#my 911 ls fic

[maxbegone]

etched in gold

Husband makes his heart race. His breath catches in his throat, his smile grows on its own accord, and the world comes to a pinpoint of focus, slows, because he has a husband.

TK’s head falls back, revealing the beautiful line of his neck as he laughs at whatever someone said in the circle of their friends he’s standing in. He’s golden in this warm light, catching on the ring that he slid onto his finger mere hours ago, a symbol of forever, through anything — not that they need one. It’s been proven, and their love is more than enough.

Most of their guests have gone home, leaving just their family, immediate and found, to enjoy the extra time they opted for at the venue, their conversations merely accompanying the soft music playing from a speaker somewhere, a glorious hum of people who came together for them.

Carlos finds himself unable to look away, like so many times before. It always catches him off guard, those moments of this is mine, this is my life and I get to have it, that make him practically pinch himself so he knows he’s not dreaming.

“Carlitos,” he hears. It’s a feat to pull his gaze away from TK, only to find Luisa leaning gently toward him. She has his niece in her lap, fast asleep against her chest as she strokes her hair. “You should be with your husband.”

“In a minute,” he replies. He’s enjoying this moment from afar.

His sister clearly isn’t having it, nudging his ankle with her foot under the table, laughing when he gives her an amused look. “Go,” she says again. “It’s your wedding day, you don’t have to entertain us so much.”

And she’s correct. “Alright, alright.” Carlos gets to his feet, but not before leaning over to kiss his niece’s curls.

He sighs contentedly as he crosses over, catching TK by the waist and pulling him in to kiss his cheek from behind. TK startles a laugh, only to fall comfortably back into Carlos’ arms as he leans up to kiss him back, lips just hitting his jawline.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” He asks the circle, though it’s mostly directed at TK, whose arm is linked with his own as he runs his thumb in little swipes over his sleeve.

“Not at all, baby,” TK replies with a grin,

“We’re just hounding your husband a bit,” Paul laughs, and Carlos eyes him curiously.

“About what?”

“Last names, mostly,” Nancy says, leaning into Mateo. “And how one hyphen sounds better than the other.”

“Just let them do their thing,” TK says to him.“They’ve been at it all night.”

“And they know we’re keeping our own?”

Marjan holds up a finger. “Uh, for now. That’s what TK said.”

Carlos hums. “Okay, well, you all start placing your bets, I’m going to steal my husband.”

A series of teasing and childish ooohs follow them as they make their way down a cobblestone path that winds down to the lower level.

They walk in slow, happy silence for a little while, hand-in-hand, until they reach the area their ceremony was earlier in the evening. TK sighs happily as they take a seat on the stone wall at the back of the aisle. The chairs have since been put away, the flower petals swept up, leaving an open and empty space for another couple to tour someday soon and fall in love with, a place to showcase their love to the world just as they did today.

TK rests his head on Carlos' shoulder, and Carlos leans his head on his. In the distance, music thrums softly as laughter is carried throughout the venue. It's perfect, in this charming and private moment of theirs.

"What are you thinking?" TK asks him quietly, as if speaking any louder will break the spell that's fallen on them.

"That this really is the best day of my life."

TK lifts his head up and smiles. "Mine, too. I'd say it's almost perfect."

"Yeah..." Carlos breathes out shakily as he tries to stave off the tears for what feels like the hundredth time today, and he does it, but barely. "Almost."

"Baby." TK shifts to kiss him, letting go of Carlos' hand where it sits in his lap to hold the side of his face.

The kiss is tender enough to make him melt, and Carlos finds himself putting his entire being into it. He pulls away with barely any space between them, foreheads touching and noses bumping as TK sneaks in one last one.

"They're here," Carlos hears him whisper, fingers toying with the lobe of his ear, a comforting gesture. "They're here. Nothing could have stopped them."

He doesn't want the bittersweetness to show, but he knows he can let it out with TK. He's his safe space, his lifeline, someone he's vowed to love and fiercely hold onto until the end of his days. So he lets it out, a choked shudder, then shakes himself. Carlos sits up tall as he catches TK's eye and knocks his finger gently under his chin.

