#nico morrisini

[sunshine-luca]

[ 🍦 ] - going out for ice cream late at night (Izzy)

(i apologize in advance how dumb this is but this is literally how they all bullshit in my head at any given time in the day 🙃)

--

[sometime in the future]

“God, you’re so boring now we can’t go out clubbing,” Luca complained teasingly, nudging Izzy with his shoulder. “You just had to go and get yourself knocked up, didn’t you?”

Izzy nudged him back, a dollop of her expensive gelato going flying as she did so. “Hey, it’s not like we’ll never go out dancing again. Besides, isn’t your man keeping you busy with work of your own these days?”

Luca scooped up another spoon of salted caramel ice cream. For a brief, insane moment, he’d considered trying something different like hokey pokey or choc chip but in the end, he’d found his favourite and had no interest in exploring other options.

A bit like how he felt about Ryan the first time they’d met. “Yeah, it’s been pretty fun. And Ry is really happy to be back in the air so much.”

“Is it weird? Having to step back now that Skye’s son is older?”

“Nah. I like having Ryan to myself to be honest. And plus, it means I can come visit your lame ass more often.”

Izzy blew a raspberry in his direction, making him laugh. He was teasing. There was absolutely nothing lame about Isobel Morrisini, queen of the Italian underworld and close ally to the O’Riain clan. She perched beside him on the edge of the penthouse’s private gardens, watching the eternal city that was Roma pass by below, beautiful and serene. From here, the ancient coliseum and scattered ruins were bathed in gold light. Luca loved visiting Izzy and Nico in Rome, but already he was homesick with the insistent tug calling back to the highlands and the stones.

“How far along are you now?”

Izzy rubbed her belly, the swell there only just starting to be obvious through the flowery sundress she wore. “Almost eight months. Sometimes it feels like it’s taking forever, sometimes I worry it’s going too fast. We’ve both wanted this so much.”

“I’m glad Vito’s gone now,” Luca said quietly, digging around for the last dregs of caramel. “You won’t have to look over your shoulder anymore.”

Izzy gave him a telling glance. “Nor you. Lainey’s gone?”

“Yeah. Ry dealt with her. I should have let him deal with her years ago when she first started her shit but I was… I dunno. I think I was kinda smug. I didn’t know she could be so dangerous.”

“I don't think anyone could have. But she’s gone now. They both are. Now we get to live the rest of our lives with the men we love.”

“Yeah,” Luca brightened then swung his legs around to climb off the edge. He helped Izzy up too. “God, if Nico sees you like this, he’s gonna freak.”

Izzy laughed. “Oh, he knows. He just knows better than to argue with me now.”

“Still, precious cargo and all that.” Luca gestured to her belly.

“Do you want to feel him kick?”

“What?”

“The ice cream must have woken him up. He’s moving around.”

Luca found himself morbidly curious. Not that he hadn’t been around babies, Kate and Skye pumping them out like it was going out of style, but it was another thing entirely to feel one moving around on the inside.

It kinda grossed him out a little.

Izzy laughed at the expression on his face. “Luca!”

“What! Sorry, I know it’s the miracle of creation and blah blah, but like, isn’t it just, fucking weird? Like… that. In… there. I’m-“

Luca pulled a face, only causing Izzy to laugh harder. “It’s really not that weird.”

“Not to you,” Luca sniffed, but he gingerly poked her belly, only for Izzy to roll her eyes and flatten his palm against the curve of her stomach. “This feels very hetero,” he muttered, only for Izzy to shush him.

At first there was nothing, then a tiny little flutter. His eyes widened. “Holy shit!”

“See,” Izzy looked smug. “Not so weird.”

“Wow. Okay,” Luca pulled his hand away. “So if it’s a boy, you’re gonna call him Luca, right?”

Izzy covered her mouth, trying to hide her laugh. “Um. No.”

“Come on, it’s a good name. And I totally just bought you that gelato and snuck you onto the roof so like, naming your first born after me totally seems like a pretty good deal.”

“Your husband’s black credit card bough the gelato,” Izzy corrected, sweeping past Luca in a swirl of flowing sundress.

He trotted after her, undeterred. “Do you know what Luca means? Bringer of Light. Ry says it's perfect because I remind him of sunshine. How cool is that?”

“Luca-“ Izzy started.

“See, just look how much you already love saying it.”

“Oh for god’s sake,” she melted against him, clutching his arm and finally giving up on holding in her laughter. He giggled right alongside her until they made it downstairs and back onto the street. Across the road, the gelato sign was still lit up in a neon glow and the two black cars flanked its shopfront, ready to take them home once they’d had their fun.

Izzy’s hand tightened on his arm. “You know. I’m not sure I’m ready to go home yet.”

“Aren’t your feet aching? And other pregnant lady stuff? Kate always complains about her back hurt-ow!”

Izzy pinched his side, hard. “You are such a brat.”

“I know,” he grinned then tugged her back across the street. “Come on, let’s get seconds then!”

[sempre-nico]

(before the Ryan talk)

He watched her disappear into a darkened corridor with far too much apprehension. It wasn’t so much where she was going – the snaking hallways and hidden nooks in the ancient house’s centuries old footprint had been mostly explored and deemed safe – it was the way the sway of her hips and the coy glances over a smooth brown shoulder hit him so squarely in the gut and stole the wind from his lungs.

Isobel Haven had come to the Castle alongside the Boss’s little love. Noone had been particularly surprised when Ryan had brought the boy into the fold within barely heartbeats of finding him. Their intensity was a replay of Skye and her lover Kiosho, a whirlwind affair that had already produced one child and opened the door for Ryan to take point on the Family Business. It had been echoed in Rourke being sent to collect The Cook, only to return with the wife of his heart on his arm. The O’Riain’s fell fast. They fell hard, and they didn’t let anything get between them and the love that was due to them.

Nico wondered if he was allowed to be the same. His family were gone now but history told him his parents were a match that had been slow to bloom. It had ended in a tragedy that sometimes made Nico wonder if it could reach through time and stain whatever he touched. Isobel wasn’t supposed to have captured his attention – she was Luca’s best friend, his childhood companion, and sometimes lover. Their bond wasn’t something Nico could ever hope to understand so he didn’t bother to try. He just knew she was important.

He simply hadn’t expected she would become so important to him too.

“You shouldn’t go in there,” he heard himself say to the retreating figure. Her dress was hardly suited to the Scottish chill but he couldn’t ignore the flush of pleasure he’d felt when she had emerged from her rooms in the guest wing wearing a designer dress she had picked out on a foray into Italy when she had accompanied him on a trip to see the Italian orchestra. It had swirled around her thighs as she spun.

“Luca says this is the oldest part of the house. Some of the staff say it’s haunted. Are you afraid, Mr Morrisini,” she teased him. Her green eyes danced with mischief.

Anyone else he would have scowled and ordered them back but her sense of adventure had captivated him. She was always willing to explore, always willing to look behind the curtain. Their weekend in Florence had been the most enlightening visit he had ever had to the city – a city he thought he knew like the back of his hand, until Isobel had taken his arm and pulled him along into streets he’d never thought to venture down. They’d found an out of the way gallery, a tiny café and beautiful gardens and he’d watched her daintily lick a dollop of gelato off spoon after spoon because she couldn’t decide which one she liked best so he’d ordered one of each just because he could.

“Not afraid,” he grunted, unwilling to admit he knew he was already in danger of losing his heart. He was falling hard for this girl, but he didn’t know if he would be allowed to have her. Too many times he’d caught Luca eyeing him, a hard glint in the boy’s eye when Nico found himself venturing into Isobel’s space, reminding him that whatever he and Isobel had been building in the spaces left over between Luca and Ryan, Isobel was Luca’s first.

The thought alone made him privately seethe and he hated himself for the disloyal thoughts. He respected Ryan, the man that had pulled him out of the fire and given him a life and a purpose and a family. He respected Luca too, by virtue of the way the boy held himself in the face of Ryan’s storm and matched it with his own. There would be no Boss without his little wife now, but Nico didn’t like how Isobel had come to the Castle at Luca’s side – then had been regulated to the scraps of Luca’s attention when the Boss was simply too busy.

Isobel deserved more than that. More than waiting around for Luca to realise she was close. She deserved to be put first. She deserved to be worshipped. Like a queen, a goddess-

“Nicky-“ her bright laugh startled him out of his thoughts. “I can go on my own. You don’t have to follow me. If you’re scared, that is.”

“I’m not scared,” he growled again. It was dark in the corridor and they came to a stop in front of a heavy wooden door. Cobwebs caught in the corners and the air held a distinctly musty smell. In here, he could easily imagine they had been thrown back in time, in the bowels of some eerie castle. “I just have better things to do.”

She laughed again, clearly not buying it and giving him a look that told him exactly that. Why would she? She knew his schedule and his duties as well as he did by this point. “Mmhm.”

Soft hands reached for the wooden door, dancing over the surface before she tried the handle. It rattled, but the door didn’t budge.

She strained as she tried to push at it. “It won’t open.”

“Let me try.”

Nico didn’t wait for an answer, pressing up behind her and placing his massive hands on the wooden door. For a second his brain fizzed. He wasn’t thinking about the door, only at how her perfect ass was resting against his hip, how he only had to turn slightly to rest his instantly half hard cock behind his pants right there in the cleft of her backside.

All at once, the air seemed to be sucked out of the space. Even her breath hitched and Nico became acutely aware of how close she was. How supple and fragrant and hot her skin was.

Fuck. He wanted her.

He forgot about the door, grabbed her hips instead. He pulled her back, savoring the sharp gasp that escaped her as he ground his bulge into her ass through the thin material of her dress. One of his hands clutched at her breast, leaving no doubt as to how much he ached for her.

He kissed her neck as she tipped her head back and whispered his name.

“I have never wanted anything like I want you,” he breathed against her skin. He was rock hard now, aching in the confines of his pants. Her body was languid and smooth in his arms, open and inviting. “You’re all I can think about.”

Her hand came up, hooking against the back of his neck as she arched further into him. “I want to be yours, Nicky. Sir.”

