rcmclachlan

[rcmclachlan]

I don’t care if Lou would end up caked in foundation by the end of it I need to see Tommy suck on Buck’s titties in 4k at 8:30 EST.

[rcmclachlan]

please please please more sweetmeats. i’m consumed by curiosity. why did Buck go looking for Tommy? where is the rest of the 118? what is Tommy’s entire deal?!?

ehehe thank you, i am rubbing my hands together with glee! in thanks, have a snippet that. uh. doesn't actually answer any of those questions? sorry?

follows directly after this. from bucktommy knight au aka sweetmeats aka what can ail thee, knight-at-arms?

-

It is when Tommy raises a ponderous eyebrow at him that Buck realizes he is simply– well, staring. He had been halfway dismounting, still has one foot in the stirrups, and his horse is swaying in the direction of what must be a particularly tasty looking patch of grass by Tommy’s own steed, threatening to send him sprawling most unflatteringly.

His face is hot as he dismounts proper and proceeds to fumble the hitch knot he has tied uncountable times before without issue.

“Your mind seems elsewhere,” Tommy observes, hands coming up in some aborted gesture that once more drives Buck to distraction with curiosity. It near causes the rope to slip his fingers once more, but he manages at the very last moment to gather his wits about him and complete the tying off. He pats his steed’s flank, dips into his saddle bags for a piece of dried apple to feed the beast in thanks for not knocking him into the mud.

“Just– looking forward to some rest and relaxation,” he says, stepping away, then thinking the better of it and checking the straps on his sword as well. He hesitates a moment, then drapes the saddle blanket to cover the scabbard as much as he can. Then, to show he is back with both feet firmly on the earth and no longer with his head in the clouds, he clasps the other knight once, twice on the shoulder, and sets off ahead of him with a confident stride and a skip in his step, into the quiet town.

Tommy catches up with him, grinning, as they reach the first true buildings. Moments later, something hits Buck square in the chest and he lets out a startled Oof! He realizes suddenly that it is Tommy's arm come up to stop him and he glances down, thinking he must have been about to step in something unpleasant, but there is nothing but the scuffed dirt. "Tommy, what the hell–" he begins, prying Tommy's hand away from his quickly thrumming heart.

"Evan," Tommy interrupts, and then he thinks to look up. When he catches Tommy's expression he promptly forgets what complaint he was about to utter.

The knight's eyes are wide, whites showing around the blue, and Buck is reminded very suddenly of the terror in the eyes of the cow he had found dying from a wolf bite mere days before he had been sent away from home. It is a visceral, terrible thing he had not known Tommy's expression capable of.

[rcmclachlan]

thinking about the first time buck felt tommy’s erection, the realization of his sheer size, the thick line of heat pressed against him, the giddiness and then determination at the thought of getting his hands and mouth on it, of feeling it inside him

[rcmclachlan]

Imagine if AbbyTommy ended super amicably and neither of them wanted to upset Patricia while her health was going downhill and she was becoming more confused so they just kept living together as roommates

Tommy is happy for Abby when she starts dating Buck, Buck is super confused at the start because what do you mean you still share a bedroom with your ex and still cuddle with the guy- but he quickly adjusts to it and Tommy has no problem making himself scarce when they need privacy

And then Patricia passes away and Abby leaves to find herself and Tommy knows straight away that she isn’t coming back but Buck hangs around their place like a lost puppy and they start to get closer

[rcmclachlan]

several sentences smonday

i just really like the word smonday. anyway!!! the big fic (the layla and bailey story) first draft is done so here is the opening. tagging everyone who's tagged me in the past few weeks when i haven't wanted to share anything 🫠

@adiprose @rcmclachlan @geddyqueer @ambernotember @setmeatopthepyre

---

He thinks something is wrong when he runs into a crumbling building and no one stops him.

When Buck comes out, scraped to hell and terrified because a beam almost took him down, he gets a bunch of claps on the shoulder and a few shouts of "Nice one, Buck!" He looks around, but Bobby's not there with his lips in a tight line, his eyes frustrated and upset because Buck did it again: bet his life and won by the skin of his teeth.