"Did you check your ring?" Carlos' eyes drop down momentarily to the band that rests on TK's finger.

He smiles. "No," he says with a laugh, "I haven't. I told you I wouldn't until we could look together, and when I tell you that was one of the hardest things I've had to refrain from doing..."

Carlos raises a brow. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Almost as hard as not shoving cake in your face initially."

"Well, you did in the end."

TK laughs again. "Only after you did it to me," he points out. "Did you look at yours?"

"Nope. We made a promise."

"That we did." He moves a little closer. "You first."

Carefully, Carlos slides his ring off his finger and holds it up so he can see. The lighting isn't bright, but it's enough to make out a line of Hebrew characters inside the gold band.

"Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," TK recites beautifully, watching as Carlos squints as he thinks. "I am my beloved's..."

"And my beloved is mine," he finishes, watching as TK's eyes light up.

"You remembered?"

"Of course I did. It's beautiful."

TK beams. "You're beautiful."

He holds up his ring next, and Carlos watches carefully for his reaction. It goes from curious to realization in less than a second, and TK's eyes are shiny when he turns back to him.

His mouth hangs open. "I—is this...?"

He nods. "Now I'll always be there to hold you, no matter what."

TK lets out an audible breath, shaking his head as if he cannot believe what he's looking at. "Baby, this...this is amazing."

Carlos pulls the ring a little closer so he can take a look himself, trailing over the whorls of his very own fingerprint etched on the inside of TK's wedding band.

"I didn't even know this was an option."

"Neither did I," Carlos tells him, "but I did my research."

TK's shoulders drop as he leans into him, pressing a kiss against his jaw. "I love you so much."

"I love you." He pulls TK in for a proper kiss, holding his face in his hands. "Thank you for marrying me," he says with a gentle laugh. He knows it sounds ridiculous, but he needs to say it.

TK hums. "Thank you for saying yes."

They kiss again, longer this time, more drawn-out, before TK goes to slide his ring back on. Carlos stops him.

"Let me."

TK returns the gesture, and for a little while they sit there in complete, contented silence, comforted by each other's presence and peace.

There's a whole life ahead of them waiting to be discovered. Carlos has plans, and he knows TK has plans of his own. He can't wait to see what's in store. But, for now, Carlos needs nothing else — just his husband, who is his entire heart, and the promise of forever.

[alrightbuckaroo]

culture around fanfiction has just gotten so...weird? not necessarily on the writer's side, but it seems to really be showing on the passive reader's side. not every writer is writing something to be the "next big thing" in a fandom, and hoping it's seen as a "staple" of fandom culture.

they're not writing it with the hope it going the way of "the love hypothesis" and becoming a published piece of work. they're not writing to compete with other writers, especially those that they're genuinely friends with.

most of us, in my opinion, are writing because, well, we just love to write and have a story we want to share! we care about these characters just as much as you do and just want to tell a certain type of story with that same amount of care; no matter how many kudos, hits or shares it gets.

we don't see stories as "content" that need to a reach certain metric; we see them as a way to celebrate something we all love.

[whatsintheboxmh]

Art for "When Soulmates Swim"@carlos-in-glasses

Thank you for the amazing fic, cig♡

[three-drink-amy]

Teach You How Forever Feels

Updating every Monday

Alone and struggling in New York after the death of his mother, TK is left with custody of his five-year-old brother, Jonah. With Owen's encouragement, TK moves to Austin for a fresh start, questioning every move he makes as he's thrust into the role of parenthood. But it all leads him to Jonah's new school where he meets Carlos Reyes, the kindergarten teacher. Between pick up and school meetings and chance run ins, TK can't help but feel something for him, even though he knows it can't happen.

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four | chapter five | chapter six | chapter seven | chapter eight | chapter nine | chapter ten | chapter eleven | chapter twelve | chapter thirteen | chapter fourteen | chapter fifteen | chapter sixteen | chapter seventeen | chapter eighteen | chapter nineteen | chapter twenty

chapter twenty-one

[walkinginland]

Total Tarlos Babe Count

ok folks! here's the final Tarlos Babe Count. In the next few days I'm gonna have a few posts with some other data (which episodes were babe-heaviest, when each name was first used, etc), but here's the final count of how many times TK and Carlos call each other by their names or pet names. I cried multiple times while making this. cheers.