“Fuck,” he cursed, fighting the rush of blood in his ears. He felt like he was on the verge of being knocked out, he was dizzy and hard and he needed her. “Yeah. You’re fucking mine, alright babygirl. I’m gonna keep you.”

“All yours,” she whispered between the kisses he pulled her head back for and the impatient hand he shoved under her dress. She deserved more than this, he knew that, but they both needed this.

He touched her core, thrilled at the slick he found there then planted her hands against the door. Within a second, he’d ripped her panties away and freed himself. A second after that, he was sinking into her and pulling her back onto his aching dick.

“Fuck,” he groaned into her ear as he felt her body clench around him. Hot and perfect and his. This was the part of him he had been missing. He held himself still, letting her adjust, listening to the sounds she made as she rocked herself on him before pulling her against him. He sank in even deeper, forcing her up onto her tippy toes as she whimpered. Sometimes he wondered if it hurt her, the width of him inside her, stretching her, bumping her deepest places but she never complained. His entire world shrank down to them in front of the door at the end of a dark corridor, her perfect body impaled on his cock, his arms tight around her waist and his hands full of her breasts. His mouth whispered against her and his ears recorded every one of her moans. “You’re so fucking perfect, Izzy. I love you.”

[made-in-haven]

I dreamed about you last night.

I dreamed about sinking into your pink heat, the sounds you make, the feel of your breasts against my chest. The scent of your skin.

I want to cherish you. Come to me, Cara.

They'd been flirting for weeks, flitting around the edge of friendship, or something vaguely more, but it wasn't until now that Isobel knew for sure Nico was feeling it too. The heat they shared. She'd attempted early on, with low whispers and lower cut tops but the man's complicated past made him reluctant toward anything that might seem shallow or casual. But what Isobel Haven felt for Nico Morrisini was anything but shallow or casual.

"Cara." The room was dark compared to the lighted hallway that led her there. She squinted, adjusting to the scarce moonlight. "You came."

"Your message." Her heart was in her throat. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears. His words played through her mind. Her heat, her scent, the feel of her skin. She'd give him all of it and more. "Nico."

She could already feel the slick building between her folds. The way her sensitive nipples began to peak. All of her ached for him. She'd been so close. She'd felt him under her hands, at her back, his arms wrapped around her in the most comforting of hugs. She'd smelled him when he was sweaty, when he was fresh out a shower, when he was dressed to the nines and taking her out on the town. But still she needed more.

"Please, Nicky. Please make me all yours."

[phoenixvanguard]

[before X - Enzo sidebar]

--

They were gathering their gear, re-kitting ahead of the captain’s summons and taking in Mason’s last minutes instructions when Nico turned to him and looked him up and down. 

Nico could barely disguise his sneer. “Cosa intendi you can’t charge?”

Enzo kept his expression natural as he fastened the last clip of his gauntlet to his wrist. He wasn’t interested in squabbling with Nico, he was saving himself for the fight ahead so he stayed quiet, which only seemed to enrage his brother further.

“Hey. I’m talking to you.”

Nico’s sharp tone carried too loudly in the open air by the shuttle. The group, alliance and phoenix alike, stilled in place, the tension palpable as they watched on nervously. Enzo caught the way Mason’s mouth dropped open to speak, then his husband’s hand against his wrist to caution him. Enzo bit back the sigh but he finally raised his eyes to look at his brother and the same gold glittered back at him.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t charge,” he said quietly. “I can. I just can’t charge like you. My tech is different. I don’t have the power you do.”

Nico’s lip curled but there was something pleased in his eye, like he finally got one up on Enzo. He did have this, Enzo supposed. He wasn’t built like Nico or Ben or even the curious ex-dragoon that had joined their ranks. He couldn’t charge then immediately drop into a powerful shockwave to send the enemy scattering with a biotic blast.

“Then what good are you?”

“Zeus,” Mason protested, frowning hard but Enzo didn’t bother to wait. One beat he was there, facing down Nico’s hostile glare, the next he was a ghostly shimmer, an apparition shifting around them so fast a blink and he was gone.

When he reappeared, his hands were full of weapons.

“Hey!” Braun patted himself down quickly. Thurman scowled down at his empty hip and Harris’s mouth dropped open. The engineers yelped, shoving each other and Nico snarled as Enzo dropped the weapons in his hands. They fell to the dirt with a dull clatter.

“That’s what I’m good for,” he told Nico. “That’s how I charge.”

[mason-knight-retired]

I found an incorrect quotes generator and I woke my kid up cackling at how IC these are 😂😂😂😂😂

[cdrmiller]

post war

-

“Hi Archie.” 

“Well that’s a new one.” 

“I like it, think I’ll keep it.” Marie batted at her brown hair, a useless struggle in the wind to keep it out of her face.

“I’ll allow it. Is everything good? Where’s beefsteak?” 

“I’m just herding kids, per usual. And he’s over at the vineyard.” 

UNCLE ARCHER! Marie winced at the screech, watching Ciara run up the steps of the deck before climbing into her lap and pressing her face close to the vid screen. “Uncle Archie.” Marie whispered into her ear with a smile. UNCLE ARCHIE! Marie winced again, rubbing at her ear.  

“Hey Ci, have you been practicing?”

The little girl nodded enthusiastically. “I help chop food whenever Daddy cooks!”

“Plastic knives.” Marie interjected with a pointed stare at the man on the screen.

“I don’t think she’s too young to handle sharp objects, Marie.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, no sword for Christmas then, got it.”

Ciara gasped, golden eyes wide with wonder. “A SWORD?”

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Marie lifted the girl out of her lap to scoot closer to the screen. ““How are you?” 

 He grinned at her smile. “Better than ever.” 

“Good. Where’s my man?” 

“I’ll get him.” 

He disappeared from the screen and Marie waited, rolling her eyes at Ciara running through the yard barefoot, performing slicing motions in the air with an invisible sword. She chuckled when she heard a faint, chiding, Archer voice. The kids are there, so be good. Then a blue eyed, bearded face was sliding into view and a piece of her was whole again. “Hi honey.” 

“Hey babe.” 

Marie took a sip from her wine. “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s just been day.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Where are my kiddos?” 

“Well the twins are occupied and I’d prefer to keep them that way.” She turned to find the ninja. “Cici! Uncle Maddy’s turn.” Marie plugged her ears until the screech was over. She gave Ciara the chair this time, knowing it would take a while to tell Maddox all of her stories. She leaned against the railing, watching the boys painting on a giant canvas spread out on the lush, green grass of the villa’s yard. She breathed in the clean, fresh air, eyes finding the vineyard in the distant rolling hills. She decided she’d never get tired of Italy, before deciding to save Maddox.

“Okay baby.” She kissed the top of the girl’s dark hair. “Mommy’s turn, go away.”

“So I need to talk to you about something.” 

“Uh oh.” Marie sat back down into the chair in front of the vid screen and reclaimed her wine glass, knowing from the tone in his voice she’d need it. “I knew something was wrong.” 

“It’s going to be about another month. We can’t get away until-.”   

“You said that two months ago. I haven’t seen you guys in six months.” 

“Well don’t act like it’s only my fault Ems, you are always busy too.” 

“Okay don’t be an asshole. My birthday is in two weeks.” She knew that he knew how much birthday’s meant to her. She also knew that was the source of his frustration but she couldn’t help take her hurt feelings out on him. Safety nets allowed that, and safety nets sometimes came in the form of a whole person. 

“Mommy what’s an asshole?” 

Marie sighed before glancing down at the young girl. “Go play with your brothers.” 

“Marie. I’m sorry. I would be there if I could, we’re not even on the same planet right now, what do you want me to do?” 

She sighed again, refusing to cry over such a stupid thing. “Don’t worry about it, I have to go.” 

“Emmy…” 

“I have to go. The twins just upended the entire bucket of glitter onto the dog and Ciara thinks it’s her place to yell at them and now they’re crying.” 

“Okay.” She could hear the hurting in his voice. “Call me later please. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” She didn’t look at him as she closed the screen. 

- 

“You mind telling me why my daughter just asked me why Uncle Maddy is an asshole?” 

Marie grimaced, putting down her mascara before turning to Nico, arms crossed and leaning against the doorway of the luxurious bathroom. “Five years and I still haven’t learned to watch my mouth around her, I’m sorry.” 

“Hey.” He moved to her and slid a finger under her chin. “I can’t have you sad today of all days.” 

She tugged at his shirt until he leaned down enough for her to reach his lips. “I’m not sad. I’m getting old. You do realize I’m going to be a haggard crone while you are going to still look like an Adonis, right? I should have put that in the vows so you knew what you were signing up for.” 

“Bella you’re more beautiful than the day I met you. And when you’re 80 I’m going to think you’re even more beautiful than today.” 

“Yea right.” 

She smiled as his lips traveled from her collarbone to whisper against her ear. “Happy Birthday.”

- 

“Oh no.” 

Marie looked at Nico from her place on the couch, legs tucked under her and surrounded by ripped, brightly colored paper from both homemade and expensive gifts. She was about to ask what’s wrong when her hand shot out in a haze of blue, barely catching the vase with her power, half a second before it shattered onto the floor. She slowly lifted her hand, and the vase floated up to a much higher shelf, safe from three year old’s tiny fumbling fingers.

“Ciara, did we forget the cake?” 

“Nic…” She actually whined. “Cake...” 

“If only there was someone to bring us one.” 

Then the door was opening and Marie’s jaw dropped. It took three seconds for her brain to realize it wasn’t a figment of her imagination and it was in fact her actual best friend walking through the door with a cake, his husband trailing behind with an armful of presents. It took two more seconds for the tears to come, and she buried her face into her hands in a futile effort to stop them. 

She didn’t move as she listened to the exchanged greetings and Ciara screeches, tears dripping down her wrists until her hands were being pulled away and his blue eyes and beard were there in person instead of on a screen. Maddox stayed kneeling in front of her, pressing his lips to her forehead. “You think I’d ever miss a birthday?” 

“I hate you.” 

“I love you too.” He kissed her tear streaked cheek when she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him as close as she could. 

