#this is payback for calling her Feathers

[evelyn-onfire]

She likes to steal his hat

[shewritesallnight]

Home Movies

Request for @sgchop

Request Summary: Inumaki returns home early from his latest mission and catches YN in the act. He decides to use his technique to lend a helping hand.

Rating: 18+, NSFW

1.1K words

The sound of multiple people moaning was not something Inumaki expected to hear when he stepped inside his house.

As far as he could tell, there was YN and two additional muffled voices- another female and possibly a male.

He listened intently as he made his way down the hallway to the bedroom. The harmony of moans and a slight buzz filtered through the cracked door.

"Toge."

He almost froze at the sound of his name and stumbled to the doorway when he heard his own voice respond, "let me cum."

A rush of relief and embarrassment flooded his veins. Heat rose to his cheeks as Inumaki peered past the edge of the door to confirm his suspicions.

YN laid atop the bed in a thin tank top, her back propped up against pillows. She had one hand holding her phone, playing what he audibly recognized as a home movie they had previously made. 

Her other hand held a small vibrator against her satin covered core. She bit her lip watching the display, moving the head around in tight circles. 

Inumaki could just make out the growing dark patch on the fabric from his vantage point. He felt the blood rush to his groin at the sight.

"Toge!" The video called out his name again with her recorded climax.

The real YN cried out in frustration and dropped the phone to sheets. Not bothering to shut off the vibrator she tossed it aside and slumped into the pillows.

Her palms came up to rub at her eyes, "UHG! It's not the same."

The curse user almost announced his arrival- almost.

The recorded voices continued, dulled in the fabric. He was keenly aware that the pixelated version of her was enjoying her release whilst edging his past self.

He watched his writhing lover for a moment before he was struck with an idea. Surely, a bit of payback was in order.

Inumaki pulled out his phone and hit record.

Naturally, being more on the quiet side, Inumaki had become quite observant over the years; and when you are with someone long enough, you learn what makes them tick. Their hopes, dreams, their desires, and how they think. 

For example, he knew that she liked to use a vibrator when he was away because her fingers could never quite reach as far as his could. 

He also knew that if she was desperate enough, she would still try to replicate his touch.

She glanced down at the screen and groaned.

He saw the hesitation on her face when her hand reached out to pick up the vibe, Inumaki rushed out a quiet "stop."

YN froze then blinked down at the toy in her hand, as if having second thoughts. Her eyes glanced back to the video, with a huff, she shut the vibrator off and dropped it again.

It just wouldn’t do, having his beloved continue to suffer with him 'gone'. It was only right that he help her out.

“Clothes off."

She tugged at her top, exposing her breasts, then moved to shimmy her underwear off.

Inumaki zoomed in on his phone to see the sheen of her desire on the satin. His cock ached at the sight and he leaned his head silently against the door frame.

With one hand she picked the phone back up. Toge knew the recording displayed him on his knees, stroking his dick for her.

He wanted to even the playing field, even if it was an old video; and a night he thoroughly enjoyed. 

"Touch yourself."

YN danced her fingers across her chest to her perked nipples. He didn't even have to command her to pluck at the buds.

Her nails grazed the skin of her abdomen as they made their way down to the apex of her thighs. Where the feather light touches continued as teasing strokes.

With his free hand, Toge unbuttoned his pants to adjust his length, thumb stroking the tip.

"Rub your clit…slowly," he added as an afterthought.

The pads of her fingers made leisurely circles, her hips naturally rolling with the movement.

Inumaki audibly moaned at the sight and stiffened. But she was too lost in the sensations and cries from the video to notice the very real echo from the doorway.

He could tell the pace was not enough by the way her nose crinkled, letting out a soft whine.

“Insert two fingers.”

Her eyes rolled back when she felt the intrusion, head pressing back into the pillows. Her hips rocked, taking them as deep as she could. She couldn’t control the stuttered curse that fell from her lips.

Turning back to the video, she could see Toge entering her from behind, her stomach clenched at the view.

Her fingers rushed to match pace with each of his thrusts, lost in the memory of him filling her. 

Her breath hitched, legs twitching and closing around her wrist.

"Don’t."

She cried out when her fingers slipped out of her entrance.

"Fuck!!"

She threw her phone. It slid across the carpet before coming to a stop at the bottom edge of their dresser.

Her chest heaved with the loss of her release. She could still hear the vocalization of their counterparts coming down from their high.

Inumaki could see the irritation on her face as he whispered, "start again."

She wasted no time pressing three fingers in and almost sobbed with relief.

"Spread your legs."

Her legs fell open, giving the cursed speech user an unobstructed view of her walls clenching around the digits.

"Rub your clit."

Her free hand followed his instruction.

Seeing her unknowingly fall to his every whim had Toge gripping the base of his cock to hold off his own impending release.

"Slow down."

Her arm felt heavy, tired. 

"No, no, no!"

She was tiptoeing on the edge, just a little more, "pl-please, so close," she pleaded.

To who, she didn't know. 

She willed her hands to keep moving and Inumaki felt her desperation as she fought against the compulsion. 

His cock throbbed in his hand and he stepped forward.

"Look at me."

Watery eyes shot to the blurred figure at the door.

"T-tog-" Her voice died with his next command.

"Cum."

She threw her head back in a silent scream, back bowed off the bed. An explosion of colors dotted across her vision as she was shoved over the edge into oblivion.

Her hands clutched the duvet through the aftershocks, tears streaming down her face while she struggled to catch her breath, hips still shaking.

Inumaki could have came at the sight alone but he had other plans.

Blinking the spots from her vision, Toge came into clear view. Shirt off with his phone in one hand and his dick in the other.

"Let’s make another movie.”

[shadowsndaisies]

the hard deck: too observant to play dumb (pt 1)

wc: 1.7 k

synopsis: how the arrival at the hard deck went

main masterlist

athena-verse master post

a/n: hey yall! so fun fact it has been 8 years since I started this blog, and as a little thank you, I have a 3 part update to the athena-verse, the whole thing comprises the hard deck scene from the beginning of the movie and will end basically where athena settles debts starts. as always I hope you enjoy, and let me know if you want to be added to the tags!

You'd been standing with Jake and Javi when Nat finally walked in.

"Athena! I've been looking for you!" she shouts, pulling your attention away from the pool table you'd just set up with Javi.

"Oh shit, sorry 'Nix," you offer a half smile.

"Answer your god damn for when I call you," she groans, pointing menacingly at you.

"Yes, Ma'am," you mock salute before noticing the two men behind her. "Looks like you made new friends just fine though," you offer jokingly.

"Payback, Fanboy. Meet Athena, smoothest flier you'll ever see," Phoenix introduces, and you smile warmly at your friend before offering your hand to the two behind her.

"Nice to meet you fellas," you greet.

"High praise coming from Phoenix," Fanboy notes, shaking your head.

"Highest of the high, actually," Payback adds on.

"Yeah, well, there's almost no one I'd rather have on my wing than 'Nix," you compliment back. You were going to ask how they knew your friend, but someone else interrupted you before you could.

"Yo, are we playing or what?" you roll your eyes as you turn back to where Jake and Javi are standing and gesture to the three in front of you; you realize Jake is hunched over the table, lining up his next shot.

"I'm playing nice, Seresin. You should try it," you prod, and Javi manages a slight smirk at Jake.

Jake looks up and makes eye contact with you while landing a ball in a corner pocket, and you can't help but roll your eyes again, cocky bastard. When he straightens, he finally notices what has caught your attention. "Well, what do we have here? If it ain't Phoenix, and she found new friends," he smirks, walking around the table in your direction. "And here I thought we were special Coyote. Turns out the invite went out to anybody."

It's almost like a switch is flipped, you realize, watching as Jake now interacts with others. Cocky attitude inflating his ego in a way that was so Hangman but not necessarily Jake. Nat didn't believe you when you tried to explain that you saw past it, and that's why you were friends. She was confident in her reading, which fair, especially when he acted like this.

"Fellas this here is Bagman," she introduces, and you can already tell it's going to be a long detachment spent between your two friends, especially since they hate each other.

"Hangman," he corrects, tone slightly barbed.

"Whatever," Phoenix makes a face at him and rolls her eyes when she looks at you as if to say, C'mon Athena, don't you see what I'm talking about? "You're looking at the only naval aviator on active duty with a confirmed air-to-air kill," she adds on, turning back to Jake.

Your eyes narrow at the compliment-like a statement; however, you don't trust it for a second.

Hangman smiles, "Stop," he muses as he settles down beside you, bumping your shoulder with his as he does, full of pride like a peacock strutting his feathers.

"Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean War," she clarifies, and you nod; you felt this was where she was taking it.

"Cold War," Coyote corrects, always one to back up his friends.

"Different wars, same century," Payback interjects.

"Not this one," Fanboy tacks on.

"Who're your friends?" Coyote asks, eyes dancing over the two on either side of Phoenix.

"Payback."

"Fanboy."

Both aviators introduce themselves with a simple nod, and you can't hide your smile of amusement. The testosterone was off the charts, and Nat was leading the bunch.

"Hey Coyote," she greets, eyes darting to Javi, and you fight the smirk at the look in her eye.

"Hey," he greets, dragging out the 'ey' a bit, and your eyes dart over to Jake just to find a knowing look already focused on you.

"Who's he?" Nat asks, nodding to the side.

"Who's who?" Coyote's brows had furrowed down, and then Nat turned to look at the quiet Aviator in glasses who'd been munching on peanuts while you played pool.

"When did you get in?" Coyote's voice floats over from behind you as you take a moment to observe your silent comrade.

"Oh, oh I've been here the whole time," he admits, and your brow quirks, and quickly you turn to look over at Jake.

"Man's a stealth pilot," you muse gently, and even Nat cracks a smile.

"Literally," Coyote nods.

"Weapons systems officer, actually," he corrects, and your lips twitch; he's adorable, you decide immediately.

"With no sense of humor," Jake huffs out.

You elbow him, and he gasps before standing and handing off the pool cue to Nat.

"What do they call you?" you ask, voice sweet.

"Bob," he answers, offering a hesitant smile in response to your wide one.

"No, your call sign," Payback clarifies.

He seems to hesitate, "uh.." he trails for a second, and you can read the nervous energy easily. "Bob," he repeats, and you frown a bit at the cautious undertones of his voice.

"Bob Floyd?" Nat asks. "You're my new backseater? From Leemore?" her tone had turned a bit incredulous. The smothered chortles from Payback and Fanboy were not nearly as covert as they seemed to think it was, based on the glares Nat was sending them.

"Looks like it, yeah," Bob confirms, and that nervous undertone is still there.

Nat pauses and looks at you. You tilt your head knowingly, and she nods, turning to the back seater.

"Nine ball, Bob. Rack 'em."

"Uh.. kay, yeah," he nods, standing and taking the pool cue outstretched in Natasha's hand.

You pat your friend's shoulder knowingly before turning to look for Jake. You spot him at the bar and start walking that way. You pause, though, when you see him talking to Penny, and then you realize who was on the other side of her and, most likely, who had just caused the bell to ring. Leave it to your dad to piss off the woman who loved him through his worst and best without even trying.

You're so focused on watching the interaction at the bar you miss it when he walks in.

"Bradshaw! That you?" Nat's voice rings out over the noise of the bar. It's only now starting to get busy, and you can't help the way your head snaps over to him.

You'd knew he'd be here. He said as much in his email, but being confronted by him and the past you avoided was something you decided then and there that you weren't ready for.

You're stuck, frozen, watching him interact with Phoenix.

"This is how I find out you're stateside?" she asks before lining up to take her next shot.

"Yeah I thought I'd surprise you," he responds with an easy camaraderie that you hadn't realized existed with the woman you considered to be one of your closest friends these days.

He's looking around the bar, not having spotted you yet, when Nat lets out a hum, taking her shot. Obviously, she lands another in the pocket; this was Phoenix we're talking about. She manages to hit Bradley in the gut with the end of the pool cue, forcing him to keel over a bit.

A petty and vindictive piece of you takes pleasure in that. But another piece, a little girl, she aches for the easygoing relationship and the best friend she once had.

"Guess I surprised you back," she smirks, facing Bradley.

He nods at her, "it's good to see you," he manages to huff out, slowly standing back up.

"It's good to see you too," she smiles, and he lays a gentle hand on her shoulder, and you have to turn back around.

You're counting your breaths again, focusing on what you can see, touch, hear, taste, and smell. You realize too late that Jake's analyzing you. He'd seen how you stiffened up and focused on the interaction, and he saw how you forced yourself to turn around, away from Bradley.

He grabs the beers Penny offers him and a glass of something else, says something to Penny, you think, and then turns back, walking toward you. He places the glass in your hand with a whispered "G&T."

"Thanks," you manage to spit out.

"Where's your head?" he asks, voice still low, and you know that right now, no one is paying attention to the two of you.

"A little too far off the ground," you admit; it wasn't worth the effort to lie to Jake; generally, he saw through it anyway.

You notice how his eyes dart past you, looking at Brad and Nat, but he doesn't ask you about it. Instead, he asks, "What do you need?"

"Time machine?" you ask, eyes finally meeting his straight on instead of jumping around like they had been. He was good at that, asking the right questions; probably a perk of learning how to piss everyone off is also knowing when to pull back.

"Fresh out, I'm afraid," the drawl in his Texan accent always appeared early in the morning and late at night, but also when he drank. Your favorite appearance was in the whispers when he talked low, and it just tended to bleed into every word; it made you think of Jake the football star, Jake the kid who grew up on a ranch, a version of the man before you, you never got to meet.

"Then I guess I'll have to just… manage," you muse sourly.

"You always tend to do better than just manage, 'Thena," he reminds you.

"I don't know about that, at least not this time," you admit.

"This got something to do with Bradshaw?"

"You're too observant to play dumb," is how you answer.

"What, is this a kiss and not tell situation?" There's a cloud in the green of Jake's eyes as he asks, and you're tempted to answer, but quite honestly, you weren't sure if there was a statute of limitations on don't kiss and tell, and you're not sure if your first kiss when you were 13 counts.

"No, it's a different kind of history," is what you actually say. "I'll be okay, you go on though, I just need a minute," you urge.

Jake hesitates, not at all sold on what you'd said, but slowly, he takes a step forward and then another until he's approaching the pool table again.

...

everything: @butterfly-skinnylegend

athena’s tags: @omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes

[starlightrosa]

I loved your Spa day with Lucifer,what if you did a follow-up,giving Alastor a hooficure where they learn Al's hooves are hyper ticklish?~

A King's Revenge

A follow up to this fic!

Summary: Lucifer decides to get a bit of payback on Alastor, since the bellhop so rudely tickled his wings previously. And Lucifer learns what really makes the Radio Demon smile.

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: Ahh, thank you! I love Spa Days in Hell too! But YESSS, Radio Demon boutta get destroyed by cheeky old Lucifer. Ohh, I love it, nonnie! Anything to wreck evil Bambi >:D

Warnings: Alastor doesn't have feet, he have hooves. So uh... hoof tickles, for sure. Lucifer being teasy, the odd swear word or two. (The hoof tickles themselves are obviously all SFW)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pentagram sun rose quite happily in the crimson sky once more, signalling the start of a new day in Hell. The patrons all had their things to do today. Angel Dust was out on another shoot for Valentino. Husk was polishing glasses on his bar, while not-so-subtly nursing a bottle of whiskey alongside that task. A bit riskier of a play, but hey, Husk was a gambler for a reason. Niffty was busy swatting at flies. Charlie and Vaggie were poring over management plans, in a marketing bid. And Alastor was Satan-knows-where.

Lucifer came down the steps, yawning as he stretched out his wings. Lucifer was still getting used to showing his wings around these patrons. The last time he had done so, well.. it ended with his mischievous daughter and her bellhop tickling each wing until Lucifer was a babbling mess, in an effort to groom his wings.

Lucifer shivered a bit at the mere memory of that. He chuckled, having been refreshed after a night’s sleep with his newly preened wings. He supposed Charlie would have found out just how ticklish his wings were anyway, but the fact that Alastor had found out alongside her was a bit more jarring.

But Lucifer wasn’t one to be put down so easily. He had noticed Alastor’s unique self-care routine, or lack thereof. Alastor didn’t smell per se, but there was a hint of unwelcomed musk about him. Like a mix of dirt and cooked human flesh. Made sense, given Alastor did make a fair few visits to Cannibal Colony, where his dear friend Rosie lived. His breath, however… phew, that was a whole other can of worms.

Lucifer sat reading his latest novel, the golden title of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ embossed on the book as he pondered this in his head. Alastor didn’t really bother to take care of himself hygiene-wise, but he made sure his suit was immaculately pressed and washed. What kind of sense did that make?

And then there was a knock on the door, jolting the king out of his thoughts. “Come in!” he called, setting his book aside as he awaited his visitor.

To his delight, his daughter Charlie walked on in. “Hey Dad!” she greeted. Lucifer smiled.

“Ahh, there’s my little apple! How has the marketing been going, Char-Char?” Lucifer chirped, oddly chipper as his wings rose up, fluttering softly.

“Yeah, it’s been going well. I see your wings look a lot better.” she chuckled, a hint of a teasing tone in her voice. Lucifer chuckled and crossed his legs for a moment.

“Indeed they are. Right after you and the bellhop had your ways with me, like the cheeky things you are.” Lucifer growled playfully, pulling Charlie into his arms and using his wings to softly brush up against her sides. “But you should know not to mess with the Tickle Monster, Char-Char.” he added, smirking evilly.

“Pfffthahaha! Dahahahad, nohohohoho!” Charlie giggled, squirming in his arms. Lucifer chuckled and ruffled his feathers a little more against his daughter’s sides.

