#i want to see dennis get tired of it all

[boiled-dennis]

dennis finally sorta acknowledges his attraction to men and starts a relationship with this random guy using a Dennis’ Relationship Standards Checklist he created that the guy has to sign. his bpd makes him deeply attached + really vulnerable way too soon without realising it, and he starts talking about himself, but the guy is really weird and says stuff in response like “y’know, i always had an interest in psychopaths.” dennis feels uneasy about it way too late and the guy ends up ghosting him because he isnt living up to the expectations he had of being with A Crazy Person (the whole situation backed dennis into a corner and really changed his demeanour), and a month later the guy is at paddy’s and dennis yells at him to fuck off, but then dee shows up and is like “why are you yelling at my boyfriend??” fully aware that dennis had a relationship with him, but not knowing any details

[strang3lov3]

Under the Table

Roman takes you to dinner. You eat pasta and he eats you (4k)

Tags - smut, stepcest, stepdaddy!roman, age gap, dom!roman, dirty talk, fingering, oral sex (f!receiving), public sex, teasing, emotional boners, you make daddy blush and get all bashful so he reminds you who calls the shots, like Dennis Reynolds, Roman has feelings again but he’s still disgustinggggg, does he want to be your father or your daddy, oh he is getting so soft. But someone else is too 🫵 implied almond/alcoholic mom + other mommy issues,,,planting some seeds here don’t mind me,,, Fic help - @beefrobeefcal thank you for brainstorming with me and for giving me your eyeballs! @endlessthxxghts, ditto!! A/N - yeah I wrote a birthday fic for my birthday to my birthday party on my birthday with a birthday gift. shut the fuck up about it. I love you. I think next time we see him he’ll fuck your ass maybe. I don’t know. Someone jump into my inbox and tell me something gross they should do because I need to cancel out this goddamn sweetness. Rotting the teeth right out of my skull smh. also, I know we waited a while for more stepdaddy. I appreciate your patience more than you know 🩷 updates may continue to be slow this month because we’re getting down to the wire with school and all that stuff.

Stepdaddy!Roman Roy

7:34 AM. You wake to texts from old friends and relatives wishing you another happy year around the sun, don’t party too hard and so on and so forth. It does warm your heart to know that people are thinking of you. Your past birthdays haven’t felt much like the birthdays you had when you were younger, when you were so excited to celebrate your day you couldn’t sleep. 

You pull on a sweatshirt over your thin pajamas and head downstairs to make yourself a bowl of cereal, and find Roman in the kitchen. “Morning, sunshine. Go sit down in the dining room.”

“Mm,” you grumble, voice gravelly from sleep. Your eyes are droopy and you still look tired, barely conscious. 

Roman eyes you as you sit down. You rest your head on the table, and you’re wearing his sweatshirt. He’s not entirely sure how you wound up with it. He doesn’t say anything, though, only smirks to himself. 

Roman goes back into the kitchen to plate some blueberry pancakes he made for you, just like he’s done since you were young. Roman’s not much of a cook, but this is one meal he can make and that he can make well. He wouldn’t do it for just anyone, but you asked him once when you were a kid and he didn’t have it in his heart to tell you no. Roman remembers how crappy that first batch came out, but how you didn’t complain. Honestly, you probably didn’t even notice with your pancakes covered in so much butter and syrup and whipped cream. You probably couldn’t even taste the blueberries. But thus, tradition stuck, and Roman’s blueberry pancake game vastly improved over the years. He liked making them for you as much as you liked eating them.

Roman returns to you with the plate of blueberry pancakes and sets it down in front of you. “Voilà.”

You lift your head up and grin when you see the pancakes Roman made for you. It’s straight out of a commercial, melted butter and syrup dripping down the edges with a dollop of whipped cream right on top. “Aww. You remembered,” you beam. You didn’t ask Roman for the pancakes this year. 

Roman blushes, and he feels his heart beat harder. It’s been so long since you’ve smiled at him like that, and it makes him nervous. “No. I made them for myself, actually, but I was feeling generous. This is my good deed for the week.”

“You still remembered.”

Roman ignores the accusation. “I gave you all the fucked up ones, just so you know. And I spit in the batter.”

“Mm. Tasty.”

Fuck. Your eyes are sparkling, your smile is so warm. Roman can’t stomach it, how you make him feel sometimes. “Oh, shut up and eat your fucking pancakes, birthday girl,” he snaps, contorting his face to fight his smile. “I hate you. You’re welcome.”

You roll your eyes and eat your pancakes, humming at the delicious flavor. Roman grabs your favorite mug and sets it down next to you, then fills it with the coffee he made. Before you can thank him, the clattering of high heels on the hardwood floor interrupts you. Your mom is on the phone and stops briefly in the dining room when she smells the pancakes Roman made for you. She leans over your shoulder and takes your fork from your hand and cuts off a bite for herself. “Mom,” you complain. 

“You can share,” she scolds, covering the mic on her phone.  

Roman speaks, “Wait, don’t. I made those special for -”

Your mom smiles and kisses Roman on the cheek before he can finish his sentence, and then she’s out the door while still talking with Erica. 

Roman looks to you for your reaction, and your face falls. That beautiful smile on your lips just moments ago, snuffed out like a candle. “I don’t think she remembered,” you tell Roman, defeated. 

“Oh no, I don’t think that’s true,” Roman lies. “I’m sure she just - I don’t know,” he sighs, resigning to the reality of the situation. You can expect some mushy and emotional text from her later, probably tomorrow. “No, you’re right - that was bullshit.” Roman squeezes your shoulder affectionately and tells you he’s sorry. 

Roman means it. He knows exactly how it feels to have a parent forget your birthday. His dad only remembered a handful of times, and every present always felt empty. It’s part of why Roman’s always put effort into making your day special each year. He never got the birthday he wanted or deserved, but he could give that to you.

“Listen,” Roman says, “I gotta run to work now. Don’t party too hard. Or do. I don’t care. It’s your day. Just don’t snort coke in my bathroom, okay? Anywhere else. And don’t do it before, like, four in the afternoon.” Roman pats your shoulder. “Just basic human decency.”

“I’m not gonna do coke in your bathroom, Roman.”

“I just feel the need to say it after the Uncle Ken incident, you know?” You laugh at that, though you shouldn’t. Roman continues, “Anyway, I want you to eat up all of your highly nutritious breakfast and when I come home tonight, you better be in your favorite dress.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause I’m taking you out.”

“You are?” 

“Duh, genius. Like me and you always do on your birthday, remember? Or are you forgetting as you approach your crone years?”

You roll your eyes. “Oh, fuck off. You’re closer to senile than I am. Pushing fifty there, aren’t you, Roman?”

“Maybe. I’ve got some years left, so watch it,” he warns, then kisses the top of your head. “I fuck like I’m thirty, anyway.”

-

The rest of the day drags on, truthfully. You finish your pancakes, then go upstairs and treat yourself to a bubble bath, your vibrator joining you. Afterwards, you dress yourself in comfortable clothes and drive yourself around the city, picking up birthday freebies from different stores and fast food restaurants. When you come home, you do your hair and makeup in the way that makes you feel prettiest, then look through your closet for your favorite dress, just like Roman said. 

Your favorite dress. It’s not an easy decision. You have a favorite dress that’s comfortable, a favorite dress on your body, a favorite patterned dress. You slide the hangers across the closet rod, contemplating, contemplating…until you come across that one purple dress. 

You remember Roman pulling the zipper of that dress up your spine, his warm hands on your waist. How he fucked you in that closet, bent you over the vanity and split you open. You watched him in the mirror as you gushed on his cock. You wear that dress tonight, then pick out some shoes to match. 

Roman presses his horn repeatedly to call you outside. He’s fucking obnoxious, but you laugh. You rush downstairs and out the door, and when Roman sees you he gets out of the driver’s seat and rounds the front of his car to open up the passenger side door for you. “Look at you, birthday girl,” he says, chewing minty gum. “You look so grown up.”

“Ew. Don’t, please.”

“So that’s your favorite dress, huh?”

Knowing Roman recognizes your dress makes your cheeks warm. “Yeah,” you mumble softly. 

“Mm. Mine too,” he whispers, then shuts the door. He gets back into the driver’s seat and presses buttons on the screen until his car’s Bluetooth connects to your phone. “I think your birthday earns you DJ rights, yeah?” Roman pulls the gear shifter into drive. 

“I’d say so,” you agree, picking out your favorite playlist on Spotify. Roman puts his hand on your thigh, inching it up and under your skirt. He doesn’t do more than an occasional squeeze, and tapping his fingertips on your skin. Still, it excites you. 

Once at the restaurant, Roman takes your hand and helps you out of the car. You read the sign of the restaurant, Adalina, and Roman leads you inside. You notice he’s holding a little gift bag. “Reservation for Roy,” he tells the host, who then ushers you both to a corner booth. The lights are dim, tables covered in floor-length white cloths. There’s people chatting at tables and at the bar, someone softly playing piano. Once seated, the host lights a candle at your table. 

“Your uh - your boy toy from a while ago. Is this where he took you? I thought you said something about not liking it,” Roman asks, unfolding his napkin and placing it on his thigh. 

You shake your head. “No,” you answer. “I’ve never been here.”

“Good, that’s good…you guys still talk?”

You shoot him a look at the same time your server comes by to place a plate of bread and oil at your table and to pour water in your glasses. “Can I start you off with some wine, something else to drink?”

You look at Roman, who shrugs. “All you,” he says. 

“I’m fine with water.” 

Roman says the same. He figured you’d forgo drinking tonight, even if it was just one little glass of wine. That’s why he had you make the decision - he doesn’t want you feeling pulled in either direction. You’re not much of a drinker, with your mom being the opposite. It makes sense. 

Your server leaves to give you a little while to browse the menu and pick out appetizers and dinner. Roman places that gift bag from earlier in front of you. 

“For me?” You reach for the bag. 

“For you,” Roman replies, mocking your tone. 

You pull the tissue paper out of the bag before pulling out the gift itself - it’s…you don’t know what you’re looking at. It’s some bizarre figure of a frog dressed as a cowboy, riding…a bearded dragon? Baffled and wearing a smile, you turn it over in your hand. You wonder where on god’s green earth Roman even found something like this. 

“I thought of you,” Roman says. “Has your name written all over it.”

“Oh Roman,” you sigh dramatically, “You shouldn’t have.”

“I know, I know.”

You examine the weird little toy some more, giggling at all of the details. Roman’s fucking with you, but you do love the figurine. He knew you would. 

Roman reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a fancy leather box, then slides it across the tablecloth quietly. “What..?”

“Shush. Just open it.”

You put down your figurine and open the box, gasping at the sight. A gorgeous, multi-stone sapphire pendant sparkles above black velvet. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen, the design very intentional. Unique. “Roman…”

“Umm,” Roman hums nervously, hovering over you to point at the pendant, “They’re sapphires, so blue- they’re like blueberries,” he stutters, gesturing to the multiple round-cut stones. “‘Cause of the pancakes I make you…uh…sometimes.” Roman points to the little diamonds between the sapphires, “And the diamonds, I don’t know. I thought it was a nice accent sort of thing. And you’re a girl, you know. You like sparkles.”

You’re touched. Not only is the piece gorgeous, but the thought Roman put into it warms your heart and makes it all the more special. There’s no way he just walked into a jeweler’s and picked this out of the display case. He thought up the design and had it custom made, probably weeks or months ago. Had to have. Carefully, you remove the pendant and its box chain from the box. 

“If you don’t l-” You put the piece of jewelry in Roman’s hand and turn your back to him. Roman smiles to himself. He puts the necklace over your chest and brings the chain around your neck, his nervously shaking fingers tickling your skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “God, fuck - sorry, hang on,” he whispers, losing and finding his grip on the small clasp before successfully securing it. “There.” Excitedly, you pull out your phone and turn on your front-facing camera to admire the pendant on your skin. 

You turn off your phone and put it in your purse, then fling yourself at Roman, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly. Roman freezes at first, then hugs you back gingerly, before finally squeezing you just as tightly, chuckling quietly at your palpable excitement. You pull away from the hug just enough to kiss him quickly on his lips, startling both yourself and Roman. “Yeah, so…” He rubs the back of his neck and blushes wildly, his cock quickly hardening in his pants. Roman coughs and adjusts his napkin over his lap, still feeling the pressure of your lips on his despite their absence. “Happy birthday, kiddo,” he whispers. 

“I love it. Thank you.” You look at Roman with sparkling eyes, pupils blown wide as you beam at him. It makes him blush even harder, his ears and neck turning red too. 

“Stop it, don’t - quit looking at me like that,” Roman scolds, avoiding eye contact. “It - it’s nothing.”

“I don’t know,” you reply, “I think it’s something.”

