#twistnet

stifling a yawn, you tumble from the bed. now intent on finding your husband at this ungodly hour of the morning. he was supposed to be in bed -- a promise from the night before that nothing was on the club or his own personal agenda to accomplish today. 

in your rush, you nearly passed your babies room, wincing slightly to yourself as you hoped your little stamped from the bed wasn’t enough to wake them. and yet, worry sank further into the pit of your stomach after finding your little one absent from their crib.

the worry present in your gut only fueled the question ringing through your mind -- where were your husband and child? frantic footfalls down the hallway, turning towards the stairs and quickly descending as you hoped they were just relaxing in the living room for the better part of the morning.

at the last step, you caught the noise of a pan hitting another -- rising loudly through the kitchen followed by a muffled curse and some joyful giggling. gently peeking around the corner, you caught the sight of your husband -- back turned towards you as your child sat comfortably in the highchair beside him. although far enough away to prevent the curious child from being able to reach anything hazardous.

now stepping a little further into the kitchen, you are now able to get a better look at the scene in front of you. bowls and batter littering the kitchen counters, opened containers and bags of flour huddled together. mixing utensils lay either in the bowls or upon the countertop. all caked with various batters and substances.

“what’s going on in here?” you finally ask after a few moments, your voice scaring your husband -- based solely on the way he seems to jump at the sudden sound of your voice. whirling around with a spatula in hand and a frenzied look in his eyes.

at the sight of his face, you bust out a laugh. hand coming up to cover your mouth as you giggle to yourself -- thus prompting your child to start laughing along side you. although, you are sure they are only mimicking you and not actually sure what is funny.

“what?” tig asks lightly, watching as you step closer to him with a bright smile on your face before reaching up and pressing the pad of your thumb against the swell of his cheek. brushing away the flour and pancake batter caked to his skin.

drawing back, tig’s brow raise in understanding, before a offering you a sweet smile, “is there a chance i can convince you to stay for breakfast?” he asks, gesturing to the pan of freshly made breakfast and sides before eyes trail over to where your child sits happily babbling to themselves.

“there is definitely a chance, wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

⋯ MATT CASEY

when matt has experienced a bad day, he tends to get very quiet. sometimes even a little snippy whenever he’s asked if he’s alright. he recognizes that acting this way isn’t going to make his day any better, but it takes his a little bit. let him clam down, and once he’s done that, he’ll seek you out. quietly apologize for being snippy, and telling you that he’s just had a bad day. you can ask him how his day was -- he’ll tell you everything and at some point, slowly wraps his arms around you and leans his head atop your shoulder. inhaling your scent immediately calms him and he’s already starting to feel better

⋯ KELLY SEVERIDE

kelly tends to let everything build up. almost insisting he is fine and there’s nothing to truly worry about. and no matter how much you push, he’ll maintain the same story. until something just absolutely breaks him and everything that he’s kept bottled up for month finally comes pouring out. he’ll cry -- more of his eyes tearing up as he refuses to let them fall. but he practically falls into your grasp as you pull him into a hug. it’s really all he needs, just the comfort of having you near him as he talks about different things and lays his heart out on the table. card your fingers through his hair and just tell him that ‘it’s gonna be okay’. that’s all he needs for now

⋯ LESLIE SHAY

leslie, much like kelly, can be stubborn when it comes to talking about any bad days. however, she’s different as she’ll give one of the briefest overviews -- almost as if she’s giving a report, and then insist that she’s fine. all of her emotions comes out when she drinks, and you can tell she was anything but fine, considering the amount of drinks she’s already had. she’ll crumble into your arms, looking for your warmth as she begins to babble about her day and everything she was feeling. she’ll cling to you, but it’s truly something she needs as you’ve noticed her start to calm the longer and tighter you hold her

⋯ SYLVIE BRETT

sylvie will seek out comfort after a bad day. honestly, any type of comfort will help, but if given the option, she wants to spend her time cuddled into your side with her head resting either against your shoulder or chest. she doesn’t talk much about her day -- only just to tell you that it wasn’t one she would want to experience again before eventually falling asleep. she feels better with you, nothing you have to do aside from allowing her to cuddle up to you

⋯ STELLA KIDD

stella gets all quiet and short tempered. it almost takes you by surprise, until she makes a comment about her day. to which you ask her what she needs -- as she often wants different things depending on what had taken place. and once she makes her request, you’re dropping everything to do it. often, her go-to answer is to ask to be held in some way. honestly whichever way is comfortable for the two of you at the time. 

