Milo's still not used to how soft and gentle Sweetheart can be sometimes. Sweetheart takes no bullshit.
"Hey love, watcha doin?" Sweetheart leaned against the back of the couch and rested their chin on top of Milo's head.
"Eh, some survey David sent out to all the pack members who're working that job next month. Apparently the guy who's hiring us is super paranoid, wouldn’t even consider us unless David promised to make us take this stupid thing and send all of them in a minimum of a week before the date. Pay's gonna be outta this world, though, so I guess it's kinda worth it."
"Aw, I’m sorry bubba." They walked around the couch and plopped onto it next to him. As they looked at him, a shadow passed over their face.
"Close your eyes and hold still for a sec." Milo complied, asking
"Why?" He felt their thumb swipe over his cheek right under his eye.
"You had an eyelash about to stab your eyeball," Sweetheart explained. They kissed his cheek and stood up again.
"I’m gonna make something small for lunch. Let me know when you’re done, okay?"
"Y-yeah, okay, sure." Milo's eyes followed them as they walked to the kitchen. Okay, what was going on with him? It wasn’t like no-one had ever looked after him. Good grief, no! His mother, Marie, was possibly the best, most caring mother in the world. But… tough love was her shit. She was caring, yes, but gentle? Not so much…
"Do you want me to make us tacos? We have leftovers from the other night, all I’d really have to do is warm the stuff up and then assemble them." Sweetheart called from the kitchen.
"Tacos sound great, thanks Sweetheart," Milo sighed and turned back to his laptop. Aggro heaved up onto the couch beside him and curled up tight against his hip. Milo absentmindedly stroked him. Sweetheart was gentle, and fuck, but it got to him. Man, Ash would laugh his head off if he could see Milo right now. And he couldn’t exactly ask Sweetheart to stop. 'Hey, you bein' all gentle with me can be unnerving sometimes cause that wasn’t how I was loved as a kid, and sometimes it makes me wanna melt into a pile a' mush in your hands, could ya cut it out please? Thanks, Sweetheart.'
"Yeah, I don’t think so," he muttered. Aggro mrpled at him in annoyance.
"Ye, you’re right kitty-cat, I should just finish my work. Where’d I be without you?"
"Who asks those kinds of questions on a public survey??" Milo chortled, trying not to spew taco everywhere.
"I mean, relationship history? What’s up with this dude?" He shook his head.
"Who knows, maybe he just wanted all the tea," Sweetheart said, limping their wrist.
This time Milo did spew taco, though luckily just on the plate.
"You are just somethin' else, Sweetheart," he coughed.
"And you’re a mess!" They giggled. "Here." They grabbed a paper towel and swiped at the mess on his face with it till it was all clean.
"What’d you do without me?" They teased softly. Milo's face was now beet-red.
"Psshh— c'mere, you." He kissed them, then pushed them away.
"We oughtta clean up the lunch fixin's."
"Mmkay," they said, grabbing their plate.
"If you want, I can wash the plates—“
"Nope, I’m doin' that part." They laughed.
"Because if I let you do it, you’ll spend hours running the warm water over your hands." He pointed an accusing finger at them. Sweetheart giggled.
"Maybe— why are you so mean? It just feels nice!" They grabbed his finger and kissed the tip of it. Milo sputtered.
"What’s with you?' Sweetheart asked curiously.
"N-nothin. Put away the shredded cheese and all that shit." He stumbled over to the sink, muttering something about "pile a' mush." They shook their head and smiled. After putting away the rest of the fixings and wiping down the counter, they crept up behind Milo and hugged him, resting their chin on his shoulder.
"I’ll dry, bub," they volunteered.
"Th- ah, thanks, sweetheart." As they dried the two plates and set them up in the cupboard, Milo had his eyes fixed on them. They closed the cupboard door as he turned the faucet off, and he leaned over and kissed their cheek.
"D'aawww, what was that for?"
"I, ah, I dunno, nothin' I guess. Just wanted to."
"You sweetie," they scrunched up their face in a big smile, and Milo would have gladly died for them in that moment. They wrapped their arms around his neck, and they just stayed like that for a minute. That is, until Aggro forced his way between them, mewling peevishly.