“Yeah, of course you think that. Because that’s the problem with your generation. You put labels on everything and think you’re all so special. Snowflakes,” he rants. “God, I can’t stand you people. You especially. I’d get that necklace for anyone.”

Defensive. He’s so fucking comically defensive, and it tickles you. “Hey, Roman,” you purr, in the mood to tease. 

Roman looks at you wearing a seemingly permanent smile on your lips as you touch and toy with your pendant. “What? What now?” he asks, flustered and impatient. 

“You’re kinda pink.”

“I’m not…pink,” Roman mumbles.

“You are. You’re blushing.”

“Shut the fuck up. I am not blushing.”

“No, you’re totally blushing. Your cheeks are all rosy.”

Roman buries his face in his hands and groans, eliciting a sweet giggle from you. The way you look at him, how you’re acting and making him feel. Tripping over his words, his heart hasn’t stopped pounding, cock achingly hard since you pecked his lips. You make him feel weak, and you’re not supposed to. Not like this. 

Your server returns then. ��Are we ready to order?”

“Yes,” Roman quickly answers. “I’ll have the…fuck. One - one sec.” Roman raises a finger as he browses the menu. Sorry, you mouth to the server. “Entrees, entrees…” he mumbles.

“It’s right here,” you whisper, pointing to the entree section of Roman’s menu. His large bulge catches your eye, and you smile mischievously. When did that happen?

“Okay. Yeah. I think I’ll have the charred fil- fuck.”

Your server’s eyes widen at Roman, who quickly apologizes. Your hand is on his bulge, squeezing him through the fabric of his pants. 

“He wants the charred filet,” you cut in, answering for Roman. “I’ll have the gnocchi. Thank you,” you smile sweetly at the waiter, stroking Roman’s bulge over his pants. Silently, Roman gives the man a thumbs up and waves him away. Roman bites his lip as he waits for him to go back to the kitchen. “Alright, fuck this,” Roman snaps, squeezing your wrist and forcibly removing your hand from his lap. “You’re out of line.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re being weird. Are you feeling okay?” 

“We’ve had a nice night, you know. Do you really wanna do this?”

“Do what?”

“Cute.” Roman wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you flush against his side. “I give you an inch and you take a mile.” 

“You’re still so flushed,” you tease. This time, Roman doesn’t smile bashfully. Instead, he wears a frown and puts his hand on your knee, under the skirt of your dress. His palm slides up your thigh until his fingers meet your panties, and he teases you over the fabric. “Ooh. Look who’s wet,” he mocks, feeling your sticky dampness. Roman hooks his fingers under your panties and pulls them, sliding them down your thighs. “Lift up. They’re coming off.” 

“What are you doing?” you hiss. You hold his forearm in both of your hands, attempting to pry his hand away from your lap. His muscles flex beneath your palm as he fights against you. Roman’s taking this much farther than you did.

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“You have to stop. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. Not like this, not here, not - Jesus Christ.” Roman tugs your panties down to your knees, then lifts your legs over his lap so he can remove them the rest of the way. It’s not long before you’ll be soaking through your dress.

“You’re not behind the wheel anymore.” Roman stuffs your soaked panties into his pocket and spreads your legs wide, one of your thighs still resting on his. “Shouldn’t have been in the first place.” You’re completely exposed right now, anyone could see what Roman’s doing to you. What you’re letting him do to you. He wriggles his fingers underneath the skirt of your dress and presses his thumb against your sensitive clit, causing you to gasp and jerk your body, hitting your free leg against the table. The utensils on your plate clatter loudly, and Roman’s glass of water spills over and onto the tablecloth. Another guest at the restaurant looks at you, and you force a smile at them. “Ooh, nice one,” Roman taunts.

Roman’s rubbing you in circles now, using his free hand to tug your dress up and look at your bare pussy under the warm light of the candles at your table. You look at him with pleading eyes, begging him, “We shouldn’t be doing this, Roman. Not here. Not like this.”

“Yes, here, and yes, like this. Don’t fucking argue with me.” Roman buries two fingers into your cunt, pushing them in and out of you slowly, collecting your arousal. “You didn’t think this one through, did you?” 

He drags his slick fingers up and down your folds, feeling you becoming wetter by the second. He circles your clit lazily, rubbing it gently, listening closely to the wet noises you make. Your waiter returns with your meals, and just like you did to Roman, Roman keeps his hands on you. “Better keep it together,” he murmurs in your ear, pulling your skirt back over the front of your thighs. 

Your server sets Roman’s filet in front of him, then your gnocchi down in front of you. “Anything else I can get you?”

“Yeah, actually,” Roman answers. His demeanor has totally shifted. He’s cool, he’s back in control. “What are your desserts tonight? This one here has a pretty severe sweet tooth.”

“Dessert specials,” the server repeats. “I have to think. They change them up on us a lot.”

“Oh, take your time. We’ve got all night. Don’t we, kiddo?” 

“Mhm. Yep.” 

Roman takes a spoonful of his mashed potato side as your waiter thinks. “Tiramisu, of course,” he says. 

“Oh, well. Naturally.” Roman’s fingers slide down until he’s pressing them right against your slick little hole. 

“We have a cookie plate, too. A chocolate and hazelnut mousse cake. And a pineapple angel cake. And gelato.” 

Roman slides his fingers into your tight pussy, pressing them up to search for that spongy spot inside of you. “What flavors?”

“We have caramel butter cake, chocolate cashew raspberry…” 

The server’s voice becomes distant as he recites flavors. You squeak when Roman reaches your g-spot, swallowing your moans as he curls his fingers repeatedly against it. 

“We have sorbets, too.” 

“What sorbets?” Roman asks.

“Mango calamansi, cantaloupe, and lemongrass.” 

“Quite a dessert menu. Well, what do you think, birthday girl?”

“Tiramisu,” you mumble. 

“I didn’t catch that,” the server replies. “What was that?”

Roman answers for you, “She says she wants tiramisu. She’s just shy sometimes. Aren’t you?”

You glare at Roman, who smiles at you, flashing those perfect little teeth of his. His fingers stop suddenly - he has an idea. He cocks an eyebrow when your hips follow his hand, bucking into his palm, “Interesting,” he says, smiling fondly at your desperation. Your face feels hot and you feel out of your depth here. Roman was right to warn you about getting into this, about it being a nice night.

It worries you to see Roman scanning the room and biting his lip. He’s thinking, which is never good. “Roman. Whatever you’re thinking of doing - don’t.” 

Roman ignores your warning. “Keep telling me no and watch what happens,” he warns, then slides under the table with seamless ease. Once under the table, he pushes your thighs apart and pulls you close to the edge of your seat, putting one of your legs over his shoulder. 

He licks your inner thighs, his scruff abrasive against your damp skin. Roman licks you higher and higher, pulling you closer to his waiting mouth where you can feel his hot breath against your core. His head bulges a bit under the white tablecloth, and then you feel it - one long, fat lick of his tongue up your seam. “Ohhh my god,” you moan, garnering a look from someone at a nearby table. You smile and take a sip of your water with shaky hands. 

Roman starts small with little licks, sucking your labia into his mouth. First one side, then the other. His hands rest on your thighs, hot against your skin and squeezing your flesh. He licks over your clit next, then sucks it between his lips. He alternates between those two actions, stopping and starting all over again and again. You want more and less of it, of Roman, all at once.

Roman gently tugs the hood of your clit up, exposing your most sensitive part of yourself to his lips and tongue. He slides his two fingers inside you once more, fucking you on those digits as he sloppily licks your clit. You arch into his touch and reach under the table to hold his head and tug on his hair. “Roman,” you whimper. 

He coaxes release from you effortlessly, patiently using his tongue to draw steady circles on your clit as he curls those long, bony fingers inside you. You bite your lip so hard it breaks skin, squeezing Roman’s head with your thighs and whimpering softly as you feel the beginning of your climax begin to take over. 

Fuck. Your server is back with the tiramisu Roman had ordered for you. “The tiramisu,” he says, placing it on the table. “I apologize, I forgot to ask - do you and your date want coffee to go with dessert?”

“N- nah- no-” you stutter, though it comes out more as a moan as Roman fucks you with his tongue through your orgasm. Roman slaps your thigh and you jump in your seat, earning yourself a strange look from your server. Wrong answer. “Sor - yeah - yes. Yes.” Roman kisses your inner thigh in approval. 

Your poor fucking waiter. He nods wordlessly to go back into the kitchen and retrieve coffee for you and Roman. At the same time, Roman emerges from under the table with his cheeks flushed and his hair mussed and out of place, which is entirely your fault. “Fuck,” you whisper. Hastily, you finger-comb his hair into place. 

Roman grabs a spoon and takes the first bite of the tiramisu. “Mm,” he hums. “Sorry, birthday girl. Dad tax.”

Roman scoops up another bite of tiramisu, then brings the spoon to your lips. You take the bite, your cheeks warming when you taste your arousal on the metal. 

-

It’s quiet in the house when you and Roman come home. He stops briefly in the kitchen to put your leftovers away, then follows you up the steps and into your bedroom. “Need help with your zipper?” 

“Mhm. Please” 

Roman pulls your zipper down your back, then turns you around. Before you can think, he cups your face with both hands and kisses you, really kisses you. It’s no accidental peck on the lips, no. It’s intentional, deep and deliberate. His lips are soft, his tongue melding perfectly together with yours. When he pulls away, you look at him with knitted brows.

“You kissed me first, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but–”

“Then it’s on the table.” 

Roman kisses you once more, then pulls away again. His eyes are dark and sparkling, and warm, too. He touches the pendant on your chest, holding it between his fingers before rubbing his thumb across the stones. It’s so intimate, and it leaves you breathless and confused. “Good birthday?” 

You nod. Roman smiles at you. 

“I’m glad. Goodnight, kiddo.” 

tysm for reading!! please scream nice and horny things at me if you enjoyed ♡ reblogs, comments, and asks are so appreciated and keep me motivated to write for you guys

tags (lmk if you wanna be added or removed)

@goldenispunk @littlevenicebitch69 @gaeela-6 @bean-is-reading @slutsoutgutsout

@galarian-weezing-on-prep @cum-a-calla @pastelpinkflowerlife @kolsmikaelson

@moth-maam56 @kothku @cult-of-escapism @swiftiegirliepop @bluecookies-and-ink

@romanarose @kappasbbgirl @magpiepills @highinmiamili @verstappensrealwife

@thesummerpetrichor @lilipads @luiscarrutherss @pastelpinkflowerlife @baronessvonglitter

@myromeow @ovaryacted @doll-0f-flesh

[peppermintquartz]

Buck/Tommy prompt: Tommy finally realizing he *does* have a family with the 118

It's a Thursday afternoon when he dies.

He's not even on shift, that's the thing; he was in the gym training with a friend, and the next thing he knows five masked figures burst in, shouting at everyone to get down to the ground, and he's shielding Jacob when one of them fires a spray in their direction.

The bullets don't land anywhere fatal so he doesn't die immediately, but that means it hurts like a bitch, and he can feel his extremities growing cold. He sees the five gunmen race out the other door. Jacob is panicking, pressing his gym towel on the stomach wound but not exerting enough strength to hold back the blood loss; Lizzie is screaming at someone to hurry; Tommy thinks, Fuck, on the day I beat my personal best too.

His vision is darkening around the edges. Breathing is difficult. Maybe a punctured lung from shrapnel, who knows?

The coroner will, his brain supplies, a joker to the very end.

He hears sirens. Vaguely, he wonders if who's going to tell Evan.

Sorry, baby. Didn't mean to make you cry. Tommy lets go of the vestiges of the breath he's been struggling to hold onto.

"Tommy?" He knows the voice. Wow, God really has a shitty sense of humor. "Tommy!"

At least that's the last thing he'll hear before he dies. Tommy tastes blood in his mouth, and everything stops.

Death, it turns out, is a welcoming silence.

--

He wakes up in fits and starts.

When he is finally, mostly conscious, he feels someone holding his right hand. And there are two people talking.

"...I think he's back with us again," one of the voices say. "Mr Kinard?"

Call me Tommy. Mr Kinard is my asshole dad.

"Tommy?"

Now Tommy smiles. That's the right name. He blinks, each eyelid approximately seven thousand tons. Dimmed lights, two shadowy figures, one in a white coat and the other in navy.

"Guess... G'd dint like... my crack 'bout. Sense of humor."

"What the fuck," says Navy. He scoots closer and Tommy can see his face clearly. Boyishly handsome, with light brown curly hair, a birthmark. Red-rimmed eyes. "Tommy. Tommy, god."

"Hey." He can't remember Navy's name. "Dry."

White Coat hands over a small cup. Navy puts an ice chip on Tommy's lips, and Tommy draws it into his mouth for the relief.

Evan. Not Navy. Evan.

White Coat comes close, and Tommy wants to protest. He wants to hold Evan's hand and kiss his sad little pout away.