"Alright, now knock it off," Hen finally says, but she claps him on the shoulder anyway. "Even if it was badass."

"We need some badass to get us back on track," Chimney adds. "That's Buck and his secret sauce, isn't it?"

They're gonna need you, Bobby said.

And unfortunately, or fortunately, almost dying feels like flying. (He feels weird thinking that when he's fucked a pilot, but that flutter in his gut, it's real.)

---

On another call: strapping in quick, tugging on his buckles a little less than he would usually. When he's rappelling down a cliff, the air hits harder and he gets pushed around, but he lets himself move easier. Impulsively. Following his gut. All that Buck stuff.

"You look so relaxed," Ravi calls down from above him. "I don't know how you make this look so easy."

Buck says, with his whole chest: "What's the worst that can happen?"

Ravi hisses something in response and nothing happens. Another successful rescue, another breathless climb back to the top, jumping back into the engine, back to work like always. Saving lives. He's saving lives and someone keeps saving his, and he doesn't know how or why. He wishes he did. He wishes he knew who, or what, was responsible for this.

[rcmclachlan]

Athena telling coma!Buck that he needs to wake up because Bobby just lost Wendall and can’t lose someone else.

Athena telling coma!Tommy that he needs to wake up because Buck just lost Bobby and he can’t lose someone else?

[rcmclachlan]

[rcmclachlan]

@rcmclachlan

Welcome to the Kinley (Cat) Café! Someone ordered Vision In A Macaron & Firefly Matcha for you! Enjoy!

from @meibhin 🩵

[rcmclachlan]

Fluff prompts, you say?

I'm all in my secret engagement era, so maybe something with the boys trying to hide it, but doing a HORRIBLE job at it?

I keep having this idea tumbling around in my brain where Tommy is at the store buying the entire stock of cold medicine because his baby boy Evan is sick, only to be caught there by someone, and they notice the ring but it's weird, right? Because they didn't even know he was seeing someone. 🤭

And now he's buying medicine to take care of someone who's sick and Tommy seems fine, but they all know Buck missed a shift with the flu.

Ooh, I'm so glad you suggested secret engagement. I love this prompt. I'll be honest, I thought I was going to take this in a very different direction but then I was evidently possessed by the spirit of Evan Buckley because I have no idea where else this would've come from. As much as I love the idea of a sick fic, that didn't make it in. But anyway, here's nearly 3000 words of Buck being disastrously bad at keeping his engagement a secret:

“Are you sure you’re okay with us keeping this a secret for now?” Buck asks, tucking his engagement ring back in its box and popping it into a kitchen drawer. Maddie’s supposed to be coming over later to pick some stuff up for Jee’s bake sale and Buck doesn’t want her accidentally stumbling on his engagement ring. He’ll tell Maddie soon. He’s just not ready yet. “It doesn’t feel like I’m forcing you back in the closet or anything?”

Tommy snorts which Buck can’t decide is attractive or an asshole move. Maybe it’s both. Maybe Buck’s just attracted to asshole behaviour in general. It would certainly explain his dating history.

“What?” Buck asks.

“Evan, this is hardly the same situation as our first date,” Tommy says.

Buck winces. Yeah, still not his proudest moment. Honestly, he’s amazed Tommy was willing to give him a second chance after that.

Tommy sets his uneaten apple down on the counter and saunters over to Buck, running his hands down Buck’s arms until their fingers interlace and Tommy gently tugs Buck in for a little kiss. “I get it, Evan,” he says. “We haven’t been back together that long and we’re already getting engaged. You don’t want the people you care about judging you or saying you’re moving too quickly.”

“Do you think we’re moving too quickly?” Buck asks. It doesn’t feel like they are to him but what does he know?

“No,” Tommy says, eyes steady, none of the fear that had been a near constant for much of their early relationship (well hidden though it had been) present in his deep blue eyes. This new, confident-inside-and-out Tommy was breathtaking. “I think we already wasted too much time being apart.”

