#t.k. talks

[insomniac-ships]

There's a special kind of torment that is getting into a Thing™ when you know that the fandom is about as hospitable as the surface of the sun is inhabitable.

[buckevantommy]

Bucktommy Fixit where they reconnect next year and become friends - albeit ones who mostly converse via text and only really see each other on calls or running into each other at a bar etc. They don’t actually make plans to hang out, they just keep in touch. But keeping in touch turns into daily text conversations about anything and everything which turns into post-shift phonecalls at least once a week.

Meanwhile: Buck is casually dating, maybe more than one person, because he’s not looking to settle down right now he’s just looking to have some fun and meet some interesting people. But he starts dating one guy a little more seriously, to the point he stops dating others.

Also: Tommy’s been seeing a therapist. And doing art therapy. And trying his damndest not to turn into a sad lonely old man. It was a new year’s resolution kind of thing. He’d dated casually but soon realised it was better to just meet his base needs and focus on platonic relationships - like new friends and old friends, acquaintances and coworkers, and what little family he still talks to. 

Someone asks how Buck’s new boyfriend feels about Buck texting his ex-boyfriend so much (and Buck has mixed feelings about all of that: having an ex-boyfriend and a second boyfriend makes him giddy and conflicted all at once). He starts to wonder if he shouldn’t be texting Tommy so much now that he’s dating someone properly. But he doesn’t get the same want to text his boyfriend about his work day or random things in his life, and when they do text it’s brief and he doesn’t respond to Buck’s rambling trains of thought the same way Tommy does. He thinks it’s fine. Not everyone is a texter. And Tommy is his friend and people text their friends all the time while dating or being married.

But it’s different when it’s an ex. And Buck hasn’t told his current boyfriend that the friend he’s always texting with is an ex. Not that current boyfriend is aware of how much they’re texting or how often they talk on the phone. And current boyfriend knows Buck’s ex is called Tommy. And Buck always just says ‘a friend’ whenever current boyfriend asks who pinged him. Never ‘just’ a friend; Tommy will never be that for Buck, despite everything.

Things come to a head late one night after/during a rough shift or after a fight with Buck’s current boyfriend. Buck calls Tommy and vents because Tommy always lets him vent and always listens to what he has to say, and then he broaches what they haven’t discussed since reconnecting months ago: does Tommy ever think about where they’d be right now if they were still together?Buck has taken responsibility for his part in moving too fast, but he wants to know more about Tommy’s headspace now compared to when things ended between them. It’s curiousity in that ‘what if’ sense, but he also wants to know how Tommy is really doing, if he’s opening himself up to people, letting himself be happy, be loved.

There’d been a closure type of conversation not long after they reconnected, with Tommy apologizing and being sincerely happy for Buck and mentioning how he’s been working on himself a lot in the time since. And buck was happy for him but Tommy held back on details about what exactly he was doing and what that meant for him and his future relationships. He wanted Tommy to want to tell him, so he didn’t pry, but he liked the idea of being a friend Tommy could be open and honest with.

“Evan..”

Tommy knows he hates when he calls him ‘Buck’, but he never actually switched back to ‘Evan’, instead just kind of omitted saying his name altogether. Buck wonders what he’s listed as on Tommy’s phone. On Buck’s phone Tommy is ‘TK’, and he’s told more than one white lie to more than one nosey person that it was a firefighter friend from Texas - gay but happily married. He does keep in touch with T.K., but there’s periods between his letters on Buck’s contact list.

Tommy already said he’s sorry. He’s already told Buck it wasn’t his fault, that he would’ve ended things eventually even if they took their time with every step and that’s on him, it’s his issues and his life, not Buck’s.

“I can’t think about that.”

“I think about it all the time.”

Buck has a boyfriend and he’s happy, but he thinks about his ex-boyfriend slash current friend and what they could’ve looked like today if Buck had found a way to make Tommy believe he wanted all of him. He tells himself it’s to know himself better, to be better prepared and try harder next time. But he’s kidding himself if he says it’s not because he still has feelings for Tommy.

“You have a boyfriend.”

“Yeah.”

“I just want you to be happy.”

And.. he is. He is happy with current boyfriend. But he was happy with Tommy. And he can’t help wondering if he was happier with Tommy than he is right now, or if Tommy was right and his excitement and wonder about being in a queer relationship got muddled up with how he felt about Tommy. He still doesn’t know. He wishes he knew. 

“I was happy with you.” Tommy sighs over the line but Buck doens’t let him cut things off. “I know you think it was puppy love, and that I didn’t know you well enough, but.” But. He knows Tommy better now. Tommy has opened up to him as a friend, sharing personal details about himself and his past - not everything Buck wants to know and he never could bring himself to ask, but he’s learned things about Tommy in these past few months that he wishes he’d known when they were dating. And he wants to know more. He wants to know it all. 

“But?”

“Sometimes, it works backwards.” Sometimes you get to know someone and fall for them, and then you learn dark things about their past or get a better look at their emotional baggage or they go through a rough time. And some people break up because it’s too much or not what they wanted. But some people simply care more, and become stronger together for it. Buck wanted the chance to know Tommy better, to be there with him through the bad times. He never got to find out how things would’ve gone but he thinks he knows his own heart well enough to know he wouldn’t have abandoned or rejected or hated or been fed up with Tommy because he has a past or he’s imperfect or life threw some crap at him.

Buck knows people are more than they seem. He wants to see them for everything they are, to be trusted with that, the same way he wants to be seen in return and wanted anyway.

“What does?”

“Love.”

Sometimes, you love someone more after you learn the bad stuff - or what they think is bad - not less.

Buck breathes in as Tommy remains quiet.

“I didn’t have to know all of you to love you, Tommy. And whatever you think about how I would’ve reacted to the things you didn’t share with me, you’re wrong. I know I would’ve loved you anyway. And not out of pity, or some misguided infatuation, but because knowing you better means getting to love more of you, it means loving you better.”

Tommy doesn’t respond, and when there’s a bleep from Buck’s phone he thinks Tommy hung up - except he didn’t: it’s a facetime request. They’ve done this a few times before but only for something on a call or because it was easier for Buck to show Tommy what he was talking about in realtime rather than try to send through photos and videos.

Tommy fills his screen looking soft around the edges, hair and clothes and face bed-rumpled. His face is drawn into something that threatens to break Buck’s heart again; it beats in aching memory and yearns in equal measure. You’re good, he wants to say, you don’t deserve what you put on yourself.

“Tommy..”

[jun3ee]

A couple more minutes? (T.K)

A/N: If I made a fic about 2010 Tom face-fucking the reader, would y’all read…?😖🥺 ANYWAYS this was rushed asf- it’s basically the (Sub! Bill) fic I made but with Tom, it’s super rushed sry. 😔 (NOT PROOFREAD) (Sub! Tom x Fem reader)

(MDNI)

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈੈ✩‧₊˚

“B-Bitte Liebe”

Tom lets out a whimper, his body flush against yours as you straddle him, getting him all worked up before the last concert as you rub your clothed cunt against his clothed, throbbing cock. His forehead being covered in beads of sweat, but not just from the concert.

The big bad guitarists' eyes glazed over as slight tears threatened to slip over his waterline. You keep grinding your body on him as people outside continue to yell out how much minutes he had left, but frankly, could you help stopping at this point after seeing him on stage? Watching his fingers work on the guitar so expertly as the veins in his forearms slightly bulged? The panting you could hear from him as he strummed his guitar to the songs? Watching the beads of sweat slowly drip down his head after each performance? Watching him thrust into that damn guitar, bucking his hips up on it as he searched for you like a lost puppy in that big crowd with those big, beautiful brown eyes that are looking into yours right now helplessly begging to cum..? Definitely not.

“Out in twenty, Tom!”

“S-Scheiße”

He mumbles. All this guitarist talking about was being such a tough guy in all those interviews. That whole demeanor being switched as you watched him whimper and whine under you, squirming and grabbing your hips as his solidified length twitched and yearned for more under those rough textured baggy jeans of his. His teary brown eyes looking into yours as you keep grinding on his clothed cock, gripping on his long dirty-blonde dreadlocks as you watch his words turn into pretty broken whimpers, your panties already being drenched from all the stage teasing, so why not get payback?  

“F-Fuck Liebe S-S’please” He whimpers

“You like that, hm? Fucking slut”

Poor Toms cock helplessly throbbing as he breathlessly looks up at you while pathetically trying to cover his whimpers, wanting nothing more than to just pull his pants down and watch you suck his pretty cock as he overflows your mouth with his cum, but he knew he didn't deserve it after all of that teasing. You watch him helplessly grip onto anything he can, his hands desperately wandering anywhere they can as he presses sloppy kisses and hickeys down your neck. A little wet stain of pre-cum on his boxers, you couldn’t help but get even more turned on by the fact that he was such a little needy mess under you, hiding the fact he loved being degraded like the little slut he was. It just got him even more harder and whiny,

“M-M’ please”

He mumbles, the poor boys voice trembling so cutely and pathetically, each barely coherent word turning into a desperate plea or breathy whimper into the crook of your neck as the poor boy attempts to pull his pants down, his fingers fumbling on the belt as you shove them away, his cock creating a prominent print on his baggy jeans as he lets out another needy whine,

“What did I tell you, hm? Ya’ think you deserve to fuck me?”

You coo into his ear, grinding slightly more aggressively on Tom’s clothed length, feeling how hard it was through the fabric directly between your legs, causing a delicious friction. His eyebrows furrowing as pure lust and need fill his eyes.

“N-No.. J-J’s lemme cum p-please.. I-I’ll do anything”

He mumbles into your neck, little tears streaming down his cheeks as his breath hitches in the back of his throat, you keep relentlessly grinding on the needy boys cock, watching his bottom lip quiver as you start to place kisses on his lips, lolling your tongue around that sexy lip piercing of his in such a lewd way that he loved, his tongue dancing with yours in a sinful way as he bucks his hips up, rubbing and thrusting erratically between your legs, the poor guitarist unable to express his throbbing arousal as he lets out more moans and whimpers along with cut-off gasps, anxious to cum in his boxers as he whines, his needy grip on your hips with his calloused hands getting tighter as his knuckles start turning white,

“Y’ wanna cum that badly, hm?”

“B-Bitte bring mich einfach zum Abspritzen”

“Tell me how badly you want it, Slut”

You mumble into the sensitive skin of his neck as he lets out a choked gasp, sloppily kissing you and bucking his hips up faster, rubbing them up between your legs, desperate to catch his release. At this rate, you knew the poor boy was already close.

