#ravi: oh and of course how could I forget eddie he has to come to queer night too

[eddiespornstache]

Need a scene where Ravi’s like, Buck, it’s cool that’s you’re bi, we should have a queer 118 night at a gay club with Hen sometime

And Buck’s like, wait, Ravi, you’re queer too?

And Ravi says, well yeah, I have been the whole time you guys just literally never ask me anything about myself

[derekmorganscrocs]

Ravi (9-1-1): Holiday Cheer

Word Count: 2,398

Pairing: Ravi Panikkar x Buckley!Reader

Summary: Reader’s enthusiasm about the holidays is contagious when Ravi can’t seem to find his holiday spirit.

Minor spoilers for season 5 of 9-1-1!!

Quick Note: I know Ravi is new but I love him so so so much. He’s so sweet and I really hope we get to know more about him. I jumped off of his conversation with Hen from 5.10 “Past is Prologue” where he mentions spending time in hospitals as a kid, so if you haven’t seen that, I mean I just kind of explained it but like, that’s where that comes from. Merry Christmas and enjoy!

You come barrelling into the 118 with armfuls of Christmas decorations, a smile on your face and a Santa hat on your head, your big brother trailing behind you with a stack of boxes. They’re full of more Christmas decorations, of course. You’re a flurry of giggles and energy, Michael Bublé playing from your back pocket as you walk.

Buck never understood your fascination with Christmas, even though it’s his doing. Not that he knows that. Every year, he’d send you super elaborate gifts from his adventures, complete with a crazy story about what he had to do to get it for you. Some of the stories are outlandish and clearly exaggerated, but they’re your favourite thing.

“Hey, Mini Buckley, you’re in good spirits today,” Hen laughs, surveying the Christmas stuff in your arms. When she lays eyes on your brother, she laughs again. “You alright there, Buck?”

“No,” he groans, clearly carrying one too many boxes. Hen grabs two of the five boxes, and Buck lets out a small breath, as if he’s just remembered to breathe. “Thanks.”

The three of you make your way upstairs, meeting an exasperated looking Bobby, as well as a very focused Eddie, and an even more focused Chimney. Eddie and Chimney are engrossed in a Christmas edition of monopoly, which Bobby seems to be refereeing.

“Check it,” you say, dropping the decorations beside the game board. “Merry Christmas, you filthy animals.”

Eddie and Chimney forget the game right away, picking through the decorations like little kids. Bobby sighs in relief, slipping away from the table and into the kitchen. Buck and Hen put the boxes down beside you and Buck joins Eddie and Chimney. Hen rolls her eyes playfully, turning to you.

“You think you got enough?”

“No. First of all, Christmas is my favourite. Second, the toy drive has to be perfect! I have this list somewhere…” you trail off, looking for your list. “There it is!” You pick it up, checking off ‘decor unload’.

“Oh no,” Hen sighs.

“What?” Chimney looks up, laying eyes on the clipboard in your hands. “Why does the Buckley have the clipboard?” His eyes widen slightly as he stares.

“…I’m in charge of the toy drive?”

“Standard rule, Buckleys should not have clipboards at any time,” Chimney states as if reading from a rule book.

“Ha-ha,” your brother says snarkily.

You scoff and look back at your clipboard. There’s enough to keep everyone busy between calls, but not so much as making the day overwhelming. You quickly check off the decorations you have, making sure nothing is missing.

“Oh my god,” you gasp. “I forgot the star for the tree.”

Everyone tries to reassure you that it’s fine, but you’re not so sure. That was the one thing that was super important to you as a kid. The tree had to have the perfect star. Fuck. You haven’t even started the toy drive and there’s already things going wrong.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” The new voice grabs your attention, and you glance over. Ravi. How long has he been there? He definitely heard you sulking about forgetting the star. Damn. The one person you don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of.

“Hi Ravi,” you say softly. “We just unpacked the decorations for the toy drive. I, uh, you think you could help? Set up, I mean.”

“I guess.” He half-smiles, but his eyes look sad.

“Thank you!” Your smile seems to be contagious. He looks happier, but you don’t have time to analyze when Bobby asks about timeframe.

