#joelnie

[youtubeimaginationstation]

It Was The 4th Of  July

Pairing: Burnie Burns/Joel Heyman Rating: G Word Count: 1659 Read it on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11536866

Burnie was known throughout the company as two things. One was the “Boss” despite not truly being the boss at Rooster Teeth in years. The second thing was being the “Party King”, a title that he proudly held and maintained. He loved people and he loved celebrating so naturally those two things came together at every holiday and opportunity he could take advantage of. These parties were always stocked fully with more beer and liquor than anyone could reasonably drink and tons of local food that he’d get catered. A recent favorite had been Tiny Pies because, c’mon like they’re tiny pies! The fourth of the July was coming up, which was a perfect opportunity for him to throw the mother of all backyard barbeques. He recruited the help of Gavin and Meg for decorating and generally drinking before the party even started that day. One because Meg had a much better eye for décor than he did, and two because Gavin was British and there was nothing funnier to him than a Brit taking part of the Fourth of July, the most American holiday in the world.

By the time the party was roughly slated to start, around 6 PM, Meg had strung up lights and red, white, and blue garland across the backyard. There were cups and plates that matched and a basket of small American flags, obnoxious foam hats, and those weird printed sunglasses with American Flags printed over the lenses for extra flare. They’d helped him set up a solid snack table and a refreshment bar inside. Also over the course of six hours, between the three of them, they’d almost gone through a 30 rack of Fat Tires. Needless to say Burnie was feeling a buzz and people were starting to arrive. He was going to wait a little while to fire up the grill, so he started by mingling by the snacks and chatting with whoever came in. From the get go he knew it was going to be a great party. No one in the company, well maybe aside from Gus, could say no to free food and free booze with fireworks at the end. Burnie never did the fireworks though; he always left that up to Matt and Gavin to handle. The two of them loved to set up wild fireworks displays for the party so he just let them handle it. Meant he could drink more without feeling nervous about accidentally blowing his hand off.

It seemed like the whole company was there about an hour and a half in, his house was teeming with employees all chatting and drinking away. At some point someone, he assumed Meg, had turned on music and a few people were dancing in between the groups. Alcohol truly was a funny thing. He decided around then was a good time to start cooking, so he fired up the grill and went inside to grab the burgers and hot dogs, an American classic. They also had pulled pork chilling in a crockpot that would be brought outside soon and another with bubbling queso. As he bee-lined to the fridge Joel stepped into his path. He had two beers in his hands and immediately handed one over to Burnie.

“You. Drink that now.” He demanded, and Burnie laughed but took a swig. It was a darker beer, much hoppier than he would have expected, but rolled with it and bumped Joel’s shoulder.

“Thanks, man.” Burnie said, continuing his trek to the fridge. Joel followed behind him, taking sips of his beer and looking at him expectantly. Burnie turned on his heel before he opened the door and found Joel very close to him. His cheeks flushed as he looked up at his tall friend. He’d known Joel for years, too many years, and still the man looked as good as when they met. He wasn’t really sure how Joel had escaped the passage of time, but he always admired it, if not always in a friendly way. Burnie liked to think that he too had gotten better with age, only because he took way better care of himself than he’d done in the past. He took another drink of his beer. “Do you need something?” He asked Joel, trying to bring his thoughts back to earth.

“Yeah, make sure to save me a seat for the fireworks.” He said, clinking his bottle against Burnies before sauntering back off into the party. Needless to say Burnie was definitely confused, but grabbed the meats out of the fridge and made his way back outside.

The evening went on without a hitch, he cooked and people ate and he kept drinking away. He did a few shots when he was finished at the grill, mostly because Gavin and Michael roped him into it. He had a few more beers, a random mixed drink that he thought Barbara gave him, and he swore he saw Gus with a bottle of Tito’s that he believe had been offered to him. Burnie thought he took a drink straight from him, but the night was getting away from him. The entire time he found himself searching the crowd for the tall man who’d cornered him earlier. It wasn’t unlike Joel to make that kind of a request, he’d want a good seat for the show, but how close he had gotten had sent Burnie’s heart racing and a few of the guests had noted that he seemed a little distracted.

Fireworks were to start at 11, and it was 10:45. People moved into the front yard, it was safer to shoot them off in the street with concrete, especially in the heat of Texas. Blankets were produced and everyone picked a spot on or around the lawn. After checking to make sure no one was left in the house Burnie wandered out as well. Joel had picked a seat closer to the house, and patted the blanket he was on when Burnie approached.

“I thought I was supposed to save you a seat.” Burnie commented, trying not to slur his words.

“You were too slow. Is this good?” He asked, and Burnie just nodded. Joel produced two more beers from what seemed like thin air to Burnie’s drunk mind and they opened them, the fizz buzzing through the night air in symphony with the cicadas and employee chatter. Gavin and Matt were pretty much done setting things up, and they lit up the first set with no warning. Their announcement was the whiz of the fireworks shooting off and the boom as they burst and showered down gold glitter in the sky. A few people hooted, others just cheered. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and Burnie relaxed, leaning against Joel. It was a lot more contact that he normally would have pushed with his old friend but it was hot and he’d been drinking since one in the afternoon and Joel felt nice. If the other had any problem with it he didn’t say, and the two stayed that way throughout the rest of the show.

The finale was brilliant, reds and blues and golds cascading across the sky like a  Technicolor dream. Burnie’s head was practically on Joel’s shoulder at this point, and as the last of the colors faded in the sky he was reluctant to get up. The party was by no means over, it was just one of the points where people could chose to stay and keep drinking and crash on his floor or head on home. Normally Joel was one to leave with this group, but when they got off the ground he stuck around. The remainder returned to the backyard, and the atmosphere chilled out a little more. Those who were drunk got drunker and now the snacks really came out to play. Tiny pies, queso, and all kinds of other treats were brought out from the kitchen and so did the bar as there were less people to accidentally knock it over now.