“Tickle tickle, little apple~” Lucifer cooed softly, enjoying the giggle fit he was happily pulling out of Charlie. No matter what age she was, she was his little girl. His pride and joy.

“DAHAHAHAD PLEHEHEHEASE!” Charlie shrieked, her eyes bright with mirth. The sight warmed Lucifer’s heart as he chuckled and let her stand back up, allowing Charlie to adjust her suit again to keep it nice and unruffled. Seems the bellhop’s mannerisms were starting to rub off on her for a little.

“Charlie, can I ask you something?” Lucifer asked, seeing his daughter adjust her suit. Charlie nodded once she had gotten her suit all back in order.

“Sure, Dad. What’s on your mind?” asked the princess.

“It concerns your business partner, Alastor. I am a little concerned about his hygiene. I mean, you’ll forgive me for saying so, but he does not smell very pleasant some days. Is there any way we could rectify that, little apple?” Lucifer asked, putting on a rather convincing show, as if he was truly concerned.

Charlie hummed, one hand resting delicately upon her cheek as she pondered. “Well, I’ve tried talking to him about it. But he just doesn’t seem to go for it. Vaggie and I are kind of at our wits end with him in regards to that.”

“Perhaps a spa day may benefit him.” Lucifer offered, trying to keep his tone neutral, offering his wings up as proof. The six wings of the fallen seraphim glimmered softly. Charlie gasped and nodded, a familiar shine in her eyes that warmed Lucifer’s heart.

“Oh yes! Dad, you’re a genius! I’ll go ask him!” Charlie said, making to run off, but Lucifer caught her arm.

“Ah, ah. Little apple, I know your enthusiasm knows no bounds. Leave this to me, hmm? Why don’t you and your girlfriend have the day off, and I will present the idea to him. I mean, he can’t exactly refuse his king, now can he?” Lucifer chuckled.

Charlie giggled. “I’m sure Alastor won’t have a problem with this. Call me if things get bad, okay?”

“Of course, little apple. You go spend time with your beloved.” Lucifer urged, making playful shoo motions to Charlie. Once the princess had disappeared, Lucifer’s soft smile changed into a cheeky grin as he set off to go find Alastor. Oh, this was going to be fun.

Alastor was relaxing on the balcony, sipping his black coffee from his mug, adequately titled as “Oh Deer.” Befitting for a deer demon. Lucifer walked out onto the balcony. “Afternoon, bellhop.”

Alastor’s ears flattened slightly, as his eyes narrowed. “Hello.” he hissed back, his tone bordering on the edge of fake politeness. The mere mention of Lucifer’s name brought a sense of ire around Alastor. Seeing him just made that ire worse.

Lucifer tutted, leaning playfully on the railing of the balcony. “Now, now. No need to look so defensive. Charlie tells me you’ve been working rather hard, and she wants to make sure you relax.” Lucifer quickly made up. The lie came easily. Lucifer knew Alastor would be more inclined to believe him if the king composed a lie that involved Charlie in some way.

Alastor raised a brow. He didn’t recall any time that Charlie said that, but Lucifer was still leagues above him in terms of power. Lucifer was the KING, for Christ’s sake. He held his microphone close to his chest. “She said that? Truly?”

“Indeed so. Not only that, but you seem quite overworked. I mean, you are on your feet constantly from what I have seen here during my visit. Surely you should want to put your feet up once in a while.” Lucifer continued on. He was selling a convincing act. He just hoped Alastor fell for it.

“My feet are up right now.” Alastor said, taking a long sip of coffee to prove his point, the ‘Oh Deer’ logo prominent.

Lucifer sighed and kept his smile. “Don’t make me make it an order from your king, bellhop. Do we have an agreement that you’ll come take the day to relax?”

Now it was Alastor’s turn to sigh, looking away as his ears flattened yet again before they pinned back up, his eternal smile etched stubbornly onto his face.

“If Charlie wishes me to, then I suppose I’ve no choice.” the deer demon sighed, getting to his feet. Lucifer had a hard time keeping his smile from turning wicked. He had Alastor right where he wanted him. Thankfully Charlie had told Lucifer about the new hotel’s building plan, so he knew there was a spa on the east wing at the first floor. And it was there that he led Alastor.

“Have you ever had a spa day, bellhop?” Lucifer asked. Alastor scoffed.

“I’d rather you said my name. I am not some measly bellhop.”

“Al, right?” Lucifer asked. He didn’t want to give Alastor the satisfaction of following his request entirely. That could make Alastor think that the literal king of Hell was easy to be manipulated. He wasn’t going to fall for that shit.

“Close enough.” Alastor murmured, as the two stepped into the spa. Lucifer led Alastor to one of the massage chairs.

“So, Al. You’re on your feet all fucking day, and I’ve seen that. I don’t know how your feet haven’t fallen off yet. But I have expertise in massages, I did it all the time for my wife. May I?” Lucifer asked, keeping polite as he gestured to Alastor’s shoes. The fact that Alastor seemingly hadn’t caught on was pretty shocking. Maybe the so-called Radio Demon finally had his guard down enough.

Alastor sighed, his ears flattening. But he knew he could not refuse the king of Hell. Not if he wanted to survive. So he reluctantly tugged off his dress shoes. When they fell away, Lucifer looked down, but to Lucifer’s slight surprise, Alastor didn’t have human feet. From his shins downward, he had dark deer legs, ending with a pair of red hooves.

No matter. Lucifer had some revenge to get. He gently settled Alastor’s feet in his lap and smiled at Alastor, doing his best to make it a friendly smile, though he knew Alastor was going to be on guard anyway. So Lucifer softly pressed his fingers to Alastor’s hooves. But he was not expecting a choked back noise to issue from Alastor’s throat.

“Al? You, uh… you okay?” Lucifer asked. Alastor nodded frantically, his eternal smile wobbling the slightest amount. It was physically impossible for Alastor to not be smiling, but his smile somehow seemed a lot more amused.

“S-Stohop!” Alastor said, though the chuckle in his voice was exactly what Lucifer wanted to hear. He repressed a wicked laugh and simply steeled himself, acting like he hadn’t noticed. Two of his wings softly snuck under Alastor’s knees and tickled there briefly, enjoying the deer demon fighting the tickly feelings silently.

“You’re dohohoing thahahat on purpose!” Alastor hissed, his legs twitching as he fought not to kick out to dispel some of the ticklish tingles running around his legs. His ears flattened to his head, and Lucifer chuckled despite himself.

“Doing what? I’m doing nothing, Al. I just want to ensure my daughter’s business partner has some well deserved rest once in a while.” Lucifer lied, even as he took advantage again of Alastor’s little weakness, and softly flexed his nails against the pads of Alastor’s hooves. Alastor couldn’t hold it back and a sharp squeal of microphone feedback left his throat. Lucifer covered his ears, before he looked down at Alastor incredulously. Then his lips turned up, and Lucifer burst into hysterics.

“Oh my GOHOHOHOD! Al, what the hells was thahahat?!” Lucifer cackled. Alastor grumbled, his voice crackling slightly.

“Yohohohou are insuhuhufferable.” Alastor grumbled, sitting up to glare daggers at Lucifer. But the king of Hell only grinned.

“Excuse you, I’m following your example!” Lucifer shot back. “Aren’t you the one who always says that you’re never fully dressed without a smile? Can’t have my daughter’s business partner underdressed! No, sir!”

“I swehehear to- NAHAHAHAHA!” Alastor screeched, his back arching. He fell back, squirming like a worm on a fishing hook as Lucifer was scribbling up and down one of the pads with one hand, but using his right hand to make gentle circles on the other. The differing sensations on both of his hooves was driving Alastor nuts.

And then Lucifer simply added his wings to the mix, making sure to pay attention to the back of Alastor’s knees once again, enjoying the soft cackling and microphone screeching that made up Alastor’s laughter.

“NOHOHOHO!” Alastor yelled, trying to tug his legs out of Lucifer’s hold. But the king wouldn’t let go.

“Ah, ah. Where do you think you’re going, Al?” Lucifer chastised, tugging the hooves back into his lap. He wouldn’t stop until he was done with revenge.

“Awahahahay frohohom yohohou!” Alastor shot back. “Stohohop doing it!”

“Doing what, Al? Oh, don’t tell me that you can’t say the word.” Lucifer chuckled.

“I-I CAHAHAHAN!” Alastor argued.

“Then do it.” Lucifer said, egging the deer demon on, smirking at Alastor.

To his credit, Alastor truly did try. “T-T-Tick… tick-”

“No, that’s not the word. Tick is the sound a clock makes, Al.” Lucifer interrupted. “I believe it is pronounced like this. Tickle. And I shall use it in a sentence for you. Tickle tickle tickle tickle!” Lucifer demonstrated, all six wings being put to use. Three wings on each of Alastor’s ticklish little hooves as Lucifer softly brought his nails behind Alastor’s ears and tickled there too.

“AIEEEEHEHEHEE! NOHOHO, NOHO!” Alastor cried out, more sharp squeals of microphone feedback being pulled out of him. His hoof pads and his ears? Oh, that was just cruel. Alastor couldn’t even move, he was that ticklish. And Lucifer loved every moment of this.

“It’s a wonder how Charlie hasn’t found out yet. Normally she’s quick to know about tickle spots. And your ticklish hoovsies are an absolute giggle goldmine!” Lucifer declared, enjoying the pink hue at Alastor’s cheeks. “Oh-ho, is that a blush I see?”

Alastor’s blush brightened at Lucifer’s words as he hid his face.

“Ohh, don’t be getting all shy on me, Al. Let me see that smile~” Lucifer grinned, softly taking Alastor’s hands away from his face. Alastor’s snarkiness was drying up fast, and tears sparkled in his eyes. Lucifer decided that maybe he should stop soon. So for the last little bit of his revenge, Lucifer went all out. His claws flexed upon Alastor’s hooves and tickled every last bit of his ticklish little hoof pads. Some of Lucifer’s wing feathers had fallen out, so he picked up the fallen feathers and brushed them over Alastor’s knees in a pattern.

Alastor’s laughter went silent for a moment. And then the loudest squeal of microphone feedback left him yet again as a long wheeze left Alastor before the deer demon simply went limp, and Lucifer took that as his cue to stop.

Lucifer softly took Alastor’s ticklish legs out of his lap and gently settled Alastor’s shoes back on, even going as far as to tie the laces for him.

“That was… cruel.” Alastor gasped out, the deer demon rubbing his eyes to dispel the tears of mirth that sparkled within them.

“You didn’t even try and stop me, bellhop.” Lucifer laughed. Alastor grumbled and sat up, his hooves tingling with ticklish energy. Though he wouldn’t lie, being tickled kind of reminded him of simpler times with his beloved mother, back when Alastor was just a young boy.

As Alastor headed to the door of the spa, he turned back to Lucifer, smiling ominously. “I hope you don’t think you’re going to get away with that. You will regret this deeply, Your Majesty~” Alastor said, his eyes sparkling with revenge as he left the spa.

Lucifer chuckled nervously as he stayed there in the spa, waiting thirty seconds before he hurried to his suite and locked the door.

Was he probably going to get tickled at some point by Alastor? Yes.

Would Lucifer do this again if given the opportunity? In a goddamned heartbeat.

The End!

[moongeonight]

Crazy employees part 2

Summary: Lucifer needs revenge, and plans to use Niffty like Alastor did with him, Although it doesn't end the exactly way he wanted...

A/N: Well surprise! I Finally finished the second part... I hope you like it! (This is a tickle fic!)

Here part 1 👉🏼 Crazy employees part 1

--------------

Lucifer was determined to find a way to get payback, he wouldn’t settle for anything less than that, That being said...he had no idea to how he was actually going to do it... But he’ll figure it out, he always figure it out.

He get up and pace the room, his anger getting the better of him as he tried to think of something that could tick alastor off or better yet… find out if he’s even ticklish in the first place

(Later that day)

Lucifer was walking through the hallways of the hotel, when he noticed that Niffty was cleaning the walls, he did not hold a grudge on her since Alastor was the direct culprit, and also... he knew that she was a little crazy... In fact he had been just a little bit amused by that incident if anything.

As he walked past he gave a small wave with his hands in his pockets as he watched her clean, But then the idea came into his head... If Niffty belonged to Alastor then she must know some things about him right? Maybe she has the answer to his question! He just decides to stop and talk to her.

“Hey Niffty…” He says calmly as he leans on the wall, his hands still in his pockets as he looks down at her.

Hearing the voice of Lucifer made her immediately got her attention as she turned quickly, looking up to him with her usual crazed grin.

“Oh! Lucifer! Hello!” She said in a joyful tone quickly rushing up close to him.

“Hi… listen I have a question... have you ever seen Alastor get any sort of reaction to tickling?...”

Niffty thought for a few seconds before finally replying, her usual crazed grin now a more mischievous look on her face.

“Is this a secret plan for you to get Alastor back after what he make me did earlier? Haha! if you want to get him, I know just the way!” For how Niffty was acting, she definitely had some sort of plan in mind.

“Y-you do? I mean, yes… I am planning on getting back at Alastor, that’s why I need to know that info... So do you know anything about that guy being ticklish?” Lucifer’s interest only grew more.

Niffty’s couldn’t help but giggle as she spoke, being extremely amused with what the two were discussing.

“I do know something!” niffty paused for a second, looking around for anyone possibly listening in before whispering what she knew.

“Alastor is very ticklish in his ears, I was able to get a few giggles out of him by tickling them!"

Lucifer’s eyes widened at that revelation, this is exactly what he needed, The one thing that could get back at Alastor was right in front of him he just needed the opportunity to take advantage of it.

“Niffty would you help this um... What had she called him before? Ultimate Bad boy?"

Niffty didn’t need to think twice before giving him a quick smirk and a nod.

“Oh absolutely! It would be my pleasure to help anyone as handsome as you!”

Niffty laugh to herself in amusement as she gave him a little cheeky grin, knowing full well this was going to be a fun scheme to participate in.

...

Alastor was walking through the hotel probably looking for someone to torment when he ran into Niffty again.

“oh sir! What a surprise!” niffty said apparently very excitedly.

“Oh, there is my favourite little psycho!” he exclaim as he approached the little lady, his grin only growing “What are you doing here now?”

Niffty could only giggled, the moment was perfect; her plans slowly began to form in her head.

“O-oh nothing much, just some light cleaning!... Oh Alastor! You have dirt on your hair!” Niffty said, not waiting another minute before climbing at great speed onto Alastor's shoulder and taking his feather duster out of her pockets. "I have to clean it up!"

Alastor seem stunned for a moment as he felt her climbing on top of him but he quickly recovered.

“oh my, you are eager! Well, i Guess you can go ahead” He said while staying still, as if he was allowing her to do it.

Niffty saw his gesture and wasted no time in getting the chance to get him, she had been planning this for a while.

“Oh! I found the dirt!” niffty exclaimed with glee as she began to repeatedly tickle his ear “Oh how silly of you sir! This was such a dirty spot! Hehe”

Alastor immediately became tense as he let out a loud, distorted giggle that sound more like static as he struggled to hold back his laughs under what she was doing.

"hey! Hehehe...! Hahaha! static sound Stohohop!" he said as he tried to grab her and put her on the ground but every time he did that she just climb onto his shoulder again.

Niffty only laughed as she continued to tickle him relentlessly, the harder his laughs had become, the more pleased she was getting with the situation.

“Hehe, did you say stop? I couldn’t hear you over the loud static! Hehehe!”

Alastor was getting increasingly frustrated, His laughs became more and more deranged and soon it was a struggle to understand what he was actually saying as he kept laughing.

"Niffty...! Gehehet dohohown hahaha! now!" He managed to say between giggles.

Niffty giggled maniacally as she continued to tickle his ear relentlessly, his laughs filling her with absolute joy, she wasn’t going to stop soon.

“Hehe, not yet! I have to make sure I get all the dirt out!” She said as she now used the duster to tickle his neck.

“NO! Hahaha! static you've dohohone enough alreheheady...” He manage to say between fits of deranged laughing and fortunately for him, he managed to grab her by her clothes and pull her out of him while holding her with an accusatory look.

“niffty! Whahahat was tha-”

What Alastor had not realized was that Lucifer has been watching from afar using his bird form as he began to silently fly towards them before he entered the scene.

While still in his bird form lucifer suddenly swooped onto Alastor from behind, going straight for his ear and whispering loudly.

“Well hello there~”

Alastor was cut off the moment Lucifer whispered into his ear, His laugh turned into a more confused sounding giggle as his eyes widened.

Lucifer returned to his normal form to see that his plan had actually worked, Alastor clearly feel ticklish so getting back at him was going to be easy...

“Oh I’m just going to LOVE making you laugh”

What was left of Alastor's laughter stopped as he realized that this was lucifer's plan and just stared at the king of hell with an absolutely furious look on his eyes.

“Y-you... You...” he say but he couldn't manage to come up with a proper insult.

Lucifer only smiled as he saw his face flush.

“Oh did I manage to get a reaction? don't worry I’m not done with you yet” Lucifer said as he transformed again, this time into an octopus, wrapping himself around Alastor's body and tickling him more with his tentacles.

Alastor quickly began to struggle violently as he tried to free himself from Lucifer's tentacles, His face reddened more and more and soon he was screaming in laughter but that only made Lucifer's efforts stronger.

“HAHAHAHA... STAHAHAP STATIC YOU FUCKIHIHING..! HAHAHA!”

He was unable to form an actual sentence at this point, and it didn't help at all that Niffty had now released herself from Alastor's grip again and climbed back up to his head where she tickled his ears again.

Lucifer’s eyes widened from amusement as he saw Alastor struggling.

“hey now Alastor it’s not so funny when someone tickles you is it? Haha!”