“Yeah,” Buck says, trying to keep his thoughts from straying. He needs to leave for work and so does Tommy and Buck really can’t be thinking about how much he wants Tommy and what he wants Tommy to do to him right now. “Me too. Why wait when we know, right?”

“Exactly,” Tommy says, giving Buck another quick kiss before pulling away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Buck says. “See you tomorrow. Stay safe.”

#

A few hours into his shift, Maddie arrives looking furtive. At first, Buck thinks she’s there to see Chimney, but she beelines towards him and drags him away from the others. “Uh, Madds, what’s up?”

“What’s this?” Maddie pulls a small, familiar, velvet box from her purse.

“Why do you have that?” Buck snatches his engagement ring out of his sister’s hands and shoves it into his pocket. “Why were you going through my kitchen drawers?”

“I was looking for your rubber bands,” Maddie says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Are you going to propose?” Maddie’s eyes sparkle.

Buck takes a beat.

Oh.

Maddie hasn’t caught onto the fact that they’re already engaged. She assumes that Buck stashed the ring in an attempt to hide it from Tommy. “Don’t say anything,” he says.

“Do you have a plan?” Maddie asks.

“Um, not yet,” Buck says. “I’m working on it.”

“Well let me know if you need any help,” Maddie says.

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Buck asks.

Maddie shrugs. “It’s not like you’re planning to propose right away, right,” she says.

“Um, right,” Buck says. “Yeah, not planning to propose any time soon.” That’s not a lie since Buck’s not planning to propose at all. Tommy beat him to it a month after they moved in together. “But, you’re okay with it?”

“Buck,” Maddie smiles up at him. “I’ve never seen you happier than when you’re with Tommy. I just want you to take your time. Make sure you’re sure.”

“I am sure,” Buck says. “Just, uh, don’t tell anyone. Not even Chimney.”

“Okay,” Maddie says and with that she goes in search of Chim.

Once Maddie’s out of sight, Buck races up the steps to the roof and whips out his phone, calling Tommy.

“Evan? What’s up?” Tommy answers right away, because of course he does.

“Maddie found the ring,” Buck says.

“Why was she digging in our drawers?” Tommy asks.

“Looking for rubber bands, apparently,” Bucks says. “But I kind of let her think that I bought the ring to propose to you.” Buck’s pacing now.

“Okay,” Tommy says, and Buck can just picture the face Tommy’s making, high brows high in some mix of confusion and concern which is fair because Buck’s pretty confused and concerned by his own actions as well. “I take it that she made an assumption and you just rolled with it.”

“Pretty much,” Buck says. “I, uh told her I wasn’t planning on proposing any time soon.”

Tommy chuckles. “I guess that’s true enough.”

“Only cuz you beat me to it.” Buck’s feeling calmer already, talking to Tommy. Honestly, he’s not sure why Maddie’s visit panicked him so much. Maybe because he was already feeling the weight of the secret he decided to keep. “Should I tell her, do you think?”

“Do you want to?” Tommy asks.

“I mean, eventually,” Buck says. “I was kind of hoping I’d be able to keep the secret for longer than a day though.”

“Good thing it’s been four days, then,” Tommy says.

Buck rolls his eyes. “Yeah, pretty sure those first three days don’t count because I didn’t see anyone but you,” Buck says.

“I mean, we saw the hotel concierge when we were checking out,” Tommy says very unhelpfully.

“Yeah and I’m pretty sure I told her you proposed,” Buck says. God, he’s even embarrassed by himself.

“Oh, you definitely did,” Tommy says. And how can he sound so fond? “So, what do you want to do?”

“Well, I guess I have to start planning your proposal,” Buck says.

“Do you?” Tommy asks.

“If I don’t, Maddie’s going to catch onto the fact that we’re already engaged,” Buck reasons.

“Just seems like kind of a drastic decision when we could just invite her and Howie over for dinner and come clean about already being engaged,” Tommy says.

“But then they’ll judge us for getting engaged too soon,” Buck says.

“Pretty sure they’ll mostly be happy for us, though,” Tommy says.