⋯ BRIAN ‘OTIS’ ZVONECEK

brian is going to get super quiet after a bad day. meaning that whatever had taken place, must have really hit him hard. like most of the others, he will seek you out almost immediately. he needs comfort and wants to decompress from what he experienced for the day. kiss away his tears, hold him tight -- he’ll take literally any form of comfort so long as you are willing to give the time

⋯ JOE CRUZ

joe takes a lot of things to heart, and while he’s been able to keep himself from taking each thing he wasn’t able to do so personally, there are times in which he can’t help but feel that. especially after a bad day. he’ll seek you out, looking for some comfort as he gets the day off his chest. he’ll immediately wrap you up in his arms, tucking his face into your shoulder. he won’t talk about it right away, wanting to see you and tell himself that seeing you is better than any bad day he’s experienced. and while he’ll come clean about his day eventually, he’s just wanting to spend as much time with you as possible

⋯ CHRISTOPHER HERRMANN

christopher tends to get angry -- never directed towards one person, just as his frustration of the day grows, it gathers to a point where he may explode and accidentally take his anger out on the closest person. he realizes that mistake literally seconds later and calms down immediately. taking a few deep breaths before sitting down to tell you. he finds comfort in your touch and will show you by kissing your knuckles before apologizing. he’ll spend the night making it up to you, and in turn, it helps him settle in and finally gain some closure for the day

⋯ VIOLET MIKAMI

violet will put on a brave face and will power through the rest of her shift until she can have a moment to decompress. which is usually once she gets home and she can let her emotions out about her bad day. depending on the scale, there will be tears and she’ll hold onto you tightly as she lets it all out. she wants to be with you, and most likely won’t be getting up from her spot unless you manage to coax her to either eat or take a shower. otherwise, she’ll be content laying against you until she feels ready enough to detach herself form you

⋯ EVAN HAWKINS

if anything, evan grows more frustrated with himself. slowly begins to fall down the rabbit hole of ‘what ifs’. trying to think about what he could have done differently to change the course of the day he’s been having. he’s patience wears a little thinner and sometimes he can be a bit of a pain to have a conversation with. until he gets home and he crumbles, talking your ear off about how his day had been until he practically runs out of breath. he feels better afterward and can usually move past that day but it will always stick with him as he could have done better

⋯ GREG GRAINGER

greg tends grow quiet, almost closing in on himself and trying his best to get through the rest of his shift before going home. the second walks through the door, he’s immediately finding wherever you are in your shared home and latching onto you with already tear blurred eyes. he doesn’t really want to talk about it just yet, just needs to hear you talk gently to him and hold him close. he’’l eventually come clean about what took place, but he needs his own time to think through what had happened

this question seems to pique the interest of the man between the group, as he looks between the other two man as hopper scoffs, “can you just... watch him while he figure some things out?” he practically pleads with you, still dressed in his prison uniform before he’s gesturing for the man behind him to move forward. you sigh heavily, opening the door wider for the man to enter, “shower’s just down the hallway, on the left.”

he seems grateful for the offering, heading down the hallway towards the specified room before closing the door behind him, “do i at least get his name?” you question the two man as they step down from your porch, and hopper nods with a brief smile, “dmitri antonov. he saved my life.”

you nod, uttering them both a soft goodbye before closing the door. with another heavy sigh, you move into the spare bedroom, digging through old boxes of clothes that your previous partner never came back to get. finding some suitable clothing items before heading for the bathroom and gently knocking, “i have some clothes for you, i’m just gonna set them on the counter.” you wait until there’s a sound of agreement, and you open the door just enough to set the items on the counter before closing the door right back up.

heading down the hall, you step into the kitchen and look over your supplies, before drawing a blank on what to even fix for your new guest that had literally been dropped off on your porch. you figure just to wait until he’s finished with his shower before fixing anything for him to eat -- as the two man mentions briefly they had been living off peanut butter.

the tell-tale sign of the bathroom door opening hits your ears, and you stand from the couch as dmitri comes walking back down the hallway, “so, dmitri, anything particular you want to eat?” you question, noting the look of surprise the falls over his features as he pauses, “you... know my name?”

