#dad Buck teacher tommy

[theotherbuckley]

Fuck it Friday 📝

The beans have not been beaning lately but I managed to write a little bit of the dad!Buck teacher!Tommy fic so here’s a little of that :)

Buck has not been dreading parent-teacher interviews. He has not.

Maddie would disagree. She’s been on the receiving end of far too many rants about a specific teacher who’s “so strong, like why is a teacher that built?” Maddie does not understand how that's relevant to a conversation about her 5 year-old niece’s education.

Regardless of what his sister would say, Buck actually feels completely indifferent towards seeing Bella’s teacher. He only changes his shirt thrice, and does up his hair to make a good impression because he wants to show that he’s a competent single-dad. No ulterior motive.

Eddie gives him a funny look when he gets into the Jeep, giving him a quick once over and raising an eyebrow. Buck chooses to ignore him.

Getting to the school, Buck keeps telling himself that it’s all okay, he’s going to be perfectly normal, why wouldn’t he? It’s just her teacher. That everyone seems to love for perfectly valid reasons no reason at all.

He says goodbye to Eddie at the gate, finding his way through the school until he finds the familiar door with the massive number 5 painted on the outside. He sits on one of the little chairs outside, making small talk with one of the other parents. Everything is okay. And Buck is so perfectly normal about it all. He’s just going to go in, listen to this man talk about how great his daughter is (how could he not?) and that will be all, Buck is not going to be weird at all.

That all goes straight out the window as soon as Mr. K opens the door and says “Mr. Buckley, come right on through.”

First, Buck almost trips over his own feet as he stands up from the all too small chairs, blushing as Mr. K watches but says nothing. And then, and then he gets into the room, shakes his hand and stumbles over his own damn name.

“Buck— err— Ev-Evan Buckley?” He coughs. “Um, you can call me Evan.” Call me Evan?? Who calls him Evan? What is going on with him? So much for being normal.

Mr. K gives him an amused smile, still shaking his hand that Buck no realises has been going on for far too long. “Tommy,” the man replies.

Tags:

Tagged for FIF by: @diazheartsbuckley @inell @lonelychicago @hippolotamus @diazsdimples @actuallyitsellie

Tagging people who might want to share something! @bidisasterevankinard @honestlydarkprincess @eddiebabygirldiaz @jesuisici33 @your-catfish-friend @ladydorian05 @giddyupbuck @eowon @watchyourbuck @steadfastsaturnsrings @thewolvesof1998 @wikiangela @underwaterninja13 @daffi-990 @aspecbuddie @bucks-daddy-issues @tizniz @monsterrae1 @loveyouanyway @actualalligator @pirrusstuff @babybibuck @perfectlysunny02 @rogerzsteven @bucksbignaturals @smallandalmosthonest @spotsandsocks @evanbi-ckley @ronordmann @snarkythewoecrow @lavenderleahy @911varietyposts @slightlyobsessedwitheverything @cliophilyra @typicalopposite @30somethingautisticteacher @talktonytome @buffaluff let me know if you want to be added or removed!

[between-two-fandoms]

Christopher's parent teacher conferences must end up being a wild experience for his teachers after Tommy joins the mix of father figure/best friends who could pass as his dad in his life.

[mmso-notlikethat]

for a fic prompt, what about primary school teacher tommy and single dad buck meet-cute 🥺🫶

you probably forgot about this, but just so you know Alex started here 😶‍🌫️ Also uh it got to more than just a meet-cute

Also on AO3

“Dad, we’re gonna be late!” Alex exclaimed, his small hands tugging at the blanket Buck had pulled over his head. His six-year-old energy was relentless as he hopped on the bed, shaking his dad's shoulder.

Buck groaned dramatically, burrowing further into the covers. “Five more minutes, buddy,” he mumbled, his voice muffled as he rolled onto his stomach. “Late for what? School doesn’t even start until next week”

“It starts today!” Alex huffed, climbing onto Buck’s back. “You promised you’d wake up early so I wouldn’t be late! My teacher’s gonna think I’m the kid with the lazy dad!”

That got Buck’s attention. He peeked out from under the blanket, grinning. “Lazy, huh? You’re pretty brave, calling me names when I’m this close to tickling you.”

Alex gasped, trying to back away, but Buck was too fast. With a playful growl, he lunged, wrapping his arms around Alex and tackling him onto the bed. “You think you can just insult me and get away with it?”

“Dad! Nooo!” Alex shrieked between bursts of laughter as Buck’s fingers attacked his sides. “I’m serious! We really are gonna be late!”

Buck finally let him go, sitting up and ruffling Alex’s bedhead. “Alright, alright, you win. Let’s get you to school before your teacher thinks your dad’s a total slacker”

Alex hopped off the bed, already halfway to the kitchen. “You better not make me late, Dad!” he called over his shoulder.

I.

Buck knew mornings were a battlefield, but nothing prepared him for the chaos of getting his son, to his new school on time. He prepared almost everything the night before—laid out clothes, packed the lunch, even double-checked Alex’s backpack—but somehow, chaos still found a way. Between trying to locate Alex’s missing sneaker (it had somehow ended up in the fridge) and making sure the snack he packed met the “no nuts, no sugar” rule, Buck was already sweating before 8 a.m.

“See? Right on time,” Buck said triumphantly, unbuckling his seatbelt.

Alex, however, was already halfway out of his seat. “Barely,” he muttered, clutching a slightly crumpled drawing of a fire truck—his pride and joy—ready to show off on his first day.

“Hey, cut your old man some slack,” Buck called after him, grabbing Alex’s backpack from the passenger seat and jogging to catch up as his son bolted toward the school entrance.

The chaos didn’t stop at the school gate. As Buck jogged to catch up with Alex, the coffee cup in his hand wobbled dangerously. He didn’t even notice the man walking out of the classroom until it was too late.

Hot coffee sloshed out of the cup as Buck collided with someone tall and solid, soaking the other man’s neatly pressed shirt.

“Oh, crap—sorry, sorry, sorry!” Buck blurted, immediately trying to dab at the man’s chest with the sleeve of his own hoodie.

The man held up a hand, smiling despite the situation. “It’s okay! I’ve survived worse—though maybe not before 9 a.m.”

Buck stopped mid-dab, his apology dying on his lips as he looked up into bright blue eyes. The guy was gorgeous. Clean-cut, tall, and with the kind of easy smile that could probably calm a room full of screaming kids.

“I—uh—sorry again,” Buck stammered. “First day at a new school, and we’re already making enemies.”

The man chuckled, glancing down at his shirt. “It’s just coffee. Nothing a spare shirt won’t fix.” He held out a hand. “I’m Tommy Kinard, the first-grade teacher.”

Buck blinked, taking his hand. “Oh. Wow. Great. Yeah—uh—I’m Buck— Buckley. Uh—Evan... Buckley. Alex’s dad.” he said, pointing over his shoulder toward Alex.

Tommy raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by Buck’s flustered demeanor. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Buckley. Alex seems to be settling in just fine—he’s already making friends.”

Buck glanced at Alex, who was already chatting animatedly with another kid across the room. “Well, at least one of us is thriving.”

Tommy smiled. “You’re doing fine. First days are always an adventure. Just maybe avoid coffee collisions next time,” he said, his eyes flicking briefly to their still-clasped hands before meeting Buck’s gaze again.

Buck suddenly realized he was still gripping Tommy’s hand and quickly released it, his ears burning. “Oh! Uh, sorry about that.”

Tommy’s smile widened, clearly amused.

“Fair point—about the coffee! And, uh, if you ever need someone to return the favor and spill coffee on your enemies, I’m your guy,” Buck added, trying to recover.

Tommy tilted his head, his nose scrunching with his smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

As Tommy turned back toward the classroom, Buck exhaled shakily, his breath hitching as he muttered to himself, Oh boy.

II.

Buck had barely recovered from the coffee incident when he found himself nervously adjusting his shirt in the mirror for Parent-Teacher Night. It wasn’t like him to care this much about his appearance, but something about Tommy—Mr. Kinard, he corrected himself—had stuck with him.

As Buck stepped into the brightly decorated classroom, he immediately spotted Tommy. He was standing by a bulletin board covered in colorful artwork, smiling as he spoke to another parent. Buck’s stomach did a weird little flip.

“Mr. Buckley,” Tommy greeted warmly as he finished up his conversation and approached. “Good to see you again. No coffee this time?”

Buck chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not today. Figured I’d avoid the risk.”

Tommy smiled. “Smart choice. Alex has been settling in really well, by the way. He’s a great kid.”

“Thanks,” Buck said, his chest swelling with pride. “He loves it here—and he won’t stop talking about you, by the way. ‘Mr. Kinard is so cool. Mr. Kinard can draw fire trucks better than me.’”

Tommy laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Well, I’m glad to know I’ve impressed him. Though I think his fire truck skills might outshine mine soon.”

As they chatted, Buck shifted nervously, trying to look relaxed. But in his fidgeting, he bumped into a small table holding a stack of construction paper and art supplies, sending them toppling to the floor with a loud clatter.

“Oh, no,” Buck groaned, crouching down immediately to try and fix the mess. “Sorry—sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

Tommy crouched down beside him, biting back a smile as his shoulder brushed against Buck’s. “It’s fine, really. Happens all the time. These tables are magnets for chaos.”

