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Phoenix could hear the bullets breaking through the air and crashing into the container next to him, there was only one of the omega earth agents left, but that Jett was giving them some good trouble, he could hear her fast pace, skidding in the snow right behind.
“Let’s do this” he pulled his ultimate and peeked the corner, watching Jett dash left to try to get away. They had planted spike, but they couldn’t defuse with her monitoring the team, it was too much of a risk in a mission with a full team, much less with just three of them. Damn the moment Brimstone had sent just the three of them because it was "just a look out mission, they won't plant there" and "you won't have to fight"
“I’ve got her on my scope, but she’s too fast” he could hear Astra murmuring through his earpiece, they only had a few more seconds if they wanted to get rid of that spike.”let’s do some crossfire, when I shoot, peek and take her down, firebird”
“Blow her up, mate” Phoenix waited until he heard the loud sound of the other agent’s sniper to run by the corner and shooting at the enemy agent, who was effectively distracted by Astra's shot successfully taking her down.
“She’s down, Yoru, defuse” Astra shouted into the comm, as the beeping of the spike started getting louder and faster. The Japanese boy teleported right on top of the spike and pulled out the device, the bomb turned faster by the second, starting to pull the matter from off the floor, the air surrounding it getting more dense and plugging their ears.
Yoru managed to deactivate right on time for the bomb not to explode.
“That’s it, boys, we’re going home” Astra celebrated on radio. “I’m going to get down from here, because I can no longer feel my legs” she groaned and cut her radio comm.
“I can’t believe we did this, I was worried, bruv, I thought we wouldn’t make it out of here” Phoenix cheered, while walking towards the other agent, still sitting next to the – now silent – spike, resting his head on the wall behind him.
“C’mon, let’s go home” He reached for Yoru's hand and pulled him up, much to his surprise, he hissed in pain and harshly pulled his hand away. ”Hey, hey, you okay?”
“Yeah, just an open rift wound” After mumbling something in Japanese, and shaking the snow off his pants, he held his boyfriend’s hand “don’t worry, it’s okay, it will go away eventually” Phoenix tightened the hold on his hand a little tighter.
“Tell me if it hurts too much, okay?”
“Yeah” He gave a stiff nod “Let’s get going, I wanna get out of here already, I’m freezing my balls” Phoenix laughed quietly at his side.
The aircraft was already there waiting for them in the same place they had dropped them off. It was a smaller one than the one they used for long missions with the whole team, this one only had four seats, two on each side of the wall, with their respective safety belts, and the pilot’s cabin.
“Hey Rory!” Astra high fived their pilot, who was waiting by the entry door, an old Scottish man with a kind smile and a dense ginger beard that was starting to get gray.
He had been working for the VP since the very beginning, he had flown them everywhere for the entirety of their careers. He used to be a combat pilot long before the First Light, his son had been a radiant who had been taken away by Kingdom corp the second he turned old enough to recruit, he was still looking for him when VP came around.
And here we are now.
“Rory, you legend, fly us away from this damn freezer” Phoenix side hugged the man, stepping into the vehicle.
“This is nothing, you are just not used to real temperatures, British boy” The man slapped him in the back with a big grin on his face. “Get in the plane Grant”
“Man, I told you! My name is not Grant!” I’ve said it a million times”
“Sure thing, Grant” The old man snickered, ruffling his hair and walking towards the cabin.
Phoenix huffed annoyed but didn't try to correct him anyway. “Buckle up, kiddos, we’re leaving this dumpster”
He groaned, sitting in his place, next to Yoru, the engines of the plane getting louder as they prepared to take off . Astra dropped into the two remaining places once they were in the air, laying down and using them as a bed and pulling a blanket from a compartment from below the seat.
“In the remaining four hours, none of you know me. If I die of hypothermia in my sleep, tell Sage it was Phoenix’s fault” She relaxed into the seat cushions, sighing and visibly nodding off.