In 911 Lone Star Seasons 1-4:

TK calls Carlos...

Carlos: 42

Babe: 21

Baby: 24

Dude: 1

Raging Bull: 1

Carlos calls TK...

TK: 39

Babe: 10

Baby: 2

Tyler: 2

Tyler Kennedy: 3

Dude: 1

Tiger: 1

[tailoredshirt]

FIC: Now, and in the hour of our death (911 Lone Star)

—

Carlos couldn’t see TK, but he could hear him gasping for air. Trudie was looking down at him with genuine anguish on her face.

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” she told him.

—

(How 4x04 could have gone if TK had gotten suspicious of Trudie and sweet-talked himself into the house, namely everyone getting head injuries from common household items.)

For @whenshereads for the 2023 Tarlos Secret Santa exchange. Thank you to @tarlos-santa and @whenshereads for your incredible patience with me.

AO3 link / PG-13 / 3k

[thebumblecee]

Me and @mooshkat are happy to announced:

Our co written assassin enemies to lovers AU, set in the world of John Wick, is ready.

Chapter one Chapter six Chapter eleven

Chapter two Chapter seven Chapter twelve

Chapter three Chapter eight Chapter 13

Chapter four Chapter nine Chapter 14

Chapter five Chapter ten Chapter 15

The Epilogue

[laylawatermelon]

Now all we need is a queer club scene a la lone Star.

Buck would absolutely flourish, henren would be flirting, Eddie would be sitting at the bar doing a beer watching Buck like a hawk and sometimes smiling, Tommy would be in the void floating (sorry babe I'm a Buddie 4 lifer), and for a lil pizzazz Maddie and Chimney also go.

(it evolved into a tiny fic 🥺if you wanna read you can🥺)

ao3 link :

Ravi is probably there somewhere with someone in the VIP section looking down at them both happy but also a bit worried to see them.

(he's been working with them for a while now he knows the rumors of that many collective jinx powers they hold)

He sends them drinks periodically and they all wonder if someone is about to get a sugar daddy and then realize they're all couples so who's the couple who's getting a third?

Hen has her hands permanently glued to her wife's side and her head in her neck. She's murmuring sweet nothings and Karen giggles it away as she rubs any part of her that's closest to her and sips her drink.

Chimney and Maddie chat as they become a two-headed, four-limbed creation that smells of tequila, love, and laughter.

Maddie is constantly getting compliments on her shiny outfit and nails and ends up beside Buck periodically through the night, both of them like radiant sunlight to others.

Chimney also magically appears next to her almost instantaneously but vanishes and returns with drinks for his friends eventually chatting up the biggest guys he can on their gym regimen and suggesting they buy a calendar to support the new Asian Sex Symbol.

Of course, they sell a few copies.

Buck is the crown Jewel of the drag queens who are all shapes, sizes, and identities getting off of a show to have a nice night out.

He's marvelous and praises their outfits before quickly getting sucked into impromptu makeup and drag lessons, cards for shows, drunken histories, sexuality stories, and good ole fun lip-syncing.

And of course, since he's a bright star who everyone loves, many people begin their hunt.

A quick wink, a lingering smile, a hand on his lower back that lingers as long as a guy slides past him.

Okay, that's it.

Eddie orders another two beers, checking his phone for the babysitter's update before pocketing it.

He slides up behind Buck sliding a beer in his hand and resting his head on his shoulder his hand coming up to his waist.

The girls immediately gush about the two saying there are Two Hot Firefighters ready to put out their fire and Eddie bursts out in laughter.

They begin to fawn over him next complimenting his jawline and face suggesting he go into modelling or movies.

One of them says it's a waste but they'd be all fired up if they see him covered in soot. Another asks if he's on the same calendar as the sexy Asian guy.

Buck pouts telling them no and he's the focus again.