Ciara threw her arms around Archer’s leg as he shook Nico’s hand. “Uncle Archie why is mommy crying?” 

Marie let go of Maddox to stand and Archer leaned down to let her throw her arms around his neck. 

“Because of love, kiddo.” He held Maddox’s gaze over Marie’s shoulder and rubbed her back as she clung to him, sniffling into his shabby coat. “Because of stupid, dumb, mean ol’ love.”

[luca-moreno]

Operation Asteria

after X & before X (Unnecessarily long and indulgent and probably just generally unnecessary but it was crap day)

By the time Kate had seen to both Eva and Luca, Ben had fallen asleep, still in his armor, propped up against the wall beside Luca’s bed in the medbay. 

She crouched down in front of him. “Phoenix Roosevelt. Ben... wake up.”

He blinked at her blearily once, dark eye lashes fluttering against scarred cheeks before closing again. With the dried blood and dust caked on his armor, it didn’t take much to understand he was almost as depleted as Eva. Kate sent a call out to Thurman but he took one look at the sleeping phoenix and shook his head.

“I can’t move him, sugar. He’s too heavy in that armor for me. Best off getting that big one in here.”

“Zeus?”

“Yeah.” Thurman turned away from the phoenix and leaned over Luca, peering into the engineer’s face. “Is he gonna be okay?”

Kate threaded her arm through his and leaned into him as they stood beside Luca’s side. She wished she could join the two sleeping figures in a bunk and sleep too but there was no one else on board to take the strain and she had already been working for too many days straight. “Yes, but nothing a good rest won’t cure.”

Thurman curled his arm around her. “They aren’t the only ones that need rest. When was the last time you slept?”

“About the same time you did.”

“Not good enough.”

Kate sighed, releasing him to move over to her terminal. She sent off a quick message to the phoenix, wondering if either Ajax or Zeus were available. She suspected they would be the only two that could prompt Phoenix Roosevelt to move.

In the meantime, she prepped the treatments the smaller vanguard would need and tried not to disturb the captain where he had also fallen asleep in the chair by the fury’s bed. At least he had managed to change out of his armor and into comfortable fatigues, although even that had been a fight to drag him away from Eva’s side long enough to achieve it. 

“There’ll be time to rest later.”

--

Nico heaved the last battered chunks of the juggernaut into the corner of the cargo bay, along with the other scrap bits of geth still left from the fight. Harris shuffled along beside him, rummaging through the debris for anything that might be of use.

“What are you looking for?” he grunted, lifting what might once have been an arm and flinging it aside.

“Luca has always wanted a geth combat drone. Thought maybe we could get him one. It… It will be nice to surprise him if he wakes up.”

“He’ll wake up. But no fucking geth drones though. Had enough of those bastards.” 

Nico was about to throw another disabled geth chunk onto the pile when his omnitool chirped. 

He ignored the weird plummet of his stomach when he realized the message wasn’t from Marie. He refused to let himself think about where she was right now and concentrates on the text on his screen instead.

Ben was exactly where Kate had said he would be when he strode into the medbay – slumped against the wall by the engineer’s quiet form.

“Hey, stronzo,” he crouched and tapped Ben firmly on the centre of his forehead, just under the matted shock of white hair that always fell forward into his eyes. “You can’t sleep here. Plus you stink.”

Ben jerked and waved his hand weakly, some gesture that might be a sign telling Nico to fuck off, but Nico ignored it. “Ben,” he tried again but when there was no response, he sighed and threw one armored arm over his shoulder and hoisted Ben up to his feet. Ben protested feebly.

“Doc said you charged from the cargo bay with the kid. No wonder you’re fucked now.”

“Help Luca,” Ben mumbled. He lifted his head to look over at the engineer. The monitors beeped quietly and the air had that same antiseptic smell all medical bays did.

“He’ll be fine,” Nico said unnecessarily as he started to lead Ben away. They moved carefully and quietly, not wanting to disturb the captain where he was dozing, chin on his chest. Nico wasn’t entirely sure he was actually asleep. “You can come and check on your new boyfriend later.”

Ben made a small, strangled sound. Miserable enough to remind Nico that Ben already had two boyfriends.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He shuffled Ben into the hallway. “Not that easy to move on. I get that.”

Ben eyed Nico suspiciously. Nico walked slowly so that Ben could keep up, but he was tempted just to throw Ben over his shoulder so he could move faster. The other vanguard pointed at a blackened streak along the bulkhead instead.

 “W’happened?”

Nico grunted. “We were boarded. Geth. No casualties, though.” Nico couldn’t hold the speck of pride in his voice over that. “Marie made sure of that.”

They reached Ben’s quarters and Nico deposited Ben unceremoniously into the shower cubicle. His thick arms got soaked as he unlatched the seals on Ben’s armor and tugged off each plate. He takes a moment to rinse them under the spray of the water, noting the blackened parts with concealed dismay. And Ben had only just repaired it too. Ben peeled his undersuit off to his waist and shuffled deeper under the water, dunking his head. A river of red swirled down the drain.

“Finish cleaning up, Hurricane.” Nico said as he climbed back to his feet. “I’ll be back with some food soon.”

--

When Luca wakes up, it’s to the captain’s unmistakable voice speaking quietly with the doctor. 

For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was, except that his body ached and his mouth felt like it was full of cotton wool. He tried to mumble something, just a slur of a word and then Isaac was leaning over him.

“Son. Luca... you’re awake.”

“Where… Are we home?”

Isaac’s mouth curved in a tight smile. “Yes, Luca. We’re back on the Berlin. We made it, thanks to yours and Ben’s fancy flying. The shuttle has seen better days but we won’t talk about that.”

“Lieutenant Ryan is gonna be so mad,” Luca scrunched his eyes shut again. “He told me to take care of the shuttle.”

“Don’t worry about that. Or him.”

Luca forced a swallow just as another shape manifested at his side. He squinted up, relived to see the doctor holding a cup of ice chips. She handed him enough that he could find his voice. There was another figure on the bed nearby but Luca doesn’t need the confirmation of who it was when he saw the long golden waves spread across the pillow.

And Isaac at his side, a careful smile on his face - told Luca she was going to be okay.

“Evie?” he asked it anyway, tensing as he waited for confirmation.

“Resting,” Kate told him smoothly and he breathed a small sigh of relief. Isaac squeezed his shoulder gently. “It will be a few days before she’s up, but she will be alright.”

“Good,” Luca struggled to pull himself upright but he was relieved when the room didn't spin around him. He flopped his hands into his lap. “Where’s Ben?”

“He’s resting too.”

Luca nodded, pushing aside the flicker of disappointment he couldn’t see him yet. He peered at Eva over the captain’s shoulder. “Can… can I give her a hug?”

Neither of them tried to stop him as he wriggled out of his sheets and gingerly climbed onto the bed beside Eva. He tucked up close to her side - it was a tight squeeze, but they both fit and Luca threw one arm around his friend and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Evie. When you wake up-“

Luca scrambled up then, almost falling off the bed in his urgency. Isaac reached to steady him. “Neeboo, where’s Neeboo, Cap?”

“Your drone?”

“My pack! Where… oh!”

Luca slid off the bed and dropped to his knees, dragging out the battered bag that he had used on the mission. He didn’t know how it ended up in the medbay with him but he wasn’t about question it. He ripped open the panels, rummaging through until his familiar and trusty little drone blipped and whirred and rose into the air at his shoulder.

“Neeboo, hand it over.”

The drone drifts close then pops out a small compartment from its underbelly. Luca took the tiny disc out and straightened. He solemnly handed the item to his captain, then saluted.

“Here is the intel, Captain.”

Isaac stared down at the disc in his palm. “Luca… What… How did you..?”

“Um. I swapped the discs as, um… a precaution. After what Viz told us...” 

Luca glanced nervously at Kate as he continued. “Vance will be enjoying about three tetrabites of Lieutenant Ryan’s asari porn collection right about now.”

[captain-cerrillo]

post war silly thing that he just would not shut up about

“Mommy, they’re here!”

Ciara reminded Isaac of a fairytale princess in a general way, but especially as their antique car rolled to a slow stop in the wide circle drive past her bedroom’s balcony on the east side of the estate.

Isaac was out of the car and opening Eva’s door before she had a chance to do it herself. He took her hand to help her stand. The swell of her belly had been presenting new challenges to her nearly unlimited typical range of movement. She thanked him with a smile before stretching up to wave at the Morrisini’s oldest across the courtyard.

Nico met them at the door, reaching to take the bags from Isaac’s hands as Marie shuffled around the men to wrap Eva in a tight hug. “May I?” She gestured to Eva’s belly with a twinkle in her eyes. Eva tucked a golden hair and then grinned, watching the mother of five cup her small belly with a fresh excitement - like any of it was new.

Marie must have understood Eva’s expression because she pulled away, giggling. She hugged Isaac quickly before she took Eva’s hand to lead her to the softest sofa. “I like pregnancy so much more when I don’t have to do it.” They both laughed.

They sat together with snacks, some small talk, and the constant interruption of tiny voices and tiny hands while Nico showed Isaac to the wing they’d have mostly to themselves (minus the wild rambling munchkins) for as long as they wanted it. Nico wouldn’t take no for an answer when Isaac begged him not to make a fuss about dinner.

“Dio, I won’t hear it.” He waved a large paw. His accent had gotten so much stronger in the years since the war. But domesticity seemed to be treating him well. “You’re under my roof and you’re going to eat like it. Questo è definitive. It’s done.”

Isaac clapped a hand to the hulking man’s wide shoulder with a serious nod before the weariness of their long travels set in. “I owe you, old friend.”

“Nonsense.” Nico sniffed, already making his way to the mini bar in the central lounge of the mostly unused hall of the sprawling estate. “You’re family.” He gestured to the empty stool across from him. “Some wine?”

Isaac didn’t normally partake beyond the occasional curious sip but, as he took in the high ceilings and smooth marble around him, the ever-present shrieking laughter or piercing childhood screams, and the thought of two of his favorite women laughing together in the background of it all, he allowed himself to indulge. “Please.”

