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bloodyquillink-blog · 4 months

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Sugar and Lemon, Chapter 4 “I See Your Sweetness”

A/N🪶: I already mentioned this when I initially posted the link to chapter 4 but most of the headcanons for each characters music taste (aside from Kick, I think) came from @mrshesh here on tumblr! Be sure to check out their page!!!

Warnings: Fluff

Word Count: 3.7K

Logan woke up. Despite the activity from yesterday, he was able to sleep peacefully. No dreams, but thankfully no nightmares either. He got out of bed to start the day.

He stood in front of a small candle that sat on his desk on a large clay plate. It was a typical beige color with a wooden wick. It smelled of petrichor- the smell before or after heavy rain that felt like safety, like his parents. Logan muttered a quiet apology for forgetting to light the candle the day prior. He pressed two fingers to his lips then pressed the fingers to his mom’s old necklace that lay around the perimeter of the clay plate the candle sat on. He heard anticipated footsteps in the hallway and moved to open his room door before returning to the candle at his desk.

Logan heard the footsteps enter his room as they joined him. David put a similar candle and clay plate beside Logan’s. Their father’s dog tags lay around the perimeter of his plate like their mom’s necklace. David handed a fresh match to Logan and pulled one for himself from the matchbox. Together, they struck the matches and lit the candles. David pinched his thumb and index finger to the lit match head while Logan blew his out.

The pair rested the extinguished matches on the plates in front of them and sat on the edge of Logan’s bed as the candles continued burning. The silence was peaceful. At some point, more footsteps sounded from outside the room. Merrick stood in the doorway, Keegan and Kick quietly appeared behind him. David handed the matchbox to Merrick as he picked out three sticks.

Merrick walked to the desk, using the lit candle of his captain to light the match rather than striking it. He extinguished the candle, placed it beside Elias Walker’s candle, then moved to stand beside the bed as Keegan and then Kick repeated his action. The group stayed silent for a minute in honor of their former leader and his long-departed wife. It had been four years since his death, only now had Logan been able to partake in this tradition. The team used this time to become closer to one another and remember their fallen. As such, they moved together and walked to a park not too far off from base. It was the same one Logan, David, Keegan and Riley had gone to.

They brought Riley and the ball once again. As he chased each of the men, they reminisced. David and Logan mentioned some moments from their shared childhood, like their mom nearly dropping the turkey the day of Thanksgiving. Thank the lord their dad had fast enough reflexes to save the turkey. However, the rug in their dining room suffered a splash of gravy. No matter how many times the family got the rug cleaned over the course of a year, the smell of gravy could be found if it was warm enough.

Merrick talked a bit about how he and Ajax met Keegan when he was just joining the Marines, still tall but much more lanky and awkward. Keegan then mentioned Kick’s hairstyles and how he went through a transformation from bowl cut to mullet to faux hawk and back to mullet when he got too lazy to cut it again before settling on a buzz cut like everyone else. Kick, in retaliation, talked about how Ajax had nearly thrown Keegan through a wall because Keegan was a couple steps away from getting his arm shot off.

“So that’s when Rusty, over here, learned to be responsible for his own life.” Kick finished.

“Do not bring back that nickname.” Keegan warned.

“It’s either that or the one we don’t speak of from boot camp.”

“Is this one I’ve heard?” Merrick asked.

“You remember when Keegan got into a fight with another recruit?”

“I had to pull him off of the poor kid, so yes.” Kick looked at Keegan, as though asking for permission. Keegan grit his teeth before speaking.

“Back in boot camp, this guy tried to convince everyone to start calling me ‘Pipsqueak’. Gary, I think. He had a lot of friends but when he tried to get the nickname out, his friends wouldn’t say it.”

“And then he tried changing it to ‘Pussycat Russ’.” Kick interjected.

“And you knocked out his tooth and I had to walk you away from the training field and Gary left boot camp not long after. Meanwhile, you got saddled with whatever training-related punishments we could think of,” Merrick turned to Logan before continuing, “And that, boys, is why the Sergeant does not have a nickname.”

“You don’t have one either.” Logan pointed out.

“Didn’t need one, people just called me Merrick. My dad, on the other hand, people called him ‘Bull’.” They continued talking about their families, bringing up nicknames and their origins, as they threw the ball around. Riley had been running towards Keegan, in hopes of catching the ball, until he stopped suddenly. Ears perked and alert, head turned in a very specific direction. While Merrick and Kick readied for trouble out of instinct, Keegan immediately went to hold the handle of Riley’s vest. David just sighed quietly and walked towards the bushes Riley stared at as he explained.