The seats used to be even shittier than they are now, until Sova brought some cushions from his last visit to Russia, hand sewn by his grandma, and saving all of their asses during long journeys.
Phoenix was trying to sleep without breaking his neck when he felt Yoru start shivering by his side.
“Hey, are you cold?” He put an arm behind the other boy’s back. “I can heat you up”
“Yeah, please, or you will have to tell Sage Astra and I freezed to death, and it was your fault” Yoru squeezed himself closer to him.
“Oh, so that’s why we’re together, so you don’t die refrigerated”
“That’s right, it’s the only reason we’re dating, any other sign of a loving relationship is just an excuse” Yoru buried his face in Phoenix’s neck, bushing it softly with his nose.
Phoenix just chuckled and rested his chin on top of the Japanese’s head.
He fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of Yoru’s breathing, and the warmth shared by the two of them. It was a different kind of calm, being able to listen to his boyfriend’s heartbeat, stroking his arm, pulling him in and inhaling the familiar scent of the hair conditioner he gifted him on his birthday, a weird brand that was only sold in Japan and that he had to look for everywhere before he was able to order it online.
It was being next to him that made all of this worth it, the shitty seats in really cold, crappy airplanes, and underpaid jobs that lasted days.
It was him that made it enjoyable, no matter where they were, if he was there, he knew it would be okay. He had never trusted someone enough to know they had your back no matter what.
Phoenix never thought he would have something like this, but to hell if it didn’t feel right.
When they landed on top of the VP building, all Phoenix wanted to do was take a warm shower, eat something hot and pass out for the next two days.
The aircraft (not plane, as Astra scolded him one of the many times he said it) was slowly descending in the helipad on top of the roof.
Harbor was already waiting for them when they got out, leaning into the doorframe of the stairway down with his classic cool vibe that they all knew was a lie, they all had heard the late night talks he has with Astra about the nerdiest things. He even joined voluntarily when Phoenix did a star trek movie night as his birthday wish, where all of the other agents whined and complained because he had ‘already watched that movie a thousand times, Phoenix’ and ‘It’s the same thing as Star Wars, Phoenix’.
Astra and Harbor were a new-ish couple, no one knew if they were official yet, but if they were, they weren’t too shy. She was running to the other agent the second the doors opened, where he catched her and hugged her.
"Young love, so exhausting” Rory mumbled, getting out of the pilot's cabin and stretching his arms over his head, groaning with his old joints.
“Geez, not even a full minute. Pay up, fire bird” Yoru didn’t hesitate to pull his hand out, palm up, waiting for his hard earned credits.
“Remind me not to bet with you ever again.” Phoenix sighed, rummaging in his pocket and reaching for his lost money, putting his hand on top of Yoru’s ”You got yourself a double prize” he winked and held his hand tighter, chuckling and earning a little huff from the other boy, who despite his attitude didn’t pull away. “Astra! Stop making me lose, I gotta stop having faith in you, girl”
Astra was already too busy tightly hugging Harbor, that she just stuck out her tongue in his direction right before driving all of her attention to the other man again.
Once in the building, he kissed Yoru goodbye in the cheek, and walked to his dorm, after wrestling with his door and the card lock, he got into his sweet, sweet room, that was just as he had left it.
He skipped out of his pants on his way to the shower, turning the heat up before getting in to rub all of the dirt off of him.
Laundry turned out to be a useful thing to do the second he put his clean pyjamas on, fabric softener was a truly amazing thing.
"
It was late into the afternoon, the dusk just minutes away from turning into night, and the last sunlight of the day slipping through the windows of the hallway.
He slowly closed the door out of his room with his socked feet, and walked to the kitchen to make some warm food to compensate for the last day and a half he had spent surrounded by snow at way too cold temperatures.
