The After Before/A Squadron Song
You were in the kitchen when you made a promise to Gaz that you would both plant the marshmallow root in the garden. And in the garden, you promised to tend to the home in the same way that they have all tended to each other: with patience and care.
You were on the porch when you promised Ghost to build a home with comfort. That no one would feel left out and everyone would understand true happiness.
You were setting traps for rabbits in the forest when you promised Soap that you would do everything you could to protect them and their happiness. To finally let the group of men grow in happiness, blooming like a flower, instead of fighting their way through, like weeds through stone.
You were in the tower when you promised Price to protect his boys with your life. That even if you die, this place will stand as a home for the four of them. A sanctuary.
I think this was what started the feelings.
Gaz felt a feeling of coming home when you were around. Like the tightening in his chest could finally loosen and he could breathe.
Ghost felt himself relax. Like he didn't have to fight like he always has, tooth and nail. Instead, a quiet determination to work hard to keep the house together. Keep it a home.
Soap felt himself feel more secure. No one was leaving to fight something impossible that they would always come back from. No one was leaving to the woods and coming back with another cut or bruise from anything except clumsiness among the roots.
Price... Price felt calm. His anxiety reminds him that it is the calm before a storm, but something deep, something ancient in him, quiets his anxiety and whispers that this is no storm. It is simply peace that he has never experienced before.
So... these feelings developed.
All of them had an unmistakable bond that they never bothered to label. Life was too short for labels and love was abundant among the four of them. The kisses around the home, the quiet affection in the acts of service, and the solidness of just one of them listening to the other and existing in the same space without pressure; it all seemed to exist seamlessly.
And you slipped into their routines: sipping tea as Ghost made arrows from foraged items in the forest; spinning cloth as Soap talked about his big family that he separated from when the knights had taken him to training (not that he regrets it. it was the best thing that happened to him); grinding eggshells into a powder as Gaz browsed your kitchen and asked about your things curiously; sitting on the steps of the porch as Price told you of all the things he learned over the years, the lessons taught to him by life.
Not only did you listen, they did too. To your laugh as the birds echoed a song back at you, when you told them how to make a poultice with this herb and mixing it with that one actually made it poisonous, how you preferred the yarn and needles you had a long time ago but spinning cloth is far more practical now, and how you dance around the kitchen when you cook with a low melody coming from your lips.
Lips they have all agreed they want to kiss... a face they want to hold and cherish... a gentle woman who, over time, has worn down their walls like water against stone.
It happened one time, late at night. You had conjured up five chairs, facing the mountains, made of wood and thick vines. Tea was set out that night for all five of you and biscuits were made to be enjoyed among conversation.
You had seen the fireflies float around the garden as the sun sets, and when they all died down... you decided to go running through them, mid conversation with the boys.
Your laugh that evening was contagious, bring a smile to all of them. Gaz and Soap soon joined you in raising hell among the fireflies, dancing around in them as your skirt floated around your ankles. Price and Ghost decided to watch, having seen their subordinates and their habits. Having seen how they act with each other, and now, how they act with you.
Ghost eventually softens as he sees the joy you have brought to his men, and Price follows soon after. They look at each other and a sharp understanding comes between them: you have made this fortress a home, just by existing.
So, when you made for your bed that night, after cleaning your feet of the mud and grass, the four of them sat down in the communal area.
"I've noticed something..." John speaks first, settling into the leather chair by the fire. "She's unique. She's done something to this team. And I don't think it's magic."
"Me neither, sir." Kyle answers, dazed from spinning in circles with you in the fields.
After a few quiet moments, mostly Johnny and Simon communicating silently, Johnny speaks up, "She's made this place a home. I know we could have done it, but it wouldn't be the same. I think..." Johnny looks to Simon for help, recieving a nod of assurance, "I think she's beautiful in that way. The way she loves is effortless, even for people she doesn't have to care for."
"It flows. It does not end. And she protects us in the way we have been protecting everyone else." Simon's baritone settles the high energy of nerves.
"I see... I see her." John looks at his men, looking in their eyes and seeing another connection. One not typically shared, but among this group, it comes as natural as breathing.
"I know that we have never put a label to us... but I believe this to be the love that can't be explained by God. And I see it for her in all of you too," John looks into the fire, hoping for answers, "and I feel it in me."
As a hush falls over the group, Simon is the first to act.
"What's the plan?"
"We integrate her more into us. Have her join us on daily, little things. We show her affection as we show each other. She'll catch on."
"And if she doesn't catch on?" Kyle asks, never wanting to doubt his first love, but nervous to add another.
"Then we tell her." Johnny definitively says as he leans back against Simon's legs, staring into the fire himself.
They all turn to gaze into the fire as a comfortable silence settles over the group, a unanimous agreeance bouncing between them. That come tomorrow, they would start finding ways to kiss you in the ways they kiss each other.
Author’s Cup of Tea: There was originally no song attached, but looking back, the swell of emotion, I can only attach it to the same feeling I get when listening to Sailor Song by Gigi Perez. So that’s the song for this one! And sorry this took so long!
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