#oh buddy that prompt can go the distance

[ratatatastic]

mikksy intermission interview!! mikksy intermission interview!!

his face when he heard the phrase "wild sequence" to describe the 10 seconds of insanity that was almost self goal to actual goal

love when he tries his best not to smile but then his lips quirks up a bit you cannot hide your amusement sir!

"uhhh i think it was such a great pass [by lundy]" getting mikksy to compliment himself, an impossible task, man is skilled in the art of misdirection like hell youll ever catch him saying good things about himself when he can praise someone else god forbid it really

that uhhhhh like ooooo his mind went so blank he did not agree with that at all

HIS FACE HEARING EMILY KAPLAN SAY KIITOS YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU IMPRESSED WITH THE BARE MINIMUM BUT IT DOES NOT FAIL TO BRING ME JOY WHEN PLAYERS GREATLY ENJOY HER THANKING THEM FOR THE INTERVIEW IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE

edmonton oilers @ florida panthers game 2 | 6.10.24

the difference in framing KILLS ME HE ALMOST REACHES THE TOP OF THE SCF SCREENING BEHIND THEM

[hotshotsxyz]

buck, eddie & the great comet of 2024

(buddie) (1.1k words) for and inspired by @moonlightperseus who said, and i quote, "do you think he would break down crying in bucks arms out in the middle of nowhere under the stars". yes. yes i do.

There’s something to be said for wallowing, Eddie thinks. It’s hard to make any new mistakes, for one, and it’s far less labor-intensive than any of the alternatives. So yeah, maybe he’s wallowing a little bit, but it’s not like he needs to be saved from himself.

He says as much to Buck, who immediately rolls his eyes.

“I’m not saving you, I’m kidnapping you,” he says.

“Maybe I don’t want to be kidnapped,” Eddie replies. He settles further into the couch to make his point.

Buck frowns. “I don’t think the kidnap-ee really gets a say in it,” he says. “Anyway, you’re not going to make me go alone, are you?”

 “To what?” Eddie asks. “You haven’t even told me where we’re going.”

 Buck’s eyes light up like he’s won something. Eddie replays the last few seconds of conversation in his head and groans.

“Come on, do you trust me?” He asks, and it’s not even really a question. Or, if it is, Buck knows the answer just as well as he does.

“Fine,” Eddie sighs. “I’m picking the music, though.”

Buck grins. “Deal.”

Just to fuck with him, Eddie starts their drive with the most depressing song in his library.

Buck snorts as soon as he recognizes it. “A little on the nose, don’t you think?”

“I’m being kidnapped,” Eddie says with a shrug. “I can be mopey.”

“Yeah, but… Trading Yesterday mopey?”

His nose wrinkles and Eddie can’t help but laugh. “Oh yeah, Trading Yesterday, Amber Run— sure you don’t just want to leave me to my misery?”

“Nah, I always want you around,” Buck says, a little too soft, a little too sincere to be anything but the truth.

Eddie’s breath catches in his chest. “Okay,” he says. He tries to ignore how raw it feels as it leaves his tongue.

“Just add some Death Cab for Cutie for me,” Buck teases.

Eddie huffs something close to a laugh and adds Transatlanticism to the queue.

By the time Buck turns onto Angel Crest Highway, Eddie’s given up on trying to work out where they’re going.

“You know, I thought you were joking about the kidnapping,” he says.

“Oh no, I take my kidnapping very seriously,” Buck says, glancing over.

Eddie laughs, and then his stomach growls. “Any chance your plot includes snacks?” He asks.

The corner of Buck’s mouth quirks up. “What kind of kidnapper do you take me for?”

“The kind that’s trying to Stockholm Syndrome me, clearly,” Eddie drawls.

“Is it working?” Buck asks. His eyes are alight with mirth, and not for the first time Eddie finds himself a little distracted by them.

He hums an affirmative. “You’ve got me right where you want me.”

“Alright,” Buck says. “We’re here.”

Here is, seemingly, a random scenic overlook. In the distance, the sun is slowly sinking below the horizon.

“And we’re… watching the sunset?” Eddie guesses.

“Nope,” Buck says. He pauses and tilts his head to the side. “Well actually, yeah, I guess we are. But not just the sunset!”

“So…” Eddie prompts.

Buck rubs at the back of his head. “It’s, uh— do you remember that comet I told you about a few months ago?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, and he does. It’d been while they were on shift, a slow one if Eddie remembers correctly. Buck had excitedly shown him a NASA article and said that he was putting it in his calendar for—

For Chris.

“Oh,” Eddie breathes.

“Is— is that okay?” Buck asks.

Eddie closes his eyes and tilts his head back. “Yeah,” he says, a little rough. “I just wish…”

“Me too.”

A familiar wave of guilt crashes through Eddie’s chest. It’s just one more thing on a long list of things Chris is missing out on because of him.

“I’m still glad we’re here,” Buck says, taking Eddie’s wrist in his hand.

Eddie feels a little nauseous when he realizes he is too.

Buck packed them an entire dinner to eat while they wait for the comet to become visible on the horizon. If Chris was here, Buck probably would’ve brought a few camp chairs for them to use, but as it is they sit on the floor of the Jeep’s cargo space, legs dangling past the rear bumper. It’s a little chilly in the mountains; Eddie appreciates the long line of warmth that is Buck’s body pressed against his, shoulder to knee.

In hushed tones, Buck tells Eddie everything he knows about Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which is, apparently, the comet’s name. He describes its origin in the Oort Cloud, and how it survived a seemingly deadly trip around the sun.

“It won’t be back for another eight hundred centuries,” Buck says breathlessly.

Eddie loves him like this. He loves the curiosity that emanates from him in waves, and the way he seems to have absorbed every little fun fact he’s ever read. He loves the way Buck glows when he shares his knowledge with anyone lucky enough to be in his orbit. He loves—

He loves Buck.

And that’s—

It’s—

Oh.

Of course he does.

The comet makes its appearance forty-five minutes after the last rays of the sun dissipate into inky blue.

“There,” Buck says, pulling Eddie toward the guardrail and pointing at a tiny streak of light in the sky.

All at once, Eddie is desperately sad. He’s here and Buck’s here but Chris isn’t, and it’s not supposed to be like that. It’s supposed to be the three of them together. It’s supposed to be Buck and Chris bouncing fun facts off each other, and Eddie watching fondly as the two people he loves most in this world revel in the joy of sharing a new experience. It’s supposed to be their family, their whole family.

Buck turns to him, like he’s somehow sensed the sudden shift in Eddie’s mood. He offers him a small, sad smile.

“I, uh, I reminded Chris about the comet this morning,” he says quietly.

Eddie takes a shaky breath.

“He should be seeing it too, right about now,” Buck continues. “I know it’s not… but—but we’re looking at the same sky.”

An overwhelming mix of sadness-gratitude-guilt-joy-sorrow-love hits Eddie square in the chest. “You…” he whispers.

Buck bites his lip. “I just… I thought you’d want to know,” he says.

Out of nowhere, a sob bursts from Eddie’s chest. In an instant, Buck’s arms are around him.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry I can’t fix it.”

Eddie tucks his face into Buck’s neck, and for the first time since the night Christopher left, he lets himself cry.

Buck holds him until the comet is far beyond the horizon.

[schrijverr]

I Was Wondering if You Guys Would Come to Chris’s Birthday Party?

Divergence from chapter 9 to 11, where instead of deciding to keep his distance just for now, Buck invites them all to Chris’s birthday party. The party becomes one of the most awkward parties to date, since the entirety of the 118 is filled with misunderstandings about what exactly is going on between Buck and Eddie and what they have been witnessing in the time before.

On ao3.

