#bilbowrites

There was a roll of the ex-dentist’s eyes and a hefty sigh left him. “Would yer quit actin’ like a woman an’ show me th’ damn bruise, Ashton.” He never used the boy’s full name, hell he hardly used it at all. Normally his hostage turned romantic interest went by ‘boy’ or ‘kid’, but right in that moment Lane wasn’t fucking around. He reached out a rough hand, calloused fingers wrapping around the smaller arm; although there was no pressure in their grip. Surprisingly gentle - something Lane was growing to learn about himself when it came to the younger male. “I ain’t gonna hurt it any more, I jus’ wanna see how bad it is; stop bein’ a lil’ shit an’ let me get a look.”

Lane had heard those words before. Back to back with a bloodied man he’d only just met, fending off biters with a crowbar. But the way Ash said them held a different weight - he wasn’t just talking about the dead bodies that they’d shown no mercy, or the fact that they synced up so well when it came to fighting them off. Their team went beyond the battle ground and they did make one hell of a good one. “Y’know what, boy? I think yer jus’ migh’ be righ’.” A broad grin settled on the older man’s worn features as he lifted his axe and hung it over his shoulder; face bloodied and stained from splatter that had come from each impact. But his eyes were soft as they looked over the younger male, taking him in and all that he had grown into.

Casey forced a half smile, a sick sadness in the small huff of ‘laughter’ that came with the expression. He had grown a thicker skin now; he had learned to play with the wolves instead of hide from them. And that included indulging Ford’s sick sense of affection (or at least what Casey had dubbed it). “You wouldn’t wanna do that. It’d make a statement for sure.” He swallowed heavily, picking his words the way you picked flowers for your mother’s grave. “Besides - I’m the prettiest one here, you wouldn’t want to have to break in another one An uglier one.”

A chuckle rolled out of his chest, rough and filled with amusement - lightyears away from the man he portrayed himself as. But that was always Lane when it came to Ash - he could remove the skin he’d sewn himself into and be reminiscent of the man he used to be. Lane rose his hand and tousled the moppy brown locks atop the younger man’s head. His arm dropped to the boy’s shoulder and pulled him a little closer with some force behind the tug. “I’m startin’ t’ get the feelin’ that’s y’ default feelin’s towards me, lil’ one.” 

Lane scoffed. Looking down at the ‘fearless leader’ on his knees before him, bloodied face - most of which Lane was sure wasn’t the man’s own blood. Scoffing seemed appropriate. It was like watching a shark behind glass with it’s fins cut off - the man before him could growl and spit threats but it slid off Lane’s skin like water off a duck’s back. “Y’ think y’ frighten me? Think I’m scared o’ what y’ think y’ can do t’ me?” He lowered himself into a squat, face as calm as a cow in India. The man’s voice went sharp, cool but like the edge of a knife - fine and pointed. “I’m a nice guy, an’ bein’ the upstandin’ citizen I see myself as - I’m gonna let y’ in on a lil’ secret.” Rocking forward, lane used the tip of his own knife to guide his chin up so they were abe to share a moment of eye contact. “I ain’t scared of y’, I ain’t scared of any lil’ one of y’ band of bait. An’ jus’ ‘cause y’ think y’ a big man, I’m gonna kill y’ last.”

“I trust you too.”

Jack winced as he shifted his body closer to the smaller man, resting his head on his stomach. He was a proud man, even more so when it came to bedroom antics. Sex was his domain, his playing field - if there was one thing Jack felt like the king of; this was it. So maybe things got a little too rough, maybe he was getting rusty. He hadn’t had sex for almost a month, and maybe that made him lose his curve. Or maybe because he was actually letting River have the reins in their bedroom for once. Jack wouldn’t admit it, even as he looked up at River and gave another wince.“I’ll safeword when hell freezes over, I’m not a little bitch. Now pass me my cigarettes.”

But he couldn’t tell Ash that. No, like he did with most things when it came to the boy, Lane took in a breath of air that burned his lungs and began to give him what he wanted.