"You can do that later when you're better," said White Coat. He shines a light into Tommy's eyes - ow - and taps him in various places, and then it's just Tommy and Evan again.

Evan stands and leans down to kiss Tommy's brow. "Go to sleep. I'll let everyone know you pulled through."

Tommy wants to ask, but sleep pulls him under.

--

They come to visit, singly or in pairs.

"Glad you're still breathing," Eddie says. He sits on the side of the bed. "Chris says that if you die, he'll hit you with his crutches. And they hurt, let me tell you that."

Hen and Karen visit with their kids that same day. Denny asks if Tommy can teach him and Mara to draw. "I liked yours the most of all the art on my cast."

Bobby comes by, scowls at the bland food, and says, "I'm glad you're still with us, kid." Tommy tears up, and allows himself to cry silently. Bobby only holds his hand and pats the back of it.

Donato and Melton come by with a bunch of balloons, all chosen for maximum obnoxiousness. The bright pink and yellow one that proclaims "It's a GIRL!" is Tommy's favorite.

He gives that balloon to Chimney when he comes by, telling him to give it to Jee. Chimney punches the side of Tommy's leg. "Count your lucky stars it isn't Maddie here. They'd never even find your body."

--

Maddie shows up with Evan the day after to take Tommy home to recover from his three bullet wounds.

"Three shots and you only get three days?" Evan is outraged.

"Flesh wounds except for the one through my lower left abdomen," Tommy reminds him, already tired. "Plus, I signed myself out." Then, taking a nervous breath, he says, "Hi Maddie."

Maddie glares at him. "You're lucky I wasn't the one holding the gun."

Tommy winces, ducks his head. "I'm sorry."

Evan rolls his eyes. "Standing right here, Maddie."

"I warned him about breaking your heart," she says grumpily, but she takes the duffel bag of Tommy's stuff.

Tommy leans back in his wheelchair as Evan rolls him out towards freedom. "How much groveling to make to earn your sister's forgiveness?"

"See how long you'll grovel for mine, and multiply that by ten."

"Oh shit."

"...that'd be about half a hour, I guess."

"For you or for her?"

Evan wrinkles his nose at him, but his smile is still sunshine. His hand lands on Tommy's shoulder and squeezes. "You and I need a good talk. And this time, you can't run."

Tommy dares to touch Evan's hand. "Okay."

[verstappentime]

@sunsetmog & i have gone deep into the sugar baby daniel rabbit hole so here's max trying to upgrade dan to full time sugar baby. it helped me feel better on my dreadful monday so y'all should have it as well <33 (read hers first)

Max is already out of bed when Daniel gets up. He's exhausted and heavy and sore. He feels like he could sleep another eight hours. Max would let him. But he has to go back to work tomorrow and he's not going to see Max for weeks and weeks after that. He's not in bed and Daniel misses him already, right now.

He wanders out into the kitchen. Max is perched at the breakfast bar, eating cereal and watching something on his phone, which is propped up on a book. Daniel keeps telling him to just put a TV in here, so he can stop sitting hunched over like a gremlin, but Max is hard to make do things if they're not for other people.

"Hey," he says, and watches Max's features soften when he looks up.

Max struggles getting off his barstool, all stuck to it, in a rush to see him after probably, like, an hour. They're so embarrassing. He's so in love it hurts.

"Baby," Max says, sounding wounded. He touches Daniel's cheek, frowning like something's not where he left it. "You look so tired."

"That's alright." Daniel likes that Max notices him. He just– doesn't like that look on his face. "Am I still pretty, then?"

"Don't be stupid. You are of course very gorgeous and handsome." Max is still scrutinizing him. "But you are here all weekend and still tired."

"Yeah, well. I'm kind of in a deficit. I'm just. Gonna." Daniel brushes his hand off, not harshly, stepping around Max to pick out a mug and go for a latte.

He likes this new espresso machine. He's seen on the package delivery app from his apartment complex that Max got him one for his place – he's going to pretend to be surprised when he gets back.

Max is still hovering. Daniel lets him chew on whatever's bothering him. He rummages for sugar and debates between the four kinds of non-dairy milk Max got for him without turning to look.

"Are you alright?" Max asks, finally, as he's pouring milk into the frother.

"We established that I'm tired, Max. It's okay. Maybe I'll nap later."

Max wraps both arms around him from behind, forehead against the back of his neck. "I think maybe it's not going away," he says.

He can't cry, but he wants to. Max has never been with him during a bad spell. But he'd warned him. I won't want to do anything. I might need you to be a bit mean to get me to eat or shower. I'll be tired but sleep won't fix it.

"I'm just working too much." It sounds stupid.

Max says what Daniel's thinking. "It can be both." He pulls away. It doesn't sound like he's going to push it. "Can you show me how to do the coffee? So I can do it for you."

He breathes out. "Yeah, okay."

&&&

Max is skipping his training routine, and he doesn't say why.

He stays in with Daniel on the couch, and they watch It's Always Sunny, which Daniel can't believe Max has never seen and makes him nearly choke on his Red Bull.

It's good. He feels a little better after his coffee. They're good.

Max has been tracing loops on his thigh for awhile. He thinks one was a love heart. It means Max is thinking.

Dennis is about to tell the gang he's leaving, and it's important, but Max pauses the TV. He says, "Don't go back to work tomorrow."

"What?" He's out of PTO. Max knows that. They've gone over it ten times. "You know I can't–"

"Don't go back. Tomorrow or– don't go back. You don't have to. You don't have to worry about money. This is stupid." Max squeezes Daniel's thigh, urgent, which is about the only thing keeping his head from spinning off. "This is going to make you unwell and I don't want– there is no point when I can take care of it."

[blackelysian]

Situationship.

Duke Dennis x Black! Fem! Reader as Makena

Word Count: 1,449

Warnings: 18+ smut, fluff, toxic relationship

Summary: Tired of this situationship between you and Duke you decide its just better to end things. Duke wants to make it right.

Makena POV

A sigh escaped my lips as I aimlessly scroll through my phone. It was now 3 am and Duke still wasn’t here yet. I sent a text to his phone for the one hundredth time.

                                                                       It's late, don't even worry about coming anymore… Sent.

No reply. Once again.

I watched his story and saw that he posted something 30 minutes ago. He was out with his friends at some party or function with some bitch grabbing his face. At that point I was fed up, annoyed and kinda hurt. I throw my phone to the side and sit up. He’s been blowing me off all night after he told me he was coming over so we could spend some time together. One stop and I'm on my way, I Love you”  was the last response I got from him. Tears streamed down my face. Not only was I mad at him I was mad at myself for even allowing my feelings to get wrapped up in whatever you wanna call this. Duke and I have been messing around for almost a year now but he never officially asked me to be his girlfriend. He helps me with my bills, buys me whatever I want, fucks me good, but there was no actual commitment. He uses the excuse of he doesn’t want to hurt me, but this hurts way worse. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone dinging, indicating I had just got a text. I hover my face over my phone revealing the message from him. 

Im outside

I layed back down on the bed ignoring his text. Next thing I know I hear my front door unlocking.

I groaned annoyingly. I need to get my key back from this nigga. I can hear his feet making their way to my bedroom before he slides my door open, stumbling in. He casually makes his way over to me leaning down to peck me on the lips but he was met with the palm of my hand.

“So you just goin walk in here late as a motherfucka and act like nothing's wrong??” She raised her voice at him.

“Come on boo don’t start that, i'm here now right? That's all that should matter'' He asks nonchalantly, going back in for another attempted kiss. I quickly jumped up and moved around him.

“You know, I don’t think I wanna do this anymore Duke..”I say looking away from him.

“Do what Makena?”

“THIS” I raise my voice again, pointing between the two of us. “This is getting old and I'm tired of sitting around waiting on you to see how good of a woman I am..tired of waiting on you to respect me! I’m done.” I snapped. 

“What do you mean you're done?”

“I'm done, We are done! And you need to give me back my key!” He chuckles at me.

“You trippin’ im not going any fucking where” He simply says, slideing his shoes off.

“Why don’t you just let me go Duke?” I questioned. “Why continue to string me along huh? You don’t want to be with me at this point so what's the point of keeping this going?”

“Makena,You know I love you. I just don't want to hurt you” He states, pulling me in front of him.

“You don’t think this hurts already?” I hold my hand up. “You know what, I just want you to go, i'll give you a minute to get whatever stuff you have here and leave my fuckin key” I turn my back to him not even giving him a chance to respond, heading for the bathroom to take a long, hot shower. I needed to clear my mind and hopefully by the time I got out that asshole would be gone for good.

Omniscient POV

After about 20 minutes, Duke enters the bathroom. He sees Makena’s naked silhouette through the foggy glass shower. He looks over to see her music softly playing from her bluetooth speaker. He quickly strips out of his clothes and slides in the steaming hot shower. The breeze runs a chill down Makena’s spine as he slides the door back closed. 

She quickly turns around. “I thought I told you to go?” She asks, rolling her eyes.

“We not done talking yet” He wraps his arms around her, bringing her body close to his.

“Duke, please don’t do this to me right now. Just let me go and leave” she says, trying to unwrap his arms from around her. He holds her tight.

“What do you want? Whatever you want I’ll give it to you. Just don’t leave me baby” 

“He can’t be serious..” She thought. But with the look on his face she knew this was far from a joke. But she couldn’t give in. What would he think of her if she just took him back so easily? Why now did he want to do the right thing? 

“It's a little too late fo-”

“Be my girlfriend?” He cuts her off, looking in her eyes with adoration.

“Wow really?” She asks sarcastically. “ Now you want to ask me? It's only because I'm telling you I'm done with you that you want to act right now” She says disgustingly, rolling my eyes and pushing him away from her. 

“Baby I'm serious!” He exclaims, grabbing her again. “I can’t lose you, whatever you want me to do I'll do it. I want to make it right, I have to make it right. Give me just one more chance and I promise we won’t have to have this conversation no more”

“I don’t know what to say Duke…” She says lowly, looking down and away from him. He drops to his knees in the oversized walk in shower, grabbing onto her waist. He places gentle kisses along her stomach trailing down to her womanhood. 

“Say yes” He says softly, placing a kiss right on top of her clit. Her breath hitches in her throat. 

“Say yes baby..” He throws her left leg over his shoulder and places a few more kisses on her wet center before completely devouring her. He made sure to take his time pleasing her. He wanted to show her that he meant what he said.

“Duke..no” She trails off, throwing her head back as he lapped her up like a thirsty dog. His thumb finds her clit drawing small circles on it. 

“Be my girlfriend baby” He says again, looking up to watch her love faces. She begins to feel her orgasm build in her stomach as she grinds down on his face. “Shit i'm almost there” She gasps. He stops immediately, getting up and turning off the shower before picking her up and walking her out the shower. 

“You don’t get to cum until you say yes.” He wraps a towel around her wet body, bending her over the sink, the two making eye contact in the mirror. She could see the lust and longing in his face. He rubs his member up and down her slick womanhood before roughly sliding into her in one swift motion. 

“Fuck” she groaned out as he starting to deliver rough,delicious strokes. 

“You goin be my girlfriend baby?” He asks yet again, brushing some of her curls out her face. Her mouth falls open but nothing comes out. He delivers a smack to her ass. “Answer me baby” He groans, going deeper bottoming out. 

“Oh shitt, Yess” She moans out blissfully.

“Say it” He says, pulling out and sitting on the side of the tub, pulling her back on him and sliding in again. He starts to work her up and down his member.

“Say it Makena” He states firmly.

“Ima be your girlfriend babyy” She blurts out.

“Yea?” He says with a smile, kissing you along the side of your face and neck as he still bounces you on him. Makena starts to throw it back on him, pulling out her best moves to show him that it doesn’t get any better than this. 

“Oh fuckk mama” He grunts, grabbing the back of her neck turning her to face him. 

“Gimme kiss” They lean into each other and give each other the sloppiest kiss ever. 

“Hmmm baby im cumming” She cries out, picking up her speed.

“Cum on your dick” His words were like a catalyst for her orgasm, which rips through her like a tornado. He finishes right behind her, pulling out and releasing on the rug. She turns to kiss him once again.

“Mm we not finished yet. I still have a lot of making up to do.” He says with a lustful grin on his face.

A/N: Makena definitely DID NOT stand on business 😭😭

[bumblesimagines]

do you think you could ever see us as more than friends?

don't you get it? they're not you.

Sarah Cameron

don't you get it? they're not you.

do you think you could ever see us as more than friends?

Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs

"Thanks again for tutoring Wheezie, (Y/N). Her grades have definitely improved."

"It's no problem, Mr. Cameron."

Truly, it wasn't. While the youngest Cameron could be stubborn and occasionally immature, Wheezie was probably one of the brightest kids you got to tutor. She simply refused to believe in herself and her abilities but with a little coaxing and praise, she'd proven to be pretty good at the harder subjects like math and science. You were sure she wouldn't need you anymore in a couple weeks. 