Ships: Buddie

Warnings: emotionally abusive parents, referenced addiction, ableism, referenced minor character death, homophobia

~~~

Bobby is sitting on Chimney’s couch with a soda in hand. Chimney doesn’t have any alcohol at his apartment anymore, since Hen and Buck basically forced Chimney to take Bobby in so that someone will keep an eye on him after… the incident.

Of course they say that it’s because Chimney should have someone looking out for him while he recovers and to help around the house, but Bobby knows better. Still, he’s not offended. It’s kind of nice that they all care so much about whether he of all people is okay.

He doesn’t understand how he can deserve these people that he surrounds himself with. How he keeps getting a second chance over and over again. It doesn’t feel like he deserves it, but God keeps giving it to him and who is he to spit on a sign from God?

So, he takes it. Selfishly he takes it. Selfishly he lets himself have a night like this, with Buck, Chimney and Hen surrounding him as they laugh. A night 148 people will never get to have ever again…

A lull falls in the midst of conversation, but before he can spiral, Buck suddenly takes a deep breath, getting everyone’s attention. He cautiously asks them: “Can I ask something of you guys and it not be a big deal? Or like weird?”

“That depends, Buckaroo, are you going to ask something weird?” Chimney shoots back, head lolling against the back of the couch so he faces Buck. “I mean, I’m not giving you a lap dance no matter how handsome and sexy I know I am.”

“Oh shove off,” Buck exclaims, but despite the blush there is an easy grin on his face now, feeling more comfortable with what he’s about to ask.

Bobby doesn’t know what question could make Buck nervous, he is practically shameless with the things he shares. He doesn’t think he’s met someone who shares as much as Buck. So trying to imagine what he can be nervous to share makes him a little anxious.

The feeling is clearly shared, because when Buck doesn’t say anything else for a moment, Hen gently prompts: “So what were you gonna ask?”

“Uhm, well, you see, I, uh- I was wondering if you guys would come to Chris’s birthday party?” he asks awkwardly, clearly bracing himself for their reactions.

It quickly clicks for Bobby that this is Buck letting them into something sensitive. He has never mentioned Chris before, but he is obviously important to Buck. Oh God, is Chris his boyfriend? Is this Buck coming out? Bobby can be normal about people coming out, but this is a big deal for Buck with the way he says it and Bobby isn’t always the best in making it the right amount of big deal. Will he mess this up?

However, before any of that spiral can get verbalized, Buck beats him to it, nervously spiraling himself: “I mean, you obviously don’t have to, but it would mean a lot, since we just moved here and while we’re going to hold a party with his friends, this one is kind of more family, adults, you know, but only Helena and Ramon are flying out and Abuela and tía Pepa live here, so there aren’t a lot of people and it’s kind of sad for a kid to turn seven without anyone in atten-”

“Wait,” Chimney cuts him off, “Chris is a kid?

Buck blinks for a moment, clearly surprised that that’s the question, before Wrealization hits him and he empathetically goes: “Yes. Yes! Uhm, yeah, Chris is a kid. He’s almost seven, wait hang on-” he digs around for his phone and pulls it out, showing them all a picture of a curly haired kid with thick glasses and a bright smile on his face. “Here! This is him,” Buck tells them proudly.

Internally Bobby has to do a whole 180 all over again. This is not Buck coming out, this is Buck fessing up to being a dad.

Oh my God, Buck is a dad! Bobby is even more out of his depth here. In fact, he can barely think over the repeating mantra: Buck is a dad. Buck is a dad. Buck is a dad.

Bobby barely feels deserving of his second chances on most days and this news causes his stomach to absolutely plummet. He sends Buck into danger every day. Buck stayed behind with him on that plane crash. He nearly died so many times over and Bobby never knew he would cause a boy to lose his dad if anything ever happened to Buck.

As a Captain he always, always, tries to ensure there are the least amount of casualties in his choices and the families of his firefighters weigh in on his choices. However, he made calls on the assumption Buck didn’t have the same kind of family that relied on him like, for example, Hen’s does. And he was wrong. Buck is a dad. He could have cost Chris his father.

In the background he can vaguely make out Chimney and Hen telling Buck that Chris is an adorable kid and of course they’d be there, but he can barely hear over the ringing in his ears.

Buck is a dad.

Bobby put Buck in danger.

He nearly robbed another child of their parent.

There are already so many lives he ruined, so many names he hasn’t rectified. And he almost put another name on the list. Almost broke up another family.

“Uh, Bobby?” Buck saying his name snaps him towards him, Buck’s face clearly anxious and nervous as he looks back: “Will- Will you come?” Then quicker he adds: “It’s totally okay if you don’t- I didn’t mean- You don’t have to. I just-”

“It’s okay,” Bobby cuts him off, he doesn’t want Buck to think he did something wrong by reaching out and opening up. Buck can use people, especially if he’s raising a kid, that’s not something to do in isolation. This is a good thing.

“Yeah?” Buck checks anyway, hopeful and vulnerable with his voice.

“Of course, yeah,” Bobby nods, swallowing all the emotions that come bubbling to the surface right now, as he says: “I’ll be there.”

“Great!” Instantly Buck’s face lights up with a smile. “We had planned to do it on February 24th, I asked that weekend off, but the party is on Saturday. But I’ll text you the address and time and stuff if that’s okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Chimney smiles.

Bobby is glad that the attention is off him, though Hen gives him a sideway glance, before she also answers: “Yeah, that’s fine. Do you want me to bring Karen and Denny too? Denny is about Chris’s age.”

Buck’s face brightens at the suggestion, before it dims into something apologetic as he awkwardly says: “Uh, yeah, they’re- they’re welcome. Of course they are, just…”

Hen is now directing her look towards at Buck, clearly guarded. The whole room practically holds their breath as they wait for the end of that sentence. Depending on what Buck says, his future at the 118 can be very different. Despite how much Bobby has warmed up to the kid, the well being and safety of all his firefighters is the most important.

“Uhm, Helena and Ramon are kind of homophobic,” Buck tells her, looking a little miserable as he does. “They’re the only grandparents Chris has and they babysat a lot, so they’re close and no one really wants to take that from him, since his mom already walked out on him, so we all just… kind of put up with it? I know that sounds bad, but I’d thought I’d mention it. Like your family is more than welcome and I will tell them to shut up if they say anything, but I’d also get it if you don’t want to them in that situation, you know?”

It’s quiet for a moment as Buck fidgets, while everyone else tries to process.

Most had already gathered that since their newly twenty-six year old colleague was talking about his son turning seven, it probably hadn’t been a very planned pregnancy, which usually means a little messier custody. However, mom walking out… jikes, poor kid.

However, that doesn’t negate the homophobic parents, which are probably Buck’s. Him calling them by their full name isn’t a great sign about their relationship, not to mention him describing it as putting up with it for Chris’s sake. On the whole, they can understand him trying to fill the party with more people.

Still, all would also understand Hen bowing out with that knowledge. In the end, she says: “I think I’ll show up alone, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, yeah, that is more than fine, thank you,” Buck immediately assures her. Tentatively offering an apologetic olive branch, he suggests: “Maybe we can plan a play date some other day?”

Hen smiles reassuringly at him as she says: “Yeah, of course.”

Again there is a silence, none of them really sure where to go from here. None of them had really seen this one coming, since they had created quite a different life for Buck in their minds and now have to sit with the reconfigured reality.

Buck, meanwhile, just sits there watching them. He obviously isn’t sure if he should say more or if he should let them sit in silence for a moment.

Chimney is the one who puts them all out of their misery in the end, saying: “I’m gonna be really honest, Bucko, I am still going to need a minute. I know I promised not to be weird, but I feel like a lap dance would have been less weird right now.”

That cracks Buck up and he laughs: “I’ll keep that in mind, you dick.”

“Hey, I’m trying here,” Chimney also laughs. “You just dropped a big thing on us here. I mean, you’re a dad, congrats, bit late, I know, but still. Now come on, tell me more about this kid. Like, what are his interests?”

Bobby watches as some final stress melts off of Buck’s shoulders at the comment and he listens as he talks a bit more about Chris. A pained nostalgia washes over him as he observes Buck talking about Chris. It’s the same pain he feels when Hen or any of his other firefighters mention their children around him.

Brooke and Junior deserved to still be alive for his wife to talk about them like that. He shouldn’t be here anymore after all the damage he caused, but he is. And it’s now his duty to ensure as many people will continue to have it. It’s the least he can do, the bare minimum he should do.

However, that resolve to make himself useful does not take away the hurt and he is a little quieter for the rest of the evening as Buck talks about dinosaurs and little science experiments he and Chris used to do back when he worked construction in El Paso.

The night winds down pretty soon after with both Buck and Hen saying their goodbyes, telling Bobby they’ll see him next shift and telling Chimney they’ll see him later. Both manage a goodbye back, Chimney’s a little more enthusiastic than Bobby’s.

Once they’re gone, Bobby goes to clean up, pretty sure that they’ll go to bed soon. Chimney teases him for having an old man schedule, but his meds make him sleepy, so he’s kind of on Bobby’s old man schedule, so he can’t really say too much.

But when Chimney joins him to help, he doesn’t start mindlessly rambling about something or other as he often does, instead his voice is a little quieter than usual and he kindly asks: “You doing okay, Cap?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Bobby responds, not meeting Chimney’s eyes as he continues to do the dishes, wanting to be distracted from this conversation and his thoughts.

Unfortunately for Bobby, Chimney doesn’t take his word for it. “You sure? I mean, just asking, because you’ve been kinda quiet since Buck mentioned his kid. Wanted to check if you’re good.”

“I’m good,” Bobby says curtly, hoping to shut down the conversation. He knows he was quiet, it’s just a lot.

He needs to give this a place and he isn’t sure where that should be. He has barely thought about how he relates to his coworkers as tentative friends, he doesn’t know how to feel about Buck’s child and now he suddenly has to. He tries to ignore the fact that it wasn’t this hard for Denny and what that means.

“… Okay,” Chimney says, surprising Bobby with how he takes his shut down, though Bobby is also slightly annoyed by Chimney’s tone. Obviously, he doesn’t believe Bobby’s answer.

Bobby sends him a glare, his tone sharper than it had been as he says: “Buck recently nearly died to get my ass out of that plane, sorry that I need a moment to process I nearly orphaned a kid.”

Chimney’s eyes widen in surprise at Bobby’s outburst, before his face does that sympathetic softening thing that Bobby has been getting too much recently. “Cap- Bobby, that’s not your fault, you-”

“Stop,” Bobby cuts him off, he knows what Chimney is going to say, what he wants to convince Bobby off and he’s not in the mood. He doesn’t want to be coddled, he doesn’t want to be told it wasn’t his fault. Bobby knows better, he just has to figure out how to carry this guilt too.

Thankfully Chimney does stop, he closes his mouth with an audible click, nodding to himself twice, before saying: “Alright, I’ll stop. Just know it’s okay to feel what you feel. I’m sure Buck will understand it if a kid’s birthday party is a bit much, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Bobby responds, not wanting to go into all of it. They complete the rest of the dishes and other clean up in silence.

Next shift, Bobby doesn’t know if Chimney said anything to Buck or if Buck just isn’t the kind of person that never shuts up about his kid, but either way, Buck continues on as normal, not really bringing up Chris until Bobby asks, smiling as Buck says: “Drop off went well. I usually don’t do as much of that with the shift schedule, you know, but the late start allowed it. I like it.”

“You like drop off?” Hen joins their conversation. “All those cars and the busy rush about it.” she shudders, “Ugh.”

“I don’t know, it’s nice,” Buck shrugs. “We do car karaoke and loudly scream jam songs. It’s fun to scream along to kid’s bops.”

“Of course you do,” Hen laughs and that is kind of the end of that conversation.

Bobby is a somewhat glad about it. He wants to support Buck and show him he’s there for him. However, the thought of being bombarded with stories of a kid 24/7, isn’t his preferred way to spend his time. It always makes him miss his kids. His kids, who didn’t get to grow up.

Still, despite his relief, he is a little surprised by how much of a closed a book Buck is. In a way, he did think that it was more likely Chimney said something, but when it lasts, he starts to think it’s just Buck’s personality.

It’s a little weird to realize Buck selectively shares and there is something that keeps him from talking about his son. At some point, he mentions it to Hen, who speculates it might because he was a teen parent. With the judgment that brings, he probably trained himself out of speaking too much about Chris. He decides not to go prodding further after that.

Still, the Wilsons take Chris with them to the zoo and the two kind of get along. Probably can become friends if they hang out more often, but still a little awkward around each other. Buck had been really grateful to Hen about it, since Eddie – his best friend as Buck calls him – had to go to a bunch of check ups for his shoulder that day and Buck was going with him to be his second pair of ears.

He also mentions Chris a little when he and Hen are planning Chimney’s welcome back party. As it turns out, this is the first time he’s thrown a kid’s birthday party and he asks her pointers. Bobby walks away from that conversation as fast as he can.

Overall though, life continues as normal. Chimney gets better, Bobby goes back to his own apartment, work talk kind of stays the same, the welcome back party is a success as well as the kid’s party that Buck threw, and they all survive the full moon.

They’ve all gotten a text, however, their own attendance to Chris’s party isn’t really discussed until they’re done with their shift on the Friday before it all goes down.

If Bobby is honest, he is considering skipping out on it. It’s not that he has anything against Buck or Chris for that matter, but… Chimney was right, a kid’s birthday party is a lot. So, he’s watching Buck fuss with his hair and a nice outfit on, trying to convince himself Buck will be fine if he canceled. That he’d get it.

However, he is not the only one watching Buck fuss. He always dresses nice enough after shift, but it’s usually a little less formal and his hair styling routine is a way shorter. Which means everyone is watching with differing levels of amusement and interest.

It’s Hen who says something first, saying: “You look fine, Buck. You don’t have to keep fussing, honestly.”

“Yeah, are you scared to not be the most handsome at the airport? It’s the airport,” Chimney adds. “I am sure you’ll be fine.”

Buck gives him a side-eye and tells him: “You try being the blight on Helena’s world and we’ll talk again.” He checks his watch, “But I do have to go now. Don’t want to be late!” As he hurries out of the room, he throws over his shoulder: “Wish me luck! See you guys tomorrow.”

And then he’s gone, leaving them all blinking at where he’d just been. After a beat, Chimney breaks the silence: “Did he just call himself a blight on Helena’s world?”

“Yeah,” Hen says empathetically. “What the hell.”

“Jikes,” Chimney agrees. “Isn’t that his mom? And I thought I had a bad relationship with my dad, but that is worse, I think.”

“I think tomorrow is going to be interesting,” Hen grimaces in sympathy to the empty spot.

Internally Bobby agrees. He had already guessed that Buck’s relationship with his parents was strained, due to him calling them by their first names and the way he described how their visit would be to Hen. However, that is indeed a step further than expected.

For Pete’s sake, now Bobby has to go. Buck is clearly not super keen on sharing his life with them, but he invited them to that birthday party anyway. Buck wants back up. He reached out and asked for them to support him. He asked Bobby to support him. He can’t leave him hanging.

So, Bobby also says his goodbye and spends the night mentally preparing himself.

He’d gotten a small gift for Chris, half planning to give it to Buck on Monday, so he could give it to Chris for him, while he stayed away from the actual party by citing food poison or something. That plan is now gone and he spends the night carefully wrapping the firetruck with skills he hadn’t dusted off in years, trying not to cry.

When he arrives the next day, he arrives to find Hen’s car already parked in the street. However, when he passes it, he finds Hen and Chimney still in said car.

Surprised he pauses, knocking on the window and scaring the shit out of Chimney, before he rolls it down and sheepishly goes: “Uh, hey, Cap, what are you doing here?”

“You know what I’m doing here, Chim,” Bobby deadpans. “Why are you two sitting in a parked car instead of being inside?”

“Well…” Chimney starts, before trailing off. Going of the helpless look he sends Hen. It’s obvious he hadn’t really come up with an excuse before he started talking.

Hen rolls her eyes, then says: “Chimney got nervous and didn’t want to go and I didn’t want to be the first one there alone.”

“Hey!”

“Chim, why are you nervous?” Bobby asks, raising a pointed brow at Chim, which is honestly highly hypocritical of him, since he’s also nervous.

