#I sure hope whoever in this fandom is still out here defending the show's treatment of alex at least gets compensated for it

[kittlesandbugs]

49. holding onto the other’s shoulders for support for whoever you want!

TY FOR BDAY PROMPT HERE IT FINALLY IS

Stopping the surge (AO3 Link) Prompt: holding onto the other’s shoulders for support Fandom/Pairing: Fallen Hero/Chargestep (Sidestep days) Word count: 1686 Warnings: T for blood, Injury, canonical minor character death Summary: You thought you and everyone else on that beach was a goner. That the city was next. No way to defend against the Nanovores. And then they just stopped. (Ricardo POV)

A scream (not yours) and something in the air changes. Stops.

Not the pain, nerves and muscle and wires exposed to the salty air and sand, burning and raw. The sheen of silver across your arm stops writhing and feasting, slides to the ground, inert.

Blood flows hot from your gaping wounds, stains the blue shreds of your suit black, no longer consumed as fast as it oozes out. Dribbles down to the sand, already red with Elyise's. Too late for her, she's gone. A partially-devoured corpse on the shore, like so many others.

You saved her as best you could, the only way you could. A slow, agonizing death for her if you hadn't acted. But if you'd waited just a little— No, no way to know they would suddenly stop. You wanted the same just moments ago when her heart stopped and they turned their full attention to you. Wrestle with your conscience later.

What stopped the nanovores?

A whimper behind you.

Riley stands nearby, stiff, frozen in place. Face unreadable behind her Sidestep mask. Arms outstretched, hands splayed like she's holding something. Holding something back?

She can't be—

Another whimper on the exhale of slow deliberate breath, shivering with effort you can't see, can't even begin to imagine.

She is.

"Get the containment units down here now! And everyone else out!" you bark into the comm on your collar. "The nanovores are… stopped. I don't know for how long. Get them down here now!"

Shifting sand of someone approaching, creak of gears fighting tiny grains, heavy hand on your shoulder. Chen, still sealed in his armor. Not that you expected otherwise, can't take any chances.

"What is… Is she—?"

"Yeah…" You swallow, unable to take your eyes off her. "Can you show the teams where to go? I should stay with her. I can't influence… whatever it is she's doing."

"Yes. Give us as much warning as you can if it looks like she's going to—"

"She won't. She's got this." You hope your confidence isn't misplaced. She hasn't let you down yet, always surprises you with success against the odds. "And do what you can to keep the media back until this is over."

A curt "yes, sir" and a habitual sketchy half-salute, then Chen's armor thuds its way up the hill to the cordon.

Nothing to do but keep her safe and secure. You hate feeling this helpless.

She sways, joints locked, and you grab her shoulders. Steady her.

"C'mon Ry," you murmur. "You got this. I got you."

If she hears you, there's no indication. She can't feel your thoughts, so you give them freely. Tell her quietly that you're there, you've got her. How good and strong and amazing she is. That she can do this. Maybe she can hear your voice, even just peripherally. Maybe it helps. Hopefully it doesn't hurt.

She can't really argue back and deflect, for once. Just has to take the praise. You wish she would more often. How someone so capable can be so maddeningly self-deprecating is beyond you.

A flurry of activity emerges around you as other heroes, vigilantes, emergency crews come in and evacuate survivors. Steel and Sentinel have directing everyone in-hand, you're vaguely aware of them through your earpiece. Your sole concern right now is keeping Riley going.

One medic tries to pull you away for treatment and you shrug them off. You're not leaving her, damn sure not letting them move her either. No way to know what can break the spell she's woven. They apply antiseptic to your wounds—grit your teeth through the burn, can't disturb her— and wrap your arms as you continue to hold her steady. It's enough to keep you from losing too much blood until you can get proper treatment.

Not until it's finished.

Heavy labored breaths through her mask. How much longer can she hold them? You've doomed everyone you brought in if you've bet wrong on this one, but if anyone is stubborn enough to see this through… Your grip on her tightens, like you could pass your strength to her.

"Just a bit more, you're doing so good."