Some of these missions were actually quite rewarding to complete, after spending a whole day semi-buried in the snow, waiting for something to happen, spotting the enemy team they'd been waiting for was a blessed sight. Of course, the whole murder-of-your-friend’s-evil-counterpart thing was not as nice, but every job had downsides, only that most of them were just, well, not homicide.
The kitchen was dimly lit by a lamp on top of the counter, the ceiling bulbs had broken last week, and no one bothered changing them, no one liked that light anyways. Brimstone was sitting at the kitchen table in his night pants and an undershirt, sipping from a steaming cup while reading some files on his dispositive with a tired look on his face.
“You know you will start complaining about not sleeping if you keep drinking coffee at 8pm“ Phoenix picked up his cup when passing next to the table, and left it in the sink. “It’s black coffee, seriously, what’s wrong”
“Nothing’s wrong kid” Brimstone sighed, rubbing his hands in his face “Just some higher ups being assholes again”
“What are they asking for this time? We already told them we couldn’t locate portals from omega earth before they appear, we’ve said it the last three times they asked that, it's not that hard to understand that we can't predict the future” Phoenix complained while pouring the black coffee down the sink and turning on the faucet to rinse the cup off.
“It’s just external trouble, a lot of anti-radiant propaganda by extremist groups” He suspired tiredly, Phoenix turned on the boiler. “Some bullshit politicians think radiants are not qualified for special force tasks and they're making it everyone's problem''
Phoenix hummed in understanding while pouring hot water into the cup the older man was holding previously. He opened one of the top cabinets, rummaging until he found what he was looking for, and pulling out a thin bag of leaves.
“Well, they can’t fight radiants with just guns. They should already know that” Phoenix set the cup down in front of the other man again. “It’s chamomile. Fade’s special sleep chamomile. Wait for a few minutes so it cools down” He sat down in the chair before his boss “It’s past your office hours, and if I’m not wrong, you’re not on duty this week. Leave them to deal with this. I’m sure they can manage”
“You are not understanding this, Phoenix, if we don’t fight back all of this, they will take all of you away. Not only will we lose the war, Omega Earth agents will win back all we have managed to defend, and you will all end in Jail at best, executed at worst.” Brimstone clenched his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. “I can’t let that happen, not now that we are reaching something close to normalcy. Reyna has just stopped trying to kill Viper every time she looks her way, I’m seeing Sova actually smile, and Killjoy is truly happy for the first time in years.”
“Nah, you’re not listening to me, you know you can’t change the course of everything by sitting after hours in front of a screen waiting for some wankers to reply to an email. I get that this is exhausting, and frustrating, it is for all of us” Phoenix replied, fingers tapping on the wooden table. “But we can’t fight anything if our leader is exhausted because he has more coffee than blood in his veins, it's like that mission where Fade didn't sleep for a whole week. She was tired and compromised the whole operation. We need you with us." He said before getting up again.
“Now, I’m going to make some hot soup because I’m convinced that half of my organs are frozen from Icebox, and I’m making extra because I know Yoru hasn’t eaten yet, and because I’m sure you haven’t eaten either, so you’re taking this warm, lovely, delicious food and downing it before going to sleep like a big kid.” Phoenix crouched down to take one of the big cooking pots from the drawers “And by making soup I mean heating up the leftover harira Cypher made the other day” He commented before taking a big tupperware container from the fridge.
“I can’t believe how much you’ve all grown up” Brimstone let out a wet chuckle “You’re just a bunch of kids”
“I’ve got some powerful 22 years, old guy, I’m a grown man” Phoenix joked, stirring the soup with a wooden spoon.
“Last week you asked me how to shave your beard, 'grown man' ”
“Well, yeah, late puberty, you know, fam? Not everyone can be as cool and awesome as you"
"
Yoru’s door was slightly ajar, some of the light from inside the room leaving through the small crack, which made it much easier for Phoenix to slip his feet in and open the door without spilling any food.