Buck glanced up, meeting Tommy’s amused gaze, his face flushing. “I swear I’m usually more coordinated.”

Tommy chuckled, handing him a pile of papers. “You’re doing fine, Mr. Buckley. Though I might have to ban you from coffee and art supplies.”

They both laughed, the tension easing as they stood. They chatted for a few more minutes after that, Buck feeling more at ease with every word. By the time the evening ended, Buck was walking out of the school with a smile he couldn’t quite shake—and a lingering warmth from the way Tommy’s shoulder had felt against his.

III.

A week later, Buck was rushing back to the school, Alex’s forgotten math worksheet clutched in his hand. He burst into the office, breathless and slightly disheveled, his shirt untucked on one side and his hair sticking up in a way that suggested he’d been running his hands through it all morning.

Tommy was already there, sitting behind the counter with a mug of tea. He looked up, and his smile widened when he saw Buck.

“Mr. Buckley,” Tommy said, his voice tinged with laughter. “In a hurry?”

Buck groaned, straightening his shirt with one hand while clutching the worksheet in the other. Of course it’s you who’ll see me like this, he muttered under his breath, low enough that he thought Tommy wouldn’t hear.

Tommy raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching. “What was that?”

Buck flushed. “Oh, uh, nothing. Just… Alex forgot his homework,” he said, holding up the crumpled paper as evidence. “I had a long shift last night—barely managed to get him to school on time this morning—and I was about to crash when I noticed the homework on the counter and—” He stopped, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “—you don’t want to hear that. Sorry.”

Tommy stood, taking the worksheet from him. “Actually, I don’t mind,” he said, his voice calm and genuine. “It’s not every day I get to hear about someone pulling off the superhero double shift—saving lives and making sure forgotten homework gets to school. Alex has a pretty awesome dad.”

Buck let out a breathless laugh, his face heating up. “I don’t know about awesome… but thanks.”

Tommy smiled, his tone light as he added, “Seriously, you’re doing great. Alex talks about you all the time—it’s obvious how much he looks up to you. I’ll make sure he gets this.”

The compliment caught Buck off guard, and he found himself stumbling over his words. “Oh, I—I just try not to screw up too much.”

“You’re doing fine,” Tommy said, his lips quirking into a small smile. “Though I have to say, Mr. Buckley, you do have a knack for keeping things interesting.”

Buck blinked, momentarily speechless. Then, with a slightly awkward chuckle, he added, “You can just call me Evan, by the way. ‘Mr. Buckley’ makes me feel old.”

Tommy’s eyes twinkled. “Evan it is.”

As Buck left the school, still red-faced and brushing his hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it, he couldn’t help but smile. Despite the chaos of the morning, there was a lingering warmth in his chest—and a growing determination to get to know Tommy better.

IV.

When the school’s fall fair rolled around, Buck found himself roped into volunteering after Alex came home with a flyer and an excited plea. Buck agreed, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to pitch in—and, if he was being honest (which he wasn’t), he was also hoping to see Tommy again.

Buck signed up to contribute to the bake sale, spending the evening before the fair elbow-deep in flour and sugar. By the time the fair kicked off, his table was piled high with cookies, brownies, and pumpkin bread, all neatly arranged and drawing plenty of attention.

Sure enough, Buck spotted Tommy running the face-painting booth. Alex insisted on getting a firefighter painted on his cheek, and Tommy obliged with steady hands and an artistic flair that left Buck impressed.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Buck said as Tommy finished, his gaze lingering on the neat little firetruck.

Tommy glanced up, smiling. “Multitasking is part of the job. Though I’m not sure my painting skills are gallery-worthy.”

“Well, Alex looks thrilled, so I’d say you’re doing great,” Buck replied, watching his son beam at his reflection in the mirror Tommy handed him.

Later in the afternoon, they crossed paths at the bake sale. Tommy stopped by Buck’s table, raising an eyebrow at the neat array of treats. “Wow. Did you make all of this?” he asked, picking up a cookie.

“Guilty,” Buck said with a grin. “I figured I’d try to help out—and Alex swore my cookies would sell out.”

Tommy took a bite, his eyes widening slightly. “Okay, these are really good. You’re full of surprises, Mr. Buckley.”

“Evan,” Buck corrected, his grin widening. “And thanks. Coming from the guy who paints flawless firetrucks, I’ll take it.”

Tommy chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at the growing line of kids waiting at his booth. “Well, my clients are building up. Better get back before they riot.”

“Good luck,” Buck said with a laugh as Tommy waved and headed off.

Some time later, a commotion near the tug-of-war game caught Buck’s attention. Tommy was helping referee, holding the rope as a group of kids giggled and yanked on the other end. It was clear he wasn’t pulling too hard, letting the kids think they had the upper hand.

But then, with an enthusiastic pull, the rope slipped from his grasp, snapping against his hand. Tommy winced, letting out a soft “Ow,” as he instinctively shook his hand.

“Everything okay over there?” Buck asked, already making his way over.

Tommy looked up, his ears pink. “Just a little mishap. I didn’t want to yank too hard and send them flying, but they got a little too into it.”

“Let me see,” Buck said, reaching for Tommy’s hand. When Tommy hesitated, Buck raised an eyebrow. “Come on. Let the firefighter take a look.”

Tommy sighed but extended his hand. “It’s really nothing—just another day surviving the battlefield of a school fair.”

Buck smirked, gently turning Tommy’s hand over. There was a faint red mark on his palm, and Buck’s thumb brushed over it lightly. “You’re gonna live, but I think you’ll survive this with your reputation intact.”

Tommy’s lips quirked into a dry smile. “Good to know, Doctor Buckley. Should I get a lollipop for being brave?”

Buck laughed, releasing Tommy’s hand. “Depends—do you want me to write you a note to get out of face-painting duty too?”

Tommy chuckled, shaking his head. “Tempting, but I think I’ll soldier on.”

Before Buck could reply, a small voice interrupted them. One of the kids from the tug-of-war group had approached, his big eyes teary as he looked up at Tommy. “Mr. Kinard? Are you okay? We’re sorry.”

Tommy’s expression softened immediately. He crouched down, ruffling the boy’s hair. “I’m fine, kiddo. Just be careful, okay? And watch out for your friends, too.”

The boy nodded, sniffling as Tommy smiled warmly. Buck stood back, quietly observing the moment, a small smile tugging at his lips.

As Tommy stood up, brushing his hands off, he gave Buck a look. “I think that officially makes me a tug-of-war casualty. Should I get a medal?”

Buck chuckled. “How about some hot choco instead? Seems like a safer bet.”

By the end of the day, Buck and Alex found themselves at the hot chocolate stand, where Tommy offered them steaming cups. Tommy handed Alex’s cup over first, crouching slightly to meet the boy’s excited grin. “For the hardest-working kid at the fair,” Tommy said with a wink.

“Thanks, Mr. Kinard!” Alex chirped, taking the cup carefully with both hands.

Tommy straightened and handed Buck his cup next. “And for the guy who apparently doubles as my personal first responder,” he added lightly, their fingers brushing briefly as Buck took the cup.

“Thanks,” Buck said, feeling a warmth spread through him—not just from the hot chocolate. For a moment, their eyes met, and Buck thought he saw something unspoken in Tommy’s gaze.

Alex interrupted the moment, taking a careful sip and humming in approval. “This is the best hot chocolate, Dad! Right?”

“It’s pretty great,” Buck agreed, smiling down at Alex before glancing back at Tommy.

As they lingered there for a moment longer, Buck decided the fall fair had been well worth the effort.

V.

A month later, during pick-up, Buck arrived at the school later than usual, his steps hurried as he made his way to the playground. A call at work had held him up unexpectedly, and he hadn’t been able to send anyone else to get Alex. He spotted Alex and Tommy laughing together near the swings, and the tension in his chest eased slightly.

As Buck approached, Alex looked up and ran toward him. “Dad! You’re late!” he said, crossing his arms in exaggerated frustration.

Buck crouched down, ruffling Alex’s hair as he unbuckled his backpack from the fence. “I know, buddy. I’m sorry. I got caught up at work.”

Alex huffed but let himself be buckled into the car seat, his earlier frustration giving way to excitement as he started rambling about his day. Buck sighed, running a hand through his hair as he turned back to Tommy.

“I keep messing things up with him,” Buck said, shaking his head. “Sorry about this.”

Tommy shook his head quickly, his expression soft. “Don’t worry, Evan,” he said, then hesitated, glancing at Alex. “You were working. I got yo—him.” He corrected himself with a small smile, his ears turning slightly pink.

Buck chuckled softly, the apology and correction taking the edge off his guilt. Tommy must have noticed, and he leaned against the side of the fence, trying to lighten the mood.

“Alex was just telling me about your firehouse,” Tommy said, his tone casual. “It sounds like you’ve got some pretty cool stories.”

“Oh, plenty,” Buck said, grinning. “Maybe I’ll share a few someday.”

Tommy tilted his head, his expression playful. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Buck stood there for a moment, shifting on his feet, reluctant to leave. Finally, he mustered the courage to ask, “Hey, would you want to grab coffee sometime? You know, somewhere that doesn’t involve spilling it all over you?”