The CNBR units finally get to the beach. Some have containment units to hold the nanovores, keep them inert and harmless. Samples to study later. Fire will deal with the rest. The plan was drilled into you.

"Can you guide them inside the cages?" you ask, forehead pressed to hers. Catch a scent of fresh iron, blood? Nosebleed? She'd kill you if you peeled her mask off in front of everyone to check. And you really can't do anything to ruin her concentration.

A press back against your head, a nod? Has she heard you this whole time?

A silvery cloud moves across the ground towards the crews. Slow, deliberate, controlled, not a ravenous advancement like before. You watch out of the corner of your eye as it slides into the container. Again and again she leads groups of them into the containers until none remain to be filled.

Her legs give out and you swear, keep hold of her shoulders, sink to your knees with her. Keep her upright, keep talking. Beg her to hang on just a little bit more.

The scents of oil, gasoline, and other chemicals fill the air, drowning out salt and iron. A roar of flames around them as the containment crews use napalm to burn out the rest of the microscopic menace threatening the city. Reports come in through your earpiece as crews eliminate them.

Riley shivers like a leaf in your hands and you pray it's just the effort of maintaining control. After what feels like hours, a round of all clears sound through the comms.

It's over. Somehow. All thanks to her.

The tension leaks out of her body all at once and she pitches forward soundlessly into your shoulder. You scoop her up, cradle her close to your chest. Light as a feather even without your mods, all bone and sinew beneath the padded coat. Still breathing, thank god, and easier than before. Hopefully she's only exhausted.

You scan the area, spot a Rangers van waiting at the edge of the beach. Order the driver not to move until you say so. You haven't forgotten the last time you tried sending her unconscious to hospital. She never made it there, slipped away from the ambulance. Punched you when you saw her the next day. Threatened that you'd never see her again if you tried it a second time.

You'll give her a little time to wake up first. But if she doesn't or gets worse, you'll have to make that call. Better to risk disappearing than dead.

You lay her down across the seat in the back. Close the door. Peel back her mask, now in the privacy of the vehicle. A blistering swear escapes you. Her normally tan complexion is ashen, wan. Dried blood on the lower half of her face clings to the nanoweave as you carefully pull it free. You dig through the large first aid kit for water and gauze. Gently wash the blood from her face. At least the nosebleed has already stopped.

She moans under your ministrations, silver eyes fluttering open. She immediately flies upright, almost knocking into your head, eyes rolling like a startled horse. "Where…?"

"Back of the van." You keep your voice calm, level, grab her shoulders, try to lay her back down. Only half successfully. "The windows are tinted. We're not on our way to the hospital."

Yet.

"Did we…?"

" You did. It's over. You saved the city, Ry."

She falls back against the seat, limp with exhaustion and relief. Closes her eyes again, face pinched tight. The next words out of her mouth are no surprise.

"My head really hurts."

You run a hand through her sweat-stiff buzzcut, curve around to cup her cheek. Her color is still terribly pale. "You had a pretty bad nosebleed. You should get scanned at the hospital."

She groans her protest. Loudly. "It happens sometimes. I just want to go home."

"It happens sometimes?" You struggle to keep an edge out of your voice. She doesn't need an argument right now, but this is the first you've heard of it.

She flinches, doesn't answer. Stubborn idiot.

"Ry, we'll pay—"

"No. You don't get it."

"Riley—"

"I can't."

"Please—"

"No."

"You need to—"

"Go home, you're right."

"Mierda. Eres idiota tan testaruda…" You drag a hand down your face. If it wasn't for your own injuries, you could just take her to your place for monitoring. But your mods are compromised, exposed, dangerous to yourself and others. No way around you going to the hospital.

"It's just a migraine." Pleading, pathetic insistence. "I'll be fine."

"Riley, if you've got a—"

"If I go to a hospital, you will never see me again. And there will be nothing you can do to stop it." The tone of voice gives you pause. Not a threat, but ominous all the same. Like it's inevitable. Why, though?

Not the time to dig into it.