But no, Buck can already see Maddie adopting that same tone his mother uses when she’s trying to be supportive but is deep down disapproving and he doesn’t want to deal with that. So yeah, he’s going to have to plan an epic, rom com style proposal for Tommy, though first he’ll have to veto anything that mind end with 9-1-1 getting called. Now that he thinks about it, the 118 has been called to an awful lot of proposals gone wrong.

Buck must’ve gotten lost in his thoughts because Tommy clears his throat on the other end of the line. “I’m getting a proposal aren’t I?” he asks.

“Yup,” says Buck. “It’s the only way.”

Tommy gives a resigned sigh. “Okay,” he says. “Just not a skywriter, please and nothing involving birds.”

“Okay,” Buck makes a mental note. “I’ll be epic though.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Tommy says. “Love you, Evan.”

“Love you too,” Buck says.

“I’m hanging up now,” Tommy says.

“Yeah,” Buck breathes before the line goes dead. Buck tucks his phone back into his pocket and leans against the low wall that marks the edge of the station roof.

“Um, so now seems like a good time to tell you that I’m here,” Ravi says somewhere behind Buck.

Buck spins, taking in the sight of his heavy rescue partner standing awkwardly at the other side of the roof. Ravi waves. “Um, you heard all of that, didn’t you?”

“Would you believe me if I said no?” Ravi asks.

Buck groans. “You can’t tell the others,” he says.

“That you and Tommy are engaged or that you’re going to pretend you’re not engaged so that you can plan an elaborate proposal for the sake of throwing your sister off the scent that you’re already engaged?” Ravi asked.

“It’s sounds insane when you put it like that,” Buck groans.

“Because it is,” Ravi says with that brutal honesty of his. “Why don’t you just tell your sister the truth?”

And isn’t that the million dollar question?

Buck sighs and leans back against the wall, fiddling with his phone. “You know how they are,” he says.

“Overprotective?” Ravi asks.

“Yeah.”

“Judgemental?” Ravi continues.

“That too,” Buck nods.

“Supportive,” Ravi finishes.

Buck frowns. “Are they though? You’re my only friend who even tried to get Tommy and me back together. Everyone else told me to move on or hid my phone from me.”

“Yeah, well, kind of hard to be overprotective of a guy who once chased me around the station with a chainsaw,” Ravi says dryly.

Buck winces. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, I’m over it,” Ravi says. “Congrats, by the way. I’m happy for you.”

“Are you going to say anything?” Buck asks.

“Nah,” Ravi shakes his head. “This is just too entertaining.”

And Buck’s not really sure how he feels about that but at least Ravi’s not going to reveal that he’s engaged and Buck’s going to count that as a win.

#

Maddie keeps sending Buck listicles about proposal ideas. Each link drives the dagger of guilt deeper into Buck’s gut. Maybe he should just come clean.

“Ooh, proposal ideas.” Hen snatches his phone scrolling through the latest article Maddie’s sent him. “Oh, Tommy would absolutely hate most of these.”

“Hey, give it back,” Buck yanks his phone away from Hen, getting flashbacks to after Tommy dumped him and Buck was about to text Tommy. In hindsight, it probably would’ve saved a lot of trouble if Buck had just called Tommy the first time he felt the impulse rather than taking up a whole new hobby to avoid calling Tommy. That said, Tommy does benefit quite a bit from Buck’s baking so that at least worked out.

“Do you know when you’re going to propose?” Hen asks. At least she’s whispering so that the others can’t hear.

Buck shakes his head. “Not yet,” he says. “Just looking at ideas.”

“But you are going to ask?” Hen prods. As far as Buck can tell, she looks genuinely excited about the idea of the engagement which is more than he can say for how she was when Chimney was getting ready to propose to Maddie.

Buck smiles, relieved because Hen’s not the type to mince words. If she thought he and Tommy shouldn’t get married, she’d let him know. “Yeah,” he says. What started out as a panicked attempt to divert his sister’s attention from the truth suddenly transforms into a genuine desire to ask Tommy to marry him. Sure, they’re already engaged, but that doesn’t mean Buck can’t do something for Tommy too. They make their own rules.