Nico’s smile was unmistakably proud when he twisted the top off a dusty bottle on a top shelf. Isaac wasn’t a drinker but he was certain wine bottles weren’t made to open so easily. He pushed the thought aside, once again grateful to have been on the same side of the war.

“2187.” Nico’s chest puffed, just a little, as he slid the dusty bottle to the older man across the smooth small bar’s top. “Our very first vintage. Grown, harvested, brewed and bottled right here.”

Isaac’s fingers traced the gilded gold writing on the label. “I remember.” He brought the long-stemmed glass to his lips and closed his eyes to smell its complexity. “Your wedding.”

Nico’s smile was small, but his eyes glittered with happy memories. “The happiest day of my life.” He topped Isaac’s glass with another long pour of the dark red liquid and Isaac thanked him with a nod and crinkled-eye smile.

“It’s delightful.” Isaac tipped the glass, already feeling a cozy flush rush his cheeks.

“I know.” He chuckled, a warm sound that rumbled even as he crossed his impossibly large arms across his wide chest. “Consider us even.”

[sunshine-luca]

part 1 - NYC

I know I keep fiddling with the settings and who’s what/where - so absolutely doesn’t need to be canon - just trying things out?? This is just 3.5k of Luca moping idk he possessed me again and just needed this out - set before Mase and Liv join the tour, before Luca b’day & he hooks up with Ryan (this is supposed to all be set up for Lucan ok, lets be clear).

On the third stumble, Enzo stopped to throw his hands up in the air.

“Luca!” Enzo bunched the tips of his fingers together in a motion that Luca knew only came out when he was exasperated. Enzo frowned at him from his mark on Luca’s left, frowning heavily under the dance studio’s ugly florescent lighting.

“I’m sorry,” Luca groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face and dragging back his curls. “I know, I messed up again. I’m sorry, Enzo. Can we try again? I know I’ll get it this time.”

Enzo regarded him for a moment, his expression hard to read. He was a bit like Nico like that sometimes and Luca half wondered if it was just some Morrisini thing the cousins could do that disguised their thoughts so easily. How did they manage it so effortlessly and how could Luca emulate it? He was sure his disinterest would be painted clear across his face right now.

“Luca,” Enzo said this name again, this time a little softer. The big dancer came closer and the concern was clear in his gaze. “Cosa c'è che non va? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Luca lied. “I’m fine. Come on, let’s go again-“

“No,” Enzo shook his head. He glanced over Luca’s shoulder to other person in the room. “Basta. Abbiamo finite. We have done enough today. Luca is tired. Needs to rest.”

“No, I don’t! I’m fine!” Luca didn’t want to cut short their rehearsal when he had nothing ahead of him but long, empty hours in a foreign city missing his family. “Can’t we just keep going?”

Emmy Davis, his new handler to step into the role his father would normally have, stepped forward, a tablet in her hands. “I think he’s right, Luca. You’ve made a mistake on every single routine, your tone has been way off, you’re distracted and-“

“Okay! Fine. Fine, I get it, okay.”

Davis and Enzo exchanged a small glance that made Luca want to hunch into himself. Sometimes he felt more like a kid than ever with so many people fussing over him. Eat this, do that, smile here. Dance monkey, dance! He wanted to scowl at them but his irritation followed hot on the heels of guilt and that was far louder than anything else brewing inside him.

He was only where he was because the people who loved him fought hard for him. They sacrificed for him. To give anything less than his absolute best one hundred percent of the time was a mockery of the things they’d had to give up.

Livy, his twin, carted along to every singing lesson, every dance lesson, every stage production Luca insisted on being a part of for their entire childhood. Kiosho, who needed support after his diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia had only come to light once he hit high school and could no longer bullshit his way through exams. And Mase and his dad, who wanted nothing more than a quiet, simple life on the Cerrillo farm, working together side by side, loving each other but instead forced to separate because Luca had needed his father with him when he left to make it big internationally. What was supposed to be a three month stint to test the waters for Luca turned into instant stardom and a tour booked on the back of his debut album… And Isaac and Luca had been separated from the rest of their family for far longer than originally planned.

It had been wonderful and crazy and mind-blowing to find success so quickly – and it didn’t even factor in his abuela. Mara had offered only once to sign Luca to her label, but neither he nor Isaac wanted to coast by on her coat tails. Luca needed to know he could do it for himself. He was determined to. And he did.

But what do you do when the dream you thought you wanted, wasn’t really what you wanted at all?

It wasn’t the adoration of fans he wanted. The more people that screamed they loved him, he more unloved he felt. The larger the void in his chest got.

The more the guilt ate at him and he felt like a rat trapped on a wheel.

“Rest tonight,” Enzo was saying in his thick Italian accent, drawing Luca out of his spiraling thoughts. “It will still be there tomorrow.”

“He’s right,” Davis added, tapping away at her screen. “You have a fairly empty day tomorrow, Luc. Nothing but a radio interview in the early evening. If you want to take some time for yourself, now is the time to do it.”

Luca looked at them both helplessly. He didn’t even know what to do with that. “Time for myself?”

Davis smiled ruefully. “Yes, Luca. You could see some of the city sights or take in a show. Whatever you need, I know Maddox will be able to make it happen. New York is his stomping ground. If you want to get lost in a crowd, this is the city to do it. But only until three pm. Then I need you in the hotel lobby ready for the car to take us to the radio interview.”

Enzo clapped him on the back and squeezed his shoulder before Luca could protest. He didn’t want all that free time. He didn’t want to explore the city. Not alone. Not when his family were halfway across the world.

A sudden wave of homesickness washed over him and Davis stepped forward, her dark eyes concerned. “Luca? You’re not unwell are you? Should I call a doctor to check you over?”

“What? No. No, of course not. Guess I am a little more tired than I realized.”

“Alright then, well, let’s get you home. Nico’s gone to run some errands for me but Maddox is right outside. He’ll take us back to the hotel.”

--

They dropped Davis off in some interesting cultural portion of the city Luca didn’t recognize, not even from the movies and continued on to the hotel where an empty suite would be waiting for him. Luca sank back against the plush seats of the black Escalade as Maddox drove, staring out the window as the city rolled by. He didn’t say as much out loud, but he found New York loud and busting and slightly intimidating for all its life and drama.

Luca hadn’t realized he’d sighed so miserably until Maddox caught his eye in the rear vision mirror.

“You okay, kid?”

“Huh? Oh. Um. Yeah, I guess.”

Maddox turned the car down a side street. “You sure about that? You’re looking mopey back there.”

Luca shrugged weakly. “Homesick I guess.”

Maddox made a small noise of acknowledgement and turned back to the road. If Luca was honest, he enjoyed the journey to and from hotels to appointments most. The in-between time when he had a chance to catch his breath and be anonymous. It was rare anyone knew he was in a car and protected on one side of the dark glass, he could watch the world outside without fear of being recognized or accosted. And sometimes, he just liked to watch and wonder about the people who lived here – their lives, their hopes, their dreams. Were they happy? In love? Did they enjoy where they lived, did they long for more? Were they natives or did they pack up everything to move there, maybe they were tourists and came from somewhere distant he didn’t know the name of and New York was like another world for them as much as it was for Luca.

There were plenty of people on the sidewalks tonight. Lots of bright lights. It was late by New York time but Luca was still somehow operating on Sydney time. No matter how many cities they went to, his body refused to accept a different time zone.

For the most part, it wasn’t an issue – popstars kept odd hours after all, but it only made him long for the sun drenched farmhouse with the ocean in the distance even more.

Maddox pulled up in front of the hotel and there was a small crowd already waiting, placards with his face on them, hand written signs. They tried to peer anxiously into the car and Luca shrank back instinctively, hoping not to be seen.

Most nights he didn’t mind the brief brush with fans – Maddox was an expert at allowing just enough close so as not to overwhelm him – and five minutes of his time could make an entire day or a year for them. But tonight he wasn’t sure he could force the smiles.

“You wanna keep going?” Maddox asked from the driver’s seat and Luca could have cried with gratitude with the way his bodyguard had anticipated him.

“Yeah. Yes, please. I can’t deal with it tonight.”

“No sweat, kid. We’ll go around the back, circle underground. You don’t have a problem going in through the loading bay, right?”

“No. None at all. I just want to get to my room and not… um. Not talk to anyone.”

Maddox didn’t say much else as he circled them around the block. They were just going down the long winding ramp into the hotel’s loading bay when Luca couldn’t handle the sudden churning in his stomach anymore.

“I’m being selfish, aren’t I?” he said, wringing his hands. Maddox barely glanced at him but Luca kept talking. “I mean, they’ve probably been out there in the cold half the night just waiting for a glimpse and now here I am sneaking in the back and-“

“You don’t owe anyone shit.”

“That’s not true,” Luca protested. The guilt twisted a little harder in his gut. He suddenly really missed his dad. He missed his sister. He missed Mason and Kio and Gus with his stinky breath and slobbery kisses when he kept trying to sneak into Luca’s bed during the storms. “I owe them everything. I would be here if it wasn’t for the fans and I-“

Maddox either didn’t agree or wasn’t listening. He parked the car and got out, motioning to the hotel staff with one hand and making a call with the other. His jacket shifted as he moved and Luca caught a glimpse of the weapon on his hip. That was still weird for Luca to see. Weirder still to think he might one day need it. There was a whole other world he hadn’t considered away from the farm when he’d reached for the stars with grabby hands.

Two other men materialized out of the dock and Maddox came back to the car. Luca knew the drill by now. He knew to wait until Maddox signaled he was safe to move and he slid out of the big four wheel drive and into the loading dock on tired legs, pulling up his red hoodie to hide his curls and hoisting his backpack over one shoulder. He contemplated his glasses before deciding they would be ridiculous at night.

The other men flanked them and Maddox moved them into the hotel.

The staff barely glanced at them, either too well tipped or too jaded to pay attention. Luca was small fry compared to many other high flying guests the hotel had.

He was back in his suite a few minutes later, dumping his backpack by the doorway and kicking off his shoes.

Maddox lingered by the door.  “My guys are outside but you won’t need them here. We’ve got this place locked down.”

