Metal n' Chains

Salem (any pronouns idgaf), 29, Attempting to art digitally, also I crochet way too much. I'm also attempting to write more Main: https://www.tumblr.com/metalprincess4 Fandom: https://www.tumblr.com/salemscorner

[metalnchains]

Salem's rambling masterlist

Realized if i keep actually writing that i won't be able to find anything if i don't have my ramblings pinned...

SIMON RILEY Simon's Staring

Snow Day

Ghost Meets a Ghost 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

KYLE GARRICK Work for it

Pizza and Dye

Baking Adventures

Summer is Bullshit

JOHNNY MACTAVISH

Johnny's Lucky Charm 1

JOHN PRICE

Winter Nights

NIKTO

Head Storm

NIKOLAI

Hockey Time

[metalnchains]

Inspired by @rawme-price HC about Ghost being obsessed with all things creepy crawly. His HCs and little blurbs about it are super cute, please check them out.

Simon was used to you planning adventures for the two of you. You were constantly wanting to do something with him whenever he was on leave. Whether that was a simple staycation with all the takeout the two of you could eat, to planning a road trip to find all the handmade yarn shops in a two hour radius of your home. He was happy to go along with whatever you'd planned. The little pleased glimmer in your eyes whenever you'd see him out and about with you made everything well worth it in his eyes. Especially when you let him drag you to any parks to do his own version of nature watching. Laying on a blanket or towel on the ground watching the ants, and beetles roam about their business. He'd make sure to tell you about the species if he could identify it, and racing with you to ID it if he did not. You'd been particularly excited about this little trip though. He'd visited your home town in the states before when the two of you had made the journey over for a good friend's wedding. But you were definitely up to something now. You'd had your signature "I'm about to pull some bullshit" face on when you'd asked for this trip. He'd never been able to say no to you though, so here he was in the height of the midwest summer in a farm house without ac in most of it trying to get to sleep. When he finally woken up enough to register that he was awake and stumbled down the stairs, he made a beeline to the kitchen for coffee. Glancing out the window, you were busying yourself with fussing with the big maple tree outside of the house…for some reason. As he sipped from his mug you turned around with something cupped in your hands, and a mischievous grin on your face when you saw him through the window. You nodded your head to him to call him outside. Stepping out towards you he finally heard the thing in your hands start screeching. Now your little grins, and insistence makes all the sense in the world. You knew he was obsessed with identifying any and all bugs that held still long enough, and you'd told him about the summers of cicadas you'd experienced over here when you'd starting dating. He'd been jealous then. With a small smile he held out his hands to you so you could give him his first cicada. No need to be jealous anymore.

[metalnchains]

The Hat

Never, in all your years on this earth, have you ever questioned how well you could count as much you were in this moment. It really shouldn't have been this difficult to count to 60 and start over repeatedly. And yet, here you sat counting the same line of stitches for the third time tonight. The tutorial said this was only supposed to take and hour or two to make. You've restarted completely twice now, and taken out more rows than you cared to remember at this point. And you still had no idea what the hell the V was you were supposed to be looking for. It was definitely time to take a break. With a sigh you rolled over the side of your bed and stashed the jumble of yarn and vague blobby shapes into a storage box, and promptly shoved it back under into the abyss.

Frustrating as it was that feeling was nothing compared to the thought of actually giving it to him. The anxiety was enough to make you feel like hiding under the covers. There was always the possibility of him not liking it, maybe it wouldn't even fit him, it's not like you could ask someone else to measure his head for you. He never gave the impression that he would speak poorly of gifts behind someone's back, but who's to say really. Not like you'd known him for very long at this point. Whatever, a problem to wrestle with for future you. With a huff you switched your lamp off, settled for sleep.

