Auther: fandomlit
the squadron had been getting ready for bed when the lights suddenly went out and the usual background thrum of the bunkhouse went silent. rooster looked to the switch to see no one standing by it just as payback let out a groan.
“the power did not just go out,” he huffed, digging through one of his drawers for his emergency flashlight.
“i think it did,” rooster replied as the other men in the bunkroom began to curse. hangman hopped out of bed, not bothering to pull a shirt on as he headed for the door.
“where are you going?” coyote called to him.
“to see if anyone else’s went out or if rooster just left his curling iron on too long,” hangman replied with a cynical smile. and as much as rooster wanted to put him in his smug jaw, he, payback, and coyote all followed.
the backup generator must have been some piece of work, for it only somewhat worked in the hallway, filling it with eerily faint light. some other men were out of their bunks already, milling about the hall with tired grumbles and groans as they talked amongst themselves. “guess it wasn’t just us,” rooster offered with a tired sigh.
“guess it got the girls, too,” payback spoke before moving past rooster. “hey phoenix, c/s!” rooster followed after him to see the silhouetted figures of the two girls of their squadron were in fact hovering near the entranceway of their hall. his heart nearly stopped as he got close enough to catch sight of you in the dim lights.
rooster had seen you in many shapes and forms; workout clothes, dresswear, uniform, even swimwear. but never in sleep clothes.
he thanked what ever god for blessing him with that sight.
“enjoying some mood lighting, boys?” you joked with a tired smile, tilting your head in a way that nearly had rooster swooning. man, he knew he had it bad for you, but this was a whole new level.
you stood in pair of lazily picked out socks and a way too big sleep shirt that left too much and not enough to the imagination, just barely stopping at your mid thigh with no implication of shorts underneath. he prayed the same dim lighting that revealed your adorably tired features to him hid the way his eyes greedily drank in the sight of your beautifully bare legs and the large shirt slipping off of your shoulder in the slightest, exposing your bare collarbone to his prying eyes. he forced his eyes away after a few long moments, cursing just barely under his breath. he couldn’t help the intrusive thought of you wearing his too big shirt, looking up at him with those doey, tired eyes, and, god, he was in public right now.
while you had taken a more lighthearted approach to the situation, phoenix was less than so. “none of you thought to put on shirts? not a single one of you?”
“c’mon, c/s’s not even wearing pants right now!” hangman retorted with a snicker. rooster didn’t know when he had joined their group, but his blood boiled at the thought of hangman’s gaze replacing where his had just been, thinking worse and more perverted thoughts than his own. that stupidly familiar burn in his chest only lessened when he heard you scoff.
“i’m wearing shorts, dipshit,” you huffed and rooster’s eyes followed selfishly as you lifted the hem of your shirt, revealing the pair of spandex that sat even further up on your thighs. he looked away quickly this time, before his mind could get too carried away. “i’m officially the second most clothed person here.” phoenix, who stood in a tee and sweatpants, just shrugged.
“i don’t know about that,” hangman tutted under his breath and rooster had never wanted him to shut up more. luckily, the admiral saved any further debate and intrusive thoughts.
“admiral on deck!”
everyone fell to attention immediately, lining up against the walls. when the hall was completely silent and devoid of shuffling noises, the admiral stepped toward the center. he scanned the hall before commanding, “at ease, but listen up.” everyone relaxed their attention and that’s when rooster realized that you had snuck your way beside him in the brief rush. you caught his eye when he glanced down at you and shot him a jovial, heart-stopping wink before focusing back on the admiral. he couldn’t help but bite his lip to prevent a goofy smile.
“we’ve got mechanics searching for the source of the outage now,” the admiral explained, pacing further down the hall. “lights out will be extended by an hour to accommodate for those whose showers were cut off or cut short. y’all smell terrible. you need that shower.” chuckles arose down the hall. “until we get up and running again, a few reminders: you are still not allowed to mingle in each other’s dorms, you are still required to wake at the same time tomorrow, you are still..”
as the admiral droned on, rooster snuck another glance down at you. you caught his gaze after a moment and the two of you shared an exaggerated look. he leaned closer to you and spoke quietly, “where’d you even get a shirt that big?”
that clearly wasn’t what you were expecting him to say judging by the breathy chuckle you let out. “some laundry mix up a few weeks ago. don’t really know what happened or who did it, but it doesn’t matter. it’s my shirt now. it smells like me and everything.”
rooster let out a quiet chuckle as if the thought of you scenting a shirt didn’t nearly make him shiver. the admiral swept his gaze through the part of the hallway your smiling duo stood and rooster quickly fixed his smile into a hardened expression. when the admiral’s eyes were gone, he whispered to you with a skipping heart, “looks good on you. ‘m sure it smells good, too.”
he looked toward you to see a silent laugh shake through you as you caught his eyes, “thanks.” his gaze flitted away from you after a moment, just as you added, “would rather it be one of your shirts, though.”
his heart stopped. his fervent eyes were back on you within the millisecond. “what?”
“what?” you repeated back to him. but the feeble lighting was just vivid enough that he could see the knowing, provocative look in your eyes as you tilted your head at him and holy shit you were going to be the death of him.
“dismissed,” the admiral called before rooster could even think of a response to you.
you shot rooster a smile that only told him that you were proud of yourself before speaking sweetly, “goodnight, bradley.”
fuck, did you have to say his name?
his veins were on fire. he let out a chuckle that only told you how flustered you had made the usually-cocky pilot. “goodnight, y/n.” he stared after you for a moment, gaze on the hem of your shirt as it just barely rose to the top of your thighs with your pace. the sight of your spandex settled just under the curve of your ass was like a reward.
and though some of the boys jostled and teased him like teenagers when you disappeared back to the girls rooms, rooster’s only thoughts were how to cause another laundry mix up in his favor.