. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was. The only reason she’s near enough to hear the next part of his conversation is because she’s over there by the window watering her --- their --- pot plants. She’s deep in her own thoughts when her brain peripherally picks up that one sentence --- I can’t be happy if she’s not --- and she freezes with the sudden eruption of emotion inside her. Like someone had set off a party popper of butterflies in her stomach, only for them to sink immediately to the pit of it. She sets the watering can down there on the ledge, and moves away before she can overhear more of the conversation that was clearly not meant for her to hear. 

At this stage in their relationship --- it was a relationship, no matter what they were or weren’t calling it --- she was fairly certain that Barney liked her. Loved her, even, though she couldn’t be sure whether he was falling into it . . . the way that she was with him. She was falling in love with him, and despite their trifling arguments, it was an easy enough thing to do. There must have been something about his core intentions, true values, that shone through the layers of assholery because something in her had sensed it, and she’d taken the time to peel it all back, and she was stunned, impressed, by what she found. Barney had a big heart, and it was in the right place, but he, himself, was the product of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for his entire life. Maybe even since the day he was born. Falling in love with Barney was easy, but continuing to love him as he existed within the world he had created for himself was difficult, and scary, and the problem had come up a few nights ago when Rebecca’s colleague had sent her a photo of Barney getting out of the car of a notorious security head honcho on the FBI’s watch list. 

Rebecca had, admittedly, lost her cool a little too early, and she probably could have addressed the matter more calmly, but Barney has always had a knack for dissolving her composure and practiced diplomacies, so of course it had resulted in an explosive argument with Rebecca reminding Barney that he wasn’t supposed to be dealing on that side of the law anymore. They had made nice since then, though not as solid as they could have been and Rebecca wasn’t entirely sure what Barney was doing about the situation, though the conversation he was having outside implied that something was in the works. 

It matters. It makes a world of difference. That her happiness is important to him. It’s yet another reminder to Rebecca to keep stripping back the surface that Barney presents, because the man beneath it will never disappoint her. 

When Barney finally comes back inside, their oven made dinner is two minutes away from being done, the apartment is nicely heated, and Rebecca sidles up to him to give him a lingering hug, tight enough to carry them out of dangerous waters and onto steady ground. ‘ We’ve got this, ’ she promises, muffled, into his neck.   

[masqe]

@bokketo​ said: Barney arrives home grumbling heartily about something, but cuts it off when Rebecca arrives in the doorway. He drops off his stuff, walks over and kisses her, and then faceplants himself into her cleavage. Ahh, bliss. This is the best way to recharge after a long day.

Rebecca has had an hour or so to settle down after work, showering and changing into sweats and a borrowed sweatshirt to double-up on some of the required reading for the week. It’s late when Barney gets home, but she was expecting as much. When she hears him at the door, she catches herself smiling, rids herself of the thought, and goes over to greet him. ‘ Hi. ’ She laughs as he straightaway drops his face into her chest, arms winding around him. She scratches the top of his head affectionately, and lets him stay there for a minute or so. Then she cups his face and brings him up --- partially because her back was starting to ache with the position, partially because she wants to get him off his feet. She kisses him softly and slowly, hands on his cheeks. ‘ Long day, huh ? How about I draw us up a bath and you can have at my boobs as long as you want ? ’ She smiles, tracing a finger along his hairline. She’s seen him act so tough and intimidating in the outside world, and knows that it’s not really even an act. He definitely is not a man you want to cross. But when he’s like this, his guard down, coming to her for comfort, she almost can’t believe that he was the same man her alarm bells had started ringing for. 

[masqe]

@bokketo​ said: [taunting stare] - Your muse gazes mischeviously at mine, clearly trying to taunt them into something sexual, romantic, or playful. / barney @ rebecca (that's it that's the whole ship) 

They’re getting slightly better at keeping their hands to themselves, helpful when they’re out in public, redundant when they’re in the privacy of their own apartments. They spend more time at Barney’s place because Rebecca’s place is small and houses her roommate who is unfortunately a homebody and so is always there in the other room. They’ve managed a whole dinner --- Rebecca had cooked, and maybe she’d reorganised Barney’s kitchen a little while she was at it --- and apart from a little cuddle time while they finished off their wines on the couch, they’ve been relatively tame.

