#and Thena gets back to the watch station

[softquietsteadylove]

Hey loved the thenamesh lifeguard au! Would you write some cute fluff stuff like for example thena putting sunscreen on Gil’s back?

Thena looked down as she felt Kingo pat the side of the tower chair. "You are not supposed to climb this thing. We tell people not to all day."

He gave her a grin and a shrug, "just thought you'd wanna know that your break is in five--if you wanted to go early I'll cover for you."

Thena raised a brow at him, "and why would you do that?"

Kingo tipped his sunglasses down, "because I'm a good friend, Thena."

No dice.

Kingo chuckled, pushing them up again and climbing even higher, all but pushing Thena out of his way, "because your boyfriend keeps looking over here to see if you're done yet."

"He's not-"

"He is," Kingo rolled his eyes. It wasn't as if it was any secret at all. "Now, go!"

Thena huffed, on her way over to Gil while looking around her at the rest of the beach goers. It was easier than looking right at Gil on her way over to him.

"Hey."

"Hey," she smiled marginally, ending up beside him under the shade of his umbrella.

"How was your morning?" he asked genially, folding up his legs out of the sun as she curled up next to him.

"Uneventful, I suppose," she answered while staring out at the water. "I mostly had to watch the early morning kids and make sure they weren't being hooligans."

Gil chuckled at her word choice, pulling out a bottle of water for the both of them.

"Thanks," Thena murmured, accepting it and definitely not thinking about the very simple brush of their fingers as she did. "What have you been up to?"

"Mm," Gil hummed between sips. "Haven't been here long. But I did get in a quick dip before it got too crowded."

Oh, she had seen. It was impossible to miss a wall of muscle, after all. And in the binoculars, soaking wet...

"I just have to reapply my sunscreen."

Thena blinked, suddenly feeling as if she was being caught up in something. She looked over at him.

"I got most of me already," he promised, as if anticipating her concern. "It's, uh, just my back, really."

Thena could see why he might have trouble reaching it, with those arms, those shoulders, even just the muscles in his back...

"I don't suppose you'd, um," Gil trailed off, blushing cutely as he struggled to suggest the cliche.

Thena smiled at his shyness, "did you wait for me to go on break in hopes that I could help you?"

"Well," he semi-admitted, shifting on his towel. "If you didn't want to, I just wouldn't go swimming again. Or I'd put on a shirt, I guess."

And they couldn't have that.

Thena rolled her eyes, taking the squeeze tube from him, "turn."

Gil acquiesced, not making a big deal out of it, because he was sweet like that. In fact, he was the one with the tips of his ears gone red.

Thena inhaled, rubbing the cream in her palms and staring down the broad expanse of his back. She was hesitant, reaching out slowly before pressing her palms to his back.

The longer she took, the more flustered she felt. Thena blushed as she moved her hands over every bend and curve of his muscles, both strong and wiry but also with a pleasant layer of softness over them. She was a lifeguard, it wasn't like she was a stranger to the average human body.

But Gil was far from average, and she was starting to wonder if he was human.

Gil shivered as she reached the center of his back, along his spine. She withdrew her hand, letting out a soft sound of surprise (some might call it a squeak, which she would deny). "Sorry."

Thena didn't trust herself to get out proper words, instead just resuming her work of making sure Gilgamesh didn't get a sunburn. She moved her hand over his spine, from the base of his neck down, down...down as far as she could dare.

Gil blushed from the neck up as she swiped her palms around the plump over his hip bones. "D-Done?"

"Hm," Thena replied, handing the tube of sunscreen back to him.

"Th-Thanks," he smiled sheepishly at his...at Thena. He wasn't entirely sure what they were or where exactly they stood. But so long as it was beside her, he didn't have any complaints.

"Don't mention it," Thena muttered, fidgeting with the sleeves of her track jacket she threw on over her uniform suit.

Gil cleared his throat. "What, uh, what're you doing after your shift?"

"Today?" she asked, and he nodded. "Well, I'm off by 1 today. Kingo and Ikaris have the afternoon shift."

"So," Gil smiled, "you could, maybe, have lunch with me?--if you want?"

Thena smiled at the very sweet man beside her. She was so used to being hit on by absolute pigs, but Gilgamesh was so completely different from all the meatheads she had to deal with on a daily basis. "That'd be nice."

"Okay!" he brightened, and Thena looked away again. "I'll, uh, I'll just be here, I guess."

"I'll come find you," Thena murmured, standing up to go back to the lifeguard tower.

"Oh, hey," Gil shot to his feet. He pressed the tube of sunscreen into her palm.

Thena tilted her head at him; she had plenty at the guard station.

"You look like you're getting a little too much sun already," he shrugged with a gentle smile. He tapped his own cheek, "just a little."

Thena turned around, eager to escape as she felt her cheeks become even more flushed (which Gil had taken as signs of sunburn). "Thanks--see you later!"

[mvltisstuff]

hi!! could you possibly do a one-shot where buck and reader are flirting during the dosed episode? like they get high and are handcuffed and are just giggling and flirting and then accidental confession or something and then the next day they’re just like “i’m pretty sure we’re dating now..” thank you so so much!! this idea just made me giggle so <33

you get me so high - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

gif does not belong to me

a/n: i adore this idea, thank you for sharing <3 i worked on this very sporadically, and i’m not the biggest fan of it but i hope you enjoy!

whoever brought those brownies in was an angel to y/n. yeah, a felony for sure, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t secretly enjoy it.

even though the whole station had been haunted by taylor and her team the entire day, all of the worries of the job seemed to vanish. buck wasn’t sure why, but he just saw everything different than he has before. nature called for him and he was more than excited to be at his job.

he just wanted to laugh at everything, each little girl in front of him was the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. he watched y/n from across the room, sitting on the floor and playing with a girl in a massive dress shaped like a pastry.

“where did you get this dress?” she asks, running her fingers down the satin on the side.

“my mommy bought it for me!”

“can she buy one for me?” y/n asks, turning her head to see the grown firefighter skipping over.

“y/n!” he shoots out quickly, jogging over to lean next to her on the ground.

“hi buck! will you buy me a dress like this?”

“only if you buy me one,” he smiles. “maybe we should put bobby in one.” he starts completely laughing at the thought of bobby in a pretty pink dress, with a sash and a tiara.

“what is going on- buck!” chim shouts. “can someone help us over here?”

“how are we not helping?” buck asks, leading y/n to just shrug. they glance over at eddie in the corner, looking at all the pageant girls like they have 5 heads. he almost looks fearful of them, swaying in his spot.

the next few minutes were a blur, and suddenly they were all handcuffed together against a wall. hen, eddie, buck, and y/n were all connected by their hands, being watched by athena like they misbehaved at school.

“ooh, you made him cry!” buck teases, looking at the tears streaming down eddie’s face. y/n just looks closer to athena’s face.

“you’re a hot cop, thena,” y/n speaks airily, just smiling cheekily at the officer in front of her.

“you guys are high as hell and you’re on duty.”

“what?” hen exclaims. “i didn’t smoke anything-“

“well you ate something! someone brought marijuana brownies into the station, so you’re all off work.”

the team just looks around in shock, not fully caring until y/n and buck start giggling once more. “just- just sit down against this wall, and do not move.” athena demands, walking away to deal with the other emergency in the main room.

y/n and buck sat fine against the wall, comparing hands and very lightly slapping each other on the sides. a few spouts of silence would happen for a few minutes while the group of stoners just watched the world pass in front of them.

“buck,” y/n whispers.

“what?” he asks.

“you’re really cute, like i just figured i’d let you know.”

“thanks, you’re a cutie, too,” she giggles at his words, throwing her head back against the wall as he just glances at her. normal, sober buck would’ve had a racing heart and nerves fluttering all over his body because she told him he was cute. he knows he’s not bad looking, but hearing it from her is when he truly believes it. now, he just figured why not? yolo, anyway.

“no, you’re like cute cute. like hot oiled up firefighter cute.”

“that means so much, y/n,” he says, the sly remark almost making his heart clench.

“i want you under my christmas tree.”

“well, i want you in an easter egg for me.”

“well, i want you-“

“can you just shut up?” eddie asks, still distressed about being handcuffed and drugged. “we get it, you’re into each other. and what happens when you’re not high?”

“i don’t remember talking to you,” buck teases, giving eddie a side eye but keeping his head directed towards the pretty girl next to him.

“alright,” athena comes back into sight. “let’s get you all home, maybe sleep off some of this.”

the next morning, y/n remembered every little thing she said to buck, and he remembered every little thing he said to her. they hoped maybe it was like alcohol, making them forget what they may or may not have said, but nope. it was clear as day. it didn’t feel as awkward, though. it felt easier. like a weight was off their shoulders after being weighed down for so long.

when they both arrived at work, the look from the other just told them everything they had to know. buck meant everything he said, and so did she. her eyes lightly wandered over his, and he didn’t even make her say anything. they both knew that those cookies made a great thing burst open.

[shadowsndaisies]

hangman meets 'thena

wc: 1.7k

synopsis: word is, there's a new pilot on board carrier air wing nine, and she flies for the VFA-14, the Tophatters.

main masterlist

athena-verse master post

a/n: the highly requested hangman and athena meet blurb, let me know what else you'd like to see from this universe, especially things that exist outside the storyline. or even if you just want more of certain characters. This serves as a precursory understanding to Jake and Athena, it probably doesn't answer every question about them, but it might help you see their foundation a bit better. but special shoutout to @djs8891 @tgmreader @rory-cakes and @fanreader75 for asking specifically about hangman and athenas dynamic (mentions at the end as well)

You’d heard of him, everyone active had. The only active aviator with a confirmed kill, never mind that your dad had two.

Hangman was exactly what you expected if you were honest.

Phoenix, who had taken an instant liking to you as soon as you’d been reassigned to the Tophatters, had filled you in on all the Lemoore gossip. Phoenix flew with the VFA-41, the Black Aces, also based out of Lemoore, and in fact, on the same carrier as you, Commander, Carrier Air Wing Nine. Her first order of business was getting you caught up on the carrier, that included learning the players, and while she was happy to introduce you to different Naval officers, the only one she warned against was Hangman.

Someone really should have told her that at your core, you were your father’s daughter.

Let it be known, you did not go looking for him. He appeared in all his Ken Doll Aviator glory as you were doing a morning check on your F/A 18E. Apparently he also flew an F/A 18E, ‘Nix on the other hand had an F/A 18F, as she normally flew with a WSO.

He approached, full of cocky attitude, and maybe it was all the years being raised by both Ice and Mav, but when he spoke it was like you could understand him just as fluently as you did with them. You could see where Nat was coming from with “honestly, Athena, Hangman in two words? Texan Douchewad.”

“Well, Howdy, darlin’, scuttlebutt was that there was a new girl on board, glad to meet you, name’s Hangman,” was his introduction.

You couldn’t help the smirk when he said girl, “Isn’t the hallmark of a proper southern boy, that he’s, well, proper?” you shoot back, eye brow quirked. “I’m a woman, not a girl.”

It was fun, watching the way his smirk melted, how his brow furrowed, as he tried to catch up.

“You-”

“Phoenix gave me a run down, but to be honest, I’ve always preferred forming my own perceptions,” you shrug, as you continue your check.

As you brush past him, you aren’t surprised to hear him following after you. “Ah, so my reputation precedes me then?” he muses, and you can see the way he uses his charm and humor to cover, a shield of bravado, too bad he didn’t realize you were raised by bravado.

“Not exactly, though I did see your plaque at Top Gun, to be fair, I saw Phoenix’s too,” you shrug again.

“So you’re the fresh blood, huh?” he prompts, and finally you turn and smile at him.

“I guess fresh blood is better than being called new girl. Name’s Athena, you’d do well to use it,” you tell him, smile in place.

“Athena? As in th4e Greek goddess of war and wisdom?” he asks, brows furrowed down.

“That’s the one,” you nod, moving to check the landing gear.

“Athena as in, the Naval Aviator who climbed through the ranks and had two separate stations before she went to Top Gun?” he follows up and you turn.

You turn to face Hangman, and now your brows are pulled, “How’d you know that?”

“I keep tabs on things that pique my interest,” he shrugs, and your lip curls on the end. “Rumor was you had Admirals arguing over who got you under their command…”

“Nice to meet you Hangman,” you decide finally, climbing back from under the plane, and offering him your hand.

“Pleasure’s mine, Miss Athena,” he smirks back. “It true your old man flew too?” he tacks the question on as he shakes your hand.

You can see it in his eyes, nepotism, you know it’s where is brain’s gone. It’s like you couldn’t escape it, everyone assumed that’s how you got as far as you have, as quick as you have. They were wrong.

“Yeah, mostly f-14s though, nothing with the juice of my baby,” you straight up lie, so what if your dad was still flying? So what if he was probably flying f/a-18s or something experimental? No one but you needed the specifics, and you’re pretty sure it wouldn’t help you fight against the nepo-baby claims. Too bad no one realized how much of a detriment being attached to Maverick actually was. It made most of the higher ups uneasy about taking you on, unsure if you’d inherited your father’s need for speed and reckless streak, you had, but you were just better than him at keeping it in check, if Ice taught you anything, it was that — “ice cold, kiddo, no mistakes.”

“Must’ve been nice, having a leg up like that,” he’s still smiling as he talks down at you.

You match his smile and catch the flicker of confusion in his eyes as you walk up closer to him. “It was, see, it prepared me for a lifetime of dealing with cocky naval aviators and their inflated sense of bubble wrap bravado.”

“That all?” he presses, staring down at you, the two of you now face to face, staring hard at each other, but you caught the little twitch of his eye at your term.

“No,” you smirk before turning and walking away, “but I’ve got a hop to prep for, see you around Hangman.”

…

He finds you in the Mess later that day. You’d just returned from morning drills with your squad, and was eating with Phoenix.

“Ladies,” he greets, setting his own tray down in the seat opposite you.

“And I’ve officially lost my appetite,” Phoenix decided, standing up. “Athena, I’ll catch you later, I’d say it’s nice to see you, Bagman, but we know better,” she states, grabbing her tray, patting your shoulder and walking away.

“You sure know how to clear a room, Hangman,” you note, eyes flicking to Phoenix over Hangman’s shoulder, Nat was clearing her tray and pauses to look back and roll her eyes dramatically as she looks at Hangman’s back.

Your lip twitches and you lift your glass of water to cover up the smile threatening to split your lips.

“Bubble wrap bravado,” Hangman repeats back to you, echoing your statement from yesterday.

“What about it?” you challenge.

“Explain it to me,” it’s not a question, not in how it’s phrased, but you understand that he is asking.

“Protective to an extent, easier to pop than you think, so long as you apply the pressure properly. Problem is, everyone knows when it does, it’s usually a bit loud,” you explain, and he seems so incredibly focused on you.

You didn’t mind the hyper-focus though, you’d coined the term a long time ago. It had originally been for a different boy, one with a temper, but who you’d watched grow up. Ice had thought it an apt descriptor, he’d even taken it to describe a few officer’s he’d interacted with over the years.

“Hmm,” he hums, eyes glued to yours.

“You disagree?” you ask.

“No. I think you hit it on the head,” he admits and your lips curl up just the slightest bit, at least he seemed honest… cock sure and stubborn too, but honest.

“A naval aviator for a father was a lot of things, Hangman,” you admit, hesitating for a moment, deciding how much you wanted to say. “It was limited time, and firm goodbyes. It was getting behind a yoke for the first time when I was 12. It was learning ranks at the same time I was learning how to do multiplication,” you say, and you study how his expression changed which each revelation. “Having a Naval Aviator for a father might have given me a home field advantage, but that’s all it did. The rest, the wings, the assignments, I earned those,” you tell him seriously.

“Sure you did,” he nods along condescendingly, but his eyes betray his curiosity, and for now, that was enough for you.

You smile again at him, though this time it is a bit sour. “You don’t believe me, that’s fine, fair even, to be skeptical. But you should know, you’re gonna eat crow when you realize how wrong you were,” you tell him seriously, before standing up with your plate and glass, and walking away.

…

You get your chance to prove him wrong just a few days later when the Tophatters get assigned to a drill with both of the other squadrons on board the carrier, the Black Aces, and the Vigilantes. Meaning both Nat and Jake are in the air with you.

After is the first time Jake looks at you with something other than cocky contempt. As if seeing you fly up close resolved some of his concerns, but there’s still something there. He was waiting for the other shoe, too bad no one told him that you’d had both feet firmly on the ground since you signed your life to the Unites States Naval Services.

You get paired with him about a month and a half later for a cover assignment for an emergency evac of a SEAL team.

Normally assignments were set within squads, but it was an emergency evac and the carrier was docked. You and Jake had been the closest to the carrier at the time who were qualified, and so you were the two who were sent off. You flew south into South America, and while a lot of the details were later labeled as redacted, Jake never questioned your ability after. Nor should he. You saved his life.

He did however decide that meant you were friends, much to the immense annoyance of one Natasha Trace.

Considering the entire mission had been classified and redacted, you weren’t able to explain a lot of it to her, but when Jake started choosing his words a little more carefully she did her best not to start anything either. When he started sitting with you in the mess, she eyed him carefully. And when he started following you around in any downtime that lined up, she kept her mouth shut.

She found a new case study in the two of you, the outward and obvious differences between Hangman with Athena, and Hangman without. Her eyes jumping from how easily you let your guard down with him, and how utterly soft Hangman could be when he thought no one was paying attention.

Natasha, to her credit, had tried, desperately tried, to get more information out of you regarding your budding friendship, but all you would ever offer was a simple, “people tend to be more complex than what meets the eye, ‘Nix, I’m proof of that. So is he, and so are you.”