“I’m not nervous,” Chimney sulks, crossing his arms. Both Bobby and Hen just stare at him for a moment, after which he throws up his hands and says: “Fine! I’m a little nervous. Like these people manage to dislike Buck. How do you dislike Buck? And I am far less likable then him and I make jokes when I feel uncomfortable. This can only end terribly!”

Bobby can understand that, but he also isn’t going in there alone, so he puts on his best Captain face and says: “Chim, Buck needs us as back up. He asked. We’re not leaving him behind.”

“Ugh, I hate it when you’re reasonable,” Chimney groans as he throws open the car door, Hen following suit.

The three of them knock on the door of a modest, but nice bungalow house. They check about ten times if it’s the right place, but finally decide it must be. Despite already being aware that Buck is not the frat boy they thought him to be, the house is not what they expected of him.

It’s Buck that opens the door, giving them all a big grin, though they can see the exhaustion pulling at his eyes and the slightly forced natured of the smile. “Hey, so glad you could make it! We’re about to open gifts, so you’re right on time. Any longer and it would have become an explosion.”

That last part is clearly meant to be a joke, but the delivery is a bit too truthful, so it doesn’t really land. Chimney with his badly timed comments goes: “Well, that would suck. Can’t have a party without us. Or an explosion.”

However, Buck just takes it gratefully: “Exactly. Now come in, come in.” He ushers them into a neatly decorated and cleaned up house.

In the living room are six other people. Naturally, there is Chris, sitting excitedly next to the gifts that are on the coffee table. Next to him there are three women and two men. Since one of the women is older, they assume her to be Abuela, while the one sitting next to the older man is probably Helena, making the man Ramon and the other woman Pepa. That leaves Eddie as being the younger man.

All of them stand there in the front hall a little awkwardly, however, Eddie comes forward, confirming that he is Eddie as he holds out his hand as he goes: “Hello, it’s good to meet you all. I’m Eddie, you must be Buck’s coworkers. He speaks highly of you, it’s nice to meet you guys.”

As they shake his hand, they see Helena scoff in the background, but can’t hear what she muttered in the clammer of voices greeting each other. However, the introduction also snaps Buck into action, saying: “You guys take a seat and I’ll grab everyone something to drink, just coffee for now?”

They nod and take their places also shaking the hands of everyone there and confirming that their guesses had been correct. The gifts go on the coffee table and they sit together, looking around slightly.

There are pictures on the mantle, but Bobby doesn’t want to stare, so he mostly just looks over the book cases and homely, lived in feeling. It’s so unlike his own apartment. It is so obvious that a family lives here, that a kid lives here. It aches.

Chris excitedly asks: “Are we opening presents now, daddy?”

Bobby waits for Buck to call out an answer from the kitchen where he is pouring the coffee. Instead they are all taken by surprise as Helena starts to answer an affirmative, before Eddie loudly speaks over her, saying: “Not yet, mijo, we’re waiting for papi. Just a few more seconds, yeah?”

What the Hell.

Multiple pieces of information start to click together in Bobby’s brain in that split second after Eddie talks, making him want to kick himself for never realizing before.

The way Buck was nervous to fess up, the way he never talked more about his family despite usually being a sharer, the way he talked about Helena and Ramon, the way he isn’t Hispanic but his family apparently was, the way Eddie helped with childcare. Him and Eddie are married. Or at the very least together.

Now that he knows, he instantly spots a picture of the two of them on the mantle with suits on, Chris in the middle, the background the inside of an official looking building. Definitely married. God, he can’t believe he missed- that they all missed it, he amends, seeing Chimney and Hen share a look, before neutralizing their faces.

Did Buck forget that Bobby nearly fired him for sleeping with women on the job? Or does he not care that they all know that? Does Eddie know about it? Should they say something now? Or is this a talk about it with him at work sort of deal, before throwing it out there now during their son’s birthday party?

Buck is oblivious to their revelations, coming back with the tea and coffee. After handing it to them, he falls onto the couch next to Pepa as he says: “You can start opening your gifts now, Superman. Remember to say thanks.”

Chris lights up in a way that would have Bobby claim Buck’s parentage, if the whole thing hadn’t just been called into question, as Chris tears into a first gift. He thanks Buck and Eddie so they assume it’s from them.

It’s open before Helena can reach him, which clearly surprises her. Bobby watches her whip her eyes over to Buck, who gives her an unpleasantly pleasant smile that Bobby has never seen on his face, nor ever would expected to see there.

Buck is suddenly like a stranger to him and he regrets ever showing up to begin with.

However, Chris is smiling, looking ecstatic at the gift and telling both Buck and Eddie this is the best thing ever. He looks so happy and Bobby can’t bear to be the one to bring it up. To ruin this day for him. To potentially break up a family. He doesn’t want to ruin a family. He’ll bring it up at work come Monday, hoping Chimney and Hen decide to do the same.

Almost as if God is messing with him, another curve ball gets thrown their way. While most people also smile at Chris, glad the boy is happy, Helena frowns: “That’s not right for him. Why would you give him something he can’t play with?”

Buck takes a deep breath, but doesn’t say anything. Eddie, however, sighs: “Mom, Chris can play with this. He has more Lego.”

“The pieces are so small,” Helena protests.

“It’s Lego,” Eddie says, annoyance in his voice.

Chris’s little brow starts to furrow too, looking between the two, clearly getting upset. “I showed you my tower, grandma. I built that all myself, I told you that.”

“I know, sweetheart, it was a great tower,” Helena tells him, almost condescending with the way she cards a hand through his hair. It’s enough for her to let that part go, however, it’s not enough for her to stop herself from pointedly saying: “Here, this one is from me and abuelo. It’s a better suited gift for you, I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Bobby can see Buck roll his eyes and share a look with Eddie at that, but neither says anything, so none of the 118 does either. It seems like Buck at least wasn’t lying about how they all just kind of deal with what he has now gathered to be Eddie’s parents. A part of him wonders why there is no one from Buck’s side there, another part of him doesn’t want to think about it.

She helps Chris open the gift, doing most of the unwrapping for him, even when he frowns. And the gift is something that Chris seems to be a bit too old for, though he thanks her politely.

It’s a song and dance she seems keen to repeat with every present, even if Chris grows more annoyed with her. Buck gives Eddie a look, who gives a look back, before Buck rolls his eyes, while the rest of the guests just sit there awkwardly.

At some point, Buck starts telling her not to do that, but she doesn’t listen to him, huffing: “I am just helping, Evan. He can’t do it alone.”

“Then just unwrap a little, let him do the rest,” Buck sighs.

“I am,” Helena protests.

“Mom,” Eddie says, nothing else, just that.

“Fine,” Helena replies a little too sharp to mean it as she puts her hands up in the air as if she is surrendering. Bobby isn’t sure he believes her and going of the looks he gets from Hen and Chimney, they don’t either.

They are proven right when she listens for one present only to start up again, tsking that the contents are too mature. It’s the firetruck Bobby got him, he pretends it doesn’t hurt.

When Chris starts leaning away from her, trying to do it himself and getting more frustrated, Eddie goes and sits behind her, grabbing her hands, so she can’t intervene again. Buck gets up with him, seamlessly sweeping Chris onto his lap on the other side to distract it from it all and putting him on his lap, only undoing a few tapes, while letting Chris rip the rest of the wrapping paper, much to his delight.

Helena is clearly displeased with it all, but Eddie keeps firm. Again, the 118 has to share a look with each other at the scene. No one else is commenting on it. This appears to be the normal.

Bobby still isn’t sure about what Buck has been doing and how he feels about it all, but a part of him feels pity. If this is Buck’s normal in his domestic life, he can get wanting to escape. Hell, Bobby’s domestic life had been great and he still craved an escape. Buck had called sex an addiction on that rooftop when Bobby caught him, he hadn’t taken it seriously then, too pissed off at everything, but now he wonders if he should have.

The rest of the gifts go relatively peaceful all things considered until the final one, which is also from Buck and Eddie. It’s some sort of adventure game for the gaming console they have. From what Bobby can see, it’s appropriate for Chris’s age and something he was clearly thrilled to get. Helena is not as impressed.

“Really, Edmundo?” she tuts. “This is far too aggressive for someone like Chris and kids his age shouldn’t play video games. What were you thinking getting him this?”

“Mom, he played it at his friends’ houses, he knows he likes it,” Eddie replies, his voice sounding as if he’s repeating a well worn argument. “We’re letting him have a bit more screen time, responsibly. We did think about it.”

“You let him have friends that play this stuff?” Helena shoots back, offended.

“Yes,” Eddie says, clearly getting frustrated. “We let Chris have friends, who do age appropriate stuff with him. It’s a game, not the end of the world. And it’s better than the play-set you got him. He’s too old for that sort of stuff now, he’s seven not three.”

“Do not take that tone with me. You’ve always been irresponsible with Chris’s limitations, especially since you brought him into your life,” Helena practically spits at him, glaring at Buck too.

Chris is starting to get upset at them arguing about it, but before Buck can step in – as seems to be his role most of the time – Pepa does it instead, sighing: “Really, Helena, are you going to fight over the boy’s presents? It’s his birthday.”

That thankfully shuts both of them up. Bobby doesn’t know how much more of that he could have taken. He is already planning on making a strategic exit after cake, because this is getting uncomfortable… well, it never was comfortable, but you get the point.

However, plans have to wait, since they all have to suffer through the cake first. It’s a homemade cake and Hen comments: “This is nice. Did you make it?”

“I did,” Buck smiles. “Thank you.”

The small moment of okay-ness is ruined by Ramon, who comments under his breath: “Of course he made it,” in a tone that clearly states how he feels about that, which is negatively.

It’s not the first of the homophobic comments that have come from them and it’s not the first time Bobby made the connection. However, he still can’t imagine how Buck puts up to it. Can see how he tries not to let it bother him, even though it does. Wonders why Eddie stays quiet. Why none of them say anything.

He looks over to Hen, trying to see if she will say something or let it pass, pretend not to hear it as they all seem to plan on doing. Because he does, he sees her send Buck a look, who bites his lip, before sending her a pleading look and shaking his head no. Hen looks displeased by it, but says nothing about it. Bobby follows her lead.

With cake, it all becomes a little more casual. Abuela goes to talk with Ramon about how he is been, showing all of the other guests she is his mother, since she tells him he doesn’t call enough.

It allows the 118 to move a little and they all make a retreat to the table to eat their cake there. They can’t really talk about everyone with them right there, but the distance – however small it might be – helps a little. Even if they’re stuck making awkward small talk, since none of them seem to know what else to do.

Chimney was right about being apprehensive to be here. Bobby is counting down the seconds until it’s no longer impolite to go.

After talking with Pepa for a while, Eddie joins them at the table, stilling the conversation even though it wasn’t about him. Eddie must notice it, but pretends not to, smiling at them as he says: “Thank you all for coming. Buck tells me great things, so it’s nice to meet you all.”

If he meant to break the tension, he is failing. But he can’t help it, since he doesn’t know they’ve all watched his husband flirt and fuck through a whole slew of women. That tends to make one awkward around a person.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Hen says, deciding to be their spokesperson, which Bobby is grateful for in these circumstances. “I would say the same, but Buck hasn’t really mentioned you before all this,” she half gestures at the home they’re in.

“Oh,” Eddie looks surprised and a little hurt for a moment, but he swallows it down. “I mean, I get that, it’s a bit of an odd situation,” he forces out lightly.

An odd situation, Bobby thinks to himself, what’s so odd about this? Sure, it’s a little weird that Eddie’s parents seem to actively dislike both Buck and Eddie, but there is clearly a lot of homophobia there, which sadly isn’t too odd. The only weird thing is Buck’s apparent double life that he has made all of them complicit in, but Eddie doesn’t know that. Does he?

Hen seems to think the same thing, frowning: “Well, it’s not the most odd thing ever. Why’d you think that?”

Again, Eddie seems surprised, but now his smile is more genuine. “I guess most people tend to say that. I mean, not everyone would raise a child they had with their ex with the ex of said ex.”

Huh, another thing Buck hadn’t told them. But Chris was Eddie’s then, but the person he’d had Chris with was not in the picture and instead Buck had switched from dating them to marrying Eddie. Bobby isn’t sure if he should seek a cheating pattern there too or if he’s reading too much into it because of everything that has happened to get them there.

He also doesn’t really know how to respond to that, but fortunately they have Hen, who says: “I mean, I’m raising my ex’s kid with my wife, so maybe my perception is just warped.”

“Fair enough,” Eddie huffs out a laugh, breaking the tension on the table at least.

“So, what do you do?” Chimney asks.

“Currently nothing, but I’m looking to join the fire academy next rounds, doctors finally cleared me. I actually wanted to ask you guys a bit about the paramedic work if that’s okay? I was an army medic before this,” Eddie replies.

Work is a safe topic and good enough to get through cake with, so Hen and Chimney take it gratefully and tell Eddie all he wants to know.

Bobby is content to sit their quietly and just observe. Buck is still sitting on the couch, closely watching Helena, he is mostly silent, just watching. Pepa, Ramon and Abuela are on the other couch chatting.

He feels a little like Buck is on the outside, looking in. Like he wants to pull Helena away from Chris, but can’t. The observation tightens something in Bobby’s chest, but he’s not sure what.

It- It’s not comfortable. He still doesn’t think that what Buck is doing here is great, sleeping around while playing house here, throwing cold comments at Helena and fueling the dislike there appears to be between her and Buck as well Eddie. Doesn’t like that he has made all of them complicit in that as if he had known they wouldn’t ruin Chris’s party by bringing it up.

But then there is this… This barrier that is there. Bobby can’t deny that Helena started the hostilities and that Buck gets the brunt of it, seemingly always having to pull on Eddie to step up, which he only does when it’s about Chris. How relieved he was that they all came, how he asked them all, asked for that back up, despite knowing what he’d pull them into, because he was so desperate for someone to be there. Almost as if he needed someone on his side, someone to take away that barrier.

Without really thinking about it, he finds himself suddenly interrupting the conversation that’s happening at the table, as he asks: “Where is Buck’s side of the family?”

Eddie pauses his sentence halfway through, just staring at Bobby for a few beats, before he looks away. Then he looks back, eyes sad but protective as he answers: “Not here. Pennsylvania.”

“Why?”

At Bobby’s question, Eddie’s jaw twitches and he frowns at him, almost assessing, like he is trying to find what Bobby’s intentions are, before he’ll answer. Bobby doesn’t know what he finds when Eddie glances at Buck, then back at Bobby.

However, he answers curtly: “He sends letters to his sister, but she stopped responding. She loves him though, just can’t right now. But he hasn’t spoken to his parents since he was eighteen or nineteen. It wasn’t a good relationship and they didn’t deserve him.”

There is a clear warning in his voice and Bobby can see the hardness the army must have given Eddie in his eyes when he looks at Bobby, practically staring him down.

Hen and Chimney look between the two like it’s a tennis match, not burning their hands on it as they let it all play out.

Bobby knows something about shitty parents, mostly his dad, even though he didn’t realize it when he was a kid. His heart constricts for Buck as he glances over to him again, sitting on that couch, that barrier surrounding him. He wonders how he came to be so lonely, even in this house filled with people.

He looks back at Eddie and says: “That’s terrible. At least he has people here now,” he adds, unsure if it is true, but needing a test of his own when Eddie threw his at Bobby’s.

Eddie blinks, before he smiles. Bobby passed his test, just like Eddie passed his. That is a smile of someone, who is relieved for someone he loves to not be alone. That someone else sees how great his loved one is. Bobby suspects that the barrier around Buck is primarily because of Helena and Ramon, who have created this tension in this house that otherwise would have looked like a comforting home were it not for the atmosphere.

“Yeah, thank you for that,” Eddie says after a moment. “He’s been better since he started working with you all. Better since he started working as a firefighter in general, he really loves that job. I mean, I’m sure he would have continued to work construction for Chris if he had to, the man would lay his life down for him. But I’m glad he found something he loves.”