“Hey, I brought you some food, I know you haven’t had dinner and you can't go to sleep with an empty st– Holy shit” Phoenix looked up and left the soup hurriedly in the closest table, running to Yoru’s side “What the fuck”
“The dimensional fabric in icebox is really weird, I couldn’t teleport normally, so here we are” Yoru was laying on top of the sheets without a shirt, with an arm draped over his face, and with what seemed like way too many open rift wounds reeking an eerie blue light “They will close, eventually”
“Holy shit. Holy shit. How did all of this happen?” Phoenix helped the Japanese boy up, who grimaced when his back touched the wall. “Wait” he pulled a pillow from the other side of the bed and adjusted it behind Yoru. “You should’ve said something, or stopped sooner, you can’t hurt yourself like this”
“I know, but the mission was compromised, and if I hadn’t used my abilities we all would’ve died” Yoru dropped back into the pillow, very clearly exhausted, looking at the worried expression Phoenix was sending his way “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’ve already talked with Sage, and she said she can’t help with it, it’s out of her field. I just gotta wait it out”
“Okay, but does something help with it?” Phoenix sat next to him, the bed dipping from his weight.
“Well, I don’t know, I’ve never gotten so many, but definitely not cold temperatures. Icebox was hell” Yoru inhaled slowly, his ribs expanding slowly, as if it hurt to breathe. It probably did.
"Okay, wait here, I'll go get some blankets or something" Phoenix tried getting up before a hand grabbed his arm.
"I meant for you to come here with me, not some stupid blanket"
"Oh yeah, I know, but you've got to eat first" the sentence was followed by an annoyed groan from the other boy. Phoenix just chuckled and kissed the top his head. He grabbed the top bed sheet from the end of the mattress, pulling them up so that they rested on top of the Japanese boy, grabbing the tray he brought the soup in to put it on his lap. "Eat up, I'm going to Skye's room to borrow her heater, I know she has one hidden somewhere, and you look close to freezing"
Yoru just nodded non committedly while chewing on some boiled chickpeas.
Outside the room, the hallway lacked the warm light it had from the sun setting the last time he passed this way, the oval-shaped windows only showed the dark outside, and if you peered, maybe the moon or some stars. Skye's room was the closest to the gun range and training facilities, her door was decorated with cute stickers of her creatures in different shades of green, he didn't think they were allowed to decorate doors, but he wasn't going to be the one to tell Skye, she never cared too much for the rules anyway. Phoenix rapped at the door, fidgeting in his place.
His feet were starting to get cold, he should've worn some slippers or something, he didn't use to mind wearing shoes inside his house until Yoru, Jett and Neon all lectured him for twenty minutes at the same time about how unhygienic it was, and now he was uncomfortable wearing any kind of footwear inside. He got fond of it with time, but his socks weren't thick enough to shield him from the cold floor, it wasn't carpeted and the material was shit at insulating from the temperatures outside.
Skye opened the door just in time to stop him from spiraling any further at how much he hated the floor.
She was wearing her day-off outfit, her iconic side braid, now loose hair falling on her shoulders, and some big gray sweats and a plain t-shirt.
"Hey, what's up" Skye was rubbing her eyes as he spoke, an uncharacteristic redness to them. She sounded as if she had a stuffy nose.
"I need your electric heater, if you're not using it, Yoru’s kinda ill and Icebox was cold as hell'' Phoenix said, rubbing the back of his neck to soothe his nerves. She was acting weird. "You seem sick, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, don't worry" She opened the door and moved to the side to let him "I just gotta see where I put it" she uttered, sniffing while kneeling down to look in a bottom drawer under her bed.
“Skye” Phoenix called, starting to get worried, she wasn’t acting right.
“Yeah?” Skye didn’t look up from the drawer, but her hands shook in their place, not knowing where to put them, she just left them in her thighs.