Luca looked up. “So… What, the whole hotel? I can move about here?”

“Yeah. If you need to go for a swim or use the gym-“

Luca snickered at that, eying Maddox and so very tempted to make a crack about his not quite illicit affair with Luca’s personal trainer, Nico. The two of them thought they were being stealthy, but their sly glances were too obvious.

Luca thought it was adorable.

“Or,” Maddox said pointedly, a narrowing of his eyes the only warning for Luca to keep his damn mouth shut – “there’s the bar downstairs.”

“Oh,” Luca brightened briefly at that until the thought of drinking alone only made his mood plummet further. “Wait, what’s the drinking age here again?”

“Twenty one. So you’re good, kid. Barely.”

“Oh, okay. Cool. Thanks, Maddox. For, um-“ Luca waved his hand vaguely. “All that.”

Maddox snorted but it was followed by a hint of a smile. Luca still wasn’t entirely sure if Maddox liked him or merely tolerated him because Luca was paying his paychecks but he hoped there was some kind of hesitant friendship there. He liked Maddox and Luca knew he wasn’t anywhere near as hard work as some of his other clients. At least Maddox had never had to carry him drunk out of a night club or had Luca scream at him to flush drugs down the toilet because a groupie was overdosing on the floor of the hotel room and the cops were on their way. That had to count for something, right? Luca must be positively a snoozefest compared to some of Maddox’s other clients.

Maddox surprised Luca with a heavy pat on his shoulder. “Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”

--

He took an extra-long shower then wrapped the towel around his slim hips to wander out into the suite’s living room. He didn’t know why he needed all the extra space when it was just him but he supposed it was just his Dad’s way of making sure he was comfortable while he was away. He took a moment to press his nose to the glass and look down at the street thirty stories below before a rush of vertigo made him step back then he picked up his phone, unlocking it with a swipe of his thumb. There were a handful of messages, mostly from Davis, reminding him of his upcoming commitments plus another one from his publicist Kate asking if he’d thought any more about meeting Ricky, a fellow up and coming solo artist she want Luca to meet and possibly date. He swiped through them all, disappointed when the only other messages were a text from Enzo making sure he got back okay and another from Nico rescheduling their workout to a later session the next day.

He stared at the phone in his hands for a long moment before finally hitting the dial code. It rang for long enough Luca considered hanging up before the image flashed up of his twin rushing breathless to answer.

“Liv?”

“Luca? Luca, oh my god. What time is it there? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

She peered into the camera. “You look sad.”

Luca should honestly have been less surprised than he was that his twin had clocked the downturn of his mouth so easily. He forced a smile though, not wanting to worry her. “Nah, I’m good. Missing you guys though.”

There was a commotion on the other end of the call and Luca heard Mason yell out from off screen. “Is that Luca?” There was a brief jostle before the phone was lifted out of Olivia’s hands, eliciting an annoyed protest from his sister. Mason’s face filled the camera screen. “Hey, little man, it’s good to hear from you.”

“Hey, papa Mase. You gotta stop calling me that, though. We talked about it.”

Mason laughed and Olivia’s dark curls popped into the corner of the screen. Luca could see them jostling for position and warmth flooded his chest as he watched their antics from half a world away. Mason and Olivia were laughing, bumping together as they fought for the phone and teased each other. Mason emerged victorious, but only barely.

“How… How are you going- Liv, seriously, gimme a second-“

“He called me,” she protested from somewhere behind him. “Get your own call.”

“Shh, he might have called you but he wants to talk to me, right, Luc?”

Luca laughed. “Yeah, Mase it’s all about you.”

“See,” Mason laughed too. “I told you.”

“Ugh, Mase. Don’t make me get Dad-“

“Actually,” Mason’s laughter stopped and his expression turned serious for a moment. “We’d better go get him, he’ll be upset if he misses your call.”

“My call-“ Olivia rolled her eyes.

“Thanks for sending him home, by the way, Luc,” Mason’s tone turned soft. Even Olivia relinquished hold for a moment to allow Mason to speak. “I know that leaves you alone over there, but… Thanks, okay? I… ah. I needed him home.”

Luca felt the lump forming in his throat. “I know,” he said softly. Olivia and he always joked that Mason and Isaac were couple goals. They had an easy relationship, soft and comforting and a true partnership. It used to drive them crazy as kids – there was no way of weaseling in between them to play one Dad off against the other, they were united in all things from the bedtime routine to the fact Mason banned TV during the week in school terms, no matter how much they begged and cried and cajoled.

But seven months away from each other was putting a strain on even their unshakable relationship and that didn’t even begin to cover the fact that the farm itself needed its captain back.  

“He needed to be home too,” Luca told him. “How’s everything back there anyway?”

Mason’s face twisted slightly. “Ah, to be honest, not great. But don’t worry because we’re fine since we’re up high, but the cyclone off the coast has brought in all the rain and some of the lower townships are flooding. We’re about to head out now to help with the sandbagging.”

Luca shifted on the bed, alarmed. “Shit, is there anything I can do?”

“All the way over there in New York?” Mason was amused. “Nah, string bean. You just keep singing, keep doing what you’re doing and making us all proud, okay?”

“I will. But I-“

“Zac!” Mason leaned away from the screen long enough to call out to his husband. “Luca’s calling.”

The dog heralded his father’s entry but soon Isaac’s face was filling Luca’s screen. Olivia still peaked over his shoulder and a heartbeat later even Kiosho joined in.

They were all there, Luca realized with a pang. They were all there and he was all the way over here. “Luc, hi son, how’s New York?”

“Hi Dad,” Luca forced a grin even as his eyes threatened to prick. God, he missed them but he couldn’t let it show. “I’m doing great! Got an early mark tonight though so I’m just chilling out in my room. Maddox said he might be able to swing me some sightseeing tomorrow. Can’t come to New York without seeing the Statue of Liberty, right?”

“I’ll be impressed if Maddox can wrangle that,” Isaac said dryly.

“He will,” Luca grinned. “We pay him the big bucks after all.”

Isaac chuckled. “I pay him to keep you safe, Luca.”

“I know, Dad.”

Isaac hummed as he scratched the Gus’s head in his lap as he talked some more with Luca. The others continued to drift in and out over the next twenty minutes, joining the conversation with their banter and gentle teasing. Luca told himself if he pretended hard enough, he could imagine himself back in the farmhouse’s kitchen, arguing with Kiosho over maple syrup and whispering with Olivia. All that would make the image complete would be Mara’s melodious voice, flirting playfully in Spanish with Mason or chiding Kiosho for his bad language as she stood at the stove.

The ache in Luca’s chest was suddenly breathtaking.  

“Well, we’d better let you get some rest, Luca,” Mason finally said, glancing at the watch on his wrist. He exchanged a glance with Isaac, one Luca knew was a silent communication he wasn’t privy to. “And we’ve got to head down Lismore and help out.”

“Oh. Okay. Uh, well, I hope everything’s okay? I mean…”

“Just a precaution,” Isaac soothed. “Better to be safe than sorry if the river breaks its banks again.”

“Hey, I hope you’re buying me some cool as shit souvenirs, bro,” Kiosho piped up, elbowing Isaac out of the way. He got so close to the screen that all Luca could see was one hairy nostril – it could only have been deliberate. “What’s good in New York anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Luca said with a shrug. “I’ll have to ask Maddox.”

“You do that. Fucker owes me.”

“He does? What for?” Isaac asked, his tone steely enough to tell them all listening that he knew exactly what for and he wasn’t happy about it. Kiosho squirmed.

“Uh. Nuthin. Never mind. Is that fruit toast mine?”

There was a flurry of goodbyes and I love you’s before the call finally ended.

In the silence of the hotel suite, Luca felt emptier than ever.

--

 (TBC)

[sempre-nico]

[ BREAK  IN ] :  for  our  muses  to  break  in  somewhere  together 

“When this is over, I demand chocolate and champagne.”

“When this is over, I’ll give you a more than chocolate and champagne, amore.”

“Hmm. A car? A fancy one, maybe with big wheels that goes fast.”

He chuckled. “Blue? Or red?”

Izzy gave the lock one more delicate nudge before it popped open. She straightened, smoothing out the shimmering dress that hugged her gorgeous curves and gesturing smugly to the now open door. “After you, Mr Morrisini.”

“I believe it is ladies first, cara mio.”

She gave him a saucy wink before slipping inside and Nico followed her. He took a moment to carefully snick shut the door behind him and relock it. Somewhere down the hall, a party was in full swing and it had proven to be the perfect opportunity to sneak away to his father’s old study and dig around for any intel he could use against his cousin.

Nico glanced around, noting how little the space had changed in twenty years. For a brief moment, he was thrown backwards in time as scenes replayed in his memory.

“I used to sneak in here all the time as a kid,” he said, turning slowly to reacclimatise to the space after so long away. Everything seemed so much smaller now. “My father always threatened us with his belt if he was to ever catch us in here, but my sister Sophia and I could dare each other to hide. Once I hid in that cabinet over there-“ Nico pointed to the far corner, a small cupboard with two swords crossed above it, “-for almost four hours. They started a search because they couldn’t find me.”

“How old were you?”

“Five, maybe six.”

“Hmm,” Izzy gave him an appraising look over her shoulder, warm enough to make his skin heat. “I doubt you would fit in there now.”

“No,” Nico huffed a laugh to himself. “I wouldn’t. Did you find anything?"

"Nothing here looks useful." Izzy dragged one fingertip through the layer of dust on the desk. "I don't think anyone has been in here for years, Nicky."

"No," he sighed, looking around. "You may be right."

“So where would you hide now?” Izzy asked, leaving her investigation of the papers sitting on the desk to advance on him instead. He knew he should keep looking. He should be trying to find out anything he could of whatever future operations were on the books but all he could think about was the way she moved, the way she looked at him as she came close.

It was the same way she looked at him when she took him in her hand and got down on her knees in front of him.

“Isobel,” he said in warning, but there was little strength behind his tone. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we’re alone. In this locked room. No one knows it's us at this party, let alone that we’re in here. Maybe we should have a little fun?”