Tommy’s smile widened. “Only if you promise to stop calling me ‘Mr. Kinard. It’s Tommy—and yeah, I’d like that.”

[cjlouwho]

I've never been big on the Rocker/Tommy twins idea but it's growing on me, it really is. They're kinda perfect as brothers who grew up in the same environment and took completely different yet similar paths as a result. When they were young they were close, tricking teachers and swapping classes because Donny could not fail another math test, and Tommy hated having to give speeches.

But their punishments were always vastly different. Their dad didn't get physical with Donny the way he did with Tommy. While they both got yelled at, a lot, Donny's punishments never lasted. "You're grounded for a month" got turned into a week, if that. While Tommy was regularly covering the bruises that littered his body.

Tommy resented Donny in a lot of ways, but Donny never quite realized that. He thought they were okay. Ran with different crowds, but otherwise fine. That is until two weeks after graduation, when Tommy left a note on his bed that he'd joined the army. He'd let them know when he was settled.

Then Tommy didn't make contact for over two years. Honorably discharged after an incident that he refuses to talk about. By that time, Donny had moved to LA and joined the LAPD. Went mostly by Rocker now, after taking their mom's maiden name and Tommy wished he'd thought of that first. Didn't realize Donny hated their dad as much as he did.

Rocker tries to get Tommy in with the LAPD, but Tommy's had enough of that life with the military so he decides on the LAFD instead. They keep in contact for a while, but there's a lot of unhealed wounds there and they disagree on how to deal with their dad and how to deal with life so they just drift apart.

Rocker goes on to be the silly, goofy, sarcastic, asshole that opens his heart to love (even if he's not great at choosing a partner 👀), and has fairly healthy coping skills. While Tommy goes on to close himself off more and more, not letting anyone know the real him because even though he acts all stoic and cool, he is actually terrified.

Anyway, Buck doesn't even find out about Rocker's existence until after he and Tommy break up and Tommy gets severely injured in a helicopter crash. Rocker finds out through the LAPD grapevine and shows up at the hospital, scaring the life out of the entirety of the 118, who are all waiting in the waiting room to find out if Tommy even made it through surgery.

[evansbuck-ley]

I simply couldn’t stop thinking about the rivals to lovers single dads au post i made so i started writing a fic about it lmao

“My daughter is going to beat your daughter.” Buck whispered as the lights in the theatre began to drop. Tommy turned to face the other man slightly, eyebrow raised and a small smirk tugging at his lips. “You do realise that this isn’t a competition, Evan. Plus, they are both in the same dance routine.” Tommy whispered back. The two men sat there for a moment, staring at each other before Tommy turned his attention back to the stage.

“I do have to say though, Eloise is clearly the better dancer, so it wouldn’t really be a fair competition.” Before Buck could retort back, the music began playing and the stage filled with three year old girls, adorably dressed in pink tutus and ballet pumps.

Things had begun smoothly, all the young girls were moving in sync, copying the dance moves from their teacher standing in front of them. Buck couldn’t help but beam in pride at his daughter, she looked so sweet up there dancing in front of everyone.

However, as the number went on, Buck could see that something had shifted in Lila’s face. The smile that was plastered on her face began to falter, her movements paused and her bottom lip began to wobble. Her eyes grew large and wet as she scanned the crowd looking for Buck. He could feel his heart in his throat at the sight of her, she looked like a deer in headlights and Buck wanted nothing more than to jump up onto the stage with her and hold her in his arms.

But before he could move to his feet, he watched Eloise, so calm and confident, reach for Lila's hand. She tugged at her gently, trying to encourage her to follow along. A chorus of awe could be heard through the crowd because, of course, it was so sickly sweet. And yet Buck couldn’t help but feel a twist of spite in his gut. Not at the fact that Eloise was helping his daughter, but at the fact that Tommy was sitting there with a shit eating grin on his face.

[gaytommykinard]

like sunlight in the gloom [read on ao3]

aka the teacher buck x mechanic tommy au (from this moodboard edit) relationships: evan buckley/tommy kinard rating: T words: 4,302 beta read by my url twin @tommysboyfriend ♥

If it wasn’t strictly against school policy, Buck would have been more than happy to step in, as he already has many times before, and ‘pick up’ Christopher − figuratively, seen as he works at the same school that Christopher is currently attending, at least for two more years − and give him a ride home. Instead, the poor kid is stuck in Buck’s classroom waiting for an authorised adult to come pick him up, but he doesn’t seem to mind too much, given that he’s currently kicking Buck’s ass at UNO. 

“Aw, come on!” Buck throws his stack of cards at the table, pouting dramatically. “You’re definitely cheating!”

Christopher giggles. “I’m not cheating, Buck!”

“Yeah, yeah, like I’ll believe that,” Buck bites back a grin, doing his best to look put-upon, as he gathers up the cards to shuffle them once again. “Do you want to play again?”

“Yes, because I’m going to win again.”

“No way,” Buck says. “It’s my turn now.” He glances at the clock to see it’s gone past four. The after-school clubs will be wrapping up now, and he’s sure they’ll have to vacate the classroom soon to let the custodian clean and lock up. He knows Carla is away this week, on a well-earned vacation, and Eddie was supposed to pick up Christopher today, but he’s never this late; he must be caught up on a bad call somewhere, Buck thinks, and wonders whether Tia Pepa got caught in traffic trying to make it across town on short notice. 

The door of his classroom swings open, then, and a six-foot-something giant of a man bursts in, looking equal parts lost and frantic, eyes wide open and panting heavily. 

Buck is instantly on his feet, ready to spring into action − but then so is Christopher. 

“Tommy!” 

Buck breathes a sigh of relief. Okay, so it’s not a complete stranger, thank God. Come to think of it, how would he have even managed to get past the school’s highly secure main entrance, short of breaking down the door, which, okay − he does actually look physically capable of doing just that. Buck would have guessed he was a professional bodybuilder, if it wasn’t for the short-sleeved, dark blue overalls he’s currently wearing. 

“Hey, kid, there you are.” Tommy seems relieved to see Christopher, walking over to wrap him in a hug. “Sorry I’m so late. Your Dad only called me half an hour ago,” he says, then looks at Buck. “I came as soon as I could.”

Buck nods slowly. “Uh. Who are you?”

“Buck! It’s Tommy!” Christopher says then, sounding almost offended that Buck has no idea who this man is. 

“Okay, sorry?” Buck raises an eyebrow at him. “I’ve never met Tommy, bud.” And then he looks back at Tommy to see that he’s grinning at him, and just like that, all coherent thought evaporates from his brain. 

“Well, you have, now,” Tommy says, extending an arm for a handshake. “Tommy Kinard.”

There’s a momentary pause while his systems are rebooting, and then Buck glances down at Tommy’s hand and manages to reciprocate the gesture, blurts out, “Evan, I-I’m Evan. Buckley. Uh, I’m Christopher’s teacher.” He hopes he doesn’t come across as pathetic as he sounds to his own ears because, Jesus Christ, Tommy’s hand is so big and warm, and this is turning into the world’s longest handshake. 

[continue reading on ao3]

[kinardscake]

AU where Buck’s a teacher, Tommy is a firefighter.

One day Buck and his class go on a field trip to a fire station. And as ‘Buckley luck’ would have it, it’s not the one where his brother in law works, even though he specifically asked to go that firehouse. And while all the firefighters he has met were nice (well, almost all of them), he knows the people at the 118 would have made the trip extra special for his kids. To his surprise and annoyance, the destination changes while they’re already on the bus.

They go to the 217 instead. And it’s….nice actually. And they even have an air operations unit with helicopters, which make all his boys and some girls go feral, jumping out of their tiny shoes with excitement.

And the guy leading the tour is surprisingly sweet and kind, giving each of the kids his undivided attention, answering all their questions, making them laugh. Which makes Buck feel all warm and gooey inside. Because his kids are happy, of course. No other reason.

The trip ends to soon, they get back on the bus. The kids keep talking about Mr. Tommy all the way back to school. A few days pass and the kids still can’t stop talking about the pilot they met. And Buck can’t stop thinking about him.

He brings Jee-Yun to the 217 to watch the fire trucks and helicopters on his day off. (Jee-Yun is not amused, because her dad is a firefighter, she’s already seen the fire trucks).

He brings Christopher.

He brings Denny.

And Mr. Tommy is always so kind, showing them around. And Buck is smitten.

But he’s also slowly but surely running out of friends’ kids that he can bring to the 217 so he can see Tommy again.

He brings Christopher or Denny again. “He loved it so much, couldn’t stop talking about it,” Buck uses as an excuse. And Chris or Denny is definitely not happy to be dragged around so Buck can chat with his crush. And they sure make it known.

Tommy sees this and is giggling inside, because he’s gotten to know Buck over the past month and he might even like him, in a romantic way.

“I’m starting to think you have an ulterior motive to why you keep bringing the kids around.”

And Buck stammers, “No, no.. I am-, they just-. We had-. The field trip. I just thought-.”

And Tommy stops him because it sounds like Buck might stop breathing any second and asks him if he’d like to go out for a beer. Without children this time.