“Something’s wrong, right?” Skye froze, not looking for the stupid heater anymore. Phoenix crouched next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You know you can talk to us. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it, just, don’t bottle up. It’ll just harm you”
“It’s stupid” She said, closing her eyes, a few tears just leaving her eyes and sliding through her face. “It’s stupid and I don’t want to bother you with stupid shit”
“Hey, if it’s bothering you it’s not stupid, you know?” He muttered, kneeling closer to her and putting his other arm around her shoulder, she was trembling harder now, her face scrunched up in a painful expression.
“It’s just” Skye paused, taking a deep breath, before going on. “I miss Australia. I miss my family and I miss knowing what life is going to be like” She slapped her leg to emphasize the feeling, clenching her hand into a fist. “There’s been forest fires in the area I used to live in, I feel like that is the last place I have left that’s a part of me. Not soldier Skye. Not radiant Skye, just me. If that goes away I fear the part of me that didn’t know war will just die. Not being there, fighting for my homeland, feels like I’m betraying myself”
Phoenix hugged her tighter, her head falling to his chest, and her shoulders starting to shake from the sobs that escaped her throat, her feelings were finally too much for her to bear, and they were overflowing.
”You’re not just soldier Skye, you know? You are Skye, the girl that keeps everyone together with tough love, the girl that broke down Yoru’s walls when he first came in with that weird cold facade of his, you’re Skye, the freak that wakes up at 4am to go running, and the girl that keeps trying to make KAY/O understand how to play with dogs.” Phoenix recited, pulling away to look her in the eye. “And most of everything, you’re the same person you were when you left Australia. There’s not a tiny Skye that’s disappointed in you. But you know what there is? A tiny Skye that is proud of you for becoming who you are right now. And that Skye is here” He pointed to her heart. She just looked up with her face soaked in tears and snot. Her freckled face shining in the dim light.
“In my boob?” Skye let out a wet laugh, cleaning the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
“You’re so funny. I’m trying to give you a heartfelt speech and you mess it up with your boobs” They both just laughed, hugging her again, he laid his head on top of her hair. “I think it affects all of us, the uncertainty, it is. We never know when we’re not coming back and that’s scary. I get missing your family. I text with my moms every day and call them every week, and I still get that tightness in my chest when I think about them. I just know they miss you as much as you do.”
“Yeah, I should call” Skye rubbed her eyes and sniffled.”I’m going to get you that heater, go get back to your boyfriend and be all sappy and shit”
“You know you can always call me. I’m great at this stuff, I should’ve been a psychologist. Just ignore all of the unintentional fire stuff and I’ve got it”
“Thank you, you know” She got up, and held her hand out for him to hold on, pulling for him to stand up. “It means a lot. I’m glad you’re my friend”
“Always, you know we are all here for you.” Phoenix smiled brightly at her.
“Go back to the rift boy already, or he’s going to murder me for taking you away” She slammed the heather on his chest and jokingly slapped his arm.
“Oh, you know he can’t do that, he likes you more than me” Phoenix punched her arm in a friendly manner, before side hugging her with his free arm. “Imma head out, call me if anything comes up, flower girl” He said before closing the door and getting out of the room, he loved knowing how to piss her off.
“Call me that once more and I swear you won’t see light ever again!”
“
“Your savior is back!” Phoenix exclaimed, opening the door to Yoru's room, it really was freezing in there, colder than before he left. All the lights were off, the room only dimly lit by an open blue rift gap on one side of the bed, Yoru nowhere in sight. “Hello? Yoru? You still alive?”
“Sadly” Yoru materialized again on top of the sheets, taking off the old blue mask, and placing it back into the rift, closing the portal with an agile hand movement. “Wanted to see if the rift helped with the pain. Turns out it doesn’t”
“Is that why it’s so damn cold in here?” Phoenix huffed, placing the electrical appliance on the desk, next to one of the outlets in the wall. “It always freaks me out when you do that, it’s creepy as shit”
“What, coming out of the rift? You should see the face of people in missions when I do that exact same thing, but with a huge gun on my hand” Yoru scoffed at the thought.”And answering to your question, yes, that’s why it is so damn cold in here. You should try getting in there”
“I swear to god I don’t get how you do that” He said, plugging in the cable, holding his hands in front of it to get them to heat up.