"Jesus, Riley. You'd really rather just—" You pause. Dying isn't something you even want to consider. "Suffer through it at home?"

"Yes. Please?"

You swear again. "Fine. Where do you live?" If you can at least get that much, you can send someone to check in on her. Anathema would do it in a heartbeat. Probably get in the least amount of trouble with her.

"Fifth and Seaton." Her eyes flash open and she winces. She throws an arm over them as a strangled growl slips out. "Fuck you."

You're not sorry, not really. Maybe it was a low blow finally getting that out of her when she's half-conscious, but better than the alternative if she gets worse and no one can find her. You press your lips to her forehead, the closest you'll get to apologizing for that.

You tell the driver where to go. If memory serves, you'll have about half an hour to make her see reason.

You probably can't, but damned if you won't try.

[emerald-eyes-8917]

Your Hand in Mine (Until the end of the world...)

This is response to an anon prompt that I received via my askbox about Dan being upset about a fan taking a photo of him and the reader holding hands,what with the Internet being so judgemental.

I hope you enjoy this, anon, whoever you are, and this will be crossed posted to ArchiveofOurOwn as well, so any comments or reblogs would be much appreciated.  So without further ado, here we go!

P.S. : I would rate this R, so take care if you are reading at work.  And here we go for real!

The day had been too long and the wrong side of busy.  She was immensely grateful for the clock striking five o'clock when she was able to leave the office, already looking forward to seeing her partner again, the inimitable Dan Avidan.

It still gave her a frisson of delight to think of him as her partner, even after these few months together.  

He had been working hard on his music lately, as well as video shoots, promotion and planning tour dates for the upcoming Tour de Force, and she had missed him a great deal while still feeling so proud of him, Brian and TWRP for all they had achieved together, and that success surely continuing to grow.

Sending him a quick message that she was on her way home, followed by a line of heart and star emojis, she gets in her car to go pick up some dinner on the way, unable to keep herself from singing along to 'Danny, Don't You Know?' as soon as it comes up on her iTunes shuffle, unaware that her screen does not notify her of any replying message.

An hour later...

Arriving back at Dan's apartment, she places the sushi meals to one side, for knowing the unpredictable hours that it took while recording the Game Grumps show, it would not be worth it to pick up a hot meal that would go cold in minutes.

There was still no reply to her message, but that was hardly alarming.  Dan rarely replied on days when there was plenty of games to play with Arin or music to record for Ninja Sex Party or Starbomb.  He pushed himself too far sometimes, and she prays to herself that this was not one of those days where he was on the brink of exhaustion.

She makes some tea, tidying up around the apartment to occupy herself, humming quietly and waiting patiently for his return.

However, after eight o'clock passes without any sign of him, she begins to feel a strong feeling of worry creeping in.

She sends one more message, 'Hey Dan, hope you're not working too hard!  I have dinner here at home so don't worry about picking up anything if you're hungry and plenty of warm tea too.  See you later.  xxxx'

Typing an 'I love you' at the end of the message seemed like a desperate manuevre to get his attention, since she was beginning to feel quite anxious about his lack of replies.

A half hour passes and she is pacing around the flat like a caged animal, clutching her phone like a lifeline, extremely close to panic, when the jangle of keys makes her jump, heart beating quite fast.

The door opens and Dan walks in, head bowed, not even calling out her name or any other greeting.

Before she can even say hello or ask what he had been up to all evening, or why he had her almost worried sick, he has stalked through the living room, not even casting a look at her, making for the bedroom, and closes the door quite sharply, the loud snap echoing through the apartment and leaving her nerve endings pricking with fright.

She is left standing alone, eyes stinging and chest heaving.  Throwing her phone on the sofa, making it bounce off the cushions with some force, she could have almost screamed in frustration or burst into tears at this insensitive treatment.

She had been near frantic with the pervading thought that he could have been in an accident, and when he finally decided to come home, he does not even say a word or offer any explanation.

White, hot anger floods her veins and she strides over to the bedroom door, rapping loudly with her knuckles.

"Dan!  /Dan/!  Open up, we need to talk, right now!"