Meanwhile, Jee-Yun tells her parents about the place uncle Buck took her to. And it takes less than a minute for Chimney to realize that Mr. Tommy with a helicopter is actually one of his old friends. And that Buck has a crush on him because he kept making silly jokes, according to his child.

And calling Tommy and asking him for a drink and inviting Buck would be a very brotherly, wingman-like thing to do. Except Chimney doesn’t do it because he wants to see how far Buck takes it. And if he “bucks it up”, then he’ll step in.

[buddierecs]

eddie diaz centric buddie fics

all mature rating!!! make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

tomorrow will always and forever now be today (tomorrow is our always and forever) by: withmeornotatall "eddie gets trapped in a time loop on the day buck marries natalia" word count: 43k important tags: time loop au, minor buck/natalia, heavy angst, love confessions eddie diaz vs the pta agenda by: mmtion "really, eddie doesn’t care that the pta aren’t his biggest fan. he knows he misses too many meetings, and it’s not like he’s best friends with any of the other parents. it doesn’t affect christopher, so it doesn’t bother him. he’ll pay for the annual fundraising mugs and consider his duty done. but then buck picks christopher up from a class trip and it all goes to hell. like, of course buck is everyone’s dream guy. he’s responsible with kids, and kind, and funny and interesting and hot to touch. that’s obvious. but now eddie’s fighting to keep the pta moms, teachers, and dads, all off an unsuspecting and tempting buck. because eddie is a good friend. right?" word count: 19k important tags: idiots in love, jealous!eddie diaz, oblivious!eddie diaz a thousand ways to say i hate you by: morganofthefairies "five times eddie buys taylor fuck-you flowers, and one time he doesn't need to." word count: 8k important tags: 5+1 things, awkward dates, minor eddie/ana, minor buck/taylor, petty!eddie diaz, pining!eddie diaz light me and i'll burn for you by: woodchoc_magnum "in which an old friend of buck's joins the 118, and eddie does not like him. at all." word count: 31k important tags: mutual pining, soft!eddie diaz, oblivious!evan buckley, team as family save me from the man i've become by: woodchoc_magnum "told through eddie's eyes as he grows up with his uniquely overbearing parents, and gradually learns to accept himself for who he really is." word count: 20k important tags: self-acceptance, angst, growing up, soft!eddie diaz, pre-relationship, getting together love leaves a little runway by: toomanybats "eddie has a problem. a big, huge, ridiculous, gorgeous, mouth-watering problem. evan buckley, man of his dreams and bane of his existence has just arrived at the park wearing a crop top." word count: 8.7k important tags: fluff, pining, getting together, first time wherever you roam (you'll always want me) by: okanus "eddie starts to untangle his complicated feelings about himself, and buck. mainly buck." word count: 28k important tags: character study, catholic guilt, sexuality crisis, slow burn, jealous!eddie diaz, pining tell me about despair by: hattalove "the entity often affectionately referred to as the unrepression fic." word count: 148k important tags: therapy, ptsd, heavy angst, communication, feelings realisation, friends to lovers, slow burn

baby, you look happier (you do) by: frxm_theashes "five times eddie sees buck happy with someone else, and one time he realizes that buck is happy with him (and that, maybe, eddie is allowed to be happy with buck too). word count: 19k important tags: temporary buck/tommy, jealous!eddie diaz, catholic guilt, internalised homophobia, pining, getting together, making out

the persistence of memory by: withmeornotatall "buck gets shot, eddie has to keep reliving the day until he can figure out what the universe is trying to tell him" word count: 58k important tags: time loop, eddie diaz pov, angst, hurt/comfort, temporary character death, gay disaster!eddie diaz, make outs, gun violence

when i was shipwrecked (i thought of you) by: catchingpapermoons "eddie needs to learn how to let himself feel, and one step at a time, he learns how to do just that. (and he falls in love with buck along the way.) word count: 35k friends to lovers, didn't know they were dating, getting together, panic attacks, angst with a happy ending.

[foptbw]

Artist note -> I redesigned Gary a little because in the drawing he had buck teeth and brown hair like Timmy and it always bothered me that they gave him black hair)

Timmy: You guys know about Chloe and AJ and Chester and me…. as for Crocker I don't… don't know… after he broke into my old home and… with the help of AJ I got a restraining order against him. Mom and dad thought it was unnecessary. You'd haveta ask AJ I think he knows more about that situation than me.

After… well… anyway Trixie actually was pretty nice to me. She would bring me new comics and Veronica defended me from the other popular kids. According to Trixie helped her realize that life is more important than what people think of you. She's a comic creator now. Vernonia and Trixie got married a few years ago. Vernonia is a child therapist now! I think Chloe is still friends with them! She's the godmother of their daughter! They were all really good friends since they were cheerleaders together. Their daughter is adopted but according to Chloe she's just like her moms but sweeter.

I don't know what happen to Vicky… I duh wanna see her again. I don't need ah babysitter anymore. After everything changed for the first year I haddah had a babysitter again and it was so much worse. And Tootie was pushy too pushy. She never knew when she was takin things too far and Vicky always was going on about if I thought I was too good for her little sister. But, luckily like magic my… cousin stayed with us over the summer and Tootie fell in love with him and she left me alone. I don't remember having a cousin Gary. But, that's who he said he was and my parents agreed, I don't remember a lot of thing so. Yah. Chloe says that they have twins now, a boy and girl Tammy and Tommy. She showed me since they are my family I guess and because her goddaughter was in the picture.

It's best to leave this to AJ or Chester they keep in touch with people more than me. They know more bout that stuff than me.

Chester: Crock pot is still out there hunting fairies. He appeared at the reward ceremony that Galax hosted and made a big fuss. Luckily Timmy can't go to Galax events because he triggers the magic detectors so he hadn't been there. As for Trixie, like Timmy said she is happily married to Veronica now with a little girl of their own. Total tomboy. Chloe's little monster buddy.

…. After Timmy's memory loss his parents started hiring Vicky to watch him again. They had stopped when he was 13 leaving him to just fend for himself mostly. For the first few months it was mostly bad days for Timmy. He's able to take care of himself a lot better now, and only have bad days sometimes. If you think Vicky was mean to kids, you couldn't imagine how cruel she could be to a 15 year old who mentally was around a confused 9 most the time.

Tootie's obsessive crush had gotten worse and worse as we all got older. Despite what many would think, Vicky is rather protective of her little sister. Which make putting your foot down and telling Tootie off rather hard. Tootie wanted to prove that she'd be by Timmy's side even after his memory loss.

Well lets just say Timmy didn't miss them once AJ help him move to Dimmadelphia. Lasts I heard Tootie got together with that Gary guy, I think he was Timmy's cousin or something. They have kids now.

As for Vicky I heard she works as a private school art teacher and party princess. How she is still working with children I will never know.

[diazsdimples]

It’s the first sleepover weekend of Pride Month, so let’s make it Gay, fellas. Give me your favorite Tommy headcanons 🌈

Hell yeah, some HCs about my favourite canonically gay man!

Tommy doesn't talk to his father, but he was really close to his mother before she passed away. He's got a handful of half-siblings on his dad's side that he doesn't talk to but he's met one of his nephews before and was alarmed at how similar the kid was to him.

Tommy is at LEAST 10 years older than Buck. Somewhere between 10-15

Tommy's got this ancient, borderline mummified cat that he loves to absolute pieces and the only other person she tolerates other than him is Buck (I wrote a snippet about this)

Tommy was in the military because his father was too and it was his final effort to please his dad, before he realised that his dad was actually a piece of shit and he didn't care. He was only in it for a couple of years before joining the 118.

Captain Gerrard was actually really nice to Tommy initially and took him under his wing when he joined the 118. Combine with him and Sal, and Tommy being in a dark space mentally with the trouble with his dad, he latched on to the two of them without properly thinking about it and by the time he realised how awful they were (sometime after Chimney's arrival), it was too late and Gerrard would continually remind Tommy about how easily he could terminate Tommy's contract if he didn't play ball, making Tommy beholden to him.

Sometimes Tommy has to travel for work (deployment) and when he does, he likes to find a small something he knows Buck will like on the day that he leaves, even if it means cutting in to the minimal rest time he gets.

Tommy is an excellent artist. This is because when he was younger, he had an art teacher recognise the signs of a Troubled Youth™️ in him and she taught him to channel his frustrations and feelings through his art, and she made a very positive impact on his life. He now has an art corner in his apartment for his painting, although he hides the portrait of Buck that he's working on in his storage lockup where Buck won't see it.

Tommy hates coffee and has a comprehensive tea selection. They're organised by type (green, black, rooibos), flavour, and brand, but also by use (peppermint and ginger for tummy aches, chamomile for sleep, nettle and rose for skin/hair).

Sleepover Weekend Asks!