Alastor’s body contorted and convulsed so much that it wouldn't be surprising if he'd injure himself with his own movements.

His face showed the most anger someone could've possible felt, but his efforts to free himself were useless against Lucifer who was now using multiple tentacles at once, and it didn't help how Niffty was still laughing her ass off using her little arms to further Alastor's torment.

“FUHUHUCK HAHAHA! I HAHAHATE YOU! HAHAHA!”

“oh! It's fun for me to see you two being ticklish” niffty suddenly said, she was the one who was clearly winning here.

“hey! You're supposed to be on my side here...” Lucifer said not wanting to remember when she tickled him.

During that little distraction from Lucifer, Alastor took advantage of the moment and summoned his own tentacles from the ground as they latched on lucifer's legs and body and started to tickle him which made him return to his normal form.

“Ah!! HAHAHA! G-GET OFF ME YOU J-JERK!” Lucifer said before trying to free himself but was struggling to do so.

Alastor's face was filled with amusement and twisted joy as watching the king of hell struggle against him, He move his tendrils in such a way that made Lucifer's movements completely futile.

“Oh... You thought you'd just tickle me and get away with it?” His grin and his laughter just became more and more deranged.

But his satisfaction didn't last long when Niffty, who was still on top of him, began to tickle his armpits.

“I'm sorry, sir, but this time I have to help the ultimate Bad boy!” She said laughing like crazy.

“WHAT- NIFFTY GEHEHET DOHOHOWN! HAHAHA!” Alastor said as he tried to shake her off, but when she wouldn't stop he had no choice but to let her tickle him, His face reddened even more as his laughs became more desperate sounding.

“Y-YOU TWO ARE SO...! W-WAIT... HAHAHAA... NIFFTY GEHEHET... HIM!”

Lucifer tried his best to get rid off the tentacles latching on him but was unable to get them off of him and was now being double attacked.

“S-STOHOHOP… TICKLIHIHING… ME! HAHAHA!” Lucifer cried out while Alastor was too busy being tickled by Niffty to say anything.

Everything was a damn chaos, niffty was tickling alastor while alastor was tickling lucifer with his tentacles, it could have climbed to something if it hadn't been for...

"Ah! What's going on here?!" a voice shouted and when they realized it was Charlie who had entered the room who was a mess now.

Lucifer and Alastor looked over, both were completely red and breathing heavily from all the tickling that they had had to endure from each other, Niffty was still on Alastor shoulder, looking down and having a big grin on her face.

“C-charlie!” Lucifer says breathlessly obviously not expecting her abrupt appearance.

Alastor decided that everything would end here and disappeared into the on the floor into the shadows, quite annoyed, while Niffty ran out of the room.

“He made me do this, it's his fault!”

Oh lucifer had a lot to explain...

[lottesreads]

Why Me? - Part 6

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Mitchell! Female Reader (Callsign Mantis)

Warnings: Mentions of past abuse, bruises, (someone gets punched), details of panic attacks, swearing, one "daddy" joke, pining, big Rooster warning here, mommy issues, mentions of death, insecurities

Word Count: 5860

Summary: Going over flight maneuvers for the day doesn't go as everyone planned. Somethings from your past get revealed, and you grow a little closer to Bob.

A/N: PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS, this one is a little heavier and angstier, so I apologize for that. Things will get better though! Also, sorry for taking so long, I started a new job and had to take two tests so yay for me.

Masterlist

After what you are now calling the most awkward lunch ever, the day goes by… fine. The squad spends the remaining hours listening to feedback from your father, which surprisingly doesn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers too much. You pin it on the fact that it’s a Friday and everyone just wants to get out as soon as they can. You, of course, want to get out of there as well to spend time with Bob, and finally meet Sylvia. From all the pictures you’ve seen and how Bob describes her, she seems like the perfect dog.

But you’re also thinking about what Phoenix propositioned Bob with as well. It had sent you spiraling. All you can think about as Mav drones on about Payback and Fanboy’s practically perfect barrel roll, is how Bob is being set up with this woman. A woman, might you add, that he has never met or heard of before this day. You can’t help but stare straight in front of you, right at the back of Bob’s head. You’re able to see the tiniest bit of his profile, the wire frames peaking out atop his cheek. You’d like to believe you aren’t jealous. But history proves this wrong time and time again. This woman is just another thing you can add to the ever-growing list.

Bob turns his head ever so slightly, catching a glimpse of you staring out of his peripheral vision. You immediately look down at your papers, attempting to act as if you’re in deep thought about what Payback and Fanboy could have done better. Your eyes stay still on the paper as your brain moves a million miles a minute. God, Bob. Why did he have to be such an amazing person? You would have been able to move on if you had gotten to know him and realized he had a crappy personality, but unfortunately that is not the case. Now you’re stuck feeling jealous over some random woman who has no idea the implications of her attending Phoenix’s party next weekend. You chance a glance back up to Bob’s face and find that he’s already turned back to look at you.

“Mantis”, he whispers as he motions his head to the front of the room, right where your dad is staring you down.

“Sir”, you say, straightening up in your own seat. He raises his brow in a warning, as you shift your attention to the screen, seeing now that your own flights are up for critique.

“Thank you. Now that I have your attention, I have to say I am seeing noticeable room for improvement.” He turns back from the screen, pointing to where you took too sharp of a turn, or where you needed to slow down. You write down everything he says, even as the tips of your ears begin to burn in embarrassment. He is your captain, you know this. Everyone else knows this, but they also know what it feels like to get scolded by a dad. And you can’t help but see the similarities at this moment. He finally finishes after what feels like an eternity as he looks back at you, “Any questions?”

“No sir”, you respond bluntly. He was being nitpicky, for once in his life, and you weren’t sure what caused it at this moment. But you’re still a little confused at what you thought was a perfect run.

“Alright Rooster, you’re up.” You glance over to Rooster’s hard stare as he brings his gaze to the front of the room. You cannot wait to see your dad rip him a new one. It’s what he deserves, and honestly you could fly circles around this guy. “I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed with your work today.” Wait, what? Rooster’s face softens into a slight grin as your brow furrows in his direction. Folding your arms across your chest you sink back into your chair, watching as your dad gives Rooster a glowing review. An undeserved one in your opinion. And then Mav decides to tell you one of the worst ideas he’s ever had.

“Single-seaters, I’m gonna put you in groups and you’re going to go over the notes I gave you to hopefully help you execute these maneuvers better. Two-seaters, you’re going to do the same, but with your pilots and your WSO’s.” At this point, you’re just hoping you’re with Coyote or Fritz, hell, even Hangman. Mav looks down at his podium, going over the list before announcing them, “Fritz and Coyote, you’re a pair. And then we’ll have Rooster, Hangman, and Mantis as a group.”

“Jesus Christ”, you mumble under your breath. Was he trying to kill you? As the rest of the pairs move around to find places to talk, you very lazily turn your head in Rooster’s direction as he does the same to you. Hangman is standing in the aisle, looking back and forth at the both of you, very confused as to the standoff happening before him. You really don’t want to get up and walk over to Rooster. It may seem stupid, and childish, but you are not going to let him think you’re just going to waltz back over to him. Hangman breathes out a laugh, shaking his head at the two of you, ultimately taking the seat next to you. It makes you smile inside watching Rooster roll his eyes as he pulls up a spare chair.

“If any of you need me, I will be in a meeting with Cyclone and Warlock, so please direct any concerns to Hondo”, Mav announces as he points to Hondo giving a small wave in the back of the room.

“Well”, Hangman starts, “Since daddy-dearest gave Rooster a perfect score, I guess that just leaves you and me, Mantis.”

“No surprise there”, you mutter as you start looking through your notes. Rooster scoffs from the other side of Hangman, prompting you to look up at him. “What?”

“Nothing, just didn’t realize you’d be so bitter about someone on your team doing well. But then again I shouldn’t be surprised.” Adding a smile onto the end of his sentence he goes back to sorting through his notes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just think that when you have to rely on each other, you should be happy when someone does well. Especially when it’s our lives at stake here.”

“Well, I think giving someone confidence in their lack-luster abilities is dangerous, to everyone.” You say, folding your arms.

“And I completely agree”, Rooster nods, “that’s why Mav was honest with you. If he inflated that false confidence anymore than it already is, your head might have exploded.” Hangman raises his brows at the exchange before him. Why your dad thought it was a good idea to pair the three of you together, he’ll never know.

“Do you guys wanna get back to-”

“Oh, I have false confidence?”

“Or not”, Hangman finishes his sentence after being interrupted. Interrupted, not heard. It doesn’t really matter at this point while he tries to fade into his seat, waiting for this argument to be over and done with.

“He’s literally just blowing smoke up your ass, so you’ll ‘believe in yourself’”, you add in air-quotes,  “or whatever bullshit he made up. Or maybe he just wants to get on your good side to make up for lost time.” You’re vaguely aware of your own voice raising as everyone else’s conversations start dwindling and they turn to your group.

“Are you still on that? I thought we were past it already.” He responds, visibly agitated by your persistence.

“No, Rooster, you two got past that. I haven’t heard a goddamn word from you on the matter, or an apology. So no, I’m not past that.”

“Oh do you really wanna start this here?” Rooster asks, daring you.

“Oh I really do.” You respond just as sure. “So whenever you’re ready to apologize you know where to find me.”

“Everything alright over here?” Hondo has since made his way over to your group as he stands to your right. You obviously hadn’t noticed being too caught up in whatever this is.

“You think you deserve an apology?” Rooster’s voice raises, caught off guard.

“Yes! Why wouldn’t I? You just left, and even though I was twelve I still tried to get in contact with you for six years after the fact.”

“And you think I should be sorry for that? For the fact that I didn’t answer the phone when you tried to rub it in my face that he just let you go to the Academy?”

“You think after you he just let me go?!”

“Of course I do! That’s the only reason you’re sitting in this room with the rest of us!” Rooster stands right as you do, now physically looking down on you between the barrier that Hangman creates. He’s pushing on Rooster’s chest, while a hand comes to rest on your shoulder.

“Is that what you’re angry about? You’re jealous of me?” You ask incredulously, still not lowering your volume.

“Why the FUCK would I be jealous of you?”

“Rooster” Phoenix warns him. He continues anyway.

 “Jealous of the fact that your Navy connections bought you into the TopGun program in the first place, into the Academy? Huh?!” You almost flinch as he gets closer to your face, but you hold steady, chest heaving in anger still, but not backing down. “Or is it the fact that you think I’m jealous of your family, cause that sure as hell isn’t-”

“That is ENOUGH.” Hondo announces. “You are supposed to be professionals, how many of these meetings are going to end in fights?!” Your stony gaze falls from Rooster to the hand on your shoulder. You recognize the long fingers as Bob’s, he squeezes your shoulder lightly as if asking if you’re ok. You’re not, but the fact that he’s here and has your back has you taking a deep breath in, deeper than any you’ve been able to take since Rooster opened his big mouth.

“Ya know”, Hangman starts, “back in the olden Navy days they would have handed you boxing gloves and let you fight it out from there.” His attempt to relieve the tension falls flat as the rest of the team gauges if the two of you are actually done fighting.

“Yeah well”, Rooster responds, “From what I remember Mantis does a better job taking a punch than throwing one. Just ask her mom.” And just like that your breaths grow shallow again as your stomach drops. An audible breath leaves your mouth as everyone’s eyes fall from Rooster to you, and as much as you try to remain stoic, your bottom lip begins to wobble as your mouth falls open slightly. There’s an immediate sense of remorse in Rooster’s eyes as he realizes what he just said. But much like everything else he’s done, it’s too late. The damage has already been done.

“ROOSTER”, Phoenix scolds him. You don’t even stay to hear the rest of it, turning on your heel you leave the room, not being able to stand the looks of pity from your teammates. Once in the hallway you make your way to the women’s locker room. Each footstep seems louder than the next. The closer you get, the heavier the tears start to form on your lash line, only falling once you slam the door open and swing the curtain closed in a shower stall. Sliding down the wall of the cubicle, you hug your knees to your chest, attempting to silence the cries that are only coming naturally with the tears. It’s getting harder to breathe, even as you attempt to take large breaths. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Phoenix yells as she pushes Rooster. No one dares to stop her as she continues to berate him. Bob is absolutely stunned at the information Rooster just dropped, but is shaken out of his thoughts as he looks at the door you just fled through. By the way you rushed out of here, he thinks you’d like to be alone, but on the off chance you need someone, he slips out of the room to go find you. He passes the men’s locker room and heads to the women’s hoping that’s where you escaped. Knocking on the door, he slowly opens it.

“Hello? Is anybody in here?” He doesn’t receive an answer, but he can hear someone crying who he can only assume is you. “Mantis, are you ok?” Still no answer. “Mantis, I’m coming in” With his eyes glued to the floor he follows the sounds of your sniffling and sobs until he reaches you. “Hey, I’m opening the curtain, ok?” He slowly slides back the curtain to find you in the corner of the stall, face tucked between your knees as you attempt to take in ragged breaths. He’s immediately on his knees in front of you and his heart breaks at the sight. He thinks you know he’s there, but he can’t be sure. It’s obvious you’re in the middle of a panic attack and he doesn’t want to scare you, so he gently rests a hand on your knee.

“Mantis, can you hear me?” You raise your head at his voice, revealing a very red and splotchy face as tears continue to fall out of your eyes. Your breathing is still very ragged as you grip his hand on your knee as if he would float away if you let go. He would never dream of doing such a thing, but he grips your hand right back.

“It’s ok, I just need you to breathe for me, alright?” You nod your head at his words as he demonstrates taking deep breaths in, holding, then letting them out. You’re attempting to follow them as your head continues to swim, taking note of this he moves your hand from your knee to over his heart, pressing it against his chest. “I’m right here”, he tells you as you continue to follow his breathing. The soothing nature of his heartbeat helps to bring you back down to earth. And little by little you start to feel the rest of your body come to its senses. It starts with your fingertips, feeling the pressure of Bob’s rough hand pressing it against his steadily beating chest, as the feeling crawls up your arms and legs. The tears begin to subside and all that’s left is the dried tracks they left as they swam down your cheeks.

Bob remains in front of you the entire time, even as you realize just how close the two of you are, he doesn’t falter. You’re now acutely aware that your hand is still sandwiched between his hand and chest, your fingers instinctively wiggle against his as you finger the material of his flight suit.

“Are you gonna be alright if I leave you here for a sec?” You nod, not daring to make eye contact. “Ok, I’ll be right back.” He places your hand back against your knee as you stare at the spot he once occupied, your head beginning to ache. There are still so many emotions going on, but your body is starting to feel the after effects.

Bob’s quite literally back in under a minute as he assumes his previous position, only now holding a bottle of water. He opens it for you as you graciously accept it, taking a couple small sips to start out with. You manage a small “Thank you” as you hand the bottle back to Bob. Embarrassment begins to overtake your system as you curl back in on yourself.

“Are you feeling any better?” You nod your head slightly, still avoiding his gaze.

“Yeah, thank you.”

“Any time”, and though other people would pass it off as a way of Bob trying to say you’re welcome, you know he genuinely would help you any time you needed him. You’re still not sure what to say, so you don’t say anything. Bob moves to sit next to you against the wall, not breaking the silence.

“You don’t have to stay here with me”, you manage to croak out.

“I know.” He says so sure. “I just need to make sure you’re gonna be ok.” You let a deep sigh out through your mouth as you lean your head back against the tile wall. At this moment you’re just feeling drained. That’s what panic attacks usually do. You were just so mad at him, and then he shared one of your deepest, darkest secrets in front of all of your coworkers. You had maybe thought you’d be able to patch up your relationship with him if he owned up to his mistakes, but now? You don’t think you’ll ever be able to get past this. If your dad wants to spend so much time with Rooster, let him. You don’t want to see his face ever again, which you know is a big ask, knowing that you have to work together. Maybe you should just put in a transfer, it’s not like you see your dad a lot outside of work anyway. You’d miss most of these people more than they’d miss you.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Bob gingerly grabbing your wrist and facing your palm upwards, and reaching into his pocket he retrieves something, laying it down in your hand. He lets it go and you miss his touch as he rests his hands on his knees. Looking down at your palm, you realize that he’s left a single penny behind.

“What’s this?”

“A penny”

“I can see that”, you smile slightly, “what’s it doing in my hand?”

“This may shock you, but when I was younger, I wasn’t much of a talker. Sometimes it was like pullin’ teeth to get me to talk-”

“I know the feeling”

“Yes, well, my Grandpa noticed how it didn’t come easy to me. So sometimes when he noticed I had a lot going on he would hand me a penny, and without having to ask, I would just start talkin’”

“A literal penny for your thoughts” you realize outloud. You grasp the penny, staring as you hold it between your fingers.

“It doesn’t mean you have to say anything”, Bob rushes out, “Just- if you want, you’re free to share your thoughts with me. No judgment” This is quite possibly one of the sweetest things anyone has ever shared with you, and staring at the penny you know you’re safe with Bob. Safe to share your feelings, safe from… anything really.

“I really want to tell Rooster to go fuck himself.” Bob gives you a small chuckle.

“Well, I think Phoenix may be doing that as we speak.” Good, you think to yourself. You shift the coin between your fingers and thumb before deciding to speak again.

“I was so sad, for so many years. And now I’m just starting to feel angry. Every time I see his face, I just can’t stop myself from laying into him.” It’s quiet for a moment as Bob waits to let you continue. “I don’t think I’m asking for too much, or that I went too far. And he just- God, he just laid it all out there for everyone.” Bob notices your fist beginning to clench and he slowly reaches over to grasp your hand in his.

