Time to start up this story again! Mainly just fluffy stuff with shenanigans!

Also, this will be the last update on any story for two weeks. I have contracted the plague. Avoided it for almost two years but alas

Warnings: None really, maybe some sexual humor.

Emerging from the tunnel, I blinked in surprise.

Hunter said cabin but… hellfire it was legit a cabin!

Wooden walls, floors, and ceiling stretched in front of me as a staircase to my right led to what I assumed was the first floor above us.

Smelled like a cabin too; sawdust, faint woodsmoke from past fires, and beyond that the smell of pines. Aside from the boys beside and behind me, any human smell was stale.

The layer of dust on the wooden stairs and on the leather couch beneath them confirmed that no one had been here for quite a while.

Or the boys just didn't like dusting.

Though, knowing Tech, he'd have this place spotless.

Spotting the projector and the screen half hidden in the ceiling, I tilted my head. "Movies?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, patting my shoulder as he passed. "No… TVs, as you call 'em."

"Fine by me," I said, flicking my tail before following him up the stairs. "Less chance of seeing the news."

"You're gonna love it here, Squeak!" Wrecker laughed, bringing up the rear behind Crosshair.

"Think you're right, Scruff!" I replied, eagerly slipping past Hunter as we reached the top.

A spiral iron staircase at my immediate left, two doors in front of me, and a hallway to my right which I turned down. Stopping briefly to admire the kitchen and breakfast bar on the right, I passed the last and third hallway door on my left and stopped at the threshold to the living room where the ceiling extended far above my head to the second level.

Eyeing the windows over the front door before turning my attention to a thick rope hanging down, I looked into the rafters high above my head and stifled a laugh. "That hammock up there yours, Twiggs?"

"What makes you think that, sweetheart?" the sniper asked, slipping an arm around my shoulders as he pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

"Only you would have such a precarious perch so high off the ground," I replied, curling my tail around his leg. "And the dartboard above the windows is pretty telling."

"Funny." Arm slipping off my shoulders, he went to inspect the compact pool table beside the dining table.

Hunter walked to the armchair in the corner, checking it over as I investigated the large stone fireplace built into the left wall.

"Y'all got heating or…?" I asked, catching a whiff of a long ago embers and ash.

"We do, but usually just use the fireplace. Got a smaller contained fireplace upstairs in the loft," Hunter said, nodding towards the partially open balcony that revealed the second floor.

"Yeah! Come up, Squeak!" Wrecker said, leaning on the wooden banister but stepping back and spreading his arms as I looked up.

Crouching down, I used a telekinetic boost to launch myself into the loft to him.

Catching me with a laugh, Wrecker spun me around. "Nice jump!"

"Thanks Wreck!" I said, rubbing my head against his cheek before turning my attention to the loft.

I immediately noticed the lack of a conventional bed. Instead, a massive industrial sized mattress with a mass of blankets and pillows took up the entire back corner floor. Some drawers lined the opposite wall and a small sitting area with a bookshelf took up the last corner, but I was mainly curious about the easily 15x12 ft mattress. Had to be room for all of us there and then some extra when Wrecker or Hunter started sleep fighting.

"Co-sleeping?" I asked, excited. We hadn't been able to co-sleep without armor since Kelusia and while I'd rotated bunks on the ship, it wasn't the same.

"Yeah!" Wrecker said, jogging towards the mattress.

"Do not jump onto the bed!" Hunter yelled just as Wrecker got ready to leap.

"Awww!" Wrecker groaned, slouching.

I bumped shoulders with him. "Sorry, big guy."

"Ah, it's fine," Wrecker sighed before turning to me and crushing me in a bear hug. "I get to spend down time with you!"

"Gonna make me puke," Crosshair groaned, coming up the stairs and heading to the banister.

"Like you weren't just huggin' on me too," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

Crosshair turned to me. "What was that?"

"You heard me, discount scarecrow," I replied.

Eyes narrowing, Crosshair slowly walked up to me. "Want to repeat that a little louder?"

Noticing Wrecker slowly edging away, I braced for an incoming attack. "How about you make me-"

Lunging and slamming a shoulder into my stomach, Crosshair drove me back onto the bed.

"What did I just say?!" Hunter shouted, the sound barely reaching my ears as I tussled with Crosshair.