“I’m a masochist, you should know that” He turned his face to him, smiling self-sufficiently.
“I truly cannot stand how funny you are” Phoenix breathed exasperatedly “Get under the pile of blankets, for fuck’s sake, why are you on top of them?” He mumbled, walking towards the bed and getting under the comforter.
“Shut up, and come here” Yoru snickered, getting below the sheets and snuggling closer to him, one arm under his own head, and the other on top of Phoenix’s waist. “Thank you for taking care of me. I know I’m an asshole”
“Yeah, but I love this asshole” He kissed the tip of his nose. “You know, I could make a really funny joke with that sentence right now”
“If you do, I will get into the rift and disappear. I’ll change my name, get a new life and move to Mexico” Phoenix just laughed, pressing his cheek to the other’s hand.
“You know you love me too much to do that. You wouldn’t be able to live without my home-cooked meals”
“Last time I tried to teach you how to make pre-cooked ramen you burnt the dry noodles, and we both know Cypher made that soup” Yoru stared at him, deadpan expression.
“Okay, low blow, can we just look over my cooking skills and pass onto the making out stage, please?”
“What cooking skills are you talking ab-?” He couldn’t finish the sentence, Phoenix’s mouth already on top of his.
Yoru chuckled into the kiss, he forgot sometimes how nice kissing the british agent was, his lips were always soft, he always hugged him tight, and he had a habit of brushing their noses together when he pulled away.
When he pulled apart, both of them already out of breath,Phoenix brushed a loose strand of hair from the other's face and looked at him for a couple of seconds before giggling and turning away his face on the pillow.
“Why are you so pretty?” He said, a muffled sound coming from his buried face in the pillow. “You make me nervous, stop it”
“Oh my fucking god, you’re blushing like a schoolgirl right?” Yoru teased him, openly laughing at him and kissing the part of his cheek that wasn’t covered by the pillow cover. “We’ve been dating for two years now, you know?”
“I’m aware, but it’s your fault for being so gorgeous” He just squeezed his face deeper into the pillow. “I’m embarrassed right now, leave me alone”
“You’re so silly” Yoru pulled at his neck, getting his face out of the covers, briefly smashing their lips together before talking again. “And pretty, you’re pretty too” Phoenix stared at him and swallowed down a high pitched scream.
“Stop it!” He squealed, pulling his arm away from the other boy and burying his face in his hands. “You’re doing this on purpose”
“It’s the whole idea” Yoru laughed, pulling his hands away from his face. “It’s not my fault you’re this hot”
"Oh yeah? Am I?" Phoenix softly chuckled.
"To my misfortune, you are'' Yoru hummed, smiling while kissing softly the part where his jaw joined his neck, he knew all of his sensitive spots, that asshole. He started sucking on the thin skin of his neck, getting a low sigh out of Phoenix, who got even closer and slowly stroked his arm before pulling apart.
“Okay, we radically changed the vibe, calm down, lover boy” Phoenix kissed him tenderly and chuckled, Yoru's head still in his neck. “And I’m not sure you can even roll over without ripping half your skin open. I love the enthusiasm tough”
“I’m extremely tired, if we’re not getting frisky, I’d love to just pass out” Yoru said, yawning in the middle of the sentence.
“You just killed all ‘getting frisky’ possibilities by saying getting frisky” Phoenix snickered, tangling their legs together. “Shut up and sleep, now, you prick”
“I love you too” Yoru brushed his nose on Phoenix’s neck, smiling.
“Love you. Sometimes. Most of the time” Phoenix joked, nestling closer, and draping an arm over Yoru’s shoulders, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of his head.