She decided then and there, you had way too much tact and patience, and maybe, just maybe, that was what Hangman needed.

...

everything: @butterfly-skinnylegend

athena’s tags: @omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes @geeksareunique @je6291 @whoismurphyslaw @kee-0-kee @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @thespillingvoid @youdontknowe @burningcoffeecupp @mrsevans90

...

[blue-aconite]

let me drown || chapter I - bradley’s summer part I

Summary: Bradley has many regrets. A whole lifetime of them. His biggest? Losing her. Watching someone else pick of the pieces of what he broke kills him inside and Bradley doesn’t want to let go of the past. No matter how much the past tries to slip through his fingers.

Warnings: Swearing, jealousy

Word Count: 3.8k

Pairings: Bradley Bradshaw x OC

Authors Note: Minors DNI. Each chapter will be labelled with warnings individually. Rating will go up as we get further into this fic. We’re in for a wild ride fam! Enjoy!

Thank you to my amazing betas @writercole and @imjess-themess!

Virginia, Oceana Naval Air Station, Summer 2018

The common room was quiet, which is a nice change of pace. Usually, this place was full of life, the noise was ever-ending and so loud he couldn’t hear his own thoughts. Bradley tipped his head back, dropping his shoulders and letting out a deep breath. It was quiet now, letting his mind run wild. He almost wished it didn’t.

“If you don’t stop moping soon, I’ll lock you in a closet,” Athena mocked as she shoved at his legs, taking their place on the couch. She stretched out her own legs over his, the heel of her foot dangerously close to his crotch. 

“Thena…” He warned. They had played this game long enough for him to know what she was after. But he wasn’t in the mood. She only smirked, tracing the muscle of his thigh with her sock-clad foot, ignoring his warning. 

“C’mon Bradshaw. It would improve the sour mood you’ve been sporting all day. We both know where we’ll end up anyway.” Tangled between the sheets was left unsaid.

Normally, he would be dragging her off the moment she came onto him but today was different. He just wanted to be left alone. “I’m good. Not really in the mood.”

Six weeks after he got stationed at Oceana, the air boss had called Bradley into his office and told him he would be flying a two-seater for the duration of his assignment. He needed the experience, Admiral Tate had told him, leaving no room for arguing. 

And that’s how he ended up with Joanna ‘Athena’ Simons as his backseater. She was quick on her feet, always two steps ahead and a smart mouth to put people in their place. Whoever said that women didn’t belong in the Navy had never met Athena. 

They were good together. Like two peas in a pod. Bradley thought that flying with a backseater would be a hindrance but Athena quickly proved him wrong. They became fast friends and it didn’t take long until Bradley found himself in bed with her. Neither wanted more, both happy with the physical side of things. It was the perfect agreement. 

Her foot moved sideways and interrupted his train of thought. Bradley sat up, shoving her feet from his lap. “Not now. I’m not in the mood,” he snarled, getting to his feet. Athena held up her hands, eyebrows rising.

“Easy. I was just -”

“I know what you were doing, Thena. I’m tired, so just stop.” Bradley stepped around the couch, leaving Athena behind with a bewildered look on her face. He took a deep breath once he got outside, one hand coming up to rub at his temples. A movement to his right caught his attention as he spied Bob Floyd.

Desperate for a distraction that wasn’t Athena, Bradley jogged over to where Bob was heading.

“Floyd, hey! You’re leaving? Hot date?” Bradley joked as he caught up to Bob. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, leading Bradley to believe he had other plans than hanging out in the common room tonight. 

Bob rolled his eyes as they passed the gates, heading towards the parking lot. “I’m meeting my sister. She just moved here. We’re grabbing dinner.” Floyd fished the car keys out of his pocket, stopping at a black truck. Bob doesn’t strike him as a truck guy. Bradley told him as much.

“Looks can be deceiving Bradshaw. Do you want to join us? Thea won’t mind.” A night out does sound good and especially after today. 

Bradley smiles broadly, rounding the truck and pulling the passenger door open. “If neither of you mind. Today’s the last day I want to be stuck on base.”

Bob asks no questions, just pulls out of the parking lot and starts to drive. This is what Bradley likes about Bob Floyd. He’s quiet, calm and doesn’t pry. He’s a good friend. 

Bradley would like to think they’re friends. They get along, they hang out sometimes and Bob is one hell of a WSO. Athena almost had an aneurysm when she found out Robert Floyd was being stationed at Oceana, in their squad. 

Bob hummed along to the radio, never taking his eyes off the road. “If you want to talk about it, feel free.” 

He doesn’t know if he wants to talk about it. He doesn’t know what to say. 

It’s Maverick’s birthday. Bradley keeps the date marked in each calendar he buys. It’s been years since they’ve talked but every time he gets a new calendar, he marks today’s date. 

Anger fills him as he thinks about the man that stepped in after Nick died. Who spent countless hours telling him stories about his dad, what kind of man he was. Who popped in and out of his life, between assignments and missions. Even though Maverick wasn’t always there, he was there when Bradley needed him. Until he wasn’t. 

Bradley has tried to hate Maverick. Most days he succeeded. On most days, he blamed the man for everything that had gone wrong in his life. His father’s death, his mother’s grief, pulling his papers. It was all Maverick’s fault. 

But today, just today, Bradley can’t find it in him to hate. He would never say it out loud, but he misses Maverick today. Just today. Tomorrow he can go back to hating him. 

Bradley realised he never answered Bob, who is still humming. “I don’t even know what to say. Thanks for offering though,” The bespeckled aviator hums in response, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “I’ll let you know if I change my mind.” 

Bob turns left without warning and pulls up in front of a small restaurant. He turns to Bradley, shifting in his seat. “Word of advice. My sister likes to pick people apart. She’s good at reading them. It’s in no way mean, she just likes to know. So if I were you, and didn’t want to talk about it, I’d try to tone down the sullen mood. She’ll notice. She always does.”

Maybe tagging along wasn’t a good idea. Bradley doesn’t feel like being picked apart right now. He’s being held together with tape and glue and the last thing he needs is someone to point out his flaws. 

His feet are moving before his brain catches up and suddenly they're inside and Bob is being engulfed in a hug by the most beautiful girl Bradley has ever seen. 

He’s standing frozen near the door, watching as the Floyd siblings part. Bob is smiling widely, brushing the hair from his sister’s face, such a gentle action it makes Bradley’s heart hurt. In one movement he can see the affection, the love between them.

“.. and this is Rooster. I hope you don’t mind that I invited him.” They’re suddenly in front of him and the greeting gets caught in his throat.

She’s stunning. Radiant even. She’s the light at the end of the dark tunnel he can’t escape. She has her brother’s eyes but unlike Bob’s, hers takes his breath away. So blue he could drown in them, over and over. 

She’s taking his hand, shaking it softly. “Nice to meet you. Do you have a real name or am I gonna have to stick to Rooster?” She’s smiling up at him, her hand soft in his and he can’t help but to shudder at her touch.

Remembering that she asked a question, he coughs awkwardly. “Uh, Bradley. But Rooster works too. Whatever you prefer.” 

“Bradley it is. Name’s Thea, I’m Bob’s sister. If he didn’t tell you that. And no, big brother, I don’t mind. The more the merrier.” Thea let go of his hand and he immediately missed the warmth of her touch. 

She’s smiling widely at him and Bradley feels the quick thuds of his heart against his rib cage. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Bob observing them with a critical look. 

He clears his throat, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “He did tell me he was meeting you but not your name. It’s.. pretty. Suits you.” It isn’t the smoothest he’s ever been but Thea blushes, mouth curling upward in a bashful smile. 

“Should we grab a table? I’m starving.” Bob diffuses the moment, reaching out to grab his sister’s hand, not waiting for Bradley before he starts towards the dining area. 

They sit down and he can feel her observing him, watching him carefully. She’s a lot like her brother except she likes to talk. A lot more. 

“So, what made you ditch your normal nighttime routine to hang out with my big bro here?” Bob is poking her side when she asks, telling her to shut up. “Don’t mind her, she’s just nosy.” 

“Bob! I’m just trying to get to know him. You don’t mind, do you Bradley?” How can he say no to her? 

Weirdly enough, he wants to tell her. He wants to share his thoughts and troubles. Something tells him that she wouldn’t judge him. 

Dinner mainly consists of Bob watching the two of them flirt over steaks. Bradley tries to not come on too strong but every time she smiles at him he wants to reach across the table and kiss her. There’s something so blindingly pure about her. 

At the end of the night, Thea thrusts a small piece of paper in his hand, kisses his cheek and tells him to give her a call. Then she’s gone, climbing into her car and driving off. 

Bob is oddly quiet, more so than usual. They drive in silence back to base. He wants to ask if he’s overstepped, if Bob doesn’t approve but Bradley doesn’t want to answer either. 

There’s a need to know Thea better. To know what makes her smile and laugh, to know what her childhood was like, which side of the bed she preferred and if she liked breakfast for lunch. Bradley wanted to know everything that made Thea the person she was today. 

He opens his mouth but Bob beats him to it. “Listen. My sister is a grown woman. What she does is none of my business. She obviously likes you and you look like you’ve got a full blown crush already. You’re my friend and I trust you with her. But if you hurt her, if you make her anything other than happy, you will have to answer to me. Understood?” 

Bradley can do little other than nod feverishly. He didn’t want to fuck this up before it had even begun. He wanted Thea, and if keeping on Bob’s good side was a point in his favour, he’d do it. 

Floyd clapped  him on the shoulder, shooting  him an uncharacteristic wink and then disappeared behind the corner, leaving Bradley standing in the parking lot. 

Bradley’s steps were light when he headed back to his room, an exciting feeling in his stomach. Behind closed doors he fished  his phone out of his pocket and punched in Thea’s number under a new contact. 

Hi! It’s Bradley. Are you free for dinner on Friday?

Is this your way of asking me on a date?

It can be whatever you want. I just know I want to see you again. 

Pick me up at 7. Wear something pretty ;)

Bradley hasn’t smiled this much in a long time. He tossed the phone onto his bed and pulled his shirt over his head before heading into the bathroom. He looked  lighter, happier and downright giddy when he passed the bathroom mirror. The smile didn’t  leave him, even when he got  shampoo in his eyes and swore so much his mother would have whacked him over the head. 

The smile disappeared as soon as he made it back into the  bedroom and found Athena lounging on his bed. She was clad in nothing but one of his T-shirts and a pair of boy shorts. 

“I was tempted to join you in there, but the pissy mood from before figured I’d do best staying out here. An apology would be nice, by the way.” She doesn’t take her eyes off the phone while she speaks. 

Bradley bristled. “An apology for what? And is that my phone? Give it here!” He snatched the device out of her hands, swatting her away when she reached for his towel. “Fuck, Athena. Just stop. What’s your fucking problem?” 

“My problem? You being a dick, obviously. And who is Thea, hm? Am I invited this Friday?” She left  the confines of his bedding, poking a finger in the middle of his chest. She let it linger for a while but Bradley stepped  away, happy mood washed away by her presence. 

Athena seemed to get the hint and stayed put, a pout in place on her sun kissed face. Her freckles were  quite prominent in this light and just for a moment he remembered  all the times he spent kissing her other freckles. Then Thea’s face showed  up in his mind and it’s like Athena never has existed for him.

“Look, I’m sorry about before but I wasn’t in the mood. That hasn’t changed.” Bradley shouldn’t apologise, he knew  that but it might placate her enough for the conversation about to happen. 

He just hoped  it won’t mess with their job. “Listen. This was just physical,” he pointed  between the two of them, “and now… fuck. Listen, you’re great. And I like you, you know that. But I can’t keep this up.” 

She stared him down, the same way she stares down men trying to put her into place. Athena has never looked at him like that, never once. She swallowed  audibly once, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Are you breaking up with me, Bradshaw?” She jabs, mock hurt on her face. It’s just a joke to her. Bradley feels a little better knowing this won’t cost her any sleep. 

Snorting, he settles on the chair. “Fuck off. You know what I mean. Is this going to be a problem?” 

She laughs, all traces of annoyance gone from her face. She’s Thena again, his friend, confidant and partner in crime. “Don’t worry your little head Bradshaw. We’re good. This was just a little bit of fun.” 

He can suddenly breathe better, the pit in his stomach has vanished . A smile is all he can muster, hoping it will convey everything he can’t say. 

“Do I at least get to meet her? She must be something special if you’re willing to throw this away.” Thena gestured to her body, a pleased smirk plastered across her face. 

“I haven’t even taken her on a date yet. I don’t know if she wants me like that. I just know she’s worth it, whatever it is.” He’s glad Athena is his friend, that he can share and not be judged. 

“God you’re whipped after meeting her one time. She must be a fucking unicorn. Well, I’m happy for you. See you in the skies, Rooster.” They parted  ways with their usual phrase, pressing a kiss to his head as she walked by. 

Feeling content with how everything has been handled, Bradley heads for bed and turns out the lights. 

He and Athena are good, he’s got a date with Thea and Bob gave his approval and permission. Bradley was feeling a lot better now than he did this morning. 

His phone lit up with a notification and his heart dropped into his stomach. It’s a calendar reminder, a picture of him and Maverick. Bradley was barely ten in the photo, sitting on Pete’s shoulders, both smiling widely at Carole behind the camera. 

Reminder: Maverick’s Birthday

He could easily stop torturing himself and not set a reminder but over the years he’s discovered that he likes the pain. 

Another notification pops up, this time from Athena. It’s a goodnight text and a picture of a shirtless guy with the text ‘you wish you were this hot’. 

Bradley recognises the guy as Hangman, Athena’s cousin and also a naval aviator. He’s currently stationed in Lemoore, if Bradley remembered correctly. They’d met once or twice and Bradley couldn’t stand the guy. Rude, arrogant and a walking red flag, he had begged Athena not to make him like her cousin. 

Bradley sends a fuck you back and almost calls her when Thea’s name appears on the screen. 

Can we reschedule for 8 instead of 7? Something came up! 

No problem! Can’t wait! 

Great! Thank you! Goodnight Bradley.

Goodnight Thea. Sweet dreams. 

He then put the phone on silent, puffing his pillow before getting comfortable. 

He thought of that way Thea smiled at him, how her hand felt in his and her lips on his cheek as he closed his eyes. 

“Stop being so nervous. What’s wrong with you? It’s just a date.” 

“It’s not just a date, Thena, it’s the date. I cannot screw this up. It might be the most important date I’ve ever been on.” 

Athena was once again lounging on his bed, trying to be helpful but failing spectacularly. All she did was stress him out even more. Bradley’s palms were sweaty and he was pretty sure he’s sweating through his T-shirt. His throat was dry and he reached out with shaking hands for the bottle of water on the windowsill. 

Thena laughed at him, rolling her eyes. “You’re acting like you’re taking the freaking President out. It’s just a girl. Now, change your shirt so you don’t stink up the car and get going. Or you’re going to be late.” 

Bradley refrained from sniping back that Thea isn’t just some girl, but he also didn’t have it in him to argue. To be honest, he hadn’t wanted her help from the beginning, but she showed up and he couldn’t say no. 

Even though Athena said it was fine and they were still friends, she acted a bit suspicious around him. She promised she wasn’t mad but her actions said otherwise. They had miscalculated a training session yesterday and she had chewed him out in front of the entire crew, which was very rare. 

Athena ended the session with a hard shove to his chest and muttering ‘figures you’d do this’ under her breath as she left him speechless on the runway. 

He had tried to talk about it with her but she ignored him for the rest of the day. Only when it was almost time for him to leave base to pick up Thea, she showed up at his door with her apologies. He didn’t have time for them. She knew he was leaving and she still tried to stall him. 

“I’m going to be late because of you. You knew I was going out and you still showed up here.” He’s panicking now, tugging the shirt over his head and reaching for a clean one. 

“You could have told me to leave, don’t blame this on me.” Athena bit back, her bad mood from before returning. 

“I’m leaving. Bye Thena.” Bradley was halfway out the door, throwing a sloppy wave her way before jogging to the Bronco. 

Had he looked back, he would have seen the downtrodden look on her face. But he didn’t. All Bradley could think about was Thea and her sweet smile.

He made it to the address Thea had texted him on record time. Pulling the car into park and snatching the flowers from the passenger seat, Bradley almost choked on his own tongue when he spotted Thea. 

She was sitting on the front porch, dressed in a light purple sundress and hair in a messy bun. She was exquisite. Bradley desperately wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go. 

“Hey stranger, are those for me?” Thea reached for the flowers, bringing them up to her face to inhale their sweet fragrance. 

He leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. “You look stunning. Otherworldly.” The blush on her cheeks amplified his desire and he pinched his own arm to keep his focus. 

“Aren’t you charming? How did you know my favourite flowers?” 

“Lucky guess.” She raised an eyebrow. 

“Fine. I asked Bob.” Thea laughed and returned the favour of a kiss pressed to his cheek. “Let me get these in water and we can leave.”

Bradley had never been the guy feeling awestruck by something so simple as a kiss on the cheek. But he found himself touching the spot where her lips had graced his skin as he watched her walk back inside the house. His skin burned from her touch and a tingling sensation spread throughout his body. 

Thea returned to his side and he made sure to open the door for her. His mother didn’t raise a heathen. He could be a gentleman. 

“So, we’re are we going?” She nervously fiddling with her hands in her lap as he leaves her neighbourhood. 

It’s endearing and he hesitantly reached over to intertwine his fingers with hers, keeping the other hand steady on the wheel.

“It’s a surprise. But you’ll like it, I promise. Do you trust me?” He did ask Bob for her favourite food and activities while planning. He planned the make this the perfect date. 