The way Eddie says it sounds melancholic, as if he feels a guilt for the possibility of Buck having continued to work a job he likes less for the sake of their family, as well as a sadness, as if he is letting Buck go.

Bobby looks between Buck and Eddie again, this time with a different lens. The same barrier he had seen with Buck is also hanging around Eddie, that same distance. He almost feels like he isn’t at a party, but a funeral, like they are all here mourning a family that still exists.

However, he seems to be the only person that notices that. Chimney takes the opportunity to steer the conversation with Eddie back to work and he watches as Abuela makes a come here motion to Buck, snapping him out his staring match with the back of Helena’s head and pulling him into the conversation happening on the couch. Ramon only looks a little displeased.

Just when there is a lull and the cake is gone – the perfect opportunity to make their excuses and leave – the birthday boy abandons his grandma and gifts to come over to the table where the 118 is sitting, ruining that chance.

In his hand, there is the firetruck that Bobby got for him. When he unwrapped the gift, he’d thanked Bobby, but the moment was mostly overshadowed by the argument about helping with unwrapping the gifts, something Bobby had secretly been a little glad about.

However, now here he is, looking up at Bobby and holding the firetruck. Curiously he asks: “You are papi’s Captain, right? The one with nice food?”

As Chris looks at him, Bobby remembers the leftovers he’d seen Buck take, how he assumed they were because he didn’t want to cook in a frat house, but here, sitting at a nice kitchen table in a nice house with a perfectly nice kitchen right there, Bobby is confronted with the fact that Buck took his food to share with Chris.

The thought shouldn’t make him want to cry, so he swallows it all down and prays to God for strength as he manages a smile. “Yeah, that’s me. You can call me Bobby.”

“Hi, Bobby, thank you for the food,” Chris smiles, the he trusts out the firetruck to him. “Papi says you put the hoses away with loops on them, but this one doesn’t have them.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Bobby agrees, trying to blink away the image of Junior when he’d been Chris’s age, or Brooke’s when she had died, only two years older than Chris is now. Kids have been difficult for him since the fire, but here, he wants to try. It’s easier with Chris than with other kids somehow. So, he says: “It’s something we do at my firehouse, because I think it’s best, but it’s not standard. You know why I think that, kiddo?”

He holds his breath, hoping Chris didn’t notice the brief second he needed to get himself together and is relieved when Chris just gets an excited look on his face as he says: “Papi says it’s because it makes you faster and the faster you are the more people you can save.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Good job,” Bobby says, ignoring the shake-y tone in his voice. He will never stop wondering if a little more speed could have saved his own family, if he would have his kids here with him now instead, asking questions about his work.

“Thank you,” Chris says again, this time referring in to the compliment he got. Then he launches into more questions about the firetruck as well as being a firefighter in general, throwing in fun facts that Buck had told him.

The more Chris talks, the easier it gets somehow.

Usually, Bobby avoids kids for too long, hurrying them along as fast as he can. It hurts too much, they all turn into Brooke or Junior and he can never shake it. It’s different with Chris. Probably because he is a lot like his father, like Buck. Bobby sees Buck in Chris when he shares what he knows and asks questions, in his excitement and in his smile. It helps.

Chris to Bobby becomes Buck’s son, not his own. It creates a distance between him and the ghosts of his own kids that haunts him. It’s new, but something Bobby likes.

Helena and Ramon don’t seem to like it much, but they don’t seem to like any of the guests Buck invited much, preferring not to interact with them while Pepa and Abuela mingle more and make small talk with the 118.

Bobby still isn’t sure about everything that is going on in the Buckley-Diaz family, but Chris isn’t involved in that. Bobby likes Chris. He hopes that even if things go down with this weird tension and the revelations of Buck’s cheating that they’ll confront him with come Monday, Buck will bring Chris by the firehouse sometime; Bobby gives great tours.

Talking with Chris is the reason he stays later, pulling in Hen and Chimney as well, since Chris is thrilled they know all the things about the ambulances that Buck doesn’t. It’s a little funny and endearing to hear Chris spout facts that they can remember Buck coming up to ask them about, in hindsight clearly on a mission to get his kid the answers he wanted.

It’s a little confusing too. This whole thing has been. Buck clearly adores Chris and they can see him bump into Eddie comfortingly whenever Ramon makes a comment or they hear Helena say something to Chris that both decide to let slide. He laughs when talking to Pepa and Abuela. He is comfortable in this home.

He has all these quirks that make him look like he loves this family, this sadness in him when there is a distance. Yet he is also the one cheating. The one who is breaking it all apart should it come out and to a head.

Bobby doesn’t understand it and he both can’t wait and dreads Monday when they can confront Buck about it all.

In the end, they do make their excuses before dinner, having seen enough of it all to not want to sit through a dinner with everyone there. Either Buck made it and he’ll get comments about it not being manly, or someone else does and both Buck and Eddie will get comments for not being able to provide it. They’ve bitten their tongues enough for Buck’s and Chris’s sake.

So, they say their goodbyes, leave the house, walk down to where Hen’s car is and then just stand there for a moment.

After a beat, Chimney says: “So… that sure was a party.”

“I know right, like, oh my god, what was that?” Hen exclaims, grateful that someone else gave the all clear to gossip about what they just went through.

“I don’t know!” Chimney half yells, throwing his hand up in disbelief. “Like did I hallucinate Buck sleeping around? Where did he pull a husband from?”

Hen pulls a face and says: “I have no clue.”

“Well, I’m sure Buck can give us answers on Monday,” Bobby says. It’s not like he disagrees with either of them, but that edge of sadness he witnessed, prevents him from joining in on the speculation or encouraging it.

“Come on, Cap, you can’t be this cool under all that,” Chimney whines. “I saw your face, you were judgy too.”

Bobby can’t really deny that, but as neutral as he can, he says: “I was a bit taken aback, sure, and not too pleased with getting caught off guard with it. But I’m going to wait until we know more before confronting Buck about it. It’s not as if it looked very friendly in there. We came as back up and we were there as back up, that’s what matters now.”

That quietens them both for a moment.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Hen says, swallowing with an expression on her face Bobby can’t place properly. “Buck might have had his reasons. I can’t imagine what an average day with all those people is like for him.”

Chimney glances at her, then drops the topic too. “I know right, what was up with that. I mean, I know Buck kind of let us know they didn’t like him, but that is rough. When he said they just kind of put up with the homophobia, I thought he meant in general, not very pointedly directed at them.”

With everything else that was going on, they’ve barely had time to process that Buck is also married to a man, thus some flavor of queer. That is at least something Bobby has practice with even if it’s sometimes a little stilted, it’s the whole rest of this situation that is going to be more of a minefield when Monday comes.

Hen nods her agreement. “It sucked ass. If Buck hadn’t asked us not to, I would have ended up swinging at either Helena or Ramon at some point. I’m glad Buck warned me and I didn’t have to expose Denny to that sort of stuff. I just hope Chris doesn’t pick that shit up.”

Bobby hadn’t even thought of that. It seems like Buck and Eddie are good fathers, who try to shut it down when it’s about Chris, but a lot of shit doesn’t get argued against. He doesn’t know if either realize what message it sends when they let it slide.

“Uh-huh,” Chimney nods. Then sighs and rubs his face, before he groans: “Not sure if I dread Monday or want it to be Monday.”

“You can say that again,” Hen says, unlocking her car.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” Bobby says, not believing it, but feeling the need to say it. There was something driving Buck’s behavior, but that didn’t make it any better and all of them know it. Hen and Chimney certainly know it too, which they let him know with two matching looks. He amends: “Or I am wrong and it’s going to suck. Either way, we won’t know until Monday and we’ll let Buck explain first.”

“Okay, but I will still give him a side eye when he does,” Chimney informs him, then opens the car door. “See you tomorrow, Cap.”

“Alright,” Bobby smiles, unable to help it. “See you then.”

“Bye, Cap.” Hen also gets in the car.

“Goodbye,” Bobby tells her, giving the two of them a wave through the window, before making his way to his own car and driving off.

The next day, all of them are quiet about it for the first half of the shift. Then, during a lull around lunch, Chimney, who is lying upside down on the couch, suddenly says: “So how do we think that whole situation happened. I mean, the whole raising the kid with your ex with the ex of your ex thing, you know. That was also new.”

Hen, who is lounging on the other couch, stops reading her book, looking over to Chimney, before she says: “I don’t know. Maybe they met through the ex? Buck mentioned the mom walking out on Chris, so maybe she’s just not in the picture anymore. I mean, she wasn’t at the party. The two of them could have know each other through her, then stayed in contact after because of Chris and one thing let to another?”

“Do you think it was an affair?” Chimney asks. “Like we know Buck is capable of it.”

“Hm,” Hen pauses for a moment, thinking about, then shakes her head: “Nah, I don’t think so. They probably wouldn’t have Chris if it was.”

Sitting up, Chimney gasps: “Do you think the ex is dead?”

“Chim!” Hen scolds for suggesting, before considering it. “I don’t think he would have been so blasé over it if the ex is dead. He said walked out, not died.”

“Okay, that is enough of that,” Bobby interrupts the two. “No speculating on coworkers.”

“But Bobby, speculating is half the fun,” Chimney whines. “Don’t you wanna make a wager about what is going on? I mean, there are so many possibilities. What would you put you money on?”

“I’m not falling for that one,” Bobby tells him with a look.

“Killjoy,” Chimney pouts, before completely disregarding what Bobby just said. “I think it was a one night stand kind of deal that resulted in Chris and Buck and whoever Eddie conceived Chris with broke up right around when Chris was born and started dating Eddie, who’d been in picture because of the pregnancy. They gave up parental rights and Buck stepped up.”

“Could be, but I think it was like those weirdly close high school clicks and this broke them up in camps until it ended up with Buck and Eddie taking Chris,” Hen speculates.

Bobby shakes his head and turns on his heel, saying: “I am not participating in this.”

“Boo,” they call at his head playfully as he retreats and he leaves them to their fun. It’s been a rough time for everyone, if this gets them through this shift, then he’ll just keep his distance about it. He truly doesn’t want to be a part of it.

It’s not that Bobby isn’t curious, he really really is. However, he doesn’t like thinking about it. He can’t shake that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach whenever he thinks of Buck on that couch, sending Helena that plastic smile. The way Bobby couldn’t recognize this kid he’d thought he knew so well.

The whole thing is disconcerting and he doesn’t like it. So he tries not to think about it and prays that Monday will come with a better explanation, one that will give him back this kid with his heart in the right place he has become too attached to, instead of leaving him with that stranger.

Therefore, instead of participating in speculation, he makes sure they have a nice dinner and checks the inventory unnecessarily.

It’s a good enough strategy that carries him through this shift with only catching minimal whiffs of what Hen and Chimney are saying. Still, he is grateful that the shift is behind him, since now he only has to lay awake for one more night before he’ll get answers.

Chimney offers him his couch for the night again, something he still does with regularity even though Bobby has been home for a while already. Bobby declines. He appreciates it, but he doesn’t think being stuck with a curious Chimney will help. What happened isn’t enough to drive him to drink again, maybe after tomorrow.

Monday arrives and by unspoken agreement, all of them are early and loitering around the locker room waiting for Buck to arrive.

Buck does arrive on time, looking a little more run down than he’d been when they last saw him, but he lights up when he sees them all. “Hey, you guys,” he greets them, throwing his bag down and getting changed as he talks. “Thanks for coming Saturday. Chris really enjoyed the company, so I appreciate you for sticking it out.”

When no one says anything, he pops his head out of the top of his shirt with a confused expression. “What?” he asks. “Is everything okay?”

The three of them exchange glances, none of them sure how to broach the topic now that the moment to do so is here.

Apprehension fills Buck’s expression when he sees that and he starts rambling: “Did they say something shitty to you? Fuck, they totally did, didn’t they? I promise I would have said something if I had heard, I truly thought I’d kept them in my periphery enough throughout the whole thing, but some things must have slipped by me, I’m so sorry. I-”

“Buck,” Hen cuts him off when it is clear that Buck can not come up with what the looks are about on his own and doesn’t appear to be able to stop himself from talking. “They didn’t say anything.”

“Oh,” Buck falters, then frowns. “What were those glances about then? Because if it’s about the general vibe, I’m sorry, but-”

“Of course it’s not about the vibe, Buckley,” Chimney exclaims. “Well, it is kind of, I guess, but it’s about Eddie.”

“Eddie?” Buck’s frown deepens. “What did Eddie do?”

Both Hen and Chimney give him a look that says ‘are you stupid’ and Bobby decides it would be best to interfere, before either of them blurted out that question. “Eddie didn’t do anything,” he assures him. “We were more surprised by his existence.”

“I’ve mentioned Eddie before, haven’t I?” Buck wonders. “I would have sworn I had. He’s my best friend, I think I’m incapable of not mentioning him. Are you sure?”

“No, you mentioned him,” Bobby says, tone cautious. He also doesn’t understand how Buck can be this oblivious. “You just never expanded that your relationship was more than best friends and given your history on the job, that was a bit uncomfortable.”

“Huh?” Buck squints, then the realization hits him and he gapes: “Oh… Oh.” Frantically, he says: “Oh no! No, no, that’s- that is not what that looked like.”

“How is that not what it looked like?” Chimney exclaims.

“Me and Eddie are platonically married. Convenience. An open marriage type deal, so no cheating here, I swear. Eddie’s straight,” Buck practically yells, half tripping over his words as he quickly tries to convey the situation to explain himself.

It’s quiet for a beat as they process. Bobby finds some relief, even if he doesn’t understand all of what Buck has just said, he does get the general gist of it. And the general gist is that it was a misunderstanding and Buck is still their Buck.

“Do- Do Eddie’s parents know that?” Hen asks hesitantly after a moment, which is a fair question after all they’ve seen.

“Uh, yeah, they do,” Buck says embarrassed as he rubs the back of his head. “They’re just really against it all in general. I know they’re shitty about it, but I’ve kind of given up on picking fights with them about it.”

“And what about Chris hearing all that go un-protested?” Hen points out, her look at Buck a little more harsh than it would otherwise be.

Guilt flashes over Buck’s features, but he doesn’t just roll over, instead saying: “We’re not raising Chris to be a homophobe, Hen. I promise. I was the town queer that corrupted an innocent family when I first married Eddie and he went off to war, after the third time getting something spat at you in a grocery store, you have a conversation with the kid.”

“Oh,” Hen blinks, slightly taken aback by the frank answer. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Buck. That’s not okay.”

“I know,” Buck gives her a kind smile. “But it’s in the past now anyway. We try to teach Chris to know better, but when Ramon and Helena are around, we have to put our focus somewhere and then Chris will automatically be the priority.”

The more Buck talks, the more Bobby knows him again and it’s a comforting thought. That is still the same kid he knows. The kid that always makes sure the children on calls they take are okay, who has a big heart and empathy.

… The kid, who has no one from his side of the family that’s in his life. The kid, who seemed so lonely even in the midst of what should be a happy occasion.

He gets snapped out of his thoughts by Chimney, who decisively and loudly goes: “Well, they’re fucking shitty. No offense.”

Buck barks out a laugh at that, going to wiggle into his pants as he says: “None taken. It’s not like you’re wrong. Honestly, if it were up to me, we wouldn’t have invited them at all and kicked them out yesterday, but you know, Eddie’s family, so Eddie’s decision.”

“Wait, I thought they were going home on Sunday?” Hen frowns.

“So did we, but no, they’ve invited themselves for the entire week,” Buck answers, doing a little hop, before doing up his zipper and button. “Eddie’s taking them out for lunch today. I half don’t even want to know what kind of conversation they’ll have, there is too much they’re against at this point.”

“That sounds encouraging,” Chimney says sarcastically as they watch Buck put on his shoes.

Buck makes a vague gesture with his hand that Bobby interprets as waving the comment off. “It’s honestly not so bad right now.”

