Could she maybe return the favor? 😉
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It's been months since your spill on ice, your wrist had healed and you were back to being able to use both your hands.
It was Billy's nightmare. He'd loved helping you, loved cooking for you and getting you dressed and driving you everywhere.
He especially loved washing your hair.
He'd been having an exhausting day when he finally gets home, barely able to keep himself upright as he kicks off his shoes.
"Babe?" He calls out for you, "M'home."
He hears you moving quickly, a tired smile grows on his face as he can basically hear your excitement in the speed you move at. You round the corner, and you're about to leap on him when you screech to a halt. He looks exhausted, dark circles around his eyes, his hair is a heavy, gelled mess, his skin is a pale complexion.
You know instantly that Billy hasn't slept, eaten, or showered in quite a while.
"Aw, Billy." You tut affectionately. Reaching forward slowly to take his briefcase from his hands.
You take his hand in yours, and you pull him along to the bathroom. He doesn't protest as you lean him against the bathroom sink to turn on the taps in your tub. The water gushes quickly, and you throw some bath salts in for good measure.
You turn back to him, and you start undressing him. You start with the expensive watch on his left hand, admiring his calloused palm as you move. His jacket next, slipping it down his shoulders, followed by the gun holster wrapped around his back. You pull the gun from the back of his waistband, and give him a little smile as you place it on your bathroom counter. When he raises his hands to unbutton his shirt, you stop his hands, placing a kiss on each before doing it yourself. He braces his hands against the bathroom sink, tossing his head back with a sigh as you slowly unbutton his shirt and slip it from his shoulders. He's wearing a white vest below, but you can still see the dark purples and blues of bruises on his chest and arms.
"Oh, my god, Billy." You finally say as you see his torso properly for the first time. You're not sure how he's still able to stand upright with the way he's bruised.
"Should see the other guy." He mumbles.
You work his belt off next, moving faster to get him off his feet. You tug his pants and boxers off in one swipe, and then each sock until he's naked for you. He's so beautiful, even under a mountain of bruises, he looks gorgeous and you know he'd still be able to get any girl he wanted, even in this state.
The tub is full, and you turn off the tap before helping him in.
"I know how to get into a tub." He protests. You snort.
"I don't know how you can hold your head up in this state, let alone getting into a tub."
He grumbles out a response that turns into a sigh when the warm water soothes his skin. You pull his head forward and adjusts a waterproof pillow behind his head. You spread your hands over his neck, down his shoulders, over his arms, until you can't go any lower without getting your clothes wet.
"Want a sandwich while you soak?"
He nods his head, "Yes please, princess."
You smile, kissing his temple, before moving to make him a quick meal.
He eats the entire thing with a speed that has your mouth open in shock.
"Not so fast! You'll get sick!"
He sops mid chew to look up at you.
"No I won't." He says with a muffled mouth.
You giggle, and sit beside the tub, letting him finish and then passing him a cup of orange juice.
He gives you an odd look.
"I know you can't tell me the last time you had a fruit." You reason to him.
"Is apple a fruit?"
"You know it is."
"Had a slice of apple pie yesterday."
A long sigh.
"Billy-"
"You said apple was a fruit!"
"I- I'm not even gonna argue with you."
He grins, eyes at half mast. You lean forward to kiss his lips gently.
You sit on the edge of the tub, squirting some of your shampoo into your hands.
"Letting me use your shampoo? You must really love me, huh?"
"Cocky bitch." You answer.
He actually moans as you work your lathered hands into his hair, breaking up the globs of gel, and working it out of his soft hair. He looks up at you through his eyelashes, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. When your fingers build up a rhythmic, circular motion, he moans and shuts his eyes.
You tilt his head back, and you take your time, rinsing the shampoo before applying conditioner to his hair.
"I love you, so fucking much."
"I love you too Bill-"
"-No," he says, grabbing your wrists in his hair to get your attention, "You don't understand. I love you... so fucking much it makes my chest hurt sometimes." He pauses, studying the rippling the water before speaking again.
"You take care of me... in a way no one ever has before."
"Hey," you say, cupping his cheeks to bring his focus back to you, and away from whatever seems to be haunting him, "You take care of me too. We do this together, okay?"
He blinks up at you and nods his head silently.
He groans when your fingers move back into his hair. When you're done, you drain your tub and rinse his hair and the lingering soap from his skin before pulling him into a towelled embrace.
You pat him dry as best as you can, before helping him dress into a pair of boxers and getting him comfortable on the bed, his body pressed firmly to yours.
"Mean so much to me." Billy mumbles, face pressed into your chest.
You smile, because the disbelief of the situation finally hits you. You'd never thought you'd have this, and having him now feels like a dream come true. Yet here he is in your arms, telling you how much you mean to him.
"Sleep, Bill," You mumble, hands raising to stroke the top of his now fluffy hair, "Tell me how much you love me in the morning."
"Okay, I will."
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I think a lot about all the fandom commentary throughout the campaign on Fjord in pirates arc that heavily rested on, "I realized I didn't dislike Fjord then, I realized I disliked the person he was trying to be: I disliked Vandran." It was a fairly popular take for a long time, and I always thought and still think it misses something.
The little we knew for a long time—and little we still know—about Vandran, yes, characterizes him as emotionally reticent, overly stoic, subscribing a little much to a tough love. Vandran taught Fjord just as many things to shed, but this isn't about those things. Vandran is also characterized with a gentle hand, a quiet manner, an even temper, and a belief in equity of team success. Travis describes him with a leadership that "empowers people to rise in their station" where "if there are people in a team that have less authority or less push, you give them more power, you encourage them to become greater and better" (which is antithetical to needing such fine, tight, authoritarian control as Fjord desperately tried to have). These finer qualities Fjord shares, apparently learned from Vandran.
Additionally, Fjord lived a life that made him sensitive to and deeply disdainful of being berated, forced, or tyrannized. And so, it always felt unlikely Fjord would've so admired the man if he was as forcibly domineering as Fjord initially felt he himself needed to be.
Fjord was trying to be who Vandran was. But, really, he didn't know how Vandran did it. Fjord used someone else's methods, creating this massive dissonance between three men. These were methods of imposing control, of force, of threats, of domineering persona—ones Fjord understood better than the deft gentle influence Vandran apparently exercised. These were methods embedded into Fjord as a person because, to quote Fjord, they were as it were done to him.
But, it wasn't on the Tide's Breath. It was at the Driftwood Asylum.
So, I personally believe, he reached for Vandran's successes by taking a shortcut through someone else entirely, someone who looms just as large over Fjord as Vandran does: that orphanage headmaster.
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