[epicbuddieficrecs]

Weekly Recap | June 24th-30th 2024

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians! Here comes a more reasonable weekly recap compared to last week :P

Complete

see the stars with my morning eyes by trippedandfell/ @trippedandfell (Teacher Buck AU | 3K | Teen): “So,” Buck announces, sitting down between Hen and Chimney at the concessions stand. “I think Eddie’s trying to get me to sleep with him and his fiancée.” or: Eddie calls Lucy his partner. Buck extrapolates.

kiss my lips, feel the rhythm of your heart and hips by Daffi_990_ao3/ @daffi-990 (Post-S7, Getting Together | 3K | Mature): After months of clawing at the ground and scraping through the mud of his memories of his relationship with Shannon, his childhood and a whole bunch of religious guilt, Eddie had finally accepted the truth about his marriage and himself. He’s queer. His sexuality isn’t the only thing he’s discovered though. Eddie Diaz is queer and he is in love with Evan Buckley.

Being Selfish by Inell/ @inell (Post-7x10: All Fall Down, Getting Together | 4K | Teen): It’s been a little more than six weeks since Eddie’s life became a chaotic mess. Luckily, he’s had Buck’s support and constant presence to help him get through it.

in the rough draft, [s]he loved you by iinryer/ @iinryer (S5, Outsider POV | 5K | General): during the flight home to LA after ramon's retirement party, eddie tries to write down some things he wants to say to buck

wrap your arms around me, baby boy by marviless/ @marviless (Getting Together | 6K | Teen): in which buck pretends to be asleep and overhears something he shouldn't.

🔥 i’ve seen a couple suns that set forever by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Post-S7, Christopher POV | 7K | General): Freshly home from Texas and faced with the prospect of his dad's feelings for Buck, Christopher's abandonment issues surface. A conversation with Bobby, and realizing the parallels between Buck's relationship with Bobby, and his relationship with Buck, gives Chris the perspective he needs.

i'll be the north star that takes you home by marviless/ @marviless (Post-S7, Getting Together | 8K | General): eddie is moving back to el paso for the summer.

Just to Chase the Pain Away by UnderwaterNinja/ @underwaterninja13 (BTHB: Public Humiliation, BDSM, Subdrop | 11K | Explicit): Buck makes the poor decision to go to a kink club to deal with his emotions. After he's left with no aftercare, someone comes to his rescue.

Firehouse Baby by Nejinee/ @nejineeee (S2-S7, Getting Together | 21K | Explicit): One day, Eddie put his hand on Buck’s thigh and Buck hasn’t stopped thinking about it since.

🔥 something touched me (like a knife-blade) by kithmet/ @kithmet (Alternate S7 Finale, Getting Together | 42K | Explicit): Eddie self-implodes. Christopher, seeking refuge, flees to Buck—whose priorities amount to, in varying order: take in the kid, get Eddie to talk to him, and keep the three of them afloat in the process. (Oh, and Tommy’s there too. He thinks.)

🔥 Further Than Blood (Or Than Bones) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Vampires AU | 50K | Explicit): Once, Eddie chose to save a newly turned against his better judgment. Five hundred years ago, Buck was saved by a rescuer he thought was a hallucination. Now they're together again and about to find out just how far either of them will go to try and deny what they are to each other.

🔥 Descendants of Cyrano by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (~S7, Dungeons&Dragons, Getting Together | 55K | Explicit): People have their characters romance each other all the time while playing Dungeons & Dragons. There's deep meaningful monologues and sometimes some crying. It's normal. "Normal" is definitely not the word for whatever Buck and Eddie are inflicting on the rest of the 118.

WIP

🔥 If You Can Make the Music by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon Divergent, | 2/5 | 5K | Mature): Spin-off Sequel to Evan Buckley & the Coma-Verse of Madness - Chapter 5 (Seaside): A year after a whirlwind two week love affair with bartender Buck in Galveston, Texas, Eddie Diaz finds himself coincidentally relocating to the area. But when he attempts to reconnect with Buck, he's in for an unfortunate surprise. (Part 3 of Coma-Verse)

Podfics

[podfic] but it feels like a fortress when the weather gets bad by TheBoyWhoWalksInTheLight/ @aro-of-artemis (Post-3x15: Eddie Begins | 20-30min | Teen): Buck has a nightmare about Eddie dying, but he also has a key to Eddie's house.

Re-Read

Like a Sack of Bricks by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Feelings Realization | 2K | Teen): One word from Christopher, and Eddie's realizing he's made a serious miscalculation about his best friend.

[theotherbuckley]

This is payback for the 40 something sentences btw

👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼👧🏼🚁🚁🚁🚁🚁🚁😘😘😘😘

I brought this upon myself.... i have many regrets.

👧🏼 - dad!buck teacher!tommy (bucktommy)

“Daddy’s coming?” Bella asks, looking up at Buck with the biggest puppy eyes.  “Not today, baby, you’re at big school now!” He replies, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Come on! I’ll show you where your class is,” Christopher says enthusiastically, offering up a simple wave to Carla before he starts walking towards the classrooms, looking back towards Bella when he realises she’s not following. “Daddy has to come,” she begs, grasping on to Buck’s leg and holding on for dear life.  Buck honestly didn’t expect Bella to cry when he went to leave — frankly, he thought he’d be the one crying, watching his girl all grown up. Bella was never really the shy kid, always happy to meet new people and do new things. She could talk to strangers for hours about the most outlandish things. The other week they were at the zoo with the Diaz’s and Bella had walked up to the zookeeper, asking 100 different questions about sea otters which had become Bella’s latest hyperfixation for about a week. Buck had watched her talking away, smiling fondly. He had turned to Eddie shaking his head saying he didn’t know where she got it from to wish Eddie gave him a very pointed look and said, “Seriously?” So apparently ADHD is hereditary.  Point is, he didn’t really plan on Bella clinging to him the way she was now, and he didn’t know what to do. He’d do anything for his daughter, and watching her look up at him as she clung to his pant leg, made his heart break. He was helpless to do anything but walk up to her classroom with her.  They followed Christopher into the school, taking twists and turns that had Buck worrying how he was going to get out of this maze when he left. Chris finally stopped at the door of a class that had a bright pink number 5 cut out stuck to the door.  “Are we absolutely sure this is room five?” Buck joked upon seeing the sign. Bella looked up at him, hand still gripped tightly to Buck’s and said, “Yeah, Daddy, see! Number five!” she said, pointing to the door. They’d been practising number’s recently, Bella already surpassing Buck’s mental arithmetic ability by being able to add 5 and 7 — Buck still had to use his fingers. She definitely inherited her mother’s ability for math.  A second bell rang loudly in the hall, causing Bella to jump slightly in his hold. He squeezes her hand gently a few times to comfort her before looking towards Chris who still needed to get to his room. “See you later, Bella!” Christopher says, turning to walk down the hall towards his own class. “Come on, Bellie,” Buck said, guiding Bella into the class. There were about 10 other children sat at desks in the class, a few still with their parents which made Buck feel better about coming into the room with his daughter — not that he would leave anyway, not until he knew his daughter was happy. Noticing some cubby holes at the back of the class, Buck ushered Bella towards them to put her bag down.  Distracted by getting Bella into the desk that had her name on it, and getting her settled, Buck never stopped to look at the front of the class towards the teacher. When Bella had finally let go of his had, now apparently forgetting his existence and chatting very enthusiastically to a boy sat beside her, Buck looked up to see Bella’s teacher drawing in big letters on the whiteboard.  Buck has no idea how he missed him walking in because the man was huge. Buck thought his arms were huge as a firefighter but holy shit… apparently being a teacher makes you built like a fucking tank. The man was writing in curly letters on the board, spelling out “Mr. Kinard”. Once he’d finished he turned to face the room. Buck instantly noticed his deep blue eyes and the cleft of his chin that painted a very lovely picture for him to look at. The man caught his eye for a moment and smiled, the corners of his eyes and nose scrunching with smile lines that Buck felt completely normal about.  Buck had to clamp his mouth shut when he realised that he’d been staring, slack jawed at the objectively very handsome teacher.

🚁 - helicopter crash s8 (bucktommy)

The siren blares loudly above his head, some suburban house fire or something. Buck only half registers it, still stuck staring at the screen in front of him. He’s distantly aware of Eddie calling for him but he just can’t right now. He can’t. Captain Gerrard moves in front of the TV, forcing Buck to snap out of his gaze. “Get a fucking move on, Buckley,” he practically spits. Buck moves mechanically, forcing himself out of his chair and following his captain down towards the fire engines.  “Can I— Can I be man behind this time?” Buck says, his voice sounding small to his own ears.  “No,” Gerrard replies simply, not even turning to look back at him.  Johnson had been the man behind all day, apparently in punishment for failing to adequately wash the fire engine. Buck knew that the real reason was because Gerrard caught his boyfriend dropping him off in the morning.  “Please,” Buck says again, hating the way his voice breaks in the middle. He can’t focus right now — he’d be useless as a firefighter at the scene. It would be safer for everyone if he stayed back. Please— “Get in the truck,” Gerrard shouts at him. 

😘 - pet names 10+1 (bucktommy)

Buck swallows. “What-whatever do you mean, sweetums?” Buck says, before wincing immediately. “Okay, okay,” Buck relents, “I’m trying out pet names. And they’re not going great, especially not sweetums.” Buck cringes again. “But, I will come up with a good one. Just you wait.” Tommy’s expression turns fond as he stares at Buck with the cutest look Buck thinks a man could possibly make. “Baby, you don’t have to give me a pet name. Tommy’s fine,” Tommy says sincerely. “Besides,” Tommy says, lips quirking up at the edges. “I kinda like hearing you moan my name.” Buck trips through the door.