“I-I’m c-cumming!”

He chokes out, helplessly letting his hot cum burst out his cock, soaking his boxers as it ruptures through the fabric causing him to roll his eyes back and let out whiny cries. A breathless look spreads on his face, just like the one he makes while playing that damn guitar, his body going completely limp under yours, fully spaced out as he tries catching his breath in pants.

“W-We still have a couple more m-minutes, d-don't we?” He whimpers…

[rafaelsilvasource]

Husbands (we love typing that as much as you love reading it) T.K. (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) are coming into the fifth and final season of 9-1-1: Lone Star (premiering Monday, September 23 on Fox) already dealing with the unsolved murder of the latter’s father. But there’s more drama to come.

Carlos’ obsession with that investigation is going to put their marriage to the test. T.K.’s half-brother, Jonah, is coming to Austin (which is sure to affect Rob Lowe‘s Owen as well). Below, co-showrunner Rashad Raisani previews that and more that’s ahead for the fan-favorite couple.

Carlos is investigating his father’s death. What can you preview about that investigation? That’s also going to involve Campbell (Parker Young), right?

The way we’ve been talking about Campbell and Carlos is that they’re like two brothers, the big brother and the little brother. Carlos comes along, and in Campbell’s mind, he got kind of a free pass because of who his dad, Gabriel Reyes, was, the legend, and to go to the front of the line and become a Texas Ranger. The first episode is about these two brothers both fighting for daddy’s love and daddy being Chief Bridges, their boss. But what’s gonna happen is they learn to respect each other and they’re gonna discover that they’re so much better when they work as a team and they really complement each other brilliantly, not just as investigators, but as characters and frankly to me, as actors. I think just they have a wonderful dynamic that only gets richer as the season goes forward.

Carlos’s father’s murder is a thing that Carlos is not giving that up. It is the central driving force in Carlos’ life. And there’s no way we’re going to end the series without giving that poor guy some answers. So there will be some answers at the end of the day on that.

The season description says that T.K. and Carlos’ marriage is put to the test because Carlos becomes obsessed with solving his father’s murder. What can you tease about how we see that play out and how tough things are gonna get in the middle of that for them? I do have faith that they’re gonna be okay by the end.

A big part for me about their marriage was I really wanted to treat it like a real marriage, and by that, I mean that even though these guys are so wonderful to each other and they’re so handsome, life isn’t perfect no matter who you are and everybody has real struggles that affect even great relationships. And the true strength of a relationship isn’t the absence of challenges and problems, it’s how you grapple with them and encounter them and if they make your relationship stronger or weaker.

And so for Carlos, this burden of his dad’s murder is going to sit there and take up a lot of oxygen in the room and T.K., who is an incredibly supportive husband, is gonna try and be patient and graceful and allow Carlos to have that space. But at a certain point, he’s got to advocate for them to have a future together, and that’s part of what you were talking about with Jonah. I like to think that little boy, in some ways, represents the future of their relationship and Gabriel’s murder represents the past of their relationship, and there’s gonna be a tension between those two things and that’s gonna be their central dynamic this year, is that one person is struggling to get answers in the past and the other person is struggling to move on and build a future, which I think is a very relatable human experience.

All of this makes me think about kids, and that has been a bit of an issue for them in the past. How does that come into play?

I think that’s another pressure point because Carlos was very upfront with T.K. about, “Hey, I’m not ready to have kids and I don’t know if I ever will be,” and then now that his dad’s been murdered, in his headspace, that’s the last thing that he’s got the bandwidth or the emotional energy to deal with. But like I said, T.K. is feeling like life is happening right now, like we don’t get moments back, and especially as a first responder, they see that you can’t take anything for granted. And circumstances are going to align that are going to [lead to] a situation where T.K. is like, I know that you were uncomfortable with taking this next step as a father, but I feel like it’s something powerful that I need to do, and to make that a crisis point for them as well.

I hope that the audience can see the argument from both of their points of view and just go, “S**t, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I would do either.” That’s what I hope because I feel like people have real problems that aren’t so simple as to say, well, he’s right, he’s wrong, whatever. We just wanted to put them through that.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Summary: After the gas cloud dissipates, Carlos and T.K. go home and Carlos starts to realize just how much his work interfering with his life.

Read on AO3

Carlos had never realized exactly how much a person can say with a hug until he fell in love with T.K. Strand. Before that, hugs had just been a quick way to say hello or give a little comfort to someone else. Truly, as an adult, the only people he really hugged were his mom, his sisters, and his niece and nephew. Now hugs are one of the top five ways of finding out what his husband is feeling.

Hugs from T.K. Strand can be put into the following categories:

Happy Hugs- Tight, but squishy, sometimes a little bouncy and they don’t tend to last very long because T.K. usually has things to say to go along with them.

Silly Hugs- T.K. flopping as much of his body onto Carlos as humanly possible and smothering him with his weight. If they’re upright this results in lot of staggering around and potentially falling to the floor, if they’re on the couch or in bed then Carlos is usually smashed flat into the horizontal surface. T.K. considers it a bonus if he can do it while wet, dirty, smelly, or naked and make Carlos squirm in discomfort.

Worried Hugs- Fast, quick squeezes of reassurance that are over within seconds because T.K. needs to run his hands over Carlos and check for injuries; physical and emotional. 

Tired Hugs- Floppy, boneless, short and usually followed by T.K. requesting that Carlos shower or come to bed with him. Sometimes the latter part can be circumvented by the promise of food.

Sexy Hugs- These involve the running of T.K.’s hands up Carlos’ chest first, before he loops them around his neck. This type of hug is accompanied by a lot of kissing and grinding until Carlos gives T.K. what he wants.

I Almost Died Today Hugs- Carlos hates these hugs. T.K. sags into him, like he can barely hold himself up anymore and needs Carlos to take over. He smushes his face into Carlos’ neck and exhales and clings on so incredibly tight. There have been too many of these in the short time they’ve known each other, more than anyone should have to endure.

It’s the last kind that Carlos gets when T.K. and Tommy come through the front door of Tommy’s house and it immediately makes him worry. He’d known that they were in a tenuous situation out there with the train crash and the gas cloud, but it isn’t until T.K. basically collapses in his arms that he understands without words that he almost lost everything today. 

He holds on tightly, aware that they have an audience, some of whom are very young and don’t need to realize the danger that almost made them orphans today. So he says nothing, instead rubbing his hand up and down, trying to soothe away the fear and exhaustion he can feel eking out of his husband’s bones. 

He cups T.K.’s cheek in his hand when they pull apart, searching his eyes. “You okay?” he asks.

T.K. nods wordlessly and then their attention is pulled to the awkward situation happening around them. Carlos doesn’t envy the conversation Tommy and Trevor are about to have, so they make their excuses and head out.

By the time Carlos has stowed his things in the back of the Camaro, T.K. is already in the passenger seat, head tipped back, eyes closed. Carlos buckles his seatbelt and looks over at his husband. “Do you want to talk about it?”

T.K. shakes his head without opening his eyes. “Not yet.”

“Are you hungry? Do you want to pick something up?”

Another shake. “I just want to go home.”

He turns his left palm upward, a silent request, and Carlos obliges, slotting the fingers of his right hand into place. T.K. has already put his ring back on after work and Carlos can feel it tucked in between his fingers, a reassurance that whatever happened today, they are still here and things are okay.

They pull out of the driveway, Carlos steering with one hand. “Was Trevor at the house when you got there?” T.K. asks.

“He was,” Carlos says. “I guess he wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Did he tell you about what’s going on with him and Tommy?”

“He did.” Carlos keeps his voice mild despite the concern swirling inside of him. He’s not sure he really wants to hear how close he came to becoming a widower today, but T.K. will need to process it eventually and he’s more likely to spill how he’s feeling if he thinks Carlos isn’t freaking out. “Quite an ultimatum he laid down.”

“Almost as bad as a secret wife.” T.K. turns his head and finally opens his eyes, the ghost of a teasing smile on his face.

“Almost,” Carlos says with a chuckle. “Do you think Tommy’s going to do it? Meet with Trevor’s ex?”

T.K. shrugs. “I don’t know. Probably. Tommy talks a big talk, but when it comes down to it, she’s a mom. I think she gets it. She’ll want to try and make it work. And after today…I think she knows what she wants her priorities to be.”

After today. It’s an opening and Carlos waits, letting the opportunity to talk sit comfortably between them so that T.K. can choose to take it if he wants to. It turns out he does.

“We were trapped in a school,” he says, his voice quiet, hand still holding onto Carlos’. “We weren’t supposed to be there, but there was a missing woman and the gas cloud was coming and Tommy wouldn’t leave her behind. She told us to go, but we didn’t.”

“You couldn’t leave her alone,” Carlos says in understanding. 

“No. We couldn’t.”

There’s a moment of quiet. “Did you find the woman?” Carlos asks curiously.

“She died.” T.K.’s voice is flat and Carlos feels a stab of sympathy. “It was…awful. A terrible way to go.”

Carlos hears the words T.K. doesn’t say: he watched a woman die a horrific death and thought he and two of the people he loves most in the world were next. Carlos squeezes his husband’s hand in reassurance before raising it to his lips and pressing a kiss to his wedding ring. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

T.K. leans his head back against the seat. “Me too.” He’s quiet for a moment and then, “I used a fan.”

Carlos thinks he misheard. “A what?”

“A fan. There was a fan in the classroom and when the gas started coming in I turned it on to try and blow it away.”

Carlos bites the inside of his cheek. “You thought a fan was going to save you all from a giant cloud of toxic gas?”

“Well it sounds dumb when you say it like that!” T.K. huffs indignantly. “It was all we had Carlos!”

“Maybe you all could have just started blowing really hard. Feels like it would have had the same effect.”

“I hate you,” T.K. says grumpily, but he doesn’t let go of Carlos’ hand and the tension that was clinging to him seems to have shaken loose.

“I’m sorry,” Carlos says, keeping his tone light and teasing. “I’m sure you and your fan did a great job.”

“Damn right we did,” T.K. grumbles, shifting to get more comfortable. “You’d better be nice to me or the next time you want something blown I might say no.”

“Really?” Carlos throws T.K. an amused look. “You love blowing me. You’d last five minutes.”

“Longer than you’d last with my mouth on you,” T.K. shoots back, a wicked smirk on his face.

The car falls into comfortable silence and a minute later T.K.’s fingers go limp. Carlos glances over and finds T.K.’s head is leaning against the window, cheek smushed adorably into the glass. He smiles and curls his fingers a little more tightly so their hands don’t slip apart.