No answer.

"Dan... I am coming into the bedroom to speak to you, because you are acting like a real jerk right now, and I've been worried about you all evening and I deserve to know what is going on.  I am opening the door, I gave you fair warning..."

Turning the handle, she pushes the door open, walking into the bedroom at such a quick pace that she almost trips over her own feet, prepared to launch into a tirade, but she halts immediately at the sight of Dan sitting with his back to her on the edge of the bed, bent over with his hands clenching and unclenching in his hair.

The rage suddenly evaporates into pure concern at this tableau.  It was not sulking, nor was he pacing the room.  This reaction was something else...

Swallowing thickly, she whispers, "Danny?"

Still no response.

"Dan..."

She ventures forward carefully, treading softly, her voice nothing more than a soft whisper, "Dan... has something happened?  Tell me?"

Her immediate thought focuses in on his family, that a terrible event had occurred involving his grandmother, his parents, his sister or his nephews.

He still doesn't reply, and now she cannot disguise the tremor in her voice, "Danny, you're scaring me... please... please talk to me."

It is only then that Dan sits up straight, turning his head slowly towards her, and already she can see that his eyes are glimmering, the corners of his mouth down-turned, his entire posture speaking of someone defeated.

"Hey."

She shuts her eyes, huffing a sigh, "Hi, Dan."

He looks down again, not being able to meet her eyes for more than a few seconds, admitting quietly, "I seem to have fucked up quite badly, haven't I?"

She does not answer, only calling on all the love she possessed and all the strength left in her body not to collapse.

"I didn't mean to scare you.  I read your messages, but I was driving and couldn't get my phone to reply.  I just... I needed to go for a drive and think."

This conversation was almost like getting blood out of a stone and her patience was wearing quite thin, so she asks once more, "Think about what?  Please tell me what's happened or else I will walk out of here..."

"Someone took a photo of us."

A beat.

"What?"  It is akin to being doused with ice-cold water, the gravity settling down on her and all she can do is sit down heavily on the corner of the bed across from him, looking straight at him.

Dan still does not meet her eyes, and pushes back his shoulders as if steeling himself to make a long speech, "Someone, a fan probably, managed to get a photo of us together.  When we were leaving that restaurant last week and I decided to take your hand because we were having a nice time out, and I like holding your hand, but then some jerk decided to take a photo of us out together and post it to their Instagram with the caption 'Shattered dreams of the fangirls' with maybe about a hundred comments about your clothes, your hair and who you could possibly be.  I've had my privacy denied, and yours as well, so someone could make a joke and everything's just crappy now and I'm just really pissed off about it..."

He brings his fist down on the mattress with a solid thump and she starts with fright.  She had never seen him angry before in all the time they had been together, and it was not a pleasant sight.

His voice sounds quite shaky now, as if he was holding back tears, "You know I love the fans.  They give me the chance to have a dream job, to do amazing things, but Goddamnit, I lose my patience sometimes, and it's so horrible to feel that way.  It's like dealing with really immature people sometimes, who just want to posture and be negative and make a judgement.  It's the same when there are really mean, personal comments about Arin's skill with video games,with people telling him that he sucks all the time and I have to defend him.  I shouldn't have to, and I shouldn't have to defend my relationship, either.  Everyone is just so judgemental on the internet without even knowing the whole story and it's just the worst..."

Taking all of this in, she wraps her arms around her middle, hugging herself quite tight.  Her own personal reaction to someone posting a photo of them online was one of quiet shock, it being the first time she had ever even been linked to anyone from the Grumps crew, let alone someone she was intimate with.  She was also feeling heartbroken at Dan losing any ounce of faith in his fans, the negative side of fandom clearly on display here.

Summoning up all the courage she can, she whispers, "What do you want to do?"