“The same thing happened last time we came here. Nothing except for a raccoon that Riley almost mangled.” He picked up a large stick and messed around with the bush until a cat ran out from behind. Riley zeroed in on the cat as it ran down a nearby bike trail. David called for Riley.

“Riley, sit!”

The dog reluctantly sat on his behind with a quiet whine. Keegan patted his side, scratched under his chin.

“Yeah, bud, I know. But those kinds of chew toys are too messy and probably belong to someone.” Riley whined again at Keegan. “Look, if there’s a squirrel or a raccoon on base again, maybe we’ll let you go at ‘em, okay?” Riley seemed to huff at that. David walked back over and the group continued throwing the ball around. Some civilians passed through the park. Two old men sat on the benches and watched Riley run around. He came by the men to sniff at and receive more attention than he was already getting from the Ghosts.

By the time 1100 rolled around, the group began their walk into town. It seemed a lot of people decided to be out and about today. It was comforting to Logan, in a sense. Probably because he had his brothers with him, and Riley. They’d protect him and he’d protect them, as always. He looked at everyone. Merrick and David talked up front, deep in conversation about how the world seemed so much brighter that day. Keegan and Kick talked about food options, they both seemed excited. The positive energy leaked onto Logan as they continued down sidewalks and across streets.

Soon, they reached your café and found a comfortable booth to fit them all with a little extra room underneath the table for Riley. Once again, soft jazz played over the speakers, just loud enough to be heard over the conversations of your customers without drowning said conversations out. Logan faced towards the counter where the registers were located. You weren’t there, not yet anyway. His attention returned to his comrades. On the table was a flyer to a music event that was apparently happening in a week. Some local bands would be playing across the way and the street your café was located on would be temporarily closed so people could perform and listen. They discussed their music preferences amongst one another.

“Dad listened to a lot of Korn when we were in high school. Sometimes, he’d drive us to school blasting it with the windows down and his sunglasses on.” David explained. “I think he got flipped off a couple times by other parents. Everyone else at school thought he was cool, but their parents hated him.”

“The teachers asked him one time if he could stop but I think he just changed to a different band that had more screaming.” Logan added.

“Pretty sure I heard him complaining about the teachers one time. He was asking for song recommendations.” Merrick shared.

“I would’ve told him to play Slipknot.” Keegan muttered. David smiled as Logan chimed in.

“I think he was the reason I listened to Deftones so much back then. Wouldn’t have found them without him.”

“I know he had a couple vinyls. We didn’t even have a record player!”

“The album art was cool, though.” David nodded and turned to Merrick.

“What about you, Merrick? Did you guys listen to stuff together?”

“Sometimes, if we even had access to anything. I prefer different stuff if I can choose.” He answered. Keegan smirked as he purred.

“You never like sharing any of your stuff.”

“If no one’s gonna appreciate it, there’s no point.”

“So who do you appreciate so much, then?” David raised his brow.

“Sold Soul, System Of A Down–”

“You think people don’t appreciate System Of A Down?”

“How many songs by System Of A Down do you know?” Merrick quizzed. The two went back and forth while Logan and Kick chuckled to each other. Keegan was stuck in the middle of the bickering once again. Logan nudged Kick.

“So what about you?” He asked.

“EDM type stuff. If you can hear it at a rave, I’ll listen to it.” Merrick’s head turned to Kick in the middle of his and David’s argument.

“You mean your computer music, right, Skrillex?” He snapped, David snorted. Kick glared at the captain.

“There’s so much more than Skrillex! You got Excision, Alan Walker, Illenium–”

“Look, no hate to ‘incision’, ‘Alan Watts’ and ‘millenium falcon’, but I guarantee there’s better genres out there.” David joked. This time Merrick snorted and even Keegan seemed to shake with what could have been giggles as Kick wrinkled his nose. A bigger argument, mostly consisting of whether Kick’s taste was “real music”, ensued. Logan zoned out when you came from a door that likely led to a kitchen. You carried a plateful of treats that filled the air with a familiar scent. Coffee, like when the two brothers first walked in two days ago. As you set down the plate for your coworker to take, you noticed him.

Logan saw the recognition as it appeared on your face. Your eyes widened slightly and you smiled wide, a small wave sent his way. He returned the wave with a grin. The conversation died in the background and he saw you wave to his friends as well. He turned to the table and saw Kick and David excitedly wave before getting back to talking. Merrick waved and Keegan nodded in your direction. He interrupted the ongoing discussion to get their orders before he walked up to you.