"If only you rubbed off on Sarah," Ward sighed as he finished digging around in his wallet for some cash. You almost smiled despite the annoyance you'd grown to harbor for the blonde over the last few days. If only Sarah took your warnings and advice to heart instead of running off with the posse from the Cut. She'd ghosted Denny, a good friend of yours, just to hang out with them doing God knows what. The Pogues were sweet people, especially Pope Heyward, but their track record was piss poor and would only damage Sarah in the long run. "She could use some help in English. I got a phone call from her teacher the other day about it." 

"I'll talk to her, Mr. Cameron." You assured, taking the wad of cash from the man and smiling. "I'm sure it's nothing." 

With a thankful nod, Ward bid you goodbye and headed inside the mansion. You sighed softly and stuffed the cash into your wallet before slipping it into your back pocket and heading down the driveway. The walk home would be a short one given how close you lived to the Camerons, one of the main reasons you'd been able to stick beside Sarah and not get dumped aside like trash. It was infuriating how she tossed aside people so easily and yet decided to extend her loyalty to people acquainted with the Kildare County jail cells. 

The familiar rumble of an engine caught your attention and you stopped right at the edge of the driveway to watch the familiar minivan head down the road. It came to a screeching halt right before you and Kiara stuck her head out with a wide smile. Great. Just the people you wanted to see. The side door rolled open and Sarah hopped out with a giddy laugh, sliding the door closed again and bidding her newfound friends a cheerful goodbye before she spun around and sprang into your arms. The van made a U-turn at the end of the road and sped off down the street.

"Hey!" Sarah giggled, arms still wrapped around your shoulders. "I didn't know you were coming over!"

"I tutor Wheezie every Friday, Sarah. You'd know that if you paid more attention." You muttered and pushed your hand against her abdomen, forcing the girl to take a step back. Sarah's brows furrowed and her arms slumped to her side, her dark brown eyes flickering all over your face. Any other day, any other month, you might've felt bad for getting snappy with the blonde. But your patience had begun to wear thin with her after her constant ghosting and ditching.

"What's wrong? Why are you mad?"

"I'm not-" You inhaled deeply and rubbed the area between your eyebrows. "You said you were going to give Denny a chance 'cause you were tired of being single. He showed up to the date, but you didn't. If you don't want something serious then tell me that before I set you up with someone. You've done this four times already, Sarah. I'm the one who has to pick up after you while you run around with your street friends. If you don't like my friends, say that. I've wasted enough of their time."

Sarah frowned and looked away like a child being scolded by their parent. She twisted her lips and spoke quietly, "Don't you get it? They're not you. I don't want to date them. I.."

You felt your heart drop at her words. Sarah Cameron, known to all as a heartbreaker who had no issue cheating on her boyfriends, liked you? You stared at her silently, trying to process her words and think of something, anything, to say in response but your mind went blank. You'd known her since you wore diapers! You'd been raised alongside her like siblings and even wore matching clothes during the holidays as kids. The only word you could truly muster up and say was, "Oh."

"Do you think you could ever see us as more than friends?" Sarah asked softly and lifted her head to gaze at your face. You tried not to wince. You loved her, truly you did, but not in the way she wanted. A long time ago, back in middle school, you might've leaped at the chance. But that'd been before you really took note of her more selfish side. Sarah was loyal but not when it came to romance and she never had the guts to admit it.

"No, Sarah, I don't. You... You're my friend. I stopped looking at you like that when I saw how you treated your past boyfriends. You're great and I'll always love you but you're just not the kind of girl I'd want to be with. I'm sorry."

[bekolxeram]

I woke up to a dash full of bones, and I thought to myself: What a day to be a moopsy!

But then I realized it was the same kind of bones people have been trying to force feed me since May. I'm a moopsy with standards, give me herringbone, funny bone, trombone, Jackson Rathbone (jk I've never seen Twilight), any other kind of bone.

Please don't force a moopsy into vegetarianism.

Oh, and I've read that opinion piece. It's certainly one of the articles ever written.

First of all, I feel like I'm in a time loop, I can't believe I have to dig through the vault to find this post from June. Tommy wasn't taking Eddie on an "adventure" in 7x04. Both flying and combat sports have been Tommy's passions way before Eddie showed up in his life. They happened to share common interests, so Tommy asked Eddie to tag along for the ride, but he was going to Vegas anyway, solo or not.

Exploring your partner's interests would be more like... I don't know, showing up to a groom-less (and fun-less) bachelor party while being on standby because it's important to your partner? Listening to him ramble about a dead outlaw even though you're so tired from your shift and taking care of him all night that you're basically mumbling half-asleep, yet still manages to catch that he's said "crossed" twice? Thinking your partner is stressing himself over a stupid curse but you still put on a nice suit, drive him to the cemetery and stand behind him while he gives a century old mummy a eulogy, for it to unexpectedly turn into a moment of connection between you two?

Secondly, I'm not even getting into the whole "slow burn is the only valid form of romance" thing. I just never imagined there would be a day I see the words "slow burn" and Bathena put together. They're the antithesis of slow burn. They're explosions in the form of beautiful fireworks. I understand that the author only started the show about a month ago? But literally, in the first episode of S7, Athena told the therapist that while she loved her husband, she didn't know how to just slow down and chill out with him. The cruise ship disaster arc ended with them bonding over yet another near death experience. Life's too short for slow to them.

Thirdly, 9-1-1 doesn't really do cute dates? It's either in the ending montage of an arc or it's a setup for some terrible misfortune afterwards. It's not a YA style queer coming-of-age show either, the best you'll see Buck navigating through queer spaces is speeding from "calling himself an ally while on a date with a guy" through "walking into a room full of people with a soot eating grin". (While we're on that, I guess I have to dig out another post from June about the first date closet comment. Tommy took the initiative to tell Eddie they were just hanging out, and Eddie bought it. He didn't mind keeping Buck's sexuality private, but he did mind Buck pushing him back into the closet with the hot chick lie.)

Finally, Tommy has been relatively involved in the Fire Fam circle ever since his re-introduction. He literally stole borrowed a helicopter and flew the 118 to the Pacific Ocean just to save Bathena. He was at the wedding, he was at the medal ceremony, and now he's part of the hospital vigil for Denny. And each time he's not just there for Buck, he's there for Chimney, he's there for Hen too. For someone who puts so much emphasis on "slow burn", the author seems rather hasty in pronouncing BuckTommy dead on arrival, after watching a total of 5 out of 18 episodes this season (with 2 of them heavily featuring passengers on the plane and putting the whole fire fam to the side no less). Every relationship takes time to build up, I'm sure the author understands that, welcoming a new member into your family is not a question of yes or no, it's also a question of when. Tommy has mentioned 3 times how much he wanted to have a team like that behind his back, how alone he was navigating through life with only negative influence like his father or Gerrard. Buck's story in 8x05 started as a spooky comedy about a mummy, but ended as a heartwarming tale of Buck empathizing with Billy's loneliness and declaring himself part of Billy's posse. So what do you think will be the more satisfying payoff to Tommy's story? Him being formally welcomed to the family eventually? Or having him break up with Buck then cast aside with a mere "lol sucks not being a main ig"?

[superbellsubways]

robor lore time

Showbitz and Heartbreaker stuff (+ a bit of their creator) ↓

Lets start off with their creator (🙄) Their creator is a young, sad, lonely man named Dennis who spends most of his time indoors working on his own projects and lounging about. He had originally gone to school to become a doctor but instead took more interest in robotics. After graduation, he found a place and experimented with his newfound passion. Bitz would be the first of his bots to be considered a success.

as mentioned in the reference, Bitz was built with the purpose of dealing with heavyweight items and disposing of useless things/trash (crushing with his teeth). During his free time (when not having any orders given to him) he would watch tv or browse the Internet. He learned about the outside world and everything it had to offer this way, and soon he realized he wanted to see it for himself. However, his creator would not allow this in fear that he would get damaged or cause harm in some way. But of course, this wouldn't stop him from trying!

At some point, Dennis ends up building a housekeeper bot to help keep the place tidy and such. Soon enough she and Bitz became acquainted with eachother, and would hang out with eachother more and more on their breaks 😁 with Bitz showing her his favorite things to watch and look at.

Ok ok Fast forward a bit. The two bots both decide they want to run away to see the outside world. They pack up some supplies (including money they had stolen from Dennis lol) and find a way to leave while he was out for errands, it was the perfect opportunity!. They trainhop a few times till they finally reach close to the big city (very far from their home).

Here, they would try their best to figure themselves out and what they want to do (along with trying to get a roof over their heads of course). Days pass and their hopes start to dwindle, until suddenly out of the blue, they get asked to be apart of an ongoing tv show, and immediately take up the offer as long as it provided them with a safe place to stay. Bitz would end up becoming the new host for a popular game show (the show having a robot host as it's main gimmick) with the housekeeper bot (now known as Heartbreaker) as his assistant.

Now, you must be wondering "wow Mari this doesn't really explain why Bitz is the way he is now!" "Why is he passive aggressive nowadays?" "Does Bitz kill people" bear with me Ok.

At some point early into his career he ends up having his trust broken by a Certain Someone. This ordeal causes him to snap and hold a huge grudge towards them. Overtime he would start experiencing hatred for literally anyone he finds even the slightest bit of irritating, including a few of his own contestants or audience members (essentially he becomes corrupt, a Huge Hater, and develops anger issues LOL. You know the "are you tired of being nice don't you just want to go ape shit" meme yea thats basically what's happening).

One day he thought to himself "well why don't I just get rid of these people?" (which would be just. ya know. killing them. crazy i know. but at this point he really doesn't care!). He uses Heartbreaker to do the dirty work for him (hunting them down hitman style) while they're not on the air. She does not mind doing the job, as she does not feel much empathy towards people she doesn't know personally Especially humans (not to mention she also knows how to clean up once its done haha).

Anyways the fame from his show starts getting to Bitz's dumb robot head, which leads to him becoming more egotistical, to the point where he's practically obsessed with himself! He wants everyone to focus on him and him only, it's what he craves most. He would do anything to be the center of attention.

and that's kinda all I have left to say for now. I do plan to draw a few things I purposely left out + things i mentioned here in the future. I also want to make another post about the other bots at some point. Kudos to anyone that was cool enough to read through this dumb thing. thanks

[bibellebibuck]

Finale Thoughts

This is a long ramble that I’ve attempted to categorise and form into something coherent - but bear with me if there’s any mistakes, I’m working rn and didn’t have time to proofread🙏🏻

HENREN & MADNEY

I adore Madney and how inherently GOOD they are all the damn time. My favourite straights ever.

I know there’s differing opinions on this plot line but honestly I am glad that Madney are fostering Mara, for Maras sake. It’s a safe space her for where she’ll be loved and can keep in contact with Henren.

I do agree, though, that the constant struggles they put Henren through as they try to build their family is getting old and tired now, let them off the struggle bus, it’s time for a breather.

It’s a testament to how rushed this episode was that we didn’t even SEE the councilwoman at all. She just drops this bomb on the Henren family last episode and then disappears? No follow up? Okay.

My thoughts/hopes on these guys for S8 are; Madney will be left as they are once the Mara storyline is resolved (which I think won’t take long after the whole Gerrard situation is sorted) as they’ve had a lot going on with their wedding etc. I think they’ll be put aside for a while while other characters stories are expanded this season. I think it’s a possibility we’ll get another Buckley-Han baby after they see the sibling dynamic between Mara and Jee. Afterall, it was Maddie who commented on Denny and Mara “getting along so well” “like siblings”.

Henren specifically id like to see more of, I want Karen and DENNY! to have more screentime. Karen’s job is fucking interesting, SHOW US MORE SOMEHOW!! And Denny, what’s going on with his relationship with his dad now? This kids a great actor, give him a little more screen time.

BATHENA & AMIR

Now, Athena was bad ASS this episode. I love BAMF Athena with all my heart, that’s literally my mother. Her talk with Amir was emotional and I think well written (one of the few well written moments in this episode..) but it all went downhill from there. Amir’s rescue was rushed as fuck, I wasn’t tense at all, Athena basically showed up, burnt the place down and sauntered out with Amir like it was nothing. Ofc my girl is capable of this no problem… but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had more of a fight scene, maybe Amir being a little more proactive, then show them struggling to get out of the fire? Idk. Just SOMETHING to expand on the scene a little. I did like “I’m Mrs Bobby Nash” though, hell yeah you are <3

Oh also Yay! May sighted!! Love my girl, wanna see more of her in S8 I miss her sooo much :(

For S8, I think Bathenas marriage issues should be gently explored a little more, i feel this plot line wasn’t properly resolved during the cruise eps? Idk maybe I’m just a nervous child of divorce but I’d like to see some of their trust issues put to rest. I mean, just an episode ago Athena was terrified Bobby was going to off himself, and Bobby literally retired without telling her. It’s not healthy, I wanna see them work it out and get stronger together. I don’t want more conflict between them to cause this though, maybe they just start up a conversation when things have calmed down and agree to talk it out or go to couples therapy or something. Leaving them where they are right now will feel like a dropped plot line.