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You were such a coward. Finishing the hat-ish thing you'd made was a long, and frankly arduous process. Sewing the band to the hat itself was a battle of attrition you were not in any hurry to to repeat any time soon. Once it was done, and the ends of the yarn safely hidden away amongst the stitches themselves, you'd started to let your mind wander to how you were going to give it to your….boyfriend? Partner? Truth be told neither of you had taken the lead in the 'what are we to each other' conversation. His schedule was so erratic most of the time, by the time you'd worked up the nerve to start that conversation he was already getting ready to leave again for however long this time around. Such is the life of a military man you supposed. It did help that he was so diligent in calling you regularly, and texting when he couldn't call. The hat was in essence a little love letter to the man who held your heart in his palm. He was indulgent to your whims, and a-ok with all your rules surrounding this relationship in the beginning. It happened so slowly, and gently you hadn't even noticed how attached you were, until he'd warned that he'd be missing your birthday with a frown a thumb rubbing your hand. You'd sobbed that night. This last time he'd had you over had been when you'd set your not so genius plan into motion. Simply presenting your hat had felt impossible with all the what ifs circling in your head. So you'd opted to tuck the little thing into the packed bag he always had tucked into his closet. It was the bag he always had in the front passenger side when he came to say goodbye before leaving, so it was obviously important. Plus this way you wouldn't have to see his indulgent grin, and stupidly attractive crinkle of crow's feet around his eyes, or hear the heart melting pet name he'd call you. He really did make you stupid, and all melty sometimes. With any luck he'd find it, and then wear it without ever mentioning it aloud again.

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His little sweetheart really was adorable. He'd seen from a mile away that you'd been twitchy and nervous when he'd last corralled you in his home for the evening. The two of you had been taking this slowly at your request. He'd thought perhaps that you'd been nervous about taking this relationship of yours to new level that night, but this little plan was much more adorable. He'd found your little project the first night he'd stayed on base. It was tucked haphazardly between his tablet, and briefing folders. It smelled of you. Like your strawberry body wash, and the comfort of home.

The two of you had met by chance, on a recon trip. He and the captain had been loitering around the bar and restaurant for their informant to emerge for nearly two hours when he saw you stepping into the room. You were a nervous creature perched on a bar stool in the very corner of the room. You were sitting as out of the way, and away from prying eyes as you possibly could. He really couldn't help himself when a cute morsel presented themselves as willingly, if unknowingly, as you had. To say it was difficult the gain your trust was not giving your walls enough credit. You'd looked ready to bolt the moment he slid onto the stool next you. It took much cajoling and prodding over the course of three days whenever he'd bumped into you around the resort to agree to any sort of date what so ever. Though the glassy look your eyes got whenever he lowered his voice so only you could hear was worth all the huffing and puffing Price had directed at him. it wasn't long after that he'd started taking you out whenever he was close enough to your city. You were a cautious thing even in the comfort of your own locale. Hardly staying at his rented rooms for an hour or two after dinner. To be expected though, he had warned you that he was likely to leave at a moments notice. Didn't make the pang of leaving any easier, especially when you go the softest pout on your face unknowingly.

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Trying the hat on, it was a little tight on the band, and a little lumpy in some places, but really it would fit under his head phones perfectly, and you'd made him this, so it was worth it's weight in gold. Any small concession you granted him was cherished beyond measure. Working for your affection made all the small moments so much more valuable. The first time you'd kissed his cheek for dinner had nearly melted him. You'd nearly chewed through your lip while you warred with yourself then.

The hat would have a place of honor in his bags, and on the missions he goes on. He'd need to get you a token when next he landed back home. This was a huge milestone for you and for him after all.

[metalprincess4]

I don't think I've ever taken such (in my opinion) asthetically pleasing night pictures.

[metalnchains]

Summer is Bullshit

This was hell.

Very often people complained about that which in retrospect probably weren't worth all that effort to complain. But this was different. This was 29 degrees with full sun all day, and humidity on top of humidity at night. The core of the earth, or the surface of the sun would be easier to bare than this bullshit. The sun wasn't even up anymore, and he was sat here in bed sweating like he'd just got finished with drills only 5 minutes ago. Something had to be done about this nonsense. Hopefully no one would be around to catch him standing in front of the fridge.