His hands found their customary place against her hips and her breasts grazed his chest. He dragged one palm upwards, following her curves to find the swell of her breast. Even through the luxe material of her dress, it was easy to brush his thumb over her nipple and feel it peak and harden.

“I didn’t ask you to open the door to fuck you.”

“You don’t fuck me,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck. Her head tipped back, exposing the long line of her throat and sending her long blonde waves cascading down her back. The disguise was a thorough one to anyone else, but he would recognize her in any drab. “You make love to me.”

He moved to her other nipple, relishing the slight hitch in her voice. He knew if he touched her now, she would already be wet.

“Si,” he murmured, leaning in to brush his lips over her jaw. “My love. Because you are my love and you deserve to made love to.”

“Nicky,” she sighed, melting into him as he brought her closer. A small shudder rippled through her body as he ducked his head and kneaded her breasts, sucking against her dress to find her nub. “Oh. Oh, Nic-“

It took Nico barely a heartbeat to decide he wasn’t going to find anything useful in his father’s old abandoned office.

But between this woman’s beautiful dark thighs, he would find an incomparable treasure.

[made-in-haven]

Izzy and Nico were not exactly strangers after their first close encounter, but they weren’t quite friends yet either. She hated these parties, the social circles and all the emotional effort required to make and maintain appearances. But, she thought as she munched another Italian hors d'oeuvres that she couldn’t pronounce and tried to keep her dark green eyes off the man in the blue velvet suit that swayed the entire room, Nico Morrisini made it easy to be anywhere he was.

There was no shortage of sparkling socialites vying for the eldest Morrisini son’s attention but, much to Isobel’s delight, the expression of bland boredom etched into his chiseled features never faded despite the dozens of flirtatious conversations, painted nails on jeweled fingers that looked far too much like a predator’s claws clutching and crushing the fine velvet of his jacket. Isobel considered him a saint for taking it so well. She’d lose her mind with all those hands on her. She’d start threatening to cut them off and nobody would want to come to her parties anymore. She sighed into her pastry. It was a good thing she wasn’t important enough to throw parties.

“Isobel, right?”

“Ah.” The rogue nearly choked on her snack, gulping half her glass of sparkling champagne to clear the clog in her throat before she could answer. “Jesusfuck-” She spat without thinking, gesturing at the hulking man who somehow moved like a ninja to surprise her. “Have you always been this tall?”

“Isobel!” Gianna spat, half tempted to reach out and smack her. “I know you’re new here but that is NOT how you address a Morissini.”

“Not if you want to keep your neck,” another friend, Angelou, remarked with a snarky smile.

“Sorry? Um. Sir?” The temporary humiliation must have crossed her features because the next glance she stole from Nico had him about to crack a smile. 

“It’s okay.” Nico adjusted one of his shining cufflinks and offered a blinding smile. “No harm done, Cara. But I was on my way to take a walk through the vineyard and I was hoping you might join me.”

It was Isobel’s turn to laugh when Nico beat her acquaintances to the punch, raising one manicured brow to punctuate as he leaned his giant frame into the small, gathered crowd of adoring onlookers.

“Alone.”

[phoenixvanguard]

Enzo found the Berlin easy enough to navigate thanks to the quick little datapack the engineer had uploaded to his omni-tool. It was one of the few things he had taken with him when his squad leader had given them all the order to disappear.

His tool, his burnt orange toned armor, his credit chits and a single personal item that had finally found its home after five years on a chain around his neck.

He had to smile at himself for that part. It hardly felt real. Oliver, alive and well and as soft and as beautiful as Enzo remembered him in his memories. The same boy whose ghost had pulled him back from the brink too many times to count. 

He was on his way back to the training deck when he felt someone new. Just a shadow at his back, a frisson of unhappy biotic energy that felt barely corralled. Enzo wasn’t sure what it was about Nico’s biotics that clashed so violently with his own but when he turned to confront the man behind him, he knew it wasn’t just the biotics that clashed.

Enzo regarded the other man silently. “Zeus.”

Nico’s eyes held no warmth. “Enzo.”

A small part of Enzo recognized the slight for what it was – Nico refusing to use his call sign, a silent snub to his status as a phoenix. Typical that Nico would regard him that way, but Nico didn’t know Enzo’s past or the things Cerberus had forced on him. He didn’t know that whatever Nico could do in his skin as Zeus was pale in comparison to what Enzo had been made for.

Enzo waited a heartbeat longer, staring him down and waiting to see if Nico had anything to say but the big vanguard was still like stone. 

Until he wasn’t.

If Enzo hadn’t been so attuned to threats, he would have missed the subtle way Nico’s head lifted or the way he sniffed the air. He would have missed the way his brother’s eyes widened imperceptibly then narrowed and flashed hot. He wouldn’t had time to prepare for the bolt of biotic energy that slammed him into the wall on the other side of the room and the crackle of biotics as they flared so hotly around him he thought he could smell skin burning.

He saw it all, and let it happen anyway.

“Why do you smell like him?” Nico snarled out the words, one hand around Enzo’s throat, heavy and tight. Enzo considered phasing briefly, shifting into that echo space he’d been trained to do but he held his position. Enzo understood enough about pack bonds within phoenix ranks that he knew this was something that needed to happen.

He tipped his head back against the wall in an effort to find the space to speak. He stared into the gold shaded eyes, almost the mirror image of his own. He’d always wondered if it was a manufactured trait that set them aside from the rest of the Morrisini siblings, until he had seen images of their great, great grandmother and that same golden shade had been looking back at him.

“Why do you think?”

It was the wrong thing to say. Nico’s fist tightened and Enzo clenched his fist against the discomfort. Five more seconds and he’d blink, disappear to nothingness under Nico’s grasp but he wasn’t ready to give up his secret yet. He counted to three when Nico suddenly growled and released him, stepping back with his broad chest heaving like he’d just run a marathon.

The expression on Nico’s face gave Enzo pause. “He’s been through enough.”

Enzo thought about the scars, the ink, the sometimes haunted look in green catlike eyes. “We all have.”

“No,” Nico shifted again, heavy on his feet like he was tired. He shook his head. “No. I mean-“

“His lovers? The engineer?” Enzo cut him off. Nico’s eyes narrowed further and his lip curled. “Not gossip,” Enzo clarified. “A warning. The engineer talks. So does Huntsman. So does the crew. So…”

“So you know.”

“I know enough,” Enzo said.

“So you know,” Nico growled again, advancing with his bulk until they were nose to nose. His biotics crackled erratically under the surface. “-if you fuck with him, I’ll fuck with you so hard you’ll wish you never crawled out of that fucking test tube.”

Enzo met Nico’s hostile glare head on. “Understood.”

[mason-knight-retired]

this is so self-indulgent I want to crawl out of my own skin with second hand embarassment rn (happy father’s day, mase)

+++

It’s only by virtue of his phoenix reflexes that Mason manages to snatch the potato flying at his head out of the air a split second before it connects with this face.

He stares down at it in his hand in the middle of the Morrisini villa’s sprawling kitchen. “What the hell do you want me to do with this, Zeus?”

Nico shoves a small contraption at him, as well as a large bowl and a bulging hessian bag. “Peel it.”

“Peel…? What?”

“Peel it,” Nico repeats. He gestures to the bag. “And all those too.”

“Uh, no. These hands were not made for manual labour.”

“Mase,” Marie huffs, her hands on hips on the other side of the sprawling island bench. “I expect that from Sinclair, but not from you.”

“He’s become too accustomed to the good life. Too pampered,” Maddox says from his perch on a stool nearby. He pops something into his mouth and crunches loudly as he smirks in Mason’s direction.

Mason snorts. “Like you can talk, Ajax.”

Outside, the sun shines across the villa’s grounds and the wind carries in the excited squeals of the children as they race over the lawn and splash in the villa’s pool. It was another one of Nico’s family gatherings, one of the many he insisted on each year and that everyone knew better than to argue about. One year, before they had the twins, Mason and Ethan had been off world and the earful they’d copped had them immediately hightailing it back to Earth from Citadel space to make it in the nick of time.

They all know better than to argue when Nico puts the call out now.

Mason peers through the large windows overlooking the vineyards. It was beautiful here, he couldn’t deny it, and the twins loved catching up with the Morrisini brood but being put to work by Nico in the kitchen was more than what Mason was prepared to take.

“Actually, you know what, I’m just going to go see if Ethan needs any help with the ki-“

“Sit your ass down and start peeling, Huntsman.”

“Better do as he says,” Archer says. He rests on a stool, one leg out in front of him and a lethal looking blade in one hand. There are slabs of red meat on the chopping board in front of him. “Or you might end up having to do something worse.” “Is that what you’re doing?”

“Just putting some long dormant skills to good use.”

“Well, we didn’t all marry celebrity chefs in our youth, Rose,” Mason chuckles just as Luca comes tumbling through the doorway.

“Nic! Marie! I need potassium hydroxide and ethanoic acid and um, like a really big stick.”

Marie frowns. “Well, I can give you two out of those things but what do you need them for?”

“No time to explain, have you got it- never mind, this will do!” he’s gone again in a flurry of wild curls.

Silence drags around the room and there’s a distant squeal and a pop that has them all tensing suddenly. Mason waits with bated breath for inevitable wail of tears that will send them all rushing outside but it doesn’t eventuate.

“What is he doing out there?”

Marie takes a calming breath and pinches her nose. “I… I don’t want to know.”

Nico slides his arm around her and kisses her temple, whispering something into her ear Mason can’t (and probably doesn’t want) to hear. She seems more tired than usual and it’s not lost on Mason that her glass is only sparkling water and not wine. He wonders if baby number five might be on their way for them.

Five. Mason shudders inwardly at the thought. The twins were a handful on their own and that was with help. There had been a long, long period there that Mason wondered if his and Ethan’s sex life would ever recover.

“You’re still not peeling, Huntsman,” Nico warns, turning his attention back to him.

“Make Rose do it,” Mason grumbles, only for Archer to swirl that lethal looking knife over the chopping board in front of him.

“He’s already put me to work, as you can see.”