“How is it not so bad right now?” Hen asks concerned.

Surprised at the tone, Buck looks up from his laces, then blinks a few times. He blushes a little and looks away, hunching in on himself.

They all watch as he becomes smaller and Hen sends a look to Bobby, who gesture at her to continue on. With this topic, she’s better suited to have this conversation with Buck. Gently, Hen says: “Hey, you don’t have to tell us. I’m sorry. For prodding. But we’re here if you want to share.”

At that Buck looks up again, giving her a small smile. “Thank you. I’m sorry too. I don’t mean to be all weird about it. It’s stupid anyway.”

“It’s not stupid.” Bobby is pretty sure he surprises everyone, including himself, when he says that, since they all turn to look at him. He feels a little embarrassed by his sudden insertion into the conversation, but that has never stopped him before, so he crosses his arms and puts on his authoritative voice as he says: “I might not be an expert on the topic, but I can tell they were out of line Saturday. You have a right to feel however you want about that.”

“Thank you, Cap,” Buck says sincerely and Bobby feels something he doesn’t want to identify when Buck smiles at him, so he just gives a nod back.

For a moment it seems like that will be the end of it, then Buck says: “It’s just-” he makes a frustrated noise “-ugh, I don’t know. It’s better, I guess because we don’t live there anymore and Eddie is here instead of in fucking Afghanistan getting shot at and usually Helena and Ramon are a few states away and no longer spreading all sort of rumors around town. So, it’s good. It’s better.”

He doesn’t even notice their horrified looks at his words, just continuing his rant: “Tía Pepa and Abuela are a lot better company, not homophobic, which is nice. So, it sucks that it still gets to me, you know. That I can’t just shake it off. They don’t even know I’m bi. It’s not personal, just an affront to Ramon’s masculinity that Eddie would even consider marrying me, even if it means nothing.” His voice cracks on that last words and he clears his throat, pressing his hands to his eyes and taking a deep breath, before softly adding: “Sorry. I don’t mean to dump all this on you. I just need get over it, you already-”

“Buck please stop apologizing,” Hen interrupts. She sits down next to him and slings an arm around his shoulder. Instantly Buck leans into the half-hug.

“Yeah, man, that sounds incredibly fucked up. Like do we need to buy plane tickets to egg their house or some shit? Because I will,” Chimney agrees.

Bobby nods too. “Yes, it sounds like you’ve been putting up with a lot this whole weekend. These past few years even. We’re here if you need to talk about it.”

All of them are kind enough to not mention what part Buck’s voice broke on. Bobby isn’t clueless, you know. He can put one and one together. Buck is in love with Eddie and Eddie doesn’t love Buck back, that has to be killing him a little too on top of all this.

“Thank you,” Buck says watery, wiping at his eyes again. Then he groans: “God, this weekend has been awful.”

“Here, why don’t we head upstairs and I’ll make everyone hot chocolate and you can tell us more about it,” Bobby offers, holding out his hand for Buck to take.

Buck takes it, the previously watery smile getting closer to a grin as he does. As much as Bobby tries to ignore it, he can’t fully deny that the action causes a wave of affection to rush through him.

Making hot chocolate is a good distraction, which Bobby takes gratefully. With his hands busy, it’s easier to process as Buck explains exactly how him and Eddie met and how adopting Chris and his current life came about. It’s quite the story – and one that could only befall Buck – and Bobby tries to reorganize everything he knows with this new information.

The display at that birthday party was not a newly revealed cruel side of Buck, but instead a tension that has been built over years culminating in a passive aggressive relation further fueled by the presence of Chris, who prevented outright hostility.

For Buck, Eddie doesn’t come out of nowhere, but is instead such an intimate and prominent part of his life that he barely considered it would look abnormal from a more outside perspective. The deep love he appears to hold for Eddie, however unspoken it might be, also explains why all of them misunderstood.

It also explains why Bobby nearly had to fire Buck over his behavior as he seemingly tried to implode his life in front of their eyes. Especially when he says: “I don’t understand why they always have to be so pressed about it, you know. Our plan has always been to divorce, I’m just helping Eddie get through his recovery, then they’re rid of me.”

“You’re not sticking around after the divorce?” Hen asks, as if she can barely believe it. Neither can Bobby or Chimney, they’ve all seen how much Buck loves Chris, his family, he doesn’t seem like the type to just abandon that.

“I mean, I’d like to, but we haven’t really, uh… discussed it?” Buck says, the reply coming out more like a question than an answer.

“Buck, you have to talk to Eddie about that,” Hen advises.

“How?” Buck shoots back. “I barely know what we’re doing half of the time and Eddie already has a lot on his plate with his recovery and his parents and the studying to start the Academy. I don’t want to add to that with my nonsense, you know.”

“Kid, look at me,” Bobby orders, waiting until Buck has before he continues. “From what you’ve told us, you stepped inside with Eddie when he needed it, kept him company; his burdens became your burdens. However, your burdens became his burdens too. You’re not adding your nonsense to his plate, you’re sharing the burdens that come with being partner. Because even if it is not romantic, you and him are partners. Partnerships don’t work if you don’t talk and bottle things up. It’s only going to lead to that bottle exploding in an argument and that’s the last thing you want.”

Buck blinks a few times as he processes Bobby’s words. His face tells everyone there that he had not considered that angle before this moment.

A part of Bobby wants to face palm at him for it, but another part is forcefully reminded at how young Buck is. How he stumbled into this partnership, parenthood and all those responsibilities at twenty-two, maybe twenty-three. How he’s had no practice runs or time to fully explore himself, before this. Neither of them.

“Huh, maybe, I guess,” Buck finally responds. “I don’t want to make it worse though.”

“You won’t, kid,” Bobby promises. “I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Bobby,” Buck smiles brightly at him.

And as Buck does that, Bobby is once again overtaken by that same rush of affection and it is mixed in with pride, the same sort of pride he used to get when looking at his kids. As he feels it, Bobby realizes he is absolutely screwed. Because despite his efforts, Buck has wormed his way past his defenses and into his heart and now Bobby is feeling paternal pride about it.

It feels slightly terrible. Like he is replacing Brooke and Junior with Buck, erasing them and taking a second chance at fatherhood he doesn’t deserve. But selfishly, he finds himself wanting to be there for Buck, wanting to give him advice and praise and see him grow.

They still don’t know why Buck hasn’t been in contact with his family for a while, but Eddie made it clear it was on them, not Buck. And having seen Buck there, Bobby realizes that Buck has as much of an empty void as Bobby has. That he craves support, a side of the family to balance out Eddie’s. And selfishly, Bobby wants to be that. Wants to be there for him. For Chris.

But maybe… maybe that isn’t too selfish.

God keeps giving him second chances and Bobby never knows what he has done to deserve it, why He would do that, why He would make Bobby live. But maybe this is it? Because while Bobby might not deserve it, Buck certainly does.

It won’t make up for 148 deaths and it won’t erase the loss he has experienced, but maybe it doesn’t have to. Maybe it can just be two lost, lonely souls leaning on each other and keeping each other afloat in this world until they can better it.

So he chokes out: “Of course, kid,” ruffling Buck’s hair as he does and ignoring the looks that earns him from Hen and Chimney, feeling relieved when the conversation continues and he can sit back a bit and just listen in.

Yeah, maybe this can be enough.

~~

A/N:

I wrote the I do verse before season 8 aired, so I put Chris’s birthday in February, since we didn’t know yet and for the timeline to make sense in the fic that fit best, so that’s why it’s not in the summer

Tbh, while I don’t regret putting in Buck 1.0, because it’s great character building and break down moment for him, it does fucking suck sometimes in these lol. Like the assumed cheating thing always has to be addressed, because it did happen and it makes me wanna tear my hair out.

However, the mental image of the most awkward and uncomfortable kid’s party ever is sending me, even though it sucks for all these characters involved. Like just picturing the 118 sitting in a little row on a couch, being forceful observers to the Buckley-Diaz family tension while looking at each other like ‘do you also see this or am I going crazy?’ is so funny to me.

[justapoet]

Random dialogue prompt list

"Have you ever been in love?" "No. Why?" "I think I'm in love with you."

Distancing themself from the other because they start to think that there is definitely something wrong with them

Stuttering

"I missed you so much, I don't know why. But, I did."

"You look perfect in this outfit." "Oh."

“Tell me you did not go to a fight without me.” “I don’t need you to protect me.” “It’s not about protection-”

"Did you forget that it was your turn to grab the groceries today?" "Yeah, sorry. I thought I'd wait for you so we can go together?"

“The problem lies within the fact that I want more. That’s what scares me the most, because I don’t want to want more. But I can’t help it.” 

“You said you loved me last night.”

“So that confession…” “Didn’t mean shit ‘cause I was drunk. And I don’t want you accepting that. Let me confess to you, properly, at the least.”

“I swear I didn’t murder anyone.” 

"Who are you when you're not performing?" "Fuck. Marry me."

“You have the most beautiful smile, you know that?”

“I just want(ed) to make you smile.”

“I was just getting my coffee, but then I fell in love with you”

"I…I missed you." "Oh."

“I desperately want to kiss you.”

“Maybe it’s a good mood. Maybe it’s a manic episode.”

"Don't open your eyes"

"Goddammit, don't say that!"

“Fuck it. I’m in.” 

“Too late. I’m already yours.”

“Nothing - no matter how weird or dark - could ever change the way I feel about you.”

“For once, I’m completely serious.”

“I don´t believe that you know what the hell you are doing half of the time.” 

“There isn’t a single unit of thought behind your eyes.” “Of course, not. I’m looking at you. My brain doesn’t work when I’m looking at you.”

"Are we going to talk about it?"

“I’d tear down mountains and rewrite the stars just to see you smile.”

“You weren’t part of my life plan.”

“So, tell me, what do you feel for me?”

“I’m this close to resorting to physical violence if shit continues to not work out.”

“I don’t know what to do.” 

“Say another word and I´ll shove these fries down your throat.” 

“Could you even try to be nice to me today?”

“There are about thirty-five ways this could go wrong. I’d say that’s pretty good odds.”

"Are you seriously considering to go through with this complete absurd?"

"It's a miracle you're still alive." "Mom does say you're a miracle worker, yes."

"You're sick. Did the fever make you forget how to dial my number?"

"Just do it, you moron."

"My self-control is hanging by a thread right now. Please, don't do this to me."

“Hey, neighbour, I’ve never met you before but your dog just destroyed my garden."

“Well, I’m afraid that opinion’s going to change once you get to know me.”

"Ever thought of stepping outside, or have you become part of the furniture?"

"Can you just look at me? Please?"

"I needed to hear your voice."

“Just to clarify: We are in a relationship, right?”

"You're the only thing I should be afraid of, and that fear died off years ago."

“it’s a bit frustrating to how oblivious you are.”

“what do i have to do or say for you to notice that i’m in love with you?”

“Yeah, that wasn’t supposed to happen and I was not supposed to say that, I’m so sorry.” 

so, hi! this is just a silly prompt list, but I'd very much like to ask you to send me asks and resquest a fic from any of them!

I'll be writing for the following couples:

Buddie (9-1-1)

Percabeth (Percy Jackson)

Nick and Chalie (Heartstopper)

Aziracrow (Good Omens)

Polin (Bridgerton)

Kathony (Bridgerton)

If you have any other couples from these universes that you might want, you can send them to me, as well. Other than Buddie (that it's not canon just yet), I like best to only write canon couples.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 13

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

I'm here! Finally posting yesterday's read.

Last night I was watching critical role and making flower crowns for the ren faire today and I totally lost track of time. But I did read earlier and I have the notes!

Anyways; no tea- I slammed this coke zero. The flower crowns ended up being real cute though.

Here we go; last chapter of book 2!

I'm already nervous :( this chapter is titled coercion. Coercion of who?

Well. Shen Qingqiu arrives and the mountain is already under siege- solid start. p283

This is less a reflection on this current chapter and more a thought about the longevity of this character; but I feel like Luo Binghe is going to inevitably perish. The reckless abandon in which he approaches anything Shizun adjacent is going to end this man. Like in this chapter- fully just tells everyone he's of demonic heritage- 0 fucks, no care for his own life now or in the future. Sure, he's powerful as hell but like eventually he has to sleep. p284

Oh gosh. Both Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge are in a bad way AND they are in the same room as Luo Binghe. p285

Okay but to be fair, when it comes to the body of Shen Qingqiu I am on the side of the sect here. Like bare minimum even if this man supposedly committed all the crimes (he didnt and they do know this) he still deserves to have proper death rites. Luo Binghe did do some unhinged things. pp 286-287

RIP Shang Qinghua LOL everyone knows you are an opportunist with nary a loyal bone in your body. Congrats on your entire sect knowing now p288

OOP. the audacity of Luo Binghe to Liu Qingge "ah! The loser I defeated" I mean not wrong but you dont have to be a dick about it. p289 Luo Binghe is so cocky!

and here we have SQQ inserting himself into mortally dangerous situations that he could have walked away from. The self sacrificing he has been doing this entire book (intentional or not) is so wild. This man cannot do anything in a stealthy way- everything dramatic and loud and at the centre of attention. p290

WAIT! "caught you shizun" p290 He did know! I had a suspicion!

What did you expect SQQ ofc he meant to draw you out. He could have tracked you but he lost the ability to do so with the other demon. p293

as an aside I am now wondering how this is going to work out. The Zhuzhi-Lang can also torture and track him at a distance- this is going to be a later problem for SQQ and Luo Binghe no doubt

oh poor buddy "you're not a fool...I am" p293

ooooooo. "didn't my sweetness make shizun oh-so happy?" p294. that's not even it oh no so much emotional damage

Also Shang Qinghua exposed again with the mushroom info p294

I am on SQQ's side with this one. How can the sect be mad about him not going there right away when he was kind of underground and also had to relearn how to move his own body p295

I am annoyed at Liu Qingge and I think, maybe, unjustifiably. I feel like his character is complicated and eventually I want to read a character study or two about him for more insight. What prompted this is: he is both acknowledging that SQQ is doing something utterly selfless for the sect but also pissed that he's doing it at all. Like- is it him feeling inadequate? Or is it how he feels about SQQ or the sect? idk- I will continue to think about him. p297

Luo Binghe was not satisfied with mushroom-zun he also wants the original body?? p299

RIP all of SQQ's dignity and his mental health "I've already submitted to you" p299 his word choice though LOL

His body is missing?!?!?!?!?!? p300

what a cliffhanger! Now I need to know who stole his corpse! If it ends up being 2 SQQ's OR that Luo Binghe's dad is using SQQ's original body I am done done LOL.

We finished book 2!

Thank you to those who have been reading along- this has truly been so fun! I appreciate all the comments and clarifications; they have been helpful and have been making this reading process super engaging. Getting to chat about the thing I am enjoying with others who also love The Thing has been a solid highlight of my days!

[oleicim]

Hmmmm can I request Angel visiting his work buddy in the hospital after they get hurt during a fight, and he's like frustrated at them for not taking better care of themselves, and then he accidentally confesses his feelings for them while they're arguing???? Eheheh sorry if this was a bit unclear or anything + feel free to change the prompt if you wanna!!!!

care for you

pair: angel devil x gn!reader

warning: not fully proofread! mentions of death, injuries, hurt/comfort almost? no use of y/n

a/n: ending is not the best but i hope its still okay!

by the looks of it, angel guessed it was going to rain soon. the color of grey enveloped the vastness of the sky, the sight of the usual beaming sun not even visible. clouds painted in monochrome continued to mold together as fog continued to fill in the streets of the city.

angel’s mind focusing on such a miniscule thing such as how the weather is made him realize how hard he’s trying not to focus on what, or rather who, is in front of him. adorned in a white and blue dotted gown instead of the rather formal devil hunting uniform laid in his line of sight was you, his assigned work partner.

although, many personal boundaries have been crossed between you two to the point he could call you a friend instead.

angel grimaced at that thought, since when was he a person to allow others to get so close that he could say they're friends? never, and that's why he was honestly unable to fully comprehend the fact that you slipped through the cracks of his walls and became so close to him to be a friend.

so close that you unknowingly have become a vital part in his daily life that the fact couldn't just be defended with platonic reasoning, to which he blocked out that nagging voice in his head that said so.