[between-two-fandoms]

Polyfire HCs To Feed The Soul

They constantly swap clothes. None of them know who owns what half the time as long as they're able to get dressed presentably if someone suddenly drops by to say hi.

Buck's Loft becomes an x pad for the trio because it never felt like home to him so he moves into Eddie's with Tommy in a guest room and they end up swapping who sleeps with who/on which bed because most nights one of them is on shift.

Christopher thinks having 3 dads is the best thing ever and drives his teachers crazy with stories about his dad who's a firefighter because they're all firefighters so his teachers dont know which one did The Really Cool Thing chris is spinning for his classmates.

Tommy picks Chris up from school in a helicopter one time and solidifies his spot on the cool list. (He had permission from Eddie before doing it).

Eddie is the middle spoon.

Tommy drags Eddie and Buck to the 217 so he can show off his hot firefighter boyfriends to his team.

[alchemistc]

goon | bucktommy | chapter two

check out the hockey glossary here (updated for chapter two) Prologue | Chapter One

Chapter Two

“That’s a very nice suit,” Josh says instead, phone between two fingers and tap-tap-tapping against his palm. “Also I need you and Buck to do an interview for me when we get into Utah.” Tommy and Eddie both shoot him looks, although Eddie’s is significantly less polite than Tommy’s. “Why.” He doesn’t really frame it as a question, but as they approach the stairs leading up to the plane Josh continues his backward walk, seemingly uncaring of the significant difference in their heights as he keeps pace. “Yeah, you haven’t won a face-off in a year and a half —” “I haven’t taken a face-off in a year and a half,” Tommy amends, but Russo either isn’t listening or doesn’t particularly care about the details.

When Tommy was eleven, three important things happened.

The first — the most important one, had been the birth of his younger sister. He’d spent the months leading up to it pressing his ear to his mothers growing belly, giddy with possibility, talking to her for hours and hours while his mom got pale and tired. He’d been eleven, though, and she’d done everything she could to hide that from him, always happy to wrap him up in her arms when he got home from school, always ready to throw on her game face when Tommy sat on the bed at her hip with one hand pressed to the bump as he told the baby all the cool things he’d learned at school that day, and the games they’d played during recess, and the thing Robert Duncan had said that had made Tommy laugh so hard his teacher had sent him off to the principals office for disruptive behavior.

The second had been the day his mom took him to the mall and bought him a pair of rollerblades — black leather with neon green wheels, even cooler than the ones Chris Harper had gotten for his birthday. He’d spent a month eating shit up and down the cul de sac until he was steady on his feet, and then the next six months spending every weekend with all the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, two nets set up at he end of Cherry Avenue, two streets down from Tommy’s house, borrowing Judy Green’s older brothers retired equipment, setting up pick up games and driving the whole neighborhood a bit mad as they all taught each other whatever arbitrary hockey rule they’d learned watching the latest Devil’s game before their parents sent them off to bed.

And then, at the peak of it all, the day after baby Abigail had been born, Tommy’s dad didn’t come home from the hospital with her or Tommy’s mom. In fact, he barely came home at all, other than to let him know his aunt would be by in a few hours to pick him up, and then he’d been gone again.

The third, as he’d found out six hours later, anxious and fretful in the passenger seat of Aunt Stacy’s station wagon, was his mom dying.

Eleven, and a week later he’d donned his first suit and tie, feeling sad and tired and worn and grown up, peeking over his aunts shoulder at the bundle of wrinkly baby in her arms. His dad had shown up to the funeral late, drunk, and angry, and Tommy — in his infinite wisdom, six days into a world without a mom — had tried to comfort him.

Eleven, and he’d gotten his first black eye to match his first black suit.

Tommy hasn’t worn a black suit since.

Diaz catches him halfway across the tarmac, fingers reaching out to pinch at the collar of Tommy’s burgundy plaid jacket. “Snazzy,” he says, tugging, wheeling his bag behind him and matching Tommy stride for stride, which Tommy finds a little strange until he remembers that Diaz has been keeping up with Buckley’s gazelle-legged pace for going on six years now. “And here we all thought you were gonna rock the henley-jeans combo until coach called you out in a team meeting.”

“I’m not a caveman,” Tommy rebuts, shaking his head to hide the grin. “But I do have to get all my suit jackets altered before I wear them. Not all of us have trim little waists and a forgiving shoulder line.”

Eddie pauses just long enough to twist his wrists and point two fingers at himself, grin a little wide. “Hey, if Buck tries to hand you one of his little cakes, just, like, take it and pretend you’ll try it,” he says, darting a glance behind him, no doubt looking to make sure the coast is clear. Tommy shoots him an amused look.

“What’s wrong with the cake?”

“He’s been trying to crack a gluten free dairy free cupcake. They’re... he hasn’t cracked it.”

Tommy bites his lip, rolls his tongue alongside the inside of his cheek, nearly runs into Josh Russo as he shoots his own look back to try to find Buckley’s mile-long legs amidst the group trailing along behind them towards the team jet.

When he reaches out to steady Russo, the man gives him the bitchiest fucking look Tommy’s ever seen, and completely ignores Diaz, walking backwards and turning his phone screen. “It’s fine, your profile in this lighting is gonna make people absolutely feral.”

It’s a good picture. Tommy doesn’t exactly have too many hang-ups about his appearance, but he used to, and this one is getting all his best angles. He holds up a fist for Josh to bump, and Josh stares at it for a moment like Tommy’s presenting him with roadkill.

He can’t decide whether or not Josh has clocked him, yet. There’s been a few instances where he’s tilted his head a certain way, or made an off-hand comment at the end of practice while he’s mining for content, that makes Tommy wonder if he’s seeing behind all the machismo to his soft underbelly and recognizing something of himself.

“You send me a single screenshot of someone on any social media getting thirsty and I’m shaving my head,” Tommy warns, just to watch Russo’s face flicker through all the stages of grief in about five seconds flat.

Tommy won’t ever admit this, but he’s never seen anyone crack social media interactions like a gay man in a toxic cesspool of a sport, and Josh Russo knows his shit. How often to post his stupid little thirst traps, what sort of questions to ask them when they’re sweaty and tired and ready for a fucking shower, which matchups the fans are most looking forward to, when to leak not-quite-secret shit to give fans a glimpse into the humanity of everyone’s favorite recalcitrant player.

“That’s a very nice suit,” Josh says instead, phone between two fingers and tap-tap-tapping against his palm. “Also I need you and Buck to do an interview for me when we get into Utah.”

Tommy and Eddie both shoot him looks, although Eddie’s is significantly less polite than Tommy’s. “Why.” He doesn’t really frame it as a question, but as they approach the stairs leading up to the plane Josh continues his backward walk, seemingly uncaring of the significant difference in their heights as he keeps pace.

“Yeah, you haven’t won a face-off in a year and a half —”

“I haven’t taken a face-off in a year and a half,” Tommy amends, but Russo either isn’t listening or doesn’t particularly care about the details.

“—and the first one you took as an Av resulted in a brilliantly stellar wrister from our star defenseman through, like, six men in front of the net —”

“Four bodies tops,” Tommy continues, even though at this point he’d be better just accepting that he’s going to be talked over.

“—and with the fight, too, the fans are abuzz, so I’m taking the initiative to lean into some new dynamics —”

“You’re pimping me out because I look good with blood on my knuckles.”

Russo pauses. Takes a deep breath. “Yeah, it was more the absolutely manic smile on your face all the way to the box, that people were talking about. On that topic, how do you still have all your teeth?”

Tommy considers popping out his partials to show Josh exactly how many teeth he’s actually missing, but then Josh will make a face, and Diaz will feel the need to antagonize him, just a little bit, and Tommy would really like to settle in his seat and decompress. He ignores the question entirely. “Can we do it tomorrow morning?”

Russo tilts his head back and forth, considering. He eyes the cut Hen’d taped up after todays afternoon game like he’s trying to decide if he can makeup it away before he remembers that that’s sort of the draw to late season hockey players cropping up for dumb social media shit. “I’ll ask Buck,” he commits, and Tommy sneaks past him up the stairs before he can wheedle any more favors off of him.

Inside the cabin, the broadcast crew is already settled in to their seats, and he takes a few spare moments to say hello. It doesn’t do shit, really, except show respect, but he’s been around the block enough times that acknowledging the staff of any given organization has become habit.

By the time he finds a seat, the rest of the team has already boarded, and Tommy settles in next to Panikkar, who looks about ready to pass out. He’d done half an hour on the bikes after the game while Tommy iced the bruise he’d gotten courtesy the crosscheck he'd received from Eberle while they battled in the corner for the puck.

Tommy pulls out his phone to find a new message waiting for him.

Nash says you’re sticking around, the message from Sal reads, and Tommy opens up the thread to take a look at the last few messages from one of his oldest teammates.

It’s a short turnaround of a travel day, Sunday afternoon game just finished and a quick flight into Salt Lake where they’ll pass out at the hotel (Buckley and Russo willing, anyway) and then be up with enough time for an early morning practice, lunch and a nap before they head to the arena. Tommy is realizing he’s hemmed himself in to a 5 am wakeup at the latest, if Josh is actually serious about mining Tommy’s temporary fame for content.

