"Buck, wake up."
Gale whines softly and buries his face deeper into the pillow that he hugs with his arms.
"No, I don't want to."
It's such a perfect morning.
The sun gently warms his ankle, sticking out from the cocoon of the blanket, with its gentle morning rays and Gale is already on the verge of waking up, his feelings are gradually starting to return him to reality, but the veil of sleep has not yet fallen, his breathing is even and calm, as is his heartbeat, and he does not want to open his eyes and completely destroy the sleepy serenity.
He feels John's hand gently stroking his back. It is so big and warm, not heavy, but just a little bit weighty, giving a feeling of anchor, it gives him a feeling of calm, safety and home.
John's touches in the morning are usually not like this. They are persistent and greedy, he pokes his morning hard-on into his buttocks, and his hands shamelessly slip either into his underwear or under his T-shirt, persistently caressing his nipples, his lips kissing everything that gets in their way, be it Gale's face, his neck, hair, at the same time hotly whispering all sorts of lustful nonsense in his ears, just to quickly warm up sleepy Gale to a state where he will be ready to have sex.
But this morning John is not horny, he is gentle. "Well," Gale thinks, "and such mornings are supposed to be too." He feels so good now, he likes the way John's hand slowly strokes his shoulder blades, moves up and down his spine and gently rubs his ribs through his T-shirt.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty," John presses himself closer to him.
"Nooo, it's too early for sex, I need another hour of sleep," Gale grumbles into the pillow and his words can hardly be heard. For some reason, he wiggles his butt from side to side like a big NO, as if he thinks that words are not enough and it needs to be clearly shown to John, that he does not want to leave the embrace of sleep.
He feels more than hears how John quietly laughs next to him, "You'll be late for work."
Gale growls in annoyance, "Then I will certainly not get up if it is for work and not for sex!"
He hugs the pillow even tighter and thinks how did they manage to achieve all this - a house, a shared bed and gentle caresses awakening you from sleep on a perfect morning? How did they overcome all the taboos and barriers on their way to be here and now? It was hellish work, almost harder than both returning alive from the war. From the realization of how much they overcame to have their tiny piece of happiness, his chest begins to hurt and as if feeling it, John hugs him and presses him to himself.
"Baby, you have to get up."
"No."
"You have so much work to do."
"That's not the right motivation at all, Bucky!" Gale chuckles.
"You have a lot of things to do," John's tone becomes more insistent.
Gale groans.
"Buck!" There's a strange, tense ringing in John's voice and Gale doesn't like it.
"Oh, God, dear, why are you yelling like that, I'm getting up..."
Gale opens his eyes and looks out the window. It's gloomy and cloudy outside and it's probably going to rain soon. He looks at the gray, heavy sky for a moment and blinks in confusion. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. How is this possible when just a few minutes ago he felt the warm rays of the sun on his skin?
Gale raises himself on his elbow, frowning. He no longer feels John's warm touch and he doesn't need to turn around to know that he is completely alone in this bed, like in this whole house.
John died many years ago.
===================
The ghosts of the past haunt Gale.
Inspired by these words
“How can you not be angry?”
“I am angry,” the werewolf said. “But unlike you, I don’t have the luxury of showing it without being called a monster. Without someone taking it as a sign of proof that I need to be put down like a rabid dog, that I’m just like what the stories tell you.”
“But everyone gets angry…that’s human.”
“Up until the point when you’re not human.”
knives out 1: in a world full of exploitation -- amidst rich assholes who are all playing their own games, in a country that feels entitled to a land they stole -- you have to play your own game, and a strategy of kindheartedness is valuable.
knives out 2: but beating them at their own game is also valuable. burning shit down will be the answer sometimes. and the rich are not immune to destruction, despite all their resources, because their networks are so toxic and codependent. and also they're dumb. they're a very shaky tower of cards.