“I do trust you Bradley. I’m just not fond of surprises.” She’s blushing again and Bradley wants to spend his life making her blush. The colour on her cheeks was intoxicating. 

He pulls up outside a cosy little Mediterranean restaurant, reluctantly letting go of her hand in favour of sprinting around the car to help her outside. 

She links her arm through his, eyes sparkling as she takes in their destination. 

“Let me guess, you asked Bob?” She laughs, reaching up to smooth out a wayward curl on his head. 

“Guilty. But it doesn't matter as long as you like it. Do you?” 

“I love it.” 

Bradley can’t help himself. She’s on his arm, looking up at him with the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. They’re beautiful. She’s beautiful. He needs to know what she tastes like. 

He moves slowly, giving her the chance to pull away. But Thea only leans into him and Bradley closes the distance between them. 

Kissing Thea is like a fresh breath of air. It’s like he’s been drowning his entire life and she’s what it’s like coming up for air. His entire body is on fire, every nerve in his system thrumming with excitement. 

He could spend the rest of his life kissing her. She smiled into the kiss, hand curling around the back of his neck. 

“We should head inside. I got us a reservation.” He whispered against her lips. They hesitated to  part from one another, lips hovering close together but not quite touching. 

“Lead the way.”

Taglist: @wildbornsiren @therebeccaw @imjess-themess @antiquitea @fuckyeahhangman @writercole @hederasgarden @yanna-banana @wkndwlff @bobfloydsbabe @hollandorks @anniesocsandgeneralstore @ereardon @luminousnotmatter @roosterscock @thedroneranger @fandomxpreferences @top-hhun @princessmisery666 @princessphilly @a-reader-and-a-writer @green-socks @angstybluejay @seresinhangmanjake @ayorooster​@notroosterbradshaw​ @indynerdgirl @gigisimsonmars @girl-in-the-chairs-void @bradshawbabes @unhinged-btch @horseshoegirl @sadpetalsstuff @bradshawbaby @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @ummjustfics​ @septemberrie​ @somenamewithepineapple​ @demxters @amortentiadrops

[taran-chan]

Read on AO3

the blues and then purple-pink skies Thena/Gilgamesh; Oneshot; AU

A sequel to "time, mystical time" It’s been a month since their first conversation on the bus, how are Thena and Gilgamesh doing?

Sprite

Sprite looks at her watch then pokes her head inside Thena’s office.

“Doctor, there are a few more outpatients waiting.”

Thena looks up, narrowing her eyes at her for a moment, then says, “Liar.”

“Yep, just bluffing with ya,” she grins, “Let’s go have dinner.”

They quickly change and go to the elevator, Sprite walks with a spring on her steps all the way. She doesn’t have night duty today, and because they’re both tired of cafeteria food so they decide to eat out. While they’re waiting for the elevator, she notices Thena typing away on her phone. With a knowing look, she harrumphs loudly.

“Sooooo… Aren’t you going to meet with your detective today?”

Thena’s reaction is better than she expected. She turns the screen away, pretending to check the ends of her hair and avoiding Sprite’s eyes.

“He has to work today.”

“But he will be here after work?” She blinks innocently, “And you’re texting to tell him your work is done so he can come anytime?”

“Shut up,” Thena makes a beeline inside the metal box as soon as it opens. Lucky for Sprite, there isn’t anyone else but them so she gets the chance to be cheeky with her mentor for a little longer.

“You two have gone on like, what, three dates? How are you still not going home with each other?”

“Sprite!”

“What?” She laughs.

“Those…are not dates. We simply went to eat together, the last time you were there too.”

“God, stop lying to yourself,” Sprite rolls her eyes, “If the waiter hadn’t brought our food out in time, you would have sucked on each other’s faces.”

“I’m still your mentor, you know,” Thena crosses her arms, “Watch your language.”

“Yeah, yeah, Doctor.”

They’re about to go out when Thena finds out she’s left her car keys behind, so Sprite waits in the lobby while she runs back to her office. The life of a first-year resident isn’t really a blast so recently she’s been investing in the love life of her mentor, the most feared and also the best doctor in neurosurgery at Eternal, with the Scotland Yard detective as intimidating as a bear, whom she heard that Thena met at a bus station or something about a month ago.

He doesn’t make a good first impression on her, really, standing like a threatening statue in front of the hospital to wait for Thena. However, he’s considerably less intimidating after the time he stopped by when Thena was doing surgery, bringing loads of food that he bought for her. He asked Sprite not to tell Thena that those are from him, probably out of embarrassment. Sprite agreed but since Gilgamesh - his name, made the mistake of calling her “Doogie Howser” because of her hair and her size, she doesn’t feel guilty at all when she deliberately dropped some of those sweets inside her snack stash.

Sprite looks up from her phone momentarily to see the ER doctor rushing a gurney through the front door. There’s a man with his head bandaged and wearing a neckbrace on it. The paramedic guy is filling the doctors in, “...50 years old. There was a drug bust. He was chasing a suspect when he got hit on his head with a brick.”

As they pass Sprite, she can see the face on the gurney clearly. His eyes are closed, one side of his face is bloody, swollen, but she still recognizes who he is. Her fingers are numb and stiff when she makes the call.

“Thena? You better come down here quickly.”

Ikaris

“On my count! One, two, three!” Ikaris commands and they lift the patient out of the gurney and onto the bed. He’s so big that they need another two ER doctors and two male nurses to help carry him. Ajak comes over to hang an I.V. bottle for him while Ikaris bends down and calls, “Detective. Detective! Do you know where you are?”

When he doesn’t get a response, he presses his knuckles down on Gilgamesh's sternum for a sternum rub and repeats, louder this time, “Detective Gilgamesh! Can you hear me? Detective Gilgamesh!”

He lets out a sigh of relief when the other man’s chest lightly rumbles and he exhales, “I heard you. I heard you,” he licks his dry lips before continuing, “I’m in Eternal hospital, right?”

“That’s right,” Ikaris says, starting to check his neck, “Is your neck hurt?”

“No, it’s fine.”

The doctor gets his flashlight to check Gilgamesh’s pupils, he’s about to order a CT scan when a ghostly figure dashes into the ER. The people who are standing around Gilgamesh's bed startle as Thena gracefully get into Ikaris’ place, slipping her hand into the detective’s hand on his side.

“Thena, what are you…” Ikaris begins his protest but stops halfway because Ajak puts her hand on his shoulder. She shakes her head.

“Can you hear me?” Thena asks with a gentle voice that no one there has heard her speak to another grown man, “Gil? Can you hear me?”

Ikaris sees the detective crack a very small smile, then opens his eyes for the first time.

“Thena,” he says simply, and that name makes his smile grow bigger.

“I’m here,” Thena replies, “Can you lift your left arm?”

Their eyes are glued to the patient’s arm, large and tough but a little shaky, slowly rising a few inches from the bed.

“Can you close your right hand?” Thena continues and Ikaris hears Ajak’s sad sigh at her breaking voice. She knows Thena has been seeing someone, of course she does. And even though she has never met him, she’s sure that he’s a good man through Sprite’s words, and she is also aware of Thena’s affection for him because she has noticed all the texting and smiling during meal times and breaks. And it’s only increased over the last month. The doctor thinks she’s subtle but she really isn’t.

Gilgamesh stretches out the hand that has been holding hers, then closes it with an utter gentle squeeze, in a way that Ikaris suspects he deliberately reduces the pressure so as not to hurt Thena’s slender hand, for his thumb right now is evenly rubbing on her knuckles. Thena closes her eyes, nodding to herself, her eyebrows knit together as if to stop her from crying. Their surroundings fall into stunned silence, hypnotized by that sight and snap awake when the patient speaks.

“Don’t make that face. I’ll be back on my feet in no time,” he smiles, “I’m in good hands.”

Thena bites her lower lip hard and nods again. She turns to Ikaris, all emotions nearly vanish from her face and she seems completely calm and together, “Let’s do a CT scan.”

“Yeah, okay,” Ikaris says mechanically. Ajak hints at everybody else to leave, giving Thena and Gilgamesh their deserved privacy. On their way to the CT Scan room, Ikaris voices his question.

“That man, is he her…?”

“Yeah, I think he is,” Ajak smiles. He has a feeling that what she’s thinking isn’t quite the same as what he’s thinking.

Kingo

Kingo finds Thena on a bench outside the ICU, staring at her open hands on her lap and looks like she’s lost in her thoughts. He steps up and sits next to her, silently putting a can of milk coffee into her hands. He pops open his own can, takes a sip then asks.

“How is he?”

“He has a subdural hematoma on the right side,” Thena sighs, “but thankfully the bleeding isn’t too bad. His skull is fractured, however I don’t think he needs surgery at the moment.”

“Even so, let’s just keep him in there and monitor him for the next few days,” Kingo suggests, “In case the bleeding gets worse.”

“I know.”

“Is he sleeping?”

“Just now. I talked with him earlier. He’s a bit drowsy because of his head trauma and all of the chasing and fighting tonight.”

“Don’t worry too much,” he pats slightly on her back, painfully stiff because of tonight’s events, “He’ll be right as rain. We’ll keep a close eye on him, so close that I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t file a complaint when he checks out.”

She doesn’t reply, but her expression is more relaxed and she opens her coffee can. She takes a sip, reading what is written on the can and frowning, “What is this? No caffeine?”

“Duh? Are you planning to stay awake all night or what?” Kingo looks at her once, then shakes his head, “Go home, Thena. There are doctors on duty here. Look, I’ll drive you to your apartment and then I’ll be back here right away. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

She starts picking at the can lid, a sign which shows that she’s torn, half-convinced but still worries about the man who’s lying in the ICU with his head bandaged.

Kingo presses on, “Don’t you have surgery in the morning? If you don’t want to go home, at least go to your office to get some shut-eye. Sprite already left some food in there if you’re hungry.”

“I still want to make sure,” Thena says, her voice as faint as a whisper, “That he’ll open his eyes again.”

“Leave that to me. You need to sleep,” Kingo insists, getting up and nudging Thena with him, “I’ll take you to your office. Please, do it for the sake of this longtime friend.”

Finally, exhaustion wins. They go back to her office and Thena lies down on her couch while Kingo settles for the chair by her desk. He flips open the small reading lamp and lets Thena lie in the dark. He refuses to leave when he can still see her eyes wide open, examining the ceiling.

“Back then, at the ICU,” she suddenly says, her eyes never turning away from the dark space above, “Seeing him lying there, do you know what I was thinking?”

“What?”

“If I had known this would happen to him, I would have told him how I feel sooner.”

Two days ago, Gilgamesh asked her to be his girlfriend through a call. Or at least that’s what she told Kingo, the truth is that it could be sooner. Thena said she needed some time to think, and Kingo didn’t know anything further than that, but now it looks like the guy hasn’t received any answers from her.

“That’s exactly why I told you to go ahead and date him.”

“If you’re here only to say ‘I told you so’, then fuck off,” Thena pushes herself up, and Kingo is close to panic when he finds tears fill her eyes, so much that his brain immediately starts thinking of something else to say, anything at all, just to get that look off her face. He only saw her cry a handful of times. The last time was many years ago, when she first witnessed her patient die after an operation. He didn’t see her cry even when she got cheated on, instead she made the son of a bitch cry like a baby, literally. It doesn’t take him long to put two and two together and realize Thena is head over heels for that sweet detective.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean any of that,” Kingo walks to the couch when she lies down again, turning her back to him. He sits down on the floor, pulling the thin blanket over her shoulders, “Let’s be patient for a few more days, then give him the best ‘get well soon’ gift ever, yes?”

Thena

Eventually, sleep grabs her at some point in the night and she jolts awake when her daily alarm rings at 6 am. Kingo left long ago and she’s alone in her office. She takes a shower then puts on a new scrub and her blouse to fend off the morning chilly before making her way back to the ICU. Gil is still fast asleep, though it seems he’s been moving around because one of his arms pokes out of the blanket, hanging off the bed. He’s snoring slightly as she steps in. She lifts his arm up and covers it again, yet it’s so warm she has a hard time letting it go. She smiles. Kingo was right, he’ll be alright. She’ll make sure of it, since she has something important to tell him.

After a second of hesitation, she shyly runs her hand through his soft hair, blushing when he stirs and unconsciously leans towards her touch. She’s been wanting to do so for some time, and if she’s honest with herself, maybe from the moment their eyes met on that bus.

“Thena?”

She pauses her moves abruptly. Her heart beats wildly in her chest, she looks down and finds he’s staring right at her.

“Thena?” He repeats, smiling dreamily.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” She forces herself to stay put despite her instinct to run away in embarrassment. But this is Gil and he’s nothing like she expected. In the best way.

“I’m so sleepy,” he breathes out, rubbing his eyes like a boy, “Like, very very sleepy. But it’s nice for you to drop by.”

“I wanted to check on you,” she bites her lips to hold her laugh. She didn’t think she’ll get to see Gil sleepy and goofy from painkillers this soon.

“Can you hold this for me?” He stretches his arm towards her.

“What do you have there?” She frowns, worrying that he might pull the I.V. string or wires from the monitor in his sleep. But he only drops his hand into hers, letting her hold the entire weight of it.

“I’m so happy, Jagiya,” he beams blissfully, but sighs right after, “I’ve missed you, you know? I was afraid that you wouldn’t want to see me again after I asked if I could be your boyfriend. But I’m so happy now because you’re here because I like you a lot, like, a lot, a lot, a lot.”

“You do?” Thena asks. She can’t help it. She doesn’t realize their fingers have weaved into each other until he pulls them up to look.

“More than you see,” he slurs.

“I don’t know, I think I just got a few ideas of it,” she tilts her head, moving some of her hair behind her ear. Gil sighs wistfully again when she does that.

“You’re so beautiful, Jagiya. So amazing and gorgeous and beautiful that I want to cry,” he pouts as if to demonstrate it, “I never want you to leave.”

“Don’t cry. I’m here, I’m right here,” she assures him, and fully intends to do so for at least half an hour until the others start coming in and she has to leave for her morning rounds. He keeps their clasped hands to his chest like it’s his most favourite thing on earth.

“I’m so sleepy, Jagiya,” he makes a huge yawn.

“Sleep, Gil,” Thena chuckles, “We’ll talk later. I promise.”

“Can you kiss me goodnight?” He asks, catching her off guard, and then does what she can only call the most persuasive puppy eyes she’s ever seen, even the cutest kids in Pediatrics can’t perfect it like him. As much as she wants to save their first kiss until he’s back to total health, she doesn’t think she can deny him. She doesn’t think she can deny him anything. So she looks around, making sure the hall outside is still empty, then bends down and touches her lips to his, only long enough so he can feel it.

“Now sleep.”

Gil closes his eyes obediently, murmuring, “I like you a lot, a lot, a lot, Jagiya,”

“I like you too. A lot,” she replies, but he’s drifted off.

Gilgamesh

He wakes in the early morning, snow is blinding the view outside the windows. His head mostly recovered and the incident four days ago feels like weeks away, even though he only left the ICU two days ago. His recovering speed is pretty fast, now he can walk around with his I.V. pole to buy himself drinks and does his own hygiene. Thena doesn’t waste any moment to move him into a VIP hospital room in Eternal. She states that he doesn’t need to worry about the fee, and just focuses on doing his best to recover. And he’d rather go back to the ICU than protest.

He starts having visitors. His colleagues and some of his friends stop by during the day and Sersi always shows up before and after work, bringing him food. But the person he’s longed to meet only walks in very early in the morning or very late in the evening, depending on her busy schedule. And since he’s barely awake at those hours, they haven’t exchanged more than a few sentences. She hasn’t given him an answer about whether or not she wants them to move forward either, but he can’t figure out the right time to ask. Has she forgotten? He doesn’t think so, however he thinks about telling her again, face to face this time. He’s prepared to accept her answer, whatever it’s gonna be. But his guts tell him that it won’t be so bad, if the last few days could be seen as some kind of proof. He doesn’t know if he dreamt it or not but once or twice, when he was about to fall asleep, he thinks she kissed him on the forehead, as light and soft as a feather’s touch.

Now, when he’s stable enough to really think about it, another image pops up in his head: him clutching at Thena’s hand and asking for a kiss, and then she kisses him. But that’s impossible, right? Simply impossible because he would never behave in such an inappropriate way. Begging for a kiss?? From her?? He lets out a groan.

“Gil?”

He turns to his right so fast that he feels lucky he didn’t pull any of his neck muscles. Thena is sitting right there, on a chair next to his bed, in her full work attire with scrub and blouse. Her hair cascaded down over one of her shoulders, an open book on her lap, and she’s glorious despite the small frown caused by his groan.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really, it’s just that my arm has fallen asleep,” he’s fast to deflate her worries. No matter how confused he is right now, he’s still glad to see her, “What time is it?”

She looks at the watch on her wrist, “6 am.”

“It’s early, why are you already here?”

“I have surgery at 8 so I came early to prepare,” she shrugs, “I have some spare time so I let myself in here because it’s quieter than down there. Is that alright?”

“More than alright. You’re welcome here anytime, Doc, even if I was snoring,” He places his hands on the mattress to sit up. Thena quickly closes her book, getting up to adjust his pillow and tuck back his blanket unnecessarily.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better and better every day. Nothing hurts anymore, and my alertness is back. I’m wide awake for the first time in the last few days,” he leans back, hooking his forefinger with her pinkie, “Thank you.”

“That’s my job,” she smiles sadly, “But you gave me quite a scare, nonetheless.”

“That’s one of the annoying bits in my line of work. But still, I’m sorry for scaring you, I’ll try to be more careful,” he switches his forefinger with his pinkie as well, “And I’m lucky that I have the best doctor in London looking out for me.”

