Author's Note: Fill for LiveJournal Friday one word prompt "Arms" for Wash and Taylor. Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing, no profit here whatsoever.
As he cuts through the market, Nathaniel nods in return to all of the greetings he's offered by the colonists. It's warm out, so he's wearing one of his short-sleeved t-shirts. As usual, the female colonists are, in general, far more effusive in their greetings. They approach, and more often than not, they seem to be more, as Alicia has frequently pointed out, physical with their greetings. Basically, the women find ways and reasons to touch his arms.
He counts himself lucky that his wife is very secure with herself and in their relationship, and he counts the female colonists lucky that his wife is not the jealous type. Over the last few years since their relationship became public, she's only felt it necessary to put a couple of women in their place when said women became far more aggressive than Alicia thought to be strictly acceptable.
Even with Alicia's patience and amusement with the attention he gets, he has made it a point to train his reaction to the women. When he was younger, his usual instinctive reaction to a woman touching his arm was to flex the muscle. He didn't think about it. He just did it. Now, he makes an effort to keep the muscle relaxed, to show no reaction other than general, vague friendliness to the women who approach.
He actually has been careful about his reactions to the women since female civilians first began to arrive here on the pilgrimages. As calm and relaxed as Alicia is now about the touchy-feely females he seems to attract, she was less so for the years leading up to them going public with their relationship, not long after Shannon's trip back to 2149 to destroy Hope Plaza.
When they were keeping their very committed, very long-term relationship under wraps because of chain of command issues, behind closed doors, Alicia would get downright nasty about the women. He'd known that it was never that she didn't trust him. She'd just been frustrated about not being able to tell them to back off, frustrated that they couldn't be informed, in no uncertain terms, that he was taken.
Remembering those nights when she was so irritated and frustrated, something of a wicked grin comes to his face. The upside to those nights was that, being unable to vent her aggression towards his admirers, she found other outlets for her aggression, and those outlets were usually a lot of fun for him. When he gets an odd look from a passer-by, he realizes that he still wears the wicked grin. He schools his expression back to one of neutral friendliness, and he continues to walk through the market.
His destination alone, at least in logical theory, should deter women. He's heading to the preschool to pick up their daughter, Gracie, better known by many simply as "Bug." But logical theory and practical application often fail to go hand in hand. He finds that the women are even more forward with him when he's carrying his raven-haired, blue-eyed, overly friendly and precocious two-year-old around.
It baffles him. One night when they were having dinner at the Shannons' house, he asked Alicia and Elisabeth Shannon about it. They'd both laughed and Elisabeth said that there was just something completely irresistible about a big, strong man carrying a little girl around. Alicia and Maddy Shannon both nodded their agreement. He was left surprised that his independent, serious, deadpan wife felt that way and still baffled as to why any woman felt that way.
He arrives at the preschool, and one of the young teachers comes over to him. He almost cringes as she reaches out and actually takes his arm, leading him to the outdoor play area where the toddlers are. He tries to be gracious, but the minute they hit the door to the outside, he gently pulls his arm free of her grasp.
Surveying the play area, he easily spots Gracie in the sandbox, her black, bouncing pigtails making her very easy to find. A moment later, one of the other children sees him and calls, "Hi, Mander Taylor!"
At that, Gracie's head turns towards the door, and her large, light blue eyes light up. "Daddy!" She gets to her feet the same way she always does, by pressing her hands down to the ground, raising her rear and then pushing herself into a standing position. Or, as Alicia succinctly summarizes it, butt first. It never fails to amuse both of them.
Gracie runs to him as quickly as her short little legs will allow, and he bends down to scoop her up when she gets close. Just to make her squeal, he blows a raspberry on her neck before planting her on his hip as she giggles. "Hi, little Bug. How was your day?"
"Good! I dwew a dino picture!" She grips his t-shirt and leans into his shoulder. "Now Gwacie tired."
