Distant giggles were vaguely registered in Luke's mind as he slowly woke up. He licked his lips, groaning at the small headache he felt rippling through his skull. Rooster's arm was now wrapped around his shoulders, keeping Luke's head resting atop his chest. By the deep rise and fall of his chest, Luke would take a guess that he was still asleep. He made quick work of untangling his legs from Rooster's own, before the bedroom door swiftly creaked open.

"Luke!" Nearly matching five year old voices shouted out followed by the laugh of a ten year old. He felt Rooster's arm tense around him before the feeling of twin weights dipping into his bed caused him to face his nieces.

"Hey, girls." He attempted nonchalance, looking up to meet Rooster's tired eyes. The latter of the two immediately moving his arm to allow Luke to sit up.

"Who are you?" May asked from where she sat at the end of the bed, awkwardly shifting around. Her twin sister Marnie shared the same sentiment, growing embarrassed in front of the stranger. Both girls shifted uncomfortably, sharing wary looks.

"Uh," Rooster began, sitting up before looking to Luke for support.

"He's Luke's boyfriend I guess." Their older sister, Sam, shrugged as she moved further into the room.

"Woah!" May shouted, smile growing on her face. Marnie's embarrassment settled slightly at that, leaning closer with a curious look on her face. "I didn't like his last one very much." She murmured, calculating eyes looking over the stranger's form. Rooster reeled back at that, frowning in thought.

"I'm Sam. This is Marnie and May." Sam spoke up from where she stood behind her two sitting sisters, placing a hand atop each girl respectively when saying their names. "We're Luke's nieces. It's cool to meet you." She gave a half smile.

"Bradley," Rooster greeted with a matching smile. He shifted slightly under the girls' scrutinizing eyes, but still kept his head up in confidence.

"Girls!" Their mother called, nearly walking past the ajar door. She stopped in her tracks, quickly stepping into the room, her cheeks flushed pink. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She muttered, attempting to avert her eyes from Rooster as she grabbed at the youngest girls, placing them on the floor beside her and holding either of the hands do as to not have them further embarrass her.

"It's fine." Luke murmured, his own face warming at the awkward moment. He looked to Rooster to find him leaning against the headboard, confident smile on his face.
"Besides, Mom wanted Rooster to eat breakfast with us." Alice immediately nodded her head, still riddled with embarrassment, shooting a welcoming smile in Rooster's direction without quite looking at him.

"Rooster," May laughed, tilting her head incredulously at the name.

"Oh," Sam connected immediately, gesturing to him with widened eyes. "You're a pilot too?"

Rooster nodded his head, running a sneaky hand up the back of Luke's shirt, gently skirting his fingers across the other's skin. Luke flinched at the contact, eyes still honed in on his nieces.

"It's his name sign?" Marnie asked timidly, hand still fastened around her mother's. "Like Grandpa's?"

"Yup." Alice quickly confirmed, beginning to tug the two girls out of the room. She gave a pointed look to Sam who immediately began to follow them. They made it to the doorway, their mother quickly pushing at both of the little girls' backs to get them moving along.

"So why is Luke's name sign, Pretty Boy?" Marnie voiced her curiosity, looking up at her mom.

"Because, uh," Alice began uncomfortably, moving to shut the door behind them. She widened her eyes at Luke, mouthing "help me" before closing it. "Well, because you're uncle—" Their voices cut out as Luke listened to the herd of girls stomping down the stairs.

"We better go out there." Luke murmured softly, running a hand down his face with a quiet sigh.

Rooster only hummed in acknowledgment, fingers still tracing shapes on Luke's lower back. He moved his unoccupied hand to run it up Luke's side, quickly hopping over his thigh to sit in between his legs. Both of his hands moved to lift Luke's shirt up enough to rest on his exposed stomach. He brushed the tip of his nose against Luke's, pupils blown wide.