In the seat next to him, Panikkar mumbles something, already fully asleep in the time it had taken Tommy to fasten his seatbelt and scroll up to Sal’s last few messages, and Ravi’s head is already drifting toward Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy rolls his eyes, but he still ends up shifting his weight to allow for easier landing, when the inevitable trajectory of Ravi’s slumping skull meets its destination.

A year ago, Sal had sent him a random screenshot of the infamous Seguin tweet and a link to an Oliver Peck music video, and then, three weeks ago when the news of the trade broke: See you in a few weeks

Tommy’d replied with a selfie of himself holding up a middle finger, but at the time he’d been pretty sure Sal was right. That was typically what happened — Tommy was used to being the weight that shifted midseason when contenders wanted to make a big move and didn’t have the cap space to do it. It was early — early enough that most trades were still a glimmer in the eye of most agents, the All-Star break still looming, the perfect time to make a move that didn’t mean much, in the scheme of things.

Only that hadn’t happened. The Avs were undoubtedly the team to beat in the conference this year, so he’d expected maybe a week or two up and down the lineup before they shifted him off to Loveland, only playing up if someone was injured. He was a shit defenseman but he knew enough to move from his typical forward position, and he was used to that steady grind, easy to slot in if they needed to reassess an early season injury in the ramp up to playoffs.

And he was hanging it up at the end of the year, anyway, and the foothills of Colorado were a hell of a lot nicer than —

Not the point.

Only.

That hadn’t happened. Instead he’d hopped the first flight out and found a car waiting for him at the airport to take him directly to the arena. It’d been an off day, two days in to a three day stretch of them, actually, so even the team rumored to have one of the most strenuous practice schedules in the league was off that day, when he’d been escorted through the building and straight up to the GM’s office.

Sorry, Tommy shoots off, as the plane starts to taxi. I know you were looking forward to checking out my tits in the locker room, Deluca.

Ravi’s head finally touches down against the meat of Tommy’s shoulder, and he snuffles sneepily before nosing in, a bit. Tommy wishes he’d thought to grab one of the shitty pillows from the overhead bin: Panikkar’s cheeks are sharp.

Just the left one, Sal shoots back. Keep an eye out for 27, he’s had it out for Diaz since ‘21.

Tommy is aware of this. Perhaps a little more incidentally than he knows some of the conflicts Buckley has gotten himself wrapped up in, but he’s done the research on all the little shits on this team who like to chirp and then get their asses handed to them.

He closes out of the thread in time to catch liftoff, and an up close and personal serenade of light snores from the man who has, in three weeks, gone from passive aggressively mentioning all the routines he has in place to work on his speed to being comfortable enough with him to fall asleep on his shoulder.

Two rows up, Cameron has his overhead light tilted over his latest trashy pulp fiction novel, and up another three, Greenway is sulking. He’s been on the outs for weeks, now, and Tommy doesn’t know the exact details, only that he’d thrown a quiet little fit over Tommy’s sustained minutes (all seven a game) and that Chim hates him.

Quietly, Tommy suspects that he’s the piece the front office is trying to move out before the trade deadline, but he hasn’t said a word of it yet. Better to keep his mouth shut and his head down until he’s got better feel for the dynamics. And Christ are there a lot of dynamics on this team.

In the row next to him, Diaz and Buckley have their heads bent over an iPad, one earbud each and their eyes flitting across the screen with an almost disturbing synchrony — two halves of a whole, those two. He likes them both, and not even just because they are a large part of the reason he’s getting enough ice time to justify keeping him on the bench.

Tommy’s caught staring when Buckley flicks his gaze up and over, and there’s a moment where Tommy holds his breath, just like always — twenty-year career and no teammate has ever questioned why he doesn’t have a girlfriend, a bleach blonde wife popping out kids, he’s not about to lose that streak now over an intriguing birthmark and a megawatt grin.

Buck smiles, tilts his head a little, returns to his screen. They have multiple iPads, but these two are practically attached at the hip, and he’s yet to see them reach for a second one when they could just tilt their heads together over game film and discover some weakness they can exploit that even Karen Wilson hasn’t discovered yet.

Tommy, like an idiot, doesn’t look away. He’s got a snoring Ravi nuzzling into his shoulder and he’s still nursing the bruise on his thigh, too wired to sleep and too tired to realize how long he’s been looking at the side of Buckley’s skull until Buckley is saying something softly, and Tommy watches Diaz knock their shoulders together. Too late, he realizes Eddie is shifting, turning his head — he catches Tommy’s gaze with a raised brow.

Tommy feels caught out, but Eddie just tips his chin at Ravi wheezing against his shoulder, grin going wide.

He makes an aborted half-shrug of a movement, reeling it back halfway through so as not to jostle Ravi, and misses the moment Buck turns his camera on the tableau.

Behind Tommy, Chim is in the middle of one of his batty post-game cooldown routines, and he can hear the faint sounds of whatever ballad he’s currently listening to — Celine Dion, maybe? The air is on, and Tommy’s skin feels tight, and the ambient noise is doing nothing to help the squeal of tinnitus he’d never fully lost after his last fight with Deslauriers. He chokes down the urge to reach over and snatch the phone right out of Buckley’s hand — cheeses it up instead, knowing Buck’s snapped probably twenty pictures already.

He can’t prove it, but he’s absolutely certain there are pain inhibitors in Evan Buckley’s smile. When he lowers his phone and grins bashfully, the bruise on Tommy’s thigh fees a little less achy, and the buzzing behind his ears fades enough that Tommy barely notices it.

When Buck turns away again, Tommy makes a concentrated effort to focus on the pattern of the seat in front of him.

He doesn’t grin at all when his phone lights up with four notifications in row: Buck’s curated glamour shots of Ravi drooling on Tommy’s shoulder.

---

"You're good at those," Buckley says, skidding to a halt next to him at the elevators, and Tommy tips his head side to side, twists his neck just enough to catch his profile in his peripherals.

"Twenty years in the league," he intones, trying hard not to smile at how fucking antsy this kid is, shifting foot to foot as they wait for the doors to slide open.

"No, yeah, I just mean --" Buck shifts his weight, tips his chin. "You've got, like, personality and shit, in those. I always feel like a robot trying to figure out genuine human emotions when Josh asks me to do that stuff. But it -- I mean it was nice, to just... You made it easy, is all I'm trying to say."

"You didn't seem remotely like a robot, to me," Tommy teases, watching the numbers above the elevator doors drop. He's a little startled when Buckley smacks at his shoulder, but by the time he's had the chance to do more than blink about it Buck's already moving on.

"It's like you weren't even listening to me, I just said you helped me not be."

"I mean, if you did, it was very subtley implied, actually, so you can't blame me for the misinterpretation."

At his side, Buckley glances up at the numbers, too. "Do you want to grab coffee? I feel like we should grab coffee."

"Aren't you vehemently against caffeine on game days?"

Buckley looks both pleased he'd remembered, and a little bashful, which Tommy can't parse for a minute. "Everyone has cheat days. Besides, it's just Utah."

"Famous last words," Tommy warns, but he's already turning back in the direction of the conference room they'd just left, towards the Starbucks he's pretty sure is on this level. He checks his watch - if they mosey, maybe the place will even be open by the time they get there.

Buckley falls into step beside him and without missing a beat continues the conversation. "Sounds like there's a story to that."

Tommy can see him working through the math in his head. Kid's like a Roledex for NHL facts and stats, so it doesn't take him long to divide by two and get to the conclusion that they'd been playing Philadelphia at the tail end of their worst season on record.

"First full season in the league my team went on a tear. I'm talking barnburners every other night, fifteen home game wins straight — real mensch shit. We were on top of the world. But... season’s winding down, you know, and we didn't start out great, so we're chasing every point we can just to scrape a spot in round one." Buckley's eyes are sparkling the exact same way they'd been, all through Josh's weird word association game he'd had them do for warmups before actually getting into his little question and answer session. "And me — I'm playing fifteen minutes a game against guys like Sid and Ovi, I'm one hundred percent sure this streak is never gonna end. So - two games left in the season, we're scheduled to play the Flyers."

"Coach pulls us in for a huddle before pregame warmups and he tells us to keep our heads down, shoot for the net, get back to basics, don't underestimate them. But half their team are call-ups, at that point, a good third have never played at this level before, right?"

Buck chuckles, clearly already reaching the conclusion, but Tommy forges on ahead anyway.

"So I just say it. Come right out and say the words: Coach, it's just Philly." He gestures wide, hands out in front of him, like he can conjure up the words that had been painted onto the inside of his eyelids for a good four months, after.

"So what happened?"

"We got shut out. Five nothing. By their third string goalie. Guy’d never even been on the bench as a backup before, and he stood on his damn head all game.”

Buck laughs. It’s a sweet sound, echoing off the walls of the corridor they're strolling through, and Tommy feels the edges of his grin going wide, digging crevices into his cheeks as he shakes his head at the memory. They’d scraped the two-seed that year, and gotten slaughtered in the second round, and Tommy had spent the entire summer hearing it’s just Philly parroted back to him by every single member of his team.