That earns him a small laugh from her. She has an adorable laugh, even more so when he makes her laugh out loud or giggle. That gives Gil the courage to make up his mind and call out, “Thena?”

“Yes?” Her sharp green eyes shift to him and his stomach does a somersault.

“While I was in the ICU, did you ever stop by in the morning?”

“I did. Once.”

Gil feels his heartbeat increasing in record time when he continues, “Was I asleep or awake then? My memory is a little fuzzy, sorry.”

She rubs a lock of hair between her fingers and says, “You were asleep.”

“And I didn’t say anything to you?”

She shakes her head, “Why? You think you said something?”

“It’s weird, I could have sworn that…”

“Yes?”

Gil runs a hand over his burning face, then sighs eventually, “I’ll tell you later then.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

He sees her press the back of her hand on her cheek, discreetly hiding a smile. He’s desperate to change the subject when she suddenly asks, “What’s Jagiya?”

For some reason, that word rings the alarms in his head. Gil clears his throat, no doubt that his face is as red as a tomato and most likely would start letting out steam if this keeps going.

“It’s a term of endearment, like honey, darling, or baby,” he squeaks.

“Oh,” she says simply, lowering her head and flipping open her book again.

“Wh…Where did you hear that?” He asks suspiciously.

“Ajak has been watching this K-drama series at lunch hours and yesterday I heard the term was spoken after the name of a character,” she explains naturally. He just stares at her while she gradually holds up her book until it blocks her face from his. She peers at him over the edge of the book.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” he says, turning away to look out of the window. As the memories rush back to him, his heart rate is so fast he feels a bit dizzy, and Thena is truly a terrible, terrible liar.

Phastos

At 7 pm, Phastos takes the elevator to the VIP floor. He has dinner plans with Thena and when he can’t find her in her office, he knows where to go in an instant. She’s been spending a lot of time up there recently, which means Phastos is defenseless in front of the ever-curious interns, who always ambush him during breaks or meal times to get information about the doctors in Eternal. Like any good doctor, he hopes that the detective recovers as soon as possible, and what harm does it make if his reasons are a bit personal?

He manages (begs) to keep Thena with him at lunch hours and not disappear upstairs, but she really needs to come back and scare those interns into their place before the vein in his head pops (Thena will give him a lecture if he uses that expression in front of her - a neurologist).

There’s a woman standing outside Gilgamesh’s room, who Phastos can tell is his younger sister on first look. A bag that probably contains his dinner is at her feet but she seems uninterested in entering the room, but more like peering through the ajar door. She looks up when he approaches and gives him a bashful smile, “Good evening, Doctor.”

“Evening,” Phastos smiles back, “You’re Gilgamesh’s sister, right? Why don’t you go inside?”

“Yes, I’m Sersi. I brought dinner for him but I think I should wait here for a while, I don’t want to disturb them.”

“I reckon that his doctor is in there as well?”

“She is,” Sersi nods, stepping aside so Phastos can move closer and look inside. His eyes almost fall out when he finds Thena on a chair by Gilgamesh’s bed, reading aloud from a novel, while her beloved patient lays back on his pillow, watching her read and dear lord, they’re even holding hands.

“I love your voice,” he comments.

“Quiet. This is my favourite part,” she scolds, but there isn’t any real annoyance in it. They look at each other, taking each other in for a long, long moment, and their eyes answer everything that Phastos and Sersi ever questioned about their relationship.

Then, Thena resumes her reading, still holding her book with one hand, a faint blush on her cheeks.

“I see your point,” Phastos grunts. So much for a dinner buddy.

“Maybe we should come back later,” Sersi suggests, “If you don’t need to see her right away.”

“I don’t, really, it’s nothing,” Phastos chuckles, “In fact, how about we head to our drink station downstairs and I’ll buy something for you? Then we could think of being the third and fourth wheel. I’m Phastos, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. And I think that’s a good idea,” Sersi laughs. They pull the door shut and leave the room that is now fluttering with pink hearts.

[firstdegreefangirl]

‘Thena? Buck doesn’t feel so good.

Buck drags the back of his hand across his forehead as he pulls away from his building, but it’s a futile gesture, and sweat is puddling on his skin again before he’s even turned the corner. He blinks rapidly, trying to keep it from dripping into his eyes as he listens to the directions from his GPS.

It’s not like he doesn’t know how to get where he’s going, but today, he doesn't trust himself enough not to miss the turns. His mind is hazy, like he’s seeing everything through a thick layer of fog, and it’s all he can do to hold his head upright. He’s barely able to focus on driving, never mind remembering which street is which without someone reminding him where to turn.

When he stops at a red light, he looks down at the dials on the console. The air conditioner knob is turned to full-blast, but Buck can’t feel it against his skin. Curiously, he reaches out and hovers his fingers a few inches from the vent. It’s blowing cold air, he can tell, but he’s still burning up. He tries to think about rolling down a window, but the light is green now, and his brain won’t divide itself between the two tasks.

So he swelters, in his icebox of a Jeep, and presses on across LA.

He’s halfway there when his stomach rolls and his spine arches against the wave of nausea coming over him. The sudden discomfort is almost more than he can handle, too much going on all at once, and none of it good.

By some small miracle, Buck holds himself together until he’s able to pull into a gas station and park haphazardly at one of the pumps. He doesn't need gas, and even if he did, there’s no way he’d be able to figure out how to activate the pump right now, but it’s easier than steering and maneuvering into a parking space.

Besides, he belatedly remembers that he’ll have to un-park eventually, and this way he won’t have to try and back through his haze.

With the last fringes of his energy, Buck pulls the keys from the ignition and reaches for the lever to slide his seat back. He tries to move slowly, but gravity takes over and the seat falls away before he’s registered the movement. His head bounces against the headrest as the motion stops, and he groans, reaching up with one hand to rub at his eyes.

When the world is still again, he reclines the seat carefully, until he’s lying halfway flat. There’s a sliver of windshield at the bottom of his field of vision, a tiny strip of bright blue sky. But most of what he’s seeing is the roof of his car, no movement to watch while his stomach churns.

He focuses on taking deep, steady breaths, trying to conjure up the feeling of Maddie’s hand rubbing his back when he had the flu as a kid, wracking his brain for the memories of her gentle touch until he feels like he can sit upright again.

When he leans forward, the seat comes up behind him, supporting him while he gets his bearings straight again. Buck doesn’t feel “better,” by any stretch of the word, but he’s at least coherent enough to know how awful it feels to have his body revolting on him like this.

Read the rest on ao3 here!

[detectivecarlosreyes]

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup

Ao3

Day 1: “Are you warm enough?” + fluff -  Athena asks Buck to check on May when she stops answering her phone after staying home from school with the stomach flu that had been going around.

@evanbuckleyweek

One thing Buck didn’t expect on his day off was getting a call from Athena. He’d just finished a load of washing and had the now clean pile tipped it out on his bed to be folded when the call came through.

He wedges the phone between his ear and shoulder as he goes about folding each item and stacking them in their specific piles to be put away in the right drawer. “Athena! This is a surprise, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Hey there Buckaroo. I was actually wondering if you could do me a favour, if you’re not busy.” He surveys what was left of his clothes.

“Nope not busy at all, what do you need?” Buck moves the phone to his hand as he settles on the end of his bed, giving Athena his undivided attention.

“May stayed home sick from school today and I was going to swing by at lunchtime to check on her, but I’ve been held up with an incident on the other side of town. Would you mind checking on her, she hasn’t answered her phone in the last few hours.”

“Yeah, of course, I can do that.”

“Normally I wouldn’t ask but Bobby has gone to the station to sort out a backlog of paperwork that he missed while he was sick, and Michael has gone on a 3-day weekend away with his new beau and as you know everyone else is out of commission with the flu.”

Yeah, he did know, it was something that was going around at the moment, a 24- hour stomach bug. It started with one of the guys at the station who passed it onto Bobby who then passed it onto most of the team, except him and Athena, who went down all at once. It wouldn’t surprise him if May was struck down with the same thing.

Hearing the concern in her voice, Buck gets up and plan of action already forming in his head, “Don’t worry about it ‘Thena, I’ll drop by now and I’ll let you know how she is.”

“Thank you Buck, I’ve got to go but I’ll talk to you later,” she was gone after that and Buck was on the move, collecting his shoes from his room before heading to the kitchen.

Pulling open the fridge, he gathers what was left of the chicken soup batch he’d made the night Bobby had fallen ill and thanked his foresight to make a large enough batch to deliver to the rest of the team the morning when they went down too.

It was a patented recipe that his grandmother swore by that was both nourishing and easy on the stomach lest it be unsettled, and in all his years of using it, it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.

Throwing on his shoes, Buck gathers everything, grabbing one last thing from the fridge as an afterthought, and heads out for the nice, short drive that it takes to get to the Grant-Nash household. He easily finds the spare key that he knew was carefully hidden in the front garden.

Stepping inside, Buck heads to the kitchen to drop everything off before seeking out May who he assumed was probably in her bedroom, trying to sleep off the sickness. Finding the bedroom door closed, he knocks gently and announces his presence out of deference to her privacy.

Hearing what he thinks is the sound of her stirring, Buck opens the door a crack, “May? You awake?”

“…Buck? What are you doing here?” Swinging the door wider, he finds her lying on her side buried under her blanket and looking half-awake, squinting at the door in confusion.

“Your mom asked me to check on you when you weren’t answering your phone.”

Seeing a slight flush of her cheeks Buck steps inside and crouches at her bedside, touching the back of his hand to her forehead and frowns when he feels what he thinks might be a low-grade fever radiating from it.

“I’m guessing you probably have what Bobby had the other day, how are you feeling?” He asks as he looks down at the thankfully empty bucket sitting beside the head of the bed. He sits back on his heels, giving her some room as she props herself up on her pillows considering the question.

“I can’t tell if I feel hungry or still feel like my stomach is still upset. Breakfast didn’t stay down for long, it came back up not long after mom left.” She ends up answering with a grimace, wrapping an arm around her belly.

“I brought some soup. How about I just warm up a little bit and we see how we go.” He offers and gets a considering nod in response. Buck gives her a pleased smile and heads back down to the kitchen to warm the soup in a small saucepan.

He puts a slice of bread in the toaster before turning his attention to his phone, letting Athena know how things were. He moves easily around the kitchen, finding what he needs and plates everything up on a tray to take up to May. Before he has the chance to bring to food to her, he’s surprised, however, to hear her coming down the stairs.

“Is that the same soup you made for Bobby? It smells good.” She says, appearing around the corner, looking more alert and dressed snugly in a thick looking hoodie and track pants.

“Yep, grandma’s secret recipe. Why don’t you take a seat on the couch and I’ll bring it over to you,” Buck answers over his shoulder as he picks up the tray.  

He brings it over to the living area and set it down on the coffee table before passing the bowl to May. “Want to watch something together?”

“You’re staying?��� she asked, confused.

Buck shrugs and takes a seat next to her on the couch, picking up the remote, “Yeah, I have nowhere else to be today and I don’t see a better way to spend my day than keeping you company.”

He pauses realising that he might be overstepping, “…If you don’t mind that is.”

May smiles at him, “I wouldn’t mind some company.”

Buck grins back at her before turning his attention back to the tv, “So, what would you like to watch.”

They end up settling on The Great British Bake-off which neither of them had watched. While they watch, Buck tries to subtly pay attention to how much May ends up eating, hoping that she gets at least some nutrition after losing her breakfast, and finds himself pleased to find that she managed at least half the bowl and a few bites of toast.

Almost an hour had passed, and they had just started on the next episode when May got up abruptly, rushing out of the room in the direction of the bathroom. He follows in concern and finds her kneeling by the toilet bowl, throwing up what she’d just eaten.

He goes to fetch a glass of water before returning and joining her in the bathroom. He squats beside her and rubs her back comfortingly until the heaving subsides before offering the glass. She takes it gratefully and washes out her mouth before getting up and moving gingerly back to the couch.

Buck diverts to the kitchen, getting the sports drink he remembered last minute to bring before re-joining her on the couch and offers the bottle, gently reminding her to keep up the fluids.

“Thanks,” May says with a small smile before resting her head on his shoulder with a frustrated sigh, “Guess my stomach wasn’t ready for food yet.”

Buck gives her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, “We can always try again later.”

Feeling her shiver against him, Buck pulls the throw from the back of the couch and May tucks her feet up.

“Are you warm enough?” He asks and May nods into his shoulder.

They both fall quiet after that, tuning back into the show even though they’d already missed half the episode but neither really minding. They slowly get back into it by the end of the episode, commenting on what they think the judges will say about the dishes.

And that how the rest of their afternoon went, building up their own running commentary on the show, throwing in their own opinions and laughing at each other’s criticisms. At some point Harry joins them, having been dropped off from school from the neighbouring carpool.

That’s what Athena walks in to find when she gets home from work, the three of them looking at home with each other as her children quietly bickered with Buck as if they were siblings, over who they thought were the better bakers, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of fondness over it.

Buck sticks around a little longer after Athena’s return, letting her know how the day went and confirming what she assumed May was sick with; And then he heads home, leaving behind the soup that he’d brought over and promising May that he’d try not to watch any more of the show without her.

The next day, however, he wakes to find himself flushed with a fever and with an intense need to throw up. It doesn’t take him much to put two and two together to know how he caught the bug. It doesn’t him bother though, feeling it was worth hanging out with May because it meant that he got to know her better and learned pretty quickly how easily they got along.

May must have found out from Bobby that he had called in sick because she sent him a number of British Bake-off memes which he saw after his second round of vomiting, making his day feel less awful. She explained that she was having another day from school to be sure that the virus had passed. 

The memes ended up sparking a day-long event with the two of them live blogging to each other what was left of the first season from the comfort of their own homes.

It was one of the best sick days he’s had in quite some time probably since he was a kid.

[obvious-captain-rogers]

For Evan Buckley Week: Day One! Not going to lie, I had to have Christopher and Buck’s relationship with him be central because it was just too cute to pass up :)

Prompt: “That’s my family” +fluff

           Buck grinned as Christopher dragged Eddie into the art classroom so that Eddie could look at the project he’d made. It was Family Night at Christopher’s school and he’d insisted that Buck come despite the fact that Buck and Eddie had only- officially- been dating for about two months. He’d looked up at Buck with the earnestness that only an eight year old can accomplish and said that Buck was already part of his family. And if Buck had teared up a little, that was no one’s business but his own.

           Buck watched from the outskirts of the room as Eddie crouched down so that he could hear Christopher better over the hum of students, teachers, and parents all talking in the semi-spacious room. It always made him smile to see how genuine Eddie’s interest was, in everything Christopher did. Sometimes it made him bittersweet, and brought up plenty of memories from his own childhood that he’d rather have kept buried, but right now it was just warm joy that settled in his chest.

           “Buck!” Buck zoned back in to see Christopher waving him over and Eddie giving Christopher an exasperated look, most likely for shouting inside.

           “Hey,” Buck said once he’d reached them.

           “I want to show you and Daddy my other project. It’s in my regular classroom, and I didn’t want you to get lost.” Christopher slipped his hand into Buck’s and Buck couldn’t help but feel his smile widen a little.

           “Well then, let’s go,” Buck said and gently swung his and Christopher’s joined hands. Buck had to drop Christopher’s hand so the boy could use his crutches, but he and Eddie were on either side of him and it was nice.

           “So I had to make a project about all the important people in my family,” Christopher said as they walked into the classroom and made their way over to where Christopher’s project was set up. He beamed proudly as Buck, who hadn’t seen it before now, took it in. “So, of course, I have a picture of Mommy and Daddy,” Christopher said and pointed to a picture of a much younger, and obviously pre-Christopher, Eddie and Shannon. “Then there’s you.” It was a picture that Eddie had taken of Buck at the 118 when Buck wasn’t paying attention. He was just leaning back against the railing of the loft, grinning at something Hen was saying out of frame, and you could see the truck bay behind him. “I’ve got Bidabuela and Aunt Pepa.” Christopher said and touched the picture of both women from a few weeks ago when Christopher had spent the night at Eddie’s abuela’s. “Then there’s Maddie and Chimney, and Hen and Karen with Denny, and Cap and ‘Thena, May and Harry and Michael.” It was the photo they’d taken at the Christmas party that Buck and Athena had put together.

           “Wow, buddy,” Buck said and he couldn’t help but feel just a touch overwhelmed at how easily Christopher had grafted everyone in his mind as his family.

           Christopher suddenly looked a little nervous as he shuffled his foot. “Do… do you like it? Is it okay?” He bit his lip in a way that reminded Buck so much of Eddie. Buck knelt down and threw his arm around Chris’s waist.

           “I love it, Christopher,” Buck said and gave the kid a squeeze.

           “Do you think everyone else…?” Christopher squirmed a little.

           “They’ll love it too,” Buck assured. “I bet Cap will even let us hang it up at the station.” Eddie gave Buck a look but Buck just shot him a bright grin that clearly stated that Buck was going to put it up, even if Bobby said no. Because they both knew that Bobby wouldn’t have the heart to make Buck or Eddie take it down.

           The rest of the night was nice. Both Eddie and Buck talked with a few other parents while Christopher talked to some of his classmates, and they all talked with Christopher’s teachers. Eddie ended up having to carry Christopher back to his truck because the boy was absolutely worn out from all the excitement. Buck helped Eddie get Christopher settled once he’d driven them back to the Diaz household, then he leaned against the counter.

           “You know I’m definitely putting that up in the loft now,” Buck said as Eddie came over already shaking his head.

           “Bobby’s gonna kill you.”

           “No, he won’t. He’ll think it’s cute.” Buck ducked in and pressed a quick peck to the corner of Eddie’s mouth. “Just wait and see.”