When he pulls the Camaro into its parking spot he cuts the engine and speaks softly, trying not to startle his husband. “Hey, we’re home babe.”

T.K. blinks awake and looks at him, eyes slightly unfocused. “Did I fall asleep?”

Carlos nods. “Just for a few minutes.”

T.K. groans and stretches as much as the confines of the car will allow. “Almost dying really takes it out of you.”

“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs. Everything will feel better once we’re home.”

When they’re inside Carlos sends T.K. to shower while he heats up some soup from the freezer and throws together a small salad. “I’m really not hungry,” T.K. says when he returns, bundled up in a hoodie to fight against the chill of the air conditioning.

“I know,” Carlos says, cupping the back of his neck and pressing a kiss to his damp hair. He smells like soap and shampoo. “But you need to eat something.”

They sit at the table, T.K. slowly making his way through the bowl, one spoonful at a time while Carlos pulls out yet another file, this one about a murder his father worked for six months in 2003. He already went through four files at Tommy’s house tonight, he doesn’t need to keep looking. It’s more of a habit than anything else at this point, or maybe a compulsion. When he has downtime he looks. One of these days, all of that looking is going to pay off, he knows it. And the faster he gets through these files, the faster that payoff will come.

T.K. doesn’t give him a pointed look or ask him to put the files away. He doesn’t say much of anything really, just eats two thirds of his meal before pushing the bowl away. Carlos looks up at the sound of the porcelain sliding across the table. “Do you want something else? I can make you a sandwich. Or there’s a little bit of pasta left from the other night.”

T.K. shakes his head. “I think I’m going to go to bed. Are you coming?”

Carlos checks his watch. It’s already after eleven. He has work tomorrow, it would probably be smart to curl up beside his husband and get a decent amount of sleep tonight. “Let me just finish up with this case and then I’ll be in. Twenty minutes tops.”

T.K. opens his mouth and then closes it without saying anything, his shoulders slumping a little. He looks small tonight, vulnerable in a way that hurts Carlos’ heart. Carlos almost closes the folder in his hands and gets up. He almost wraps his husband in his arms and whispers how much he loves him, reassures him that he’s safe, that they’re alive and together. He almost pulls him into the bedroom and makes soft love to him until he forgets the horrors he saw today.

But before he can do any of that T.K. turns and walks away and it feels like something between them shifts a little bit in a way that Carlos can’t quite figure out. And then he looks down at the file again and sees a name he recognizes from another case and he’s no longer at home finishing up work for the night, he’s digging deep into the past until his neck aches and his eyes feel gritty. When he finally looks blearily at his phone it doesn’t say eleven twenty pm but one forty-seven am and he feels a shock that so much time has passed without him realizing it.

He hastily puts things away and cleans up the now cold soup bowl, leaving it in the sink for the morning before quickly brushing his teeth and pulling off his clothes for bed.

The light on his side of the bed is still on. T.K. must have left it for him, thinking he’d be in soon. Or maybe just hoping he would be. Carlos can’t actually remember the last time they went to bed together. It’s been…weeks probably. 

The realization disturbs him. T.K. had a terrible day, he should have been in here comforting him, not working an impossible case that he’s completely lost on. But he’s here now, he tells himself. T.K. could have asked if he needed Carlos to be with him.

Usually when he climbs into bed, T.K. instinctively rolls toward him, even if he doesn’t wake fully. But tonight T.K. stays firmly on his side, almost on the edge of the mattress. Carlos’ side feels colder than normal and there’s an odd ache in his heart that he can’t figure out, almost like he needs to cry, but the tears won’t come. 

He shifts his body closer to T.K.’s, sliding a hand over his hip until he’s spooning against his back, but T.K. still doesn’t stir. He’s got his airpods in and when Carlos cranes his neck he can see that T.K.’s moody playlist is on. That makes him feel like total shit. T.K. was hurting tonight and instead of asking Carlos for help he’d come in here and wallowed in his sadness alone. 

Carlos closes his eyes and swallows around the lump in his throat. He knows he’s been drowning himself in work lately. He knows it’s taking a toll on him and that he hasn’t been the best husband.

He’ll be better, he promises silently to himself and to T.K. in the dark and quiet safety of their bed. He’ll leave the office on time tomorrow night. They can have dinner together, maybe watch the new episode of Only Murders in the Building or Secret Lives of Mormon Wives because he knows how much T.K. loves trashy reality TV and he’s heard some chatter around the office that it’s fun in a horrifying kind of way. 

Tomorrow, he thinks as he begins to drift. Tomorrow he will hold his husband in a tight hug that means “I love you, I’m sorry, I’m glad you’re safe, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” and kiss him and love him the way he deserves. Tomorrow he will start trying to fix what he suspects he’s been slowly breaking for months. 

But the problem with tomorrow is that by the time it arrives, you often forget the promises you made yesterday.

[xxlady-lunaxx]

genya is sanegiyuu’s secret love child ><!! (personality-wise)

- anger issues !! (s.s)

- wanting to be self-reliant/independent (g.t.+s.s.)

- prefers to be alone (g.t.)

- intentionally hostile toward people who try to talk to him (s.s.)

- hates tanjiro (at first)!!!! (s.s.)

- secretly just a quiet little baby in need love love (g.t. but also s.s. for the last part <3)

- kind of reckless in battle in terms of when it comes to self preservation (s.s.)

- wth is his evil laughter for (s.s.)

- ewwww emotions :(( (g.t.)

- ^ fuck it, let’s pretend everyone gets on my nerves (s.s.)

- a little shy actually (g.t.)

- romance what who what is that -> in other words, he closes his eyes when people kiss (s.s. ish)

- his cute lil smile like c: (g.t.)

- tanjiro charmed him & now he can’t let go (g.t.)

- protect the babies no matter what (s.s.)

- has to be strong has to be at the top so he can protect. (s.s.)

- when in doubt, hide (g.t.)

- stop being so loud :( (g.t.)

- *shouts* *is loud* (s.s.)

- haha petty fights (s.s.)

- crying’s weak don’t do that (s.s)

- ^ *essentially is a crybaby* (g.t.)

- traintraintraintrain overexertoverexertoverexert (s.s.+g.t.)

- very determined [pathetically so] (g.t.)

- will!!! not!!! give!!! up!!!! must!!! be!!! with!!! aniki!!! (s.s. except he js wants to protect)

- anxiety baby :( (g.t.)

- will swear at you & make fun of you (s.s.)

- probably gets attached to you quickly after tho (g.t.)

- he needs a hug (g.t.+s.s.)

- he’s like the type to work very hard to do something and get half way through and then realize how hopeless it is (g.t.)

- does NOT accept affection (s.s.+g.t.)

- ^ but actually really wants it (yk the drill)

- i think he likes to sit on the porch or by the window on a rainy day and drink tea (g.t.)

- loser [affectionately] (g.t.)

- ends up being the one treated like the child even tho he wanted to be the parent to protect (s.s.+g.t. bc i said so)

- stubborn i must add (s.s.+g.t.)

- doesn’t believe in nice people anymore (s.s.)

- ^ has to admit tanjiro might be real (g.t.)

- he’s reasonable until it comes to his family (s.s.)

- even if he can see that he should probably stop, that nothing will come of it, he’s going to keep trying (s.s.+t.k. wait what are you doing here tanjiro)

[actuallysara]

DELETED SCENE from 911 Lone Star: S4 EP18 "In Sickness and In Health" | T.K. & Carlos Receive Pep Talks Before Their Wedding

[guardian-angle22]

Happy to present to y'all this 911LS fic list for stories related to one of my favorite episodes 3.13 Riddle of the Sphynx! I try to make these as comprehensive as possible, so if you have any you think I missed, let me know so I can add them. (I also might make edits to these posts to add more fics as they get written. If I ever do so I'll be sure to reblog the post for visibility!)

Enjoy all of our amazing fandom writers and leave them some comments & love!

[Disclaimers: • If you're an author and don't like to be tagged or linked for any reason, let me know and I'll remove the tag and make sure not to do so in the future, no questions asked. • I usually post TWs in rec lists. Due to the episode subject matter, assume all of these have a TW for discussion of addiction/drug use and possibly discussion of parent death/grief.]

◆ Heard the risk is drowning by @paperstorm (Words: 15.3 K; Rating: M)

A tag for 3x13, "Riddle of the Sphynx", in which Carlos combats his own insecurities as TK tries to heal.

◆ Chasers by @carlos-in-glasses (Words: 13.4K; Rating: E)

After 3x13 – while TK is alone with Cooper, Carlos is alone with his thoughts. Both recall times they’ve chased the next high, other men, or each other. When Carlos arrives home, TK still has something important to say – and it's something he didn’t tell Cooper.

◆ trying my best by @reyescarlos (Words: 10.3K; Rating: M)

An exploration of TK's sobriety journey from 2017 to now. Or, a season 3 coda spanning 3x08-3x13

◆ You Showed me How it feels to Truly be Seen by @ramblingdisaster73 (Words: 3K; Rating: T)

Carlos works through the events of 3x13 "The Riddle of the Sphinx".

◆ Measure of a Man by @chicgeekgirl89 (Words: 1.8K; Rating: T)

“I want to be everything you need. That I can’t be, it hurts, T.K. It feels like a failure on my part. And as much as I’m trying to accept it, it’s hard.” A 3x13 coda in which Carlos struggles with a new definition of being "enough."

◆ I'll be here all the same by @strandnreyes (Words: 4.8K; Rating: G)

“I am glad you have someone you can talk to who can maybe do a better job at fixing things,” Carlos insists before dropping his eyes to their tangled together fingers. “All I want is for you to be okay.”It’s not surprising to hear, but it hits as if it was. That really is the root of this whole thing. As much as Carlos wants to do what he can to be the person to get TK to that place, at the end of the day all he really wants is for TK to get there.“I will be.”Or, three late night conversations following the events of 3.13

◆ Trigger by comes2gusu (Words: 4.7K; Rating: T)

TK is struggling with his newly found sobriety. After being triggered at an NA meeting, Cooper takes TK for omelets

◆ this love we carry by @thevenstar (Words: 7.6K; Rating: T)

A 3x13 coda in which Carlos has a conversation with a friend, puts his heart to rest, and learns that walking away does not mean surrender.