"Wasn't me, Sarge!" Wrecker called, laughing as he watched Crosshair and I wrestle. "Get 'im, Squeak!"

The sniper and I rolled around, him trying to get me in a headlock as I tried to sit on him. This brawl lasted until Crosshair pulled a reverse uno and sat on me instead.

"Hey! This ain't your tactic!" I complained, smacking his thigh as he sat on my stomach.

Legs off to one side, he smirked down at me. "Liked your tactic so much, had to try it for myself, kitten."

Narrowing my eyes, I shot a hand up under his shirt and tickled his ribs.

The resulting yelp was immensely satisfying, and I was glad that of all the Batchers, only one wasn't ticklish and it wasn't him.

Given his sensory thing, I would have assumed Hunter to be ticklish but nope. He was the odd man out.

Crosshair certainly wasn't, and the sniper quickly jumped off me before turning to face me. "That wasn't fair," he growled, jabbing a finger in my direction.

"Boo hoo for you, I play to win," I snickered, giving him the finger.

Crosshair got ready to pounce again, but Hunter emerged from the stairs.

"No no no, absolutely not. Not again. No rough housing in the loft, not after last time!"

I cocked my head to the side. "Last time?"

Wrecker whistled and began to edge away.

Hunter glared at him. "Wrecker broke the banister and fell, also breaking one of the dining room chairs."

"That why there's only five instead of six?" I asked.

"Er, yeah," Wrecker said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Mate, how'd you even- Hey!"

The last word came out an indignant yell as Crosshair tackled me and pinned me to the mattress once more.

"Lost your focus, sweetheart," he teased, sitting on my hips and tickling my sides.

"Vengeful womp-rat!" I yelled, trying to fend off his attack.

"Aw, don't you remember, Sweetheart? You're not the only one who plays to win," he teased, swatting at my hands now as the tickle fight escalated into a full on hand slapping battle.

"Shabuir!"

"Don't address your corporal like that," Crosshair purred, yet I could see him fighting down a laugh.

Not just him, Wrecker too was withholding laughter, though it didn't take long for the demolition expert to lose his grip and collapse on the floor.

And, despite his warnings, Hunter looked to be stifling a smile.

In battle, they'd have my back no matter what.

But in rough housing?

Every man and genderfluid alien for themselves.

"Nothing!" I yelled. "Ram'or!"

A loud trill echoed around the cabin before the Night Hunter appeared up the stairs and leapt over the railing guarding them. Knocking the sniper off me, they jumped in place once before trotting back to me, barbed and spiked tail held high in triumph.

"Traitorous scavenger," Crosshair grumbled, brushing curly silver hair from his forehead.

Nothing, content with the chin scratches I was giving them, merely waved their tail at Crosshair.

After winding down a bit, Crosshair punching my arm for good measure, we all found ourselves back in the living room. Crosshair tossed darts in the rafters and Hunter fiddled with the fireplace as I dozed atop Wrecker's chest on the couch. Nothing was chewing on a bone they'd found… somewhere?

"Hey, don't fall asleep yet, Ice," Hunter said, reaching over the coffee table with a firepoker and prodding my tail.

"Why?" I grumbled, yanking it away and curling it over the back of the couch.

"Cody. He'll be here soon."

"Grand," I muttered, huddling close to Wrecker's chest.

The demolition expert patted my head. "Don't worry, Squeaky! Cody's awesome!"

I gave him an unconvinced look.

"What is his ETA?" Tech asked, finally joining us with grease streaks on his armor. "I want to go grab the food we need for our stay."

"Thirty minutes."

My ears flattened.

"Know somethin' that will help you get your mind off it, sweetheart," Crosshair said from above as he rolled out of the hammock and descended the rope.

"What's that, Twiggs?" I asked as Tech and Hunter started going over the grocery list.

"Basketball."

I squinted. "There's no competition there."

A smug smile. "Ah, you're right. With you so distracted, it'll be another easy win."

"Oh ho ho, them's fightin' words!" I said, jumping out of Wrecker's lap. Marching up to the sniper, I jabbed a finger into his chest. "And it's a fight I intend to win."

"Whatever you say." That smug smile grew. "Kitten."

"Oh it is on, you arrogant breadstick. It. Is. On."