Trudging into the common area at this hour was nearly guaranteed to be unoccupied. Even the night owls had been holed up in their rooms with fans and any ice packs they could scrounge up trying to survive. He'd been standing shirtless in front of the fridge for a blissful 30 seconds when the sound of footsteps crept up. Far too close now to save face. Damn it all….

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The time had come.

Finally there'd be no one around to try and finagle a bite or two, or worse outright steal your precious horde. Thank god the other 2 boxes could be hidden away in your room. The heat had been kicking your ass for two days now. Uniform sticking to every atom of skin, sweat dripping down your back, the whole 9 yards and then some. But you'd stashed a few slushies in a pouch in the common freezer. Cleverly hidden behind the breakfast sandwiches that had been forgotten for an age. They should be just about perfect right now. You'd been looking forward to this all day.

Quietly slinking out of your room with a couple replacement pouches in hand, you crept into the kitchen.

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Time came to a screeching halt upon entering. There was sergeant Garrick…..a very shirtless sergeant Garrick. A sergeant Garrick who was looking at you like a deer caught in headlights. If it weren't for the face he was making you'd have stopped to admire him more, but a laugh bubbled out in spite of your best efforts. You'd never seen him pull such a wide eyed, kid with his hand in the cookie jar look before.

It was pretty obvious what he was doing. If you had the nerve to do that, you'd be right there with him. With a snort you walked up to the fridge he was still standing in front of.

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To be completely honest you were the last person Kyle had expected to see when he'd whipped his head around. He was expecting Simon, or maybe Price to still be prowling around, but not the one with the self proclaimed grandma bedtime. Still, he'd much rather it just be you. You'd never teased him to within an inch of his life before like the rest of his squad did if they got a chance, all in good fun of course but still. When Johnny got a hold of an embarrassing story he wouldn't let it go for love or money. And being caught like this, by someone would definitely count.

"How's that working out for you Kyle?" Ok, maybe he'd judged your lack of teasing potential a bit soon.

With his own snort, and a backwards shuffle he snipped "Better than drowning in my bed. This heat is bloody bullshit. I don't remember a time it was this bad".

"Agreed. this is miserable. I'll make you a deal though.." You stared at him with smile. "In exchange for secrecy about my hidden weapon, and the second one of these…" with a flourish you produced paradise in a frozen foil pouch. Fuck those looked perfect.

"I'll make sure to never mention this incident to anyone"

He was reaching for the lime flavored treat before you'd even finished speaking. "Deal, now how many more of those do you have?" Your impish little grin told him told him everything he needed to know.

[metalnchains]

Summer is Bullshit

This was hell.

Very often people complained about that which in retrospect probably weren't worth all that effort to complain. But this was different. This was 29 degrees with full sun all day, and humidity on top of humidity at night. The core of the earth, or the surface of the sun would be easier to bare than this bullshit. The sun wasn't even up anymore, and he was sat here in bed sweating like he'd just got finished with drills only 5 minutes ago. Something had to be done about this nonsense. Hopefully no one would be around to catch him standing in front of the fridge.

Trudging into the common area at this hour was nearly guaranteed to be unoccupied. Even the night owls had been holed up in their rooms with fans and any ice packs they could scrounge up trying to survive. He'd been standing shirtless in front of the fridge for a blissful 30 seconds when the sound of footsteps crept up. Far too close now to save face. Damn it all….

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The time had come.

Finally there'd be no one around to try and finagle a bite or two, or worse outright steal your precious horde. Thank god the other 2 boxes could be hidden away in your room. The heat had been kicking your ass for two days now. Uniform sticking to every atom of skin, sweat dripping down your back, the whole 9 yards and then some. But you'd stashed a few slushies in a pouch in the common freezer. Cleverly hidden behind the breakfast sandwiches that had been forgotten for an age. They should be just about perfect right now. You'd been looking forward to this all day.

Quietly slinking out of your room with a couple replacement pouches in hand, you crept into the kitchen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time came to a screeching halt upon entering. There was sergeant Garrick…..a very shirtless sergeant Garrick. A sergeant Garrick who was looking at you like a deer caught in headlights. If it weren't for the face he was making you'd have stopped to admire him more, but a laugh bubbled out in spite of your best efforts. You'd never seen him pull such a wide eyed, kid with his hand in the cookie jar look before.