◆ Those Pieces by @taralaurel (Words: 7.3K; Rating: M)

"I, I'm not telling you all - this - so you can fix me," TK huffs a hot breath against Carlos' chin, "or save me or really, do anything, okay?" Carlos nods against TK's forehead. TK has done a lot of things in his life to deserve the bad that has happened to him. He has no idea what good he's done to deserve Carlos. Coda to 3x13

◆ the one i want by @chaotictarlos (Words: 2K; Rating: E)

TK gets Carlos to take his shirt off.

◆ i want you to unravel me by @reyescarlos (Words: 4.2K; Rating: E)

In the aftermath of the strain that's fallen over them, TK and Carlos bridge the gap with open conversation that brings them closer together, both emotionally and physically. [3x13 coda]

◆ Just Wanna Breathe by @theoceanismyinkwell (Words: 1.9K; Rating: G)

Carlos doesn’t dare look at him for long, knowing that his eyes have always been the window to his soul, the weakest part of his body, unveiling everything in the well of truths he’s kept a lid on for years and years. His family may not be able to read him as well as he feared for the decades he was in the closet, but TK has a way of crashing into his life with a formidable gentleness and a piercing understanding that unmoors him in every possible way.And that’s precisely what TK is doing now, keeping the warmth of his palms flush against the beating of Carlos’ skin, cradling his face, forcing them both to gaze into each other’s eyes and face each other’s unspoken terrors without flinching.TK sounds like he has a lump in his throat. “I’m going to say something, and I want you to listen to me and I want you to remember it.”---Or: What happens when Carlos comes back home after TK's talk with Cooper, and the confessions that spill out after.

◆ waiting on the sidelines by @morganaspendragonss (Words: 1.5K; Rating: T)

They’d promised each other no more secrets, and while Carlos rationally knows that these aren’t exactly secrets, there’s still this grain of resentment inside of him that scratches away with every beat of his heart. It’s something he can’t let show in front of TK ever again, which is why he’s here, outside Owen's house while TK and Cooper talk in the loft.If anyone’s going to understand what he’s feeling, it’s Owen Strand.

◆ Three Weeks In by @masterroadtripper (Words: 3K; Rating: T; TW: self-harm)

It’d been three weeks since Sadie had drugged them - nineteen days since TK started a ninety-day NA sobriety program at the local Synagogue and eleven days since Carlos had met Cooper for the first time - before Carlos realized that there was something else TK wasn’t telling him.

◆ What We Need by Ehm (Words: 3.1K; Rating: T)

"You okay, bud?" Cooper startled him out of his thoughts and he let go of the spoon with a clinking noise. He straightened up, embarrassed. "Sorry, I zoned out." "I can see that," Cooper sounded vaguely amused. "You wanna talk about it?" --- Three times TK has a conversation with Cooper, and one time he talks to Carlos. Or, 3x13 and beyond from TK's point of view.

◆ Nocturne by @sanctuaryforalluniverses (Words: 735; Rating: T)

Carlos comes home. (Post-ep for 3x13)

◆ Precious Love by @rmd-writes (Words: 11.6K; Rating: M)

This is five times TK thinks he doesn’t deserve love and one time he knows he does – an exploration of TK’s relationship with love and self-worth.

◆ Inside a snow globe by @goodways (Words: 6.9K; Rating: E)

It isn’t until TK is on top, lavishing Carlos’ neck, stroking his hand up his side, that Carlos brings their faces together, barely a suggestion of a kiss between them. He holds TK’s jaw and keeps him close whilst he readies the question in his mind. He breathes out a straightforward and tempting, “fuck me,” over TK’s lips which silences the world outside their bedroom. TK’s response whenever he’s asked for this has few variations between immediate enthusiastic compliancy and the sweet reassurance he knows Carlos is dying for. The answer is always yes. - The evening after TK gets his one month sobriety chip.

◆ my home has been your heart since the day i met you by @lavendergiroux (Words: 1.8K; Rating: M)

After Carlos leaves Cooper and TK to talk, all they do is talk about him. When Carlos comes home - they are still talking about him.

◆ Deep Talks and Cuddles by raniaswritings (Words: 1.2K; Rating: T)

TK talks to Cooper and Carlos comes back home after a few hours

◆ “What are you doing?” “I don’t want you to do that.” by @irispurpurea (Words: 1.1K; Rating: T)

Fictober 2022 Day 13 and 14. Prompts: “What are you doing?” “I don’t want you to do that.” “What are you doing?” Carlos looks up to find TK frowning at him from their bedroom. “I…” Carlos holds up the blanket in his hands, unsure what else to say. He thinks it’s pretty obvious what he’s doing. Then again, tonight has proven that he can’t do anything right, apparently, when it comes to TK.

◆ "It's your shirt..." by @lavendergiroux (Words: 780; Rating: M)

TK really didn't want to talk about it, he just really needed Carlos to claim him...

◆ sunkissed face by mooshkat (Words: 1K; Rating: T)

To show his appreciation, TK decides to make Carlos breakfast.

Spec Fics Written Prior to the Episode Airing/Canon Convergence:

◆ if the darkness comes, i'll stay by @doublel27 (Words: 3.2K; Rating: T)

“I had some things to do,” TK says, his stomach twisting. “Some things?” “Carlos, I texted,” TK reminds his boyfriend, because he did. “It’s fine.” “Is it?” Carlos asks, his voice dangerously calm. or TK comes home late for the third night in one week, and he and Carlos have a necessary confrontation. A speculative fic for 3x13.

◆ Caught by @littlemissmarianna (Words: 761; Rating: G)

“Who’s that?” Carlos doesn’t answer Mitchell’s question because he doesn’t know. There’s only a handful of people he can identify from the back, and this guy isn’t on the list. He has broad shoulders, though, and nice hair and is probably good-looking. Why else would TK be staring at him so intently?

◆ In Order to Get Back to Us by reyestrand (Words: 2.2K; Rating: G)

Carlos waits up for TK when he’s late coming home and they talk about the things they’re afraid to. - a 3x13 speculation fic

◆ still comparing your past to my future by @kiras-sunshine (Words: 17.4K; Rating: T)

Something else than the wallowing feeling of uneasiness, anxiety and hurt in the bottom of his stomach. All of it seems to have a chokehold on his heart and no matter what he tries to think about, his thoughts always go back to TK, to worry that keeps mixing in with everything, and the brightness of TK’s smile, the way the corner of his mouth curled up and his eyes shone, when he smiled at someone else than him.

[ghostgirl101]

Can we get some headcanons of Jeff t.K. in a relationship? ^^

Dating Jeff The Killer Would Be Like This:

A/N: Well, this is a long overdue request, hope the wait was worth it 🙃 I’m going to be waiting for you all at least twice a week from now on, and there are a few spaces left for requests if you want to get yours in for Jeff and others now if you're interested 🔪 This is the original creepypasta Jeff, but I could try writing for David Near's version too if anyone's wondering... enjoy.

🔪• Well damn, there's a lot to include for this crazy son of a biatch, so get ready-

🔪• It's an uncomfortable night, the skies outside pitch black, stars clouded over and your curtains ruffling as you glare tiredly at the ceiling, wishing for sleep to overtake you. But there's just something that's keeping you half-aware, something that makes you toss and turn for a while, eyeing the window with a furrow of your brows. It's almost like someone's watching your every move. You just can't see them.

🔪• Until that whispering, hoarse voice pierces through the still silence from behind your curtains, making your eyes widen in horror at the sadistic chuckling that only gets nearer as you will your body to move from its frozen position.

🔪• The tip of his blade skims across the skin off your face before you can make out his own, pale and deathly and twisted with a nasty, deeply cut grin etched up his cheeks. His cold blue eyes linger over your features, and it’s a frustrating and vulnerable feeling knowing that can read you a lot better than you can him. It’s a tense few moments when all you feel is the end of the sharp dagger trace just light enough down a cheek and your lips, resting there for a second, as if he’s thinking.

🔪• Jeff doesn’t keep you alive just because you’re you - he doesn’t know who you are, or why you look, in his eyes, almost as beautiful as he does. But it makes him curious and confused, something he’s not used to and doesn’t particularly like at first. So with a scoff, the knife is suddenly snatched away, replaced with his face right down next to yours, with a “go to sleep~” and sudden darkness.

🔪• It’s a wonder to you when you wake up the next morning unharmed. It’s unheard of for the infamous killer to let his victims go, but after that night, it’s clear to you that what you experienced wasn’t some sort of weird nightmare. You feel eyes on you almost every minute of the day, footsteps that aren’t your own following you when you’re by yourself, shadows in the hall that turned out to be nothing…

🔪• The only times Jeff will make his appearances where you can actually see and talk to him is at night. At first, it's kind of to see how you'll react - scared and screaming panicking like the others, or oddly curious and mildly apprehensive - if you show the latter, he'll definitely be caught if guard, because he's used to the screaming and crying. But even if you do panic and start some weird chase scene around your house, Jeff seems to find it amusing, until he's had enough and corners you, hissing in your ear, "would you calm the hell down doll, you don't wanna wake the whole damn street, now do you?"

🔪• And you're like yes?!?? Because a scarred maniac is in my room and getting blood stains over my non-washable flooring??! Or maybe that's just me

🔪• This boy can be an absolute mystery to anyone who manages to survive him, because they never really figure out the solid reason why, or his whole backstory, his intentions, etc. All they know is that he's a killer who preys on young people at the night and disappears in the morning. Some survive him because they're interesting for a while, and die when they're not anymore. Some remind him of his past self, and on a bad day, he remembers how much he hates that and gets rid of them too. Some are just to play around with. And then there's you.

🔪• Jeff doesn't give you much of a reason either when you question his motives, because at first, he can't even be sure of why he's ket you around. Is it because you're pretty? Somehow different from his other victims? It's not because he's gone soft. The whole thought process ends up frustrating him, so he'll storm out the window to be alone and try taking his mind off it by going after some whiny targets. But still, he keeps thinking about the question, about you, watching him in some kind of awe and confusion. Why do you care? Why does he care?!

🔪• This whole thing is not some fast-paced cliche love story where everything's sappy and sweet and he'll kill everyone but you. He's still the infamous Jeff The Killer. But that doesn't mean he isn't a little soft for you. Just don't point it out, or he gets flustered and defensive.

🔪• At one point, he wanted to just kidnap you and have you with him all the time, but you had to put your foot down and promise to stick around every night for him to come and go as he pleases, which calmed him down. Because, yeah, that's not happening Jeff, calm yourselffff

🔪• It ends up being him popping in almost every night, with you learning to keep your windows open so you don’t have to keep on replacing the forced-in smashed glass. And even when he visits, it takes time for him to reveal himself, little by little, until you can make out all the rough burns and dried blood that blemish practically every inch of his skin. It's not that he's all insecure - he thinks he’s beautiful most days, and he’s not trying to make you feel less scared by his appearance, because him being the jackass that he is, finds jump scaring you funny.