Burnie mingled but Joel was never far away. A few people had ended up around the firepit, despite it being too hot to be lit, and were talking among themselves. Burnie took a seat rather close next to Joel on a bench a little aways from the area.

“Are you having a good time?” Burnie asked and Joel smiled, it was a small mischievous smile that normally came out to play on nights like these.

“Absolutely, but y’know it could be better.” He replied, and Burnie’s heart dropped. What had he missed that could have made the party better? His mind was racing, but those thoughts were interrupted by Joel’s mouth. Now it wasn’t just his mouth, it was his lips. On his own lips. And damn if that wasn’t the best feeling in the world. Suddenly Burnie didn’t care about the party or the fact that about 20 of his employees were still just hanging out in his yard, all he cared about was the way Joel’s lips were moving against his. They turned enough to better the angle and languidly made out in the middle of this party. He tasted like dark beer and queso, and it was weirdly perfect. In the back of his mind Burnie was wondering how the hell he’d never done this before. It could have been seconds or minutes or hours that they kissed, he’d never really know or care, but when Joel pulled away it was just too short.

“Now it’s been the best time.” Joel said simply and Burnie rolled his eyes, going in for another one, not in the mood to listen to Joel’s banter but definitely in the mood to keep this going. He knew that night that Joel wouldn’t be calling an uber and he would not be sleeping on the couch. Nope, he had better plans, and for once he wanted the party to end.

[iceman-maverick]

gonna write a self-indulgent burnie panic attack at rtx fic because bruh me too tbh

[jackinthatpattillo-blog]

That Tiny Little Shop

badpunsandburnieburns asked:

how do you feel about joelnie/ burnoel (idk which one it is iT KEEPS CHANGING BURNIE/JOEL) omg and would you every write a lil one shot for them?

A/N: I'll be honest I don't really know how this evolved from one shot to coffee shop au to...Well..Whatever the fuck it is now.

"You mean the little shop that you're sitting in with the coffee that you buy from it every single morning?" Burnie rebutted, smiling to himself. Joel was one of the regulars at his coffee shop, though he wasn't sure why the man kept coming. It was clear he liked the coffee from across the street more. Let alone that all he ever did was talk about how they should invest in this company, or invest in this stock for gold, or even about how the shop needed a make-over. It was dumb, but Burnie had gotten used to the man coming by every morning. A day didn't seem right if he didn't start it with Joel.

Lately the man had started to come in the late evening just before the closed too. He would just order a water. For a straight week, each day around 7:30pm the eccentric man would come in, order a water, and just sit alone quietly staring out the window at the sky. The next week when the pattern continued, Burnie joined him. They didn't speak to each other, just drank water and silently took comfort in the other's company. Or, at least, Burnie took comfort in Joel's. Maybe Joel didn't want his company.

Maybe that was why Joel stopped showing up one day.

Burnie still waited. He started to even open the shop earlier just in case he was missing the man. But a week passed and he still hadn't seen him. Desperate for even a glance of the man who had once been his regular, he started staying open later too. Keeping himself awake with the thought that if he just waited one more hour, maybe he'd see Joel. On the second week he begun to wait across the street, hoping that maybe Mr. Heyman- because even in his head he didn't feel he had the right to call him Joel anymore when he'd scared the man off- would show up there. He didn't. A month passed before he gave up and stopped waiting.

He did his best to pretend that his heart didn't fall every time the bell over the door went off and it wasn't Joel.

Business wasn't doing well. The place across the street had gotten more popular and even the regulars were beginning to slim down. Soon Burnie had to accept that he would have to close down. He'd had a good five years and now it was time to move on. Even if he didn't want to, his finances weren't going to give him a choice soon. Three months after Joel's sudden disappearance, the only place Burnie had to call his own was shut down permanently.

It would be years before he'd see Joel again.

Three years later they'd find themselves at a bar. They'd find themselves continuously just missing the other looking at them, wondering if that really was who they thought they were seeing. They'd slowly gravitate towards each other until they wind up at the bar together, sharing a tab and stories of jobs gone wrong. Of dreams destroyed. Of their new hopes, new jobs, and new plans for the future. They'd exchange numbers and have lunch once before Joel would invite Burnie to get coffee with him the next morning. It'd become a ritual for them, meeting in the morning for coffee. Neither of them would miss a day for three straight months before Burnie would finally gather the courage to ask Joel to their first date. Three straight months of coffee dates before Joel would accidentally ask the same thing at the same time and they'd laugh at each other before agreeing to go somewhere. They'd go to a nice place where they'd eat dinner and then fight over who would pay the bill. Then they'd go back to Burnie's and Joel would be Joe The Cat. He'd hate the cat at first but put up with him for the owner. They'd officially start dating the next morning.

It'd be two years after that until Joel would have to pet sit while Burnie went out of town. It'd be the day Burnie left that Joe The Cat would have a small black box hanging off his collar that Joel wouldn't see. It'd be the day Burnie came back, picked up his cat and looked so dejected that Joel would finally notice the damn thing and open it. A day after that he would hunt down the man at work to give him an empty black box and the word "Yes". Two more months after that and they'd be living together happily.

But that was all in the future. For now all Burnie could do was touch the wall of a coffee shop he used to own as he passed it on his way to work in the morning, and try his best to ignore how he'd still check the place across the street for the chance to see someone he almost longed to forget.