“I’m sorry. And if it means anything, I don’t think you’re asking for too much.” You hadn’t even realized you started crying again until Bob’s thumb was swiping a stray tear away. Your breath catches in your throat and his hand moves away quickly, as if touching your face had hurt him. He clears his throat. “Were you going to wait for your dad, or did you want me to take you home?”

“Home? I thought I was supposed to meet Sylvia today?”

“Oh, yeah”, Bob chokes back, surprise coating his features, “We can go to… my place then?”

“If that’s alright with you?”

“Of course it is”, Bob says almost too quickly. “I mean”, he coughs, “Sylvia, she would love to meet ya”. And then he gives you a smile. You know the one, it’s closed mouth but it causes his cheeks to scrunch up beneath his eyes, taking over half his face. It’s almost enough to make you forget about this whole day.

He stands, offering you his hands to help you off the ground. He doesn’t leave you immediately at first, he just stands in front of you as if assessing the situation. Weighing his options. Glancing down at his watch, he looks at the door, “I think everyone should have gone home for the day. But if you want, you can wait in here while I grab my stuff?” You nod, taken aback at his thoughtfulness once again.

He leaves for a short bit while you grab your own bag from your locker. He knocks on the door once again, signaling his return as you make your way through the halls. The setting sun illuminates the parking lot and glares at you through the glass doors. Bob opens the door allowing you to go first as you spot his truck and make your way to it. The ache in your head is starting to come back and you can’t wait to take your hair out of the tight bun it’s in now.

“Mantis!”, you turn around as someone calls your name and immediate regret fills your system. You roll your eyes at the sight of Rooster walking toward you as you turn to keep walking, Bob right behind you.

“Mantis!”, he yells again as if you didn’t hear him the first time. “Come on Bug!” You stop in your tracks, rage once again emanating from your pores. Turning on your heel, you drop your bag onto the asphalt. This catches Rooster by surprise as he stops right before you.

“Do NOT call me that”, you grit through a clenched jaw as you point your finger at him. You can’t help the way your arm shakes in anger.

“Sorry”, he lets out dejectedly, placing his hands on his hips. Even if your brow wasn’t furrowed from squinting in the sun you have a feeling you’d still be staring at him with the same expression.

“Oh, so you do know that word”, you scoff. Rooster bites his tongue as he looks down at his feet. “And I’m not in the mood to talk, so save it for someone else who doesn’t want to hear it.” In the distance you’re aware of Bob throwing his bag in the back of his truck as he grabs yours and does the same. 

“I just want to-”

“I told you, I’m not in the mood”, you move to turn to Bob’s truck as Rooster reaches out and grabs your wrist.

“Mantis, c’mon-” The grip on your wrist sends your senses into overdrive as anger takes over. As he tugs on your wrist, you turn and collide your free fist into his face. It’s funny really, you weren’t aiming for anything in particular but you land it right on his cheekbone. It was enough force and surprise to knock him backwards

“Jesus Christ!” he shouts, grasping his face in his hand. Tears begin to well up in your eyes for the second time today as you shake out your hand. “What the hell is your problem?” He yells at you.

“Carole would be so disappointed in you”, you rasp out, cradling your hand. You stare Rooster down as he looks up at you in shock, until he can’t stand to anymore and tears his eyes away. Bob’s standing right behind you as you turn and bump into his chest.

“Are you ok?” he asks, lightly resting his hands on your shoulders.

“No”, you whisper, “Let’s just get out of here.” You don’t dare to spare a look back at Rooster, but Bob does as he leads you to his truck. The man is standing at his full height now with his shoulders slumped. The skin just under his eye is already starting to swell as he watches you walk away this time.

The ride back to Bob’s is quiet as you stare out the window. The radio’s humming quietly in the background and he doesn’t dare disrupt the silence, so he takes a glance at your hand. The skin around your knuckles is slightly irritated from the force you punched Rooster with, but other than that it doesn’t look too bad. He knew you were tough, but he never thought he’d see you punch someone in the face. If it had to be someone, he was glad it was Rooster though. That guy had it coming, especially after what he said today. You’re still staring out the window with a look of indifference, and you still had the penny he gave to you earlier, but you hadn’t said anything about what Rooster had revealed. So, he wasn’t going to push it until you were ready or wanted to talk about it.

You’re pulled out of your trance once the truck stops in Bob’s driveway. He grabs both of your bags before you’re able to grab yours, but he stops as he’s about to open the door.

“Just a warning, it’s probably a mess in here, so I apologize.”

“I have a feeling that your definition of a mess is my definition of clean.” He gives you a slight smile as he opens the door.

“Only one way to find out.” Opening the door you find, just as you suspected, an immaculate house. There may be a couple dog toys lying around, but that’s about it. You’re startled a little bit as Bob whistles, “Syl! Come ‘ere girl!” You smile at the accent coming through, and then the thump of something on the second floor running down the stairs. Sylvia comes barreling down the hallway as fast as her claws against the hardwood allow her. Bob is immediately on his knees in front of her, scratching behind her ears and speaking in what you can only describe as baby-talk, “Oh Syl, I’m so sorry. Daddy was gone for such a long time today wasn’t he?” You’re attempting to hold back a laugh, eyebrows shooting up at his use of the word “daddy”.

Sylvia’s tail stops wagging as she notices you standing behind her dad. Bob looks back at you and then at the dog, “Now Sylvia, this is Mantis. Mantis is a very good friend of mine, and I know she has a funny name, but you’re just gonna have to get over that, ok?” You can’t help but chuckle at how talkative he is with her, and even as you stare at her enormous brown eyes you immediately crave her approval. You start to kneel down next to Bob, but before you’re able to get on your knees Sylvia is cowering away and running back upstairs. You huff out in frustration as you stare at her retreating form.

“Hey, it’s alright”, Bob explains, “Like I said, she’s kinda skittish, and it takes a little bit for her to warm up to new people.” You nod in understanding as Bob leads you to his living room. It’s fairly simple, and again very clean. Bob tells you to take a seat as he grabs you a glass of water from the kitchen directly behind the living area.

“So daddy, huh?” The glass just about slips out of Bob’s hand upon hearing your use of the word. He swallows, taking a moment to collect himself.

“Uhm”, he coughs, “Yeah, I don’t know. It just sort of happened.”

“It’s cute”, you smile to yourself. Bob returns with a glass of water and an ice-pack wrapped in a kitchen towel. He awkwardly offers it to you as you accept it.

“For your hand”

“Oh yeah, thanks.” You lift it in appreciation before placing it on your knuckles. Wincing at first at the sensitivity. Bob sits a little farther down on the couch and watches you fiddle with something in your pocket. You tentatively reach for the penny, turning it over before handing it over to Bob. He laughs through his nose, nodding as a smile plays on his face.

“Come on, it’s your turn now.” Bob begins to chew on his bottom lip, avoiding your eyes. “If you want to ask me about it, it’s ok”, you let out more solemnly. He glances over at you, huffing out a sigh.

“How’s your hand?” He decides on, making you laugh.

“Not what I meant, but it’s ok. A little stiff.” You get the sense that he wants to know, but is getting shy with you again. And even though he doesn’t ask, you get an overwhelming urge to tell him. Taking in a shaky breath, you start in the only place you know where to, “Do you know how I got my call-sign?” He shakes his head.

“Although, I do recall you telling Hangman you’d bite his fucking head off” The two of you laugh. Sylvia, just as sneaky as her dad, pops her head up out of nowhere, resting it on Bob’s thigh. His hand instinctively goes to pet her head as you try not to acknowledge her existence, hoping she’ll make her way over to you.

“That’s what I like to tell people. But, no. When I was a kid, I was deathly afraid of insects, still am if I’m being honest. But, there was one incident”, you smile at the memory, “Where I was at the park, and I turned to look behind me and there was a praying mantis, just sitting on my shoulder. I, of course, freaked out and was trying to get it off me, but it wasn’t until Carole- Bradley’s mom, calmed me down where she was able to carefully pick it up and take it off me.” You’re laughing a little at this point, and Bob can’t help but smile at your own.

“She got me to stop crying and explained that it was just a little bug”, you swallow, staring down at your iced hand, “like me.” Bob’s face softens as he remembers Rooster’s words. “That became her nickname for me, and when she died and Bradley left, nobody called me it again until-” You cut yourself off, choked up just talking about Carole, and remembering how Bradley used to be. Before he was Rooster.

“Anyway, I hadn’t had a run-in with a praying mantis until flight school. I was out on a hike with the rest of my class, and what do I see on my shoulder when I turn around? A damn praying mantis. I screamed again, just like the first time, and everyone thought it was hilarious. So, the name Mantis stuck. It just felt like…” you struggle to find the word.

“Fate”, Bob finishes the sentence for you. You look up and find his eyes trained on you. Giving him a slight smile, you nod your head.

“Yeah, exactly.” Your eyes remain on his, and your heart beats a little faster. “So I’m not exactly bug, but that’s ok, because I don’t think anyone but Carole can call me that. Even if Bradley used to-” You look away, only to find Sylvia standing between you and Bob. Having must inched her way closer while you spoke, “I don’t want him to anymore.”

“I think that makes a lot of sense, and I also think Mantis suits you.” You smile and dare to reach your hand out to Sylvia, who simply sniffs the approaching limb. She nudges her nose closer, sniffing your palm as you very gently scratch her ear, much like Bob did earlier. She leans into it, daring to walk closer to you. Taking in a deep breath, you let it out before you lose the courage.

“It wasn’t a regular thing”, Bob’s loving gaze at Sylvia falls as he looks up at you, “Just when she got really angry, or I reminded her too much of my dad I guess.” Your hand stops petting Sylvia as you stare at the glass of water on the coffee table, the condensation dripping down onto the coaster Bob thoughtfully placed underneath it. “Carole and my dad found bruises a couple different times, but I was too embarrassed to tell them how they got there. But she knew. I guess Bradley must have known, too, or he wouldn’t have brought it up today. I think they tried to do something about it, but they wouldn’t grant full custody to my dad because of his work, and… I don’t really know what happened after that.” Sylvia’s head now rests on your thigh, much like it did earlier with Bob. You grant her a small smile, moving your hand once again to give her some attention.

You don’t have to look up to know that Bob’s staring at you. Your nose starts to tingle, alerting you to the fact that tears were starting to form in your eyes. “It got better when she remarried, her focus wasn’t on me as much anymore. She was busy with her husband and his kids.” You scrunch your nose, attempting to rid yourself of the feeling, but it’s no use. The tears start to fall and you hastily wipe them away with your free hand. “Jesus, sorry”, you say as you give him a watery laugh.

“Don’t be sorry”, your tears continue to fall, “None of this is your fault.” Bob’s words hit you deep as you stare at the ceiling, willing these tears to stop, but they just won’t. “Can- Can I hug you?” You look over at Bob and give him a fast nod of your head.

“Yes please”, you whisper. He moves along the couch to get closer to you, and then wraps you up in both his arms as you do the same. Even through both of your flight suits, Bob is warm as you melt into him. Your eyes close as you breathe him in. He smells like sweat and jet fuel from being in a plane all day, and you’re sure you smell the same. It’s comforting nonetheless.

Bob just wants to pick you up and take you far away from here. Away from everyone that dares to make you hurt. He feels you sag against him and he pulls you just the tiniest bit closer as he breathes in the scent of your shampoo. He’s realizing now it’s been a while since he’s hugged someone like this, and maybe it’s the case for you, too. His hand goes to soothe along your back and your eyes flutter shut at the motion. He remembers you saying your mom wasn’t too happy when she found out about the Naval Academy, and he doesn’t want to think about what happened after the fact.

“I’m sorry you have to go through all that”, he whispers just above your ear.

“It’s alright, things are starting to look up”, you sniffle, pulling him just a little bit tighter.

Taglist:

@lemmons1998

@itsmytimetoodream

@theamuz

[callsignthirsty]

"I bet you think you're real cute letting them put their hands all over you. We'll see how cute you look later when I get you home." with Hangman! Happy celebration!

Hey Gigi —

I know it looks like I forgot about this, but I promise I didn’t (writer’s block’s a bitch, amiright?). I hope that it doesn’t disappoint. This is the first time I’ve written anything Hangman on my own, so hopefully, he’s recognizable.

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x F!Reader Word Count: 677 Warnings: N/A (who is she?)

Smut Prompt #11

It’s an ordinary night at the Hard Deck. Nothing for the books. Just drinks and good company. Even the fact that Hangman’s eyes have been on you all night isn’t something to write home about. The intensity with which he’s watching you, however, is.

Glance. Glare. Glower.

Phoenix’s fingers feather over your exposed collarbone as she tucks loose hairs over your shoulder. Rooster’s broad hand light against your lower back as he squeezes behind you to line up for his next shot—it isn’t even a good one. Payback’s fingers linger as he passes you a fresh bottle. Bob’s arm winds around your hip to pull you out of Coyote’s way and subsequently into himself when Coyote circles the table after Rooster scratches.

None of this stops you from laughing along with your friends as the night sails on. Despite what it may look like to outsiders, you know these are innocent touches. Well, not innocent. You know what they’re up to, and you’d put money on it that Jake does, too. Practically everyone is in on the joke. But that doesn’t mean he likes it. But, you think as Rooster wraps an arm around your shoulder and pulls you in close to ask for your advice on his next shot—not that it matters, Coyote’s going to win on his next turn—, their touches are nothing compared to the electricity that crackles through you when Jakes looks your way.

You haven’t reacted to a single touch that night, but that hardly matters. Not to green eyes. Not when the entire team has spent the night repositioning you at the pool table, brushing against you. Touching you. Small, inconsequential, intentional touches that are designed to crawl under Hangman’s skin. A taste of his own medicine.

“There you are, darlin’,” Hangman drawls, catching you around the waist as you try to skirt his game of darts. He reels you in until your back is pressed firmly against his chest, away from the sticky, lingering touches of his squadmates. “Sorry, Bobby, but I’m going to have to wrap this up.” He lines up his first shot. Bullseye. “It’s past baby’s bedtime.”

You guffaw, Jake’s arm tightening around you before he throws another bullseye. “Okay, Caveman.” The quip earns you a snicker from the peanut gallery.

“I bet you think you’re real cute,” he grumbles under his breath so only you can hear, “letting them put their hands all over you.” He hooks his index finger through the belt loop on your pants, his thumb sneaking beneath your shirt to rub teasingly at the sensitive skin around your hipbones. A touch that has the little hairs on your lower back standing at attention, the smooth skin beneath his thumb breaking out in goosebumps. He stands up to his full height to line up his last shot as he says: “We’ll see how cute you look later when I get you home.”

Before you can drag him out of the bar, Bob snorts.

“You got somethin’ to say, baby on board?”

Bob’s eyes widen a bit at being called out. He reaches up with the same hand that’s holding his Coke to adjust the glasses on his nose. “No– ah– well,” he clears his throat, eyes flicking to Phoenix, “just that she’d probably still look cute, you know–”

“Bob,” Payback tries to help out by cutting him off.

“–when you, uh, get her home. She’d– I mean, she’s always cute, right?” Closer to the pool table, Omaha is shaking his head while Fanboy groans an ‘oh my god.’ “So I don’t know why that’d stop.”

A smarmy, shit-eating grin slowly twists Hangman’s lips up until Phoenix is rolling her eyes. “That’s a mighty fine theory, Bobby,” he says, linking his fingers. He turns you in his arms, leaning in close enough that his breath tickles your ear. “How about we get out of here and test it out?”

Phoenix and Coyote boo you out of the bar.

A couple of hours later, Bob receives a photo that has him sputtering, his cheeks flaming.

[spnshortcake]

Forbidden Skies.

Topgun Maverick fanfic.

Chapter one

Pairings: Jake “hangman” Seresin x y/n Female!Pilot “Stinger” callsign.

Summary: hangman and y/n really hated each other but , secretly wants to fuck each-other. Two hardass, cocky pilots. What will happen when they go on a mission? Will it make feelings come to the surface or will history continue to repeat itself.

Chapter Two

🚫 18+ MINORS DNI 🚫

“Hi y/n how is your training going?” Your mom asks as she smiles while your dad gets into the frame of the computer screen. “Hi sweetie how is flying going” he asks.

“It’s going good my squad is actually a family. We have a mission coming up in a few months so we are always training. How are you two? Did you get my Mother’s Day gift? I sent it a few days before.” I love getting to see my family. They are all the way back in Texas, where I am from. I’m here in California for duty for Top Gun. I am a Lieutenant in the U.S Navy. Practically one of the best pilots in the buiz. I have one confirmed kill under my wings.

“Yes sweetie the necklace and flowers you sent came actually on the day of Mother’s Day. You made my day special even if you are one thousand miles away.” I hate not being there for most of the holidays but, they support me fully in the navy. They love my career.

“That’s good mom. I am glad I got to send you something.” I smile at them. Being away from them and being the only daughter it sucks but , got to do what you got to do.

“Now tell me about your squad you said they are actually like family.” Dad asks. He finally is starting to get gray haired.

“Well there is rooster, Bob, fanboy, coyote, ohama, halo , Fritz, Yale, Harvard, payback, Phoenix and bagman. Those aren’t their real names it’s their callsigns it’s easier to talk to them using callsigns. They are all part of this new mission we are doing. Our captain , Maverick we are training for this “off the wall” mission.” I explain as I use quotations in the hair with my hands.

“Bagman? What kind of callsign is that all the others sound tough.” I chuckle as my mom asks me confused.

“Well his callsign is actually hangman but we all joke and call him bagman cause he is a serious dickhead.”

“Oh so he ruffles your feathers.” My mom looks at me as she sips her wine. Man when that women gets a taste of red wine she never thinks before saying whatever is on her mind. You roll your eyes.