🔪• But he can have bad days, days where he can't stop thinking about his brother and parents and all that made him who he is, and when that happens, he either bearly says anything and sulks with his knives in the corner of your room, and pretty much lets you do anything. Like, you could end up playing and studying his knives - he watches apprehensively at first, all ready for you to try to stab him in the back - but after time goes by and you've given up questioning yourself as to why you're letting a cold-blooded murderer hang out with you almost every night in your room, he sees that you're not trying to defend yourself in those extreme measures, so kind of lets you do your thing.

🔪• It's nice for him to have the company, too, and he enjoys the small conversations he has with you: the nosy, lucky, pretty little survivor who asks too many questions about him and has a smile that's almost as good as his. Him being him offers to carve one in, and still jokingly tries to while you fight him off with a string of curses. He can be really annoying when he wants to, because he finds your reactions cute. If, on the extremely rare occasions, you happen to see him before it goes dark, doing your homework or something, he'll try drawing on the paper or mucking around with your stuff to distract you. If you're watching something, he'll spoil the ending or give a stupid running commentary. If you annoy him back by any means you can, Jeff gets all pouty and frustrated, but it's also sort of endearing to him??

🔪• So he'll be all "are you freaking stupid, or just suicidal, antagonising a serial killer?!" but he can't help scoffing at you in some form of fondness that he hasn't even realised has been growing in him

🔪• When he ultimately realises that hey! you're stalking and killing the bullies of and are increasingly obsessing over this person, it takes him a bit of time to process. He might not show up on that night, wanting to get his thoughts straight, leaving you very confused, but Jeff does show up the next night wanting you to shut up and sit down and listen to him, because he doesn't want to make this any weirder than it feels for him. You'll hardly understand what he's getting at when he spurts out how you're different and he doesn't really believe in fate but something feels right and every Clyde needs his Bonnie and random crap like that 😂

🔪• You'll have to cut him off with a "so are you asking me out?" and he's like "well... yeah, duh. Don't even think about saying no, because you're not getting rid of me, even if you want to, alright?!?" You can tell he's uncharacteristically nervous. So when you've assessed the situation and see that there's no more harm than there already has been to saying yes, there's an unreadable look of shock and something more in his stony eyes. Then his grin is back, and he's annoying you again by whirling you around in the air and stuff, and boom! You're never getting rid of the maniac. He's yours. Congratulations.

🔪• I'm gonna be honest with you; dating Jeff The Killer is definitely not the easiest mountain you chose to climb, but at the end of the day, if all you want is his manic, obsessive love and devotion to you, then it's well worth it. Take the amount of obsessiveness and stalker behaviour he's shown to you as a weird-ass friend and multiply it by a thousand. I'm not kidding.

🔪• Jeff The Killer genuinely cares about those who have somehow made it to that point with him, and as you're at the top of that list, damn, you'll be spoiled. Don't ask him where he gets all the jewels and trinkets and things you've been wanting or that match your hobbies and talents, because they're yours, and they've always been yours. So your welcome, enjoy, he knew you'd like it. That's one way he shows his love. It's kind of like a way of saying that he's always thinking about you, which isn't an exaggeration at all. I can definitely imagine him killing for you with pride and bringing back a heart all casual-like, while you shake your head with an awkward smile.

🔪• "That's, uh, sweet of you, Jeff, but seriously, throw it away now, that's rank."

🔪• No one else catches his eye after you, too. He's never met someone truly beautiful, inside and out, before you, and he's convinced he won't after. So if someone tries to beg for their life or give him compliments he used to like, it's pretty much ineffective now. "You'll ever be as hot as my doll is, you sadass, but here, I'll carve a little something to get you halfway there~"

🔪• He can actually be surprisingly sweet when he wants to. On his bad days, now he'll just lean into you in silence and twirl his blade around, while you play with his hair or put something on TV or somehow end up staring at him. If you look closer and beyond the chalky white shade of his burnt skin and the deep, bloody scars that trace up from his lips, you can notice how he probably was a good-looking boy before the 'accident.' But don't let him catch you looking, because, bad mood or not, he's a cocky bastard, and will end up grinning and saying something like "it's rude to stare, dolly," which ruins the moment lmao

🔪• Jeff can also get clingy when he feels like it too, though he'll never admit it. He likes how your body's always warm when he is somehow always freezing, and being able to have time alone with you, where you're all his, and no one can take it away from him. He'll go freaking rabid if anyone tries, and no one wants that.

🔪• He gets a little awkward when it comes to comfort and opening up, but he'll get there. He learns from you to just give you a silent hug instead of patting you on the back and telling you to chin up or something stupid, or tries to make you laugh, or kills the thing that's getting you down, if you let him. That's your decision 🙃

🔪• He eventually opens up to you about his past, too, which takes him a lot of courage and a lot of patience for you. It's good that you know, though, because it's something to be even closer about, and the more you know about each other, the more you belong together. At least, that's Jeff's logic.

🔪• Jeff can be a bit possessive and sulky when those moments have to end in the mornings, and he's been known to just shove his white hoodie over your head and demand you wear it when he's not with you. Which is fine, Jeff, but seriously, clean that blood of it first.

🔪• But when all is said and done, no matter how heartless and cold and crazy he may seem, and undoubtedly is, he's sane enough to know that he loves you. His love can be ridiculously intense and overwhelming at times, but you can learn to work around or with it. He will do it. Whether anyone believes it or not, him and you knowing your love is enough for Jeff.

[ronenrubinsteinthinker]

‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ First Look at Henry Ian Cusick: T.K.’s Stepfather Meets Carlos

Enzo is described as “impossibly handsome, cosmopolitan, cultured, wealthy, and suave.” He shows up for T.K.’s birthday “much to the consternation of Owen T.K. gets a huge surprise on his 30th birthday when Enzo arrives in Austin along with his half-brother Jonah. Owen’s resentment of Enzo turns physical. “His charm and soul make him the perfect stepfather to T.K. And his star power and vicious comedic timing make him the perfect foil for Owen Strand. “Going into Season 1, I quickly learned that Enzo was actually T.K.’s father figure for most of his young life, and that dynamic compared to him and Owen is very different. And I think it makes for an incredible love-hate triangle that we’re going to see between Enzo, Owen, and T.K.,”

Season 5 hasn’t actually had many Owen and T.K. scenes, and, according to Rubinstein, the fact that father and son have been going through things on their own

“collides because of Enzo and Jonah coming to town. I think it’s a perfect way to unite us. It definitely add a little bit of a rift to Owen and T.K., but it’s for great reason. I think the makeup of those two is one of the most special things that we do this season and it’s all for a good cause, and it brings up some very difficult conversations that needed to be had between T.K. and Owen as well that we’ve sort of just brushed to the side since T.K. was a kid. So it definitely brings up some stuff that I feel like T.K. finally gets to get off his shoulders and really let Owen know how he feels about things

Raisani pointed out to us that Enzo “kind of took Owen’s place in T.K.’s life after Owen sort of backed off as a dad because of 9/11. Enzo really did have a giant hand in raising T.K. and he fathered Jonah, T.K.’s little brother. So we wanted to, as we’re sort of looking at this series to wrap it up and talk about family, get back to who is T.K. going to be as a son and as a brother and also as a father going forward as this series comes to a close. Jonah, that little boy, and Enzo, his stepfather, seemed like the perfect characters that we could kind of tell that story through.”

“Also, it’s gonna force Owen to acknowledge, kind of going back to his past as T.K.’s father and the years that he was absent, that some damage was done to T.K. and that Enzo had a lot to say about what kind of person T.K. would become. So there’s a lot of reckoning about the past that’s gonna come through with his character. Also, he’s just a whole lot of fun.”

Article x

[insomniac-ships]

>"DNI if proship."

>[proceeds to leave a reply on my post]

????????? Hello????

[herefortarlos]

“Landing Henry Ian Cusick to play Enzo was easily one of the greatest casting ‘gets’ in Lone Star history,” says showrunner Rashad Raisini. “His charm and soul make him the perfect step-father to T.K. And his star power and vicious comedic timing make him the perfect foil for Owen Strand. My only regret is that we don’t have more seasons to watch this incredible actor explore this game-changing character.”

Raisini pointed out to us that Enzo “kind of took Owen’s place in T.K.’s life after Owen sort of backed off as a dad because of 9/11. Enzo really did have a giant hand in raising T.K. and he fathered Jonah, T.K.’s little brother. So we wanted to, as we’re sort of looking at this series to wrap it up and talk about family, get back to who is T.K. going to be as a son and as a brother and also as a father going forward as this series comes to a close. Jonah, that little boy, and Enzo, his stepfather, seemed like the perfect characters that we could kind of tell that story through.”

He continued, “Also, it’s gonna force Owen to acknowledge, kind of going back to his past as T.K.’s father and the years that he was absent, that some damage was done to T.K. and that Enzo had a lot to say about what kind of person T.K. would become. So there’s a lot of reckoning about the past that’s gonna come through with his character. Also, he’s just a whole lot of fun.”

[danisbrainrot]

lott modelling new clothes she bought for you to cheer you up after a rough day :(((

lottie matthews x reader

I love cute little blurb ideas like these <333

her shopping bags landed messily on the bed as she crawled on top of you, shifting so you were between her legs and she could press her forehead against yours. "you okay, baby?" lottie murmurs, kissing you softly.

you shake your head, leaning into the kiss and not letting her lips go. finally, she pulls away, looking at you seriously as a sigh leaves your mouth, "I had a shitty day," you reply. she pouted, pressing another kiss against your lips before pulling away.

"well, I finally used my t.k. maxx credit up, do you wanna see some of the stuff I bought?" lottie asks, you nod eagerly, your mood lighting up immediately. she laughs at this, but crawls off you and opens some of the bags. "close your eyes," you do as instructed and wait patiently until she allows you to open them again.

her first outfit is cute, a pink miniskirt and a white top. she gives a little spin, flourishing with a small curtsy. "you look like a Barbie doll," you tease, she flicks her hair behind her shoulders and blows you a kiss, before getting unchanged again. you close your eyes, letting her next outfit be a surprise.

lottie shows off five more outfits—making you worry how bad of a habit this whole stealing shitty clothes from t.k. maxx was. finally, she covers your eyes with a scarf she'd bought, "your eyes definitely have to be closed for this next one, because I bought this somewhere else," she whispers, her tone seductive; you grew excited by what she meant.