It was pretty obvious what he was doing. If you had the nerve to do that, you'd be right there with him. With a snort you walked up to the fridge he was still standing in front of.

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To be completely honest you were the last person Kyle had expected to see when he'd whipped his head around. He was expecting Simon, or maybe Price to still be prowling around, but not the one with the self proclaimed grandma bedtime. Still, he'd much rather it just be you. You'd never teased him to within an inch of his life before like the rest of his squad did if they got a chance, all in good fun of course but still. When Johnny got a hold of an embarrassing story he wouldn't let it go for love or money. And being caught like this, by someone would definitely count.

"How's that working out for you Kyle?" Ok, maybe he'd judged your lack of teasing potential a bit soon.

With his own snort, and a backwards shuffle he snipped "Better than drowning in my bed. This heat is bloody bullshit. I don't remember a time it was this bad".

"Agreed. this is miserable. I'll make you a deal though.." You stared at him with smile. "In exchange for secrecy about my hidden weapon, and the second one of these…" with a flourish you produced paradise in a frozen foil pouch. Fuck those looked perfect.

"I'll make sure to never mention this incident to anyone"

He was reaching for the lime flavored treat before you'd even finished speaking. "Deal, now how many more of those do you have?" Your impish little grin told him told him everything he needed to know.

[metalnchains]

Hockey Time

cw: age gap implied, but not outright stated.

You’d been bouncing with nerves all day. Glancing at the clock after what felt like an hour, only to see it’d only been a minute and a half. As soon as the work day ended you’d bolted out the door amid confused stares to your borrowed room to prepare for the extremely early start to the weekend you had planned. Being an American sports fan across any pond came with issues. Double if your games happened to be in the evening this far away from home, which of course yours were. College hockey start times were annoying to keep on top of even in the states sometimes, but trying to watch from all the way in Russia required much planning on your part. Plans included hoarding snacks, as early of a dinner as you could manage, and a very unfortunate 3am phone alarm. But if you could stay strong you’d be able to watch all four games, with enough time afterwards to slip back into bed for an hour or two before it became too light to doze. It was time to set your plan in motion. 3am came with a jolt, a jump, and a quiet groan. Peeling your eyes open was a struggle, even if you were excited. You had 15 minutes to set up your nest in the rec room, and fiddle with your laptop praying to the tech gods that your connection was functional enough. Hopefully sitting on the couch and not your bed would help with keeping your eyes open. With a yawn you gathered your supplies. A laptop, headphones, your blanket, some gold fish, and three energy drinks just in case. God help you if Price or Laswell happened upon you in the rec room, you’d be disappointed parented to within an inch of your life for this. Finally you settled in to watching the first game, content in your cozy cocoon.

________________________________________________________________

It was going to be one of those nights. The ones where sleep evaded him at every turn. Maybe it was simply the restlessness that came with having no imminent missions to run. It could have also been reminiscing with John so late. The older they got the more staying up til the wee hours came back to bite him right on the ass. He lifted his head just high enough to glance beside him at his clock. 3am, far too early for anyone to be up, and far too late to still be awake. 

 Rolling over onto his back with a heavy sigh, he could feel it itching in his skin, the need to get up and do something, to move his body, anything to distract from his thoughts. Maybe water would help? He shuffled into the kitchenette with a gritted jaw upon seeing the glow of electricity. One of the damn kids had left the television on in the rec room… again. With a huff he rounded the corner and promptly came up short seeing a blanketed lump staring at him with wide startled eyes from the couch. Weren't you just the most precious lil thing?

________________________________________________________________

“What are you doing so late, little one?” He murmured, eye taking in the cozy shelter you’ve built for yourself. He slipped closer to you with every word until he could see what had had you up so early on a Saturday, eyebrows shooting up when the screen came into view. You had 4 seemingly separate hockey games on all at once.