Steven Lim: "we're hemorrhaging money every month I don't know if I can afford groceries at this point"
Ryan Bergara: "More than 20 people are financially dependent on me catching ghosts and my emotional relationship with a blue puppet, I'm so scared we'll fail"
Shane "meh we'll be fine" Madej: "meh we'll be fine"
Watching the Percy Jackson series has made me empathize with Aphrodite more than I ever thought possible.
Cuz these kids are TWELVE and are out here just trying to SURVIVE, but every time Percy and Annabeth interact I’m giggling and kicking my feet like “Hehehe you don’t know it yet, but that is the love of your life. Yes, yes, there’s a big scary monster but what about the slow-burn romance?”
And I always found it so annoying in the books when Aphrodite would show up and only be interested in the romantic dynamics between the characters and otherwise be kinda useless. But now??? I’m totally on the same page with her. Cuz I know they’re going to fight a million monsters and win, and at the end of the day one fight looks just like the next. But they only fall in love ONCE and it’s AMAZING.
Like damn. Apologies the goddess Aphrodite. I suddenly get it.
can we just take a second to appreciate Aryan Simhadri? he's a fantastic actor, every second he's on the screen he manages to make his actions scream GROVER. he's perfect for his role just like Leah and Walker are yet I don't see nearly enough people talking about him and his contribution to the show in this fandom. he's not only nailing the Grover Underwood vibe but he's also providing so much phenomenal Indian/Asian rep. he's giving so much depth of character and that is so rare for Indians (and Asians generally) in popular media, and he's so conscious of how his background interacts with Grover's. Aryan has given so so much to us and now I wanna hear y'all celebrating that.
something something Jake thrives in chaos but craves peace, something something Bradley thrives in peace but craves chaos
daily create challenge || 2/365
“You used to hate this part.”
Bradley’s voice is soft. Pitched low enough that his words are more rasp than velvet, more of a scratch than a balm, but Jake still feels warmed through.
He cracks an eye open slowly as Bradley’s words hang in the air, shifting a little against Bradley’s side as he forces himself back to awake instead of dozing.
“What part?” Jake asks, arm wrapping tighter around Bradley’s waist.
He hikes his leg up higher over Bradley’s thighs and yawns, wincing when the movement reminds him how they’ve spent the afternoon.
“This,” Bradley murmurs. “Just — bein’ together.”
Jake snorts. “You mean the afterglow? M’pretty sure I love this part, sore ass be damned.”
“No,” Bradley mutters fondly. Jake can’t see it happening, but he knows Bradley is rolling his eyes. “Bein’ sore is your fault, by the way. I told you I shoulda gone slower.”
“I haven’t been home for eight weeks and you picked me up wearin’ my cologne,” Jake huffs, stifling a yawn. “I didn’t want slow, I wanted you in me.”
“Romantic.”
“Bite me.”
Bradley laughs quietly, his hand moving over Jake’s arm until he’s able to press his finger against a brand new bruise forming on Jake’s shoulder. “I did, remember?”
Jake twists one of Bradley’s nipples in retaliation. “What part, then?” he asks again, brushing a kiss against Bradley’s collarbone.
Bradley settles at the kiss to his skin, running his fingers up and down the length of Jake’s arm as he answers, “The — after afterglow, I guess. You used to hate the quiet, y’know?”
Jake swallows, closing his eyes. “I still do,” he admits. “Anywhere else, I hate it. It fuckin’ makes my skin crawl.”
Bradley tilts his head so his lips brush against Jake’s forehead as he whispers, “But here’s different?”
“You know it is,” Jake whispers back. Then, teasingly — “There’s no place like home.”
“Mm, you mean back in your house or back to using my chest as a pillow?”
“Our house,” Jake replies, pressing in closer. “And yes.”
ruth ○ she/her ○ 20s ○ peace sign bisexual ○ never really knows what's happening ○ will probably figure it out someday ○ maybe ○ hopefully
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