"you can take the scarf off now," she instructs. once the fabric is ripped off your eyes, your jaw drops at the sight. she was dressed in a scant red lingerie set, showing off her long legs and gorgeous figure. you swear you could feel drool in the corner of your mouth. she giggles at your reaction, twirling around to show off every inch of her. "do you like it?"

you finally unfreeze, gaining the ability to talk again. "I love it," you admire how gorgeous she looked standing before you in her red bra and undies, "in fact, you should wear that more often," she giggles, before crawling on top of you again. you pull her in for a passionate kiss, feeling the full weight of her on top of you, as you grip her waist tightly with you hands. "thank you, my days better already," you mutter against her lips.

a wide smirk appears on lottie's face as she begins moving your hand from her waist further up to her boobs. "just wait until you feel what's underneath it," she teases, shooting you a cheeky wink.

[chicgeekgirl89]

A/N: @lemonlyman-dotcom. My darling. I HAVE CONNED YOU!! This is like in the Hallmark movies when you find out he/she was really a prince(ss)/secret millionaire/the owner of the evil corporation all along. YOUR SECRET SANTA IS MEEEEEEEEE!!! The Christmas tree fic is a FAKE!! I pretended to moan and groan about how I couldn't get this fic written BUT REALLY I WAS DELIGHTEDLY CRAFTING IT FOR YOU THE WHOLE TIME!!! Oh the evil joy it brought me every time I posted a little snippet of complete malarky and you reblogged it MWAHAHAHA!! 😈 How did I do? Were you fooled by my outstanding acting? Hehe, I hope you were and that this is a complete surprise! I took your @tarlos-santa prompt idea about Owen and Carlos teaming up to get T.K. the perfect gift and ran with it. It's full of holiday shenanigans and little easter eggs for you, good luck finding them all! (Also I hope you like this badly photoshopped header, I am delighted by the low quality badness of it lol!)

Read on AO3

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Carlos freezes, his lips pressed against the soft skin that lies just below T.K.’s bellybutton. His left index finger is hooked into the elastic waistband of T.K.’s boxers and  he’s already pulled them down low enough to see the sharp jut of his husband’s hipbone. He lifts his head, slightly alarmed. “Am I sure I want to give my husband a pre-work blowjob? Well I was, but now I’m not.”

“No, not that. Please keep doing that,” T.K. says, shifting a little bit, his hands going up behind his head. “I meant are you sure you want to go Christmas shopping with my dad today?”

“Oh, that.” Carlos presses another kiss into him. “Why wouldn’t I want to go?”

“Because my dad is…a lot,” T.K. says, then sucks in a breath when Carlos scrapes his teeth over that sexy hipbone. “And he’s terrible at Christmas shopping.”

“I know,” Carlos mumbles against T.K.’s skin. “That’s why I’m going.”

A week ago Owen had given him a call and invited him out for lunch and Christmas shopping. Surprised, but also pleased, he’d readily agreed and they’d made plans to meet at a restaurant in The Domain and hit up some of the stores afterward. Owen had texted Carlos last night to remind him to wear comfortable, practical footwear and bring reusable bags. 

“Maybe,” he says, nipping at the sensitive skin in the crux of T.K.’s thigh so that he squirms, “if I go, you’ll actually get something you like this year.”

“You really think that you can convince my dad to buy something normal for Christmas?” T.K. scoffs. “Good luck.”

Carlos looks up at him again. “You underestimate the cow eyes?”

“You’re going to use the cow eyes on my dad?”

“If I have to.”

“You’re going to use the cow eyes on my dad to stop him from buying me a fifteen pound block of imported cheese from Italy because the salesman tells him it’s a good deal? Or a decorative, three foot tall, hand carved horse statue that he thinks matches the aesthetics of the loft? Or—“

“I will take care of it,” Carlos assures him.

“What if he—“

“T.K.!”

“What?”

“How about we stop talking about your dad while I’m trying to blow you?”

He tugs T.K.’s boxers down, freeing his morning wood and T.K. lets out a hiss as the cool air of the loft touches his skin along with Carlos’ fingers. “Okay, yeah,” he says, his voice tight with the beginnings of pleasure. “We can do that.”

Two hours later Carlos is showered and dressed and pulling into the parking lot on the north side of the Domain. He checks the mall map and heads toward Flower Child, a restaurant with great vegan options and fresh ingredients.

Owen is sitting at a table outside, a Yankees hat on his head, and he stands when Carlos gets close, excitement on his face. “Carlos, good to see you,” he says, pulling him in for a brief hug.

“Thank you for the invitation.” 

Owen looks at him sympathetically as they sit. “I know this year is going to be hard,” he says. “And I know Christmas shopping with me isn’t the same as doing it with your dad, but I want to help where I can.”

Carlos bites back a snort of laughter. He and his dad never once Christmas shopped together. His dad hated shopping. It’s very sweet that Owen—who loves shopping and would consider an afternoon at the mall with his son a highlight of his week—thinks Gabriel and Carlos would have enjoyed doing the same, but honestly the idea of trying to drag his dad around for hours buying presents is hilarious.

“That’s very thoughtful Owen, thank you,” Carlos says, hoping with all his might that his dad is watching down from somewhere and laughing too.

“I took the liberty of ordering us both their seasonal rose petal lemonade,” Owen says. “Have you had the Glow Bowl here? The shiitake combined with the sunflower sauce is di-vine.”

“That sounds good,” Carlos says, flipping the menu over to take a look.

“The last time I brought T.K. here he had the roasted beet and organic apple salad.”

“I think I remember that,” Carlos says with a smile. His father-in-law has a penchant for taking menu items very seriously, a fun quirk that has carried over to T.K. His husband gets very excited anytime they try a new restaurant. Although he usually ends up liking Carlos’ meal better than his own, stealing bites until Carlos offers to switch. 

He ends up ordering the Glow Bowl and Owen decides to go wild and try the Brussels sprouts and organic kale salad after some banter with their server. “So,” Owen says, taking a sip of his lemonade. “How’s the new job?”

“Not so new anymore,” Carlos says. It’s been almost eight months at this point, but he and Owen really haven’t spent any significant time together since he started with the Rangers outside of professional reasons. He’s barely had time for his husband let alone anyone else. “I feel like I’m starting to find my place though. It’s different from beat work.”

“I’d imagine so. The hat and the belts alone are quite the change,” Owen comments.

Carlos chuckles. “Yeah it’s definitely a look.”

“Well, it’s one you wear quite well. How’s your mom?”

His smile dims. “She’s okay. The holidays are hard. She and my dad had a lot of traditions. But my tías and my sisters have been around a lot, so that helps.”

“And she has a son who is carrying on his father’s legacy,” Owen says. “I’m sure that helps too.”

Carlos shrugs, letting his fingers hug the glass in front of him, the condensation making them slick. “I guess.”

“You are humble to a fault Carlos,” Owen says. “I’m sure both of your parents are proud of you. I know I am. The way you’ve handled things this last year is impressive.”

“It doesn’t feel impressive.” Vulnerability slips into his tone. It’s not something he allows often, but his father-in-law pulled him back from the edge of making one of the biggest, most irreparable mistakes of his life. He’s already seen Carlos at his worst; admitting that he’s been struggling won’t do any damage. “It feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water most days,” he admits.

“The first year of marriage is always challenging,” Owen tells him factually. “I would know, I’ve done it several times. You and T.K. have faced some unique circumstances that have made it even more difficult. But you’re still together, working on yourselves, your relationship, your careers. That is impressive. Don’t forget to let yourself celebrate it.”

“Thanks,” Carlos says, dropping his eyes as his cheeks flush. “That means a lot.”

“Good.” Owen taps the table, his face serious. “Now, let’s talk about T.K.’s birthday. I have some ideas.”

They eat and talk with companionable ease. Carlos steers Owen away from the idea of hiring a mariachi band and circus performers for the party, but does concede to hiring a DJ. They also decide to have it catered by Carlos and T.K.’s favorite taco truck; the one that makes homemade churros that are to die for.

When they finish eating they throw away their garbage and Owen looks at him with renewed vigor. “So,” he says, “where should we start?”

“Well I have a few ideas—” 

“So do I! Come on, let me show you!”

Carlos follows his father-in-law down the line of stores. Even though it’s seventy-five degrees outside the place feels festive. There are windows decked out with wreaths and snowmen and Christmas trees, and Mariah Carey is blasting over the speakers. Families walk by, some smiling, others arguing. There are little kids dressed in their holiday best, ready for family photos, and a few melting down over toys that Santa won’t be bringing for several more weeks.

They walk into a store selling fitness equipment and Owen gestures grandly to a large black tub. “An ice bath!”

Carlos tries to school his face into something neutral. “An ice bath?”

“They are all the rage in the health and fitness industry right now. They boost your metabolism, provide stress relief, reduce inflammation, and improve your mood.”

“Mhm,” Carlos says, fully aware of the ice bath craze, but seeing for the first time just how difficult it might be to sway his father-in-law away from some of his more zany gift ideas.

Owen’s face falls in a way that is so reminiscent of T.K.’s disappointed face that Carlos feels a pang of guilt. “You don’t like it.”

“No, I—it’s a great idea,” Carlos says. “I’m just…I’m not sure where we’d put it in the loft.” He tries to emphasize how small and unsuited the loft is to this kind of gift without saying it aloud.

“Ah!” Owen says. “That’s the thing! This one is completely collapsible. Store it in the closet until you want it and then inflate it with one of these pumps in less than twenty minutes.” He grabs one off the shelf and holds it up to show Carlos. “It’s a cinch!”

“It…yeah. Seems…easy,” Carlos says, wondering how the hell he’s going to steer this ship to something more appropriate for T.K.

“And,” Owen says, “it’s really two for the price of one. Because you both can use it. Not at the same time obviously, it’s a very small tub.”

“Right,” Carlos says.

Owen eyes him critically. “Hm…you don’t seem to love the idea.”

“Oh no, I mean, if you think T.K.—“

“No, no, I can see it in your eyes. This isn’t the one. Not to worry, I have other options.”

He marches down a few aisles, but before they can find whatever it is he’s got his mind on, a smiling employee blocks their path. “Hello gentlemen. Finding everything you need?” she asks.

“Ah, not quite yet,” Owen tells her. “We are shopping for my son. This is his husband, Carlos.”

“Nice to meet you,” she says and something in her eyes hooks onto them. “You know, I’m not sure what exactly you’re in the market for, but we are having a sale on our elite face shape massagers.”

“Face shape massager?” Carlos asks in confusion.