Eyes widening more the closer he slunk to you. Your eyes felt about ready to pop out of your skull when his arm extended and rested on the back of the couch around your shoulders, his head and right arm coming to rest just to the right of your shoulder. He was so close you could feel his body heat. You'd never gotten this close to him before. He always seemed to be on deep discussions with the captain and Laswell, or far too engrossed with mechanics to take much notice of the newest member of the hodge podge mix the 141 always seemed to be involved with. Probably a good thing all things considered really. Distance made it far easier to avoid accidentally making some sort of awestruck face at him. Plus if you stuttered, or stammered in front of either Kyle or Johnny you, and your ego would be toast. You'd managed to keep your gaze aloof and professional so far, at least no one had teased you yet. The streaks of grey on his temples shown bright in the harsh light of the screen. Made even brighter with the contrast to the rest of his dark hair. The lines of his face made him look much older than he was. Your brain, and soul fell back into your body all at once when you realized he had turned his head towards you and his lip was curled in a small smirk at your continued silence.

You closed your mouth with a small click, face burning, you managed out a small, meek "I…was going to watch the college…championships". With a glance and a gasp you realized that the team you had favored for game one had gotten the puck into scoring range. As the players scrambled to score, and defend at once you felt his heavy hand sliding to close around your shoulder.

_______________________________________________________________

He'd noticed you immediately of course. It would be a gross over sight on his part if he didn't closely observe those who were in his base of operations a bit, even if he trusted John to properly thoroughly vet his soldiers. You were, as the saying goes, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Eager to please your superiors as best you could. He'd noticed your glazed eyes when Price had grunted a 'good job' at you during a drill. And your small smile when Laswell had reminded Soap you got a better mark than he had during another.

You had the same open wonderment on your face when he'd surprised you just a minute ago. Daring to push a little for a reaction, he pushed into your shoulder with his thumb, dragging it up and down as he observed you staring at the screen with rapt attention. With no outward reaction, he moved around the couch to sit at your right…closely. With legs touching, his arm fully around your shoulders, and your adorable doe eyed glances at the bit of chest hair coming out of his top, he began "You know I played defense when I was younger…." You were definitely going to have no trouble at all staying awake now.

[metalnchains]

zero context OPLA spoiler. Made this joke today and i'll never reach this peak again

[metalnchains]

It wasn’t often you get to admire him like this. Soft, with lashes brushing lightly on his cheeks, deep breaths gently moving his chest up and down in a smooth rhythm. Relaxed and at peace for once in his life. Normally he’d already be up and watching the sunrise, or bustling around the kitchen making breakfast and grouching at your own breakfast of a cereal bar, or even fussing with the coffee machine he swears hates him specifically. Remembering the first time he’d tried to use it solo brought a small grin to your face as you gazed at him. For not even hitting 45 yet, he was truly amazing at the elderly grandpa cursing at new technology bit. He’d glared at you decidedly unimpressed the first time you’d shown him the “old man yells at cloud” meme while giggling at him. Scooting closer to him, you were able to see the prominent dark circles he had sported the night before had lessened some. They would take a night or two more of decent sleep to vanish and make him look less haggard. From here you could see the bit of stubble he’d decided wasn’t worth the effort to shave when he’d gotten home last night. He hated the feeling of hair under his gear under normal circumstances, so it was easy to forget he could grow any if it was left alone long enough. From this close you could see how much lighter some of it was than the darker blonde on his head. Resisting the urge to lightly touch him was growing more and more difficult. Even if you knew he’d wake up immediately, after nearly four months apart from him all you wanted to do was smother him underneath yourself and never let him leave your space. But for the time being, simply sliding up against him would have to suffice. 

Luckily for you he’d only been dozing for a while. Having to watch your back out of mission after mission would make anyone hyper aware of eyes staring at you. With a deep breath, and a small smile, he pulled you flush against him, relaxing once more into sleep. It felt good to be home.