“yeah, hopper and murray told me before they left. so, what do you want to eat?” after noticing he’s been standing in the hallway for far too long, you usher him into the kitchen with a wave of your hand, giving him the chance to look over everything you have in your fridge of pantry as you begin to rattle off some things you could easily make without too much of a mess.

“you have a lot of food.” his comment throws you off, as you turn to look where he’s peering into the pantry, eyes wide with wonderment and your face softens, “different from your home country?” you ask hesitantly as he nods with a thin smile before pulling a few items from the pantry -- bread and peanut butter.

“you can have whatever you want. won’t here any complaints from me.” dmitri thanks you softly, before asking where your plates and cutlery are so he can fix the food himself. you busy yourself with getting some items ready for that nights dinner, letting him do as he pleases before heading to sit back in the living room and occupy yourself with some tv.

dmitri sinks into the arm chair to your left, his eyes glued to the screen as he quietly eats his food, more than content with his choice. he keeps to himself, still not sure what’s going on and unsure about you. until he softly clears his throat to gain your attention, “i never asked, what’s your name?”

you turn to him with a smile, telling him your name and feeling your face heat slightly as he repeats it a few times before a smile comes to his lips, “it’s very pretty.” he compliments, and you shy away from his gaze with a gentle ‘thank you’ before turning back towards the tv screen.

you leave him in the living room after glancing over at the clock, finding it well past the time to start working on preparing dinner for the two of you. he seems oblivious to your clattering around in the kitchen, too focused on the looney tones cartoon that plays on the screen in front of him. something that makes you smile before pulling out a mixing bowl.

as dinner cooks, the smell begins to waft through the house, bringing dmitri’s attention to where you stand in the kitchen, preparing a few sides to go along with the main course. his stomach growls in response, forcing a light blush to cover his cheeks as you look over at him with a smile, “you hungry?”

he nods, standing from the arm chair to walk into the kitchen behind you, “it smells good. what is it?” he questions softly, looking over the ingredients you have set out along the counter, “just some chicken and vegetables. should be ready in a few minutes.” he smiles gratefully, offering to help you set the table while you put the last touches on the food cooking in the oven.

uttering a soft ‘thank you’ as you hand him a plate of food, and usher him over to the table to eat. the two of you sit in silence for a short minute before dmitri looks up from his plate with a curious face, “you mentioned to the american... murray, that i could have stayed at the bunker like the last one. what did you mean by that?”

“last summer, there was this russian scientist named alexei -- never got a last name. but joyce and hopper saved him while trying to figure out what the russians were doing at the starcourt mall. they brought him to murray because he couldn’t speak much english. he was... really nice.”

dmitri blinks in surprise, leaning forward a little bit in interest, “is he still here?” at his words, you swallow harshly before shaking your head, “no... someone killed him. another russian i think.” you were never given more information on what had happened to alexei following his death, as the focus had been turned to defeating the mind flayer as hopper and joyce went deeper into the mall.“shame. would have been nice to not be so alone.” he muses softly, only looking back up at you when your hand lands atop his in comfort, “hey, you’re not alone. i’m here, and hopper is a few minutes down the road.”

over the course of the next few months, you and dmitri had settled into a routine. spending most of your days with the other, while teaching him a few american customs -- so he wasn’t sticking out like a sore thumb when the two of you would go out into town.

you showed him everything you could, from the parks to the different stores that lined the streets, to the different restaurants scatter throughout the small town. dmitri’s face lighting up with each new thing he interacted with as things in america were completely different from russia -- something he commented on quite alot. that, and how warm it was here.

hopper and murray would drop by every week, bringing updates on different things, including the status of dmitri’s son, who they had been trying to get over to the us for a few weeks. and while dmitri had done his best to hide the disappointment of hearing that his son was still in russia, you always saw how it had truly effected him after the two man had left.