She whips out a white box with a circular shaped device on the inside. “Yes! This little piece of technology can help reduce the appearance of double chins and improve skin quality! Would you like to give it a try?”

“Um, no, that’s okay,” Carlos says. “You know I really think we need to be moving on, right Owen?”

“No, no!” Owen says. “Give it a try. It can’t hurt. We Strand men have strong jawlines and I’m sure T.K. would like to keep his intact as the years go by. Let’s see how it works.”

Before Carlos can protest further the woman is looping the device over his head, his jaw clamping shut at the pressure. She pushes a button and red light illuminates his skin while the entire thing begins to vibrate. “Can you feel how the photons lift and firm the skin?” she asks.

“Mhmm,” Carlos says, the sound vibrating along with the massager.

“That is incredible,” Owen says, taking a step closer so he can get a better look. “It has red and blue infra lights?”

“It does! And it works even better when combined with our Cleopatra LED Light Mask,” she says, showing them a plastic mask that would make even Hannibal Lecter flee in terror. Carlos can only imagine how T.K. would use that to torture him, leaning over him in the middle of the night, his face lit by the red glow of the lights…

Carlos rips the massager off his face and hands it back to the woman. “Thank you so much for your time, but I think we’re going to go a different direction.”

"I don’t know Carlos, these both seem very reasonably priced,” Owen says, checking out the tag.

“You know what, I actually think T.K. already has both of these,” Carlos says in desperation. He mentally casts around for a believable lie. “…Marjan got them for his birthday… last year.”

“Oh, well, in that case—“

“What about for you, sir?” the woman asks Owen, her skills at capturing her prey honed to perfection after years of retail work. “I can see you take excellent care of your skin. Your pores are nearly non-existent.”

Owen beams and fifteen minutes later they walk out the door with two bags of “me-gifts” for him to put under his own Christmas tree. “Are you sure you don’t want some of these under eye de-puffers?” Owen asks, “They come in a two-pack.”

“I’m good,” Carlos says. “Thank you though.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Will do.”

“Okay,” Owen claps his hands. “So we’ve struck out on T.K. so far, but I have another idea.”

“Great!” Carlos says.

Owen looks at him with great confidence. “A hat.”

“A hat?”

“A hat.”

Forty-five minutes later Carlos loses the hat battle and they leave a Western wear shop with a brown leather cowboy hat for T.K. that he is going to love, but will have no practical use for outside of their bedroom. Owen is thrilled that his son can now match with Carlos, and Carlos is just glad they got the brown one and not the shiny blue one with silver stars.

He offers to take their bags to the car since they’re starting to get in the way and he’s on his way back, trying to figure out how he’s going to convince his father-in-law to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods and buy some batting gloves that are actually on T.K.’s wish list. Owen will probably dislike this idea because it is both practical and reasonably priced.

Carlos is plotting his plan of attack when a hand reaches out and grabs him, jerking him behind a sign with a map of the mall on it. “Whoa, hey!” he says, before realizing it’s Owen who has latched onto his arm. “What’s going on?”

“Look. Over there.”

Carlos follows the line of his finger to a kiosk selling cellphone cases and accessories. “Owen, what am I looking at?”

“That guy.”

“The one that looks like Santa?” The jolly, bearded fellow is talking to the seller at the kiosk, smiling and laughing.

“And the other guy.”

A shifty looking man, younger than the bearded grandfatherly type who is talking to the salesperson, is lurking near the stand too. “Okay…” Carlos says.

“I’ve been following them since you left. I’m pretty sure they just shoplifted from Bath and Body Works. And it looks like they’re about to do it again. We need to stop them.”

“Owen, that’s a pretty serious accusation. Are you sure that’s really what you saw?”

“The jolly one was distracting the workers with his holiday charm and I’m pretty sure the shifty one put several hand sanitizers in his pockets.”

Carlos barely stops himself from rolling his eyes. “Pretty sure?”

“There was a stand of candles in the way, but I know I’m very sure he was shoving them in by the handfuls.”

“Then let’s go tell a mall security guard.”

“All they’re going to do is call APD. You can arrest them now and prevent more crime from happening before APD can even get here.”

“I can’t arrest them because you think you saw them do something,” Carlos says.

Owen sighs. “Just watch. You’ll see.”

As they watch the shifty guy moves away from the stand and slinks toward another store a little further down. Carlos relaxes his shoulders. “See? Nothing happening here. Let’s check out—“

He’s interrupted by a huge crash as an entire shelf of the cellphone kiosk hits the floor, sending things flying everywhere. Everyone in the area stops and stares as the kiosk worker reels backward and falls to the floor.

Owen and Carlos move simultaneously. “Whoa, easy there,” Owen says as the kiosk worker tries to sit up. “That was a nasty fall. Are you hurt?”

“No, no, I’m okay,” he says, wincing as he pushes himself upright. “I don’t know what happened.”

“It looks like someone removed the pins from this shelf,” Carlos says, examining it. 

“Removed the pins? Why would someone do that?”

“Could have been a prank of some kind,” Carlos says.

“Or it could have been someone trying to create a distraction,” Owen says, giving Carlos a meaningful look.

“A distraction?” The guy looks confused. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carlos tells him. “Here, we’ll help you clean this up.”

They spend a few minutes picking up cellphone bits and bobs and helping the guy get the shelf back into place. “Is that everything?” Owen asks.

The guy looks around. “Yeah. I think so. Thank you guys for your help, I’m sure you have other things to get back to.”

As soon as they’re out of earshot Owen shakes his head. “Told you. Shoplifters.”

“Owen…”

“I know, you think I’m crazy. But where are that Santa guy and his shifty elf helper now, huh? Did they stick around to help? No. I bet you that shifty guy loosened that shelf on purpose and then he and Santa grabbed things from one of these nearby stores while we were distracted.”

“Or,” Carlos says pragmatically, “the shelf was never installed correctly and fell on its own.” He smiles and nods toward the sporting goods store. “How do we feel about some batting gloves?”

Owen does buy the batting gloves, but Carlos suspects it’s only because he’s preoccupied with his fictional shoplifter case. He keeps looking around, trying to be casual about it, but failing miserably. Strand men are great at a lot of things; subtlety is not one of them.

“You’re still thinking about those guys, huh?” Carlos asks as they walk out of Dick’s Sporting Goods.

“I know in my gut that they’re up to no good, Carlos,” Owen says. “You see a lot of shady people in my line of work.”

“More than in mine?” Carlos asks skeptically.

“Okay, fair point. But are you really telling me you don’t think they looked a little suspicious?”

Carlos mentally reviews what he saw earlier. “They definitely looked like they could be trouble. But we have no proof. Unless we see something else, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I’m so glad you agree,” Owen says. “I think it’s time for further investigation.”

Carlos stops walking, his brow furrowing in surprise. “Further investigation?”

“Come on. We’re making a little detour. I hope you know what you want for Christmas.”

Carlos follows him toward the center of the mall where a giant Christmas display has been set up and fake snow flurries from the sky. There’s a large gingerbread cottage, fake reindeer, a candy-cane lined path, mounds of cotton acting as the only snowfall Texas will see this year, and the centerpiece of it all is a gigantic throne upon which sits a jolly Santa who is holding two screaming toddlers while an elf attempts to get a picture worthy of a Christmas card. 

“Owen, what are we doing here?” Carlos asks. Two men hanging around a kid-friendly area sans children is not a good look.

“I heard that Santa guy talking earlier. He doesn’t just look like Santa, he is one of the mall Santas. The scrawny guy is an elf. And I know where their green room is.” He takes a look around and then ducks under one of the candy cane striped ribbons that line the area to keep pedestrians out. “Follow my lead,” he says and then drops out of sight into a mound of cotton snow.

“Owen!” Carlos hisses, dropping to his own knees instinctually so that both of them are now hidden in the piles of fluff. “Owen what are you doing?”

“Investigating. This way,” Owen whispers over his shoulder, beckoning Carlos forward. 

He really has no choice. Owen is going to do this whether Carlos follows him or not. So Carlos crawls on his hands and knees after his father-in-law, past reindeer legs and lollipop stems, until they reach the base of the gingerbread house. 

Owen points silently toward a cutout window and, like something out of a cheesy, 90’s Christmas film, they both rise up underneath it, trying to listen and peek over the sill without being seen. 

Sure enough the Santa look alike and his scrawny elf partner are both inside. “Ugh. Only like fifteen hand sanitizers and a couple hand lotions,” the scrawny guy says, shoving merchandise into a large blue duffle bag. “Got some decent jewelry from Kendra Scott while everyone was distracted with that cell phone kiosk though.”

“I told you. We have to keep it small. Otherwise people will get suspicious. Besides, we got that laptop last week and all those clothes from Anthropologie. Those are worth a lot on resale.” Santa takes a sip from his coffee cup. “I made almost ten grand off a mall in El Paso last year. Trust me. This’ll be worth it if we can make it a couple more weeks.”

“It had better be. This elf costume itches,” the scrawny guy retorts, reaching for a red and green costume hanging from a hook on the wall.

Owen motions to Carlos and they crawl back out toward the regular part of the mall. “There you have it,” Owens says as they stand. “Proof. Let’s bust in there and arrest them.”

“You aren’t authorized to arrest anyone. And I’m off duty,” Carlos says. “There are lots of bystanders around. This isn’t a violent crime. We need to call it in first.”

“Okay, so call away.”

“I will,” Carlos says. “Keep an eye on them, let me know if they go anywhere.”

“You got it,” Owen says.

Carlos sends a mental apology to his dad. He’d been really annoyed all those times Gabriel had gotten caught up in one of Owen Strand’s schemes. But now he can see that it’s a very slippery slope and once you start sliding you can’t stop.

He places a call, explains the situation and confirms that officers will be arriving shortly. Relieved that this is almost over, he turns back to tell Owen they need to stick around until APD arrives, but Owen has vanished

Frantically Carlos scans the area, his eyes landing in horror on the line of children and parents waiting eagerly to meet Santa. Sometime in the last ten minutes their suspects have taken center stage, Santa on his throne and Scrawny taking photos. Owen is up next in line, the woman behind him eyeing him suspiciously as she holds tightly to the hand of an eager little boy in a sweater with a T-Rex wearing reindeer antlers on its head. 

Before Carlos can even move, Scrawny, now dressed in full red and green elf regalia, calls Owen forward and he marches up toward Santa’s throne. “Oh no,” Carlos whispers under his breath as he jogs over to the line. “Excuse me,” he says, trying to push toward the front.

