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Heated, panted breaths were met with soft murmurs, wandering hands drawing clawed responses. Quiet, but frustrated sounds broke what moment there was, though, when what little purchase they found was in clothing rather than skin.
"O-Off with this damn thing already," a soft hiss broke what silence the previous noises had not, the LOCCENT commander not taking no for an answer as he dipped his thin arms between him and the larger man he was currently straddling. All eight of the man's main fingers grabbed at the bottom hem of the standard grey cotton shirt and tugged upwards in demand.
"So eager tonight," the older Hansen below him chuckled, but leaned back to do as he was told. He reached over his own head to grab and tug up on the shirt, and tossed it to the floor without a second thought. The officer’s mouth was immediately against the pilot’s throat, hands sliding down his chest and stomach, enjoying the way the muscles flex under his touch.
"It’s been…a week…sue me…" he mouthed against the other’s throat as his hands pulled from the man’s chest to untie his bowtie and start on his own shirt buttons. Herc’s hands came to rest on hips that hadn’t stopped moving since they’d straddled him to the edge of his mattress. The Australian certainly wasn’t about to complain.
"An entire week, ya say?" he teased, tone low as his narrow eyes shifted down along the tech’s frame as he continued to move. He smirked when the smaller pulled back enough to give him a pointed look.
"An entire week of coding, dealing with frustrating German scientists, and,” he almost started ranting as he seamlessly slipped his thumbs under his suspenders, and guided them down each of his shoulders with a subtly rolling motion that Herc found himself more than infatuated with. ”There was that little bout of time, otherwise known as the whole damn week, spent worrying whether or not you were going to come back to me,” he shook his head a little as he shoved his shirt down his arms and off to the floor before he hooked his hands around the pilot’s jaw and kissed him hard. He moaned softly against his lips as those strong arms wrapped tightly, protectively around his waist and held him firmly against himself.
"I’m right here," the ranger whispered, just as soon as the tech had tilted his head to rest his forehead against Herc’s own, loving the subtle shiver he could feel rack that smaller frame on top of him. Tendo nodded a bit, lips parted to breathe with eyebrows drawn together, hands stroking down the back of his lover’s neck.
"You are," he barely even spoke, his voice so soft and thankful, and admittedly on the verge of very thankful tears. The Australian made a soft noise in the back of his throat, using his grasp around the other’s waist to lift him, stand, and turn in order to lay the more delicate man on the bed. He trailed kisses down the pale chest beneath him as labor torn hands worked effortlessly at the closures on the pants that were at least a size and a half too big for his lover.
"Just relax, Mr. Choi," Herc murmured as he carefully tugged the other’s pants down to add to their growing pile of discarded articles. He pulled back in order to remove his own pair, but just as they cluttered on the floor around his ankles, there came a soft knock on the firm metal door. Herc’s expression dropped just as his hands did, eyebrow rising as he glanced over his shoulder.
"That’s probably important," Tendo didn’t want to have to say, both his hands drawing up to rub at his face, but in reality, a knock on your door this late in the evening was usually something important. Pulling his legs back together, the tech rolled onto his side and curled up a little before sitting up, and scooting to the edge of the bed.
"Whatever it is can wait," the pilot was quick to decide, turning back to his lover just in time to receive the bored look that one could only read as expectation. With a slight growl behind the sound, the Australian sighed and moved over to the door, not bothering to put his pants back on to re-cover his boxers. If someone was going to bother him this late, and in the middle of something, they were going to deal with him being almost naked.
Upon pulling the door open, body language previously set to prepare to tell whoever it was off, Herc’s shoulders dropped. It was his young son there, in pajamas, holding a pillow and rubbing at his eye that looked red from crying. The Australian sighed and leaned against his door, eyes closed as he rested his forehead on his arm.
"We’ve got a visitor," he called back to Tendo, who sat up a little straighter with a curious look on his features. Herc pushed the door a little further open to show the tech what he meant, and the man’s face immediately softened.
"Charlie…" he tilted his head as he leaned his elbows on his knees.”I thought you were spending the night with Miss Mori and Pentecost. What happened, sweetheart?” When the young Hansen glanced up with a slight hopeful look, his father shook his head and took a step back.