"Hey there, you feeling left out, Aggro?" Sweetheart nettled him.
"Aw, don’t give ‘im a hard time. He's still not used to how much affection is now constantly floating around this house."
"Well then he better get used to it! I'm not going anywhere."
"Ah, shit, Sweetheart, I don’t understand why you love hiking so much. I mean I love spending time with you, but… just wow. I think my legs are numb."
"Says the guy who goes on a multiple mile long run through the woods once every month with all of his friends."
"That’s pack stuff! I could hardly miss that. Besides, that’s in wolf form, it’s different!"
"Hmmm… yeah, sure," they rolled their eyes. "Let’s just get the food." They opened the cooler and spread the blanket they had brought with them out on the trunk bed. Milo grumbled appreciatively.
"You were right, I am so glad we brought food with us instead of going to get fast food afterwards. M'so hungry. What we got?" Sweetheart did a drumroll with their fingers on the side of the cooler.
"In order to use up the very last of the leftovers, I present to you… taco bags!!"
"Sounds delicious. What is it?" Sweetheart pulled two one-serving Dorito bags out of the cooler, along with a Ziploc bag of taco meat, and lots of little bags of shredded cheese, lettuce, chopped up tomatoes, and two little cups with lids that held guacamole and sour cream respectively.
"Open your chip bag, and put whatever you want in with the chips. Then mix it up aaaaanndd—" they snatched two forks out of the cooler.
“—dig in!" Milo laughed delightedly.
"You’re a genius Sweetheart."
"Thank you, thank you, hold your applause," they giggled, handing him his Dorito bag and a spoon for the taco meat.
They prepared their bags and placed everything back in the cooler, then stretched out on the blanket and munched contentedly.
"So, what part did you hate the least?" Sweetheart teased Milo.
"Aw c'mon, don’t be like that. I didn’t hate it. If what ya meant to ask was which part was my favorite, I liked the swimmin' and the waterfall. It was gorgeous, almost made me want to look away from you," he smirked. Sweetheart's laugh was like a bubbling fountain of good feelings that overflowed on Milo.
"Maybe try flirting with me again when you’re not dehydrated and covered in dried lake water, we’re not in a public parking lot on the side of a mountain, and you don’t have dead leaves in your hair, bub," they laughed. Milo clawed at the matted tangle on his head.
"Ah, shit, where are they?" Sweetheart set aside their bag.
"Here here here, let me, love, you’ll hurt yourself." They tenderly pushed his hands away by the wrists and began detangling the brown leaves out of his hair with gentle fingers.
"You're still gonna have to take a shower later, I can’t get all the crumbles out."
"Well, that’s not too bad. Not if you’re gonna take it with me," he winked.
"Oh good grief!" They snickered and picked up their bag again.
"Seriously though, I might like to wash your hair later… if only to see if I can without hurting your scalp," they mused.
"Mm," Milo grunted. The mental image of them gently detangling his hair with their fingers, sudsing his scalp and rinsing it all out slowly while under the warm spray of the shower was taking up too much of his mental space to allow for too many coherent sentences to fully form. He turned suddenly.
"Sweetheart, has anyone ever told you that you’re an incredibly gentle person?" They stared at him with a massive bite of taco and crushed-up chips soaked in guacamole and sour cream still in their mouth. They chewed rapidly.
"Uh, um, no, not really…" they stammered, frowning slightly.
"Well, you are. Sometimes… sometimes it’s a lot, f'me. I mean I love it, it’s part of the reason why I love you so much, but fuck, Sweetheart… it makes me feel so warm… and soft… and I’m not…. I’m not used to it." They stared at him for a second, then scooted up closer to him and wrapped their arms around the side of his chest like a koala bear.
"Well I’m not gonna stop. I love you. I want to be gentle with you, and make you feel warm and soft. So start getting used to it, bubba." Milo smiled and stroked their hair.
"Get used to you treatin' me like a prince? Get used to gentle? Aw hell yeah. I could definitely get used to that."
It's finished! Again, very self-indulgent from start to finish. Also, if you eat meat, please go try taco bags RIGHT NOW!! They're so good!! That last scenario with the hiking and the taco bags was actually inspired by something me and my sister did together a few years back. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed!
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