…..

           The second that Christopher’s project was given back to him from school, Buck went to a store and had it copied into a poster. He snuck it past Bobby and managed to hang it up near the pinball machine without anyone catching him at it. He took a step back to make sure that it was hung straight when he felt someone step up behind him, making Buck jump.

           “What’s that?” Hen asked as she studied the poster, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth the longer she looked at it.

           “That’s my family,” Buck said with a proud grin. “Christopher made it for school and I thought it would look perfect, just here.” He glanced at Hen and Hen was grinning at him brightly.

           “Real cute, Buckley,” Hen said and nudged his arm with her shoulder.

           “Shut up,” Buck said but there was no bite behind it as he smiled softly. They heard boots on the stairs and Buck glanced over to see Bobby coming up the stairs. A short thrill went down Buck’s spine at the thought of Bobby seeing what Buck had done, but then the alarm went off and they were needing to go out on the call.

           “Saved by the bell,” Hen teased as they gathered up their gear and Buck walked towards the truck while Hen went to get into the ambulance. Buck laughed, though no one heard it over the sirens as Bobby flicked them on.

[buckleysjareau]

everything is blue

When Evan Buckley is ten, he discovers nail polish.

-

In which Buck paints his nails, Eddie is flustered, and May is matchmaker.

read on ao3

When Evan Buckley is ten years old, he discovers nail polish. At twenty-eight years old, thinking back, he feels like an idiot because who doesn’t know what nail polish is?

Maddie always had some bright color on her nails and ten year old Buck wanted to have bright nails more than anything. He sneaks the nail polish from his sister’s room at three in the morning, thanking God he’s always been good at keeping quiet, and he picks out a sky blue polish. Watching Maddie, he figured it would be as easy as she made it look, but the nail polish is all over his nails and fingers by the time Maddie finds him. 

“If you wanted me to paint your nails, you could have just asked.” She whispers. 

Buck jumps. “Please don’t tell mom and dad.”

Maddie tiredly smiles. “Lips are sealed.” 

“Throw away the key?”

“Throw away the key.” She holds out her pinky and smiles when his small pinky links with hers. “Here, let me help.” She guides Buck to the toilet, sits him down, and grabs nail polish remover from the cabinet. 

“You still want this color?” Maddie smiles as she holds up the Essie bottle. 

Buck grins. “Yeah, it reminds me of summer.” 

When Maddie finishes his nails, he’s beaming. He’s wanted to have pretty nails since he saw Maddie’s glitter polish collection. 

“Alright, Evan, time for bed. You better get up tomorrow when I wake you up for school.” Maddie warns. 

Buck just rolls his eyes. “Yes, mom.”

The next day, things go from good to bad within a second. He’s reeling, so happy and loves the color of his nails and he feels like nothing can take it away. Until something does take it away.

That something being Logan Hawk. He’s always had a problem with the sixth grader, he thought he owned their grade school and even at ten years old, Buck wanted to punch the asshole out of him but because he’s little wimpy Evan he won’t. 

“You a queer or somethin’, Buckley?” Logan grabs Buck’s hand and examines the blue on his nails. “Huh? Use your words, queer.” 

He doesn’t remember doing what he does next, and he hates that he doesn’t remember it. He’d love to remember finally punching Logan Hawk. He does however remember his parents coming in to take him home for being suspended. 

He remembers the entire ride home, his dad’s yelling loud enough to hurt Buck’s ears. Madeline is going to pay for letting you use her nail polish. Doesn’t she know it’s only for girls? No son of mine is gonna be a queer, you hear me? As soon as we get home, wash that shit off your nails, Evan. If not, there will be hell to pay.

 That was the first and only time he’d painted his nails. Now at twenty-eight, a little more than drunk, he doesn’t hear Logan’s voice or his dad’s as he feels the need to paint his nails a pretty color. Or colors, more than one color would be exciting.

He picks up his phone and dials the one person who he knows isn’t at work and would have nail polish. “Hey ‘Thena.” 

“What’s up, Buckaroo?” He hears the amusement in her voice and grins. 

“Will you come over and paint my nails?” 

“Paint your nails?” She tries to clarify.

“Yeah, I really want to paint them but I have none and I’m really shit at it. Can you bring nail polish?” 

“You’re lucky I love you, Buckaroo.” 

Buck feels like there’s sunshine coming from his heart and lighting his whole apartment. “Awwwww, ‘Thena, I love you too.”

The phone hangs up and ten minutes later, Athena is letting herself in with the key he gave her after he’d fallen down the stairs trying to get to his bed in his cast. She’s got a small bin in her hand, full of colors and glitter, and Buck is beaming.

“Should I be concerned that it’s only eight at night and you’re this drunk?” Athena raises her brow and crosses her arms and Buck thinks it’s so motherly, he wants to cry. 

“I’m not that drunk.” He pouts. “Can I see the colors?”

Athena snorts. “Knock yourself out, kid.” 

He sets aside a silver nail polish and continues to look. He does the same thing with the pink, and when he finds the exact shade Buck used when he was ten, he grips it in his hand and places it near his chest. Athena’s looking at him weird, but really, Buck couldn’t find it in him to be embarrassed about it.

“Can you do these three colors?” 

“I sure can. Can you get me a paper towel and some tissues?” 

Buck does as she says and gets comfortable on the couch when he gets back. 

It’s quiet for a minute as she carefully does the first coat of pink. When she’s done, she reaches for his other hand. “Don’t touch those, they’re not dry.” 

“Aye, aye, Captain.” He snorts. 

Athena fondly rolls her eyes. “So what’s with the sudden urge to have your nails painted?”

“It’s not sudden. I’ve wanted to paint my nails since I was ten. It didn’t go well the first time I did it, so I haven’t since. But a school bully and my asshole of a father aren’t here to tell me I can’t. Fuck toxic masculinity.” Buck is honest when he’s drunk, he’ll spill his deepest darkest secrets and not remember doing it the next day. He hates that but, here he is, still drinking and still spilling secrets. 

“Well, I’m sorry it didn’t go as well the first time, but I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to trust me to paint them for you.” 

“Can I tell you a secret?” Buck whispers dramatically.

“You can tell me anything.”

“I love Eddie so much it’s starting to hurt.” He pauses. “Do you think he’ll like my nails?”

Athena smiles. “He’ll love your nails. Maybe you should end the hurt and ask him out?”

“He’d never say yes to me.” He sighs miserably. “But, hey, let’s not focus on my breaking heart. Let’s focus on happy things because my nails already look good.”

Athena’s about to respond when her phone cuts her off. “May’s Facetiming. Probably to ask where her nail polish is.” She laughs. 

“Answer, answer, I wanna tell her she has amazing taste in nail polish.”

“You’re a child, Evan Buckley.” She rolls her eyes but answers the phone. “Hey, May.”

“Where did all the nail polish go?” The tinny voice has Buck laughing. “Is that Buck?”

“Hi, May! I’m holding your nail polish hostage, is that okay?”

He sees May laugh. “Normally when someone is held hostage, it’s not usually okay with the other person. But, yes, it’s fine.”

Buck holds up his right hand, which is completely done. “Look how pretty.”

“I see you used my sky blue Essie.” She grins, holding up her own hand with the exact shade. 

“I wore that shade when I was ten!” He giggles. “I was so happy to find it in here. You should paint my nails, too, one day!” 

May giggles. “I’ll be there. I gotta study, bye Buck, love you mom.”

Buck wakes up the next morning to his alarm. The night before rushes back to his mind and he looks at his newly painted nails. He loves them, but now sober, he hears Logan and his dad. He can hear Eddie saying something bad, even though if Buck were being rational, he knows he never would. 

He notices a note on his bedside table, a glass of water and two Advil next to it.

Remember what you said. Do what makes you happy. - Athena.

He hates that Athena knows him so well, but he holds the note to his chest and counts to ten before getting up to shower. 

The drive to the station is silent. He looks down at his nails every so often and holds onto the feeling of not caring. He gets to the station and smiles at Hen as he walks to the locker room. He changes, grabs a cup of coffee and sits down at the counter before anyone notices his nails. 

“I like the colors.” Bobby grins. Buck lets out a huge sigh of relief. 

“Me too.” 

“You painted your nails?” Hen raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “Actually, Athena did.”

Clash. 

They all turn towards Eddie, who dropped his mug filled with hot coffee, as he stares at Buck’s nails. 

“What? Can’t a guy paint his nails?” Buck’s entire face is red under the stare of his best friend. 

“I- I- uh- you- I love your nails.” He's stumbling with his words and Buck is as big of a mess as he is so he refuses to talk. He smiles and grabs a broom, starting to sweep up the broken glass as Eddie continues to stare. 

“Eddie, take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Chimney snorts. 

Eddie doesn’t have a chance to quip back before the bell rings. A pileup on the 405, two major injuries, no fatalities. People really need to learn how to drive.

When they arrive at the scene, Buck follows Eddie to the first car to check on the driver.

“Sir, I’m Buck and this is Eddie, we’re here to get you out.” He starts. “What’s your name, sir?”

The man is about to reply before his eyes land on Buck’s nails and suddenly he feels self conscious. 

“Only pansies and girls paint their nails. Go help someone el-”

Eddie cuts in. “Who says nail polish is only for girls, huh? Is there a rule book somewhere that says it in writing?”

It makes you happy, don’t let them ruin it for you. There doesn’t have to be a reason to be happy because your nails are painted. I am happy. 

Athena’s voice repeats in his head as Bobby walks up.

“Is there a problem?” He has the jaws of life in his hand, so Buck figures Eddie must have asked for it when Buck spaced out. 

“No, sir.” The asshole answers. 

“Good.”

No one else bothers Buck about his nails after that. It’s been a week and Eddie is acting weird around Buck, ten times more clumsy than usual. May says it’s because he’s so flustered around him that he’s acting this way. Buck calls bullshit. 

“What’s Eddie’s favorite color?” 

“Red.” He answers before May can really finish the question. She rolls her eyes but takes out the red nail polish. “May, I’m gonna match the firetruck.” 

He can hear Bobby laugh from the kitchen and sees him peeking out. “I think Eddie would love that.”

May hums in agreement. 

“You know, I’m not painting my nails for Eddie.” 

“You’re not painting your nails, I am.” May laughs when Buck grumbles. “I wasn’t painting my nails for Darius but this red here got me a second date, so trust it.” 

Buck rolls his eyes. “Still mad I didn���t get to give him the shovel talk before Bobby.”

“That would have been one too many shovel talks though. Between mom, dad, and Bobby? He would have walked out for sure if you gave him one.” 

Buck snorts. “If he walked away because of an extra shovel talk then he deserves the shovel talks.” 

“Alright, alright, we’re not talking about Darius and me. We’re talking about you and Eddie.”

“Were we?” 

“Yes.” Bobby, Athena, and May say in unison. 

“That’s funny because there is no me and Eddie.” 

“Whatever you say, lover boy.” May quips as she paints the pinky. “All done.” 

“You staying for dinner, kid?” Bobby asks as Buck stands. 

“Wish I could but Eddie and I are taking Christopher to the skatepark.” He rolls his eyes when he receives identical looks from Athena and May. “Has anyone ever told you how creepy it is how much you look alike?” 

“Every day.” 

Buck can’t really point out why he felt so nervous driving to Eddie’s house. Eddie had no issue with Buck wanting to paint his nails, he wasn’t mad, he was just...acting weird.

So why does today feel life changing? He’s hanging out with Eddie and Christopher like he does every weekend. There should be nothing different in the way he feels but there is and Buck can’t tell if it’s his anxiety or something is going to happen.

He knocks on the door when he gets there. He never usually knocks but somehow this time, it seemed appropriate to knock instead of walking in. 

“Since when do you knock?” Eddie asks in lieu of his normal greeting. 

Buck only shrugs in response. “You guys ready?”

“Not quite. Chris still needs to finish his homework.” 

They’re walking into the kitchen when Buck spots a lot of dark blue stains on a dish towel. He looks over and sees the nail polish and Buck can’t seem to function. He just looks back and forth between Eddie and the nail polish. 

Eddie looks sheepish. “Uh, yeah, I tried to paint my nails. Not as easy as Shannon made it look.”

Buck doesn’t answer. He feels like he lost all ability to function. 

“Buck? Did I break y-” Buck’s lips are on Eddie’s before he gets the chance to finish his sentence. Eddie is kissing back, cups Buck’s jaw in his hands and Buck mirrors his movements. His heart is beating out of his chest, he can’t believe this is happening, thinks maybe it’s an amazing dream and he’ll wake up and be ten years old again but he prays to stay in this dream as long as possible. 

They break apart for air. 

“Wow.” Eddie breathes. “If I knew painting my nails would have gotten you to kiss me like that, I would have done it way sooner.” 

Buck feels like he’s about to choke on his own spit. “I- you- what?” 

“I you what?” Eddie smirks. “By the way, love the red.”

“I guess May was right then.” Buck sighs. “Since we’ve got time, maybe painting someone else’s nails is easier than painting your own?” 

“What was May right about?” 

“That the red would get me a date?” He smiles innocently.

“Funny. She said the same thing when I borrowed the blue from her.” Eddie laughs and the two look at each before laughing, realizing May set them up. “She gave me the shovel talk, you know.”

“That girl is a carbon copy of her mother, I swear.” Buck laughs. “So how about that date?”

“I’ll pick you up Friday at eight.” 

“Don’t be late.” Buck winks.

“Are you talking to yourself?” 

“Rude!”

[flight-of-the-sacred-eagle]

Snow Day

It’s a snow day and literally everyone is stuck where they are. This is really just a bunch of drabbles with a single plot rip

“Miiiiiiiiiilllleeeeees, it’s coooooooold,” Phoenix whined as he flopped down onto the couch, resting his head on his lap.

“It’s not that cold, Phoenix,” Miles said, barely bothering to look up from his book. Phoenix huffed.

“It’s freezing,” he mumbled. “Have you been outside?!” He asked. Miles rolled his eyes.

“No,” he said. “Because I can tell that it would be a bad idea,” he said.

“I wanted to try to see if I could get to Trucy,” Phoenix grumbled. “I didn’t realize that it was that cold,” he said. “It never gets that cold!” He whined.

“Trucy is fine, Phoenix,” Miles said before he sighed and put his book down. “You’re an idiot, you know that?” He muttered as he looked down at his boyfriend. Phoenix snorted.

“I’ve still beat you multiple times,” he said. “So I can’t be that bad,” he said. Miles rolled his eyes.

“You win because your clients are innocent,” he said. “And your tactics tend to be... interesting to say the least,” he said as he smiled down at his boyfriend.

“Hey. They work,” Phoenix said as he sat up. Then, he wrapped his arms around Miles and laid back down, pulling him onto his chest.

“W-Wright!” Miles exclaimed as he tried to wiggle his way out of his boyfriend’s grip. “What are you doing?!” He asked. Phoenix grinned.

“I’m going to take a nap,” he said. “And so are you,” he said. Miles huffed.

“We just got up,” he grumbled. “Let me go,” he said.

“Nope,” Phoenix said. “You’re staying here,” he said as reached up and grabbed a blanket, draping it over the pair.

“Phoenix... I hate you,” Miles grumbled as he gave up.

“Love you too, Miles.”

———

“Clay?”

“Yes, Em?”

“Are we seriously stuck here?” Ema asked as she stared out of the window and at the snow.

“Looks like it,” Clay said as he looked out of the window himself. Ema groaned.

“Of course- the one day I actually needed to get stuff done, and we’re snowed in,” she grumbled. She was never a fan of snow to begin with, but to be snowed in? Well, there was a reason she lived in California in the first place. Clay just shrugged.

“Eh. Could be worse,” he said. “We could have ‘pollo and Klavier with us,” he said.

“Oh god,” Ema said with a laugh. “That would end up with someone dead,” she said. “I can barely stand being by the fop on a good day, but to be stuck with him?” She asked. “That would be torture. Especially with him loving on Apollo like he does,” she said.

“No, that’s not what I’d be worried about,” Clay said with a smirk. “They tend to have a hard time keeping their hands off each other when they’re bored,” he said. Ema gagged.

“Ew, I do not need to think about the fop fucking Apollo,” she said. “That’s just gross,” she said. Clay laughed.

“Hey, at least you didn’t learn about their relationship by walking in on them,” he said. “I will never get that image out of my mind,” he said.

“No, I just found out by hearing Apollo fucking moan in Klavier’s office,” Ema said with a laugh. “And that office is soundproof!” She exclaimed as she made her way to the chair and sat down.

“Okay, but Klavier on top of Apollo,” Clay said. “And they were on the couch!” He exclaimed. “Sure, they had their clothes on still, but like. Damn, couldn’t you two wait like, half a minute longer?!” He asked, earning a snort from Ema. Ema shook her head.

“I will never understand why anyone could enjoy that,” she said. Clay snorted.

“You and me both,” he said before humming.

“Want to marathon the original Star Trek and get drunk?”

“Fuck yeah!”

———

“Really?!” Athena exclaimed as she stared out of the window and glared. “I actually had stuff I wanted to get done today!” She exclaimed.

“Did you now?” Simon asked. “I thought you planned to just sit and watch TV all day,” he said with a smirk. Athena huffed.

“Yeah, but I still wanted to have to option to leave!” She exclaimed as she stalked away from the window, not really looking at her boyfriend, who had a smirk on his face. “I could’ve wanted to shop or something later!” She exclaimed. Simon just chuckled.

“No you wouldn’t have,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet. “Come here, blackbird,” he said. “There’s no use getting mad over this,” he said as Athena felt him wrap his arms around her.