"I’ll take him back over," he muttered as he moved to the pile of clothes. Apparently not what he wanted to hear, the LOCCENT officer frowned, getting to his feet to move to the door, taking little Chuck’s hand and leading him back over to the bed with him.
"Don’t worry about him, Charlie, you can stay with us tonight if you need to." he nodded as he sat back onto the edge of the bed, letting the boy stand in front of him to keep his back to Herc as the older Australian almost glared. The kid didn’t need to deal with that. "Tell me what happened?" he asked, softer, as he ignored his superior for the moment, running his hand down Chuck’s shoulder.
"I had a nightmare…” Well, that was certainly the way to convince Tendo of anything, but Herc’s expression only grew more skeptical. When the tech opened his mouth to reply though, the boy spoke again, slightly softer, as his head dipped into his shoulders. “Was ‘bout mum…” Biting the inside of his cheek a bit, the officer pulled the boy into a hug, looking to his superior as Chuck clung tight to him. The man’s face had softened a fraction, and he was rubbing at the side of his jaw, but he still looked more perturbed than anything. Tendo frowned at him again, letting the boy go just enough to meet his gaze again.
“Lay with me, alright? I’ll protect you from them,” he said softly, running his hand over the boy’s head as he nodded. “Good boy,” the tech smiled, pulling his legs up and stretching out so the boy could climb up and snuggle close into his side. Sighing audibly, the pilot dropped his pants back into the pile and resigned himself to the free space on the bed, between his lover and son, and the wall. As endearing as it was that Tendo took pity on Chuck, this was not how things were supposed to turn out that night.
“Just rest, Charlie,” the dark haired man said as soothingly as possible when the young man flinched, and clung closer to his torso as his father crawled into bed behind him. He really thought he was going to get reprimanded for a nightmare about his mother? Though, with how Herc was acting… The LOCCENT officer stroked up the boy’s arm in order to calmly rub his back, just letting him cling there as he tried to avoid the gaze of the pilot.
It was only about ten minutes of the calm silence that had gone by before the boy’s unsteady breaths leveled out and mingled with soft snores, and the adults finally broke the silence.
“Not exactly how I was hoping tonight would go, Mr. Choi,” Herc said from his position on his back, arms up and hands hooked together behind his neck. Tendo lowered his gaze to Chuck, watching him as he spoke softly, hoping not to wake him.
“I know what you were hoping for, what we both were hoping for, but we can make that up anytime,” he explained, running his finger through the boy’s hair gently.
“Half an hour ago, you weren’t so sure of that,” with the increased disgruntled tone to his voice, the tech was forced to bring his attention back to the ranger, eyebrow raised.
“You can’t possibly be mad at him for having a nightmare about his mother,” he did his best not to hiss, tone incredulous as he instinctively covered Chuck’s available ear. The silence that his statement was met with though, contorted his features into a mix of anger and disgust. “J…Jesus Christ, Herc, you can’t be serious,” he may as well have begged the pilot, but was still met with silence, and also the fact that the ranger couldn’t even look him in the eye.
“He needs to learn how to deal with nightmares on his own, you and I know full well what kind this life brings,” Of course, he immediately regretted saying it, knowing that it wasn’t what the tech wanted to hear at all. If fact, the smaller man was shaking his head and worming his way out from under the boy in order to stand. Herc looked up at him, but couldn’t bring himself to stop the other. However, he did murmur a soft, “Tendo…” which only succeeded in the officer throwing up his hands before moving to the pile of clothes.
“Don’t even try that with me right now, please,” he said hurriedly, tone still hushed because of the sleeping boy. The pilot propped himself on his elbows, watching his lover dig through the pile before finding his pants to pull on.
“I don’t understand,” the ranger said softly, though he had no need to clarify on what. He knew that the other was mad at him and he knew what he was mad about, but he didn’t understand why he was upset enough to leave them. The tech almost laughed as he pulled on each leg of his pants, just shaking his head.
“’Needs to learn how to deal with nightmares’, Herc?” he paused to look at him as he yanked the trousers up over his boxer-clad ass. “He’s a fucking kid,” he bit, roughly zipping and buttoning his pants. “Look at him, he doesn’t even fit the standard PPDC tank top in the smallest size,” he gestured to the boy who was still somehow sleeping through all this. Tendo was thankful, though. He didn’t need to hear anyone arguing with his father over him.
