Kalliope 》Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter 4

Bradley is woken up later in the evening by his phone chiming. Careful not to wake up Cecelia, who is heavily napping next to him on the couch, he looks at the message. Phoenix was letting him know that the group was going out to the Hard Deck for some drinks and to relax from another hard day of training.

Sighing, he answers her, informing that Cecelia is completely asleep and that he was woken up by the message. To which Phoenix responds that they aren’t that old yet, so to get their asses up and enjoy a night out.

He just chuckles before putting his phone down. Looking over to the other side of the couch, he debates how he wants to go about this. Eventually he just decides to go for it. Gently shaking Cecelia’s shoulder, Rooster softly calls her name to wake her up.

“Baby,” he coos out. “Cece, wake up,” still whispering softly, he watches as she begins to wake up.

“What? What is it?” she asks, voice still heavy with sleep. She was having a great nap after having such an eventful day.

Bradley can’t help but find this adorable. Anytime she is woken from her sleep, she gets this little crease between her eyebrows as she scrunches her nose at the sensation. Chuckling softly, he responds, “Phoenix texted to let me know everyone is getting together at the Hard Deck. her exact words were ‘You are not that old, so get your asses here or you’ll have to deal with my hungover ass tomorrow.’”

Giggling, because she can just see Natasha typing that, Cecelia sits up from her spot on the couch. “Ok, let's get ready. No need to make her grumpy as well as drunk.”

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Arriving at the Hard Deck, Cecelia immediately tries to locate Natasha. Spotting her with Payback, Fanboy, and Bob by the pool table. Grabbing Rooster’s hand, she drags him over to the group of four.

Seeing them approaching, Phoenix loudly exclaims, “about time you got here. I was beginning to think you had just ignored me.”

“We could never ignore you Nat,” Cecelia teases lightly.

“No matter how hard I tried,” Rooster sighs out, faking sadness. This grabs a laugh from everyone else and an elbow to the stomach for him.

Without the group noticing, Coyote and Hangman wander over to the group, ready to ask a question that had been plaguing everyone, except Phoenix of course.

“So how exactly did you two meet?” Coyote asks

Hangman nods, taking a sip of his beer. “Yea, I still don’t understand how Rooster over here managed to snag ‘Broadway Royalty’ as I’ve been told.”

Rooster, always quick to fire back at Hangman, flatly says “I didn’t snag her. She isn’t some prize that I won.”

Trying to diffuse the tension, Cecelia takes Rooster’s hand, pulling him into her. “Well what do you all want to know? I’d be happy to answer your questions.”

It’s actually Bob who pipes up first. “How did you two meet in the first place? I can’t see Rooster going to a Broadway show on his own.”

“Well it’s actually a story that began five years ago.”

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Cecelia stood just behind her grandfather during the ceremony. She was immensely proud of him, for all he had done long before she was born. As the last surviving member of his unit from the Korean War (that was actually more of a conflict but don't mention that around him).