I want to see more of Amir but I sincerely doubt we will, I have a feeling he won’t even be seen in S8 at all to be honest. It’s a shame, he’s an interesting character that I’d totally love the see explored more. Someone suggested he could be a connection opportunity for the hospital? I like that. Tim, take notes !!

I also want them to stop murdering Angela Bassets hair. Let her slay, please.

BUDDIE

I wish I had more to say here, but sadly… I don’t. My heart is telling me we’ve been gently queer baited once again, but I think that’s just old scars hurting (Destiel and johnlock survivor ✊🏻), my head is telling me a lot of the hype was stirred up by us as fans giving journalists and actors comments a little too much credit.

This isn’t to say I don’t think Buddie is happening, i still have my naive little belief that if WILL be canon eventually. They’re just going to drag it out as long as possible for the drama and possibly to appease Those fans, and the older viewer base who won’t be pleased by buddie canon.

I was very disappointed by the scene after Chris left, where Buck just put his hand on Eddies shoulder. We can say all we like that the shoulder touch is Their Thing™️ but in that situation a hug was absolutely goddamn necessary. Idc about shipping, that man needed a hug from his best friend in that moment. I think Buck needed it too. They just said goodbye to their son for an indefinite amount of time ffs why are we standing here like absolute mugs.

S8 - I want gay Eddie this season. I want it.

I want gay Eddie and then I want them both to be single for a while and Then I want buddie. If they can fit this into season 8 while keeping a nice steady pace (I have little faith after this insanely rushed finale, but let’s give them the benefit of the short season doubt) then I want Buddie feelings realisation towards the end of S8.. possibly setting up canon for S9 or even ending S8 with canon and a cliffhanger.. maybe a good one this time though!

As much as I’d like to see Buck supporting Eddie as he navigates life without Christopher, I don’t think we’ll get many scenes between them at first. I think this is where Ryan is talking about Eddies isolation. He’s going to go to work, be with his family, then go home and be without his family, and it’s at this time that he’s going to be working on himself. To get better for Chris, and for his own mental health. This journey is his alone, and I think it (although a little painful) makes sense that Buck isn’t involved in this too much.

EDDIE & CHRIS

To sum it up.. OUCH!

Eddie is an amazing father, and if you think otherwise just block me. He made a mistake with Kim, that does not make him a bad father. Him respecting Christopher’s space and choices in this ep was soooo healing and lovely to see, he called Buck because he knows Chris trusts and loves him and needed somebody to talk to, and knew he wasn’t the person for that right now.

I’ve seen some people bothered about how it’s unrealistic for the Diaz parents to have gotten to eddies so fast after the incident. To this I say, how are you not used to 911s complete disregard for timelines/timeline realism at this point? Just let it happen and move on, like it’s a fantasy land where time isn’t real. Now, I’m not American so maybe I don’t get the extent of the distance between LA/Texas - but still, I enjoy the show more I think, because I don’t overanalyse the timeline 😅

What I DO find unrealistic is that Chris would call his grandparents and not Buck. I’m not looking at this through shipping lenses either, I’m saying that when Eddie had his breakdown, Chris’s first instinct was to call Buck. When Chris was upset and scared at the Ana situation, he went straight to Buck. And now this, he doesn’t talk to Buck at all before calling his grandparents?

It makes sense that he wanted to go to Texas as if he stayed with Buck he wouldn’t really be getting much space from his dad, and maybe he’d be thinking that Buck/Eddie would be on his case trying to force forgiveness on him while he’s there. But I think he first instinct would still have been to Call Buck to discuss the situation first, to confide in him, ask for help. Then he’d call his grandparents.

For S8 - I hate to be a downer but I don’t think we’ll see Chris this season. At LEAST the entirely of 8a, anyways.

As I mentioned earlier, I think this season will show Eddie growing and healing from this situation and becoming the person he wants to be, for himself and for Chris.

I think there is a lot of potential for us to finally get some Eddie & Maddie scenes, she could open a conversation with Eddie about her own struggles with feeling like an unfit parent for Jee - maybe Buck initiates this conversation, asking Maddie to speak to him?

I hope he will finally be able to put his insecurities about his parenting aside and stop trying to find Chris a mother figure, and accept that they’re a fine (wonderful, even) family unit as they are.

BUMMY / BT

Ooooohhh lord let’s get into it then.

It’s no secret that I hate this relationship. I do NOT hate it because I am a Buddie shipper, or because I’m homophobic (the fact that I have to clarify this is stupid, but the anon hate in my inbox means it’s necessary). When BiBuck became canon, I was OVERJOYED! I was excited to see Buck exploring his identity and enjoying a relationship with a new partner (I did want him to be single for a while originally, but it wasn’t a big deal, the Natalia relationship was barely a relationship anyways).

I initially had a bit of an ick from the way Tk kissed Buck to ~shut him up~ but I’m a bit of a hypocrite here because I don’t entirely hate this trope usually, but only when it’s between two well established characters who know each other well. At this point, Tk is still new to Buck so it did bother me a little. But, we move.

Then… the first date. I fucking hated this date, Tk almost outed Buck and then left him on the pavement like an a class ASS. I lost all interest in this relationship at this exact moment.

In this episode, on this date, we see Buck opening up about his relationship with Bobby as a father figure (WIN!! Let’s appreciate our small victories!!). Tk then gives us “but your fathers alive” which ?? What’s your point?? Why aren’t you comforting your partner right now?

And shared his own experience with having a shitty dad. We then get the daddy issues joke.

To detour for a moment; we all remember when Buck went to therapy and opened up about his sex addiction, right? How he was being vulnerable about his trauma/mental health, to the point that he was in actual tears… and then his therapist came onto him and slept with him. The show brushes this under the rug and even later makes a joke about it. We’ve all expressed our distaste for this in the past and rightly so. Aside from how morally wrong it was, it was also incredibly distasteful in a very real way.

We’re given a very close repeat of this situation in the finale. Tommy sexualising Bucks trauma is not only unfair on bucks character, but also a shitty slap in the face to real people in the real world too. How many times have we been sexualised for having “daddy issues”? The answer is a lot. This scene was Downright Offensive.

It’s so disappointing because in some ways this show is so progressive, and has handled some sensitive topics in such a great way in the past. But it’s really fumbled the bag with this one.

A large and hopeful part of me thinks all these tense/awkward/unhappy/unsatisfying BT scenes are a setup for BT bones in S8. If they wanted us to like Tk and be invested in this relationship, SURELY they’d make him more likeable & more supportive of Buck?

The awfulness of his character and the stilted scenes between him and Buck do feel intentional. And I reaaallly hope this is the case.

S8 - preferably, BT Bones off screen before the season even begins, Natalia style.

More likely, BT bones within 8a, due to Gerard’s return and the tension this will cause between him and Tk.

Most likely, BT bones by the end of 8b. I truly truly truly, with all my heart and head and hands, do not believe BT is surviving to season 9.

BUCK

just wanted to put in a little paragraph here about Buck specially, piggybacking off of what I’ve said about his trauma being sexualised etc.

They have consistently missed opportunities to flesh out Bucks trauma, and he has MANY to choose from. If they continue to ignore this aspect of Buck, it will be a great disservice to his character. I know we all joke about wanting Buck to go through more shit situations for the angst, and how we want him to have a big breakdown at some point but honestly - it really is overdue. I don’t just want him to suffer for funsies, I want his character to make sense, I want him to continue to be massively relatable, I want him to address his trauma and work through it and move on etc. etc. etc.

Here’s hoping we get the single Eddie and Buck arcs in S8/maybe 9 and both of them get therapy, properly.

RAVI

My boooyyy!!! The framing of that last shot, I do reckon Ravi will main soon. They didn’t drop his insane childhood lore, and built on him as a character (while Chim was at the academy with him) for no reason.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing him get a lot more screentime in S8. It’s what the people want!!!!!!

GERRARD

Why did they act like this was such a major twist?? Like why else would they have shown him last episode..

I don’t really understand how he can have been made captain of the same firehouse he was removed from for bullying a crew that is literally still there.. but for the plot I guess we’ll go with it!

I look forward to him finally getting his comeuppance in season 8, but the asshole he’s going to be to everyone sounds less fun.

Let’s look at what we might have in store, hm?

-Racist to Chim, Hen and now probably Ravi too.

-Homophobic to Buck.

-If Bobby is around, no doubt he’ll be demeaning to him.

-And, i fear, if he somehow knows about Eddies current situation, will he make snide remarks about him as a father? Idk, I wouldn’t put anything past the bastard.

I’d really like to see the team take a stand against him though, I know he’s their captain for now and they will, to an extent, respect him (or at least do as he says). But it would be nice to see some firefam crew solidarity the face of his bigotry and bullying. It won’t be realistic if any of them just stand by and listen/watch while he makes shitty racism/homophobic jokes to their family.

Going to be a fun (🫠) few episodes!

FINAL THOUGHTS

As an episode, this wasn’t horrendous, but certainly not great. As a finale, it was terrible. Underwhelming sums it up, disappointing emphasises it nicely.

I look forward to getting back to a full length season that has hopefully will be written a little more in advance than this one was. Let’s be optimistic, or this hiatus won’t be too enjoyable.

Can’t wait to spend the next few months binging Buddie fics and reading all your theories!! And don’t forget we get S8 BTS pics in just a few weeks 😭🫶🏻

Feel free to send me any asks if there’s something I’ve forgotten to mention that you’d like my thoughts on - or if you have any theories etc. I love to get asks from your guys 💛

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

For your newest make me write. Im in a huge complete supernatural/fantasy like AU mood here recently so my requests are going to be towards that this week. Also both of them are supposed to be 15 emojis apiece so can we pretend they are if they are not? (Kinda sorry about all the zombies…but feel free to sub everything to vampires or another WIP if you want)

🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟(Im so ready for the Maddie/Buck reunion and ensuing shenanigans. I think by the time you get to to this that the new chapter *may* be out that goes over that. But im also enjoying other aspects of the story as well. I very rarely read bathena start fics so their relationship developing is exciting for me to see as well).

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 🩸(Spoilery for those not caught up BUT OMG BUCK WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! I was not ready for that!)

Woohoo 90 total sentences for monster fics!

45 for 🧟 (THANK YOU!!!):

---

 “Just… Be careful.”

Chim thinks he probably should listen to her. But he also knows he likely won’t. 

▪️▪️▪️

If anything, Chim gets worse. And that might be problematic if his feelings were one-sided, but after dinner, it becomes more or less obvious that they are not.

They do dishes together. A chore Chim usually finds tiresome, but now is somehow fun. Christopher and Denny have already begged Maddie, Hen, and Karen to have a sleepover together. Something Chim finds somewhat redundant, seeing as every day forever is a sleepover here. But Chris wants to sleep in Denny’s room. 

“Please,” Karen had insisted when Maddie had asked if they were sure it was okay. “He finally gets to have friends his own age. Chris can have as many sleepovers as he wants.”

So Maddie is off kid duty tonight. 

“Other than movie night,” she asks as they’re finishing up with dishes. “What is there to do around here in the evenings?”

“You got something against movie night?” Chim teases.

“No!” Maddie insists. “Just exploring my options.”

“Well, there are games,” Chim says. But then he has another thought. “Or the roof.”

“The roof?” Maddie asks. 

“Yeah. We’ve got chairs up there. We can steal your brother’s stereo. It’s great for looking at the stars. Now that the light pollution is gone.” 

Chim wonders if this is too weird. Too forward. Too intimate. Too much like a date, if the world was normal enough to afford dates. Actually, scratch that. He knows Hen has set up a date for Karen up there, under the stars. On their wedding anniversary. God, what is he doing?

“That sounds really nice,” Maddie says. “Would you… Would you want to do that with me?”

God, obviously.

“I’d like that, yeah.”

---

45 for 🩸 (Buck's gonna Buck!)

---

“Neither am I,” Eddie says. “Okay?”

Buck nods, still a little weepy. 

“Okay.”

💧💧💧

As tired as he is, Buck can’t really sleep for very long periods. A wound to his front and a wound to his back means nothing is comfortable. Eddie helps set him up on an assortment of pillows to prop him in just the right position, but it’s still a more or less futile effort. He manages to get a little bit of rest when his pain medication sets in, but otherwise, he’s awake and uncomfortable. 

Brought down to reality by his conversation, Buck really gets a chance to think through what he’d nearly done. Not the killing part - which he’d been more focused on before - but the dying part. And the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks about just how right Eddie was. He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want their life together to be over just as it finally started.