“i... think my son would like this very much.” dmitri comments, looking over the freezers full of ice cream with a withered smile. since his time staying with you, he hadn’t talked much about his personal life, other than the fact to mention his son and wife, who he was no longer seeing. “do you want to get something for him to have when he arrives? ice cream lasts a while in the freezer.” dmitri nods softly, picking out a flavor he knows his son is sure to like before following behind you to finish up your grocery shopping for the week.

a knock on your door had you motioning to dmitri to keep where he was as you moved toward the door to investigate. outside, hopper and murray stood with a young boy, maybe fourteen at the most, who looked like a spitting image of his father, “we got him.” jim smiles up at you, and just as you turn to call dmitri down to the door, the man steps in behind you, tears already pricking his eyes as he sees his son.

the boy utters something in russian, before surging forward to wrap his arms around his father. you quietly thank hopper and murray, stepping back inside to give the two some time and privacy to catch up on their missed time.

as the evening rolls in, the two are seated in the living room watching looney tones before dmitri’s son pipes up from beside his father, “ty ikh lyubish'?” the question takes him by surprise, eyes shooting up to where you stand in the kitchen cleaning up your mess from lunch.

“pochemu ty sprashivayesh'?” he asks his son, raising a brow as the boy only smiles, “YA videl, kak ty smotrish' na nikh. kak oni derzhat vashe serdtse.” the words have more of an effect on him than he would have liked to admit, but there was no denying the feelings dmitri held toward you -- yet, never voicing them out of fear of overstepping the boundaries you had gladly dropped to let him into your home.

“eto potomu, chto oni delayut.” he smiles, looking up as you join the two in the living room, almost reminiscent of a family as laughter rings out over something happening in the show. dmitri smiles, looking between you and his son, thinking he couldn’t get any luckier tan this moment now.

translations

ty ikh lyubish'? -- do you love them?

pochemu ty sprashivayesh'? -- why do you ask?

YA videl, kak ty smotrish' na nikh. kak oni derzhat vashe serdtse. -- i’ve seen the way you look at them. like they hold your heart

eto potomu, chto oni delayut. -- that is because they do.

you hadn't realized how close your foot had been to ice’s hand until fingers brushed along the leather of your flight boots. picking lightly at the ties before a firm hand wrapped around your ankle and thumb gently brushed back and forth over the cuff of your flight suit.

sparing a glance towards ice made you realize that he had just started picking at you, and had possibly not even realized what he was doing. but you weren’t going to stop him as his touch was slowly starting to relax your nerves and you let out a content sigh.

jester had called the end of the lesson, giving instruction to head out towards the airfield to get ready for the mornings hop. slider was the first to stand from his desk, “can you wait until you’re in a private room together before getting frisky?” 

ice had whipped around to slider with a confused glare, until he realized what he had been doing and softly dropped your ankle back to the ground with a bashful smile, “sorry.” was all he offered you before following the rest of the class out towards the airfield. though, you would tell him later that i didn’t mind one bit.

the next time, you and your rio had stopped by the officers club after a long day of training, knowing that there were only a couple more weeks left before total points were calculated and the top gun trophy was given out -- leaving everyone on edge.

what you needed was to relax, and let everything go for the night. the two of you sat up at the bar, ordering your usuals before falling into a casual conversation. until someone had brushed up against your side and familiar lips pressing against your cheek, “fancy seeing you here.” ice muttered quietly, separating from you for just a moment to down his shot of vodka.

“just needed to relax a little, someone been making everyones lives a little hard the past few weeks.” you tease, watching a smile spread across his lips, “if you can’t keep up, just say so.”