[metalnchains]

Head Storm

On days like today he wanted nothing more than to hide away in his room with the lights off and a blanket over the window. There's always been days when they scream and argue too loudly for him to think clearly, or even function. He’s learned to cope with that in the years since it happened. However, it’s always an especially bad day when their arguments were combined with training. The sky always seemed to be too bright, making his eyes themselves hurt, and frenzying the voices more with the pain. His teammates spirited, wise cracking voices, which usually provided a sense of welcome normalcy, grated, and melded into a slurry of noise that felt like it was physically pressing into his ear drums. He was lucky if he could focus on one thing for more than five minutes before needing to rub at his temples, or eyes in frustration and pain. Pain was a permanent travel companion for him nowadays, but there was something worse about the pain that no amount of patches, creams, or massaging could get rid of. The type of pain that you either had to sit and suffer through it, or try and medicate away with a prayer thrown in for good measure so that the pills hopefully work this time.

Current circumstances were not boding well for his pain or his temper. He’d lost hope for relief after hour 6. It’d started before dawn and had only gotten worse the longer he was awake. The mess hall had nearly caused him to snap. He was used to a few glances here and there when he was in line, especially if there were any soldiers from other countries staying on base. People who were unused to his appearance and blunted single word answers. But his expression today was enough to send the others scurrying to other parts of the room. An impressive feat with only his eyes visible, and would normally give him a bit of an ego boost knowing he was so intimidating to the snot nosed recruits, but today had only made him scowl and bristle under his balaclava, voices inside screeching and screaming about rudeness, and making everything worse. How he’d gotten through the rest of the day's training without incident was truly a marvel.

It was more of the same for the dinner rush. He’d tried to get in and get out with a tray as quickly as possible, but had the misfortune to get behind two younger soldiers loudly bragging about not being thrown by the weather like they’d been warned they would. The one had not even flinched at seeing him glaring at him from behind, and had even gotten louder in an apparent dominance display complete with a cocky grin thrown at his fellow recruit. He never enjoyed hosting other companies, and this was further solidifying that fact. There was only one reason he hadn’t jumped on the first assignment out of here while hosting, and he hadn’t seen them all day. Most likely holed up in meetings. 

He’d nearly run out of the mess with his tray once served. He would have started truly running if Maxim, and Dmitry hadn’t been loitering about the exit. While Dmitry wasn’t one to tease, Maxim would have never let him live it down, especially if Rodion could be found in a timely enough manner. As much as he secretly appreciated that he was treated no differently than the other soldiers by his squad, today would’ve ended badly. He was always grateful that he’d been afforded nearly a whole building to himself at times like these. He felt comfortable enough to eat at the common room table, content in the knowledge that there was a slim chance of someone entering, especially since his building mates were gone at the present time. Even hosting the Shadow company, there were few people staying here, and they were on the other side of the building entirely.  Eating at a table instead of holed up in his room on his bed, or his desk felt like normalcy he wasn’t often granted. Logically he knew that he wouldn’t be screamed at or treated like a monstrous thing that lurks in the night should he be found without his mask. But considering his current frustration level and tolerance even one more glance his way or a whisper would be enough for a violent outburst. It wasn’t until nearly three hours later, long after he’d finished eating that he’d finally felt ok enough to go sneak his tray back into the mess. He’d nearly run back to his building with a promise to himself of a warm shower and long lay down on his bunk in as much darkness as he could make happen considering the security lights around. Hopefully with all that combined, both his head and his voices would calm the hell down and let him sleep tonight. Trying to parse out what they’d been arguing over all day had been the cherry on top of his shitty ass day. Over the years he’d been able to lessen their distractions, and allow him to function seemingly normally on the field. They were normally like a mosquito or a fly that was buzzing instead of a clamor. But the migraine he’d felt all day was lessening his control, and allowing them to run rampant in his head. It was like having two phones held up to his ears and trying to pay attention to each conversation at once. He was half up the stairs when he finally heard his savior speaking. You were finally finished with your meetings, and were relaxing in the common room it seemed. Hearing your soft voice, however quietly, felt like a weight lifting. It had been too long since he’d seen you last. It wasn’t often your company came visiting, or them to you. You’d been achingly sweet the last time you’d met. You were an assistant of some sort, he’d never bothered to learn your title. You’d been following Graves around that day furiously scribbling away on your clipboard, or typing on your laptop in the few meetings he’d sat in on. 