“Definitely not mother.” I say as her and dad exchanged a look between the two. How could hangman ever “ruffle” your feathers as she puts it. Makes you rather gag as you are thinking about it. You have been single for a while now trying to focus on your career in the Navy. While your parents want you to be popping out grandkids. Something they say is “they won’t be getting any younger if you wait to long they won’t have any grandparents alive.” I mean you would love to settle down and have children with your future husband but after fuck face did what he did when you was going to basic training to go into the navy you swore you would just focus on your training and forget about him.

“Sweetie how long has it been? 4 years.” Your mom finally spoke up making you focus back on her and not on your spiraling brain.

**FLASH BACK**

“Congratulations New navy graduates. May you look at this day as a new life. Make everything count. Your adventure has just begun and I belive your future is bright. May God bless the U.S Navy.” Admiral Simpson spoke as we all graduated and became Navy sailors. I made my way to my family and everyone is there except the one I wanted to be there the most. “My fiancé” Jackson. We have been together for such a while now probably three and Half years. He proposed to me the weekend before I shipped out for Basic. He knew how much this meant to me. I looked at my mom and dad disappointed.

“Where is Jackson. He said he would be here.” I asked looking around obviously not seeing him.

“He said he had to work today and he couldn’t get off.” I nod as my mom hands me my phone and I turn it on to a bunch of texts and calls congratulating me on graduating mom tagged me a post. She is always posting. She loves social media more than me. But the one thing that still bothered me as Jackson has yet to text me or even call. I press his contact and it goes straight to voicemail. Maybe his phone is off. I end up going to dinner with my parents and going back to the hotel where they have a room and I look at me in my service dress white uniform. I can’t believe I’m in the military I have worked my ass off for this.

“He still hasn’t called?” My dad looked at me.

“No it’s not like him, in Texas he should be off work by now.”

RING RING RING

I look at my caller ID and it’s my best friend Rachel. “Omg look how hot you are!!! Congratulations y/n”. She screams at me. I chuckle. She is always been literally in my back corner and never lets me down.

“Hi girl and right back at you. Thank you” I say.

“Y/n I am flying out right now , I’m in the airport I had a layover. But before I get on the plane I had to call you because..” she seems nervous.

“Because what Rach tell me what is going on? Are you okay.”

“I’m fine girl it’s Jackson..”

“ what. What’s wrong I tried calling it went to voicemail is everything okay?” I sit on the end of the hotel bed.

“Yes everything is okay well no it’s not y/n I don’t know how to say this.” She looks around nervously

“Rach I swear to god if you don’t spit out I’ll beat you when you land.” I say to her. My mind is going to the worst thing possible.

“He was at the airport with another girl. They where headed to Jamaica. Looked like they had a kid with them.”

My heart instantly stopped. What? Jamaica. Another girl?? A kid? Couldn’t be Jackson.

“Rachel, it couldn’t be him are you sure.” I questioned as I look up at my parents my mom has a sad face expression holding her heart.

PING

I look at the picture in disgust and disbelief. It was him and the girl. How could he do this and lie to my parents after everything. I look at my ring and I rip it off throwing it at the wall.

“I am so sorry y/n I’ll be there as soon as I can. Let’s get drunk with your mom and give the rest of the day for you. This couldn’t sit well with me and I just had to tell you before boarding. Girl you know I truly am sorry but he had a big forehead anyways and now you are such a bad ass and can get anything you want.” She smiles at me.

“Rachel I just can’t believe he could do something like this. I was gonna marry him.”

—————————————————————————-

“Maybe you need someone to ruffle your feathers.” Your dad commented getting you back to reality.

“Dad mom I’m on a mission and besides I am so focused on training to figure who would be ruffling my feathers at night. “

Phoenix: 🍺 🍺 🎯 ??

“Well mom and dad I love y’all my friend is asking me to go out with them tonight so I’ll talk to y’all soon. Bye”

—————————————————————————-

You finally make your way to the hard deck and already see everyone inside at the pool table. You don’t see Jake yet so that’s a good sign he might just not be here.

“We’ll look who we have here. Stinger finally came out for once” hangman says behind you. You groan as you turn around to see those green eyes you loathe so much. You can practically smell the arrogance on him.

“Bite me bagman I do come out just not when your here.” You smirk and walk to the door but he stops you from opening it and he holds the door for you.

“After you darlin, and don’t tempt me with a good time I will definitely bite you.” He says

I walk in and make my way to the bar and penny pops open two Budweisers putting them on the bar top.

“I got the first round sting.” Jake says as he pays for them.

“I didn’t ask you to.” I put the beer up to my lips drinking the cold beer.

“STINGER! Your here. There is just too much testosterone in this damn bar tonight.” Natasha says pulling you tit he pool table where Bob and rooster are playing.

You look around and you find the back of a blonde hair man, Jake, walking toward the jukebox finding a song to play. Man the back muscles on that man— I shake my head and turn back to the group of people talking about how rooster just kicked bobs ass in pool.

I can’t be thinking of Jake that way. He is to arrogant and just exactly like me. I couldn’t possibly be thinking of him like that.

“That’s 3 games in a row Bob how are you so bad at pool.” Rooster laughs bringing his bottle of beer to his mouth. Rooster is like a brother I never had. Having no siblings makes you look at your squadron as your real blood brothers and sisters and you would do anything for. Now for Jake he is like a annoying cousin fair down the family tree that you just can’t flick away. Something about him just makes your skin crawl.

“Maybe y/n and I should play.” Hangman says making his way back to his seat.

“Oh so you can get your ass beat on the ground as you do in the sky.” I say to him smirking as I drink my beer earning a laugh from the rest of the group.

“Now sweetheart we all know who gets beat in the sky and it’s not me.” He brings his bottom lip inbetween his teeth biting on it siping his beer.

“Names not sweetheart bagman you should know that by now.”

“Can you both stop arguing like a old married couple.” Rooster finally speaks up.

These next few weeks are gonna be the worst cause of him. He just always knows how to get under my skin.

—————————————————————————-

Hi lovely! This is my first series so please if you have any feedback please let me know! My requests are open and you can find my Masterlist here. I don’t have a posting schedule so please just bare with me. I’ll post and write when I can. If you enjoy this first chapter please reblog and comment it helps with engagement.

Over and out ,

Elizabeth

[shitpostingiris]

Ok you guys I caved😭 I’m writing a COD fic. I don’t have much but here’s a little snippet. Pleaseeeee reblog or comment if you want this to be an actual story. It’s not MUCH but I have an interesting idea on what I want to write. This will be published on ao3 mainly bc some of the chapters will be long as fuck

——————————————————

Ash sat bound and chained to a chair, her head bowed before the men in front of her. Feeling the thick blood trickle down her face, the cuffs rubbing her wrists raw and bloody, the sedative they drugged her with still coursing through her veins. Even after the hours of the tortuous interrogation that left her soaked in her own blood. She knew well how she ended up in this hellish situation. The only wish she had at this moment was to go back to the peaceful life she had before the 141, the organization, the experiment, the massacre. All of it. She knew they were going to kill her, that was a certainty in her mind. Yet she was not afraid. Death never scared her even when she was young. Only hoping they’d grant her a swift and painless end.

She lifted her head as she felt the warm calloused hand grip her chin softly, yet commanding. Letting her eyes fall onto the man who decided to break the tense bitter silence. Captain John Price. A man she once learned to trust with her life. She looked into his eyes, and saw a hint of regret flash through his piercing blue eyes as he looked at her bruised bloody tear stained face. “Where is the bomb Hazard? Just tell us and we can stop this…please” She couldn’t help the small pathetic laugh that escaped her busted lips. A call sign she used to wear with pride. Perplexed how Price could still refer to her as the name he bestowed upon her and even say please to her. At this moment she was their enemy. Yet they had betrayed her first. This was their payback she decided. She let her head fall back, ripping her face out of Price's hold.

Letting silence fall into the room again for a few seconds before she spoke, licking her chapped lips, the metallic taste of her own blood falling onto her tongue. “Here’s what they don’t tell you. Icarus laughed as he fell. Threw his head back and yelled into the winds, arms spread wide, teeth bared for the world. There’s a bitter triumph in crashing when you should be soaring. The wax scorching his skin, ran blazing trails down his back, his thighs, his ankles, his feet. Feathers floated like prayers past his fingers , close enough to snatch back. Death breathing burning kisses against his shoulders. Where the wings joined the harness. The sun painted everything in shades of gold….. There is a certain beauty in setting the world on fire and watching from the center of the flames.”

She leaned her head forward, hot tears pricking at her eyes once again. Threatening to fall as she gazed upon the men she thought would have saved her. “Falling is not the problem; when I’m falling I am at peace. It’s only when I hit the ground that it causes all the grief. I loved you all, just as Icarus loves the sun.” Pausing for a moment as she felt the tears began to cascade down her face, her voice breaking at the end. Sorrow filling her words “Too close and Too much. These violent delights have such violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder. Which, as they kiss, consume.”

She felt the anger, she once felt constantly. A rage she thought would never come back. A rage these men calmed. Bubble back up inside her. Gritting her teeth she glared at the men “So, bird boned boy—Bad blooded Icarus boy, A riddle that is. What do you call the monsters, who’ve made a living off your bones?” In her brief silence none of the men spoke.

She looked at them with tear filled eyes. Paying close attention to their faces looking for any emotion she could see breaking through their stoic presence. She took a long breath before continuing not liking the silence the men held between them anymore she wanted a reaction “Everyone knows the story of Icarus. Who Daedalus warned not to fly too near to the sea, nor too close to the sun. Have caution, they are saying, because when they tell you this story they are Daedalus and you are Icarus. Have Caution, I am saying, because when I tell you this story you all are Icarus and I am the sun.”

She could see some of the men’s walls finally break as she spoke. Her voice scratchy and strained. Seeing regret, sadness, and anger flashing through their faces like a whirlwind. The tears hadn’t stopped spilling from her bloodshot eyes just yet. “You all wanted me to be something I could never be. I am a created monster you knew that. I was trained to be this monster, I am a rabid dog. And once a dog goes rabid What do you do?” She paused locking eyes with the captain. Fury filling her cold gaze

“You put it down.”

[tkworks80]

Wings

Final Chapter

Knock knock… Knock knock. Keigo got up from a sweat-soaked bed and the sounds of y/n crying. “Shut up already… Who could be knocking at this hour in the morning?” He growled and walked towards the front door. He unconsciously opened the door and there was a blast of heat that made him fly, crashing onto the sofa. Abruptly waking Moni up. Dabi walked in and walked towards Moni. She was still trying to get her bearings in order when she suddenly froze. She heard the voice that she dreaded for the past year. 

"Hey there, my love. It's unexpected to find you in a place you shouldn't be. I need a moment to deal with some unfinished business, particularly with this foolish asshole who thought it was okay to take something that wasn't theirs" Dabi whispered in Moni's ear while wearing a crazed smile. He quickly turned towards Keigo and grabbed him by the neck."Well, aren't you the selfish bird that not only stole my beloved, but also abducted your former spouse...What do you even need two women for? Are you hoping to build a harem for yourself? I highly doubt it." Dabi growled while activating his quirk, sending Keigo flaming punches to the gut. “You know I was worried for my Moni that I almost forgot it was Spring…shit Keigo you want to do whatever the fuck birds do in Spring…did I catch you in your rut?” Dabi chortled. He sniffed the air and smiled from ear to ear “The smell of cum, sweat, and disappointment…this is way too funny,” Dabi said while knocking Keigo unconscious. He grabbed Moni “Come on baby…daddy missed you so much it's time to make up for lost time…don’t you think?” Walking nonchalantly with Moni out of Keigo’s nest. 

y/n heard all the commotion and thought it was the best time to escape. Keigo left y/n untied and it was now or never so she quickly got up and ran towards the front door seeing Keigo unconscious on the living room floor. She tried to fly but for some reason, she couldn’t she felt her instinct go into overdrive. Could what Keigo says to be true? Shit, shit, shit she turned back regretting her instinctual physical movements. y/n walked and hoovered over Keigo You picked the burned and bruised messed you call your psycho ex-husband and threw him in bed, then handcuffed him, and bound his wings because you knew exactly what he could do with his feathers. You sat and waited for him. 

“shit…I’m fucked up…wait…what?” Keigo realized he was handcuffed and see y/n sitting and gazing at Keigo. “y/n…” was all he said. 

“Oh…how the tables have turned…that old uno reverse card,” y/n smiled. 

“Y/n…please baby…I just want a” Keigo was interrupted. 

“Shut up! You have nothing to say to me and you sure in the hell are not having a hatchling from me,” y/n hissed.

Struggling against the handcuffs Keigio tried to send his feathers to try to unlock the handcuffs but, to no avail, he felt his wings bound by yours truly. The look of fear and dread washed all over Keigos face.

“Payback is a bitch…huh babe,” y/m smiled at Keigo.

“What the fuck are you going to do to me?” he hissed.

“You probably assume that I would just simply call the hero commission to turn you psycho ass in…right? Well, you wouldn’t have been wrong at the beginning but…” y/n trailed off.

“You know Keigo you were absolutely right about the mating bond…you know I had a good chance of escaping but, something in me told me not to leave my mate alone so, so I pondered on how I can leave you and forget about you and I had an epiphany,” you smiled.

“What epiphany Y/n?” Keigo questioned.

“Torture you into submission…I need you to help me break the mating bond…isn’t that an awesome idea?” you walked towards him with such intent even Keigo got goosebumps.

“Y/n I totally understand why you're very upset with me but, please baby I need you,” Keigo pleaded.

“No, Keigo you really don’t need me, you just want my womb, you made it awfully clear with the Mall of the World incident…oh speaking of that, you know Moni? She just walked out with Dabi…I guess there is no loyalty amongst backstabbing bitches who like to betray their friends for sport,” y/n looked down on him. “This Spring will not be very pleasant for you cocksucker,” y/n said while grabbing Keigo’s neck. Y/n quickly let go of his neck and walked towards the chest of drawers where Keigo kept his goodies for Y/n’s torture. “I bet you regret showing me this goodie drawer?” y/n smirked.

“Don’t do this y/n…your better than this…don’t be so fucken petty,” Keigo hissed.

"It's ironic how someone can tell someone they wronged not to be petty when in reality that's what they're doing. It's almost as if they're expecting the person they wronged to simply accept their wrongs and move on. It's like they're expecting them to just let them live their life without consequence." y/n stated. “You know Keigo something broke inside me the moment you sacrificed me to save the person you truly love…I may have survived that day but, I died in my own eyes,” you pulled out a syringe. 

“Y/n…I…” Keigo couldn’t even speak. 

“Say it Keigo Break it with me,” y/n whispered.

“I agree…I break the mating bond…the bond that ties us is broken do you agree y/n?” he sobbed out.

Y/n walked out with a determined tone of voice, leaving Keigo in an angry state. He felt the loss of Moni, and the broken bond with y/n. He knew that it would be impossible to face Dabi in this state, and so y/n had promised to call someone to release Keigo in a day, so that she could get a head start. Keigo was left in a state of shock, anger and sadness as he watched y/n walk away.

[autumntouched]

Talk to Me | Ch. 8

Fic Summary: Phoenix isn’t sure she made the right call in leaving Maverick and Rooster behind on the mission. Rooster, Bob, and Hangman try to cheer her up, in their own, very different ways.

Pairings: Past Natasha “Phoenix” Trace x Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace x Jake “Hangman” Seresin

A/N: Anyone wondered what Hangman and Rooster are thinking about all of this?

Jake leans on the bar, waiting to get Penny’s attention. He watches Phoenix part the seas of tonight’s crowd with Bob stumbling in her wake. She has enough swagger in her khakis but in a dress she owns the place. Sorry, Penny.

The dress on display is absolute perfection, something he imagines a girl wearing to meet his parents as easily as he sees it sliding down her body to unveil the curves it hugs. That is, if the woman wearing it weren’t Natasha “Phoenix” Trace. Rooster comes to perch beside him, interrupting his train of thought.

“I already got this round, son,” Jake warns.

The older pilot crosses his arms and leans them on the bar. “Sure you’re only talking about drinks?”

Bradley Bradshaw is cute when he’s jealous. That little divot in his forehead, high color in his cheeks, danger in his narrowed eyes. He went so far as ditching the Hawaiian shirt, and even Jake has to admit the fit and color of his sweater with its sleeves pushed up over his forearms do him a lot of favors.

“You thinking of a game of fuck, marry, kill tonight?”

He’s trying to get under Rooster’s skin, but Jake has a pretty good idea of where they each stand in that lineup for Phoenix. He makes it his business to know what buttons to push to rattle people off their game. Rooster is all too easy, but Phoenix is nearly unflappable. If anything, she just gets  better when he tries to get inside her head. Only one thing gets her hackles up and that person is standing right in front of him.

For the life of him, he can’t figure out what it is between these two, exactly how far they’ve taken their closeness. Rooster and Phoenix, two birds of very different feathers. Despite wearing his tragic, brooding heart on his sleeve in every other case, Rooster manages to be as inscrutable as Phoenix there. He’s smart enough to let her take on her own fights and avoid starting any when it comes to her. It protects her from accusations of fraternization and lets her prove she is more than capable of handling her own.

And although Phoenix is the first to come running to Rooster’s defense, even having the balls to stand up to Maverick for him, she tends to be generous with her protective streak. With everyone except him that is. The joke about Bob’s questionable grasp of sarcasm was barely out of Jake’s mouth before Phoenix was swooping in to take her new WSO under her wing. Phoenix wasn’t Coyote’s biggest fan, but she texted him in the ambulance after emergency ejecting from her own plane to make sure he was okay and reassure him that they would land the bullseye on their next run.