He could listen to the other agent breathe for all eternity and never get tired of it. His own breath started getting slower, and he wondered, while stroking a bit of skin on his lover’s neck, what did he do in a past life to deserve this.
"
Mornings were not something that came easily, the VP was filled to the brim with people that couldn’t sleep most of the time, nightmares were used to hunting down peaceful nights. The morning was an achievement, a little “I made it!” sticker to stick on your clothes and wear around until the sun decided to fall again, so when Phoenix woke up to a small ray of sunshine that had managed to slip through the only window in the room, hitting his face, he didn’t think twice before thanking whatever deity had let it happen. A night of peaceful sleep was a blessing he didn’t know how to thank.
He closed his eyes, letting the sunshine light up his face, he could see the reddish color of his own eyelids through the backlighting, a smile creeping out of his mouth at the feeling of peace. He could feel Yoru still asleep besides him, the warmth of him right on his side, he had his arm still under the other boy, he didn’t know if it had already fell asleep or if it would in a couple of minutes, but he couldn’t find anything in himself that cared about it. Opening his eyes, he turned his head to see him, eyes closed and breathing steadily while drooling a bit right on the pillow. Phoenix thinks he could look at him forever without getting tired of it.
Eventually, Yoru’s eyes opened, just to look right back at him and his silly smile, he was a heavenly sight. Fuck that. Heaven couldn’t compete with this.
“I was right” Phoenix whispered, gazing into the other’s dark eyes “You are so pretty ”
“What’s up with you this morning?” Yoru smiled, still looking right at him, and turning so he was facing Phoenix. He moved his hand to caress his cheek. “And I don’t know what are you talking about, you should see yourself right now”
Phoenix couldn’t help but close the distance between them and joining their lips together, slowly moving them against his, eyes fluttering close and a smile slowly creeping out of his mouth. A primal sense of desire taking over his very being and filling his lungs with love .
Yoru sighed into his mouth, his unoccupied hand sliding up to his back and tenderly stroking all he could manage to grasp into his touch.
When they pulled apart, breathless, Phoenix couldn’t help but smile and hide away in his lover’s embrace.
“I’ve missed this so much” He uttered, pressing his nose to the crook of Yoru’s neck. “Long missions suck ass”
“Yeah, they do” Yoru laughed. When he laughed, Phoenix could feel the soft vibrations on his chest, and his own swelling with a weird sense of happiness. “Have I told you you’re especially clingy in the mornings?” Yoru looked down at him and pecked his forehead. “We should get up and going, it’s 10 already, and we have a meeting at 12. And you know you need at least an hour to have breakfast and watch some show or something, you’ll be grumpy if you don’t”
“I hate that you know all of this about me, I wish we could stay like this forever” Phoenix just squeezed tighter into Yoru’s arms.
“Well, I stink right now, and you do too” Yoru chuckled before kissing his cheek with endearment before pulling the both of them up, earning a groan from the other boy. “Get into the shower, firebird.”
“I know you love me, but you should also love me when I’m disgusting and stinky” Phoenix groaned, getting up from the bed and borrowing clean clothes that he knew he wasn't going to give back from the drawer closer to him.
“I do, but I’d rather you not to smell like a wild racoon when we make out”
“No one understands me”
“Sure thing, babe”
“
The headquarters were busy this morning, it was the first day of the month. Jett was cooking something in the kitchen that smelled delicious, and the rest of the team were in the living room listening to the monthly Power Point Brimstone did to distribute tasks.
“Okay, the next category is chores. Neon, sit down, no, you can’t skip laundry day” Brimstone reprimanded without even turning around. Neon had, indeed, gotten up to protest about it.