You’d been polite. Held his eye contact and even smiled at him while fixing up a coffee station in one of the rooms. So different from what he was normally met with upon first meeting anyone who didn’t already know him. If he recalled correctly he had loomed over you during that exchange in an experiment to see how a cute, soft creature like yourself would react to an obvious threat. Throughout that stay he’d started lurking in the rooms he learned you’d likely be in. Simply basking in your presence while you scrolled on your phone, or watched something on your laptop, while he pretended to be engrossed in a book. Quiet and peaceful. You’d pulled out a project once, watching the way you twisted the yarn, and the deft moving of your fingers was like a spell, and the quietest his head had been in a long time.

Unfortunately his admiration of you wasn’t as subtle as he’d hoped. While you, yourself had never mentioned any of his gazing or gave him any funny looks about it, his squad mates had poked and prodded relentlessly whenever you weren’t in the room with him. Even going so far to ask when the wedding would be. That quip had earned Rodion a non too soft smack to the back of his head. If it had been anyone else it would have been a closed fist.  

He’d sprinted to his room and showered in record time lest you finish whatever you were doing and escape to your room before he could see you. Freshly showered and in far comfier clothes he slunk down to the other end of the building where you were relaxed into an arm chair, reading aloud without a care in the world. A book about dinosaurs if he was hearing correctly. Slow and steady your voice washed over him taking some tension from his shoulders with it. You hadn’t noticed him yet. It wasn’t until he sunk down onto the neighboring couch with a quiet rumbling greeting that you’d taken notice and stopped reading to blink up at him in surprise, mouth agape. That simply wouldn’t do at all. 

With a grunted command your mouth twitched up in a small smile, and began reading your book again while he slowly felt himself melting into the couch cushions. Your knitted eyebrows and small stutters over the dinosaur names were adorable. With his head tilted back and hands held in his lap he finally, blissfully closed his eyes and sighed. Having one singular voice to focus on, coming from someone not screaming orders was a relief he didn’t get to feel often. You being flushed and a little squirmy with an audience was just a bonus for him. You were so quick to help him with this when he’d asked. Perhaps if he wheedled and cajoled you gently enough, you’d be willing to read to him in his bed, preferably with his head cradled on your chest or stomach. Content currently with keeping his hands and musings to himself, he simply let you serenade him into a tranquil state. 

Finally his voices were no longer arguing and disjointed, they were all in agreement that they wouldn’t allow such a sweet thing to slip away from them this time around. He’d find out your schedule tomorrow, maybe even walk to the mess with you in the morning. Baby steps really, but for now dinosaurs.

[metalnchains]

Salem's drunken ramblings part: whatever tf

Havent done this a long ass time. excuse any typos my ass is toasted lol. Ive been reading all lot of Simon rileyX enough food from reader lately. I can't even imagine how thankful he'd be being sent home with a whole ass tray of food if someone were to make him dinner, actual dinner, not just reheated frozen stuff. I just wanna bake him so makny cookies or little nibbly things. Get him a nice chubby layer all over him, especially if he were to retire, him and Johnny would have such a cute lil layer on them. Just big ol' men able to envelope you no matter how tell or chubby you yourself are. I just wanna cuddle them so bad TToTT Also been watching a lot of Ioan Ciuchi's tiktoks which isnt helping this fantasy. He looks like chubby Soap i swear TToTT

[metalnchains]

I'm finally done with all my coworkers gifts for Christmas. Its a miracle my fingers didn't fall off.

[metalnchains]

Hi!

That’s so cool you got to meet Neil! I hope you had fun!