And since they make their own rules, Buck’s going to ask Tommy to marry him in the most Buck way he can think of. He just has to think of it first.

“Well, I’m happy for you, Buck,” Hen says, pulling him into a side hug. “I’m sure, whatever you come up with will be fantastic.”

Buck grins and ducks his head. “Thanks, Hen.”

#

“I’m proposing to you,” Buck announces when he gets in the door.

“Now?” Tommy asks, leaning in for a kiss. It’s hands free because he’s actively rubbing spices into a roast.

“No, not now,” Buck says. “But I’ve decided I’m gonna propose to you for real.”

“Okay,” Tommy says. “You know I don’t need you to do that, right? We can just make up a story about how you did and say that’s what happened.”

“I know,” Buck leans in to smell the spice rub, trying to pick up on the different ingredients by scent. Paprika definitely, cumin, oregano. Something else. “Is that cinnamon?” Buck frowns.

Tommy smiles and gives Buck another kiss like it’s a gold star for a job well done.

“Just nothing in public when you propose,” Tommy says.

“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Buck hops up on the opposite counter so he can watch Tommy work.

“And nothing that will land either of us in the hospital,” Tommy says.

“Yeah, already crossed skydiving and faking an air emergency off my list of ideas,” Buck says.

Tommy turns and gives him a questioning eyebrow which means that Buck has to launch into the stories of all the proposals-gone-wrong he’s been called to in his time with the LAFD. He leaves off the escalator guy though because it was just too sad and he doesn’t want to borrow any of that tragedy for his own proposal.

“I’d be happy with a weekend away and a romantic candlelit dinner,” Tommy says.

“That’s what you did,” Buck says. “And it was great and I loved it, but I can’t just copy you.”

“I’m literally giving you permission to,” Tommy says.

Buck hops off the counter and gives Tommy’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “I know.” He plants a kiss on the back of Tommy’s neck. “I just want to do something special for you.”

#

“What’s this I hear about you planning to propose to Tommy?” Lucy Donato asks when they run into each other at a badge and ladder while Buck is out with the team for a rare round of after shift drinks.

“So much for keeping that a secret,” Buck says. Though, honestly, he’s not surprised that the news has gotten to Lucy. She’s always been good at keeping her finger on the pulse of the LAFD.

“Once Chimney found out it was only a matter of time before the whole department did,” Lucy says. “Honestly, I thought Tommy was going to beat you to it. I could’ve sworn I saw him looking at rings online a couple months back.”

Buck stiffens and tries to keep his expression normal.

Lucy’s eyebrows shoot up. “Wait,” she says, eyes bright.

“No, no, no, Lucy,” Buck warns.

“He already proposed, didn’t he?”

“Shhhhh,” Buck tries to put a finger to Lucy’s lips but she bats his hand away. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Wow!” Lucy throws her head back and laughs.

“Please don’t,” Buck hangs his head.

“Oh, that’s hilarious,” Lucy says. “Who else know?”

“Ravi,” Buck says.

“Figures,” Lucy nods. “But Hen doesn’t suspect anything?”

Buck shakes his head. “She keeps giving me ideas for what to do for my proposal.”

“So you’re going to propose even though Tommy already has?” Lucy asks.

“That’s the plan,” Buck says.

A sparkle comes into Lucy’s eye then that fills Buck with a mix of dread and excitement. “I have an idea.”

#

With Lucy and Ravi’s help the plan takes shape. They rope in Bobby and Athena who are more than happy to help, Bobby even offers to cook.

The day of, Buck tells Tommy that they’ve been invited to Bobby and Athena’s for a dinner party so he doesn’t suspect anything.

Buck brings a cake that he’s been decorating in secret – honestly, the hardest part of the plan was keeping Tommy from sneaking a look at the cake.

Bobby and Athena welcome them warmly, giving Buck subtle nods when Tommy’s out of sight greeting Maddie and Chim.