“Hey! No cutting! Get in the back!” an irate father yells.

Another elf with a headset puts both hands out to stop Carlos from moving further. “Sir! Sir! You have to wait at the end of the line!” 

“This is official Texas Ranger business,” Carlos tells her, his heart pounding as he watches Owen step right up to their suspects.

“Right, sure it is,” she scoffs.”

“Buddy, what do you want?” Santa asks, suspicion in his voice, despite the smile on his face.

“Owen, stop!” Carlos calls desperately, pushing past the headset elf who immediately begins calling for security.

Either Owen doesn’t hear or he doesn’t care, his voice carrying over the din of the crowd. “What I want to know is, why you think it’s acceptable to use the good name of Santa Claus for criminal activity,” he says.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Santa tells him. “Ho, ho, ho, is this some kind of joke?”

“It most certainly is not a joke,” Owen says. “Santa is supposed to give gifts away, not steal them for himself.”

“Okay, get out of here,” Scrawny the elf says, marching toward him.

“I will not get out of here,” Owen says hotly. “The two of you are robbing the stores of this mall and I won’t stand for it. Not at Christmas.”

“Buddy, you knock it off right now,” Santa says, his twinkly persona dropping away as he gets to his feet.

“You don’t deserve to wear this suit,” Owen tells him, poking a finger at his chest. “We have evidence of what you’ve done. Let’s not make a scene in front of all these families. The respectable thing to do here is to calmly turn yourselves over to the authorities.”

Owen is right. That would be the respectable thing to do. But this is not a respectable Santa. 

Instead, he runs. And Owen goes after him.

“Owen! Wait!” Carlos yells, vaulting a gumdrop fence to try and get closer.

It’s too late. Owen takes a flying leap and tackles Santa into a snowbank, knocking a fake reindeer’s head off in the process as the crowd around the display gasps in shock and Run, Run Rudolph begins to blast over the speakers.

“Stop! Texas Ranger!” Carlos yells, and then ducks as Scrawny grabs a giant candy cane and swings it at his head. 

Carlos catches the candy cane in both hands and grabs on tightly. “Drop it!” he orders. 

Scrawny refuses to let go and they wrestle over it for a minute until Carlos manages to rip it out of his hands, chucking it to the side. “Get on your knees,” he says, but Scrawny is scrappy. He lunges forward and catches Carlos around the middle, sending both of them sprawling onto the floor.

Carlos grunts as he lands flat on his back, the air immediately knocked from his lungs. Scrawny takes advantage of that to deliver a devastating blow to his jaw that sends pain exploding through Carlos’ face. 

On instinct more than skill he manages to hook a leg around Scrawny and roll them both over, grabbing his wrists and pinning them to the floor. “Stop moving,” he orders between gritted teeth. “Turn over.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Scrawny yells.

“Yeah well, you can tell the officers all about that when they get here,” Carlos huffs out, shoving the man onto his front and pinning his hands behind his back. 

His assailant subdued, he looks up and find that Owen has Santa in a headlock. “Get off of me!” Santa yells.

“You, are a very bad Santa,” Owen says breathlessly as blood pools in a cut on his lip and a black eye begins blooming around his eye socket.

“He’s hurting Santa!” The yell of a small child catches Carlos’ attention and his face heats as he realizes how many onlookers are gaping at them, cellphones taking video that is likely going to break the internet at some point later today.

“Owen let him go!” Carlos calls as mall security appears in the distance, one of them cruising in on a Segway that has been decorated in red and green tinsel garland.

Owen releases Santa, both of them doubling over in pain as Carlos pulls Scrawny to his feet. The Segway security guard skids to a stop and approaches him warily. “I’m Carlos Reyes, a Major with the Texas Rangers,” Carlos tells him. “These two have been stealing from stores in the mall all day. I have APD on the way.”

“We’ve been getting reports of items missing,” the officer says. “Didn’t ever think it would be Santa and his elf though.”

“Do you have somewhere to hold these two until they get here?” Carlos asks.

“Yes, sir.”

Carlos hands off Scrawny as another two guards grab Santa and plop him down into the back of a golf cart, securing his hands with zip ties.

“Are you okay?” Carlos asks Owen. It’s hard to get the words out, his jaw aching more and more with each syllable as it begins to swell.

“He got a couple good shots in,” Owen says, swiping at the blood on his lip. “I’ve had worse though.”

“You should have let me handle it,” Carlos says.

“Sorry Carlos, I know you’re good. But you’re not good enough to take on Santa and his elf,” Owen tells him. 

Someone from mall security gets them ice and then APD finally shows up. Carlos has just finished giving his statement to an officer when EMS arrives. He groans when he sees who it is. “We’re in trouble.”

Owen follows his gaze and winces. “Oh yeah. We are.”

Tommy, Nancy, and T.K. are moving toward them and Carlos can spot the exact moment they get close enough to realize who they’re going to be helping today because all three of them freeze on the spot. T.K.’s eyes go wide and then a mixture of worry and fury crosses his face as he picks up the pace and beats his partner and his boss to their sides.

“What happened?” he demands, kneeling down and putting a hand on Carlos’ thigh.

“There was a situation that needed to be dealt with and we handled it,” Owen says and T.K. shoots him a look of fury. 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means Santa was up to no good and we stopped it,” Carlos says, suddenly feeling very tired. 

T.K. opens his mouth, but Tommy and Nancy reach them at that point and they have their own questions. “Well this is a bit of a surprise,” Tommy says, reaching for the ice that Owen is holding on his eye. “What on earth have you two been up to today?”

“Yeah Captain Strand, I thought you had worked through the anger issues,” Nancy says, attaching a pulse oximeter to Carlos’ index finger.

“This wasn’t anger. This was holiday related justice,” Owen says primly.

“More like holiday related shenanigans,” T.K. mutters under his breath, but the concerned eyes he shoots at Carlos and the steady rubbing of his hand up and down Carlos’ thigh for comfort bely that his anger is really just worry.

“Okay, both of you, tell us what hurts,” Tommy commands.

In the end they get taken to the hospital for x-rays. Owen is pronounced fine, no damage done to his eye socket, although he’ll have one hell of a black eye, and Carlos’ jaw isn’t broken, but it is badly bruised. Scrawny really packed a punch. He’s relieved when he’s finally back home in bed, T.K. fussing over the comforter and the ice pack he’s holding to his face.

“Is the ice too cold?” T.K. asks. “Are you hungry? Of course you’re hungry, it’s like eight o’clock. I’m going to make you some soup.”

Carlos has a feeling he won’t be eating solids for several days, and soup does sound good; lunch with Owen feels like weeks ago at this point. But he catches T.K.’s hand and tugs him down onto the bed instead. “In a minute,” Carlos says. “Sit with me for a bit first.”

T.K. perches on the edge a frown on his face as he brushes a hand through Carlos’ curls. “I shouldn’t have let you go with my dad today. I knew something like this would happen.”

“How could you possibly have known something like this would happen?” Carlos asks, cracking an incredulous smile and then wincing when it sends throbs of pain through his face.

“Because that’s how it always is with my dad. If there’s trouble, he’s going to find it. He’s almost gotten us killed twice. He went undercover with a white nationalist group. He bought a horse and kept it at the firehouse for weeks. It’s like he literally can’t help himself.”

“He did the right thing today though,” Carlos says. “Those guys had stolen thousands of dollars worth of stuff from the shops in the mall.”

“I know, but I wish you hadn’t been in the middle of it,” T.K. grumbles, his hand coming up to gently cup Carlos’ bruised jaw. “Did you get any shopping done? Or did you spend the entire time playing detective?”

“Oh we got some shopping done,” Carlos says. “And I tried. I really tried babe. But your dad is…”

“Stubborn? Difficult? Unpredictable?”

Carlos nods. “All of those things.”

“So? What should I look forward to getting for Christmas this year?”

“How do you feel about hats…?”

[thenighthekate]

He had a cigarette with his number on it ( t.k. )

My lips hold back the lava in my chest. The burning, consuming, encroaching destruction is hardening my resolve more than you could have guessed.

The cool Berlin's air outside the packed club seemed to calm her nerves, skin slightly glistening under the street lights as she leaned against the brick wall. Her head was spinning, brain dancing from the amount of alcohol now permanent in her system.

Multiple people scattered the alley's grounds for a smoke. Some tripping over their own feet as their friends tried to hold them up, others being babysitters and sober drivers for their drunk buddies. Her own girlfriends somewhere inside with guys they have found throughout the night.

As her mind slowly started to clear she rummaged through her purse to find the package she was looking for. Swiftly pulling out the box and placing the last cigarette between her lips. Her fingers let go of the plastic covered cardboard on a mission to find a lighter, matches, fire. Anything at this moment would work. But as her hand ran through the inside leather of her bag she was met with only a couple crumbled bills and her lipstick.

" Need a light?" After a few grunts and annoyed sighs she turned to the voice who called out for her, a slim hand stretched in front of her face with a lighter between its fingers. The girl's eyes ran from the person's palm to their bicep, neck and finally meeting their face.

He was attractive to say the least. Hair neatly done and braided, eyes swirling with deep chocolate and coffee, skin slightly tan under the yellow street lights, his lips pulled into a small smirk with a piercing on the right corner of his mouth.

" Thank you." She leaned down to meet him, his finger swiftly flicking the click making a flame appear in front of her face. Dragging in a breath she let the smoke swirl inside her lungs and intoxicate her brain before blowing it right out. The gray clouds traveling with wind and swirling around the man's head.

" So you around here?" One oh his hands were placed in the pocket of his baggy jeans, the other pulling his own joint back and forth.

" No. Just moved here, decided to celebrate tonight." She slightly nodded her head as she looked him in the eye, her voice was smooth. Soft satin against the rough whistles of the wind. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her lips, the soft pillows painted a crimson red, glistening each time she licked them and staining the end of her cigarette. The girl could tell he wanted to say more, indulge in a further conversation not just small talk, but a yell suddenly sounded over the forming crowd making the man in front of her turn his head.

" Those are my friends, they are waiting for me." He slowly turned to gaze at the girl once again, his fingers doing their own and finding the packet that held the nicotine he so much craved for. " I noticed you ran out," he lifted a cigarette to her eyesight, placing it in her open hand and watched her palm it, " it's for rainy days."

" It got your number on it?" She looked at him with a smirk, slightly not even believing her own eyes. " You give this to every girl?"

" Only for special occasions." He sent a flying smile her way before turning on his heel, his feet carrying him away before he looked back, caught her smirk and suddenly stopped. " Tom by the way!"