Dan heaves a sigh, "Nothing I can do.  It was out in the street, in public, by chance.  If I start anything negative, the backlash will be huge and some of the fans might take offence.  You saw how it was when I first joined the show, can you even imagine what it would be like now?  There is hero worship that can turn on a dime in a second.  No, someone took their opportunity and it just pisses me off that people don't know where the boundary lies.  I want my relationship to not be posted online, unless it's my choice, and trust me, I won't be doing that, because it's not fair to drag you into this bullshit.  You don't deserve hate or trolls or anything of that immature stuff... I just want us to be together, to enjoy this time together, and not worry about people hiding behind their keyboards being trolls or having to read that I've broken peoples' hearts."

He runs his hands through his hair, flopping back on the bed, arms outstretched either side of him.  He tips his chin up slightly and looks at her upside down, and immediately his forehead creases when he takes in her expression and her defeated posture.

"Oh... oh, God... I've upset you.  Baby, I didn't mean to..."

He opens his arms and like a magnet, she immediately shuffles across to let him take her in his arms, hugging her clumsily, all the emotions coming to the surface: relief that he home and safe, hurt that he had shut her out, the feeling of upset that their relationship was being scrutinised.  All she can do is allow the tears to fall, hiding her face in his chest and clinging to him tightly.

"Baby... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry for all of this... it’s just a fucking mess and you don’t deserve it.  I’m so, so sorry..."

She lets out a shuddering sob, "Danny... I need to say something..."

"Yeah?  What is it?"  The question is almost fearful, and even now she can detect his heartbeat picking up pace.

Why must I love you so much?  Why does it hurt?

She presses her hands to his chest and sits back from him slightly, though not completely separating herself from him, lower lip trembling as she speaks, just about managing to get the words out without breaking down into sobs, "I don't like it when you close yourself off from me.  It's like... I feel that you don't trust me when you don't open up, that you don't want to talk to me, and... it really hurts.  I'm sorry about someone invading our privacy, it shouldn't have happened, but we can work through that together, only if you talk to me."

Dan lowers his eyes, utterly ashamed, "I know that... I guess I thought I could protect you from all that..."

She lightly thumps her palm against his chest, not enough to hurt, but to make him look up at her, "You don't have to protect me.  You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

All he can do is nod, tears already beginning to escape from the corners of his eyes, but he does not allow his face to crumple.

"I do trust you... I think I need to work on expressing myself better."

"We both do.  We can learn together."

She lifts her hand to touch his cheek and stroke away the warm tears, heart aching as he turns his face more into her palm, pressing a kiss to her skin, murmuring that he was sorry over and over.

"Dan..."

"Mmhmm?"  

She slowly lowers her hand from his face, reaching for his own hand, interlacing their fingers together, holding them up between them while looking into his eyes with quiet intent.

"You feel this?"

"Yeah..."  He has his head lowered, staring down at their joined hands quite intently

"You can hold my hand anytime you want, in public, in private, wherever you want.  As long as you have my hand in yours, then everything will be okay.  I am not letting you go, Danny..."

"Baby..."

He squeezes that bit tighter, leaning his forehead against hers with a soft sigh.

She continues, "I know you're angry, and upset, but we can choose to rise above this or sink down to a level that is undeserving.  We can come through this..."

"Together?"

"Together."

He chuckles quietly, "I'm done with telling you that I'm sorry.  Let me show you now... let me make it up to you, please?"

Before she can even reply, he has ducked his head closer to gently kiss her, his curls tumbling in a soft cloud close to her face, ticking her cheeks as he tilts his head closer, deepening the kiss with a low groan in his chest and she leans closer, sliding her arms around his neck, responding with eagerness because she had truly missed him, and even the thought of losing him made her kissing more desperate.

Dan lets out another needy sound, his arms locking around her waist, leaning back and bringing her with him down onto the bed, shifting so she was draped across him, nudging his leg in between hers, his hips grinding up lazily against her.

Bracing her hands on either side of his head, she brushes light kisses across his face as he reaches up to tangle his hands in her hair, angling her head closer so he could kiss her again.

Just as their lips make contact again, her eyes flutter open and she lifts her head up and away, looking off to one side in deep thought.

Dan mumbles, quite bemused, “Baby... why’d you stop?”

She says quietly, “Wait... hold that thought."