The drag queens then launch into a spiel about fire safety and if they could do a lecture at a show or help them.

Buck ends up video calling Bobby at the request and he and Athena are laying in bed amused as they watch him stumble through his words before a crowd of colorful queens squeeze into the frame.

He assumes them he'll think about it and the comment on Athena's beauty before the call is cut.

Bobby turns to Athena after the call and she laughs. "Your boy is always getting into trouble." He kisses her forehead softly. "We should go next time." "Let's."

Later that night as Christopher's finally dozing off, his phone slipping out of his hand he jolts at the sound of the front door bursting open.

Harry and Denny freeze on the phone, their faces both lit up by their computer screen, "What was that?"

Chris reaches for his glasses and slips them on staying quiet.

He listens again and relaxes as he hears giggles and shushes.

He rolls his eyes and pulls his covers over his head. "It's my dads."

The shuffling gets louder and he groans softly as his door is knocked on before it's pushed open.

Eddie grins down at his son's lying form and stumbles over as gracefully as he can. Buck is in the kitchen filling two (plastic) cups with water and shakily walking to his room.

Eddie walks to the left of his bed and kneels down resting his head on his arm.

He pats his head suddenly emotional, "I love you so much you know that?"

Chris frowns at his distressed tone but also notices the softness in his touch.

They watch him and Buck tiptoe in to hand Eddie a cup and rest his on a nightstand.

"We should probably let him sleep, okay babe?"

Eddie drinks from his cup smiling and pats Chris' head one last time. "Okay. Night son."

As they're leaving Buck sticks his head back in, "By the way your phone light is still asking through the blanket. Go to bed, Chris."

Harry and Denny burst out laughing and Chris promptly hangs up. He closes his eyes with a smile on his face as his dads fall into bed sloppily in the next room, leaving their problems for themselves tomorrow. 

[captain-gillian]

thank you for the WIP wednesday tags @ironheartwriter @lemonlyman-dotcom @nancys-braids @paperstorm @emsprovisions

@alrightbuckaroo & @pelorsdyke and for all the tags i've missed in recent weeks while i've been inactive, i appreciate you still tagging me <3 I actually found some time to work on a fic this week so enjoy some pre relationship NancyMarjan

They talk about soccer on the drive, and despite Carlos and Nancy’s best efforts in explaining, TK still doesn’t understand the offside rule when they pull up outside Marjan’s apartment. 

Marjan is standing waiting on the sidewalk in head to toe Arsenal colours, she’s layered an Arsenal women’s jersey over a white long sleeve tee and paired it with red wide leg sweat pants. Everything is coordinated perfectly from her red chiffon hijab to her red and white adidas sneakers with white laces, even her suitcase is red, with a white carry on backpack. Nancy can’t believe she’d never realised Marjan was an Arsenal supporter. How had the subject never come up?

“You’re a Chelsea fan? How did I not know I’ve been working with a traitor all these years!” Marjan greets her with a laugh as she slides into the back seat beside her, noticing the Chelsea sweatshirt she’s paired with blue leggings, her default comfy travelling outfit. 

“You’re just jealous because we’ve won the FA cup five years in a row and Arsenal hasn’t!” Nancy shoots back, matching Marjan’s playful banter

“Oh so that’s how it’s going to be Gillian?” 

open tag because i'm very late

[maxbegone]

where the empty space is a saving grace

based off this post by @watmalik

“G-Gwyn?”

She peers over at him again. “Carlos?” She asks teasingly.

“What are we—what are you doing here? Where am I?”

“We are getting dim-sum,” she tells him as if it’s obvious.

“We are?”

“Yes.” She turns back to the menu. “And you’re figuring out what to bring back home to TK. When you’re ready.”

Carlos feels landlocked, rooted to the spot with no ability to move. He nearly knocks over the glass of water in front of him as he looks around, his eyes darting from one end of the room to the other.

This is not their usual Chinese takeout. It’s unfamiliar, a hole-in-the-wall sort of place with tables and chairs that probably haven’t been changed out in a good fifteen years or so, and Hana, who he swears he was talking to just a moment ago, is now Gwyneth Morgan.