although because of his lack of the ability to distance you from him, he was encased in swathing worry for your wellbeing as you slept bandaged up in the hospital bed.

and this, genuine concern for you, was an unaccustomed feeling he did not greet with open arms. this distraught over your injured body made him feel heavy, and his skin warm. it made his mind race with possibilities and outcomes he would usually never think about, as angel was never an overthinker. at least, till now.

he just couldn't stop the flooding thoughts about what could've happened, what should've happened instead of what did. the better outcome of the fight between you and him with the devil you both were sent to rid of. angel believed that your choice to push that pesky little kid away and take the hit was incredibly stupid-

“h-hello?”

your voice was meek, certainly different from how you usually sounded. it was fragile, and raspy that the simple greeting sounded almost as if the words scratched your throat. angel hated how, weak, you sounded.

he stood up from the chair placed beside the bed you were laid on, and in quick movements he found himself hovering over your sickly face, and he couldn't block out the rising rage at the sight of how lidded your eyes were from exhaustion.

you should’ve never saved that kid.

with the glimpe of angel’s familiar face, your eyes strained to widen and your brows unfurrowed just slightly. that small facial change in expression caused his heart to pump faster at the idea of you becoming relaxed at the sight of him.

“angel..where am i?” confusion was evident in your tone, and he understood why. you had blacked out upon impact of the deep lacerations given from the devil when you saved the boy, body dragging across the road from the momentum.

so waking up in a blinding white room instead of the (at the time) muddled blue sky and a seething devil, was understandably confusing.

“hospital, you got knocked out.” he said, tone unchanging from the usual monotone one he had. although, his eyes betrayed his nonchalance act, his irises gleaming with pools of dripping worry.

“oh… is he okay? the kid?”

your words hit angel as if he was the one who got clawed by the devil, how could you worry about some kid? angel’s brows furrowed and he wasn't able to hide the way he got frustrated.

your drowsy state started to drift away as you came to grasp your senses, and you could tell that angel was seemingly upset. ever the caring person, you disregarded your own seering burn on your back and focused on why angel was clearly a bit ticked off.

“angel?..” the serene sound of how you said his name made his heartbeat pick up, but he couldn't be so easily cooled off just from the tone of your voice right now.

“why do you care about some..kid!” he blurted out, and your eyes widened at the intensity of how he spoke. you attempted to sit up, and with that angel reached out to help, his instinct to care for you not blocked out by his annoyance at your actions.

“what do you mean?” you replied, a pout starting to form on your lips and that sight made angel hitch his breath for a second. anything you did seemed to get a reaction out of him, and that itself made angel added to his frustration with your effect on him.

“you're here hospitalized, and you're worrying about this kid who got you here in the first place!?” he said, and with that sentence it made your anger start to rise. “don’t blame the kid, angel! he would've died if i didn't step in,” you remarked back, and before you could continue a coughing fit erupted from your throat, and angel’s eyes widened as he rushed to hover a hand over your back, mindful of your injuries, and grabbed a tissue for you as some blood spurted out on the pristine bedsheets.

when you were done, angel backed off, still visibly frustrated and that made your own rage inflame more. “see- you can’t even speak without the repercussions of your action.” he spat out, an inner voice he usually hears agreeing with him had came out and instead started to point out how your lips were downturned and your eyes were glossy.

“angel- why are you here? just to degrade me for being a dumbass in your eyes?” the volume of your raising voice had dropped, and angel could feel a lump in his throat, something he was also unaccustomed to. you always sparked things for him that he never knew he could experience, and this feeling you gave him now is one he has finally learned to name. heartbreak,

“no!-”

“i get it angel, i just thought that after all this time you wouldn't see me as just a nuisance.”

and that snapped the thread of the rope angel had been hanging onto so he wouldn't fall into the depths of confession.

“you're so stupid.” he lets out a breath of a laugh, and before you could interrupt with a rebuttal he speaks again. “it's the opposite.” he states, his warm toned eyes boring into your own as he inched closer. your stunned but perplexed reaction was visible to him, and he found small amusement in your cluelessness. although more so faux annoyance at the fact he has to explain further.

no one told him how hard opening up to someone was, but he’s glad its a little easier to do so due to the fact it's you he is speaking to.

a moment of silence beat past as his words sunk into the atmosphere, and then he spoke once more. “you..you mean a lot to me,” he said, watching how your expression practically melted into one he didn't ever remember seeing. it was soft, your eyes seemingly drooping as a certain glow shined on your irises and your lips parted.

“actually, to put it plainly, i just don't like you in a friendly way.” he blurted out, and for the first time he felt his cheeks become warm and he knew that this was what people called blushing.

“w-what are you saying?” your voice whispered, and he hesitantly reached out his hand to your jaw, gloved finger tracing the skin as his eyes stayed trained on your lips. “what do you think i meant.” he said with a curt tone, although there was an underlying teasing sense to it. a small smile itched to spread across his own face as he then darted his gaze back to your eyes.

you gulp, and he traces his finger up and down your jaw before pulling his touch away. and with that you felt yourself unintentionally drifting to where his hand was.

“romantically,” he then said your name, emphasizing his point with a deadpan expression but you could see a small smile slowly forming on his full lips. “i like you like how the people do in the shitty movies you like to watch.” he remarks, and that releases a small laugh from you, albeit it being a bit harder to let out from the pain of the injuries that still linger. although, at this moment it seems like the pain has lessened with angel’s words.

“yeah? you mean it angel?” this time, the way you spoke was sickening sweet and he could feel your words soak into his mind like honey. and this time, the way you said his name was almost like you were saying it like an endearment term, and he felt goosebumps raise at the thought.

“yeah. i mean it.” he said, and he could tell from how your expression bloomed more into a softer manner, and a giddy smile your healing busted lip grew into, he knew you didn't reject him.

[closetnerd62]

Brotherly Advice

A Lautski + Spankoffski Bros Fic inspired by Writing Prompt #2504 from @promptsforthestrugglingauthor

Summary: after months of watching Pete fail to actually make a move with Steph, Ted refuses to let history repeat itself and offers some brotherly advice

“Bye!” Pete said shyly, holding the door for Steph.

“Bye!” She smiled.

“Bye!” He repeated dreamily.

“You already said that.” She giggled.

“Oh! My bad.” He rubbed his neck sheepishly with a blush.

“See you later Spankoffski!” Steph shook her head with a smile.

“Yea- yeah,” he stuttered as she descended the apartment stairs. “Definitely.”

As he shut the door, Pete pressed his forehead to the door with a groan.

“That. Was painful.” Ted cringed. “You two have been ‘hanging out’ for three months now without making a move. Look, if you ever wanna get with her you have to be smoother than that.”

“I’m not like you Ted,” Pete snapped. “I don’t just want to ‘get with her’ asshole. I really like her. But there’s no way she’d ever actually reciprocate.”

“You’ve gotta play the field pal.” Ted said, slapping Pete on the back. “Go find another girl and take her home with you. Then little Lauter here will get all jealous and when you play hard to get, she’ll be on her knees practically begging for you.”

“No-NO! She’s not like that,” Pete interjected defensively. “Sure, she acts like she doesn’t care but she can be so incredibly passionate and she makes me feel like I’m worth something for once! I know you wouldn’t understand but I would be willing to suffer if it meant that she got to be happy!”

Ted was hit with a wave of recognition. He was amazed. He himself had only ever experienced a feeling that strong once, for one girl… Jenny.

“Holy shit.” Ted softened. “Pete, are you in love with this girl?”

“What? No!” Pete hissed.

“Yes, the fuck you are.” Ted pressed. “I can see it!”

“Then maybe you need to get glasses too, dickhead!”

“Listen to what you just said jackass! You love her!”

“No I don’t!” Pete cried, “I can’t!”

A memory flashed in Ted’s mind. He could see himself in college, laying on his dorm room bed saying the same thing about Jenny.

“I shouldn’t.” Pete continued.

“Maybe.” Ted offered. “Maybe it is the worst thing you could possibly do. But I’m sorry buddy, you do. You love her. And there’s no moving forward until you admit that to yourself.”

The brothers sat in a heavy silence. Ted could see the gears moving in Peter’s head, the calculations being made. A look of defeat slowly crept across his face. Mournful of the bliss of willful ignorance.

“I love her.” Pete breathed, miserably.

“You gotta tell her Pete.” Ted sighed.

“See you don’t understand Ted!” Pete thundered. “I can’t!”

“You have to.”

“No!” Pete insisted. “It feels safer to love her from a distance.” His face twisted as if he was trying to work up the ability to face his worst fear. “I can’t lose her if she doesn’t know.”

He looked exhausted. As if the mere thought of her not being in his life had drained him. Ted stared at him, as if looking in a mirror to his past self. Spankoffski’s had a knack for making history repeat itself, but Ted refused to let that happen this time. This time he had been given the chance to go back and save his brother from everything he had done wrong.

“I’ve made that mistake before.” Ted admitted. “Don’t do it.” This was the most sincere that Peter had ever heard his brother speak. “Anyone worth loving should know the truth.”

Pete nodded.

“I’ve gotta tell her.” he confessed, rising from the couch and grabbing his coat. “I’ll be back in a bit Ted.”

“Go get her!” Ted called as Pete rushed out the door of their apartment and into the hall, heart pounding against his chest. He barreled down the stairs, tearing through the halls, fueled by intent and need and yearning. He yanked open the door, ready to race to the Lauter house, only to find his mark already at the door, about to press the button to be buzzed in. He stared at her in amazement.

“Oh Pete! I was just about to call up, I accidentally took your calculator with me.” Steph’s face was pink from the outside cold. Peter stared, soaking up everything that was the girl before him.

“Pete?” she repeated.

“I have something I need to tell you.” He said breathlessly.

“Okay?” she prompted, intrigued.

“I- um…” He stuttered. “Uh… we’ve been hanging out for so long and well… after everything we’ve been through together, I just- I-”

“Take your time.” Steph encouraged, placing a supportive hand on his arm.

“I think I’m in love with you.” he blurted.

Shock plastered itself across Steph’s face. She blinked, trying to process.

“I’m sorry,” Pete rambled. “I understand if you don’t feel the same way and I don’t expect anything from you, I just thought it’d only be fair to let you know and I understand if you don’t ever want to hangout again or talk or-”

“Pete!” She cut him off. “Don’t you dare fucking apologize.” And with that she grabbed the collar of his button up and pulled him into a kiss.

As Ted glanced through the window he was filled with pride. Even though he knew it was too late to go back and get it right himself, the satisfaction of knowing maybe eventually he could, if he could only be more like his kid brother, gave him a new hope. He meandered his way over to the phone in the kitchen, dialed a number, and listened as someone picked up on the other end.

“Hey Char,” He murmured, “I need to tell you something.”

[babygirl-diaz]

When Blue Eyes Turn Green (Buddie, BuckTommy fanfic)

Thank you @princesseddiediaz for the prompt!

***

It was a regular call with a small fire at an apartment complex. Buck and Eddie went door to door, evacuating the place. Once evacuation finished, the two of them were on crowd control duty, ensuring no one ran back into the building.

And that's when it happened. A man started talking to Eddie. Buck made nothing of it at first, but then he noticed the man's body language. He was standing closer to Eddie than necessary, using every opportunity to reach out and touch him. Buck knew it was only a matter of time before Eddie caught on and countered the man's advances. Because this wasn't uncommon. Someone always flirted with Eddie. And although, like him, Eddie was into both men and women, he only flirted with people he felt an emotional connection with.

However, something unpredictable happened today. Eddie moved closer to the man and touched his arm, which the man was obviously trying to flex.

Buck wasn't sure why, but he saw red when that happened. Before he knew it, he made his way over to Eddie and the other man. He put a hand on Eddie's shoulder and the other around his waist and pulled him back against his chest. Eddie tensed in his arm. The stranger, on his part, looked a little taken aback. Buck towered behind Eddie and tried to use every muscle in his being to make himself appear taller and menacing.

"Who's your friend, Eds?" Buck asked, scowling at the other man.

"This is Jason. He lives in apartment 558," Eddie replied and relaxed a little.

"Well, Mr. 558, maybe keep your distance from my boyfriend?" Buck told Mr. 558, who just frowned in return.

Eddie turned his head towards Buck and growled in a low voice, "What are you doing?"

"My bad, man, I didn't know Eddie was taken," Mr. 558 put his hands up in surrender and backed away.

"Well, now you know," Buck replied and let go of Eddie. He instead took his hand and drew him away from Mr. 558.

"What the hell was that?" Eddie asked, pulling his hand away.

"I was doing you a favor," Buck replied.

"A favor?" Eddie scoffed. "By what? Chasing away someone I might have an interest in?"

Buck frowned at that and felt his jealousy grow even more. "You were interested in Mr. 558?"

"His name is Jason and yes, I am," Eddie replied and stepped closer to Buck and put a finger in his face. "Buck, you have a boyfriend. You gotta stop being so damn possessive of me. It's weird, man." With that, he pulled back and walked away, leaving Buck dumbfounded.

***

"And then he said that it was weird that I was possessive of him!" Buck told Tommy as he aggressively cut up the vegetables for the soup they were cooking together. "Can you believe that?"

Tommy stopped stirring the pot and raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I sure can."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buck asked, frowning at his boyfriend.

"You are possessive of him," Tommy told him.

"No, I am not!" Buck huffed. "You are my boyfriend, not Eddie."

"I know that, but do you?" Tommy asked. He sounded more amused than pissed off.

"What are you talking about?" Buck asked.

"Need I remind you of the basketball incident?"

"I thought we already established that I was trying to get your attention during the basketball game," Buck replied.

"Did we establish that? Or did we just sweep that under the rug?" Tommy turned off the stove and came over to Buck. He wrapped his arms around Buck's waist and pulled him close. "Baby, it's okay, I understand why you're possessive of Eddie."

"I'm not-"

"Before you say you're not, just hear me out. He's your best friend but you are also in love with him-"

"WHAT?! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT FROM?" Buck yelled, pulling away from Tommy.

"Glad we're being mature about this, baby," Tommy said sarcastically. "Look I don't blame you for loving him. He's this amazing guy who loves unconditionally and you want that." He paused for a second before saying, "I want that too."

Buck's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"I get why you're possessive over Eddie. If I was there when Mr. 558 flirted with him, I would have broken Mr. 558's jaw," Tommy replied.

Buck gulped. "That's exactly what I wanted to do," he admitted. "What- what does this mean?"

"It means, we're both kinda heads over heels over this beautiful man," Tommy replied. "And maybe... We should ask him to date us."

"Seriously?" Buck asked excitedly.

"Seriously," Tommy replied.

Buck threw his arms around Tommy's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "You are literally the best boyfriend anyone could ask for."

"Do you think Eddie will want to join us?" Tommy asked.

"Well, we can ask him to find out," Buck replied and kissed his boyfriend again.

[sitp-recs]

HP Rec Fest, Day 12

Today’s prompt challenges me once again as I never rarely start fics before they’re completed. By the Grace was the last WIP I followed since the beginning so it’s been a few years, but I’m always willing to make an exception for 25 Days of Drarry and @hprecfest gave me some extra motivation to find another advent fic to follow. This time I don’t have rare pair WIPs to share so I’m reccing two Drarry WIPs, one fairly recent and the other a 2020 fic I’ve been obsessed with ever since day one. Thrilled to be reccing two of my favourite authors here, cannot praise these two gems enough:

Day 12) A WIP you're following:

A Christmas Miracle by @sleepstxtic (E)

Draco is a world-renowned Magi-Diagnostician and Harry is a Cursebreaking Healer, both working in St. Mungo's. They're not-quite-friends, not-quite-lovers, who argue at work and have sex on the weekends. And they're both fine with it, thank you very much. But when a mysterious attack in the hospital leaves Draco trapped in a coma, Harry must do all he can to save him. All the while, an inexplicable, deadly, children's illness is spreading through wizarding London. Oh, and there's some Time Magic thrown into the mix.

