✩ Grooming, brushing, or tending to their hair.
Grumbling, arms over their chest, they looked much like a disgruntled child as the older man fixed the mess they called their hair. Not that he was succeeding by much, the locks no longer as short as they had been when they had first met.“I swear to all the gods, old man, if you keep fuckin’ with it and it gets frizzy I’m goin’ to whoop your ass. Don’t test me.” If it was not for the almost fond look on their face as fingers grazed against their scalp and had their head tilting into the touch, one could have thought Riley was incredibly serious.
✥ Play fighting!
Well, they had warned Tex. Of course the bastard had not listened. He rarely did. The result was tackling and grappling, breathless laughs, and tickling that had them both on the floor. Damn that man.
☆ Getting them something they need before they ask for it.
Target practice was the time of day they most looked forward to. A time to unwind without hurting someone. Where focus was expected, and the way their lips curled with satisfaction and rage was not uncommon. From the bottom of their heart, they imagined their father in every target; here where it was safe to unload a clip without consequences, and every moving, firing, target they cut down when in a fight. Fuck him. Fuck him, fuck him, fuckhimfuckhimfuckingdieyoubastard–Their gun clicked. Click, click, click. The red haze faded from the edges of their vision, a sigh leaving them as they reached for another clip.One was brought into his field of vision, and brown eyes glanced up at who handed it to him. The cold, hard, stony look melted from their face and was replaced with something soft as they took the fresh clip from Tex.“Thank you…”
❥ Running your hand over their arm and gently pulling them close.
He did not need to pull them closer; the younger of the two already leaning close and pressing their forehead against his chest. They breathed in heavily, exhaled shakily. The gentle touches served to calm them, ground them, settle them down. Gods, what would they do without him? He was their rock, and as much as it worried them that they were violent waves eroding said rock, he could not have imagined being this stable again without him.
✖ Soft nips at the neck and shoulder line.
Gasps, tiny and muffled only by sheer willpower, escaped their throat; head tilting to the side and allowing him more room to work his magic. Fingers curled into his long hair, twisting slightly with each shudder that ran through their body.“F-fuck–” Knees knocked together, eyes fluttering closed, the nips enough to drive them crazy just on their own; the gentle, caring, way they were delivered were just the icing on the cake at this point.
✗ Bathing, washing, or soaking together quietly after sex.
Eyes drifted over the naked body bathed in hot water in steam, tracing over the light lines on his back from over eager nails. Affection, plain and simple and something they thought they were no longer fully capable of, swelled in their chest. Riley could get use to this, seeing him every morning and sharing meals and showers on the regular… They hoped the universe was kind enough to at least give them that, at least for awhile.
