#nexttm

“        old mom n' pop place in town is doing 𝘼𝙇𝙇 - 𝙔𝙊𝙐 - 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙀 - 𝙏𝙊 - 𝙀𝘼𝙏 pancakes this morning . was thinking of checking it out if you wanna come with ?        ”

@nexttm  ∥  are  you  asking  me  out ?

“        you got something better to do ?        ” there's an uncertain undercurrent in the question completely at odds with the words . to say nothing of events from the previous night . 🇸🇪🇽 🇮🇸 🇸🇪🇽 , offers up some unhelpful part of his brain , this would be something else .

they’re  alive .    something  of  a  small  victory ,    but  more  than  can  be  said  by  the  ones  making  a  concerted  effort  to  send  them  into  𝘼𝙉  𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙔  𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙄𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏  not  a  full  day  ago .    it  was  a  close  scrape  for  the  lieutenant ,    thanks  due  in  part  to  the  sergeant’s  brash  actions .    not  impatience ,    but  fear .    the  𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄  -  𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽  𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗲  to  rescue  teammates  caught  behind  enemy  lines ,    nearly  to  fatal  effect  for  another .

no  room  for  guilt  in  the  field ,    soldier        (        𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢  𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑  𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎  𝚏𝚘𝚛  𝚒𝚝  𝚗𝚘𝚠        ) .

soap  clears  his  throat ,    inviting  himself  into  the  vacant  seat  one  removed  from  ghost’s .    somehow  feels  a  bit  like  the  𝙠𝙞𝙙  𝙞𝙣  𝙩𝙝𝙚  𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧  in  primary  school ,    but  he  swallows  down  that  knot  in  his  throat  with  another  pull  of  cold  beer .    can’t  quite  manage  to  tear  his  eyes  away  from  the  side  of  the  lieutenant’s  neck .    can’t  drown  the  sick  feeling  in  the  pit  of  his  stomach ,  either .    that’s  going  to  take  more  than  beer .

a damned fucking miracle that the lieutenant and his small team has managed to ᴇᴠᴀᴅᴇ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴜʀᴇ while they assembled this rescue mission . might make a man proud if there was room for anything beyond 𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀    &    𝗶𝗰𝗲 - 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 . no respite from either until the moment ruined door of temporary hideout opens to reveal 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗞 .

dirtied , 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧 , but alive .

@nexttm  ∥  ❛  you crazy bloody slag . ❜

𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚 ? alex wants to ask . is there any doubt , though ?

@nexttm  ∥  ❛  is this some kind of sex thing ? ❜

“        if you play your cards right . . .        ” amusement bleeds through stern expression in a faint twitch at one corner of drawn lips .

one step , two    &    he's at simon's back , close enough to lift hands to broad shoulders . every move , 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗗 ( 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 , 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 ) until long fingers apply faint pressure to surface - level muscles . 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 , in one sense , permission in another .

offering an ᴏᴜᴛ , if it's needed . no pressure , no expectations , 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 .

@nexttm  ∥  " if you think about it ... life is just like the word bus . without u it is just bs . "

words over comms give pause . eyes roll to the benefit of 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 , but hope persists that , somehow , 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁 . at least with alex in the cover of the building , his ɢᴜᴀʀᴅɪᴀɴ ꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛʀᴇ won't see the faint blush warming the echo's cheeks .

Murderers, mercenaries and man-slaughterers -- whatever, all killers are killers.

It's not the first time they're tangoed. It's why Daken's hand is wrist-deep underneath Simon's jeans, trying to work him hard with intentionally clumsy, wide gropes of his cock and balls. Yeah, he's seen the tattoos, laughed at his nipples, whatever. But he's good.

not that he tries all that hard .

curtains drawn ⸻ 𝚒𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 , 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎 ⸻ no prying eyes to see the gloved fingers that comb through un - stained side of blond hair , nor the way 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 tilts just so into the touch .

@nexttm  ∥  “ how's your head ? ”

“       few staples and i'm good as new . didn't even have to shave it .         ” a relief when they'd told him ( 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 ) low in priority as aesthetics ought to have ranked in the moment . “       said they wanna keep me overnight . guess to make sure the old egg didn't get 𝙏𝙊𝙊 𝙎𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀𝘿 .         ”