just look at that summary! this fic was made for me and after reading the first few paragraphs (such a delightful opening scene!) I knew I’d be breaking my no wip rule and I regret nothing. that, and I also happen to be a slut for work colleagues slash fuck buddies, and Kat delivers in spades as per 😌 this fic is a mix of my fave things like competent Healer!Draco, time travel magic (!!!), case fic, delicious banter between this insufferable Draco and charming Harry. I’m having so much fun and can’t wait to see where this is going!

In The Dark by @bixgirl1 (E)

In the aftermath of an apocalypse, Harry receives an order to find and bring Draco Malfoy nearly a thousand miles, to the tenuous safety of Hogwarts. But more than distance separates them from their goal. The world has fallen, and death is hungry.

I cannot begin to describe how obsessed I am with this wip. even if it never gets finished it will have been so so worth it because this right here is one of the most vivid, creative and impressive world buildings I’ve ever seen. the urgent and dangerous atmosphere is superb and I love love love how Harry and Draco find solace in each other while facing a grim and terrifying inferi apocalypse. brilliant storytelling and delicious slow burn with creative magic, tender romance and heart stopping fight-or-flight sequences. a masterpiece!

[onboardsorasora]

https://www.tumblr.com/onboardsorasora/746938786304425984/those-bowling-vidspics-reminded-me-that-sugar

This was so good!!!

What if Daniel takes them dirt biking in Perth because that’s what he likes and the team is just like “we might not always have both feet on the ground but we do like to have 4 wheels”

For the first time, Daniel’s the one pulling out the crazy moves while everyone else is taking it easy

sorry this took so long Bestie, I loved this idea and wanted to give it its own chapter feel

Bowling |Australia | Helmet | Other prompts

Daniel grinned at the dubious faces around him. For once feeling like he knew what was going on. After the surfing excursion in Melbourne, he’d suggested offhandedly that they go to his family’s ranch in Perth to go off roading. Lewis had been down immediately and Bono had been intrigued.

It hadn’t taken much to put together and he may have thrown Lewis' and Mercedes’ name around to get a quick turnaround but it was worth it when Michelle had sent the video of all the bikes and atvs being unloaded in the bush beyond his Mum’s garden.

He’s been nervous on the flight over, especially with how glum everyone was after the double dnf. But felt a sense of calm the moment they touched down in Perth. It had taken three buses (Mercedes of course) to shuttle them all to Duncraig and it for sure had garnered a small smattering of attention from their neighbours, but the section of the ranch they were at was secluded and away from everyone.

Everyone had taken the travel day to settle into Daniel’s unused farmhouse on the edge of the property. It was a tight fit but fun in the way a family vacation felt. Grace, Joe and his Nonna had been excited to cook for everyone and they chatted away with Lewis, Toto, George and Bono while Daniel wandered off to look at the vehicles. 

He’d wheeled his own bike out of the shed, which caught a few of the mechanics’ attention and that's how he’d inadvertently started a group tuning session. Working on something other than an f1 car while shooting the shit had seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered. And the family meal afterwards was the cherry on top.

That was yesterday, today he grinned gleefully as everyone took in the ‘course’. He was proud of his little masterpiece, building the jumps himself with a few of his buddies over the course of three years. Before he headed to Europe and met up with Charles and subsequently Lewis.

“Lewis, George you are not allowed to do the hard course. Stick to the road course please.” Toto piped up, eyeing one of the larger jumps in the distance. This caused a round of snorting laughter.

“So! How about a track ride?” Daniel grinned and Lewis hopped on his chosen bike eagerly. Some of the mechs were definitely more hesitant, choosing the atvs– preferring four wheels to the death trap of two.

“Uncle Daniel!” A small voice yelled, Isabella ran out of the house holding a helmet that was almost as long as she was tall. “Nonna says to wear your helmet!”

“Ah, thanks Bells.” Daniel lifted her onto his hip. “Do you want to do the track ride with us?” He dipped his head and she put his goggles over his curls.

“Can we do the ET jump?” She asked and Daniel cackled an ‘of course’.

“ET jump?” George asked, putting on his own helmet. He chose a bike.

“The big one,” Daniel settled his niece on the seat of his bike and pointed to the jump in the distance everyone seemed hesitant about. “When you jump it, Isaac says it looks like the movie when he’s flying off.”

Lewis laughed and started his bike, he’d only looked at Daniel’s thighs in his shorts a normal amount. But they needed to hurry up before that changed with how amazing they looked clutching the bit of machinery.

“You’re really gonna jump it with her?” Someone piped up from the back.

“Oh, Bells has done this course loads of times. Right Bells?” Daniel looked down and she grinned up at him with a nod. He helped to fasten his helmet on her head and swung his leg over the back of the bike. “Ready?” He asked the team with a manic grin. 

He saw the moment a few of the mechanics realized that he may just be as wild as Lewis was, just for different sports. There was a new appreciation and respect in their eyes.

“Lets gooooo!” Isabella giggled when Daniel revved his back and took off in a wheelie. She giggled the whole way point in different directions. Daniel looked through his mirrors to see the line of off road vehicles behind him and whooped a cheer. He heard Lewis’ laugh beside him before he sped off for the first jump. Lewis landed cleanly on the other side followed by Toto and George. Daniel waited til everyone went (Bella yelling her notes for more speed) before taking the first jump and throwing a small kick for flair.

They did the first run that way, with some people gaining more and more confidence as the lap went on. The big jump was where a lot of people chickened out much to Daniel’s glee. They were all for jumping out of planes and doing all sorts of dangerous shit, but a pile of dirt was where they drew the line.

“I thought about making a pussy path around it but Chelle wouldn’t let me.”

“Uncle Daniel!” Isabella gasped.

“We’ll do a trick if you don’t tell your Nonna!” Daniel bargained quickly, causing snickers.

“The flip one.” 

“You drive a hard bargain miss Bells.” Daniel held his pinky out for her to hook hers to. She did so with a smile. “I guess we’ll show off a little for our friends.” Daniel teased, looping his bike further back for space and speed.

Lewis watched him with a grin, loving how confident and comfortable Daniel was on the back of his bike doing crazy tricks in the dirt. He landed the front flip easily on the other side, using one hand to clutch his niece’s body easily while they inverted. Isabella kept her hands clutched on the handlebars. The movement was smooth as if they really did this often.

Lewis watched Daniel enjoy the team’s cheers with a honking laugh and endeavored to do more things with him that made him light up this way.

[irondad-defensesquad]

Safe place

Also posted on AO3!

A/N: this was based on one of @fotibrit's great Irondad prompts! Here's the original. I'm very nervous because I didn't write it exactly how it was supposed to be, so I'm sorry if it's too short dhsgfjdg

TRIGGER WARNINGS - panic attack, past child abuse, and trauma

--

Everyone has a safe place. For Tony, it’s the machines, the insides of iron and the engines, oil his favorite smell. It might sound gross and strange to other people, but that’s been the reality since his younger years. An even safer place for him is when he’s under a car, where he can hide from the world.

Or most specifically, from his father.

Teenage Tony Stark once ran away from home, resulting in Howard cutting him off financially to force him to come back. Those were dire times, ones nobody is aware of, not even Rhodey, his best friend. To the media then, unheard of. No one has ever known the truth about Howard Stark, though honestly, Tony doubts it would even taint his reputation.

Either way, Tony has a safe place in his machines, and it’s not one he really shares with anyone. People admire it from a distance, not quite understanding his obsession with it.

But everything changes when a certain spider-kid starts seeing him in his workshop.

Besides updating and fixing Peter’s suit, they also spend some of it going through Tony’s cars. While Tony is under the car, Peter hands him the necessary tools. It's the opposite of Tony’s teenage years. Howard would never let his son anywhere near him or his own workshop, no matter how hard Tony tried to prove to him he was worth it.

The workshop is not only Tony’s safe place. It’s also Peter’s. He sees the spark in the kid’s eyes when they’re building and rebuilding something.

When Tony realizes it, he’s willing to do something he never imagined.

“How about you try?” He suggests, leaving the car.

Peter raises an eyebrow. “Try what?”

The man points at the car, ready to be repaired again.

“... Oh. Uh…”

Peter nervously kneels down to check under the car.

“What do you say?” Tony smiles.

“I…” the kid returns to his feet. “I dunno, Mr. Stark. What if I- I break something?”

Tony scoffs. “Come on, don’t be shy.”

“No, really, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re not going to mess it up.” He pats Peter’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

Peter seems to be awestruck by said words.

“But hey, if you’re not up to it, I’m not gonna force you,” Tony reassures him.

So, he returns down there while Peter sits next to him, waiting for instructions. The thing is… Peter has grown rather quiet. He usually goes on about his day while Tony works – which is not at all distracting, Tony doesn’t mind it. He just wonders why the kid isn’t talking much.

When he checks up on Peter, he finds him very… contemplative, like he’s trying to figure out what to do next.

“Pete? You good?” Tony asks.

“Oh, um…”

The older man gazes at him, wondering what’s up.

“Actually…” Peter clears his throat. “Can I try it now?”

Tony grins. “Sure, buddy.”

Although he wasn’t necessarily disappointed when Peter first rejected it, it does bring him some joy to be sharing his safe place with someone he likes spending time with.

“You know what to do, yeah?” Tony asks as the kid goes under the car this time.

“Y… Yeah.”

“Here,” Tony hands him the screwdriver.

Except…

Peter doesn’t take it.

“Peter?”

“Oh- sorry, sorry.”

“Are you okay?”

“Mmm, yeah, totally.”

However, as Peter takes the tool, Tony notices his hand is… trembling. And he doesn’t even use the screwdriver – he just plays with it nervously, then holding onto it tightly. Tony checks down there, realizing that Peter seems to think the car is going to crush him at any moment as he’s as stiff and hardened as a rock.

“Peter, you don’t have to–” Tony tries, only to be interrupted.

“I’m fine, Mr. Stark, I just–”

The kid gulps.

“I just- I can’t–” Peter heaves. “I can’t breathe–”

Shit.

Tony pulls him back, only for the teen to instantly stand and run away.

“Peter, wait!” The former tries to reach out to him.

Peter stops and snaps, “I can’t BREATHE in there!”

“You don’t have to go back there, I promise. It’s okay.”

The boy’s brown eyes are glowing. But it’s not that spark that Tony sees when they’re having fun.

“You’re safe, Pete,” Tony tells him. “You’re safe.”

Peter sobs. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Hey, shhh…”

“I’m sorry, you trusted me, I didn’t want to let you down–”

“You didn’t, it’s okay.”

Peter starts crying more properly, like Tony’s reassurances are making him let out whatever is repressed inside him. He hugs himself, hiding from Tony, tears falling on the floor.

“Oh, Peter,” the latter wants to cry, too. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to push you.”

“N-No, you don’t get it, I- I was–”

Tony takes one tentative step forward, respecting the boy’s space.

“I was stuck,” Peter says. “I was stuck and I couldn’t breathe and- and it was so dark and suffocating”– he weeps –“I couldn’t get out, no one could hear me–”

Tony is surprised to hear this. It’s like… he has experienced something as awful as this before. But apparently much, much worse.

“I’m here,” he reminds Peter. “I’m here, I can hear you. You can breathe now. You just gotta follow my lead, okay?”

Finally, Peter looks up, eyes and cheeks red.

Tony is gradually stepping closer.

“With me, in… and out…” He exaggerates deep breaths. It’s something Rhodey usually does to help him, and he hopes it does the same for Peter. “In… and out.”

Peter’s breaths are shaky and wet, but he follows Tony’s instructions perfectly. The calmer they are, the closer Tony is.

“You’re doing great, kid,” the man praises. “Keep it going.”

Peter nods and continues. He does it a couple more times before an exasperated sigh comes out of him. Tony is close enough now, wanting to take Peter’s shaking hands into his. He does it slowly so he doesn’t scare him off.

That leads Peter to bury his face against his shoulder. Tony freezes, but not at the contact. It’s the way the kid shrinks like he’s expecting to get yelled at.

This whole thing, Tony sees a teenager that just wanted his father’s approval. That wanted to do everything to prove to him he was good enough.

But Peter… Peter is so much more than just good enough.

The truth is, he’s…

He’s Tony’s safe place.

And he wants to be Peter’s, too.

It should matter more than the machines and cars and an old mechanic shop no one has ever heard of. They are each other’s home.

Finally, Tony wraps both arms around him, as the boy cries silently. Peter doesn’t have the strength to return the hug for now, he just lets himself be hugged because he’s needed this all along.

Eventually, they leave the workshop. They get something to eat, and they just make themselves comfortable. Peter doesn’t need to tell Tony everything today. He knows something is up, but he’s not going to force the boy to do anything else.

All he does… is to be by Peter’s side.

He makes sure he’s safe.

Tony won’t let his kid struggle on his own ever again.

He’ll be here.

Forever and always.

[emsprovisions]

First and/or second prompt for gm ;)

Athena you're so real for this hehehe. the first one immediately formed a scene in my mind so I will go with that one! :)

Oblivious idiots in love Prompts

when they're forced to share a bed, one is freaking out, heart quivering, while the other is half asleep with their mouth wide open

Gus quickly realized that Matt's house didn't have as many rules as his house.

It's not that he wasn't necessarily allowed to share a bed with his friends at sleepovers. It's just that he had a small single bed, and his dad wanted to ensure any friends who spent the night were comfortable. And, okay, really, he wasn't allowed to share a bed with his friends at sleepovers.

For most of the years he had been sleepover-eligible, his only sleepover buddy was Willow. And while Perry Porter was a smart enough man to know Willow was a sisterly figure to his son, he still put his foot down on this matter. His foot remained firm when Matt Tholomule entered the sleepover pool. Matt always slept on the cot they had when he slept over at Gus's house. Gus would set it up in the center of his room–beside his bed–well before Matt arrived and dress it up nice and comfortably for his friend, hoping this cot would provide the best sleep ever. Matt never complained or questioned it, so Gus thought this was simply normal.

So when he arrived at Matt's house, a backpack slung over his shoulder with all his needs for an overnight stay, the first question he had when they got to Matt's room was: "Where am I supposed to sleep?" Matt stared at him, a confused eyebrow raised at the question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Gus gulped. "There's no cot?"

"Oh," Matt laughed, suddenly realizing what was the matter. "I don't have one."

Gus was sort of taken aback. Even Willow always had cots setup for their sleepovers. At Camila's house, he slept on the couch in the basement while Hunter slept on a sleeping bag on the floor.

"Am I sleeping on the floor then?" Gus asked, still confused about the sleeping arrangement.

"No, dummy. You can just sleep in my bed."

"With you???" Gus's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"What's so wrong with that? My sheets are clean and I don't have boo-ties." Matt crossed his arms and smirked at Gus, whose cheeks felt warm.

"I-I don't–"

"Come on, Porter." Matt sat down on his bed and patted the mattress beside him. "We're not even going to sleep for hours, it'll be fine!"

...

When they did finally crawl into Matt's single bed–so many hours later that they may as well have just waited up for the sun–Gus's heart pounded in his chest as he lay beside Matt. He stared at the already half asleep witch beside him. His mouth hung open and his eyes were opening and closing in such a slow manner that Gus had to stifle a giggle. Moonlight streamed in through Matt's windows, casting a soft glow over his face and although he looked silly, he also looked peaceful.

Gus's heart continued to pound in his chest and worries chased around in his head. He was scared his dad would ask a question that would reveal he broke his dad's rules. He was more thrilled by the proximity of the witch that lay nearly-sleeping beside him.

"Matty?"

"Wassit Ughstus?"

A breathy laugh escaped Gus's lips. "Nothing. Goodnight."

"Gight." This response was immediately followed by the evening out of Matt's breathing and very soft snores. Gus watched him a while longer. His chest rose and fell with every soft breath. He was a peaceful sleeper. Gus chewed on his bottom lip. Matt was cuter than Gus thought he should've been. He sort of hated how cute he thought Matt was. He rolled over suddenly and shut his eyes tight, scooting to the edge of the bed to try and put as much distance between himself and Matt as possible.

Somehow, they woke up even closer than before.

[mamirhodessxox]

Scraped prompts from some of my Stories!!

Hey They Delilah, His Strange Addiction & I hate you more1

🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤

I hate you more

“Are we seriously smuggling food into a movie theater? Isn’t that like Illegal?” “Didn’t you literally commit murder & arson within the same week?” “Shutup Cody that’s different.” -Sasha & Cody

“The next time I see Cody I’m gonna do it! I’ll ask him to be my boyfriend!” “Hey Sasha.” “Cody! Will you be my- my- be my- Bed buddy partner!”-Sasha & Cody

“I’m so happy I could stab someone!” “Alright let’s take the knife away from you yeah?”-Marianna & Randy