She clambers off him, rolling over and hopping off the bed, darting just out of reach before he could catch hold of her again, only giving him a smile over her shoulder before returning to the living room to retrieve her phone, hearing him call out a 'Baby, come back'.

Sure enough, she returns in a matter of seconds, smoothing down her hair, sitting up on the bed with her back against the headboard, patting the space beside her.

"Here, come sit by me."

Dan tilts his head, completely perturbed, his hair mussed from her ruffling before complying with a groan, dragging himself up the bed towards her, "I'm getting so old..."

She shakes her head with a smile as he sits up beside her, folding his arms, "You look like someone with a crazy idea."

She gives him a patient look, "Just humour me, please?  I want to do this before we get too carried away.  Which can easily happen, as you well know."

Opening up the camera on her phone, she puts the screen to selfie mode, sliding down to rest back against the pillows, beckoning for him to do the same.

He sighs, sliding in beside her, and she moves in closer so her face was right beside his.

"Come on, take a picture with me."

Dan raises an eyebrow, "Ummm... why?"

"You'll see why.  Go on, give me a handsome smile."

Instead, Dan pulls a comical face with his nostrils flared and his eyes wide open.

She laughs at the sight, sticking her tongue out the corner of her mouth, snapping a quick photo.

"Alright... now be confused."

"Why?"

"It's improv and you’re a master at it, just trust me."

Dan makes an overly quizzical face as she touches her chin with her eyes looking to one side, taking another photo.

"Now be scared."

At first, he doesn't do anything, but then he gasps loudly, "There's a spider on your leg."

Just as she yelps, her thumb hits the shutter button and then he dissolves into laughter.  "Got you."

"You are the worst!"

Deciding to take him by surprise, she leans in and kisses his cheek, taking another photo as she does so.

"Meanie..."

"No, I'm not.  Now, once last one, and we're done."

"I'll make a normal face this time..."

"You can make any face you want."

True to his word, he smiles softly at the camera just as she reaches up to gently cup his cheek and tilt their heads closer together.

“That was a nice one.”

“Yeah.  Okay, now I am going to do some editing, so no peeking."

She turns over onto her side so Dan cannot see what she is doing, opening up the Layout app and putting the photos they just took together into a collage, saving the new image to her phone and setting it as her wallpaper.

When Dan attempts to lean over to investigate, she holds her phone close to her chest, "I said no peeking."

"But I want to see..."  He puts on a whining tone to his voice and pouts quite childishly.

She sighs fondly, "Such a kid.  Okay... here you go."

She hands her phone to Dan and he looks at the screen, letting out a jovial chuckle, "Wow.  That is awesome.  You look so pretty, and I do look attractive, especially in that one..."

He points to the one where they are both being threatened by the imaginary spider, and she giggles, "You always look handsome."

"Stop... you'll make me blush."  He acts extremely bashful, covering his eyes with both hands.

She smiles at this, prepared to lavish him with compliments to make him blush, instead tapping his shoulder so he can look at her, "So what I did this for and wanted to show you was that these pictures and these moments, they are what matters.  I know that it was upsetting to have someone invade our privacy in such a way, but we can't let it bring us down.  We can do what we like here in the privacy of our home, together.  It's not for public consumption, we won't be judged for it and I'm glad that you don't feel the need to want to post about everything."

Dan traces his fingertip along her jaw, his eyes soft, "Baby, I am far too old for all of that.  You know me and Instagram, I am just about getting the hang of it."

"Maybe I'll show you the animated filters someday..."

"I have no idea what those are."

"They're a lot of fun.  You can have a flower crown, be a cat or a bunny, or even have cool sunglasses."

Dan shakes his head with a smile, "As long as I can see your beautiful face every day, then I'll be happy."

"Really?"

"Really."

Blinking slowly, she reaches up to gently kiss his lips, drawing back a few inches, sharing his breath as she whispers, "And now?  Are you sure you only want to look at me?"

Dan's eyes light up with an unmistakable fire, and he leans in close, murmuring, "I want to do so much more than look at you..."