“You’re…Gwyn, you’re dead.”

[boasamishipper]

tagged by @film-in-my-soul and @icemankazansky - thanks guys!! ❤️❤️❤️

Everyone deserves to toot their own horn and be proud of their work! So, this tag game is fairly simple.

Promote 5 works that you're really proud of and share a little about why you're so proud of them! Then tag as many people as you like. You can reblog this post and add on to it (why not create a giant reclist to throw around?) or steal this header (and border if you like) and make your own post.

tagging @bornforastorm @lookforanewangle @apartmentsmoke @maverickcalf @saltyfilmmajor @hacash @academicgangster @onekisstotakewithme and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it

Make A Wrong One Right

Top Gun, Iceman Kazansky/Maverick Mitchell, Goose Bradshaw & Maverick Mitchell

Maverick makes a wish and wakes up thirty years in the past. He reacts accordingly.

I've written a lot of Top Gun fics (sixty-three, to be precise, which is insane all on its own) but this fic is far and away the one I'm most proud of. Not only did I get to throw in all my favorite things (angst with a happy ending!! time travel!! magical realism!! back to the future references!!), I got the chance to explore in a more subtle way just how much Mav loves Ice, and tackle fun existential questions like, Would you change the past if it meant you might lose the future you love? And I feel like I balanced all of the above and stuck the landing really well! (Honestly, the whole story was worth writing just for the bit in chapter three where Mav calls Ice 'baby' without thinking and Ice bluescreens so hard he drops what he's holding.)

there's a raging fire in my heart tonight

Top Gun&MCU, Iceman Kazansky/Maverick Mitchell, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Carol Danvers & Iceman Kazansky, Iceman Kazansky & Tony Stark, MCU/Coherent Storytelling

“Carol, you can’t bring a civilian into this—” “Civilian?” The temperature in the room seems to drop twenty degrees as Ice steps forward, flinty-eyed and deadly serious. “I’m a captain. And I earned my rank, which is more than I can say for you, Rogers. Thanos killed my husband. You want to stop me from helping you out, you’re going to have to shoot me.” Silence stretches out, long and fraught with tension. Then Stark laughs out loud, and everyone turns to look at him. “What?” he says. “I like this guy.”

This was the first Top Gun fic I ever published, and the first Top Gun fic I wrote on my own. (At the time, I was working on baby, baby, i'd get down on my knees for you with the fantastic @academicgangster, without whom I never would have gotten into Top Gun or on the Tom Cruise train at all.) Naturally my first foray into this fandom ended up being this chaotic, complicated beast of a fic, where I wrote my faves Iceman Kazansky and Tony Stark and Carol Danvers side by side, fixed all my issues with Avengers: Endgame, and gave everyone the happy ending they deserved (especially after all the additional angst I put them through). I had a blast writing this fic and rambling about all the details with Cain (without her support this fic would never have left our tumblr DMs). There were a lot of plot points to juggle, and I managed to juggle them all. So though I've definitely grown as a writer in the (oh god) five years since, I still look back on this fic very fondly, and very proudly. And who knows, maybe someday I'll go back to this series and write more of Ice accidentally acquiring a son in Tony Stark and a granddaughter in Morgan. (Famous last words, I know.)

Judge Leon AU

Night Court (1984) / Night Court (2023), Dan Fielding/Harry Stone, Dan Fielding & Leon, Olivia Moore/Donna "Gurgs" Gurganous, Neil Valluri/Gabby

When his court-assigned public defender quits on his first night as an arraignment judge at Manhattan Criminal Court, Leon decides to reach out to his old foster father, Harry Stone, for advice. He finds Harry's widower, Dan Fielding, instead.

shot:

chaser:

I could not tell you for the life of me why the hands down angstiest fics I've ever written ended up being for an 80s sitcom whose plotlines include a ventriloquist's dummy committing suicide and my blorbo getting so horny he had to fuck a firehose about it, but here we are!! Over sixty-four thousand words later!!