“Ready for this, Buck?” Bobby asks.

“Yeah,” Buck says.

His nerves build throughout the dinner. He barely tastes the delicious food Bobby made. What if this isn’t such a good idea after all? And then Tommy catches his eye and there’s that smile, soft and crinkled like a well-worn coat, warm against the world’s cold.

Buck’s nerves melt away. He grins back.

Dinner ends and Buck leaps to his feet, ready to bring out the dessert.

“Shouldn’t we take some time to digest before cake?” Chimney asks, leaning back.

“No!” The exclamation comes from five directions at once as Buck, Bobby, Athena, Lucy, and Ravi all interject. Which of course makes everyone else suspicious, but that’s okay. Soon there won’t be any secrets left.

Buck brings the cake out from the kitchen and places it in front of Tommy who raises an eyebrow like he knows exactly what Buck’s up to.

Buck takes the cover off and holds his breath.

Tommy scans the lettering. Blinks. Looks up at Buck. “Do you mean right now?” he asks.

Buck nods. “Bobby’s already agreed to officiate.”

Tommy blinks back tears. “Yes,” he says.

“Wait, what’s the cake say?” Chimney cranes his neck. “Marry me? Now, Please.” Chimney looks up from the cake, smile cracking as he puts together what’s going on.

And with that, Athena herds them into the back yard where they’ve set up a floral archway and honestly, everything after that is all a bit of a blur as Tommy and Buck exchange vows and Bobby says all the appropriate wedding things and Maddie cries from a lawn chair.

Afterwards, at home in bed, Buck rests his chin on Tommy’s chest. “Did I surprise you?” he asks.

“Honestly, yes,” Tommy says. “Though I did notice you never actually told anyone that we were already engaged.”

“Oops,” Buck says before closing the conversation with a kiss.

[rcmclachlan]

Thinking about Buck,

Still not over Tommy, deeply unsatisfied being under anyone else (he's tried and lost count how many times). His best friend has moved away; he's happy Eddie's working things out with Chris, but he misses them both terribly.

Amongst every one else, he feels...not so much a divide, but maybe less enmeshed than they used to be.

Nothing's wrong with his job, but well, it's starting to feel a lot less like his whole life and purpose and more like just that: a job. He's stagnant. Stuck.

He feels an itch under his skin that he can't scratch in any of his usual ways.

He's over pouring out his love into a Kitchen aid mixer. He's done trying to bury his need for connection into hook-ups.

Realizes maybe he's not as settled as he thought he was. Maybe he's still searching; but for what, he doesn't know. Himself. His purpose. Love.

Realizes he misses not being stuck in one place.

So he takes a vacation. Spends two weeks in Japan. Tells himself he won't create a full itinerary for his time there (he spends most of his flight doing so anyway, but he compromises with himself and leaves his second week open).

He reads about the Wind Phone. How people travel from all over to talk to their late loved ones through a rotary phone.

He doesn't go his first week there, but the thought of it is never far from his mind. (He's held hands with Death, he isn't sure what he's so afraid of).

He gets to the garden of Bell Gardia.

He thinks about Red Delacroix, who warned him against making firefighting his whole life. “You can be the hero and save lives, but don’t neglect having your own. Last thing you want is to be at the end holding nothing but regrets.” So he talks to Red; tells him he hasn't quite figured it out, is scared he never will.

He comes back the next day, Thomas on his mind. Buck tells him how he found his scrapbook the other day (he had forgotten that he'd even taken it). He tells him about Tommy, the love he thought he finally found (then lost). He smiles. "I know, I know. You don't find it, you make it." He can't help the crack in his voice "I really thought we were."

Buck wonders what it says about him that he's spending his vacation talking to the dead. Knows he's not done yet

He comes back the next day, and the day after that, and the one after that. He talks to Daniel each time. He isn't quite sure how to picture him; the age he was in the last photos taken of him, the age when he died, the older Daniel that his coma dream imagined up? He talks to them all.