Rebecca had had zero expectations when she’d let herself get dragged in by the mystery, and frankly, danger that surrounded Barney Barton. She usually had more self control, but his devilish smirk and quick wit and infuriating talent for pressing her buttons had worn her down, and in the end, she’d been the one to kiss him. Damn it. It had all snowballed from there. They weren’t calling it a relationship, but they did dinner dates, they slept over, they texted and called during the day. Rebecca wasn’t interested in anyone else, the heavens themselves had to have moved for her to show an interest in Barney amidst the chaos of balancing law school and work. At first, after she’d made him jump through a satisfying number of hoops and personality checks, she could pass it off as something purely physical, sexual, because their encounters had mostly ended up in feeling each other up to varying extents.

When they manage a whole evening with no intent on his behalf to escalate things… she’s not sure what to make of it. But then . . . oh there it is. ‘ What ? ’ she asks, even though she knows exactly what. They’ve moved back to the kitchen, Rebecca unable to turn in for the night without ensuring the dishes are done. It was one of the rules of the house growing up, and something that had stuck with her and her brother even after their Dad was no longer around to enforce it. She eyes him as she carefully dries the cutlery, trying not to burn under the heat of the gaze he’s casting down on her. That gaze was a dangerous thing. It was largely responsible for her giving into the whims of her lizard brain. The way he could express so much want and hunger with just his eyes. That look alone has interest pooling at the pit of her stomach. 

Her mouth twitches, hiding a smile. She’s right there with him, and unfortunately that means her little play of being uninterested won’t last long. But it’s a game she likes to play, because she likes to see how convincing he can get. ‘ Didn’t dinner fill you up, big guy ? You still look hungry. ’ She smirks, moving around him to put away the cutlery in its drawer, purposely closer than necessary.

[masqe]

@bokketo said: " you need a lift? " / barney @ rebecca

Just for a second, Rebecca’s steps falter, surprised to see him outside the doors of the DA’s office. The fact that she smiles immediately at the sight of him is an automatic response she wishes she could’ve quashed. The fact that the smile is accompanied by an eye roll is purely for Barney’s benefit. 

After the one misstep, her pace picks up to canter down the steps, readily passing him as he waits --- presumably for her --- at the bottom. ‘ No, thank you, I thought I’d enjoy the breeze and walk today, ’ she lies through her teeth. The day is coming to a near close, with the last of the sun’s rays clinging to the city’s skyline, not minutes from slipping away into the evening all together. After a morning of classes, a missed lunch break, and then an afternoon morphing into late afternoon scouring through case work, the last thing she’s looking forward to is a twenty minute commute via public transport home, when a cab ride would get her off her feet and there in five. Not to mention she could switch of her brain in the back of a cab, rather than the constant vigilance of being out and about in the city after dark. 

However, a twenty minute commute beats accepting Barney Barton’s help, requested or not. She certainly doesn’t need any favours from him and she can’t imagine a worse situation to be in than in his debt.

‘ Should I add stalking to your rap sheet, Mr Barton? ’ she asks, spinning around to confirm that he was following, but not breaking stride as she continues her way to the train station. She can’t resist; she wants to know whether he was truly waiting for her out here, whether she’s made that much of an impact on him that he’d thought about her that day and orchestrated this meeting. All for her to turn him down. 

Well --- not completely. That darn smile had given her away the second their eyes met, hadn’t it?

[masqe]

😈 + pregnant? or wall? or both? (barney @ rebecca), sent by @bokketo​ .

Rebecca feels a little bad for how out of control her emotions have been. She’s prone to getting irritated by Barney even without the influence of hormones --- but usually there is a good reason for that. At the very least, there is a reason for that, regardless of whether it was a good one or not. However, even she can’t explain the ups and downs of her moods, so she can only imagine that Barney must be even more confused. 

Not half an hour ago, she’d sent Barney packing after he’d tried a couple of lingering neck kisses on her, probably testing the waters as they both settled in for the evening. Now, she was tiptoeing out of the bedroom, having grown tired of staring at reports on her laptop, especially as they weren’t something she couldn’t go over in office in the morning. Especially as there was a growing need creeping all over that yelled out for Barney. For his closeness, and touch. 

She finds him standing in front of the window in the living room, watering the pot plants that she’d decided to purchase on a whim. Bless him for remembering, when she had forgotten to water them earlier. Seeing him perform that simple act --- somehow --- makes her want him more. 

‘ Honey ? ’ she croons, slipping her arms around his torso and pressing her cheek against his back. Four months into the pregnancy and she has a small bump that can be seen when she wears her office skirts, but not so much in her everyday clothing. It can definitely be felt, when she presses closes against him like this. ‘ You’re so hot when you water the plants . . . Why don’t you put the watering can down and come fuck me instead ? ’