“Yeah, but...” Athena trailed off as she felt Simon rest his chin on the top of her head. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’m still not happy about this,” she said as she allowed Simon to lead her back to the couch.

“Mm, I can tell,” Simon said as they sat down. Athena just sighed as she snuggled into Simon’s side.

“I forgot how much I hated snow,” she grumbled. “It’s so annoying when it gets like this,” she said. Simon just hummed as he started running his fingers through her hair.

“Weren’t you saying that snow was romantic a few days ago?” He asked with a smirk, earning a huff.

“Yeah, but not like this,” Athena said. “When it’s like this, it’s just annoying,” she said. “Snow is only great when you can actually move around and walk in it,” she said. “And when you can skate on it,” she added.

“Dragging me skating was the worst decision you’ve ever made,” Simon grumbled. “What the bloody hell did you think it was going to accomplish?” He asked. Athena shrugged.

“I don���t know, something romantic?” She said. “It was pretty funny though,” she admitted with a chuckle. Simon huffed.

“To you maybe,” he grumbled before he pulled Athena closer and kissed the top of her head.

“Was that a kiss?” Athena asked as she turned to look up at her boyfriend, a playful smirk on her face. “I didn’t realize the Twisted Samurai showed affection,” she said.

“Who the hell have I been dating then, blackbird?” Simon asked with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you had a copy,” he said. Athena snorted.

“I do, her name is Anetha,” she said with a laugh. Simon just laughed before he gently grabbed her chin and pulled her into a kiss.

“I love you, blackbird.”

“Love you too, Simon.”

———

“Daddy is going to absolutely freak out,” Trucy said as she stared at the snow outside the house. “He’s going to be so worried that I can’t get home,” she said. “And Papa is going to reassure him that I’m safe,” she said.

“Oh?” Pearl said as Trucy turned to look at her friend. “Has this happened enough for you to know this?” She asked. Trucy snorted.

“Oh trust me. This has happened so many times,” she said. “There was that time Daddy and Papa’s flight got grounded in Germany because of a huge snowstorm and Uncle Larry ran out of vacation days so he had to go back to work,” she explained.

“So Daddy was freaking out, but Uncle Larry just let me tag along with him to the police station,” she said. “Told me that ‘Nick took that other girl along on murder trials so it shouldn’t be that bad for you to go’,” she said, changing her voice so that she sounded like the detective. Pearl giggled.

“Mr. Larry is really funny,” she said. “You know when he first met me, he and Mr. Gumshoe tried showing off their guns to calm me down?” She asked.

“That sounds like something they’d do,” Trucy said with a giggle. “Oh! And there was that one time where Polly and I were investigating a case on the other side of town when a big storm came and Klavier offered to take us to his place to wait out the storm,” she said. “Daddy called Polly about every five minutes,” she said.

“But you were with Mr. Polly!” Pearl exclaimed. “He’s super nice!” She exclaimed. Trucy snorted.

“I know!” She exclaimed. “Daddy gets really worried about me,” she said. “It’s both nice and annoying at the same time,” she said. Pearl nodded.

“I can imagine,” she said. “Though he had lost people before,” she said with a frown. “Maybe he just is worried he’d lose you like he lost Mystic Maya?” She asked.

“Maybe...” Trucy said. “But he knows I can take care of myself!” She exclaimed. “I know how to throw knives really accurately! And Auntie Frannie got me a whip too!” She exclaimed.

“And Mr. Larry taught us both how to use a gun if we needed to,” Pearl added. Trucy nodded.

“And ‘thena taught me how to flip people on their backs,” she said. “And Simon taught me how to use a sword,” she said. Pearl chuckled.

“I feel bad for anyone who wants to try to mess with you,” she said before smiling. “Want to watch more Christmas movies?” She asked.

“Sure!”

———

“I don’t think the train’s running today,” Maya said as she looked out her window.

“I don’t think anyone is foolish enough to try to go out in this,” Franziska said as she continued to type away. Maya snorted.

“Oh no, Nick probably tried to get to the train station,” she said. Franziska chuckled.

“Of course he would,” she said. “He’s almost as foolish as my little brother,” she said.

“He doesn’t exactly have the best ideas outside of court, does he?” Maya asked.

“My brother found the fool on top of the house the other day,” Franziska said. Maya snorted.

“Seriously?” She asked. Franziska just nodded. “Nick is terrified of heights!” She exclaimed. “What on earth was he doing on the roof?!” She asked. Franziska rolled her eyes.

“The fool wanted to hang Christmas lights on the roof,” she said simply. “My little brother had to rescue him,” she said. “Apparently the fool refused to let Trucy do it,” she said.

“Of course,” Maya said with an eye roll. “You know, I sometimes wonder how the hell he lived this long,” she said. “Running over a burning bridge, telling people that he has evidence that you put them in jail, eating a necklace that could have been laced with poison...” she trailed off with a snort.

“Don’t forget he purposely chose to be represented by a murder who had a vendetta against him,” Franziska said. “And then almost threw his apprentice under the bus by making him present false evidence,” she said. Maya rolled her eyes.

“And don’t forget that he seemingly taught Polly to do the same shit he does,” she said. “I mean, you know what happened during the whole HAT-2 case,” she said. Franziska sighed.

“I’m surprised that entire agency is standing still,” she said.

“You and me both.”

———

“Ugh. I don’t spend winters in Khura’in so I can avoid this shit!” Apollo exclaimed as he peered out of the window and glared at the snow on the ground.

“It’s not that bad, schatzi,” Klavier said as he put his arm around his boyfriend. Apollo just looked up at Klavier.

“Klav. Clay invited Ema over to help wrap last night,” he said. Klavier winced.

“Ah. That... may be interesting,” he said before he kissed the top of Apollo’s head. “But look on the bright side,” he said. “You’re here with me,” he said.

“Ah yes,” Apollo said with a snort. “Trapped with the most egotistical man I know,” he said with an eye roll. “How lucky!” He exclaimed.

“You wound me, Herr Forehead!” Klavier exclaimed with a laugh. “I’m not that bad,” he said. Apollo snorted.

“Yes, you are,” he said as he poked Klavier’s cheek. “You are the absolute worst,” he said. “In multiple ways,” he said. Klavier smirked.

“Oh? What ways?” He asked.

“Well, the way that you’re obviously trying to get something out of me right now is one way,” Apollo said.

“Is it working?” Klavier asked. Apollo hummed.

“Hmm... not yet,” he said. “You’re going to have to try a little harder,” he said as he maneuvered his way onto Klavier’s lap. Klavier smirked.

“Do I now?” He asked.

“Mmhmm,” Apollo said. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder...” he mumbled as he leaned up.

“Oh really?” Klavier said before he captured Apollo in a deep kiss.

“Then let’s see how good I can get...”

[the-one-eighteen]

Wannabe

(read on ao3)

written for @catardmeowaystuff for the 2019 Buddie Discord Secret Santa! 

It’s been a weird day.

Eddie’s just going to put that out there. It has been a weird as hell day.

Nothing bad, really - the actual work day at the station had been slow. A few medical calls out, one kitchen fire, and a couple of ‘well, we thought it was an emergency…’ but nothing catastrophic.

Hell, a slow day like that? Probably why the idea to go out even got bounced around in the first place. They were all getting off roughly in the same time frame - Hen and Buck off in the first half of the day, the rest making it out that evening, and they hadn’t gone out as a team in a long time, so, after an easy day, why not?

And Eddie was fine with that. Going out for drinks sounded fantastic actually. Chris was with Pepa for the night, and if the choice was between an empty, quiet house, and a bit of fun for a couple of hours? Easy choice, no problem.

No, what was weird...was Buck.

As soon as they’d settled on where they were going for the night - some bar Eddie had only vaguely heard of - him and Hen had been whispering between the two of them whenever they got a free moment. They’d sent Chimney running, and just stared at Eddie whenever he got too close. Even Bobby had taken one look at them and just...walked away.

He wasn’t sure who was more relieved when those two finally left, something still going back and forth between them.

Now, there was that. There was also the fact that Buck had just been weird. For the last week. Period.

They’d always been...fine. Maybe a little too in each other’s space, sure - anyone with eyes could see that, and had taken the opportunity to point that out by now, thank you Hen. But that was just...them. It wasn’t weird that Buck spent as much time at Eddie’s place as at his own. Wasn’t odd that, given the chance, Eddie would rather spend his kid-free nights at Buck’s than in his own place. Hell, half the time he didn’t even need that excuse since Buck liked hanging out with Chris just as much as he liked hanging out with Eddie. More, probably, now that he thought about it.

Sure there were some...odd moments, here and there. Looks a little too heavy, hands on each other a little too long for a shove, a little too short for a grab, quiet moments stretched heavy and thin between them, smiles too small and sweet…

And Eddie had to stop himself and shake his head a little bit.

Sure, there’d been moments. But nothing...nothing concrete. Which...he kind of needed before he even entertained the idea of upsetting what they had. He’d never had a friend like Buck and like fuck was he going to cock that all up because he was maybe a little too invested in Buck’s smile. And that delighted, startled laugh he had, that was a little too sharp and off-beat to be anything but genuine. And those big, expressive eyes and fidgety hands that got everywhere. And his...well, his everything.

Right, stop. He shook his head again, with a light smack to his temple for good measure.

This week. This week had been weird. Buck had been...pulling away, almost. He didn’t crowd Eddie’s space on the couch up in the loft at the house anymore. Didn’t invite himself over without Eddie broaching the conversation first. Didn’t try and rough-house or tap his shoulder to get his attention, or...or...Well. He wasn’t there.

And it was weird.

And it took everything in him to not crowd Buck about it. Not to push. Not to ask...ask for their normal back. Because it wasn’t actually normal, was it?

So, that, plus whatever was going on with him and Hen today?

Yeah. Weird fucking day.

---

By the time they all make it to the bar - roughly an hour after everyone had gone their separate ways after their shift - Eddie realized why he knew the name, but didn’t actually know the place. A karaoke bar. The one Chim and Maddie were always talking about.

Wonderful.

But, hey, he was there to have fun. And, hell, as long as they had alcohol, he could deal with some ridiculous singing. As long as no one tried to drag him up there.

Buck and Hen were still doing their whole...scheming together thing. There really was no other description for it. But Buck had also gotten right in Eddie’s space as soon as he’d seen him, none of the week’s hesitation showing, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and clapping him on the chest to bring him in with a laugh when Eddie had been stuck outside staring at the sign in mild horror. So. He could deal.

There’s a round of drinks, and Chimney and Maddie are the first ones of the group to take the stage, with Karen and Hen cheering them on loudly from the group’s table. And, Eddie has to admit, those two make a pretty good pair up on stage. Both having too much fun to care about hitting every note right, yet both good enough singers that they’re not missing too many anyway, except when they break down to laugh at each other.

Buck’s sitting next to him, which is the only reason Eddie notices when Buck startles with a yelp, glaring at Hen, who’s still watching the stage. So they were back to the weird.

“Hey...everything okay, man?” Eddie asks, low enough to avoid most of the table overhearing, but loud enough to make it over the ending notes of Eye of the Tiger.

“Huh?” Buck looks over, blinking at him for a moment, before a wide smile splits his face. If Eddie didn’t know better, he’d say Buck was...nervous? “Oh, yeah, just kicked the bar.” He hesitates a moment then, eyeing Eddie with a suddenly intense look that Eddie can’t really...parse. Then, he’s turning to Hen, “Hey, Hen, come up with me for a sec.”

And they’re gone, heading over to the DJ.

And Eddie’s still just. So confused. About everything.

Athena, Bobby and Karen shooting him knowing looks is not helping, either.

Hen’s back a couple minutes later, looking proud of herself.

“You actually convinced him?” Athena asked, sounding both mildly surprised, and put out.

“Didn’t need to. ‘Thena, I barely said two words before he was off,” Hen says, grinning way too wide for Eddie’s comfort. That look generally involved money changing hands.

Sure enough, as soon as Buck took the stage and...something played its first two notes, Hen was holding out her hands, and he heard a handful of groans and a bit of shuffling while people tried to get at their wallets.

He wasn’t really paying attention at that point. Because by then, he’d actually placed the opening notes of the song. And Buck still looked nervous, standing up there in the light - his hands twitching and his smile lopsided, but still bright.

“Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want,” and he’s off, dancing along in his own little world and hitting every single note, about two octaves lower but otherwise perfectly.

And for a long couple of moments, all Eddie can do is just...stare. But then Buck opens his eyes again - and when the hell had he closed them? Maybe on that spin? - and finds Eddie’s in the crowd.

“If you want my future, forget my past, if you wanna get with me, better make it fast. Now don’t go wasting my precious time, get your act together, we could be just fine…” Eddie’s not entirely sure what his own face is doing, but whatever it is, it breaks Buck out of his concentration, for just a moment, and Eddie’s damn near blinded by the goofy, way too bright grin he shoots him before getting back into it.

He vaguely feels Hen reaching over to clap his shoulder with a laugh. Only knows it’s Hen, because a second later, she’s leaning against his shoulder absolutely losing it. Whatever, she’s on a completely different plane of existence, as far as Eddie’s concerned. Right now, an actual plane could probably crash into the bar and he wouldn’t notice a damn thing, not with Buck looking at him like that - all his focus is boring into Eddie, and if it wasn’t for the lopsided smile that Buck can’t quite school completely, Eddie would be burning up on the spot for all the heat in Buck’s gaze.

“Oh, what do you think about that? Now you know how I feel.” What the everloving hell, Buck? “Say, you can handle my love, are you for real? I won’t be hasty, I’ll give you a try, if you really bug me then I’ll say goodbye,” Eddie would honestly like to see Buck try, after this.

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,” and there goes Karen and Hen and...Chimney, hooting and hollering along, and if Eddie wasn’t so goddamned focused, he’d probably be blushing by now. “Make it last forever, friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give - taking is too easy, but that’s the way it is.”

And only then does Buck break eye contact, and Eddie feels himself take in a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding as Buck twirls off into another spin and slide of a dance that is way too smooth and loose to not have been practiced.

Eddie takes those few moments to just breathe, and he’s glad he does because then Buck’s looking at him again, intense and just there. “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta, slam, slam, slam - make it last forever,”

And Eddie maybe loses some time there before the music finally starts winding down, ending with a Buck just about breathing into the microphone, “If you wanna be my lover…”

And then he’s done. And there’s clapping and hollering, and he’s pretty sure their table is the loudest of all, and all Eddie can do is just. Stare.

Stare as Buck breaks eye contact to actually register the rest of the room, his smile going bright and goofy, even as red stains his cheeks in the harsh spotlight. He gives an awkward little wave before jumping off the stage, and if Eddie’s heart wasn’t already going a mile a minute as it was, it probably would’ve skipped a beat.

He’s moving before he even really has a chance to think about it, completely ignoring the catcalls behind him, catching Buck before he can make it back to their table and dragging him out the door. Like hell was he going to do this - whatever this was - in front of his team. He loved them, but no.

Luckily for him, Buck just laughs when Eddie grabs his arm and lets himself be manhandled outside. He’s pretty sure Buck salutes back to the table, but he can’t be sure.

Once they’re outside, he whirls back on Buck. Feels his words die in his throat as he actually looks at Buck, leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets, and looking so damn pleased with himself, he’s just about glowing, his eyes glittering and his smile lopsided and Eddie really, really just wants to kiss him, then and there.

But he has to ask. He has to, or he just might go insane.

“What the hell was...was that?” he asks, gesturing weakly back inside. He’s still not sure what his face is doing. Whatever it is, it has Buck laughing, dissolving into giggles as his arms wrap around his stomach.

And Eddie...Eddie can’t help it. He ends up laughing right along with him - helpless little giggles that steal his breath and bubble up inside him because he just can’t with Evan Buckley.

It takes them both a long couple of minutes to calm down, both of them sitting on the ground and leaning back against the wall and into each other’s shoulders by that point.

Eddie scrubs his hand down his face as he’s finally able to take in enough air that’s not immediately turned into hiccuping laughs. Buck takes a moment longer, his face pressed into Eddie’s shoulder and his own shaking slightly still.

Eddie knows his grin is stupid. Can’t really find it in him to care. “So...what was that?”

And Buck takes another moment, his face still buried in Eddie’s shirt, but Eddie can see the corner of a smile when he gets up the energy to answer, “What do you think it was?”

“Well it sounded like you were asking me out. But all of that… Why couldn’t you just ask?” Not that he didn’t like Buck’s approach. Hell no. That was fucking delightful. But after this whole week? Of Buck pulling away, and Eddie having to stop himself from straight up chasing after him? He kind of wanted to know.

“Mm…” Buck finally seems to have his breath back, and he shifts enough to get his chin on Eddie’s shoulder, looking at him with those big eyes, focused only on him, only a few inches away, and Eddie feels something in his chest clench hard. “Why couldn’t you?” h asks. And Eddie would be...offended? Annoyed? Maybe. Feels like he should be. But it’s...it’s an honest question.

“I was…” And Eddie pauses. Wants to look away - not really sure if he can take Buck looking at him like that, so close, while he says this. Realizes he can’t not, either. “I was scared…” he murmurs, and something softens in Buck’s look.

“You weren’t the only one. This seemed...fun. You know? A way to...to get over that. Make it goofy, make it silly, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much if you said...no…” And that softness is melting into something wary and sour and Eddie can’t have that.

He’s moving before he’s thinking about it, closing the bare two inches between them to press a soft kiss to Buck’s lips. It’s little more than the bare press of skin to skin, but it’s sweet and soft, and Eddie wants to drown in that moment.

“Ha! Told you! Pay up!”