He gives him the abridged version of his life. Wonders if he should leave out the parts he knows would break his brother's heart, leaves them in anyway. It's cathartic; to confess of the survivor's guilt he's carried since learning of Daniel, how it all came flooding back when woke up from his coma, how it felt like he was letting him down again in the interest of his own survival.

He's certain he's out of tears, and he may not have a voice left by the end of his trip.

But he's got one more phone call to make. And he can't make it here, in this haunted phone booth. And he doesn't want to wait until it's too late.

He hasn't figured it all out. He doesn't know where him and Tommy went wrong. He knows they're both haunted by their own ghosts.

But Tommy's still here. And unlike Buck's ghosts on the other end of the phone, he can talk back.

So Buck does what he should have done months ago. He calls Tommy. He nearly sobs in relief when he hears a breath on the other end and a quiet, "Evan?"

[rcmclachlan]

Reblog if you’re proud of your writing

You’re allowed to be happy and proud of your work, please let yourself be happy and proud of your work

[rcmclachlan]

buck just went into the garage to get his bike………. now he’s got some business to attend to on his knees

made for the wonderful @hoechlin

[rcmclachlan]

far from prudish but just got blazed porn of someone's pussy spread out so hard and up close like it's a map of the polish-lithuanian commonwealth and I'm king and grand duke sigismund II augustus inspecting his lands to plot defense against the swedes

[rcmclachlan]

[rcmclachlan]

Chim & Tommy friendship (1 of 5 or 6?)

I've decided to put this up as a series of ficlets to motivate myself and keep working on it. I'm basically trying to write a thing about Chim and Tommy over the years of their friendship, but writing Chim's POV has been very challenging.

~

Getting to know Tommy is no easy task.

Howie thought everything would get easier after saving Tommy’s life, and in a way it did. The fact that Tommy actually talks to him now means the rest of the group tolerates him at least. 

Gerrard’s barbs are as sharp as ever, and Howie will never be part of the boy’s club. He’s just too different from the rest of them, too Asian, and also lacking the same aura of masculinity all of them are constantly displaying. Howie is who he is, there’s no changing that. But it feels like he found his place within the 118. He enjoys being a paramedic, and it’s nice to be included in the camaraderie, albeit only in a superficial way.

Except that having actual conversations over lunch is making one thing glaringly obvious: Saving Tommy’s life hasn’t magically turned them into friends. 

Tommy is one of those guys who can say a lot without ever giving anything away. He knows a lot about cars and the best places to grab a beer, and he seems to switch between girlfriends faster than Howie can even get a date, but he rarely offers any significant details about his private life.

Howie doesn’t take it personally; apparently this is just how Tommy speaks to people. He listens and nods when Howie talks about going to the Lees for Sunday dinner, but doesn’t share anything about his own Sunday in return.

Nobody has ever accused Howie of backing down from a challenge though. He finds a newspaper article about the best breweries in Los Angeles, reads up on classic American muscle cars and the culture of monster truck shows. None of it really clicks with him, but he’s willing to make the effort so he can have a conversation about the things Tommy is enthusiastic about.

It doesn’t change anything. Maybe it’s because Tommy can just as easily talk to one of the other guys about cars, or maybe he senses that Howie’s heart isn’t truly in it. If Howie mentions a new craft beer he tried, Tommy seems happy to offer his two cents, but it never goes any further than that. 

It’s possible they’re just work acquaintances who get along but won’t ever be truly friends. But for some reason Howie likes Tommy, despite knowing very little about the guy, and he’s stubborn enough to keep trying.

It takes a while, but Howie finally makes a small breakthrough when he least expects it. 

They’ve been called to a construction site because a worker was - allegedly - bitten by a snake. Animal control has been notified, but nobody seems to know where the snake came from or where it disappeared to, and the whole place is a chaotic maze of machinery and excavated soil.

Howie really doesn’t like snakes, and he’s glad that Eli is taking the lead. “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” he mutters, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

“They’re digging in the wrong place,” Tommy replies without missing a beat.Howie lets out a surprised chuckle and grins at him. Movies are a language he actually understands.