“Good to see you again, Logan.” You bit your lip slightly as you greeted him. Logan wasn’t nervous this time. Not in a negative way, at least. He was happy to see you again, but he still couldn’t talk. At least he could smile at you. It seemed to work, as you were practically beaming. You looked back at his table and reached under the counter. You showed him the same flyer. “I almost forgot, we’re having a music event next week. It’s gonna be right outside the café if you wanna come by. I don’t know if any of the music is stuff you’ll even like but if it’s not you can at least get some food! I’ll be working and hopefully getting some new customers while it’s going on.”

Logan thought about it. As he contemplated the pros and cons, he noticed the sound of his team had pretty much stopped. Logan turned to see all four of the men and Riley staring at him. Riley tilted his head while the rest of them nodded vigorously.

For fuck’s sake .

Logan turned back to you. Forgetting who he was talking to, he spoke.

“I’ll see you there.”

The smile that returned to your face could’ve blinded him, but he kept his eyes open to keep looking. This must’ve been how Icarus felt. You nodded your head as your cheeks flushed.

“Cool, cool.” You looked back at him. “Oh shit, you probably want food!” The blush on your face deepened as you scrambled around. Logan simply stared, a smirk pulling his lips up. You offered a pencil. “Sorry, I almost forgot– I know last time you were doing the, uh,” you pointed to the other side of the counter where Logan had ordered last time. “... Writing. I didn’t know if you wanted to do that again or…” You cut yourself short, scratching the back of your neck. With your happiness and a new confidence, Logan smiled and shook his head lightly.

“I can order without it, but thank you.” You immediately put the pencil down. He told you the orders as you plugged them into the register, face still red. After he paid, you wrote down a couple notes and stuffed them in your pocket.

“Alrighty, I’ll get that set up for you guys.” Logan sat down with his team as they stared at him, wide grins on all of their faces. Even Riley was looking back towards him from his spot on the ground. Logan bit his lip hard in a failed attempt to hide how happy he was.

“Where was all that confidence the other day?” David asked. Logan could only shrug. Honestly, he didn’t know either. Keegan piped up.

“You have a date next week it seems.” This might’ve been the longest Keegan had a smile on his typically grim face. Logan’s cheeks hurt.

“It’s– it’s not a date,” he stuttered. Now he was blushing. “Plus you guys are coming with.”

“We’re going for the music, you’re going so you can finish your little love story and make out in front of the fireworks.” Kick’s voice was just barely sarcastic, enough for Logan to tell he was joking. For the most part, anyway.

“I doubt they’d have fireworks.” David retorted.

“I’d like it if they didn’t.” Keegan added. Kick rolled his eyes at the comment.

“Well, they have to have something bright and interesting. It’s not fun without bright lights.”

“Did you learn that from all the raves you went to?”

“Yes.”

“Did anyone wind up having a seizure?”

“Yes, but that’s not the point. Unless you have epilepsy, a rave is something everyone should experience at least once.”

“Yes, and we can listen to your favorite Skrillex noises and shit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry ‘Sergeant Sweetheart’, I’ll be sure to put on some super edgy and dark metal so you feel nice and cozy in your corner.” Keegan’s nose crinkled at that. His face alone let everyone know he was reminding himself he was amongst civilians and tackling Kick wasn’t socially acceptable unless they’d be getting paid for it. Keegan opened his mouth to say something but one of your coworkers appeared with a tray holding their meals. Whatever words were on his tongue were replaced by a quiet “thank you”. They mostly ate in silence aside from occasionally sharing their musical preferences and looking over the flyer again.

“You can’t honestly tell me you listen to classical music and expect me to believe that.”

“It helps me focus if I’m doing work and helps me sleep.”

“I’m sure Mozart would appreciate that.”

“Probably not, his stuff is too energetic.”

“Then who would you listen to?

“Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer–”

“I thought Hans Zimmer did movie soundtracks.”

“They both do, but it’s still classical.”

“So you go to bed listening to the Batman soundtrack.”

“The Interstellar soundtrack is better for working. I’d listen to the Batman soundtrack if I was working out. If I’m trying to sleep then I’d go with Art Tatum or just find something on YouTube.”

As Kick and Keegan continued to go back and forth, Logan saw you walk from where the presumable kitchen was. You slid open the door to the display case and organized a tray of the largest cinnamon rolls that must’ve existed at that point in time. He could smell the sweet cinnamon as it wafted throughout the area. Merrick took a deep breath and moved to get up.

“Alright, I’m hungry again.”

“You’re always hungry.” David muttered as Merrick made his way to the register.

“I might get some dessert too. They have bread pudding.” Kick made his way up behind Merrick, eyes settled on the display for other treats. Kick turned to the table, “They have oreo cheesecake!” He whisper-yelled with exaggerated excitement. With that, David got up.