And that’s probably what makes Phoenix’s friends so fucking loyal that they clam up at any probing around her personal life. Payback might spill that she took Bob shopping, but it wasn’t anything someone couldn’t see for themselves. The real things, nothing so much as a blink.

Still, he knows Phoenix would marry Bob, fuck Rooster, and kill him without batting an eye. Or maybe marry Rooster and fuck Bob because he could see Rooster being too clingy for a fuck.

“Go fuck yourself,” Rooster retorts with a smug smile, almost as if offering a word of friendly advice. But there is a hard, knowing glint in his eyes. If Jake takes pleasure in regularly pushing Rooster’s buttons and occasionally lands on one that really hurts, Rooster will wait for the kill shot every time and then go in mercilessly. It’s the only shot he never hesitates on or loses, even if Jake pretends the blow misses its mark.

Someone slaps both of them on the back hard enough to tip them over like a pair of bowling pins. It’s Maverick. “Thought the two of you kissed and made up,” he says.

“Have you seen him kiss?” Jake throws out before he thinks. Oh shit.

But Bradshaw goes bright red and Maverick grins. “As a matter of fact—.”

Glaring out from under his eyebrows, Rooster interrupts, “Where have you been? Are you the reason the bar’s backed up?”

Geez the history between these two. Jake is pretty sure Maverick takes shit from Bradshaw that he wouldn’t take from anyone else. He doesn’t just take it. There seems to be a part of him that loves Bradshaw’s cranky humor and self-righteous posturing.

“I don’t distract Penny during business hours, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” their former instructor says breezily. “A bachelorette party came through earlier. Lucky you missed it.”

Whether it’s Maverick standing with them or finally their turn, Penny hurries over at last. “Sorry, busy night. What can I get you?”

Jake slides his card across the bar. “Hey, Penny. Round of beers for this sourpuss,” he says tilting his head at Rooster, “and the usual crew. Throw in one for the old timer too.”

Penny grins and wags her finger at her sign. “Watch it, Lieutenant Seresin. You’re getting a little close to disrespecting the Navy there.” She winks at Maverick before she swipes the credit card to fill Jake’s request.

Maverick levers himself into one of the bar chairs. “As long as I can still show him a thing or two in the air and he’s paying, I’ll take it. Actually, make that two since he offered. He owes me one for dumping me on my ass last time.”

Penny grins back at him over her shoulder, and Rooster screws up his face like he caught his parents making out.

Jake doesn’t mind the extra beer though. Honestly, Maverick can have a lifetime of drinks on him. Until the captain came along, there weren’t many senior officers he could say he looked up to. Most of them are stiff and unimaginative curmudgeons who got promoted for playing by the book rather than any gift of intelligence or talent. Captain Pete Mitchell is a breath of sweet, fresh air. “Rules are rules, Maverick. No hard feelings.”

Maverick throws his arm over the back of the chair next to his and grins slyly. “Yep, no hard feelings. Thanks, by the way.” Jake’s glad he doesn’t have to fly with the captain tomorrow or he’d be paying for his banter. He nods in a silent salute.

Penny slides the beers he ordered across the bar. “Here you go.”

Jake glances at Rooster. “Could I, uh, also get a Knob Creek?”

Rooster manages not to look put out even though he must know that the drink is for Phoenix. Maybe it’s a little heavy handed, but Jake does owe her. She’s put up with him antagonizing her nonstop over the last weeks to blow off steam so he didn’t explode from the frustration of constantly failing Maverick’s exercises. If he has other motives for wanting to get into her good graces, he would rather not telegraph them so he waves his hand to the bar.

“Get yourself something on my tab,” he tells Rooster. Jake definitely owes him too, as much as Bradshaw gets on his nerves sometimes. Phoenix chased him out to the parking lot after he went too far by throwing Goose’s death in Rooster and Maverick’s faces. Far from his finest moment, and one he was ashamed of as soon as the dust settled. Her dark eyes were all fire, her cheeks flushed and bright. She looked on the verge of foregoing words to punch him. As she dressed him down with a savage eloquence that had impressed even Cyclone, she seemed to stand eye to eye with him rather than a half foot smaller.

Plenty of people have hinted before that his fixation on her as a target for his teasing is some sign of latent attraction. That all seems pretty middle school but maybe what began as a game of who’s best pilot had morphed into something else when he wasn’t paying attention. He had been furious with her for letting Maverick use the sun to sneak up behind him on their first day, for landing him pushups when he'd planned to rub not having to do them in everyone's face, but he had replayed the smirk in her voice telling him she was dead over and over in his head since then. And that same smirk had haunted him listening to the barely contained panic in her voice as she lost control of her plane.

Penny sets the bourbon in front of him and pushes a drink to Rooster. “Here ya go, boys.”

“You really believe the hottest girl in here is with that dweeb?” someone says at his shoulder.

Jake looks over. The guy beside him has the unbridled confidence of a pilot freshly selected for his first Top Gun assignment. Tall with dark hair and long-lashed blue eyes, and with no particular reason for wearing his uniform at this hour except for its magnetic properties when it comes to women, he’s probably already had quite a bit of success sleeping his way through The Hard Deck. He jerks his chin at Bob breaking away from Phoenix, Fanboy, and Payback to head for the bar. “How much you want to bet she’s here on a pity date?” His grin invites Jake to share his joke.

Rooster leans in. “The nurses around here, they’re real nice. They’ll give any pilot a chance. Guess he got lucky.” Penny ducks her head as she refills Maverick’s pint. Jake takes a long draw on his beer so his grin doesn’t give away Rooster’s bait. He hopes this asshole bites.

Asshole motions to Penny. “Ma’am, could I get a malibu sunset and a Jack Daniels?”

Rooster coughs into his fist. Maverick shoots the two of them a look, but Bradshaw gives him the slightest shake of his head. Jake hopes Bob doesn’t make it over before Asshole heads off to get what’s coming to him. Penny must want to see the guy go up in flames as badly as he and Rooster do because she’s back with his drinks in the blink of an eye. Asshole takes them in hand and nods to Jake, “If you’re not going to take the shot.”

Jake raises his glass. “All yours.”

As soon as Asshole is out of earshot, Jake turns to Rooster. “Phoenix is going to be pissed when she finds out you told him she’s a nurse.”

“She has more respect for nurses than that,” Bradshaw says easily. “Besides, if she has enough of a sense of humor to put up with your bullshit, this should be no sweat.” His eyes follow Asshole’s trajectory to Phoenix, ignoring the glare Jake shoots toward him.

Somehow, this all feels like an inside joke between Rooster and Phoenix. Jake’s watched them have whole conversations with one another with only their eyes as if their minds are on a private channel no one else can tune into. It irks the crap out of him for some reason.

Bob lands between Rooster and Maverick. “Phoenix sent me to ask you what’s taking so long.”

Rooster slides a beer over to Bob. “Just watch.”

Asshole sidles up to Phoenix who leans on her pool cue while waiting for Payback to rack the balls. Despite her dress, she’s standing at ease rather than resting on a hip like most of the other women. Asshole doesn’t seem to notice. She gives him a look of surprise when he says something to her.

“Is he…?” Bob wonders.

“Not with a malibu sunset,” Jake snorts, toasting Bradshaw for his genius.

“Twenty bucks he offers to take her up in the air,” Rooster wagers.

Bob shakes his head. “I’d be better off betting you twenty he doesn’t. How long before she shuts this down?”

“Hangman?” Rooster asks.

Jake considers what he knows of Phoenix’s taste in partners, and it’s surprisingly little. He hates that his best guess is based on how she handles him. Jake settles on, “Less than five.”

“I’d give it eight and a half minutes,” Maverick interrupts, catching them all by surprise. He looks over at Jake and grins. “She likes to let people hang themselves.”

Bob and Rooster have a laugh at Jake’s expense. He rolls his eyes at them and pulls the drink he bought for her closer. Phoenix smiles at whatever Asshole says. She reaches for the Jack Daniels and looks nonplussed when he hands her the malibu sunset instead. She takes it and surreptitiously sets it down on the ledge of the pool table.

Five minutes come and go while they watch, and Jake is just starting to wonder if Phoenix is going to play along with Asshole when Fanboy and Payback burst out laughing. The guy goes bright red and gestures toward them at the bar. Phoenix narrows her eyes. Her accusing stare falls on him first. Rooster gives them a wave, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

“Who’s the dweeb now?” Rooster asks, even if Asshole can’t hear.

“Who’s a dweeb?” Bob wants to know.

Maverick slaps the bar. “Nine minutes and seven seconds. Damn it. Almost had it.”

Jake figures now is as good a time as any to make his move. Hopefully Asshole has set the bar pretty low, and he can’t do any worse. “Rooster here’s the dweeb,” he says, knocking Bradshaw upside the head before he sweeps up everyone’s beers in one hand and the drink for Phoenix in the other. “Get a drink on me, Baby on Board.”

He shoulders his way through the crowd.

***

Bradley waves at the humiliated Mr. Big Shot, who glares daggers at him as he slinks back to his curious friends. After finding out who Phoenix is, and by extension the rest of them, he's not likely to try to confront Bradley for setting him up. Being selected for a suicide mission and surviving getting blown out of the sky has its perks, if you could call them that. Not that Bradley can blame the guy for trying. He just didn't need to bring Bob into it like that. Even if Phoenix is actually annoyed at him, she'll understand. He hopes. It's good to ego check the Mr. Big Shots before they become Hangmans.

He still isn’t sure why he hadn’t told Phoenix he would be back stateside. What he tells himself is that he is accepting the boundaries she asked for in their relationship. He didn’t want to seem too eager, too forward, too hopeful. But he knows it isn’t that simple. Because part of him had hoped that dropping back into her life after months of silence would earn him more than a cue stick to the stomach. Maybe if he hadn’t gone and dumped all his shit with Maverick on her, and reminded her of the baggage he lugged into their friendship, she wouldn’t have thought twice about Hangman.

He’d planned to make it up to her after the mission. An apology, a thank you, a hint he was open to cracking a door they agreed to close. There was no point in bringing it up before then anyway. Phoenix was too focused on having her name called to be interested in anything else.

Then they got back. Before she left, Halo had mentioned something about Phoenix not sleeping. It didn’t click until the night he woke to her pounding on his door at the BOQ, begging him to answer, somehow convinced he hadn’t come back with her. He couldn’t quite understand the heaving, gulping gibberish she’d babbled into his chest and shoulder as he held her. Until now, it had always been him needing her, her holding him. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep. In the morning, she didn’t want to talk about it. So he slept with his phone in his hand every night, jolting awake to reassure her he was there. Bradley hates the sense of loss that grips his chest every morning he wakes up undisturbed.

He can hear Hangman’s taunting sneer or sigh of disappointment. Same old Rooster. He’d once again missed the shot, waited too long for his moment. Phoenix needs him as a friend. Anything that she doesn’t initiate between them now is only going to complicate—even compromise—their already complicated friendship. And he means it when he says their friendship matters to him more than anything else.

This morning, he followed her back to her room after breakfast wondering what she would do if he tested the waters with a kiss. She'd seemed to be flirting with him at moments throughout their trip up to Tustin. He can hear her voice, though, exasperatedly complaining that men managed to read someone's basic existence as a sign of interest. But when Phoenix had turned around at her door, the expression on her face was so vulnerable and so grateful that he didn’t want her to question whether the whole morning had been something other than an earnest attempt to help her work through whatever she was going through post mission. Even as he told himself to walk away, his memory flooded with the taste of the heat of her mouth on his, the shape of her toned curves under his hands, the sound of her ragged breathing and throaty pleas as he buried himself deeper and deeper within her chasing that peak when her whole body shuddered and folded into his.

He’d slid his hands into his pockets to hide any inkling that he ever thought about more than friendship between them. Forcing himself to think of Phoenix at her least attractive, he remembered back to their first year of training. There was an annual carnival on base and a right of passage for all the junior pilots was the hurl-and-whirl on the zipper ride. Before the ride took off, the first years were shut one by one into one of the cages and spun to dizzying speeds. You had to make it through the entire rest of the ride without puking.

Phoenix would have handled the hurl-and-whirl, no problem, if Milky Way hadn’t dared her to do five shots before her turn. It was known as a wild ride. She’d tripped getting into the compartment. Everyone stood back as two of the bravest LTJGs spun her round and round. But the ride had taken off with no sound of retching. Somehow Phoenix managed to keep track of which way was up and which way was down for the duration of the zipper’s rotations, and she staggered out victorious. Only the second officer ever to complete a wild ride without having to use a sick sack. She grinned and tossed the flat bag at Milky Way.

Rooster trailed her as she marched off and had barely caught up to her when she turned, opened her mouth, and explosively vomited cotton candy and the fried oreos she’d stolen from him all over his brand new dress shoes. If he had to name someone as relentlessly competitive as Hangman, he would have to say Phoenix. She’d dropped to her knees, clawed a hole in the grass, and buried the mess so no one but him would ever know.  

The memory didn’t dampen his regret for having to leave her at her door, but it helped ease the problem rising in his shorts. Though, oddly, not as much as he’d hoped.

Anyway, he has no right to anything but to raise his glass to Hangman for maneuvering into Phoenix’s sights. Almost in opposite ways, the two of them know exactly how to get what they want from people. Much as he hates to admit it, even he’s felt aroused by their subtle, intricate dogfight. There’s no hesitation and no overcorrection. Hangman opening up enough to hook Phoenix’s curiosity and Phoenix nailing just the right moment to catch him off guard.

Only one thing worries him. It’s always dangerous when two pilots have the exact same weakness because neither of them can see the slip coming. Phoenix and Hangman each think they’ll get bored of the other and move on. They see involvement as an itch to be scratched not a commitment to be made. And because it has always worked for them thus far they aren’t looking for the stop sign ahead.

Bradley takes a long swig of his whiskey. At least it’s on Hangman’s dime.

Maverick leans on the bar beside him and follows his gaze to the pool table where Hangman hands Phoenix her favorite bourbon. A look of surprised delight catches her off guard before she hides her smile from him by turning to Bob who returned in Hangman's wake.

“You’re not going to win her over moping from here,” Mav tells him.

“Not moping. Not trying to win her either unless I want my ass publicly handed to me in this bar like that last guy. And before you tell me a wild story about some crazy stunt you did with my dad…”

“Okay,” Mav waves him off. “Spare me the lecture, Bradley.”

Bradley snorts. “She’s actually a lot like you in some ways. Everything down here is just a distraction from what’s up there.”

Maverick tips his beer toward her. “That’s going to be a problem when they want to make her admiral.” And Bradley isn’t entirely sure if his uncle is talking about Phoenix’s love of flying or Hangman who can’t help sneaking a glance at her as he passes Fanboy and Payback their beers.

“How do you know already?”

“You didn’t know Ice when he was younger, but he had the same skills. Natural leader, level head, eye for talent. Cleans up messes before the Navy has to.”

“Sir?” Bradley asks over the rim of his drink.

Maverick grins widely. “Between you and me, the reading out she gave Hangman for coming after you is already the talk of the Officers Club. Guess she didn’t leave much for Cyclone to say on the matter.” He turns more serious. “She’s a good friend, even if…other things don’t work out.”

“I don’t need other things from her,” Bradley says stoutly. “Like you said, she’s a good friend.”

Maverick just raises his dark brows and buries his skepticism in a long pull from his pint.

Not wanting to talk about his feelings for Phoenix or have a front row seat to whatever hawk and dove game Phoenix and Hangman have been at for the last few days just yet, he looks around for something to do. Banging out a few songs at the piano might ease some of his restlessness but that will get Phoenix’s attention, and he doesn’t want her to think he’s trying to compete with Hangman. Even if he is.

As packed as the bar is, it feels like he’s stranded in the middle of the ocean with no land or ship in sight. Maybe he should leave. The others can pile in with Payback.

Bradley glances up to see Penny watching him intently. “Jim, you got the bar a minute?” she calls over her shoulder. “I need to grab something from the stock.”

Jim tosses his towel over his shoulder. “Hurry up. They’re not letting up tonight.”

“Won’t take long,” she promises. Penny smiles at Bradley. “Give me a hand? I’d ask Jim but his back hasn’t been too good.”

“You can ask me,” Maverick pouts.

She leans in close to her apparently now boyfriend. Poor Amelia having to put up with the two of them all the time.

“Why don’t you watch Rooster’s drink for him, Flyboy,” she says lowly before leaning in to peck him on the mouth. Maverick tries to deepen the kiss, but Penny knows him too well and draws away before he can distract her.

She waves Bradley over. “Come on.”

He hesitates until Maverick gives him a little shove, having got the hint that Penny has something to say to him. He glances over at his group. Phoenix has her arm slung over Bob’s shoulders while he holds her cue for her. They seem to be heckling Hangman as he takes a guest shot because he flashes a grin their way before sinking a ball into a pocket. No one seems to notice that Bradley hasn’t joined them yet.

He follows Penny to the back of the bar. The noise becomes muffled as the door swings closed behind them. Every few feet, she pauses to push boxes out the walkway.

“Jim’s health really isn’t what it was, even two years ago,” she grunts. “Going to have to get someone from the high school to help out with the heavy lifting.” Penny straightens and brushes off her hands. “Need your help right over here. Can you grab that ladder for me please?”

Bradley maneuvers a half ladder out from where it’s wedged behind a cluster of cleaning supplies. She leads him deeper into the cramped space. It’s cooler, darker. There’s something comforting in the claustrophobia of the boxes of alcohol and supplies they pass.