“Seriously, Mase,” Marie huffs as she busies herself with slicing up the fresh bread. The spread of food was insane, much of it grown on the villa grounds, more of it transported from Cerillo’s farm on Nova Terra. “Who does the cooking in your household if you won’t even peel a potato then?”

“The... Ah… Help…”

Marie’s knife pauses as she looks up at him suspiciously. Maddox goes to swipe an olive from the tray but she swats him away without taking her eyes off him. “How many do you have now?”

Mason doesn’t like where this is going. “Three?”

“Three?!” Marie splutters but he’s pretty sure that might be jealousy in her eyes. He shrugs, nonchalant. “Oh my god, well, aren’t you living the good life.”

“What do you expect? Pampered wardog over here,” Maddox comments, pilfering another olive. Nico snatches his wrist.

“Next time you go for another one, I’m gonna stab you.”

Maddox growls. “Fine. Hurry up already then. I’m going to go check on Mini in the nursery then check on the kids. Who knows what Sinclair has got them up to.”

He exchanges a filthy kiss with Archer before he leaves that has Mason rolling his eyes.

“It’s not Ethan you should be worried about,” he mutters as Archer snorts.

“Huntsman!” Nico barks. “Potatoes!”

--

The evening is balmy with summer and it’s well into the twilight by the time they all come to eat at the long trestle table piled high with food under the trees of the Morrisni villa. Fairy lights drape overhead, shedding a sparkle over glasses and kids squeal and thread among the adults as they enjoy the meal.

Mason does his best to balance Max on his knee they eat and the entire affair is noisy and chaotic, full of laughter and warmth and old friendships forged in blood and fire. Nico reigns supreme at the head of the table like some kind of benevolent god and he might as well be. It’s Nico that has been the one to draw them all together, year after year, no matter how far they spread across the galaxy. Familiar faces they’ve fought alongside of, faces they love now gone their separate ways now that the war was over. Their time on the Berlin felt like another life, a long ago memory that might have happened to someone else.

Mason never thought he’d miss it, but it’s long been regulated to a portion of his past alongside his early childhood in Sydney and Phoenix One.

He juggles his wine glass over Max’s head and listens in to the conversation around him. He presses his leg against Ethan’s under the table, needing the contact suddenly. Ethan catches his eye and wordless smile graces his lips as he leans in to brush a kiss to Mason’s cheek and lightly ruffles Max’s hair.

“Want me to take him for a bit?”

“No, he’s fine, as long as he stops squirm-“ Mason rescues his wine glass just before it goes flying. Max was almost getting too big for this, but Mason didn’t like to think about that. “Whoa, easy there.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“You’re okay, mate. Where’s your sister anyway?”

Max shrugs, leaning back against Mason and chewing on a piece of bread but Ethan motions with his head to look down the table. He spies Ben at the other end with Lexi’s arms tight around his neck and she’s giggling as Luca attempts to juggle spoons beside them. Mason smiles then stabs the gnocchi on his plate and lifts it up to show his husband proudly.

“Hey so while you were outside with the kids, I made these.”

Marie pauses her conversation with Isaac and Archer on the other side of the table to laugh. “Mase, you peeled one potato.”

He waves his fork dismissively. “Still counts.”

They all chuckle, Archer’s more muted on account of the small bundle on his chest. It doesn’t feel that long ago that Lexi and Max were that tiny and Mason is about to mention as much to Archer before their conversation is interrupted by Ciara crashing into her mother’s side. Her gold eyes wide as she gushes excitedly about fireflies.

Mason glances back at his own daughter. She’s on Ben’s lap now, trying to feel him with all the grace of a five year old’s giggling and over exuberant enthusiasm. “Does Lex need anything?” he says to his husband.

Ethan smirks as they watch on. Ben has a smear of sauce down one side of his mouth and across his chin. “It looks like Uncle Scoots has it covered.”

Max scrambles off Mason’s lap and latches himself straight to Ciara’s side. Mason protests softly. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Ci says she knows where the fireflies are!”

“Oh, no you don’t. Finish eating first. Then fireflies.”

“Aw, dad!” Max’s whine is joined by Marcello and Enzo’s as they materialize out of the dark and they all groan dramatically. “But fireflies!”

“You’re not allowed to go running around in the dark by yourselves. Someone might get hurt.”

There are more protests before Eva climbs to her feet. “I can take them, if you like?”

Mason looks up at the Fury. If they’re safe with anyone, they’ll be safe with her but he slides a questioning glance at Ethan anyway. “Are you sure?”

Eva shrugs, a small smile on her lips. “Sure. Luca and Ben will want to come too.”

“We’ll all go,” Marie announces. She stands up and motions for everyone else to as well. “It’s about time for the bonfire anyway.”

“Bonfire?!” The kids squeal and take off running into the darkness.

“Wait, kids-“

There’s a wink of blue in the distance when Eva appears in front of them, sending the kids all shrieking in excitement. Mason downs the rest of his wine for fortitude then pulls his husband in for a kiss in case he can’t steal any later.

“Come on, Sabre, let’s go.”

--

If they find fireflies, Mason doesn’t see them.

The excitement of time spent with their adoptive family and the bonfire have both kids melting down from too much over stimulation and it’s touch and go for a while until they both crash in his arms. Mason watches the flames dance and listens to Luca’s voice as he strums his guitar, Lexi’s head tucked under his chin while Ethan sits beside him with Max asleep against his chest.

They should probably get the kids back to the villa, tuck them into their beds, but he’s reluctant to move and spoil the moment.

Luca sings, his voice carrying clearly over the crackle of the fire, first upbeat songs with words half substituted thanks to the buzz of Nico’s homemade grappa he insisted they all sample. Ciara twirls barefoot, hair streaming out behind her as Maddox takes her on a makeshift waltz around the bonfire and Nico hands out mugs of mulled wine as Isaac and Eva sit with heads bent together roasting marshmallows in the flames. On their other side, Marie is flanked by each one of her sons, both slumped against her, not quite asleep but dangerously close. And Archer, cane discarded by his chair and a baby on his chest, sits quietly beside Ben, staring thoughtfully into the fire.

“You know, if anyone had told me on P1 this is how our life would end up, I’m pretty sure I would have laughed myself out an airlock,” Mason says to Ethan. “Sometimes I can’t believe it.”

“We’re the lucky ones,” Ethan agrees quietly. The firelight catches the line of his jaw and sends his hair shining gold. He’s still the most beautiful man Mason has ever met and he’s all Mason’s.

After ten years, it still hasn’t got old.

“Any regrets?”

Ethan turns to him and leans in. Mason meets him halfway, pressing a kiss to his mouth, mindful of the dual weights on their chests and careful not to wake them. Then Ethan draws back. “Not a single one.”

“Me neither,” Mason murmurs but then the moment is interrupted when Nico shows up. 

“Here,” he grunts, handing them each a metallic mug. Something spicy Mason doesn’t recognize wafts up.

Mason takes the mug hesitantly and looks up at Nico with a silent lift of his eyebrow. “Am I going to have to peel anymore potatoes if I take this?”

“No,” Nico rumbles. “Tomorrow we’re going to slaughter a pig and make sausages.”

“We’re gonna what?”

“You heard me. And you can do the honors. Time to earn your keep, Huntsman.”

Nico moves away and Mason stares into his mug. “This is payback, isn’t it?” he says miserably to Ethan. “For giving him all those shitty ops back in the day?”

Ethan’s lips twitch. Mason thinks he might be laughing. “It might be, babe.”

“Well, Fu… Fudge.. me,” he slumps against Ethan’s shoulder as Luca plays his songs and the stars continue to wheel overhead.

[cdrmiller]

under a cut because apparently kim can’t write short things

Marie backed towards the wall as his massive form advanced on her with a predatory grin. 

“I tried calling you.” 

“I’ve been very busy.” She smirked up at him through her dark lashes before stepping out of her pants as she walked backwards. She reminded him of a bear, the way he stalked like an immovable force. “It’s only been two weeks, and you’re already missing me?” 

“Two weeks is too long when we’re only here for two hours.” His gaze fell to her lace covered chest when she stripped off her shirt.   

Marie gasped when her back hit the cold metal and he caught up to her, steady hands curling around the back of her thighs to lift her until her legs wrapped around his waist. She always got a thrill from the way he could move her as if she weighed nothing and her hand curled into the black and gold logo on his chest before pulling the shirt over his head. 

“Then we will have to be quick.” She whined when one of his hands left her to fumble at the waist of his pants. 

“Marie, someone might see us.” He panted against her mouth after kissing her. The room wasn’t exactly out of the way, and he wanted her to be sure. But he didn’t stop. 

“I don’t care.” Her teeth latched onto his lip, drawing a deep growl from his throat. “Fuck me Zeus.” 

His wide hand slapped against the wall beside her head when she reached between them, wrapping her fingers around his length. He let her stroke him, swiping his tongue back into her mouth. 

“I’m already wet for you.” She pushed her hips forward, rubbing the tip of his cock against her entrance to prove her point, and he groaned in agony. 

She would never get used to the size of him, and she whimpered from the delicious in-between place of pleasure and pain as he slid into her. She held his face as he fucked her, looking into his eyes and matching his moans. She knew she’d have bruises from the force with which she was shoved against the wall every time he thrust, and the thought helped to send her over the edge. She clung to him, nails digging harmlessly into the thick skin of his back and he held her tightly as she came.   

She came two more times, the last one while riding him on the dusty floor of the warehouse and they spent the last hour curled against each other in a heap of clothes. She had kissed him until the very last second, and he had hated the way his fingers eventually had to drop from hers before they parted. And he had smiled the way only she could make him smile when he received her message 10 minutes later. 

‘I missed you too.’ 

- 

“No smoking.” The small Asian man was dwarfed by the giant desk, not bothering to look up from his work. 

“Right.” Ethan pulled the cigarette from his lips, reaching over to snub out the embers onto the shoulder of the ever present enforcement bot before flicking it into the trash. 

“So.” Their handler finally looked up when Ethan flopped down into a chair. “The mission was a failure.” 