He really let that compulsive need to fix everything almost get him killed. Maddie was right. He needs to deal with this properly. This pit of dread that lives in his chest that says he is going to lose everything horribly. That says life will never be safe again. He needs to address that head on, and not by trying to be one step ahead of every possible danger. He needs to go back to therapy. He will, he decides. The minute he’s physically up to it.

“I’m sorry,” Buck says again, later that night, when everyone is sleeping and Buck is laying awake beside Eddie. He knows he’s probably going to be saying it for a long time. 

Eddie blinks awake. “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry,” Buck repeats. 

“For waking me up?” 

“No, for everything.”

Eddie sighs. “I forgive you. I’ve already forgiven you.”

“But I’m still sorry.” 

“Buck,” Eddie complains. “Don’t do this. This doesn’t help. Believe me, I know.”

“I’m going to go to therapy,” Buck says. 

“That’s a good idea,” Eddie says. “We could both use therapy. Do you think there are vampire therapists?”

“If there’s not, there should be,” Buck replies. “They’d have the corner on the market right now.”

“Exactly,” Eddie says. “And surely some shrink out there got bit?”

[buddieisgoingcanon25]

I’m sick and tired of hearing “buddie is never going to happen” because buck is with tmmy. Like I’m sorry. It pisses me off so much because for those who have watch since s1, we have wanted queer buck for SO LONG and we always were told “you guys are delusional” or “it’s never gonna happen” by the GP AND the SR”. IN IN INTERVIEWS canonically, at the time, THEY ALL talked about buck as STRAIGHT. 9-1-1 s1 came out in 2018 and here we are in 2024. It took them 6 years to make bi buck. As a buddie and someone who viewed these characters as queer coded, i always knew on FOX, it wasn’t going to happen. But now on ABC they made bi buck in ONE EPISODE. ONE!! Of course you are going to see posts about BuckTommy because people they are a couple who touch and kiss. We are to believe in a heteronormative society, that’s what shows you aS bi/queer/gay/etc. what we do know, in the show, the buck and Eddie/Christopher dynamic is the most different from everyone else in the show. Buck and Eddie both have been queer coded from the beginning of the show and NOW we are being policed as to what we are allowed to think? If anything, those same individuals who are policing your thoughts about gay/queer Eddie, they better have been shocked/angry/confused about bi buck if they “NEVER” viewed buck as a queer coded character. They scream “endgame” but yet has less screen time than Natalia. Ali had less but even her character we knew them AS A COUPLE. how are you screaming “endgame” but never did with Ali, Taylor, or Natalia or when buck said “i think she sees me”. Did they forget the way Oliver spoke about Natalia and bucks relationship after the finale? That’s what gets me??? While everyone (myself included) was happy we got bi buck and (yes even Tommy), but that was BEFORE i remembered who he was as a character. You need to ask, Are people excited because Buck is bi and dating/kissing tommy or simply because he’s a bisexual character who happens to be DATING A MAN. I’ve seen more of those people who ship BuckTommy, defend Tommy previous actions but then blame buck for his and don’t LOOK INTO the relationship for what it is. Becuase if they did, if Tommy was a FEMALE LI, her character would be getting ripped to shreds. Not dressing up. The disgusting comments. Not caring for buck. I can go on lol.

but if he was simply the “fun uncle” why did they make buck be the one to tell Christopher what happened to his dad? Why make Chris call buck when his dad was breaking down. Why did Chris leave to buck on the chances of his dad dating again. Why does the show continue to have buck be involved in HUGE moments in Chris’s life. Why involve buck in 7x10. Why CONTINUE to have him be there with the Diaz family? When Christopher left. Why? Why? Why? Why have the show allude to “good cop bad cop” and BOTH answering no. Why, “he takes Christopher there all the time” (the zoo). Why does buck essentially have be there, for Chris, after his dad is in the hospital ? Carla was already there and yet he’s there? Eddie has the breakdown? Buck takes him to school. Buck helping Chris with his school projects/homework? Buck Diaz having multiple dinners together? That’s the fun uncle? Where is all this with bucks own niece? Last but not least, they LOVE to use “Buck is a scapegoat” in 7x10 but Eddie himself says to Buck “I-I don't need you to explain it to him, I just...I need you to check in on him. I'm worried. He won't come out”. There he is never one asking anything of buck but to simply see how Chris is doing after everything. NEVER does he try to sway Chris’s opinions or trick him or anything of the sort. It reminds me of the talk Chris and buck had in earlier seasons of where Chris ran to buck. And buck and Chris simply had a heartfelt talk. Where is dynamic between chimney and Denny? They had 1 SCENE throughout the whole 7 seasons. Chim and hen have been friends LONGER. Where there the dinners scenes. Where are the school projects?

This season unfournately had 10 episodes. They did bi buck in 1 episode. BuckTommy had 3 dates (failed pizza date), second coffee date (where Buck gets Tommy order wrong and invites him to the wedding literally days after coming out?(SPEEDING RUNNING THE RELATIONSHIP) and then the dinner scene. 2 kisses. That’s it. Nothing special in comparison to his previous relationships. I’m sorry. This season in terms of Eddie, he also SPED RUN (or attempted) to with M. He moved her in quicker than when he was dating Ana. And yet, when he saw all her boxes, when does he do? Asks her to move out”. But why? It shows he’s more interested in her than Ana right? What gets me, is, in both relationship, specially Ana, they were lovely. I liked them together. What stopped them from being married. If Eddie ONLY wants a mother role for Christopher, there was his oppporotuinity. But just like Shannon told Eddie “i don’t need a provider, i need a husband”. If Eddie and Ana, were to get married, he would need to be IN LOVE WITH HER. Not only become a “step mom” to Chris. Eddie admitting he has catholic guilt. This season, AGAIN, was a continuation of Eddie doing for Christopher. He wants Christopher to have a “mother role”. Going into s8, this will be the first time, he has no girlfriend and NO CHRISTOPER. When was the last time this? Oh i didn’t know? Maybe before HE MET SHANNON!! Eddie had to grow up at the age of 10. He had to be “the man of the house”. He wasn’t allowed to be like his friends. Why he allowed to cry, was he allowed to express any emotions? This was at the age of 10. I can see this season Eddie going back to his childhood and having the opportunity to understand who is he WITHOUT his son and a partner.

I desperately hope we get an Eddie Begins Again episode this season… like you said. It would do him a lot of good to see what went wrong before he knew Shannon and had Chris. It would also make for some amazing Buddie moments interspersed with young Eddie moments.

[inkinmyheartandonthepage]

Market Day

Welcome to day four of flufftober with the prompt Market Day! You can read it here on Ao3

It’s a warm Sunday L.A morning as Eddie jumps out of his truck. He slides his sunglasses on, taking in a deep morning breath. He exhales, shutting his door and moved to the passenger side. He opened the door to find Chris wiggling eagerly in his seat, already a bundle of energy so early in the morning.

“Come on, dad!” Chris chirped, attempting to slide from his seat.

“Alright, alright,” Eddie chuckled. He grabbed Chris, lifting him out and setting him on the ground. He made sure Chris was steady before leaning further into truck to grab Chris’s crutches. He handed them to his son before he shut the door and locked the truck with a click of a button.

The carpark (which is really just a squared off patch of grass that had been flattened by tire treads and footprints) is already filled with cars, some more familiar than others. Eddie swallowed down his nerves as he saw Hen with Karen and Denny standing by their car talking to Chimney. A few spaces away, Bobby and Athena are making their way over with May and Harry trailing ahead of them.

“Come on, bud,” Eddie said, putting a hand on Chris back to guide him forward. “Let’s go say hi to the others.”

The ground is a little uneven, but Chris has become quite adapt at moving over it. The Diaz boys had become regulars at the farmers market when they had discovered it a couple of months ago. When their newest probie Ravi Panikkar had asked what everyone was doing on their forty-eight hours off, Eddie had mentioned taking Chris to the market. That had caught Bobby’s curiosity and with several follow up questions, everyone had decided that they would like to check it out to and so the 118 A shift had decided to meet up.

“Diaz’s!” Hen greeted cheerfully when they reached them. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Eddie replied, smiling at his friends.

“Hi!” Chris chirped, giving everyone a toothy smile.

“Eddie,” Bobby greeted, giving Eddie a soft smile. “Since you and Chris are the experts here, where do we begin?”

“Is there anywhere that does coffee?” Karen asked, looking hopeful. “We were all out this morning.”

“I wouldn’t say no to some tea,” May added.

“Yeah, there is a great little stall that does both,” Eddie nodded. “Chris, do you want to show us the way?”

“Yeah!” Chris beamed. “Follow me.”

Chris set down the familiar path towards the stall, Harry and Denny falling into step beside him. The three of them immediately started chatting about some game the three of them were playing on their switch’s and Eddie smiled fondly after them. Moving to L.A and joining the 118 had been the best decision that Eddie had ever made.

The market was already streaming with people and Eddie knew from experience that it would only get busier as the morning went on. Eddie had suggested the early morning start so that it wouldn’t be too crowded for the kids and was relieved when everyone agreed.

The coffee stall was one of the first ones near the entrance. There were a few people milling about, waiting for their coffee but they wouldn’t have to wait long. The scent of fresh pastries by the neighbouring stall reached them and Eddie’s stomach gave a rumble.

“I can see why you bring Chris here,” Bobby said, falling into step with Eddie. He was looking around the market with an appreciative eye. “It’s peaceful.”

Eddie agreed. It was peaceful and it was something that Eddie enjoyed sharing with his son. “Wait until you taste the food, Cap,” Eddie chuckled. “You’re going to love it.”

Bobby beamed. “I can’t wait.”

“Oh wow, that smells good,” Hen hummed, giving the air an appreciative sniff.

“I’ll get the coffee; you get us a pastry?” Karen suggested to her wife.

“You got it,” Hen agreed.

“Mr. Eddie! Mr. Eddie! Chris! Hi!”

Eddie’s smile only grew as a small figure jumped up and down with giddy excitement as they approached the stall. His heart flopped in his chest as Chris sped up, lifting his crutches to embrace the young girl who had called out to them.

Paige Buckley looked utterly adorable today, dressed in a bee-keeper outfit. Her hat was knocked off as she hugged Chris tightly, not a care in the world. When they two released one another, Paige shot her wide smile at Eddie, his heart melting further. Her blue eyes sparkled in the morning sun; her blonde curls pulled back into pigtails. A splotch of pink dotted her eyebrow, only adding to her character.

Eddie was aware that the 118 was staring at him but he ignored them in favour of scooping Paige into a hug when she launched herself at Eddie. The six-year-old giggled as Eddie caught her and gave her hug.

“Hey, Paige,” Eddie said, gently setting her back on the ground. He grinned as she jumped up and down.

“You made it!” Paige beamed.

“We did,” Eddie agreed. “What are you doing over here?”

“Daddy sent me to get us a hot chocolate,” Paige said, puffing her chest out proudly at the important task she had been given. “And a cookie!”

“Dad, can I have a hot chocolate too?” Chris asked, turning his pleading eyes up at Eddie.

“Of course,” Eddie smiled.

“And a cookie?” Chris added hopefully.

Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, okay. And a cookie too.”

“Coming up,” the girl behind the coffee machine – Adelaide, Eddie had come to know her – said, her smile bright and fond. “You want your usual too, Mr. Eddie?” Her grin turned mischievous.

“Yes, please,” Eddie said. His cheeks flushed hot when he heard Chimney mutter ‘Mr. Eddie’ under his breath. Pulling out his wallet, Eddie handed over the money and added a little to the tip jar that was on the table. He stepped back, allowing Karen to step up to place her order.

Eddie picked up Paige’s hat (and the netting looked and felt real making Eddie believe that she probably had been with the bees this morning) where she had forgotten all about it in Chris’s presence. He joined Hen as the pastry stall next door, and when it was his turn, purchased two cookies.

“Chris has a friend here,” Hen said, nodding to where Chris was introducing Paige to Harry and Denny. Paige greeted them joyfully from Chris’s side, not hint of hesitance on her face.

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed, unable to keep the fondness out of his tone. “They met the first day we came here. She marched right up to Chris and declared them friends. We now meet up every Sunday. My Abuela or Carla will bring Chris if I’m working.”

“That’s nice,” Hen said. “And her parents?”

Eddie felt his cheeks flush warmer, and he was glad he was wearing sunglasses. “Uh, her dad owns a stall here. He’s a beekeeper and sells his honey here.”

Hen grinned. “Hence her little beekeeper outfit. It’s adorable.”

“Yeah, she’s really cute,” Eddie agreed. “Her and Chris get a long really well.”

Before Hen could press him for any more details (and her smile was beginning to look a little too knowing for Eddie’s liking), Adelaide was calling out that their drinks were ready.

“Mr. Eddie,” Paige said, looking up at Eddie with big eyes. “Will you help me carry them?”

“Of course, sweet-bee,” Eddie said, the term of endearment slipping out easily.