Penny stops at a packed shelf and reaches up to touch a box squeezed between the top and the ceiling. “This is it.” But she doesn’t move out of the way for him to set up the ladder. Her face softens, and she rolls her shoulders forward several times. “You’re right, Bradley, she may be a lot like Pete. He never tried to break my heart, and I’m sure he never meant to. But he is who he is, and he was always honest about that. We both would have been miserable trying to twist ourselves into people we weren’t to try to make things work. You don’t have to live your life without her. Just don’t wait to live your life with her, okay?”

He sets the ladder down. “You don’t regret letting go?”

“Well,” she runs her hand over the shelf thoughtfully. “You can’t really let go of something you weren’t actually holding onto in the first place, can you?”

It’s a shocking, yet simple, truth. As much as it hurts like a punch to the sternum. Penny chuckles and tilts her head. “My father gave me that advice but not half so nicely and laced with a lot more profanity. Hang in there, Rooster.” She steps past him so he can shake out the ladder. “Take as long as you want. Just leave the box of grenadine by the door when you head back in. I swear that bachelorette party drank enough of it to turn their pee red.”

Penny pats his arm. “Thanks for your help.”

Where Maverick would have stumbled out of his words and into awkward silence, she is tender and warm without fretting or making him feel like he has to put on a brave face for her. A lot like his mom, actually. So much like Phoenix. He mumbles his thanks and focuses on the task at hand. His shoulder protests when he slides the box onto his bicep. He's still a little banged up from being shot down.

After setting the box near the entrance and putting away the ladder, Bradley pauses. Propping his back against the wall, he lets the cool surface soothe his shoulder muscles and ease the lingering sting of Penny's advice. He loathes the part of himself that still flutters hopefully knowing how upset Phoenix was not to hear from him while he was overseas or that he was coming back stateside. Hangman had mentioned a game of fuck, marry, kill tonight. Phoenix would have both their asses at the hint they were playing some type of game for her. Knowing Jake wants to mess with him for his own entertainment, he tries not to think too hard about the fact that tonight's lineup is most likely marry Bob, fuck Hangman, and kill him.

When Bradley emerges from the storage room, Phoenix is waiting for him. "Could you play a song on the piano for me?"

Masterlist | Chapter 7 | Chapter 9 (to be posted)

[wcrstarter]

mistletoe symbol for Keigo ♡ 83

🌿// @iiryoku

It was the same bar they had originally met in, the clientele was still the same sort you needed to watch both your back, your drink, and your wallet around. The only difference, was the token holiday decorations that had been strung about the establishment. She eyed the twisted lights and plastic tinsel garland with bemusement as she slid into a seat at the bartop, the only real option she had for a comfortable seat without wings getting in the way. At least compared to a civilian bar, she could trust that nobody would be foolish enough to yank on her feathers--well, save for one person. But he more or less had her permission to touch. Others would get either a verbal dressing down, or a swipe of talons as retribution for being so presumptuous with the raveness.

As rough as the exterior was, she liked the bar. The bartender was good at what he did, she was accustomed to the mist faced man, and he was hardly the oddest quirk user she'd encountered. There was no judgement for quirks, one of the few places she'd ever been where mutant quirks weren't regarded as fey. She could relax in ways she couldn't in other establishments, but still couldn't completely relax. After all, she was hovering above a very particular fence with her occupation, yet to decide which side she wanted to fly over to. The longer she lingered, especially in Japan, and in the company of Keigo, the more she was tempted to fully and outright join the so called villains.

Sonja sipped on her drink slowly, dark eyes watching over the room,. There was petty squabbling breaking out over the card and pool tables, and various people huddled at tables in the darker corners for clandestine meetings. If she focused, she would be able to hear what they were saying, but she didn't care enough to. Movement drew her eye, the flash of red confirmed the scent she was quickly growing familiar with. The handsome hawk, the beautifully dangerous predator Keigo that had captured her attention quite thoroughly during her stay. Sonja had a number of theories why he entranced her, but she did not care to particularly analyze them. He was like her, in a way, it was rare to encounter people who could fly like them, rarer still to meet someone who understood the desire to hunt and the sweet taste of fresh blood on the tongue.

She played coy, pretending she hadn't noticed. She was plenty aware of Keigo, and her sharp eyesight had spotted the mistletoe bundle hanging overhead the stool beside hers some time ago. He'd caught her by surprise at the event they'd infiltrated, and she intended to do the same this time around. There was notably, the advantage of her european background to greet with a side kiss to the cheeks for those she was familiar with, an easy show of respect and an easier distraction tactic.

"Hello, handsome." She greeted once the other predator slid into the seat next to her, turning her head to do the greeting that was common over in her homeland then waited a moment before she pressed her lips to his. It was a tame enough kiss, as she liked the bar and didn't want to be thrown out, but she lingered for a moment before drawing back. Sonja grinned, flashing her sharp eyeteeth then nodded her head towards the ceiling where the mistletoe idly spun on it's hung string.

"Careful, someone might think you sat underneath it deliberately Keigo. " She teased, well aware that the same could be said that she chose the stool she had on purpose. She had, just a little. The opportunity for payback was too great for her to pass up.

[stellevatum]

Byzantium, Terra 2

The executive landing pad was exclusive to only a few trusted beings. Kar was one of the few to have the privilege. The UDL soldiers minding the pad stood to attention in respectful greeting. It was hard to tell who was under the helmet, but Kar could sense them individually.

"At ease, Sato, Devins." She greeted informally. "How's your sister?"

"Much better, ma'am." Devins replied. Last she remembered she'd been very unwell. His wages as a guard in Byzantium supplemented his family's wages from one of the Spacer's Choice towns. "I might be able to afford a day off to visit soon!"

Kar smiled sympathetically. That was Halcyon for you. Work everyone to the bone and give your replacement twice the hours at half the pay. Any shred of dignity or kindness must have been left behind on Earth.

"I hope you enjoy it, whenever it happens." She excused herself with a polite nod and entered the corridor leading to the lift.

Alone with her thoughts, she closed her eyes. Breathing in deep, she held it in for a few beats before exhaling. Mask up, mask up. The performance is just starting. Get into the Chairman's office, get the Intel on the research progress and we're good.

The doors opened with a soft ding, revealing a spacious lobby with a desk. The doors around it closed and guarded. A greying sentinel of a assistant minded his post at the desk.

"Percy!" She called out in a cheery, saccharine voice. "You pasha of paperwork, you seneschal of stationery--"

"Doctor Alor'ade," Percy replied, "It's always a pleasure seeing you."

He enjoyed her little alliterative flattery. Even if she was buttering him up, it was fun for her to come up with new ones.

"Is Charles in?" Kar asked.

Percy sucked his teeth and gave an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry Doctor, he isn't. Would you like to leave him a message?"

"Oh no, thank you." Quickly, she had to come up with something. "Actually you wouldn't mind terribly if I just nipped into his office real quick?"

Before he could give his permission, the wireless screen behind him came to life, revealing the face of the Adjutant.

"Percival, is that Doctor Alor'ade with you?"

"Yes, I am." Kar replied coolly. The gears in her head churning to salvage the op, but also just had to ruffle the Adjutant's proverbial feathers.

"A word, please." The Adjutant requested. The tone of her voice made it sound more like an order. "In private."

Kar buried the bristling defiance and entered the door behind Percy's desk.

"Sophia." Kar greeted, a little dash of subtle impertinence, her tiny act of rebellion.

"Adjutant Akande." She corrected curtly. "I wanted to thank you for your Intel. Welles was gone before we arrived. But he must have been in a hurry-- my agents are sifting through what's Left behind."

A beat. "I suspect he was tipped off..."

Kar's smile remained on her face, but there was no mirth behind it.

"He has been on the run for nearly three decades-- it makes sense that he's got eyes and ears to keep going for this long..."

After all, Sophia was staring right at one. Kar and Phineas planned it all to keep her busy. Any data gleaned from it was fake, it had nothing to do with his revival research. He has never stepped foot in it at all. Kar supposed it was unknowing payback keeping her from the Chairman's office...

"I want them." Akande demanded.

"I'm Charles' hunting canid, not yours." Kar reminded Sophia with an edge.

"Yes." The Adjutant took a breath. She knew Kar was just trying to get under her skin. It was how most of their conversations went.

"I would be grateful if you learn of any of them to pass the information along." She finally said tactfully.

"No promises." Kar gave a mock salute and turned on her heel in a casually defiant way before she could be dismissed. She knew when things were a bust and headed towards the second lift to the street.

Plan B it is. She conceded as she made a retreat towards her townhouse. Inform Welles of the situation. And prepare...for an evening with the Chairman...

[twistedwonderlandsevenmemories]

Poison Memory: The Beautiful Autocrat is back on Oct 20!

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well!

It turns out that Oct is going to be a lot more busy than I planned (lots of stuff I have to do outside of Ao3), but Poison Memory will return on Friday, Oct 20! It will be a weekly schedule moving forward until things at work slow down a bit.

Below is a sneak peek of the first chapter of the Training Camp arc! Enjoy!

-TWSTStories

“Grim! Wipe the floor clean!”

“Again?!” Grim complained.

“No arguing. Just do it,” Claire ordered as she straightened the books on the top shelves.

Since it was just the two of them living in the dorm, and thanks to her daily cleaning routine, Claire didn’t have too much work to do before the first day of training camp. Of course, that didn’t stop her from fretting around and driving Grim up the wall.

“All the guest rooms have been cleaned up,” Thin Blinky announced as he and two other ghosts came downstairs. “Seven in total. We even added the name plaques per your request.”

Blinky, Butch, and Barty were the original and only residents of Ramshackle dorm and had haunted the place before Claire and Grim had joined them. They all had a rather rocky start, but over the months, the trio of ghosts had been helping Claire clean up and fixing things to make the place more livable.

Which was why nothing can go wrong for the next four weeks.

“Great, thanks! Now guys,” she turned to the ghosts, now all serious-like. “None of that 'scaring others' business when they get here, okay?”

“Oh, come on, a little scare once in a while shouldn’t be too bad,” Butch crackled, making his bulging stomach wobble. “I still need to give payback to that firecracker kid with the red heart.”

“Not with Dorm Head Vil here,” Claire said in a warning tone, pointing the feather duster at them. “Just think of the money we will get to renovate the place once this is over. I know you guys would love to have a second heater upstairs. In fact, why don’t you guys take a vacation and visit some friends while we have this training camp? You guys have been working hard.”

The ghosts looked at each other thoughtfully at Claire’s proposal.

“I supposed we could visit Felix,” Barty said slowly, “He has that bridge club he keeps begging us to join.”

“Great idea, we can show off the patches that Claire gave us,” Blinky said, looking down at his scarf. The broom patches along with the candles she had given them for Christmas had been well-received though she still hadn’t exactly figured out how they managed to sew it on their phantom bodies.

Blinky’s idea gave a nod of approval from the rest of the ghosts, all clearly eager to brag.

“If you need us, just leave a note on the kitchen table,” polite Barty, the shortest of the trio, said. “We’ll come by every morning.”

“Sounds good. I may need help cleaning the roof if it snows,” she said, “You guys have fun.”

 As soon as they left, she hurried to the kitchen and put the kettle on.

“Grim! Did you wipe the floor clean?” she called out as she reached for the cups in the cabinets. Visiting Heartslabyul a couple of times had taught her the etiquette of serving tea to guests. Dorm Head Riddle had always done it for her, and she guessed that Vil would expect the same thing.

“Yes!” Grim yelled back, irritated, “I even did it twice.”

“Thanks!”

The buzzing sound of the doorbell immediately rang across the entire room.

“They’re here!” Claire squeaked as she scurried to the foyer. She quickly checked her reflection in the mirror and straightened her messy brown hair.

“Why are you so worried?” Grim mumbled, coming over, “You weren’t like this when Ace and Deuce came over.”

“If Vil is as uptight about perfection as a mother-in-law, then perfection is not good enough,” Claire said, bending down on one knee and straightening Grim’s bow, “The last thing we need are complaints. And remember, be nice.”

Grim gave an unhappy nod. “If it’s for the tuna cans…”

Claire turned to the door, took a deep breath, forced a smile, and opened it to find her face engulfed in lilies.

[kryptonitejelly]

Can you maybe do a little blurb from the fly boy universe of you and jake at the beach 🥺 maybe you’re wearing his shirt as a cover up over a little bikini and he can’t help but carry you into the waves in his arms (with your legs around his waist and maybe squealing a little much to his delight). All of the saltwater and sunshine kisses and laughing and him pinning you down on the beach towel play wrestling and just like pausing mid laughter and just can’t help himself, like almost doesn’t realize it as he says I love you?

I am deep in soft Jake feels today fam and oh my god do I feel like I need to see this 😭💛 I love this flyboy series so much

anon thank you for this, the visual is amazing 🥺🥺 i love it sm! set in the Flyboy universe (readable alone; but recommended with Flyboy - now complete)

-

Jake eyes you from a distance away, sitting beside Penny and Amelia on a beach towel. He didn’t intend to stare, but you had caught his eye, and he hadn’t been able to look away. The sun catches your your hair, casting a sort of glow around you, almost like a halo. Jake watches as you tilt your head back, laughing at something Penny said, his white linen shirt on your frame, open at the front and slipping off your shoulder on one side. Your own cover up, a sundress, is stuffed into the wicker bag you have behind you.

“Seresin,” Payback yells from across the sand, pulling Jake back to the present, the weight and shape of the football which he is holding in his hands drawing his attention once again.

“I’m out,” Jake calls back, tossing the ball to the nearest of the group, legs going from a stride to a jog as he makes his way back up the beach. It makes Phoenix throw up her hands, letting her palms come smacking back down on her thighs.

“Where the heck is he going?” She grumbles, only to hear a knowing laugh from Coyote who cocks his head in response towards where Jake is heading, towards you

“He can’t control himself can he?” Fanboy muses, to which Coyote shakes his head. Rooster just laughs, hands on his lips, shades on his face.

“It’s like a moth to a flame,” Bob muses, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

-

“He-” you see Jake approaching you the moment he starts trekking his way up the sand. You open your mouth to greet him as he drops down onto the beach towel beside you, only to be cut off by the feel of his lips against yours.

“We’re going to get more drinks,” you hear Penny call, her tone amused, as she drags Amelia off, allowing you both a semblance of whatever privacy you could find on a crowded beach.

“Hi,” you finally say as he pulls away, your eyes slightly glazed from the kiss. Jake slips his hand across your stomach, fingers splaying out on your skin, under his shirt, wrapping around your ribs. You take the opportunity to reach out and push his sunglasses off the bridge of his nose and onto his head.

“I hate that you aren’t wearing the ring,” Jake says, fingers squeezing against your skin as he leans over to kiss your shoulder, the movement causing his shirt which was already slipping off your shoulder to fall midway down your arm.

“I told you, I didn’t want to risk dropping it,” you respond, distracted by his lips on your shoulder, pressing a line of feather light kisses up to the base of your neck.

“How would anyone know you are mine,” he grumbles against your skin before pulling back.

“Jake,” your voice is a mix of amusement and exasperation, “your hand is feeling it’s way under the strings of my bikini, I’m wearing your shirt, and you just trailed an entire line of kisses up my shoulder. I think everyone knows.”

Your response makes him laugh, his eyes lighting up, clear delight on his features. He hums in delight, leaning over so that you both are nose to nose.

“We could make it irrefutably clear,” he suggests, and you feel hands nudging you onto the beach towel. You let yourself fall backwards, yours back connecting with the fabric of the towel.

Jake’s head hovers over yours, offering you a shield from the sun, each of his palms flat on the towel beside your head. He grins, a wink following the twinkle in his eyes.

“Jake,” you warn, “don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t wrestle me,” your eyes dart across his features, choosing to implore to a different side of him, “my swimsuit is tiny.” It earns you you a warm chuckle of response.

“Arms around my neck,” he orders and you look at him quizzically, “no wrestling, promise.”

You grumble, incoherently, as you throw your eyes around his neck, clasping them securely behind. Jake plucks his shades off, tossing them onto the beach towel, before he slides his arms behind your back, in between his shirt and your body, lifting you easily off the ground.

“Jake,” you gasp, legs winding around his waist, securing yourself against him. A hand slides to the bottom your ass, and the other goes around your waist as he stands, supporting you, “what are you doing?”

“Taking you swimming,” is what he says and you bring your head back to look at him.

“No,” you protest, voice akin to a squeal while you push against his chest, “Jake, I’m still wearing your shirt, it’ll get wet.”

“Let it,” he grips your skins tighter, and ducks his head to press another kiss to your shoulder, this time nipping at your skin lightly with teeth. The nip goes straight down to your core.

“Jake,” you repeat your protest again, but this time, your hands go back from the front of his chest to twist around his neck again, “really? Teeth?”

“That wasn’t what you were saying last night,” Jake squeezes your ass, eyes looking straight into yours and you choose to smile both innocently and sweetly at him, which earns you a boyish laugh.

You hear splashing as Jake walks into the water. It follows, with you feeling cool waves lapping at your skin, as he walks further in, submerging you both up to your chests.

“This is ridiculous,” you tell him, but you legs still wound tight around him, body pressed to his, and hands secure around his neck tells a different story. You dart your head towards the beach where you have an audience of Naval Aviators now sitting in a line along the sand, watch the both of you, carrying on conversations among themselves, “we have an audience,” you groan, just as Coyote raises a hand in a wave, shit eating grin on his face, a sharp whistle coming from his lips.

Jake throws a lazy glance over, whistling back through his teeth, to which Coyote only laughs, before turning his attention back to you.

“Easily fixed,” he says, pulling you under water in one swift motion, submerging you both completely before pulling you both back up. You splutter in shock, hair wet, droplets of water running down your face, Jake laughs, gripping you tighter to him, firm, as you wipe water from your eyes.

“I’m drenched,” you say accusatorially, and Jake’s reply does not surprise you one bit, causing you to roll your eyes.