He startles back slightly, blinking at an equally confused Buck, before both of them turn to look at...Hen. Who isn’t even looking at them anymore, but back towards the door, where Chimney, Maddie and Karen are peeking out, looks ranging from disappointed to giddy. “And tell Bobby he owes me too!”

And Eddie looks back at Buck. Finds Buck already looking at him.

And all they can do is laugh, pressing their foreheads together and tuning out the world again as their shoulders shake together and their smiles can’t help but meet in the middle.

[aceprosecuties]

Evil!Metis AU anon (Junithena prompt): After the arrest of Simon, Juniper (emotionally) comforts the heartbroken Athena after the trial (because Juni noticed how sad Athena is after the trial. Athena then breaks down in Juni's arms). Then they, Robin, and Hugh goes back to searching for the time capsule that was buried near the Space Center and finds it. Some of the things in the TC is some pictures Athena put in there including a pic of a happy Young!Simon with Young!Athena before Metis' death.

You just keep wanting to break me anon, sob. 

---

It was a messy, ugly trial. A messy trial where ugly truths came to light, and Simon Blackquillended up in handcuffs, led away by several police officers while he refused tomake eye contact with anyone in the room. Juniper had watched from the gallery, and ran through the courthousetrying to find wherever Athena had disappeared to in the chaos that followed afterthe judge banged his gavel and adjourned.

She eventually was able to find Apollo and Phoenix, but Athena wasnot with them.  When she asked them, theysaid they didn’t know; they lost her in the crowd and although they triedcalling her, she hadn’t picked up her phone. Hearing that made Juniper cough a few times, and she quickly drew abreath from her sunflower before continuing on.

Finally, she decided that she had combed through the courthouseenough; Athena must have gone outside. She barged through the doors with as much strength as she could musterin her anxiety-filled state, but let out a large sigh of relief when shefinally spotted her friend sitting on a ledge by herself.  Athena had gotten a hold of one of thedaisies that had been growing in the garden, and was picking at the petals solemnly.  Her normally vibrant eyes were distant,staring off into nothing in particular.

(cut for length!)

“…Thena?”  Juniperapproached her friend slowly, cautiously, not wanting to startle her.  She suppressed the coughing fit that shecould feel coming; as stressed as she was right now, she knew it was nothing incomparison to what Athena was feeling right now.  

“Oh!”  Athena jumped a bit,startled despite Juniper’s soft-spoken voice, and smiled.  “Junie, hey.” Juniper wanted to return the smile, but she couldn’t, not with thatfar-off look in Athena’s eyes; Athena might have been smiling, but herexpression was anything but happy.  Junipersat down, straightening out her skirt as she did so, and felt Athena’s legagainst hers.

Athena turned her face away so she was looking out at the horizon.  “Some lawyer I am, right?”  Juniper tilted her head in confusion, whichAthena only acknowledge by continuing her thought.  “I couldn’t even see the truth until it wasright in front of me, and then I put away one of my best friends who was onlytrying to protect me.  I wasn’t…able tohelp him.  How…how could I try and helpanyone else when I couldn’t even help Simon? When I couldn’t see the truth about what he did?  And about who my mother really was?”  

Tears started rolling down her cheeks slowly, and she turned againto face Juniper.  Even though she didn’twant to break down, seeing her friend’s face full of sympathy and concernbrought her into an almost violent sobbing fit. Athena’s hands covered her face and her shoulders shook, and she allowedJuniper to put an arm around her and pull her into a protective hug.  Her fingers grasped the cloth of Juniper’sshirt, holding onto it as if she would die if she let go.  Juniper allowed this, and stroked Athena’shair; she almost cried along with her friend, but refused to let any tearsforming in her eyes to fall.  

They stayed like that for a bit, until Athena eventually began tocalm down if only because of exhaustion.

“Thena,” Juniper whispered, wanting to get Athena’sattention.  The girl in her arms pulledaway and sat up, wiping at her eyes and nose. She wouldn’t meet Juniper’s gaze, so Juniper gently brought theirforeheads together, again suppressing the instinct to cough or stutter.  “You found the truth eventually, and you didn’trun away from it.  You’re an amazinglawyer, and the bravest person I know.” She gulped, hoping that her words were at least somewhatcomforting.  “I…I hope you’ll see thatsomeday too.”  

Athena’s first instinct was to deny Juniper’s words, but somethingabout the way she had said them, and the way their faces were so close…it madeher feel warm.  The tears had resumed,but she wasn’t messily sobbing again. She couldn’t find the words to thank her friend, and so just grabbedonto Juniper’s hand and squeezed, hoping that she would, in time, believe what she had told her.

-----

Juniper had been surprised when Athena asked her to call Robin andHugh and tell them to meet them at the Space Station.  It was late in the day, so Juniper wonderedwhat Athena wanted to do, but she complied. By the time they arrived, their friends were already waiting.  Each of them greeted the pair with hugs andwords of sympathy, particularly towards Athena. Although she had stopped crying for the time being, her face was red andpuffy, and her smile was still lacking that usual happiness that it normallyexuded.

“I wanted to find the time capsule we buried when I was a kid,”Athena informed them, while leading them to a nearby spot away from theentrance.  “I figure…there probably is nobetter time to open it.”  And she wantedto share it with her friends.

She found the spot that marked where the capsule had been buried,and they all began to dig with their hands; Athena hadn’t wanted to return toget shovels, but no one complained as the dirt caked under their fingernailsand got into their clothes.  They duguntil they finally were able to brush dirt off of the opening of the capsule,and together pulled it out of the hole after they were able to wrestle itloose.

“Mom, Aura, Simon and I all said that we would open this togetherbut…”  Athena trailed off, holding thecapsule in her lap and stroking the lid with her hand.  She wasn’t sure if she had the strength toopen it…until Juniper put her hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly.  

“Right.”  Even with herhands shaking, she took the lid off, and the four of them peered inside.  There were plenty of things – some memos andsome pieces from old robots, but Athena was drawn immediately to one thing.

A picture.  A picture of herwith Simon.

She must have been nine or ten in this photo, and she was on topof Simon’s shoulders with her hands around his neck.  Despite that she was holding on too tightly,he didn’t seem to mind; he was smiling widely, as if he had been laughing.  She too, had a similar expression.  In the background, Aura appeared to beyelling at one of the robots, holding a wrench in her hand.  Her mother took this picture, Athenaremembered.

It had been a happy day.

Athena recalled the events and started laughing; she rememberedhow Simon’s voice squeaked a little when she hung onto his neck, and how shewas a bit scared at first due to his height. But he reassured her that he would never let her fall, and that he wouldalways protect her, no matter what.

And after that, she had felt safe.

Although her laughter transformed into crying, she still feltwarm, as Juniper, Robin, and Hugh all hugged her, making her feel safe onceagain.  

[softquietsteadylove]

I would like to do a request for the Doctor AU

How about some protective Thena?

She hears angry shouting from 3 woman in the waiting area, letting their anger out on Gil, even lashing out on him physically. He tries to calm them down but doesn’t fight them back of course.

They are angry because they are waiting so long (minor things nothing dangerous) and they saw how Gil came in with a patient with life threatening wounds just going passing them and they decide it was enough of waiting for them 🙄

And Thena won’t stand there and watch them!👀

Thena sets down her charts with a sigh. It's been a busy night for the emergency room, not necessarily by seriousness but by sheer volume. They can't seem to catch a break. It's been patient after patient, so far.

And she feels like she hasn't seen Gil in hours.

He's been on run after run for minor accidents and taking patients to other hospitals. He's texted her a few times between runs, but mostly they've commiserated about how busy they've been tonight.

She can't wait to get off shift and go home with him.

Not that they necessarily go home together all the time, now. And even when they do, it's not always a date...thing. Sometimes they really do just go home and fall asleep on the couch together. She doesn't know if that makes it better or worse.

"Hey."

Thena's heart leaps in her chest at the familiar greeting, and she tries not to look disappointed when she realises it's Ajak who said it and not a certain someone. She smiles, "hey."

Ajak holds her hand out and nods her head, "you're almost done right? Let me finish those."

Thena nibbles at her lip a little, looking down at her charts (arguably her least favourite part of the job). She peeks up at Ajak, "are you sure?"

Ajak just gives her a smirk and pulls the clipboard towards herself. "I'm sure, honey. You go and find that hot hunk of yours."

Thena rolls her eyes at Ajak, storming away so she won't know how embarrassing she finds it that Ajak knows all about their little secret. It's not like she told her!

She didn't have to.

Thena does leave the nurses' station and heads towards the main waiting room. Gil should be done his last run by now, judging by how long ago he texted. She reaches for the end of her ponytail idly.

"We've been here for hours!"

She frowns; it isn't uncommon to get people who are unhappy with the wait times. And feel happy to take it out on them (those still seeing them despite the global shortage on people in the healthcare profession).

"Why did they get seen before us?!"

"Or do these numbers mean nothing?!"

Thena rolls her eyes. A couple of Karens cawing up a storm like seagulls in a parking lot. Nothing new, and certainly nothing interesting.

"Ladies, please, we're doing what we can."

Thena picks up her pace until she's jogging towards the waiting room. When she arrives, there is indeed a swarm of women cawing about their wait time. But they're taking it out on Gilgamesh.

Gil is trying to look at all of them at once, holding up his hands close to himself as they swing and smack him with their hands and even their purses. He grunts a little, obviously not pleased but not exactly one to fight back, either.

"You call yourself a medic when you leave women with possible fractures waiting like this?!"

"HEY!"

Thena storms over, moving between the women and Gil, who looks like a dog getting water poured on him. She plants her hands on her hips.

"Who the hell are you?" the one who thought swinging around her purse was appropriate behaviour.

"I'm the doctor here, and I want to know what the hell you think you're doing to my paramedic!" Thena snarls at them, not one to back down from intimidation, whether it be from a Karen or a Chad. She glowers at them.

"We saw him take people in there!" another one points with her pointy little finger. "When we've been out here for hours!"

Thena swats the hand away from them. "You are out here because of the degree of your injury and because the emergency room is understaffed. Every emergency room is understaffed!"

"Well, that's not our fault!" the third one huffs in her face. She holds up her wrist, "I have a wrist fracture that needs treatment! And you've taken three people in there ahead of us!"

Thena eyed the woman. If her wrist were fractured, she most absolutely would not be holding it up in that position. At worst, she had pinched a nerve between her ulna and tibia and it was being aggravated from being waved around. "Then put it down."

All three women looked aghast.

"Thena," Gil tried to put his hand on her shoulder, no doubt to talk her down from getting into a screaming match with the patient and her accompaniment.

"This is how you treat your patients?!" the purse swinger rages at her.

Thena doesn't take it lying down, though. If anything, it's taking everything in her not to give the wrist a hard squeeze to give her something to be genuinely hurt over. "For the treatment of my paramedic, you're lucky I haven't called security and ordered you to a different ER."

"He-"

"Has other patients!" Thena steps forward, forcing the other women back with her sheer anger. She clenches her hands into fists, bellowing at them. "People who have been in accidents, people who are in need of a lot more than an x-ray and a compression sleeve!"

"I-"

"Have a repetitive stress injury at most!" Thena barks at her. She puts more distance between them and Gil behind her. "And it's no excuse to treat him the way you have!"

The women are almost all the way back in the seats they vacated just to harass Gil. "We-"

"If I ever see you anywhere near him again, I will have every authority there is to drag you out of here! And you should count yourself lucky I don't do it myself!"

The women are practically clenching their metaphorical pearls. They eye her with disgust, "th-this is unacceptable! We'll call the hospital for the way you're treating us!"

"By all means, ladies!" Thena invites, moving from angry to practically manic. She wants to lie down so bad. "Name's Thena, and you can complain all you want! But no one lays a hand on him while I'm alive and breathing!"

The women turn on their heels, already huffing and muttering up a storm about their treatment. But Thena couldn't care less. They can try to sue her for all she cares. She tugs at her scrub top, "the nerve of people these days."

"Thanks."

Thena inhales and finally looks up at her soft, precious Gil. He gives her a sheepish smile and she frowns again, reaching up to his cheek, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he laughs, leaning into her touch as they make their way out of the waiting room and towards the ambulance bay and parking lot. "It's a couple of mean ladies with press-on nails, honey. They're not gonna break me."

"Still," Thena grumbles, tugging at his work hoodie until it's less rumpled and sitting properly on him. She tilts her head, "if you have so much as a bruise I'm gonna find where those women live and-"

Gil kisses her.

She stills for a second, panic flooding her as she thinks about anyone seeing them. But then the cool of the ambulance bay and the wind tunnel it creates rushes over her. She melts into the kiss because she's not very good at thinking about other things when Gil is kissing her. She's tried--it never works.

Gil pulls away slowly, his lips leaving her oh-so reluctantly. He raises his brows at her, "what were you saying?"

She nibbles at her lip a little, turning shy not that he's doused the embers of her temper so lovingly. She looks down at their shoes as they keep walking, "just...making sure you're okay."

"I'm okay," he assures her, taking her hand in his once they're in the employee parking lot and relatively alone. He smiles, "thanks for the save, though."

"Hm," she nods, letting his thumb trace over her skin and chase away the last of her energy. She sighs, "let's just go home."

"Sounds perfect," he chuckles, kissing her temple as they head to her car. "Hungry?"

"Nope," she declares definitely now that sitting down is so in-sight. She digs out her keys and tosses them at him, "just sleep."

"You got it, baby," he chuckles, pulling her in for another kiss before letting her drift to the passenger side of the car. "Drive thru?"

"Fine," she groans as she throws herself into the car and yawns loudly, "you pick where."

[softquietsteadylove]

Thenamesh taking the subway for the first time! And some drama! pls?

Dane sat in unbearable silence with the woman next to him.

He and Thena were getting along, as far as Sersi could tell him. And he did enjoy Thena's company--she was calm, maybe a little cold, but he was getting to understand that none of her bite had teeth to it. And she seemed to find him funny.

He also knew that she wasn't doing well with most modes of transportation. She and Gilgamesh had apparently travelled by train as much as possible on their journey. Planes were too confined and too high risk, as it were.

He had been prepared to walk clear across London to meet up with Sersi and Gilgamesh, who were perusing the various food markets while Dane got some grading done and Thena rested through the morning and early afternoon.

It would take them literal hours but he was prepared for it.

Thena herself had said there was surely a faster way to get to them, and not to hold back on her account.

Now, they were seated together on the tube, in the least crowded car possible. They were through four stops already, and still had to make one transfer and then go through another six.

Dane cleared his throat. He wasn't entirely sure how to converse with the Warrior Eternal. She never struck up conversations on her own and he wasn't sure what would even be relatable to her, let alone not insufferably dull or passe for a person of her age--experience, maybe; he knew they didn't have any age at all.

Thena looked up as the lights grew dim. Dane looked at her instantly, watching for any small signs of trouble, "something is wrong."

He didn't ask for more. He knew her senses were capable of more than anyone else's. He made no attempt to placate her worries, either.

Not a few seconds later the car went dark before the emergency lighting shone faintly.

"Dammit," he murmured, looking out the window at the completely pitch black side of the tracks. They weren't even within site of the next station. "Power surge or something--we'll be stuck here until they can get the cars moved."

"Dane."

"Shouldn't be long," Dane sighed as he tried to see out the other side as well. No one else was panicking, which was a bit of a relief. "This does happen from time to time."

"Dane."

"We'll be on our way in no-"

"Dane!"

"Time," he muttered, catching the faint gold running under Thena's skin. Her eyes were closed, but he had been told that if he ever saw a flicker of white in them, he need do only two things: get Gilgamesh, and get away.

The car creaked under the dead weight of its load. Thena flinched.

"Okay, all right," Dane said gently, sitting next to her again. She was folded in on herself much more tightly than before--he should have taken more note of her posture. "Hey, Thena, are you all right? Can you breathe?"

She nodded, and indeed he could see the rise and fall of her shoulders, the clench of her throat.

"T-Tell me-" he gulped. Tell him what?--how to help her? Was there truly anything a mortal man like him could do?

She shook her head.

Dane pulled out his phone; no service, of course. He sighed, budging closer until his knee could knock against hers gently. "Thena, can you tell me what you need?"

Her throat tightened and her lips pinched together, something akin to a whimper escaping from her.

Gilgamesh: what, or who, she needed was her husband.

"Right," Dane sighed, still hovering close to the woman. He looked around him warily at the other civilians around them.

"Is she okay?"

He looked over, an older woman looking at them in concern. He gave her his calmest smile. "My sister-in-law, she gets...panic attacks--claustrophobic."

He looked at Thena again, afraid to worsen her struggle. He inhaled, "what if I talk? Something to focus on?"

Thena nodded, moving her own trembling hands to her head.

"Okay, yes, talk," Dane gulped and nodded to himself. His throat had never been so dry in his life. "Uhm, so, I-"

Thena growled from within her throat.

"Sorry," he sighed. Why had they split up? Even if just Sersi were here, she could calm her sister down. Better than he could, at least. "I'm sure you wish Sersi were here too."

Thena waved her hand at him.

Yes, Sersi--oh, Sersi! He leaned forward, "S-Sersi, yes, t-talk about Sersi?"

She nodded.

"Right," he let out a somewhat easier breath. "Well, we, uhm, we met almost four years ago now. She gave a presentation at the school and, well, I suppose I fell for her rather quickly."

"It's terribly cliche, but it's true," he chuckled, remembering the day he first laid eyes on the unearthly - oh, the irony - beautiful woman. "Even more unexpected was how much we had in common, and how she asked if I'd like to get coffee some time."

"I thought to myself, surely this woman is way out of my league. Surely she has some long-term partner I just don't know about yet."

Thena smacked his shoulder.