“oh, i can keep up plenty, and that’s not the issue. just about everyone’s tired of this little lover’s spat you’ve got going on with maverick. and i’m starting to wonder if i should be jealous.” 

ice chuckles at your tease, shaking his head as he full turns toward you, leaning up against the bar, “you don’t have to worry about anything sweetheart. you’re the only one for me.” the smile he sends your way is almost blinding, but it warms your heart nonetheless as his hand comes to rest atop your thigh. his mouth opens to say something else, when slider comes up from behind and pulls him into a conversation.

you note, however, that his hand never left your thigh as he spoke. you only smiled, turning back to your drink and rio -- who already took note of what was going on with a raise brow and shake of the head.

it was maybe twenty minutes later than ice finally turned back to you, before glancing down towards where his hand lay and realizing it had been there the entire length of his conversation. he didn’t say anything, only giving you a gentle squeeze and brief kiss on the lips before promising to see you later.

then, at the graduation, you stood beside him in your dress whites. hat tucked up under your arm talking with some of your classmates and congratulating them on completing the course. ice’s hand laid gently against the small of your back, thumb brushing every so often as you both moved around the group and said your congratulations.

viper came through the crowd, waving around papers before handing them to hollywood and wolfman, maverick, and ice and slider. and with a single hand, as he still had one glued to your back, worked the letter open and leaned closer to slider so they could both read over the orders. you stood, looking over at your rio as you both enjoyed a glass of champagne and picked at some of the food on the table in front of you.

“does he ever stop touching you?” your rio whispers, chuckling lightly with a smirk as they glance down at where ice’s hand seems to be permanently attached to. you can only shrug with a smile, “i don’t really mind.”

your attention turns back toward ice, already finding his eyes on you as he gives you a lopsided smile, “i have to go.” he mutters softly, hoping it would lessen the blow, but you smile and just nod, “don’t worry. i’ll be here when you get back.” 

ice leans down, hands cupping your cheeks and pressing his lips against yours in a heated kiss. only waving slider off a moment later when the man groans in slight disgust before stepping away to give the two of you some privacy. the kiss lasted until you pulled away, sucking in a deep breath just as ice pressed his forehead against your own, “i’ll be back before you know it.”

she had agreed, only after making sure it was alright with you -- considering this was your favorite holiday and the first you’d be spending together as a couple. you had simply told you her you had no issue with her taking the shift, knowing maria wouldn’t have asked unless it was important. and ellie had reassured you that she’d try to be back before you even realized she was gone.

a slight miscalculation on her part, considering you were already awake and to your knowledge she hadn’t returned back to jackson. so, you busied yourself with getting the small home warmed and ready for ellie’s arrival back home.

and no more than an hour later, ellie came through the door, stomping her boots free of snow and ice before only a few steps in front of her with a steaming cup of hot tea, “you’re not supposed to be up yet...” she pouts slightly, taking the tea from your grasp.

“hard to sleep when i roll over to cuddle with the woman i love and find her side cold as ice.” you muse, not missing the way her brows furrow more at the comment but she reminds quiet and lets the tea warm her before dropping the cup to the nearest flat surface and tugging off her winter coat and garments.

“but now that you’re home, do you want to open your presents?” you question, smiling at her happily as you nod over to the makeshift tree that you and ellie had managed to set up and the small stack of haphazardly wrapped gifts.

she nods, throwing an arm round your middle and guiding you over to the corner. the two of you spend time unwrapping each gift -- smiling brightly when the other seems to enjoy the old world trinket or something new to carry in their backpack for patrols.

after each gift ellie seemed to open, she would lean over, teasing smile on her lips before kissing you deeply. then shoving a gift into your limp hands before nudging at you to open it. the gift exchange was short, nothing really of value from the old world that would have made it to present times, but everything that was gifted was something of meaning and value.

at the end, ellie pulled you in close, pressing one final and breathtaking kiss to your lips before nodding over towards the bed with a smug smile, “want to head back to bed, seeing as i wasn’t here this morning to wake you up?”

“it’s only fair, someone did make some promises the night before.” you muse, chuckling lightly as ellie quickly grips you by the hips and tugs you back towards the bed as her lips descend upon you.