Adelaide had already anticipated this and had put all their drinks in one carboard tray for him. He flashed her a thankful smile and took the tray, turning back to the group.

“Come on, dad! I want to say hi to Buck,” Chris said, already making a move in the direction of Buck’s stall.

“You guys want to check out the honey stall?” Eddie asked, turning to the group.

“Lead the way,” Bobby said, giving a nod.

Eddie fell into step with Paige and Chris, trying to ignore the way he could feel the eyes of his friends on his back. Paige kept up a steady stream of chatter on the way, telling Eddie all about her week and what she had learned in school.

When they reached the honey stall where a hand painted wooden sign that read Buckley’s Bee’s Eddie felt his breath lock in his chest at the familiar sight.

Evan “Buck” Buckley was also the reason that Eddie kept coming back to the market every Sunday that he could. Like his daughter, Buck was blue-eyed, blonde curled and had the same adorable splotch of red above his eyebrow. He was taller than Eddie and built. The first time Eddie had seen him, he had nearly choked on his tongue. Ever since, Eddie was in constant fear of saying something embarrassing like I love you. Because not only was Buck a single father like him to the most sweet and amazing little girl, but Buck was also kind and generous. He was the one who had introduced him to Carla and helped Chris get everything he needed. He had fast become one of Eddie’s best friends and it was only natural that Eddie had developed a deep and all-consuming crush on the man.

“Buck!” Chris cried out the same tame that Paige yelled “Dad!”

“Superman!” Buck cheered, his bright smile only growing as he saw them. “Sweet-bee! You’re back! And you brought me my favourite Diaz’s!” Buck had moved closer to Eddie as he greeted everybody and suddenly that blinding smile was directed at him. “Hey, Ed’s.”

“Hey Buck,” Eddie couldn’t help but grin back. “Saw your beekeeper at the coffee stall.” He heled up the tray. “Hot chocolate, sir?”

Buck laughed. “Thanks, Eddie.” He took two of the cups, handing one to Paige. He stood back up and he cleared his throat. “Uh, who are your friends?”

Eddie’s cheeks flushed hot once more. He had forgotten his friends were with him. “Oh. Uh, Buck, meet my team, the 118. Guys this is Evan Buckley. Buck.”

Buck face lit up. “Oh hey! Nice to meet you all.”

There was a series of ‘you too,’ from his friends as they all drifted closer. Buck tent was large, and he had tables lining the tent and a wooden barrel in the middle that held a fake beehive and little cases of make you own Bee hotels all around it.

“You make your own honey?” Bobby asked, picking up a jar as he examined it.

“I do,” Buck said, perking up. “I have my own hives that I harvest at home in my backyard. I built my own little greenhouse for them, so I don’t disturb the neighbours.”

“Wait, is this the honey you used in that tea?” Chimney asked, looking at Eddie. “For when I had that sore throat?”

Eddie nodded and Chimney’s eyes widened.

“Wow! That was better than any cough lozengier that I’ve ever used,” Chimney said. “Which honey was that?”

Buck preened under the compliment and quickly grabbed one of his jars and held it out to Chimney. “This one. It’s great to use when you’re sick.” And he launched into the health benefits of the honey and how he had harvested it.

Eddie could only watch, helplessly, as Buck spoke. He was incredible to watched, the way his face lit up and his hands moved around as he spoke. Buck was beautiful and he shone when he talked about what he was passionate about.

“I’m guess his honey isn’t the only thing you are sweet on,” Athena mused as she drifted to Eddie’s side, giving him a knowing smirk.

Eddie coughed, ducking his head.

Athena squeezed his arm. “You should go for it.”

Eddie started to shake his head, but Athena squeezed his arm tighter.

“You know as well as any of us that life can be fleeting. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by,” Athena said softly. “And from what I’ve seen, the Buckley’s are just as enamoured with you.”

Athena’s words lit a swarm inside Eddie’s stomach. His heart fluttered as he looked at Chris and Paige, both huddled over the bee hotels, Paige speaking rapidly too Chris, her little curls bouncing as she moved. When he looked to Buck, he found the man already staring at him, a soft smile one his face.

Athena squeezed Eddie’s arm one last time before she drifted over to Bobby. “How many jars do you plan on buying?”

Their words faded out as Buck approached, his smile growing bashful.

“Thanks,” Buck said. “For, uh, bringing your friends.”

“No big deal,” Eddie said. “They’re probably going to buy you out. Sorry.”

Buck laughed. “You can bring them any time then.”

Eddie beamed at the sound.

“Dad! Can we get a bee hotel?” Chris asked, coming up to Eddie’s side. Paige was beside him, holding up the tin.

“Please Mr. Eddie!” Paige begged.

“We can get one,” Eddie said. The bee hotels were a new addition to Buck’s stall. They hadn’t been there the last time Eddie had brought Chris. He reached for his wallet, but Buck put a hand on his wrist to stop him. Eddie looked at him, swallowing thickly.

“Our gift,” Buck said softly. His cheeks went pink, and his smile went shy. “Uh, if…if you like, Paige has one in our greenhouse. You and Chris, uh, you could come over and build it. Put it next to Paige’s?”

Chris and Paige both gasped.

“Please!” Chris begged Eddie. “Can we dad? Please.”

“Please Mr. Eddie!”

Eddie looked at Buck, taking in the hopeful, nervous expression. Something loosened in his chest and all the fear he had been holding melted away. “Yeah. We’d love too.”

Paige and Chris cheered, and Buck’s smile grew with relief.

“We could bring dinner,” Eddie suggested, nerves fluttering under his skin.

“We’d like that,” Buck beamed. “I finish up here around three-thirty. You could come over around four? Would that work?”

“That would be perfect,” Eddie said. “It’s a date.”

Buck preened. “It’s a date.”

There was a cough and Eddie suddenly realised how close he and Buck were standing. Buck made no move to step away from Eddie, their shoulder’s brushing as he moved to stand beside him.

Everyone was looking thoroughly amused, and Eddie knew that his next shift would be full of teasing. He couldn’t wait.

“We’re going to keep looking around,” Karen said, holding Hen’s hand. “We’ll meet you back here later?”

Eddie nodded.

“There’s a great sandwich stall here,” Buck said. “We could all have lunch, if you’d like?” He shot Eddie a questioning look, nerves hidden in those blue eyes of his.

Feeling bold, Eddie took Buck’s hand, linking their fingers together and squeezed gently. “I’m happy for that.”

“Then it’s a plan,” Hen said, and Chimney wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Eddie resisted the urge to flip them off. 

“Daddy, can we go to the face painter?” Paige asked appearing at Buck’s side, tugging on his hand. “Please!”

“We can take them,” Bobby offered. “If you are okay with that.”

“Thanks,” Eddie said. He looked to his son “Chris, you want to get your face painted too?”

“Yeah! Come on, Chris!” Paige pleaded, letting go of Buck to jump up and down beside Chris.

“Okay,” Chris said, flashing Paige a smile.

Eddie promised to thank Bobby later as he led Chris and Paige away with the others (not before the captain setting aside the jars of honey and honeycomb that he wanted to purchase later), leaving Eddie and Buck alone.

“You’re really close with your team,” Buck commented, giving Eddie’s hand a light squeeze.

“You will be too,” Eddie promised, feeling hot all over at the admission.

Buck beamed and he leaned in, giving Eddie enough time to move away if he needed, before capturing his lips in a sweet kiss. He tasted like honey and Eddie just wanted to devour him. But Buck pulled away before he could, and his smile was like pure sunshine.

“I look forward to it,” Buck said.

Yeah, Eddie looked forward to it too.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie, ready with the gin to endure whatever nonsense Eddie's plot is devolving into this week. God I hope the focus on Henren or Bathena so I can walk away with some sense of satisfaction. I'm not even going to attempt to say something good might come out if it, since history isn't on our side this season wrt Eddie. Tim needs to lay off his Hitchcock obsession, he did Psycho on LS last season, is doing Vertigo now, and both plots were utter nonsense. At least I got a good laugh today looking at the stills from the Oliver and Lou interview. Somebody should have told Oliver to blink 3 times if he's there against his will, though the fact that he looks like he's actively leaning towards the nearest exit probably says it just as well.

Yeah, the sooner bucktommy ends the happier I'll be. The relationship itself is fine, on par with every other BS relationship Buck was in really, but the fandom around it is exhausting and the active attempts to erase any semblance of Eddie in Buck's life is just so, so dumb (and pointless, like Buck wouldn't be the same without Eddie in his life just as Eddie isn't the same without Buck). Anyway cheers friend, we're on the precipice of something that looks both exciting and annoying, let's hope the scales tip in our favor 🍷🍸🥃.

Well, as I'm sure you guessed by my late answer, I saw this and waved at you from post limit jail, due to the d20 finale last night. I wish Tumblr would have a pop up like, "hey, you have 5 posts left before you hit post limit today!" or something so I could prepare!

So, good news, the Bobby and Henren stuff was *chefs kiss* angsty and dramatic and pulled at my heartstrings! The Bobby montage as he's giving his Captain Dad advice and having Buck cook, and calling Hen "Mother Hen" (while looking at Buck and Eddie 👀👀👀), giving the prayer book to Eddie, giving tips to Ravi, calling out orders on scene, it was all so much! And GOD, them taking that poor little girl away, and Denny stepping between that man and his sister, I was in TEARS! The Bobby and Athena talk got me too, and then him seeing his dead dad?! Bobby is going THROUGH IT and I ate it up!

As for Eddie I- legitimately do not know what to say. The whole thing was a mess, Kim giving herself bangs?? to roleplay with a stranger?? was just SO WEIRD and off-putting. Sorry I guess I'm just a hater but I think Eddie getting stuck with actresses like GW and EG means that him having scenes with anyone else feels good? but I'm not falling all over myself about any magical chemistry 🤷🏻‍♀️I hate this storyline and I'm tired of the narrative that this was some great love Eddie is missing out on when season 2-3 gave us actual canon evidence that it isn't true, and it feels more like Tim wanted Devin back and thought he could get away with it now that the audience had some space and KR spent all last season pretending Shannon was some saint (when he killed Shannon off so quickly originally because he said the audience wasn't going to forgive her and he didn't want to waste screentime on that when grief tied in with anger and abandonment was a more interesting storyline for Eddie and Chris). I'm also VERY curious about where the "Eddie realizing he's been looking at the relationship with rose colored glasses and living in delusion about it" is because GIRL that wasn't it. Eddie crying about her being the great love of his life and how they could have had it all is NOT him taking off the rose colored glasses, no matter how pretty Ryan looks when he's crying.

ANYWAY. I was already not on board with this but the writers dragging Chris into it too just gives me the ick. And it might resolve fine, but GOD!! THE JOURNEY MATTERS!! It matters how the characters get places! And this is just...not just a mess but a completely unnecessary one. They could address Eddie's grief and delusions about his relationship with Shannon (and her relationship with Chris because don't think I didn't clock him bringing up her (shit ass guilt trip) letter but not that she abandoned her son and cut off all contact for years) without resorting to trashy soapy doppelganger nonsense and cheating drama. And it's WILD because Bobby's arc this season and his relationship with Athena, and Henren's storyline have been SO GOOD, and even though there were some pacing and tone issues, even the Madney stuff has been good (and Kenny always slays the dramatic arcs!). Buck has taken a mostly supportive backseat this season which, while I ADORE him, was needed after the mess KR made of his character and her apparent lack of interest in the majority of the other main characters and his personal storyline (the bi realization, being Eddie's partner for all the big emotional talks) is also fine, it just got hijacked by some absolutely bizarre shipping strangeness over a couple minutes of screentime. But GOD Eddie's shit has been such a weird mess! It wasn't enough to be stuck with the transphobe all season, we also had to add in this nonsense?! Thanks, I hate it. At least we might finally be allowed to let Shannon go?? I am literally begging at this point.

As for th b/t of it all, I have literally blocked it from my mind and out of my existence (the ONE perk of my tumblr app still not working and having to do most of my stuff in my phone browser means I haven't really seen my dash lately and I've been smart about staying out of the tag for once) because it's just not worth the headache the bad takes give me. I'm just...so tired. I was willing to watch it play out (felt very much like Ali as the first step post-Abby, something background setting up for more later *cries in s4 Buddie canon*) but go at this point I just need it to be over for EVERYONE'S sanity. Especially Oliver's because like, girl. Why do you look like you're trapped in that loft with MW again?! Why so haunted? Girl, are you okay?? Oliver?? And how he continues to just post Buddie/Ryan stuff?? Loud.

I'm just...tired. So tired. And I need a drink. Imma go find some absolutely filthy/funny/fun Buddie fic and drown myself in that because I have the unfortunate feeling it's gonna be a LONG fucking hiatus.

Cheers friend. I know I always say if we can survive RNM (with it's own doppelganger storyline) then we can survive anything but GOD it would be nice to not have it be so hard.