“Wanna share?” He asked, Logan nodded. “Keegan, what about you?” Keegan shook his head and scooted over beside Logan, leaning in.

“You should really talk to them before we leave.” He whispered.

“I will.” Logan whispered.

“Maybe get their number.”

“I don’t know if I should do that now. Maybe before the music show?”

“Oh, that way you have a reason to see them before then. Good idea!”

“That’s not what I mea–”

“Move aside, kid. I need all the space I can get for this thing.” As Merrick settled in, he placed his plate on the table while Logan and Keegan stared at the monstrosity of a cinnamon roll that sat upon it. As David and Kick returned with their own desserts, Keegan and Logan turned their attention to you as you walked past.

“I should mention, since I started serving those cinnamon rolls, I have never seen anyone finish the whole thing in one sitting. They always end up needing a to-go box.” You explained.

“Is that a challenge?” Merrick asked, jokingly. At that, you paused and put your hand on your chin like you were thinking hard.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Everyone chuckles at that. “But in all seriousness, if you need a box, I’ll get you one. Just lemme know!” You smile once more and walk off. David had gotten a hefty slice of the cheesecake, handing Logan a fork as they both dug in. Kick had gotten bread pudding with a scoop whip cream. After 2 minutes of Keegan silently staring at the dish, Kick wordlessly scooped a bit of the dessert onto his spoon with a bit of the cream and held it just in front of Keegan’s face. Keegan just stared in mild annoyance before he grabbed the spoon and ate the offering. He didn’t give the spoon back. Kick, without a hint of irritation, smoothly pulled a second spoon out from his sleeve and continued eating.

Merrick successfully finished the cinnamon. You laughed when he came up to return the now empty plate.

“First time for everything, I guess. This calls for a free dessert next time you come here.”

“If you give me another reason to come here, I won't be able to run again.”

“Oh, sorry… Make that two desserts then.” Merrick rolled his eyes at you with a grin. He thanked you and waited for the others. As the others returned their dishware and waited by the front door, Logan came up to you with Riley at his side. As he was about to say goodbye, Riley stood on his hind legs suddenly and began sniffing the countertop. He whined a bit at you two, looking back and forth between your adoring and his confused, and embarrassed, expressions. Riley continued to whine and went as far as to put his paws on the countertop. Your coworker rushed to your side of the counter and began digging around the underside of it for something Logan couldn’t see.

“Sorry! I brought dog biscuits because so many people have been out with their pets lately. He must be smelling them.” They said as they held a jar, and an open one at that, of small bone-shaped treats. Riley sat in place, staring at the jar as the coworker angled the opening towards Logan. “Does he like biscuits?” He nodded and took two from the jar before he waved David over. Riley’s tail loudly slapped against the floor as it wagged.

Logan held up the first treat and Riley stilled, eyes locked on the prize. Logan tossed it in the air and Riley quickly shifted his torso and maw up as he stood on his hind legs, catching the biscuit. It was devoured within seconds. David whistled to get the dog’s attention. Riley walked to stand in front of David, paws almost touching the toes of the man’s boots. David carefully placed the treat on Riley’s muzzle and waited as Riley’s eyes kept going from the treat to David, waiting for the command.

“Okay, go ahead, bud.” David waved his hand and Riley moved his head so fast the treat may as well have vanished into thin air, if not for the soft crunching noise. You and your coworker smiled as the pair walked back towards the door.

“What’s his name, anyway?” You asked. “Your dog, I mean.” Logan chuckled.

“Riley.”

“Well, we’ll make sure to have more treats for him if he comes by again.”

“I’ll make sure I–” Logan quickly corrected himself. “ We come by with him again.” Your grin slowly widened.

“I’m sure he’d like that.” You looked to the door at the rest of the group. “I’ll see you later, Logan.” You chewed slightly on your bottom lip to try to hide your happiness. It wasn’t working but it was cute. Logan could only nod in response as he stepped back and walked out of your cafe with his team.

As they walked past the large window located beside the entrance, he glanced in and saw the wide smile you had once again as you excitedly chattered with your coworker. Internally, Logan hoped you were talking about him. He quietly sighed to himself as the group walked home. During the walk, the conversation began with discussion about the food and whether or not you’d be open to catering any upcoming events on base before it shifted to Logan’s flirting skills. He was flustered all over again thinking about everything he had said. It only got worse when he thought about how you seemed to enjoy what he said.

Once again, he was walking away from your café smiling to himself, thinking of you as his face turned pink.

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