“Moreover, he’s your son—your son!” he huffed as he pulled up the suspenders that were still attached to the pants. “You’re the only one he has to teach him about this stuff, and all you can focus on is how he interrupted your evening,” he scoffed at that one, shaking his head as he picked up his shirt, but draped it over his arm rather than putting it on just then. “You’re treating yourson as…. as an inconvenience,” his face contorted into disgust again as he moved back to the edge of the bed, scooping his arms under the boy and lifting him in his hold, ‘bridal’ style. The ranger looked a little surprised and sat up a bit further.
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m not letting him stay here with you,” the tech interrupted, frowning at the other. In all of the ranger’s life, not one man had ever instilled guilt or fear in him the way Mr. Choi apparently could, he noted as he sunk into his shoulders a bit. The action didn’t even help. “He needs comfort, and is clearly not going to get it from you right now.” he could only hope it was a ‘right now’ situation, but knowing the man, and the rumors, he honestly couldn’t get his hopes that far up. This poor kid… “I’ll take care of him,” was all he said before turning on his heel and heading to the door, the boy stirring slightly in the movement. “Just hold onto me, Charlie, we’re going to go rest in my room,” he offered a soft smile as the boy nodded tiredly and wrapped his arms around the tech’s neck just as he reached the door. He was thankful, because now he could free his hand to open the door. As he stepped out and went to close it behind himself and the boy, though, he took one last moment to look back at Herc.
“Get some rest. You still need to be up in a few hours,” he reminded, knowing he was probably being catty at this point but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. ”And with respect, sir, don’t you ever talk so lightly about nightmares around me like that again,” The ranger knew he was in real trouble then, but the other felt he deserved far worse than he was giving him and should appreciate that fact. With that, Tendo closed the door and headed down the hall, eyes closed for the first ten steps or so, because no, this wasn’t how the night was supposed to end, and he was already feeling guilty, but he knew he wasn’t wrong.
“Did I upset you and dad?” the boy asked softly, face buried in the crook of the man’s neck. “I-I didn’t come between you guys, did I?” His shaky tone, on the verge of crying, drew a soft sigh from Tendo as he held him closer in as much of a hug as he could manage at the moment.
“No, no, sweetheart. It wasn’t anything you did, don’t you ever think that,” he rested his chin on the boy’s head as they rounded a corner. “Your dad brought this on himself, okay? I promise you didn’t.” It hurt knowing that this kid was probably blamed for a lot of unnecessary things to warrant this reaction. The officer swallowed hard and held the boy close, realizing now that he’d just inadvertently adopted his lover’s son.
“He…he really loves you, Mr. Tendo, I don’t…wanna ruin it…’cause he…he really needs you, okay?” Tendo bit his lip as Chuck clung tighter around his neck and shoulders. Out of anyone, Charlie would be the one to know his father’s real feelings, so he was inclined to believe him, but that… That was a lot to take in all at once, let alone while he was still so upset with the ranger.
“Charlie…” he said softly as he lowered the boy to his—oh god, he’d come to his dad’s room in bare feet—as they came to a stop outside the officer’s room, his hands running down the boy’s bare arms as he crouched in front of him. “Your dad and I will fix whatever this is, alright?” he offered a soft smile as the boy lifted his head, bringing his hand up to wipe the tears off the young Hansen’s face. “I’m not going to leave him, and I’m not going to leave you, okay?” The boy’s eyes sparked in surprise, and the tech’s heart jumped. What he’d just said meant the world to the kid, and if he wasn’t involved before, he sure as hell was now.
“Y-you promise?” that hopeful tone was the last straw, Tendo bit his lip again and pulled the boy into a hug, one knee pressing to the metal flooring as the boy clung to him in return.
“I promise you, Charlie.” And he meant it, but now had to figure out how to keep that promise. It was going to be hell enough to deal with Herc for a while, but even after that… Tendo knew, of all people, no one could rightfully promise anyone that they’d never leave them. That just wasn’t the world they lived in anymore…