Soon enough, you’re ordering everyone around to decorate and set up the tree. Buck and Eddie are dragging around massive boxes for donations, and Chimney and Bobby are setting out some baked goods. Hen is on a ladder, hanging garlands.

“Alright everyone, we’re looking good so far. Remember, we are red, gold, and white. Green is only for trees and garland, there is a no silver policy. And only warm white! If I see bright white, you’ll be seeing stars because I’ll be kicking your ass.”

Eddie and Buck pause as they finish setting up the last donation box. They look at each other, and Buck points at you.

“Is this what I was like with the clipboard?”

“Yes.”

Twenty minutes of decorating goes by uninterrupted, and you’re currently trying to reach a branch that’s about three inches away from your fingertips. Someone slips behind you, taking the ornament and hanging it on the branch. You turn around, coming face to face… well, face to chest, with Ravi. You glance up, only to find the lights of the tree sparkling in his dark eyes.

“It looks really good,” he says softly. You notice how glassy his eyes are, and you can hear the strain in his voice. His throat is tight and he swallows nervously.

“Thank you.” You put a hand on his chest, making him look down at you. “Ravi…” you pause, not sure if you should ask. “Are you okay?”

“I-“

He’s cut off by the alarm. You take his hand and pull him toward the truck.

The call is in and out. A man who cut a Christmas tree and accidentally dropped it on himself instead of away. Just some bruises and a few scratches, nothing too serious.

After sending the man in the ambulance, and reminding all the nearby tree-shoppers to push the tree away while sawing and to ask for a hand if they need, your team is free to pack up. Nothing too serious happened, no damage, no tragedy, thankfully. A Christmas miracle if you’ve ever seen one. You start to get lost in thought, and make your way over to a familiar face.

You sit on the back of the ladder truck, beside Eddie. He’s taken on this strange mentor role for you, he doesn’t have the same brotherly role as Buck, but he also doesn’t father you the way Bobby does. Yet he always sees through your facade of pretending nothing is troubling you.

“What is it?”

“What? I didn’t even do anything,” you respond.

“You look like a lost puppy,” Eddie teases.

“Every time,” you sigh. “Ravi seems sad. I don’t think he’s having the best Christmas.” You frown, looking over at him. Ravi is putting backs back in the truck, a frown on his face.

“Go talk to him. It’s the start to getting closer with him.”

“How did you-“

“It’s so obvious. Go!” He practically pushes you toward Ravi. You stand, glancing back at Eddie. He raises an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay.”

You approach Ravi, picking up some gear and helping him put it away. He gives you a thankful smile, and the task is finished quickly. You watch as his eyes settle on something behind you, and when you turn you see a family holding hands with matching Christmas hats. He’s sad about Christmas.

“Ravi, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he whispers, shaking his head slightly as if he’s clearing away the fog. “I’m fine.” He leans against the truck, hand on the latch of the compartment you just closed.

“You’re not.” You put your hand over his, looking into his eyes. “I know you well enough to know that something is bothering you.”

He pauses, as if trying to decide what to do. It seems like he’s debating whether or not to open up, and you interlock your fingers with his, trying to let him know you’re there.

“I don’t know,” he sighs, standing up straight. “Christmas has always been hard for me, my family never had much money with all my medical bills, and my dad was always working overtime to make more money. Don’t get me wrong, we tried, and I mean the nurses and doctors did their best to make sure i had a Christmas. I just… never really associated Christmas with joy.”

“I’m so sorry, Ravi.” You wrap your arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. He returns the hug and you sigh gently. How can you turn around his perspective on Christmas? “You know, Christmas was never great for me either. The only thing that made it worth it was the epic story and cool gift that Buck sent me.”

“Really?”

“Really. I create the magic that I never got to experience, so that kids like me can have a merry Christmas.”

“I never thought about it like that,” Ravi says, watching your face as your eyes follow a couple of birds in the sky. “That’s why you need this toy drive to be perfect?”

“Yeah.” You nod, smiling slightly. “Seeing other kids enjoy Christmas kind of makes me forget how much I hated it when I was younger.”

“I guess I could always make new traditions, couldn’t I?”

“Now you’re thinking,” you laugh, knocking his shoulder gently.

“Everything packed?” Bobby walks up to you and Ravi, and the two of you give him a nod. “Alright everyone, back to the station. We’re going to have to really crunch that decorating, we’re running short on time.”

