hard to love

There was no mistaking it as Birdie sat on the stool that he'd indicated. Standing this close to her, Marshall could practically taste her slick. The scent of it hung thick in the air but he managed to peel himself away from Birdie to make his way over to the refrigerator. Marshall dug around before he produced two tubs of ice cream. One chocolate and one was a caramel crunch one. Marshall turned toward her and held both up for her. "Which would you prefer?" He asked softly. When Birdie made her choice, Marshall tossed the other one back into the freezer. He scooped her out so before handing the bowl and a spoon to her. Replacing that tub in the freezer, Marshall smiled as he returned to her side.

"Do you want to head right back to sleep or do you want to stay up a bit? Watch a movie, maybe?" Marshall suggested after a moment. He was exhausted but he had the next three days off of work so he didn't have to worry about Birdie being alone in his home just yet. There was time to bond with her. "Whatever you want, little omega."

Birdie had chosen the caramel crunch ice cream, eagerly taking the bowl from him when he handed it to her. "Do.. do you want to watch a movie? You look tired.." Birdie sat the bowl down on the bar, before taking the first bite. She couldn't deny she had a sweet tooth... Birdie was trying to be as comfortable as she could, trying to just come to terms with what was happening. He was an alpha and she was an omega and no one was going to help her. She was stuck with him for as long as he wanted her.

Pushing the spoon around the bowl, she looked away from Marshall and felt her face heating up. "If... If you want to just go back to bed, that's okay." She felt bad enough for waking him up for no reason. Taking another bite of ice cream, she looked up at Marshall, her eyes grazing over his face until her eyes dropped back to the table. "I.. I'm sorry about waking you up... I was thinking about taking a shower..."

@ castle.

"Your needs matter more right now, omega," Marshall's voice took on a hard edge for the first time after he had brought Birdie here. He cleared his throat almost immediately, trying to remind himself that he had to be careful. He didn't want to scare Birdie and sent her running. Marshall didn't think he could handle losing another omega. Just the thought was enough to send his heart racing in a way he wasn't prepared for. "If you want to stay up and watch a movie together, we will. Even if I fall asleep, I'll still be right there with you. So you can always wake me if you need anything."

Marshall nodded at the mention of a shower, deciding to grab himself a glass of iced tea. It was enough caffeine that he hoped he'd be able to stay awake if Birdie did decide she wanted to stay up to watch a movie. If it was what she wanted, Marshall was more than willing to do it. He smiled softly, leaning against the counter beside her. "The shower might be good to help ease your muscles but if you don't feel up to it right now, you can always try to in the morning. Or there's the hot tub we can get in tomorrow, if you want that, too."

Birdie decided Marshall probably just wanted to do something for her, anything that would make him feel like he was doing something right for her. "W-we can watch a movie." She decided, even though she knew the rain would probably put her to sleep immediately. Birdie finished her ice cream, and got up to rinse the bowl out in the sink.

"Can we...grab some extra blankets?" Birdie asked, once she was following Marshall into the living room. She couldn't help but stare at him, her eyes running over his large shoulders and muscular arms, that were completely on display in the tight tank he wore. Nervously, she fidgeted with her fingers, jumping when lightening crackled outside the windows for the first time. Her breath caught in the back of her throat and she had flinched into Marshall's back. Storms didn't normally scare her, but considering what she'd been through and already bring on edge now...

"Sorry..." She chewed on the inside of her lip, her hand running down his arm before she stepped away from him. "W-what- kind of movie do you want to watch?" Birdie sunk down onto the couch, trying her best to relax.

@ castle.

Marshall could have slapped himself upside the head when he realized that he hadn’t offered to get Birdie some nesting supplies. He wouldn’t expect her to make a big nest conserving they’d be curled on the couch together but something was better than nothing. Birdie was an omega, nests naturally comforted her. Marshall turned toward Birdie and gave her a brilliant smile, nodding his head hurriedly. “Of course, ‘mega. I’ll be right back. You get settled,” he murmurs, motioning to the couch before he jogged up the stairs to get the supplies Birdie he asked for.

Carrying three blankets down the stairs, Marshall was quick to offer two of them to her. He had brought the third down for himself. Grabbing the television remote before he dropped down onto the couch, Marshall shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t matter to me,” he said. He turned Netflix on before offering the remote out to her. “Why don’t you pick?”

Remembering how Birdie had sat on his bed, Marshall opened his arm up for her. “Why don’t you come here? I’ll keep you safe from the storm,” he teased, trying to be as encouraging as he could.

Birdie took the remote from Marshall and flicked through the different movies. With the storm raging on outside, it only seemed fitting to pick a scary movie. She landed on some slasher movie, before sitting the remote down on the arm next to her. Birdie started to sit back and get comfortable under the blankets Marshall had given her, right as he opened his arms for her. She froze for a moment, glancing up at his stretched out form on the couch. He looked so comfortable and her inner omega wanted to hurry and crawl up against him.

Bundling up her covers, Birdie scooted down on the couch towards Marshall, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She crawled into his arms, little cold chills running all through out her body. Pulling the covers back up around her, Birdie curled up against Henry and tried to focus on the movie, rather than how his scent was making her head swim.

Birdie let her head relax against his chest and instead of paying much attention to the movie, she focused on the sound of the rain. She was already beginning to feel tired again, and wanting to feel closer to Marshall, she wrapped her arms around his sides. "D-Do you promise you're n-not going to hurt me?" She whispered, trying to make herself believe she could trust him.

@ castle.