“As you always are babe.”

“You’re annoying Seresin,” you huff.

Jake takes you in, water dripping from your hair, droplets sliding down your face, catching the sunlight, causing your skin to glisten, his shirt billowing out in the water behind you.

“I love you,” he leans forward. Jake’s lips are warm against yours, salty from the sea. The kiss is chaste, surprisingly, and you kiss him back, before moving your hands to swipe drops of water off his cheekbones,

“Then stop trying to kill me,” you squeeze the sides of his face inwards, and Jake only laughs, before pulling you under water again. This time you manage to yelp before you go under. He knows you love him too.

[ofstoriesandstardust]

a slice of life (lt. bradley “rooster” bradshaw)

a/n: eh, what the hell? why not try my hand at a slice of life fic. this plays a bit on things discussed in best bud, you alright bud? but it’s not a necessity to read it

summary: two months after reconvening in Miramar, the Iron Daggers decide to have a movie night at the Mitchell residence. Rooster and Rebel prove to be the cutest couple ever, the team learns about “The Incident”, and Hangman’s just happy he was invited

part of the same mistakes-verse

main masterlist | top gun: maverick masterlist

warnings: swearing, discussion of religious/spirtual things and guardian angels (insinuation of an afterlife/seeing people again after they die), discussion of near death-experiences, discussion of Goose’s death, very slight implication of sex, i’m still not certain i understand the slice of life genre, yeah this might’ve been an excuse to write about Rooster and Mav finding out about the incident what about it, the end is so cute i cried

word count: 3, 323

You hear the front door open, keys jingling. “Babe?”

“Kitchen.” You call back, pulling the popcorn maker from the cabinet. 

“Jesus, what decade is that from?” You snort, glancing at Coyote. 

"I don’t know, my Dad’s had it since I was a kid.” Rooster’s figure appears in the doorway and he squints when he sees what you’re holding. 

“Why does Mav still have that?” You shrug, setting it on the counter. 

“Not a clue, but I’m not entirely mad about it.” Rooster rolls his eyes, striding towards you. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Coyote rolls his eyes and mutter, “Here we go.” Rooster places his hands on your waist, your arms easily sliding around his broad frame. 

“Hey darling.” He whispers and you smile against the mustached-face that’s pressing feather-light kisses on your cheek. 

“Hey.” You whisper back. The doorbell rings and you move your head a few inches away from Rooster’s face. 

“It’s open!″ You shout and you can hear the door open and then shut. You look over Rooster’s shoulders to see Hangman enter the kitchen, making a face at you. You flip him off from over Rooster’s shoulders and he returns it before taking a seat at the table. The door opens again, and you can hear the lively voices of Fanboy and Payback. Rooster turns when they arrive in the kitchen, glancing at them. Hangman looks at them, blinking. 

“Did you let yourself in?” Fanboy shrugs. “You can’t do that, it’s rude.” Payback chuckles, taking the seat next to Hangman. 

“Maybe for you, but the Mitchells happen to like us.” Rooster snorts, moving away from you to the fridge. You pout at him but he just chuckles, handing you a beer as you lean up against the stove. 

“Where’s Mav?” He asks, arm sliding on to the top of your shoulder as you face the other men in your kitchen. You shrug. 

“With Penny, I think.”

“I thought he was gonna be here?” Coyote asks and you shrug again. 

“He said he’d be back in time.” There’s a knock at the door, followed by a shout from Phoenix, announcing her and Bob’s presence. You smile at her as she squeezes in next to Fanboy, Bob choosing to lean up against the wall. The door opens again, but there’s no voice. “Dad?” You call, picking at a loose thread on your clothes carelessly. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Stopped to get more beer and popcorn per yours and Bradley’s request.” You take the jar of popcorn kernels from your Dad, thanking him. 

“Hey, will you get me the bowl out of the cabinet?” You ask Rooster, who grabs the large bowl from the top cabinet easily. “And the other two back there.” You say as you move to the pantry to grab what little of the popcorn kernels you did have. 

“Jeez, why are you making popcorn in that old thing?” Fanboy asks.

“It makes more popcorn and between all of us, we’re gonna need it.” You call back and then walk back to the kitchen to start measuring out the different amounts of kernels you’ll need. 

“Okay, but a few bags of microwave popcorn will do the same thing.”

“Well yeah, but this tastes better.” You defend, shrugging your shoulders. You plug in the machine as the front door opens again. You hear the voices of the rest of your teammates as Fanboy raises an eyebrow at you. “It does, I’m telling you! Back me up here, babe.” Rooster nods his head. 

“She’s right, it does taste better. Dunno why though.” 

Your Dad snorts from where he’s leaned up against the opposite kitchen counter, beer in hand. “Because (Y/N) drenches the popcorn in butter.”

“It tastes better that way!” You exclaim, seeing everyone else gather in the kitchen. It earns a laugh from everyone as your cheeks go red for being call out for your habit of over-buttering the popcorn. As you move towards the fridge to get the butter out, you gasp. Shutting the door, you turn back to your team who is staring at you with varying looks of confusion. “Coyote, guess what happened two years ago today?” He looks at you in confusion.

“What?”

“The Incident.”

“Oh yeah, Owl texted me today.” 

“What?” You exclaim, moving back to your place next to Rooster. He sighs, nodding, and fishes his phone out of his pocket. 

“Yeah, hold on. She said-” He pauses, clearly looking for the conversation. “Hey Coyote, happy two years of you and Rebel not dying. Hope you’re both well. Call me soon, lots to update you on.” He shrugs. “Not a big deal.” You blink at him, trying to find the words to explain why you’re baffled that your old teammate said she hopes you were well. Granted, out of all the old Green Vipers, Owl probably would’ve been the one you could’ve tolerated the most but still.

“Hang on, the two of you keep talking around ‘The Incident’” Hangman said, putting quotation marks around his words, “but I don’t actually know what that is. Can I be clued in?” He asks, looking between the two of you. You sigh as Coyote looked at you. The two of you agreed you’d keep the details of The Incident to yourselves, as your Dad didn’t know the full extent of the what had happened, and Rooster didn’t need to beat himself up for not being there when it happened, something you knew he would do. Plus, it opened the can of worms of talking about the Green Vipers, and while everyone had all met (and the Iron Daggers were not a fan), they didn’t know just how bad things were (something you were not planning on sharing). You settle into Rooster’s arm as you sigh again. 

“Two years ago, Coyote and I got shot down on a mission. We got stranded in the ocean and we didn’t think we were going to walk away alive.” 

“Ice did not tell me that part.” Your Dad argued. 

“Yeah well, what Ice kept from you was for your own good. What you didn’t know didn’t hurt you.” Your Dad scoffed. “The mission is how the two of us became friends. We played twenty questions, we’re-going-to-die-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean style. Coyote’s idea.” Hangman snorted as Coyote laughed silently at the memory. “He asked the worst questions.”

“You asked me what my favorite color was!” He exclaims, laughing. “I barely knew you, I’m sorry I didn’t start with ‘do your parents love you?’” You laughed at that. 

“Anyways, that’s what The Incident was. I don’t like talking it about it because I knew it would stress these two out.” You say, gesturing to your Dad and Rooster. Your Dad seems to be feeling a variety of things as Rooster looks like he might be sick.

“I can’t believe you’re being so nonchalant about this.” Rooster says, one hand gripping the counter, knuckles going white. 

“Honestly, looking back on it, sitting in the ocean was actually kind of fun.” You say shrugging. Rooster groans and presses his plans to his eyes. 

“Stop talking.” He says and you laugh. 

“Babe, it was two years ago. I’m fine.”

“Actually, I have a question about that day.” Coyote says and you look back over to him. You nod, signaling for him to continue. 

“That day, outside Thompson’s office, I told you you must’ve had a pretty sweet guardian angel.” You nod, wondering where he’s going with this. “And you said you thought of him as more of a guardian bird.” You scrunch your face, thinking back on that day, but Rooster takes a sharp breath from where he is next to you as your Dad straightens up. 

“Dad.” Rooster whispers. 

“Did I say that out loud?” Coyote nods. 

“Yeah, who was that?” Coyote asks and you look briefly over at Rooster and then to your Dad. 

“Um, Goose. Rooster’s Dad.” Coyote’s eyes widen slightly as Phoenix’s mouth drops open. 

“Carole’s looking out for you too, you know.” Your Dad says softly and you look at him, biting your lip and shaking your head. 

“No. I mean, no, I know, but that day-” You take a deep breath, a wave of tears rising up. “That day, it was Goose who saved my life, I’m sure of it. What happened-” You shake your head, trying to shake the tears. “It was too familiar.” 

The team looks to Rooster and Maverick and the two exchange a look. Your Dad finally sighs. “Goose was my RIO and my best friend. During a training exercise, our plane went into a tailspin and during ejection, Goose’s head- it uh, hit the canopy and he died.” Your Dad explains, voice lowering as he nears the end. You think a handful of your fellow pilots had been told this at one point or another, but it’s new information for a lot of them, Coyote included. “But uh, I don’t know anything other than you went down that day (Y/N). How- how-” You swallow, grimacing. 

“My shoulder hit the canopy so hard on ejection my beacon was crushed. The doctor said I should’ve suffered at least a fracture and I walked away with a bruise.” Rooster’s gaze hardens and you turn away from him, gaze settling on the cabinet just behind Coyote’s head. “Coyote found me in the water. I remember freaking out, just kept thinking, I’m going to see Goose again before Dad does and it’s not fair.” You stop, trying to push back the burning tears. You’re not sure why the memory is upsetting you so bad. There’s a tightness settling in your chest as you recall the paralyzing fear that took over, the way the cold water made your brain shut down, and the distant calls from Coyote when he got shot down. “If Coyote didn’t find me, hadn’t also gone down, I would’ve drowned. Or gotten left in the ocean, I still don’t know who’s beacon was responsible for getting us help.” You didn’t repeat what you’d also said that day, that you didn’t think you were expected to come home from that mission. “I think Goose knew I wasn’t ready to see him again yet, knew I still had a bit of unfinished business here. Plus, I think he’d much rather see Mav again before he sees me.” A few tears betray you, slipping down your face and you turn away from the group, looking intently at the counter.  “Anyways, that’s why I don’t like talking about that day.” The team is silent for a moment and you briefly hear your Dad telling the team to settle in the living room and set up the movie. And then Rooster’s arms are wrapping around your chest and your hand comes up to interlock with his. You squeeze it and he squeezes it back, kissing the top of your head. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” He whispers and you shake your head.

“Don’t do this. Don’t blame yourself.”

“I should’ve- should’ve been there.” His voice cracks. “What if you hadn’t-” His voice gives out, unable to continue the sentence. 

“Bradley, I’m fine. It’s been two years. I’m still here, breathing and being a thorn in Coyote’s side. It’s okay.” You whisper. He tries to shake his head to protest, but Mav’s clearing his throat and the two of you look over to him. 

“Brad, would you-” He nods, letting his arms slip off of you and you have to admit you feel a bit colder without his touch. He grabs the bowls of popcorn and takes them out to the living room, joining your team mates. You can hear light bickering and it almost makes you smile. “(Y/N), why didn’t you tell me any of this?” You shrug. 

“Ice and I worked really hard to make sure you didn’t find out. I didn’t want to worry you.” 

“And the stuff about Goose?” 

“I don't know, it didn’t feel fair to repeat those things- I hardly even remember him. I was so young when he died that I just- didn’t feel right.” Your Dad sighs, studying you for a minute and then pulls you into a hug. 

“I love you kid.” He whispers against the top of your head.

“I love you too Dad.” He lets you go and pushes you to the living room. You climb into the spot on the couch left open purposefully for you between Rooster and Coyote. You fall into Rooster’s side and if his arm wraps around you tighter than usual, you don’t say anything. “What’d y’all decide?” 

“Okay, right now the debate is between the Titanic and Toy Story.” You squint at Fanboy. 

“I’m not going to ask how those were the two you settled on, but we’re not watching Titanic. That movie is too long.” There’s a scoff of protest from Bob, who chucks a few pieces of popcorn at you. 

“That movie is just the right amount of-”

“Toy Story it is.” Hangman announces, grabbing the remote from Fanboy. 

“Hey, give that back!” Hangman’s not listening, scrolling to Disney+ and searching up the movie. 

“You guys are like children.” You say, settling against Rooster’s chest as Phoenix coos at the two of you. Rooster flips her off from over your shoulder and she laughs. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it, y’all are just too damn cute.” Bradley’s cheeks color a dusty rose and you snicker, pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

“Alright, that’s enough lovebirds, watch the movie.” Hangman says, throwing a glance back to the two of you. You stick your tongue out at him and he sneers, but turns around as the movie begins to play. Bradley’s embrace is comforting as the movie plays and as the expected chaos of watching a children’s movie with these people unfolds, you find yourself feeling content, safe, and happy. It’s a feeling that was so foreign after being with the Green Vipers for so long, living every day in misery. It’s decided to watch the second Toy Story, and then third, and at some point, Bradley’s just become all too comfortable and you’re still basking in the happiness of being surrounded by these people that eventually you find yourself drifting off.

-

“They’re so cute.” Someone says as you slowly become aware you’re no longer sleeping. 

“Coyote, leave them alone.” You distantly hear your Dad saying. You feel the steady rise and fall of someone’s chest and you don’t open your eyes, not wanting to break the comfort of their embrace. 

“She looks so relaxed in her sleep.” Fanboy (you think) says. 

“Yeah well wait until Bradshaw starts snoring. That’ll be the end of this moment.” Phoenix taunts. 

“Mav, should we just leave them?” Bob’s whispering and you groan, finally deciding to alert the others to the fact that you were awake. 

“I’m up, whadda want?” You mutter, pulling from Rooster's arms. He groans, grabbing you back to his chest and you snort as your face lands face first into his shoulder. There’s soft laughter from your Dad and the few teammates who are still scattered around the room. 

“(Y/N), I’m sleeping, don’t leave me.” He mutters, still half-asleep and you snicker softly, turning around to face the group. He’s back to snoring softly into the crook of your neck and you shake your head. 

“Rebel, if you’re sleeping on the couch with your boyfriend, I’m taking your bed.” Coyote warns and you know he will. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna be able to get the man baby up.” You say and he grunts.

“’M not a man baby.” You pat his head lightly.

“Sure, baby, sure.” His warm hazel eyes open, blinking at you. “Can we go sleep in my bed or are you gonna make me sleep on the couch with you?” 

“We can’t be in your bed, Mav’ll kill us.” He mutters, eyes closing again. He must’ve been really tired, you think to yourself. Your Dad is laughing to himself from where he’s standing a few feet away. 

“You’re taking too long, ‘m going to the guest room.” Coyote grumbles. 

“Hangman’s already in there.” Bob calls.

“’M too tired to care.” He says and you laugh to yourself. Coyote will care in the morning. 

“Okay, Bob and I are gonna head out.” Phoenix says softly. 

“You sure? You’re more than welcome to stay here.” Your Dad says as Payback enters the living room to tell Fanboy the air mattress was set up in the guest room. 

“Yeah, it’s fine Mav.” 

“Drive safe. Text me when you get home.” You call to the pair as they head out and Rooster shifts under you at the noise. Your Dad chuckles, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of your head. 

“I’m headed to bed unless you or Bradley need anything?” You shake your head. 

“No, we’re good. Hopefully, I’ll get him to the room eventually.” He nods.

“Love you (Y/N).”

“Love you too Dad. Goodnight.” 

“Night.” He calls and then the door to his bedroom is shutting. The house is still, aside from the snores coming from the guest room. 

“Babe, can we go to bed please?” He cracks an eye open. 

“With you? Anytime darling, all you gotta do is ask.” You snort.

“How charming.” He smiles into your shoulder. 

“Well, the offer stands.” 

“Aside from the fact that I’m way too tired, no less than 4 of our teammates are in the room next to us, along with the fact that my father and your godfather is down the hall, so it’s a hard no from me.” He chuckles.

“Alright baby, take me to bed.” He says in a sultry voice and you laugh into his chest.

“What did I just say?”

“Fine, I’ll take you to bed.” He says, picking you up bridal style.

“I hate you.” You whisper, quietly laughing into his shoulder.

“No, you don’t.” He says matter of factly, nudging the door to your room open. He sets you down and you move to your closet to get pajamas. After putting on a pair of sweats he keeps at the house, your boyfriend lays down in your bed, making no less than three suggestive comments as you flip him off. You finally move to lay down next him, his arms immediately pulling you into his chest as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. You flip to face him, admiring the way his eyes look in the moonlight. His thumb is rubbing soft circles into the bare skin of your shoulder as he studies you, almost as if trying to etch you into his memory. “I love you.” He finally whispers. 

“I love you too.” You respond and he smiles softly. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.” 

“Well, I’ll tell it you everyday until I die if you let me.” 

“I think I’d like that.” A somber looks takes over his face, his hand moving to caress your cheek, moving the few stray hairs framing your face. 

“I’m glad you’re alive.” You swallow.

“Me too.” 

“Have to tell Dad thank you the next time I go see him.”

“He knows.” You shift, hands finding Bradley’s waist. “Your parents knew we needed more time to get things right.” 

“Think they’d be proud of us?”

“I know they’d be proud of us.” 

“Miss ‘em.”

“I miss them too.” A quiet silence falls over you as he looks at you and you let him. His eyes roam over your figure, making sure you’re still there. Finally he’s intertwining your hands and he’s bringing it up to kiss your hand softly. 

“I’m glad you’re still here, I don’t know what I’d do-” The words seem to catch in his throat as you move your hands to his cheeks. 

“I’m right here.” You whisper and he nods, pulling you flush to his chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”