“Yes sir…” Ethan’s brows furrowed, knowing Mason had already given a debrief, so he waited for the real reason he had been called into the office.

Tatsu leaned back in his chair, resting his lips on his steepled fingers. “My little birdies tell me that Zeus has been off his game. Distracted. Is this anything I need to worry about?”

“Your birdies are deaf and dumb, Tats. Zeus is fine.” 

“So he hasn’t been absent?” 

Ethan shifted uncomfortably, for once not able to see where this was heading. “He’s missed a few meetings. And was…misplaced last week. But nothing major.

“Misplaced.” 

Ethan was annoyed now. He was being toyed with, knowing full well Tatsu had every piece of information he already needed. 

“What’s this about?” 

“Zeus being the direct cause of the failure of this mission is just the cherry on top of the shit piling up against him.” 

He’d never admit it. The instinctual protection that kicked into his gut the moment he thought any of them were under attack. He kept the defensive tone out of his voice when Tatsu’s brows rose. It was tactical to make Ethan answer this particular question, but he was as skilled at dancing around the point as his boss was. 

“We’ve all made mistakes. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, what is this really about?” 

“Does Zeus have his priorities straight.” 

“Of course he does.” 

“Hm.” Tatsu tapped a finger against the screen and Ethan froze. There was no mistaking Nico with his pants around his ankles or who he had pushed against a wall.   

“Who is she?” 

Ethan sighed on a slow blink that pulled his eyes away from the screen. “An Alliance officer.” 

“I’m not your level of genius Sabre, but I can see she’s wearing an Alliance uniform. Or was, at least. Who is she.” 

“Lieutenant Miller, sir.” 

Ethan knew when the man went silent he was thinking, and he recognized the danger in that, so he didn’t give him the time to do so. “It’s nothing. She’s a plaything. He has to burn off steam somehow right? We don’t want Zeus going boom from too much pent up pressure.” 

“There are other ways to blow off steam than sneaking around with Alliance officers.” Tatsu sneered, leaning forward and all façade of casual banter disappeared. “I’ve always liked Zeus. Dependable. Efficient. Follows the rules. I called you because if it goes to Huntsman, he will have to report it to those higher than me. So consider this a curtesy call. Remind him, Sabre. Take care of it or they will.” 

Ethan didn’t need to be told just who they were. “Yes sir.” 

- 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“Whatever this is, can’t happen. You have to cut her loose.”  Ethan pulled the edges of his leather gloves under the hem of his suit’s sleeves. “This is your first and final warning Zeus, the next time it goes above Tatsu’s pay grade.” 

“She’s not a threat, Ethan.” 

He intentionally ignored the significance of the use of his real name and the fact that he never thought he’d ever hear a twinge of vulnerability in the vanguard’s voice. “She’s a bloody distraction. And they consider that a threat. If you put her on the radar, there isn’t shit you or I can do about it.”

Nico’s chest heaved at that, gold pupils darkening in a challenge. His mouth opened to retort only to snap shut when another form appeared in the hallway. 

Mason stopped in his tracks in the doorway to look between the two men. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing.” Ethan replied without taking his eyes from Nico’s hard stare. 

“O-kay…” 

“Hey.” Ethan called to Mason’s disappearing form. “You,” his finger jabbed in Nico’s direction. “Don’t move.” 

“Hey.” He called again after turning the corner and Mason finally stopped as Ethan caught up. He heard a sigh before striking green eyes turned on him. “Can we talk later?”

“We’re done talking about it Sabre. You said that yourself.” 

“I know what I said but…” He took too long searching for the words he wouldn’t say and the disappointment in Mason’s eyes made his chest constrict too much for his liking. 

“Exactly.” Mason huffed out a breath before reaching to straighten Ethan’s tie. “I have a meeting. Be careful tonight.”   

Ethan watched Mason’s retreating form until he disappeared before turning back into the room just in time to see Nico punch a hole through the wall.  

[luca-moreno]

(training continues off the ship...)

Luca fiddles with the edges of his breastplate as Phoenix Knight runs through insider access Cerberus tactics, focusing particularly on the dreaded dragoons. Luca isn’t so concerned about them, it was more the husks that bothered him the most. He had one jump on him once and never quite got over it. Something about those glowing, blue eyes and spindly strength as it wrapped itself around him and slid a claw through his shredded armor into his side before Thurman had peeled it off him will forever haunt him. Luca still remembers the feel of blood leaking between his fingers and that husk snarl is something he continues to hear in his dreams.

He tunes back in when Harris thumps his knee, and glances over to find Phoenix Roosevelt watching him from the sides. He feels slightly better after their talk in the cargo bay, at least he knows they’re good there, although he still wishes his face would stop feeling so hot every time he so much glanced in the Phoenix’s direction. There seems to be something different about him today, although Luca can’t put his finger on exactly what.

Luca must have tuned out for a hot second because it takes an uncomfortable moment to realize Phoenix Knight is looking over at him expectantly, and so is the rest of the squad.

“Uh,” he blinks then shrugs. “Dragoons are like geth pyros, right? So, zap zap, fizzle, boom! And they don’t have shields,” he adds after a second. “So go for the head?”

Mason gets a pinched look on his face that Luca guesses might be halfway between amused and disturbed before he nods once. This is the first time Luca has seen the phoenix operatives in their armor up close. They look pretty scary, even with the battered edges and scratched off Cerberus symbols, although that seemed to only apply to Huntsman and Hurricane. Ajax and Zeus, on the other hand, gleamed in the weak light from the system’s fading sun in shades of ebony and electric blue. They all stand in a semi-circle around his alliance squad, helmets against their hips, faces all tense. He shivers slightly, the Zeus looming here isn’t the same one that shoved a bowl of pasta under his nose a few nights ago that’s for sure.

“Right, they’re high priority targets. We-“ Mason stops and corrects himself and Luca wonders briefly if everyone else noticed that slip and if it’s anything they should be worried about. “They move fast, the whips can go through cover and if there’s a dragoon, chances are you’ll find a phantom close behind.”

Phoenix Knight continues to talk, outlining strategies and weaknesses of the Cerberus foes. Luca’s feels a little trickle of ice down his spine over the dispassionate way he talks about them. He’s vague on the details but he knows enough from Marie to know the relationship between the dragoons and phoenix wasn’t too far apart. And how much of their knowledge on the dragoons applied to the phoenix too? Aren’t they all supposed to have been cut from the same cloth? They were all born Cerberus, right? Why are these guys different?

Luca wonders uncomfortably if Phoenix Knight might be handing them the keys to the kingdom.

Braun thumps him again, and then nudges Harris for good measure. “Pay attention, both of you.”

“Shut up,” Harris hisses out of the corner of her mouth. “He’s not usually out here, let me ogle.”

Luca snickers, glances sideways again but he’s not looking at the same phoenix Harris is. Green eyes catch his briefly before shifting away. Despite the bulky lines of the red armor, a small portion of Luca’s mind tries valiantly to skip down the path of the curious tattoos, subdermal weaves and the scars before he quickly pulls himself back. He really didn’t want to get himself killed because he couldn’t concentrate on the briefing at hand.

There’s more technical data spouted at them, Cerberus weak points, indoctrinated troopers. Mason mentions something about a friendly Cerberus VI and Luca’s interest is immediately gets piqued, but before he has a chance to question it, the team is fanning out on the moon’s jagged surface ready for a training drill.

“Must be a weird feeling, being the underdogs now, huh, phoenix?” Thurman drawls. It’s not exactly friendly, Thurman was a good guy but he’s always been vocal about his disapproval of phoenix augmentations. Up ahead, there’s a flash of blue where Eva flickers her biotic barrier to life.

Mason’s response is more a barring of his teeth than a smile. His eyes are cold in the moment before he dons his helmet. “I’ve had plenty of time to get used to it. Don’t feel like you have to pull your punches, Tungsten.”

“Thurman,” Thurman mutters.

There’s no more time for chatter after that.

[sempre-nico]

“ provide me your past and i'll show you my future. “

He wasn’t drunk. Nico Morrisini was too rigid for that, but the burn of the whiskey was still in his throat when Isobel appeared in his doorway in swathe of satin and white lace.

“Dio mio, you look incredible.”

“What, this old thing?” she lifted one shoulder flirtatiously and did a slow spin for his benefit. Her smooth dark curves were highlighted under the thing floral patterns and traces of her perfume wafted through the air to reach him. Nico watched her, his dick hardening in his pants at the beautiful sight before him.

“You’re a fucking vision.”

She strolled a little closer, lifting one leg slowly to straddle his knee but not quite sitting. It put her soft belly right in front of his lips but before he could lean forward to taste her sweet skin, her hands caught the sides of his face and tilted it upwards to face her.

“Tsk, tsk,” she said, eyes dancing warmly as she looked down at him. With the overhead chandelier framing her thick curls, she appeared to him like the vision of an angel. “Are you going to tell me what has you drinking here alone in the dark?”

He stared up at her, every ache of longing he’d ever felt suddenly at the forefront of his heart.

“You.”

“Me?” Her hands started to slip as she prepared to step away. Surprised or hurt, he wasn’t sure but he grabbed her wrists anyway.

“No, mia starlina, wait-“

Her hands curled into a weak fists as her chin rose. God, she was so fucking perfect. Beautiful in every way, from her gorgeous curves and stunning dark honey skin to the jungle green of her eyes that held a soul just as wild and devouring on the inside. She made him laugh and moan and ache and she haunted every one of his waking moments.

She was driving him insane and he adored her for it.

“Is this one of those moments where it’s lost in translation, Nicky?”

He licked his lips, still tasting whiskey and wishing he didn’t. “I… Izzy. I need you.”

Her gaze softened instantly and she moved closer once again. Her cool fingers brushed over his brow, her touch light and soothing. “You have me.”

“No,” he shook his head. “I need more of you. I need your past. I need to know it all. I need to know it, so I can give you my future. Izzy,” he drew her slowly into his lap and tucked her against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and let himself float in the sea of sheer emotion he held for her in a way he’d never let himself feel before. “I want to understand. Will you tell me, cara? Will you tell me about your past?”