In all seriousness, though, I'm extremely proud of this series. I have a lot of issues with New Night Court (I have a post in my drafts about that), namely that it lacks the edge and darkness that made the original so good, and this series gave me the opportunity to restore that edge and really make us feel Harry's loss, as well as the loss of almost all the other main cast members. I get to be goofy (a man holds the gang hostage on the advice of members of his favorite subreddit) and I get to be angsty (delve deeply into Dan's low self-worth and depression and grief post-Harry's death) and in all the spaces between, I get to write about how much Harry and Dan loved each other (and develop Leon and Dan's growing bond), and I do it all very, very well. (Certainly better than the NNC writers. Let me into the writers' room, guys!! Help me help you!!)

Austin Alone

9-1-1 Lone Star, Billy Tyson/Owen Strand

After the reopening of the 126, Billy and Owen give being friends with benefits a try. Inconvenient feelings ensue. / Season 3 AU, Owen-centric.

I co-wrote this fic with the lovely @lilalbatross while season 3 was still airing, and not only were we so in tune with the characters and the show that our fic accidentally predicted the future (exploration of Owen's abandonment issues! Owen getting trapped in a collapsed building!), but this fic set my standards so high that now the show can no longer reach it. (To be fair, this is largely because Lone Star decided to become the Tarlos and Wyatt Show above all else, but that's a rant for another day.) I'm proud as hell of this fic for a lot of reasons - I got Billy and Owen's voices down pat, put them in mortal peril that was realistic to the show, and wrote some banger lines of dialogue and prose that made me take honest to god victory laps around my house. The entirety of (the very long) chapter 6 might be some of my best work of all time.

For A Minute There I Lost Myself

Ted Lasso, Nathan Shelley & Original Male Character(s), Nathan Shelley & Ted Lasso, Nathan Shelley & Rupert Mannion

Nathan Shelley and the road to redemption.

[sigh] Really it's such a shame that Ted Lasso never got a season three and so we never got to see Nate grow and thrive at West Ham and bond with his players and stand up to Rupert and become more confident in himself and his ability as a coach and apologize to Ted and just in general have a redemption arc that was not centered on some random one-dimensional mean waitress or his ability to play the violin. But at least we have this fic!

I wrote FAMTILM for Yuletide in 2021. I'd never written Nate's POV before - all my Ted Lasso fics up to this point were about Sam and Dani - so I'm proud of myself for being able to capture the nuances of Nate's voice and write the slow growth of Nate's self-esteem and realization that he was in the wrong and his affection for his players (particularly Višnjić and Roubeni, who are in my top ten favorite OCs I've ever created). I'm also very proud of myself for taking what could have been a 30k word story and telling it just as well in under 8k, and writing a full Natedemption arc in less than a month that turned out to be ten times better than what Sudeikis and co accomplished in twelve bloated episodes.

[lonestardust]

Ronen Rubinstein via Instagram | April 5, 2023.

[chaotictarlos]

I had to gif this for science okay....

[fallout-mars]

thank you for tagging me @carlos-in-glasses @nancygillianmvp @sznofthesticks @bonheur-cafe @paperstorm @thisbuildinghasfeelings @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @whatsintheboxmh @lemonlyman-dotcom <33 here’s a little bit of the last and final chapter of so good right now!

TK smiles at his reflection in the mirror as he buttons up his work shirt for the day. He scrapes a nail over a mark Carlos left just below his collarbone, letting out a breath at the sensation, then presses harder as he remembers the feeling of Carlos’ lips all over his body.

God, he misses him. It’s been a grand total of two days, less than, since he’s seen Carlos, but he misses him, misses the way he makes him feel, misses the soft way Carlos kisses him with everything he’s got. He just misses being around him, really, but within the next thirty minutes, they’ll be together again.

TK can’t wait.

For now, he finishes buttoning up his shirt, somewhat disappointed that he had to cover his new mark—which is a turnout, really; he’s been grateful to be covering his scar for so long, but now Carlos has kissed over the skin there, he finds he doesn’t want to as much—and grabs his tie from where it’s hanging on the doorknob.