“But it’s so slow, and I have to stay so still ” She groaned, pulling her hands to her face and dropping to the sofa again.”It’s n-”
“Not fair, yes. We go through this every month, it’s not changing” Brimstone continued, passing to the next diapositive of the presentation, the wacky default white template with bold black letters. “We’re moving on to who’s doing what this month, we start off with kitchen duty. Jett and Sova are in meal prepping, and Raze, Chamber and Phoenix are cleaning” The sigh of relief that flowed the room was almost enough to shake the whole place.
“Thank God, If Breach cooked a single meal more I was going to throw up” Astra threw a victory punch in the air. “No more burnt fish for the month”
"I don't even have a body to taste it and I knew it was shit" Omen complained from his seat.
“I hope you make some of that Piroski you did last time” Raze shouted, pointing at the older man. “It was so good, man”
“It’s called Pirozhki , and I won’t make it if you keep bugging me about it. It's been three times this week already!” Sova threw a pillow at her, which she caught and hugged, laughing.
"Well, I wouldn't do it so much if you just did it!" Raze threw the pillow back at the Russian man.
“C’mon kids, we’re not 5 anymore” Brimstone reprimanded them, sighing, wanting to finish the presentation already. “Okay, next is floor cleaning duty, we have Skye, Cypher and Reyna sweeping, Omen and Sa-”
“Neon!” Jett screamed from the kitchen, Brimstone deeply sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration “I need you to go buy milk!”
“Brim! Brim! Can I go?” Neon was already getting up and jumping in place, struggling to put her shoes on.
“Yes, Neon, you can” Brimstone sighed, once more. He didn’t sign up for this. “Okay, as I was saying, Omen and sage are in for groceries this week and Astra and Viper are doing it the next two weeks. Everyone does their own laundry, following the weekly plan. No crowds in the washing machine. I’m not fighting anyone on this”
“Brim!” Jett shouted again, from the kitchen.
“Yes, Jett?”
“I need you to help me pour this thing into a bigger pot!”
“Okay, I guess we’re finished for today” The older man dismissed them tiredly, walking towards the kitchen “I know which ones of you should be training this morning, don’t skip or I’ll know” He pointed menacingly at Sova, Killjoy and Phoenix. He most definitely didn't sign up for this.
“Brim! It’s going to catch fire if you don’t come fast!” Jett screamed, panicked, followed by a bunch of chaoting clattering noises.
“Coming!”
“Hey Phoenix!” Killjoy, still in her pijamas, walked hurriedly in his direction “Would you cover me for practice? I’m in the middle of a project I can’t leave half done right now”
“Sorry, lass, I ain’t getting you out of training for you to go kiss with your girlfriend” Phoenix winked at her, already heading towards the training quarters.
“I wasn’t going to- you know what? Yes, I was going to, keyword, was. I hope you know I’m snitching the next time you’re busy smooching with Yoru on a mission” She just huffed annoyedly and walked past him, a fake, silly anger expression in her face.
“That ain’t fair!” Phoenix jogged behind. “You need actual arm muscles for missions that you’re not going to get playing League of Legends!”
“Excuses, that’s all I hear” Killjoy grinned, punching his side before taking off and running away “Try to run with those arm muscles, fireboy!” She screamed back, already running away, Phoenix immediately running behind.
“That’s not fair, you had an advantage!”
“
“I got here waay before you” Killjoy spat back, just when she reached the glass gym door, resting her arms in her legs and gasping for air, raising a hand for him to wait for her to catch her breath “I definitely won”
“Yeah, sure you did, but you know who got here even before us? Sova”
“What? No, he was behind me when we started racing”
“Well, some of us are actually fast, tech support” Sova stretched his arms over his head, already inside of the protocol gym.
“Oh, say that once more and you won’t have a functional eye ever again” Killjoy threatened him with a pointing finger.
“That is if you can catch up to me, tech support ”
“Oh, that’s it, start running”
Killjoy giggled while running after the older man, who, very quickly, got away going into the gym. Phoenix just sighed with a small smile, they were absolute dumbasses, but they were his dumbasses and he wouldn’t change them for anything.
What was family if not this.