Everyone piles into the engine, talking and planning their Christmas decorating or shopping. You watch Ravi, who still seems to feel out of place.

“Hey, Ravi! How do you feel about Michael Bublé?” You hold up your phone and hit play on the Christmas album. Buck, Hen, and Chimney sigh, while you, Eddie, and Bobby start singing along to the music that fills the inside of the fire truck. Ravi joins in, and you bump his shoulder with yours as you sing goofily. He smiles.

Before long, you’re back at the station, and everyone has settled back into their decorating groove. Except for someone, who seems to be missing.

“Has anyone seen Ravi? I need his help with this.” You look around, but Ravi is nowhere to be seen. “His coffee run time doesn’t check out with his absence,” you pout.

“He went out a while ago,” Eddie tells you. “Said he needed to pick up a thing or something. Probably not coffee, considering he’s been gone a while.”

“Thanks,” you say, turning away.

Where did he go? The toy drive starts in less than ten minutes and he’s not here. You know he got his donations already, he was so excited to give back to the community. That’s one of the things you like so much about him, he’s so sweet and caring.

You lean against a table, crossing your arms as you survey the station. It looks really good. The whole building radiates Christmas, and the posters that are plastered to the firetrucks even match the colour scheme you chose for the rest of the decorations. When your eyes drift to the tree again, you sigh. Damn star. You always forget something.

“Alright guys, doors are opening in five,” Bobby calls out from upstairs. Everyone rushes back to work, wanting to put last minute touches on their stations. You just frown. The star thing is really bugging you. And one of the reasons you put so much into this isn’t even here.

The back door swings open, drawing your attention, and in rushes Ravi. A smile breaks onto your face. He practically runs over to where you’re leaning and puts a box on the table.

“I hope I’m not too late,” he pants, reaching for the box. He opens it and pulls out an antique gold star to put on top of the tree. You gawk at it and him for a minute before breaking into a smile and flinging your arms around him.

“Ravi, I could kiss you right now!” You freeze, stepping back and glancing at him. “I mean- I, I could. I would! I- not like that, well yes like that, but uh, I shouldn’t, you- I,” you stutter.

He takes your face in his hands and silences you with a kiss. It’s soft and sweet, but filled with desire. And when he pulls away, he presses his forehead to yours for a second. Your hands rest on his chest, his hands still on your face. And you both laugh.

“Took long enough,” Chimney teases with a chuckle, patting your back as he walks by. You and Ravi pull apart, but you take his hand, not wanting to lose the contact.

“Hey, we better get this thing on the tree!” You look over your shoulder, searching for your brother. “Evan,” you shout. He looks up with a scowl, probably because you called him Evan. Whatever. “Put this on the tree!” You whip out your clipboard and check it off, finishing your list once and for all.

“Wow,” Ravi laughs. “This looks… amazing.” He glances at you, watching your face as you supervise your brother putting the star on the tree. He notices you don’t have a hat on and plucks a Santa Claus hat from the box of them for your colleagues to wear when you open the doors. He puts it on your head. “And now you look even more amazing.”

“Thanks,” you say with a smile, feeling your face heat up slightly. “Ravi that star is perfect. Thank you.”

“I know how much this means to you, I couldn’t not get one.”

You pop onto your tiptoes and kiss his cheek. And right as you whisper another thank you, Bobby opens the doors and the toy drive starts. As families flood in with donations and Christmas spirit fills the air, Ravi keeps smiling. The two of you stand behind a table, accepting donations and wishing people happy holidays.

It’s safe to say you’ve spread the cheer to Ravi, who looks truly happy for the second time today. As the rush of the toy drive slows down, he puts an arm around you and pulls you to his side.

“How would you feel about being my date to the Christmas party next week?” Ravi smirks down at you and you glance up with a smile.

“That would be amazing.”

“Perfect,” he says, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “You know, it’s nice to feel festive for a change.”

You nod, wrapping your arms around his torso. Resting your head on his chest for a second, you let out a content sigh. You’ve wanted to be able to do this for a long time. Ravi embraces you and you look up, arms still around your boy.

“Merry Christmas?”

“Merry Christmas,” he murmurs with a grin, kissing you once more.