“I’ll going to grab you by the balls & rip them off if you touch my fucking leftovers again.” “Not the first time you’ve grabbed my balls.”-Sasha & Cody

“No yeah because literally stuffing me in a fucking closet while my house sounds like a battlefield in Gettysburg totally benefits me”-Barbra

“Guys stop fighting! Just make out or something already this sexual tensions getting on my nerves.”-Marianna

“I mean I can see how that benefits you sure but how does you killing one of my buyers during a deal for fun benefit me exactly?”-Cody

“I swear to god Seth if you leave the toilet lid up one more time I’m gonna castrate you.” “That might’ve been me…”-Sasha & Cody

“The next person to walk in this office is getting shot in the cranium.” “Hiii!! It’s so good to see you!” “ohh my god!! Marianna heyyy..!”-Randy & Marianna

“Right cool so next time you bring up having sex with my sister PLEASE CHECK YOUR FUCKING SURROUNDINGS FIRST.”-Seth

“What if we just stuff him in a shipping container and ship him off to china or something?” “IS THAT NOT HUMAN TRAFFICKING?”-Cody & Sasha

“Hey Cody? I just started my period can you go to the store and buy me tampons?” “Yeah sure what size is your pussy?” “Nevermind.”-Sasha & Cody

“I hope everyone goes to bed early so I can set this fucking house on fire.” “Hey guy’s i think we should evacuate like right now.”-Sasha & Seth

“Your grounded!” “BUT MOMMM I ONLY STABBED LIKE 10 OF THEM!!”-Barbra & Sasha

🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤

His strange addiction

“Can you please get out of my kitchen while I’m cooking it’s stressing me out.” “Oh you mean the kitchen I pay the bills for? Yeah sure.”-Milena & Cody

“You look sooo…beautiful.” “Cody you seducing me right now is only going to make me more pissed off.”-Milena & Cody

“So..Can i ask how you did..that?” “He was being cocky at a gym and ripped his tit doing things he shouldn’t be doing without a warmup.” “Not exactly how I’d describe it but alright.”-Milena & Cody at the doctors office

“Nobody wants to smell your stench Bianca. Please stand at least 10 ft away from me because social distancing won’t save me from whatever airborne diseases you carry.”-Seth @ Bianca

“Are you sure you want me to take your picture because last time I did you threw it at my head & screamed russian at me.” “It was spanish don’t be dramatic.”-Jey & Milena

“How about we talk about the time you slept with Bianca?” “Worst mistake of my life.”-Milena & Cody

“Yeah no next time your horny I’ll cock block you & give YOU your own taste of medicine on what having blue balls feels like.” “I don’t have balls I have a vagina..?” “Fuck.”-Cody & Milena

“¿CON QUIÉN COÑO ESTÁS HABLANDO??” “UHHH CHICKEN QUESADILLAS & A BAJA BLAST!?”-Milena & Jey

“For someone who used to call himself Dashing Cody Rhodes your not really dashing, your kind of a dick.”-Seth

“You guys make me want to jump off a flying airplane.” “That’s pretty dangerous you probably shouldn’t.”-Milena & Jey

🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤

Hey There Delilah

“Are you sure I can trust you with a knife because last time I gave you one you threw it at Cody.” “He was annoying me what do you expect?”-Delilah & Mirabella

“Who the fuck came in here with a rancid smelling pussy??” *Nikki walks in* “There’s your answer.”-Mira & Randy

“YOUR BOOBS ARE SO FUCKING FAKE MIRA LEAVE ME ALONE!” “Erm actually they’re not I inspected them myself.”-Nikki & Randy

“Dirty talk me.” “The dishes in the sink are unwashed, trash is polluting our earth..”-Cody & Lilah

“So are you like…? Horny?” “No but I can be.”-Mira & Randy

“You can’t bring me down I’m on a high right now! And the D is FIREEEE” “Mira stop quoting gypsy rose you do not know what the “D” even feels like”-Mirabella & Cody

“If you ever give Delilah a pregnancy scare again I’ll cut your balls off” “Good to know she’s not pregnant…?”-Mirabella & Cody

“Guys what’s that stain on the couch?” “My bad bro me & Mira got bored.” “Oh..”-Seth & Randy

“Coddyyy!!! Look at me!! Aren’t I so cute!!” “DELILAH I’M SCARED THERES A SKIN-WALKER IN MY DRESSING ROOM!”-Nikki & Cody

“Cody c’mon you deserve a REAL woman.” “I guess i don’t have the female anatomy anymore to prove that I’m in-fact a real woman.”-Nikki & Delilah

“SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL STRANGLE ALL OF YOU IN YOUR SLEEP.” “Someone get a pregnancy test for Delilah please.”-Delilah & Seth

“Last time we went to target you bought a baby crib.” “So?! I WANT THE FUCKING CRIB!” “Babe YOUR NOT PREGNANT!?”-Delilah & Cody

“I’m pregnanttt!!” “We knew when you started shouting at Cody over how you saw a worm die today.”-Delilah & Mirabella

“Are there nuts in that banana bread” “No just chocolate chi-“ “Cody loves nuts. Including mine.”-Cody, Delilah & Randy

“I can’t eat nuts i’ll have an allergic reaction” “That’s not what you told me last night.”-Mira & Randy

“I look so mysterious & spooky!!” “Your drunk & wearing Cody’s wedding suit go lay down.”-Delilah & Mira

🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤

Dead Witches Wish

“Just an FYI tall dark & horny 12 o’clock” “STOP MAKING FUCKING JOKES WHILE A DEMON IS ABOUT TO KILL US SETH I’M LITERALLY ABOUT TO RIP YOUR THROAT OUT RIGHT NOW.”-Renna & Seth

“So you’re a vampire?? Do you like turn into a bat & say bleh bleh bleh??” “No…I do not say Bleh Bleh Bleh. I’m a grown man.” “You cried over the last episode of My Little Pony shut the fuck up.”-Evara, Cody & Randy

“So is anybody going to address the elephant in the room.” “Guys why the fuck is there a dead man standing in my room right now?” “Oh thats greg, anyways what about the devi-“-Seth & Renna

“Is it a bad time to say I’m really horny right now?” “Randy your always horny.”-Renna & Randy

“So…Dinner?” “After you tried drinking my blood? No thanks Count Dracula I’m good.”-Cody & Evara

“Can someone explain to me why there’s a cult in all black cloaks humming in our backyard?” “Oh seth found a new hobby.” “Being a cult leader?” “Yeah the people here are easily manipulated.”-Renna & Cody

“Are you sure you want me to do this spell with you? Because the last time we did this and messed it up almost you stood by the end of my bed at 3:33 AM mumbling reserved latin.” “Your being over dramatic.” “You summoned the fucking devil into my closet?” “Calm down that’s a stretch” “HE’S STANDING RIGHT THERE WHAT DO YOU MEAN??”-Seth & Evara

“So are we just not going to talk about the fact we literally spawned into the 7th layer of hell??” “Shut-up your going to wake it.” “WAKE WHAT EVE??”-Evara & Renna

“I love you by the way.” “Dude! That is AWESOME SAUCE!”-Seth & Becky

“Someone tell eve to come out of her room she’s been making love spells and sulking because she thinks Cody doesn’t love her back.” “I literally told her to stop turning people who slightly disagree with her into frogs.”-Randy & Cody

“Hey guys just wanna let you know that I would not recommend to go into the base-“ “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?”-Randy & Seth

“How would you describe me?” “Well you look a little emo so I’m gonna say you give like Panic At the Disco vibes hut specifically their song New Perspective.” “Oh.”-Cody & Evara

“I think I’m in love with you..” “Cody out of all of the times to confess this you confess it as we’re hiding from a fucking demon.”-Cody & Evara

🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤✨🖤

🏷️ list: @alyyaanna @ginswife @coolpastelartshoe @greatkoalawizard @cokolin044 @kotoriarlert @alicerosejensen @bunnybot55 @agent-dessis-posts @adollonyourshelf @mini-rhodes @southerngirl41 @harmshake @femdisa @kabloswrld @claymoresofinfamy23 @jeysbvck

[trudemaethien]

Ship: Fives/Boil

Words: Convict, scholar, dog

have fun making it weird <3

‘kay so the spirit of the prompts is there, promise. if you squint as hard as Dogma. also idk about making it weird but i hope i hit hot? 😘

Everyone knows what the red triangles mean, but it’s not so easy to quantify. During off-hours, commanders shut down their good-idea-fairies, break up any groups made up entirely of them, monitor them for contraband—but it’s not that they are troublemakers or criminals, not exactly.

They also tend to be more highly decorated, have better chances of making it through the chaos of a battle, be more willing to take chances, and more open to taking a shiny under their pauldron.

But it’s not done to inquire into what exactly happened or ask why a trooper’s paint includes one. It might not even be an event. Hardcase, who bore none himself, had taken one look at shiny CT-6922 and gotten out a red brush for him, way before he’d gotten boots on the ground. No one understands quite why, yet, but Hardcase’s faith is unflinching.

It can even be a bit of an unspoken connection between brothers who’ve never seen each other before, which is what is happening now.

The goldie tips his red-arrow and dark-ship-diagram festooned helmet in interest toward Fives across the landing deck, and Fives tilts his own in a return of the sentiment. They’ll almost certainly run into each other again tonight, despite the thronging mass of two battalions worth of troopers on deck.

Fives grins and heads to the barracks to in-process. He’s getting out of this armor and into civvies. Not to make it too hard for the other guy to find him, but—yeah, a little bit.

If the other guy is a red arrow, he’ll enjoy the hunt.

<><>

A heavy hand claps down on his shoulder and a brother with what has to be a dare-shave leans down into his space. Fives does his best not to inhale the shandy he’d been swallowing as he turns to greet the newcomer.

…who doesn’t lean back very far. Their faces are much less than polite speaking distance apart.

“Hel-lo,” Fives says, because flirting is his go-to.

“You’re a hard man to find,” the brother says with wry good humor. “I’m Boil.”

“Fives.”

“How— are you guys old buddies, or only just now meeting?” Dogma asks, squinting between the two of them.

“Yes,” says Fives at the same time that Boil says “No.”

They both grin delightedly, darting a shot-quick glance aside at one another.

Dogma thins his lips, but drowns his objections in the last slug of his drink. “I’m going to find Tup,” he announces, sliding out of his seat, and to Fives, “Do not light anything on fire while I’m not with you.”

Good man. He’s growing into it, little by little.

“Fire, huh?” Boil asks.

“Nah, was thinking something a bit hotter than that,” Fives says.

Boil gets his drift. “Oh?” he says leadingly, and leans back in his seat, hooking his elbows over the top of the chair back.

Fives turns and slips his fingers under the raised hem of Boil’s civvie shirt, tracing boldly up from the crest of his hipbone to just beneath his ribs and digging in a little.

Boil’s near hand advances up his arm past his shoulder until his fingers are in Fives hair and his palm lays sure and heated on his nape.

“Your beard is juuust going to touch mine,” Boil points out. His tongue darts out to wet his lips.

“Complaining?” Fives teases.

“Hell no.”

🔻🔒 https://archiveofourown.org/works/51600877

[birgittesilverbae]

going so very random here, might be a shitty prompt… Beatrice and JC + run

"Fancy a running buddy?"

Beatrice glances up from tightening the double knot of her shoelace and swallows down a sigh. "Sure," she says, rising easily to her feet. "If you feel like doing shuttles."

"The S&C team has you guys on them too, huh?" 

"We do play the same sport."

"Right, yeah." He bounces up onto his toes. "Wanna put in a couple warm-up laps before we get going?"

"Two," Beatrice confirms, glancing at her watch before smoothly transitioning into an easy jog. JC hurries to catch up and takes position at her side. 

Their footfalls land soft and rhythmic, both well-versed in the art of partnered running. Beatrice turns her focus inwards, monitoring the tension in her neck, her shoulders, her back, concentrating on keeping her jaw loose and her face slack. There's still a hint of a twinge in her right thigh, the deep bruise from a cleat stomp that hasn't quite gone away, but she lets it slip from her mind like so much sand. Focuses instead on the forward swing of her leg, the contact of her toe, the shift of her weight over her stance leg. 

"You this quiet on the pitch?"

She only just has the wherewithal not to stumble, turns her head to find a thoughtful gaze directed back at her.

"Hardly."

"Guess it'd be pretty difficult to run your backline if you were, huh?"

Beatrice hums her response, picks up her pace. He matches easily, legs swallowing up the ground she'd put between them. "Guess it would be," she replies, clipped and distant. She pulls up in front of the bleachers, wipes a hand across her brow.

"Just let me know if I'm talking too much," JC remarks, his breathing a bit ragged already despite the languid pace of their warm-up laps. "I won't take offence to it, I know you can get pretty intense about your training."

She pauses mid-search through her duffle bag and glances up at him. "Oh?"

"Yeah, my girlfriend says you've really been putting her through her paces." Her brows furrow, and he back pedals frantically. "Not that that's a bad thing! She's been enjoying it! And you don't get the captaincy without dedication, right?"

"Your girlfriend?" Beatrice asks distractedly, heading for the pitch with pylons in hand. 

JC trails after her. "Yeah, Ava Silva? She said you two have been–"

"I wasn't aware you two were dating," Beatrice replies coldly. She paces out the distances, drops her pylons, tries desperately to keep her shoulders from climbing towards her ears. "She never mentioned you."

"Oh," JC says, looking a bit deflated. "Well, we are." 

"Congratulations," Beatrice deadpans. She sets her feet on the starting line, darts her eyes over towards JC. "Are you ready?"

"We're already starting?" he squawks, darting towards her side. 

She nods, sinks into the slow burning heat rising in her chest, pulls on it as fuel, as propellant, as impetus. She coils herself, taut as a compressed spring, every line of her vibrating with energy. Her watch joins the quivering fray as her alarm goes off. 

"Three," Beatrice says out of the side of her mouth as she shifts her weight to her right forefoot. "Two." As she cocks her left arm back. "One." As her fuse burns down to nothingness. "Run."

[babygirl-diaz]

Would You Rescue Me? (Buddie Fanfic)

((Based on a prompt I got: Eddie gets mugged while Buck is going to get the car, but he sees it from a distance and steps in.

TW: Mugging))

Eddie stumbled as he walked down the street. His head was spinning, and he did not know where he was going. He vaguely remembered Buck’s voice telling him to wait while he got the car, but he couldn’t be sure if it was real or not. He should probably get an Uber. But he needs his phone for that. Shit, where was his phone? 

Eddie felt something poke in his side before he heard the voice. 

“Give me your wallet!” 

Eddie was so drunk that at first, he didn’t even realize that he was being robbed. 

“And your phone!” 

The person beside him dug whatever they had in their hand further into Eddie’s side. 

“No,” Eddie replied, feeling bold. Or maybe it was his state of drunkenness talking. 

“I have a gun in my hand, asshole. Now give me your wallet and phone,” the man growled in Eddie’s ear. 

“You know, I’ve just been through a nasty breakup. I don’t need this right now,” Eddie told the mugger, unfazed by his gun. 

Eddie felt the mugger poke him harder. “I don’t care about your life story. Give me your damn wallet and phone right now.” 

“Nah, I don’t think you’ll pull the trigger.” Sober Eddie would probably yell at him for being so stupid, but right now, he just didn’t care. 

“Hey! What’s going on over there?” 

Eddie heard a familiar voice and a huge grin spread across his face. “Buck!” He called out. “Oh not much. This person is just trying to rob me. I think they just need a hug.” 

“No, I don’t need a damn hug,” the mugger replied. “Just give me your wallet and your phone. Both of you.” 

“No, I don’t think we will,” Buck said, coming closer to them. “Even from here, I can tell that’s not a real gun.” 

Eddie gasped at that and looked at the mugger. “You dirty, dirty cheat.” 

The mugger looked between Buck and Eddie before running away. 

Eddie threw his head back against the wall and laughed. “That wasn’t funny, Eddie.” When Buck got closer, Eddie could see his glare. “I told you to stay outside the bar. Why did you leave?” 

“You’re yelling at me.” Eddie pouted at him. 

“I-” Buck groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not yelling. I was just worried. Are you okay?” 

Eddie nodded. “As okay as I can be after Marisol dumped me,” he added dramatically. 

Buck shook his head. He then wrapped his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and led him to the car. Eddie leaned against him and smiled. 

.“So, what happened between Marisol and you?” Buck casually asked once they were on the freeway. 

“She dumped me, Buck. That’s what happened.” Eddie went back to being dramatic. “She thinks I am in love with someone else.” 

Buck’s eyes narrowed, and he glanced over at Eddie. “With who?” He asked. 

“With you,” Eddie replied without missing a beat. 

“What?!” Buck asked, looking over at him again. “She thinks you’re in love with me?” 

“Yeah.” Eddie shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He rested his head on the window and started to drift off to sleep. 

“Hey, hey, Eddie, you can’t just drop that on me and fall asleep!” 

Eddie groaned when he felt someone shaking him. “What?” He whined. 

“Why does your ex think you are in love with me?” Buck asked. 

Eddie yawned and settled back against the seat. “Because I think I am,” he replied offhandedly and fell asleep. 

Eddie woke up again when he felt someone touching him. They hauled him to his feet and wrapped their arm around his waist. As Eddie became slightly more awake, he cracked open an eye and realized it was Buck. He was taking him into an elevator. “We’re not at mine,” he pointed out. 

“No, I don’t want Chris seeing you like this,” Buck replied. Carla has agreed to spend the night at your place with Chris while you sleep off your drunk ass over here.” 

Eddie leaned heavily on Buck’s back as Buck opened the door of his apartment. Buck smelled nice. Like rain and some kinda flower Eddie was too drunk to remember the name of. 

“Hey!” Eddie complained when Buck took him inside and dumped him on the couch. 

After Eddie lay down, he felt Buck take off his shoes and put a blanket over him and then there were fingers in his hair. He opened his eyes and found Buck looking at him. “What?” He asked in a sleep-heavy voice. 

“Nothing, go to sleep, Eddie. We’ll talk in the morning.” 

Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. He soon fell asleep but he could swear he felt something soft and wet pressed briefly against his forehead.