A few minutes later, he’s padding out of his room, far earlier than he would normally on a Monday morning, even since Carlos, and heads downstairs.

is this the calm before the storm? oh, i wouldn’t know

open tag! <3

[tinyluminaryzombie]

The Math Problem of TK Strand

...My first foray into writing Lone Star fic! A short missing scene in 1x08 :).

Carlos is a logical man.

He’s methodical in how he cooks, how he works out, how he clears a scene. The incessant need to organize chaos is his birthright.

So, he never dived off cliffs or yelled at his parents or chased after a man. Because Carlos Reyes was logical.  

At least, he was. Until green eyes, soft skin, and a rough heart ruined his track record. But there’s a consequence to everything, that had never been clearer. When Carlos screws up, people hurt. 

Protocol had failed him. Two hours ago, Carlos had cleared the scene. His lieutenant had even double-checked before letting the 126 in. But it wasn’t enough. Carlos wasn’t enough. Now, TK was lying unconscious in a god-damn hospital bed a few hundred feet from him. Because of him. 

After his shift ended, Carlos rushed to the hospital. He furiously grabbed his bag and ran to the Camaro. TK, TK, TK, his mind screamed. His hands shook on the wheel, fear bubbling through red lights, stop signs, and crosswalks. TK, TK, TK. He parked his car, never turning back to ensure he was inside the lines. TK, TK, TK. 

Running into the waiting room, Carlos’s thoughts veered dangerously toward internal declarations of love. He stopped short, trading one spiral for another. No one knew except Paul. He was a stranger to the 126. Carlos’s presence might just be a reminder of the scene he failed to clear. No one wanted him here. 

“Hey, man,” Paul’s voice brought him back. Carlos looked around the room, finding questioning looks as Paul pulled him into a hug. 

“I didn’t think…I don’t want to intrude…” Carlos whispers. 

“Carlos. You’re one of us,” Paul said, bringing Carlos to a seat. 

Judd broke the silence. “Thanks for coming Carlos. I’m sure TK will appreciate it.” 

Carlos offered a weak smile. 

Would TK really appreciate it? Would TK blame him? And is what TK wants, Carlos's arms melting into a pleather chair, making small talk with his teammates? Is this casual? Is this cool? Is this logical? 

Carlos heard a ragged breath before a hand rested on his shoulder. “Breathe, Carlos. That’s it. TK being here, that’s not your fault. We’ll get through this together.”

[rmd-writes]

Thanks @welcometololaland @kiwiana-writes @three-drink-amy @celaestis1 @daisymae-12 @jesuisici33 💖 getting in while it’s actually Wednesday here for once! If all goes to plan, I may not be able to share much with you between now and Christmas - I’ll be writing for some fests/fic exchanges which mean I need to keep those fics anon for now, and there’s only so much of Call Me (By My Name) that Lola and I can actually share for Reasons ™️

But for now, have this little snippet from our collab:

And maybe, just maybe, TK spends a small amount of his time at scenes ogling Carlos. What else is he supposed to do, when Officer Reyes struts around scenes like the utility belt slung around his hips it’s weighted? Or when his ass is just presented like the navy-wrapped gift to the world that it is? He has eyes. And those pants cannot be regulation.

TK generally prides himself on having a good radar and he will eat his metaphorical hat if Officer Reyes is not queer. No straight man would bother having his uniform tailored for a fit like that.

It’s not like he’s doing anyone any harm by checking a hot cop out. Carlos is just there and he’s got those arms and a great ass and pretty brown eyes and sometimes he gets this crease between his brows and—

Tagging @reyesstrand @strandnreyes @carlos-in-glasses @alrightbuckaroo @freneticfloetry @never-blooms @liminalmemories21 @orchidscript @redshirt2 @indestructibleheart @maxbegone @lilythesilly @cha-melodius @hippolotamus @stereopticons @blackandwhiteandrose @wandering-night19 @sanjuwrites @basilsunrise @iboatedhere @fitzherbertssmolder @lizzie-bennetdarcy @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @inexplicablymine @14carrotghoul @tintagel-or-cockleshells @dumbpeachjuice @carlos-tk @lemonlyman-dotcom and an open tag 💖