[philistiniphagottini]

Hiii I heard you're looking for requests. Can I request a One-Shot of Dennis and Fem! Reader going furniture shopping because they moved in together, please?

On my hands and knees anon, thanking you for allowing me to write more Dennis content. Thank you, this was a cute idea I had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you enjoy~

cw. fluff, female reader, chubby reader

A soft sigh breezed past your parted lips as your eyes slipped down to the piece of paper you held in your hand. You idly tapped your pen against the list as you read it, each line more daunting than the next. You swallowed thickly, shoving the end of the pen between the seam of your lips and chewing on it as you read each word printed in bleeding ink over and over again until it felt like your head was going to start spinning. You stared in mild disbelief until your vision blurred. 

You hadn’t anticipated that when you moved in with your boyfriend, you still needed so many things to furnish your humble little apartment. Wardrobes, coffee tables, chairs, cabinets, a washing machine, a dryer if you were being generous and you didn’t want to even get started on the kitchen. Just how many damn utensils did you need? You shoved the end of the pen further into your mouth until you could swear you could taste traces of ink as you gnawed on the cheap plastic. You were about to have a mental breakdown in the middle of a furniture store and it wasn’t even lunch time yet. You quietly sulked. At least it looked like Dennis was having much more fun than you. 

A bright and beaming smile lit up his face as his eyes shone with wonder. His hand curled around your wrist as he started dragging you in some random direction around the store, brimming with excitement as he found yet another thing to fawn over. 

“Hey, hey, look at that lamp” Dennis exclaimed with excitement, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he dragged you towards the lighting section. “Won’t that look really nice in the living room?”

An exasperated sigh fell from your mouth as your eyes followed the direction his finger pointed. He let go of your hand as he approached the tall lamp that had caught his interest, waltzing around it as he inspected it from every angle. He looked back at you expectantly, vibrating in anticipation as he awaited your approval. You sighed again, a heavy puff of air expelled from your lungs. 

“Dennis, honey, we still haven’t decided what couch we’re getting first” you replied, voice reflecting how utterly tired and dead inside you were. “We haven’t even checked off half this list yet.”

Dennis nodded along to your words, fingers tapping against his chin in thought as he pondered. “Ahh, I see. We can put a pin in it and come back!”

You honestly didn’t know where he kept getting all this boundless energy from as he trotted back over to you, took your hand in his and started dragging you off towards your next destination. You begrudgingly followed after him, your feet aching after hours of browsing various shops to gather everything you needed. You still lamented that you had been woefully prepared for moving in together with Dennis.

“Can you slow down a bit?” you grumbled. 

You almost tripped over your own feet as Dennis suddenly tugged you forward, spinning around so he could catch you in his waiting arms. A small grunt rumbled in your chest as you collided with him, his arms securely wrapped around your plump waist as he held you firm. A flush of warmth dusted your cheeks as you peeked up at him beneath long lashes, only to be greeted by his charming smile and dazzling gaze. 

“What’s wrong? You’ve been grumpy all morning” Dennis mentioned. “What’s got you down, sugarplum?”

Your face burned until the tips of your ears felt hot. He was laying it on so cloyingly sweet that your brain malfunctioned for a few, brief seconds. Embarrassment curled in the pit of your stomach as your nervous gaze flitted about, briefly terrified that you had caught the gaze of some unfortunate bystanders. PDA came naturally to Dennis, his showman and street performer side shining with confidence as he hugged you in the middle of the furniture showroom. God you really hoped the staff didn’t kick you out for this. You gently tried to pry yourself from his grip, the pen that had been trapped between your lips becoming unstuck as you jabbed the pointy end against his chest. 

“Let me go” you mumbled, half heartedly trying to twist out of his grip. 

Dennis hummed as he entertained the idea before he shook his head, his arms tight around your plump figure. “Nope. Not until I see that award winning smile. Come on, smile.”

“Don’t wanna” you bit back.  

“What?” Dennis whined. “Not even for little ol’ me?”

You couldn’t help the smile that tugged on your lips at his theatrics. And it didn’t go unnoticed by Dennis as he pressed forward. His nose squished into the soft pudge of your cheek, his warm breath tickling your sensitive skin as he gave your chubby sides a firm squeeze. 

“I see you smiling~” Dennis cooed, fingers rubbing along your ribs until you snorted with laughter.

“Dennis, we’re in public” you complained.

“Don’t care~”

You rolled your eyes so hard they almost disappeared into the back of your head. But there was a smile plastered across your face and you couldn’t fight it no matter how hard you tried. You shook your head, long tresses of hair ruffled against your clothes as you poked Dennis in the chest with your pen. 

“How are you staying so positive with this nightmare?” you inquired. “Why are you so happy?”

“Why wouldn’t I be happy?” Dennis countered. “I get to move in with my best friend and the love of my life.” He squeezed your soft waist again as he started to spin you both in a circle, until your head felt pleasantly dizzy and his giddy mood started to rub off on you. “We get to pick furniture together and decorate the apartment how we want it together. So many firsts together!”

Dennis stopped spinning the both of you and a soft bout of giggles tickled the back of your throat. When you looked at it from his perspective, you started to realise why he had been buzzing all morning with excitement. It eased your nerves a little when you started to think more positively like Dennis was and your little list of tasks didn’t seem so daunting as they once did. You eagerly hugged Dennis back, happily reciprocating his affections despite still being in a public space. You didn’t care. They could cope and seethe at you pair of love sick birds. Dennis’ hug only got tighter when you completely relaxed in his warm embrace, a bright smile touching your lips as you stared up at him.

“There’s my favourite smile” he chimed. 

You giggled as he leaned down and kissed the tip of your nose. A hum stirred in the back of his throat as an idea suddenly sparked in his head. 

“I know, how about I treat you to lunch?” Dennis mused. “We’ll take a break, get you filled up and get right back to it.”

You started to nod along to his words. “I think I like that idea.”

“Great!”

He eagerly took your hands and spun in the direction of the cafeteria. “I spied a great spot earlier that we must check out. I’ll treat you to some crepes for dessert” he chimed and gave you a small wink.

[gorillalord]

I just had the stupidest idea for a fnaf au and I had to share. Fnaf au where Michael gets tired of his dad's shit so he drops off burntrap vanny and the chip with glitchtrap's code at a newly abandoned Dennys and locks the door, glitchtrap gets put in a staff bot boddy. The series follows afton afton and vanny in their new life at Dennys, "Michael don't leave me here! Their eggs are mediocre at best! Michael!!" Vanny sleeps in the atic and the 2 incarnation's of afton share a room in the cellar, imagine vanny waking up late at night to the smell of burning only to see burntrap leaning over a frying pan like "hey vanny I'm making pancakes want some?" And when she says no he's just like "more for me then" and sits down at a unlight Dennys table illuminated only by his eyes and eats pancakes that are somehow entirely unburnt despite actively being on fire "they're a bit spicy but I'm used to it" burntrap and vanny are dumbasses together glitchtrap is a weirdo and when it's vannessa instead of vanny she's the sane one of the group that everyone else bounces their insanity off of in all the jokes, Michael sends helpy on Mondays to restock the place. I KNOW this would be an amusing comic series and you can't convince me otherwise.

[normally-paranormal]

A slightly less tragic ending

-----

It was Sunday, January twenty-first, that I started to come back a little. My left leg was in a cast up in its old familiar position again amid all the pulleys and weights. There was someone sitting next to me, and it took me a moment to realize it was Arnie.

He looked like hell made-over. His lip was busted, his left eye was partially hidden underneath a deep, purpling bruise, and his skin had broken out into reddened, uneven patches of acne, brought about by stress or too many cokes or reliable old teenage hormones. To my eyes, it was the best he'd ever looked. There was a moment, as bleary-eyed and light-headed as I was, that I thought I had to be dreaming. And then he turned to look at me.

Seeing me awake must've shocked him. Arnie all but leapt out of his seat, his eyes wide and his hands hovering as if he didn't quite know what to do with them. He finally seemed to settle on trying to knock some of his hair out of his face, a gesture so familiar that it made my chest ache as he struggled to find something to say. "Dennis," he finally managed, his voice hoarse, still not quite the old Arnie, but there was enough of something earnest in it that I didn't hear LeBay, either. "Hey, man. ..It's been crazy, huh?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it, even if it made everything in my body squeeze and ache and burn. Arnie looked at me like he didn't quite know what to make of that. "Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. What happened to you?" I asked, squinting as I peered up at him. "You look like you're the one who got hit by a car."

There was a hesitation, and then a shy, nervous sort of smile came over his face. It lasted for only a second before he broke into a laugh, too- and, God, that alone made it all worth it. The doc could come and tell me that I'd never walk again, that my leg was going to be amputated at the hip this time tomorrow, that all I had ahead of me was another decade of painful physical therapy, and I wouldn't have done a thing different. It was a laugh that sounded like Arnie, the way I knew him. Call me sentimental, or a big fucking crybaby, or whatever brand of queer you want to, but I'd never heard a sound that was so much like waking up from a bad dream.

"I.. kinda did," Arnie answered. His smile fell away, but the life in his eyes was still there. That was all I could focus on. "It was.. LeBay. One minute, my mom and I were driving along, and the next, he was just... he was there. In the car with us."

"Wasn't inside you?" I said it, then grimaced. Arnie seemed to shrug off the awkward phrasing as well as anyone could.

"No." He let out a shaky breath, then shrugged. "Whatever you and Leigh did, Dennis, it was like he couldn't touch me anymore. Couldn't get in my head. He was trying to get ahold of the wheel, and he.. did. We had a head-on with a Chrysler."

"Jesus." I frowned at him, shifting against the pillows piled behind me. God, I was so tired of hospital beds I could puke. "How's Regina?"

"Recovering." He matched my frown. "I think."

There was a dip in his voice that made me worried. It'd been so long since I'd seen the real Arnie that I was suddenly terrified to realize that I couldn't quite tell the difference between a regular lowered pitch in his throat and LeBay's ugly growl pushing through. I couldn't read if Arnie had changed in some way or if it wasn't him at all. Arnie must've caught something in my face, because he shied away from me, and finally sat back down in the chair at my bedside. He reached up to swipe his hair out of his face again, the new, short haircut maybe not doing it for him. Arnie sighed. "I really screwed it all up, didn't I, Dennis? I mean, I.." His breath caught. "My mom thinks I've lost my fucking mind. She won't even look at me! Leigh- I- I don't even know what to say to her. And my dad.."

His voice cracked. I pushed out a soft breath. "Arnie.."

"That fucker!" He burst. Arnie's fists were clenched on top of his thighs, digging into the fabric of his jeans until his knuckles had gone white. "I don't know if he's gone, they didn't find shit at the wreck, but I swear to God, Dennis, I'm gonna pull him out of his fucking grave and make him fucking CHOKE! That son of a--"

"Arnie!" I barked, feeling like my heart was trying to seize in my chest. If LeBay wasn't gone--

I didn't get to finish the thought. Arnie choked, the tension bleeding from his body as he broke into a mortified sob, and forgive me, but that was just as much of a relief as his smile had been. He was angry. He had every right to be. But it was just that- just anger. Just something Arnie felt, deep and true, that belonged to him. I tried to breathe, and my voice was hoarse when I tried again. "Arnie, I- I'm so sorry, man. About your dad. I tried to.."

I'd tried to warn him. The sight of Michael Cunningham's body passed through my mind again and I had to repress a shudder. Scrubbing angrily at his good eye with one hand, Arnie shook his head. "It's not your fault. None of this is. I.." He dropped his hand, sighed again. When he looked at me, he looked scared. "..We're still friends, aren't we? After all of this?"

"Yeah, man. Yeah, of course we are." My mouth felt dry. And I'm not ashamed to admit it, I started crying then, too. I'd missed him like hell. Arnie nodded, looking relieved.

"Thank you, Dennis," he said, his voice quiet. He leaned over to give me a light punch in the shoulder. "You really saved my ass."

"Yeah, I'm a real Han Solo type," I told him. He smiled, faintly. I wondered when the hell I was going to get out of here so we could watch a game at home again. We hadn't talked about Leigh yet, but I was sure that was going to come, and even more so that it'd work itself out. I loved her, but she'd been Arnie's girl first, and Arnie and I had been claiming Libertyville as our own since long before she'd come around. Right then, I believed I'd be happy with just about any choice she made.

Arnie was alive. He was himself, if a little worse for wear. We also hadn't talked about Christine yet, but the last I'd seen of her, she'd been as good as gone. It struck me then that if LeBay had been with Arnie, if he'd caused that wreck, then he'd abandoned the Fury. He couldn't have been in both places at once. I didn't have it in me to feel any sympathy for her.

"Hey," I said after a quiet moment, smiling tiredly when Arnie met my gaze. I nodded down towards my leg. "Sign my cast for me?"