His hands sneak under her t-shirt, tracing a bold pattern on her skin, bunching the material upwards, his intention quite clear as he catches her lips in a clumsy, passionate kiss, rolling them over until he was covering her entire body, lifting her t-shirt free and flinging it to one side.

She cannot help the girlish giggle that bubbles up, running her hands down his chest, reaching down and fumbling with his belt even as he kisses her with a desperation that makes her heart ache.

In precious seconds, with their clothes discarded and the temperature surely rising with protection taken care of, Dan wastes no time in drawing her legs around his waist, shifting closer until he is gently sliding inside her, making her gasp quite loudly.

A moment where they share a look and another gentle kiss, and it would have been no surprise to anyone that she would gladly give her life for this man, without question.  

As Dan begins to move, the sensations already peaking and cresting so strongly, she leans down to kiss his shoulder, pressing her face against the side of his neck and burying her nose in his hair, when she hears him urgently whisper, "Baby... look at me... please, look at me..."

She draws back, her head landing back on the pillows, seeing the desperate passion in his eyes as he manages to get his words out between shallow breaths, "Don't... don't look away... keep looking at me... I want to see you... I want to see your face as we do this... I need to look in your eyes... you are so fucking beautiful..."

With that final word, he is moving that bit faster, pushing harder, and warmth pools in her belly at his words and the intense gaze he is casting her, "Oh... oh, Dan..."

He threads his fingers into her hair, leaning over her with his weight resting on his elbows, not an inch between them, tenderly keeping her in place so their eyes can stay fixed on each other.

"You feel so good, baby... so fucking good... I can't... I can't get enough of you..."

It is getting more difficult to keep her eyes from shutting in bliss, but she cannot look away from his intense expression, his soft curls hanging down like a thick mane around his face, his lips parted and eyes full of liquid warmth.

"Please... oh, please, like that... like that.  Yes... yes, love... don't stop, Danny, please don't stop..."

Inadvertently, she drags her nails down his back and he makes a strangled noise, his movements becoming more erratic, “So close... so... so close... I have you, come on, babygirl, I have you... come for me, come for me, my gorgeaus girl.  /Fuck/, I’m so close..."

The sound of his voice, the praise that he was giving her, the feeling of him so deep inside her, was all it took to send her spiralling into oblivion, waves of pulsing heat radiating from her centre.

"Oh... /Dan/... oh... oh, /Danny/!”

Dissolving into wordless cries, all she can do is try to keep her eyes open, looking up at him all the while as his forehead creases and he shudders as his own peak hits, thrusting once, twice more, her name a breathless moan.

The room is filled only with their combined breathing, as Dan collapses beside her, his hair tossed in her face, and she loosens her legs from around his waist, letting them fall outwards onto the bed, arching her spine as soft trembling aftershocks radiate through her entire body, gently rubbing his back and basking in this gentle afterglow.

"Oh... oh, my goodness..."

Dan's chuckle is low next to her ear, "My thoughts exactly, gorgeaus.  Wow..."

He stretches with a groan, reaching down to take care of the condom, deftly throwing it into the wastepaper basket in the corner of the room, before moving back beside her, immediately nuzzling into the crook of her neck, running his hand up and down her side, her nerve endings tingling at his touch.

She cradles his head close to her chest, gently running her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp, hearing his purr of approval.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Oh, so much better.  I mean... sex always makes me feel better, but I’m glad you talked to me, and convinced me to listen.  I’m an old man, baby.  I still have a lot to learn...”

She chuckles fondly, leaning down to kiss his forehead, “It will all be okay now.  I know it will be.”

Dan hums contentedly in reply.  “Hey, baby?”

“Yes?”

“Please send me that photo collage you made.  I’d like it as my background, too.”

“I will.”

A pause.

“I love you, Dan.  So much.”

Dan lifts his head, giving her a gentle smile, leaning in for a slow, lazy kiss that was so sweet that it brought tears to her eyes, “And I love you.  Don’t ever stop being you.”

Even while they were sleeping, their hands remain intertwined through the night.