"Or, we can stay here." Rooster half joked, voice husky from having just woken up. Luke was quiet for a moment, face red. He grew uncomfortable at the idea, almost wishing he could hide his face under the palms of his hands. He slipped through Rooster's hands and off of the bed. He gave himself a once over in the mirror before grabbing Rooster's shirt and doing the same. It wasn't too wrinkled, he decided, tossing it in his direction. Rooster caught it, slipping it on before doing the same with his shoes. Luke sat beside him at the edge of the bed, doing the same. Rooster nudged into his shoulder playfully before moving to stand.

"They're cute." Rooster said, watching as Luke finished lacing his boots, standing to meet him. "I can see where Marnie gets her shyness from." He gave a lopsided smile, while a blush immediately creeped up Luke's neck.

"Let's go." Luke muttered, attempting to get the attention off of him. He moved to the door, opening it and leaving without another look at Rooster. The other man chuckled from behind him, jogging to keep up. Once they made it to the bottom of the stairs, they followed the sound of loud and happy conversation to the dining room. His father sat at the head of the table, his mother at his right side with Alice next to her, and Sam beside her. Luke moved to sit at his usual spot at the left of his father, while Rooster followed with unsure steps.

"Hello, Bradley!" Sarah beamed, gesturing to the food at the center of the table. "Fill your plate, we've got plenty."
Iceman looked up, an eyebrow raised as he watched the newcomer sit next to his son. He typed something into his phone with sure fingertips before showing it to the table.

'How is your training going, Bradley? I understand you and Luke are on the same mission?'

"Yes, sir." Rooster nodded his head immediately, not having yet made a grab for any of the food on display. "It's going well, sir. Your son's a hell of a pilot." Iceman smiled quickly at that, moving to pat at Luke's hand that rest atop the table beside him.

"So, where are you staying?" Alice asked curiously, eyes darting to give Luke a look before shooting back to Rooster's form. A look that the younger of the two couldn't decipher.

"The base." Rooster said simply, stabbing a pancake and setting it on his plate before looking up at her.

"Oh," Sarah interjected with a frown. "Well you can always spend a few nights here. We've got the room." She offered up, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. Luke coughed on the bite of food he had just put into his mouth, looking up. Rooster's eyes darted between Luke and his mother, licking his lips before deciding to nod his head cryptically.

'What's in store for today?' Iceman held his phone above Luke's plate. Luke took a moment to read it before looking up at his dad.

"Mav wants us to meet him at the beach? Something about team bonding." Luke explained in more of a question than a statement, tilting his head at the idea. Iceman lips upturned in reaction, seemingly satisfied with Luke's response.

"That sounds fun!" May came barreling into the room with her sister close behind her. She moved to sit at the seat one over from Rooster, forcing Marnie to reluctantly sit next to him. He shot her a smile, which she ignored in favor for staring down at her plate. "I wish we could go." May said in want from beside her, her smile quickly morphing into a small frown.

"We'll see." Alice placated, which could easily mean that they would not be going to the beach, and May knew that.

"We never go to the beach." May's frown turned into an immediate pout, tears pooling in her eyes. Luke intentionally averted his eyes. Kids were a definitive weak spot of his.

"Marnie doesn't like the beach, May." Sam reminded her easily, pouring syrup atop her second pancake.

"I can—" Marnie began, shoulders slumping at the sudden attention of the room being payed to her. She shrunk back in her seat, looking around the room. "I can go to the beach. I just don't like the water." She said sheepishly.

"I don't like it either." Rooster said in reassurance from beside her. The young girl immediately looked to her right, shyness thrown to the wind as her wide eyes locked with his.

"Really?" She spoke up in awe, voice still soft and almost indecipherably

"Ever since I was your age." Rooster confirmed, nodding his head gently. "But I think the beach is lots of fun." He remarked, looking to his right to lock eyes with Luke for approval.

"I'd like to go to the beach then." Marnie beamed at her mom, while Rooster kept his gaze on Luke, a lopsided smile on his face. Luke's smile in return was small and sheepish as his cheeks turned pink, he immediately looked away, feigning interest in a conversation his parents were having.

"Guess we're going to the beach." Alice shrugged.