Right, no Ikaris talk; Dane rubbed his arm. "Sorry--anyway, we had such a great time talking about history and natural science that I suggested we get together again. And I suppose...it went from there."

"Sersi just...never gets tired of it all. Especially knowing now how long she's been here, I can't fathom how she still has so much wonder for the little things. But she takes nothing for granted--she loves the sunrise, and loud rain, and watching birds. She doesn't squish bugs who find themselves where they shouldn't be."

"Early in our relationship, we were on a walk in a public garden. There was a butterfly exhibit, and she told me that 'an old friend' of hers used sign language, and that her sign for Sersi was like a butterfly."

"Anyway, we were on our way out when we saw a butterfly on the leaf of one of the trees by the entrance. It was quite far from the butterfly exhibit and my guess is that it was swept away by the winds or something--poor thing."

"And Sersi," Dane sighed, a smile coming over him at the memory. "She held out her finger, and the butterfly made itself right at home with her. I've never seen anything like it, but it settled in her palm and moved its wings a little."

"We walked to lunch and that butterfly just sat there. At one point she took a strawberry out of her salad for it. Then, on the way home, it had finally recovered itself and...fluttered off."

"I'll never forget what it was like to see such a delicate life form so comfortable with another," Dane finished softly. Thena was holding herself much less tightly than she was before, he noted with some relief. "The next date we went on I got her a little trinket--just a silly little thing. Glass butterfly she could keep on her desk. Just-"

"It's on her shelf at home."

Dane blinked. Even before they had gotten stuck, Thena hadn't spoken since descending the stairs into the station. "I-It is?"

Thena nodded, looking up at last. Her eyes were green. "She keeps it next to the gift Ajak gave her on her wedding day."

Well that certainly was a place of honour, involving her ex-husband or not.

Thena looked up and over at something, Dane doing the same, even knowing it was futile. He looked back at her. "Something is coming."

He couldn't sense what she was, but he noticed a faint light travelling under them. He assumed it was safety precautions installed by the station.

"She's transmuting."

Dane blinked again. He knew that was what they called Sersi's power. He still didn't know every little detail of how they worked, and Sersi was more than tired of him asking her. But transmutation was the best word for it: transformation of one state of matter to another.

The lights came on and the car lurched as its systems booted again. The small crowd within let out a collective sigh of relief. Although not at full speed, the subway car did at least slowly slide into the next open station, where a crowd of people was both awaiting its arrival and anxious for those inside.

Dane startled as the doors rattled, being gripped and ripped open from the other side.

"I told you to use restraint!"

"Thena?!"

The Warrior Eternal rose and went right to him, letting their rescuer pull her into his arms as she buried her face in his chest. She sighed, "you're here."

"I'm here," he whispered to her, kissing the arch of her cheek and sending that golden glowing away.

Dane eyed the dents in the metal door where Gilgamesh had pried it open like wet cardboard. He cleared his throat, pulling it as far back as it could go and standing in front of it, "please, everyone, this way."

Sersi did the same with the other door, "everyone off, just in case it...shuts down again."

Gilgamesh pulled Thena off the modern contraption and to the side as the crowd filtered off the car and a station inspection crew replaced them. "Come on."

Thena settled into Gil's side as he led them away from the crowd and the congested stairs leading in and out of the station. She breathed in the scent of him.

Gil ran his hand over her hair as he turned to Dane, "you guys okay?"

He nodded, offering his sympathies in a weak smile, "certainly tried--I'm no substitute for the real thing."

"He did well."

Gil beamed, taking his wife's word and kissing the top of her head. He looked back at Dane with that same grin, "sounds like you did a hell of a lot better than 'tried'."

"I'm sorry," Sersi ran her hand down his arm, "I'm sure it was stressful being stuck in there."

He had never been more stressed out in his life. He shrugged, "we were all right, I think."

"Well, let's get above ground at least," Gil suggested, still with his bag of loot on his other arm. "Fresh air?"

Thena nodded against him, still quiet after their close call.

Dane looked at his girlfriend, "what did you do?"

Sersi gave him a somewhat sheepish smile, "copper is a much better conductor of both heat and electricity. Gil and I heard that a car had been stopped due to a power outage. He ripped the fuse box open and I turned all the wiring to copper."

Dane shook his head; she made it sound so simple.

"I changed them back already," she huffed in her own defense.

Dane just chuckled, taking her hand in his as they trailed behind his in-laws, "careful, love, or you'll make the news again."

[softquietsteadylove]

For Mob bosses AU. What if one time Thena was mad at Gil and she just barged in to Gil's office and got him like pinned to the wall and Gil's guard suddenly held a gunpoint towards Thena and Gil was like don't you EVER DO THAT OR ELSE I'LL SHOOT YOU ONE BY ONE. Maybe this happened when they're still not having 'meetings' but you decide!!!! Thankie!!!!

Gil looked up. He had a feeling; he knew that forceful but light pace of walking, the way the wind felt, the faint scent of lilies in the air.

His office door slammed open, spooking the general security he had stationed outside. She had stormed right past them, clearly knowing exactly where she was headed.

Gil looked up from his paperwork, watching the Ice Queen herself storm over to his desk. It was no wonder she was so feared in their line of work. She certainly painted an intimidating picture--a beautiful, intimidating picture.

Thena marched right around the side of his massive desk and gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him up and throwing him against the wall behind them.

Gil blinked as she slammed him backwards, letting it happen passively, "hello to you, too."

"You-"

Gun safeties clicking filled the room. Gil gripped Thena's shoulders, holding her in place. "Every single one of you, stand down!"

His guards froze, eyeing them - and each other - warily.

"If you ever aim at her again!" Gil roared, not caring in the least that he was threatening his own men. He met each of their eyes, "I'll have you put down before you can blink. Do you understand me?!"

The weapons slowly lowered, heads turning anxiously.

"I said," Gil pushed of the wall, still holding Thena to him, "am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Out!" he snapped, pointing with his free hand until every single one of them was out of his office. Only then did his shoulders lower and his back loosen slightly.

Thena pushed against his chest until she was free from being pressed into his shirt. She raised a brow at him.

"What?" he asked, meeting her defiant gaze with a completely blank one.

She crossed her arms at him, "a bit dramatic, no?"

"No," he rebuked easily, crossing his arms as well. His stuck out a lot further than hers did, although she still was hovering a vague distance away from him. "If anything happened to you-"

"I need your protection, do I?" She was picking a fight with him deliberately. She was trying to lure him into saying either yes, he thought she was weak enough to need his protection. Or no, in which case he was confirming his own worry and the lack of need for it.

He puffed out his chest, meeting his stubborn Ice Queen blow for blow, "doesn't matter if you need it or not. It's here anyway."

She narrowed her eyes at him. It was a solid rebuttal, and even she could admit that. Not aloud, but still. "You didn't have to hold me like that. It will give them ideas."

Gil gave her a look this time to broadcast his own skepticism. His lips came up in a lazy smirk, "Sweetness, I'm pretty sure they already know about our d-"

Thena glared at him as sharp and fast as one of her knives.

"Meetings," Gil mumbled. That was the term she had come to use for their arranged time stolen for each other. He knew it was her not wanting to call them dates, but he was pretty sure it was just as embarrassing to call them 'meetings'.

Thena huffed, stepping back from him again. She always knew when to put some distance between them--when it would most drive him crazy because all he wanted was to reach out and hold her.

"They can't threaten the woman I love, Thena."

She looked at him--for the use of her name, for the open and raw tone of his voice. All of it.

"No one gets to do that," he shook his head, moving closer to her until she told him to stop. She never did, so he took the opportunity to reach out and pull her hands into his. "No one."

"Gil," she sighed. The fight had left her, leaving only fatigue. She was more or less recovered from her poisoning, but Gil had come to recognise every little breath, every step, every rise and fall of her shoulders. He could tell that she could still become fatigued faster than she used to.

"So I don't care if I have to tell everyone in Koreatown," he continued, pulling her against his chest and kissing the top of her head as he tucked her against him. Her hands slipped under his suit jacket and around him to his back. "No one threatens my Ice Queen."

"Hm," she sounded displeased, but he knew that her eyes were closed. She was trying to resist melting into him.

But even the Ice Queen had a melting point.

Gil rested his cheek against her hair, "my Thena."

Melting point achieved; Thena sagged against him, letting his arm settle in the curve of her waist meeting her hips, his hand all the way around her delicate shoulders to tap his thumb against the lace around her arms.

"Hey," he whispered, pulling his head up and meeting her eyes when she did the same. "What brings you over here?"

Her mouth pulled a little as her eyes darted around, "I...I was here to tell you that I don't need an escort the second I set foot in Koreatown. I have my own security, you know."

Gil smiled. The fight really was drained out of her, because now she seemed sheepish over the anger that had driven her to storm in here in the first place. "Yeah, but what's wrong with double security?"

"It's redundant, Gilgamesh," she made a point of using his full name just to scold him. "And it's conspicuous."

He shrugged, not sorry at all for having her tailed as soon as she was in his territory. He really did have no problem letting everyone on his turf know that - weakness be damned - she was not fair game. "So? A man does what he has to, Princess."

She just rolled her eyes at that one.

He kissed her cheek, "I mean it, Thena. Keeping you safe comes before anything else."

She huffed again as she accepted his kiss. She was trying to keep herself from letting his words get to her. But he knew she was letting her defenses down, whether she wanted to or not.

He kissed her cheek again, then slightly closer to her lips, and continuously closer to a real kiss, his fingers tipping her chin up for him. He breathed against the silken skin of her cheek, "is that acceptable, Ice Queen?"

She inhaled, and he could hear the slight tremble in it. Her hands floated up to his, although they just rested there, not pulling him away from her. She whimpered as he finally kissed those enchanting lips of hers.

Gil pulled away once he was satisfied with at least getting one kiss from his girlfriend. He pulled away, resisting the urge to point out how cute her stubborn little pout was. He grinned, "so...meeting?--since you came all this way."

Thena stepped away from him again (definitely knew when it would most drive him crazy). "Perhaps I'm no longer in the mood for a...meeting."

"Aw, come on, Princess," Gil pleaded with her. He had no problem doing so--he didn't care if she wanted him to beg and plead. He'd throw himself on the ground and grovel if it got him another kiss. "You're already here. You won't even stay for some tteokbokki?"

She eyed him in a way that certainly made him feel looked down on, even though he was taller than her.

"What about some sundubu?" he suggested, watching her unfurl so he could wrap his arms around her again. "Jjimdak?"

Thena pursed her lips; she was considering it. Gil gave her lithe waist a squeeze in his hands. "Rose jjimdak?--with glass noodles?"

"Done!" Gil beamed. He knew just who to call, "they can deliver it here."

"Good," Thena sighed, officially worn out from the trip over and everything that proceeded it. "I don't have all day. My next meeting is at 2."

"So I have a little time with you?" Gil dared to suggest, following her over to one of his two office couches. She sat herself primly, which was fine because if he sat next to her and spoke softly, he was pretty sure he could get her to lean on him.

Thena nodded to the spot beside her.

Gil leapt over the back of the couch, gleefully plopping himself next to her. The stiff cushions of the couch bounced her lighter body and he took the opportunity to pull her against him.

"Gil!"

"Just for now, baby," he sighed, inhaling her lily perfume and relishing in the slight but solid warmth of her in his lap.

She sighed - now who was the dramatic one? - but let him hold her. Her hand came up to the back of his head, "they're not coming in here with us like this."

"They know to leave the food outside," he promised, happy with just nuzzling his face into the hollow of her throat.

"Fine," she mumbled, and he guessed that he might be able to lure her into dozing off before the food arrived. "Just for now."

Gil laid himself against the far arm of the couch with Thena curled up in his side, half on his chest with her legs folded between his. This was becoming an increasingly familiar sleeping position for them. He hoped they would get the opportunity to sleep like this more in the future.

[softquietsteadylove]

How about jealous Thena in the Doctor au?

Let’s say a small group of 4 doctors 2 females 2 males in different expertises are visiting the ER to gather some information on something medical. And these 2 females would not stop flirting with Gil

"I have to say, I'm really quite impressed."

Thena offers a genial smile. Making nice with other people has never been a forte of hers, but the visiting doctors from a nearby hospital have been perfectly civil. "Our staff is quite impressive."

"You run a tight ship, Doctor," the other male doctor comments, also making light talk as they tour through the hospital. The ER is the last stop on their trip, releasing them back on the ground floor after touring through the rest of the hospital.

Thena gives Ajak a wink on their way to the main door, "believe me, it's all her."

Ajak winks right back at her and then nods at the visitors, "she's my favourite kid here."

Ajak is an odd handful of years older than Thena at most.

"We've heard such wonderful things about your triage centre," one of the female doctors offers a bright and lovely smile. She's a pediatric specialist, if Thena remembers correctly. "It doesn't surprise me--wow."

The other female doctor also cranes her neck to look down the hall. "Wow is right--those are...?"

Thena's eyes bounce between the women, a strange and uncomfortable feeling welling up in her chest. "Those are two of our paramedics, Gil and Kingo."

The visiting women grasp at each other, not even attempting to hide their interest as the muscle of the ER make their way over to them. They grin at each other before looking back at Thena, "who's the one waving at us?"

Thena bristles. "Gil."

"Hey," he greets them with a smile, because of course he does. Kingo doesn't even bother to say anything, continuing on to the nurse's station without him (as is a regular thing, with Gil).

"Gil, these are the visiting doctors here to look at our facilities," Thena introduces (somewhat). "Ortho, Cardiovascular, Peds and Neuro."

The doctors might be a little surprised at her choice to list their specialties and not their actual names. But Gil isn't surprised in the least, giving them a friendly smile and a tilt of his head. "Thena's been showing you around, huh? Well, you won't find a better run ER."

"Yes, we were just remarking upon that."

"Are you just getting back?"

Thena watches as Pediatrics drifts closer to Gil, her hand raising up as if to touch his arm before drifting down again. She instead clasps her hands in front of her, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Yep," Gil answers blithely, totally unaware that he's being ogled.

"The paramedics at our hospital are never in on time after a run," Neuro sighs, landing herself at Gil's other side, even closer than Pediatrics did.

Gil skips over both of them, though, looking at Thena, "I try not to stay out too long. Just in case I'm needed here, y'know?"

She smiles at him, able to forget about the intruding doctors for this one, tender, fraction of a second.

"You help out here, too?" Pediatrics gasps, now actually laying her hand on Gil's arm. "A real jack of all trades, aren't you?"

Thena taps her toe on the floor, although it's silent, given they're all wearing running shoes.

"Well, Thena and Ajak are the real captains of the ship, down here," Gil shrugs. The only awareness he even has of the hand on his arm is his confusion over it. "If we're not out on a run I just kind of float around. Some of our interns are real airheads."

Both women let out a loud and exaggerated laugh. Neuro takes the opportunity to pat the back of her hand against Gil's shoulder, although it's a little too close to his chest.

"You're funny!"

Gil is funny--everyone knows that. Thena crosses her arms. "It might be funny if it weren't such a headache."

The Orthopaedic specialist at least gives her a sympathetic smile, "some of ours are terrible too."

"Wait you just got in!" Pediatrics gasps and beams at Gil, "so you can show us one of the ambulances!"

Thena rolls her eyes, muttering just to herself, "it's an ambulance, it should look just like yours."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Gil shrugs, though. He looks at Thena, asking her to come with them so he's not stuck hosting three strangers by himself.

If it were anyone but him; Thena sighs but follows behind them. Ortho and Cardio are talking to each other from either side of her but she's not listening. She can't possibly; Neuro is walking so close her elbow keeps knocking together with Gil's, while Pediatrics is all but hanging off his arm as they walk.

Not that it bothers her, but they could have a little professionalism. A modicum, even--one fluid ounce of professional integrity!

"Here we are," Gil announces as they exit into the ambulance bay, his particular bus parked right outside. "We have the usual stock of stuff. Although Thena had the idea for us to add an inventory specifically of fast working anaesthetics."

"Really?"

Gil is beaming with pride. "Well, we're always advised to be so stingy with them. But patients can describe what they're feeling better when they can think straight. Plus, women in particular are used to downplaying their pain, even when it's really serious. So we always try to give them just a little bit more than the recommended amount."

"That's so forward thinking!" Pediatrics gasps up at him.

Gil seems like he's barely heard her, "it was all Thena's idea."

"And Ajak," she mutters, not that anyone is listening to her. Pediatrics and Neuro are still chattering away at Gil's sides while Ortho and Cardio have climbed into the bus to examine the extra supply Gil was describing. She looks down at her hip. She's being paged, "Gil."

He leaves the sides of the visitors in a second, pulling his hands out of his hoodie pockets to touch his palm to her elbow. All she does is look at him to tell him that it's not something she can ignore. He nods, "you go."

She nods back at him, offering a smile before trotting back inside, her ponytail swinging behind her.

Thena's ass looks great even in the unflattering scrub pants. The two male doctors have obviously noticed this over the course of their tour, leaning out of the ambulance just for the privilege and indulgence of watching her go.

Gil clears his throat loudly.

The two doctors scramble out of the back of the ambulance - Gil's ambulance - and tug at their white coats. "I-It's quite a fine piece of equipment you're running."

"Hm," Gil glares at them as he tosses the massive doors closed with one hand. His hands are back in his hoodie pockets, mostly so they won't see the fists he's making. He leans down slightly to the shorter men, "I know my wife is beautiful, but do you mind keeping your eyes to yourselves, Doctor Dumb and Doctor Dumber?"

"Y-Your-"

"We didn't-"

Gil just shrugs, heading back into the ER without waiting for their distinguished and invited guests. "Honest mistake. Just don't let it happen again."