He chuckles. "Good thing you have a ride then, isn't it?"
"Uh huh. Go home? Mama back?" She's referring to the fact that Alicia has been OTG for two nights now, a trip to resupply several of the outposts.
"We're going to go meet her at the gate, Bug. They called in as I was coming here to get you." As he answers her, the young teacher brings him Gracie's small bag, touching his arm again as she hands it to him. It takes everything he has not to sigh and roll his eyes.
Gracie hugs him tighter, and he slings her bag over his other shoulder and walks out of the preschool, waving to the kids and other teachers as he does. "Good. Wuv Daddy, but miss Mama."
"Yeah, I miss her too, Bug."
They head through the market towards the gate, stopping here and there to get things to warm up for dinner, and at Gracie's insistence – though he was easy to convince – to buy some flowers for Alicia. As he is paying the vendor for the flowers, another woman who apparently feels compelled to touch his arm as they stand there, he gets the message through his comm that the OTG party is three minutes out.
He hands the bunch of lily-like flowers, Alicia's favorite, to Gracie. She holds them tight to her, careful not to break them, and they set out for the gate to meet Alicia. As they get there, the gate is just rising, and Nathaniel whispers, "Perfect timing," to Gracie as the two rovers skid to a stop inside the gate.
A very tired looking Alicia climbs out of the driver's side of one of the rovers. It was clearly very hot in the rover, as she is down to just a tank top and her fatigues, something that makes him grin. While the women of the colony may enjoy his arms quite a bit, to his eye, it's her arms that are mesmerizing.
Gracie shifts on his hip. "Daddy, Gwacie down?"
He smiles and puts her down on her feet, and with a cry of "Mama!", she's barreling towards the rovers. Alicia bends and catches Gracie, swinging her up into the air and spinning with her as Gracie laughs. He just watches them, a grin on his face. His eyes are automatically drawn to Alicia's arms, strong and toned but not too cut, the muscles moving and rippling beneath her tanned skin. She has little idea how attractive she is, but some of the men gathered near the gate are clearly not so blind to her appeal.
He feels a flash of irritation at the soldiers on the gate control, as they are openly ogling his wife as she talks to their daughter, now snuggled tight in her arms. He cuts his eyes at the two men, and they immediately look away. As he turns back to his girls, Gracie, still holding the flowers, is talking animatedly to Alicia, but Alicia's eyes are focused on him.
She raises an eyebrow at his checking her out and his rather obvious display of possessiveness with the soldiers. He colors slightly, embarrassed at being caught, but she just smiles and shakes her head as she shoulders her pack on her free side and heads towards him.
When she gets to him, she says, "T-shirt weather, hmm? Do I need to head to the market to smack down any overly-enthusiastic admirers?"
He takes her pack and shakes his head. "No, I kept them all at bay." He eyes the soldiers still gathered around the gate area. "Do I need to smack down any overly-enthusiastic admirers?"
She laughs, and she tightens her arms around their daughter. The movement catches his eye and sends his head to a place it shouldn't be going right now. "They're harmless, Nathaniel." She then leans up to him, able to, as usual, read him like a book. She whispers into his ear in order to avoid Gracie overhearing, "And mind out of the gutter, at least until after we put her to bed."
He turns his head and, before she can pull away, catches her lips with his. The kiss is soft and not too long, but it still makes Gracie giggle. He drops a quick kiss on Gracie's forehead as his fingers trace a leisurely path down Alicia's bicep. To his satisfaction, the touch makes her shiver a little. "Home, my ladies?"
Alicia just rolls her eyes, and Gracie says, "Yes! Home now!"
They approach the market, which they have to pass again in order to get to their house. His eyes warn off any man who might even consider eyeing his wife, because while Alicia may be patient with his many admirers, he possesses no such equanimity. Just as his arms are hers alone, her arms belong only to him, and he'll be damned if that isn't completely clear to anyone and everyone.