“Eddie doesn’t believe in curses,” Buck admits, once his laughter has died down. “He’s the least superstitious person I know.”

“Hope he doesn’t get voted into the All-Star game, then. Sid might read him the riot act.”

Buckley stops dead in his tracks, eyebrows both dancing up his forehead. It brings his birthmark into stark relief against the shitty lighting of the corridor. He shakes his head like he’s clearing a thought. “I forgot you played with him.”

Tommy has to remind himself that Buckley probably knows every team all of his teammates, current and former, have ever played for. “For a year and a half, back when the jock strap was still mostly white.”

Buck grins, again, blue eyes gleaming as he twists himself sideways, sort of grape-vining down the hall for a few moments, body facing Tommy’s. “What’s he like to play with?” he asks, and Tommy barrels on ahead, desperately reminding himself that Evan Buckley is exactly like every other long-legged, bright-eyed, shockingly sweet attractive man he’s ever played with.

Off-fucking-limits.

[weewoowings]

Hi!

🖍️ Kindergarten Teacher AU (Tevan) please!!!

Hope you're having a good day!

Hi! Day wasn't so bad. Thanks. Hope it's treating you good as well.

Alright, this one is mostly outlined. It starts off with Tommy's marriage in shambles. It basically picks up with ink drying on his divorce papers and .. the custody agreement, to now, just his daughter Odette;Dot/Dottie.

The little girl just turned 3 and is biologically Tommy's child. They used a surrogate. When the little girl starts showing signs for autism spectrum disorder at the age of 2, Tommy's husband starts to withdraw and shows no interest in participating raising the child and eventually asking for a divorce and signs away his rights to the little girl.

Tommy moves, to make a fresh start with his daughter, even if that brings its own set of challenges.

As a single Dad who has to work to make a living, he needs a good kindergarten/pre-school that can gives his daughter what she needs. Her teacher is Buck. 😊 And we go from there.

[quintessenceofdust88]

Fuck it Friday

I was tagged by the amazings @typicalopposite @unhingedangstaddict and @laundryandtaxesworld, so I decided to take a break from my break hehe, and post the complete first scene of Flaming Delights (a.k.a my Hallmark Christmas movie fanfic) Hope you guys enjoy it! 🎄🎄🎄

It was a snowy day in Flame Pine, and Buck had finally flipped the sign of his bakery, Flaming Delights (no one had ever accused him of much creativity), to closed. There had been a bustle of activity from tourists and towners alike during the day, but now, the only people left were his parents, Bobby and Athena, and Hen and Karen. They were tucked in a corner, enjoying some of the pastries Buck hadn't sold during the day and fresh cups of hot chocolate while he wiped the counter clean and flipped the chairs. He hadn’t turned off the speakers yet, so the soft Christmas playlist he had chosen was still playing in a low tune.

"Do you want some help, kid?" His dad asked, halfway to getting up, and Buck waved him off.

"Nah, Dad, I'm good, you've worked all day. You're helping by taking care of the leftovers for me" Buck reassured him, and Bobby sat back down, his eyes still on his kid. Buck knew his parents thought he worked too much, and especially during the holidays, the conversation would soon turn to… 

“You know you’ve also worked all day, right, baby?” His mom told him, a sharp eyebrow raised at him, and Buck shrugged sheepishly. 

“Well, yeah, but I wasn’t chasing bad guys or putting out fires, Mom” He reminded her while wiping the counter, earning a laugh from Hen and Karen. 

“Oh, as if there are many bad guys for Athena to chase in Flame Pine” Karen says while stealing an eclair from Hen’s plate. Hen nodded enthusiastically, and even Athena was smirking a little. 

“Face it, Buckaroo, this town’s criminal activity is as dead as your love life” Hen said, and Buck playfully clutched his own chest.

“Ouch, Hen, rude” He told her. “I’ll have you know I went on a date just last week”

“Yeah, Buck, having dinner with Taylor every time she comes to town and taking her to your loft afterwards barely counts as a date” The very accurate description came from Bobby this time, and Buck desperately wished this town wasn’t so small for once.

Fortunately for him, Buck didn’t have to answer, because Jee and Maddie came in at that exact moment, letting in a rush of cold wind. As soon as they were inside, Jee made a beeline for Buck, who readily picked her up. 

“Hi, butterfly” He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek, and instead of giggling like she usually did, she hid her head on his shoulder with a small sigh. “Oh no, what happened, sweetheart?”

“She’s a little upset Angelica won’t be living with us anymore” Maddie explained while giving Bobby and Athena a hug (they weren’t her adoptive parents like they were Buck’s, but once she had come to live in Flame Pine, they might as well have been), and Buck rubbed her niece’s back comfortingly. 

“Oh, so her uncle finally managed to get here?” Athena asked, and Maddie nodded.

That had been the talk of the town for the last few weeks. When Elizabeth and Andrew Kinard had sadly passed away in a car accident, everyone had wondered what would happen to their little girl, Angelica, because they had no family in town, as far as anyone knew. Chim and Maddie had signed up as emergency foster parents, and the approval was probably helped by the fact Maddie was her teacher. 

As it turned out, Andrew’s brother, Tommy, had been named Angelica’s guardian in their will; the problem is that he was a pilot and was working on a remote location in South America by the time of their deaths. Andrew's attorney had managed to reach him out a little after the funerals, and said the guy was trying everything he could to get back to the US as soon as possible. Now, three weeks after their deaths, it seemed he had managed. 

“Yeah, he’s here,” Maddie told them. “He’s staying at Lizzie and Phil’s place, and Chim just took Angie over. We offered to stay with her until tomorrow, but he really wanted to see her”

Buck’s heart ached for this Tommy guy; he couldn’t even imagine how he was feeling right now, losing his brother and having to step up for his niece like that. 

“Anyway, I thought it’d cheer Jee up if she could see her favorite uncle and get some treats” Maddie finished, and Buck gently booped Jee’s nose, finally getting a small giggle for his efforts. 

“You just know all the treats are waiting for you, Jee-bug. Why don’t you go ask captain Bobby, sweetheart? He’ll show you where the good stuff is” Buck whispered conspiratorially in his niece’s ears, knowing his dad would be the best person to cheer Jee up. She adored her surrogate grandpa and the feeling was mutual. 

“Okay, uncle Buck!” She said, and he put her down, letting her rush to Bobby’s open arms. 

“What about you, Mads? Can I interest you in any leftovers or is baby Buckley-Han still not a fan of his uncle’s baking?” He asked his sister, and she sent him an apologetical glance, placing a hand on her slightly swollen bump. 

“Sorry, baby bro. I don’t know where they take it from; I love your baking, and Chimney definitely loves your baking. He told me to ask if there’s any hazelnut bread, by the way” She answered, and Buck fondly rolled his eyes.��

“Of course there is, let me get him a loaf” Buck said, going to the back, his eyes landing on the baskets that were used for care packages, and an idea popped into his mind. “Hey, Mads, are you passing by Lizzie’s place before going home?”

“Yeah, I promised Jee we would, and I want to see how Angie’s uncle is settling in” She told him, and frowned. “Why?”

“Can you wait a bit? I’ll send a care package over; there’s probably already too much in this guy’s mind without having to worry about dinner and breakfast tomorrow”

Even before Maddie answered, Buck had already set a basket apart, covering it with the red tissue paper he used for decoration during the holiday season. He looked around, mentally sorting through his leftovers, trying to decide what to send. Eventually he decided on two bread loaves, one sourdough and one regular, would be a safe bet. He also set apart some pieces of chocolate cake and a handful of cinnamon rolls, which he knew Angelica loved. 

As he tried to wrap a green satin ribbon to the plastic wrapping, Athena appeared on the kitchen door, leaning against it and looking at Buck with that fond but exasperated look of hers. Seeing him struggle with the bow, she firmly took it from his hands. 

“How you make a profit, I’ll never know, baby,” She told him appreciatively as she expertly made a beautiful bow with the ribbon, tying it neatly against the plastic and handing the basket to him. 

“That’s easy, mom”, he said, kissing her cheek in thanks. “I overprice the snobby tourists so I can keep giving free stuff to the people I care about”

She chuckles, but raises a shrewd eyebrow at him. “That I believe, but Andrew’s brother? You don’t even know him, Buck”

“Well, no, but…” He shrugged; even Buck himself wasn’t sure why he had impulsively decided to do this, but it felt right. “If you were in his situation, wouldn’t it be nice to get some kindness? If there’s one thing I learned from you and Dad is that showing someone you care can make all the difference”

Athena smiled at him, taking his face in her soft hand and caressing his cheek just like he used to do when he had just been adopted, at the tender age of five. The gesture never failed to make Buck feel cherished. 

“You have a heart too big for this world, baby, and I hope someday you’ll find someone who deserves it,” she said, kissing his forehead and going back to the public area of the bakery to join his Dad.

As he followed her, Buck internally hoped his mom was right. Shaking the thought away, he handed the gift basket to Maddie so she could deliver it to Tommy Kinard. It wasn’t much, but Buck hoped it’d help him feel better.

Np tagging @bidisasterevankinard @30somethingautisticteacher @desert--moonchild and whoever else wants to join in! Happy weekend you guys ♥