If you’re willing, can you share some details about your experience? The internet is dreadfully lacking in Neil content :(

I had a lot of fun meeting him! He really liked the mini Soap i made for him, and asked how long he took to make. We basically just had small talk, about my job and where im from, whether the con i was at was a day trip from me, or if i was there for the whole weekend. It was maybe a five minute conversation. He seemed pretty excited to meet everyone that was there, tho i didn't see him interacting with the people who were behind me in line.

[metalnchains]

Snow Day

Today was not a day for doing, it was only a day for lazing and snuggling. Which was troublesome since your snuggle partner is not here. Normally you’d have both gone out to the shops and made a day of it. Grab some food, and maybe a warm drink for the ride home. Even though he’d be grumbling about how many people were out, and about how much something or another had gone up in price, you knew he secretly enjoyed the monotony of doing the weeks shopping with you. He’d pretend to put up a fight about how many snacks you’d add, and occasionally sneak in one or two more that you’d not seen on the shelf, which was always a welcome surprise. But this time he’d gone out before you’d felt like braving the chill of the house. And so here you sat, in the den with a blanket on your lap, and a rapidly chilling mug of tea. 

Outside the windows, the driveway was already so covered in snow that you couldn’t see the tire tracks he’d left when he pulled out. It was even too cold for the birds to be pecking at their feeder outside the kitchen window. You hoped you’d remembered to add more bird seed to the list before he’d taken it with him. If the little things starved for a day you’d feel terrible. 

The chill in the house was beginning to get to you even through your blanket and slippers, and at times like this there was nothing left to do… but to hunker down in a fort with snacks of course. Coming to a decision, and peeling yourself up from your little nest on the couch, you set to work on clearing enough room for your  little project of the day. The coffee table was shoved to the wall, the air mattress from the closet was pumped up, and three of the kitchen chairs were kidnapped from the dining table. The quilt you two stored in the chest in the bedroom was recruited to be your roof, and nearly all the rest of the blankets in the house were piled in layers on the mattress. The pillows were placed around the edge of the mattress like a barrier to any chill that could come from the edge of the quilt. Your snacks were tossed into a basket, mugs, mug warmers, and the kettle were plugged in. The final step was to place his slippers and loungewear in the kitchen so he’d get the hint before he turned the corner. Now you just needed to wait for your big, bad teddy bear to get home. It was gonna be perfect. 

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The people that shopped this early in the morning were insane, he’d decided. It’d been so long since he last did the week’s shopping by himself that he'd forgotten just how much he hated being here. You made the experience much more manageable. He missed the way you’d grin and grab a new crisp flavor to try, even though you both knew you’d hate it. He was all alone with his thoughts, and the sense that the older women in the baking aisle with him were not terribly amused how much time he spent debating over what brand of bread flour you would want more. The sooner he got to go home the better. All he wanted to do was crawl into your lap and nap while you had some sort of terrible show on with low volume, and your hands in his hair scratching his scalp. He looked forward to it every time he was on leave in the winter. Sometimes you’d even start to explain the shows to him. Listening to your voice was a surefire way to put him to sleep like a baby with ten minutes of lying down. It was odd that the kitchen was dark when he came through the door with his bags. He’d expected you to be in your usual chair with a mug in your hand this time of morning. And it was even more odd that there was only one chair at the table with his pajamas on the seat and his slippers beneath…

Setting the bags on the table he turned to find what the hell you’d done to the house in the hour and half he’d been gone. That’s when he saw you grinning from inside your nest of soft things.

He probably set the world record for grocery put away. Nothing was going to stop him from wasting the entire rest of the day, and possibly tomorrow on that shitty air mattress with you. Besides, he reasoned, the two of you will probably be snowed in tomorrow anyway.

[metalnchains]

It’s so exciting that you got to meet Neil, happy for you! I’m curious how he looked, does he still have the long hair and beard?

He's got the beard! Looks very cute for winter :3 He did cut his hair shorter tho.

[metalnchains]

Neil is soooo fucking nice! I'm so glad I didn't chicken out of meeting him. TToTT

[metalnchains]

I'm going to Galaxycon this Sunday, and meeting Neil Ellice! I'm so excited! I've made a little Soap keychain for him :3