it could be love (we could be the way forward)
Buck was in the shower when they got the call.
He’s always been a little afraid of showering on shift– afraid of hearing the klaxons ring while there’s still conditioner in his hair, afraid of having to towel off and dress at the speed of light, and all the awfulness that comes with wrestling clothes over still-damp skin. He’s afraid of the extra minute it takes him to get himself dressed and on the engine being the difference between someone else’s life and death.
He avoids it at all costs, only does it when they first get back from a call and Bobby puts them out of service for a half hour to give everyone time to clean up and grab a bite.
They’d just come back from a three-alarm fire at an office building downtown, a beast of a thing that took three stations four hours to put down. As they pulled back into the station, Buck’s bones ached and his stomach growled and there was soot covering every inch of him. He could feel it in his sweat-damp hair, could smell it every time he breathed. He figured it was clinging to the tiny hairs in his nose, was pretty certain if he blew his nose the tissue would come back tinged in gray.
He was on autopilot as he clambered out of the back of the engine, tucking his gear away and stumbling for the showers on tired legs. His bad leg was killing him. He’d woken up with a dull ache in his knee, and figured it was due to the dark, heavy clouds in the sky and the fact that the temperature had plummeted about fifteen degrees in as many hours.
He’d done his stretches and taken some ibuprofen in hopes of getting ahead of the worst of it, but it was no match for a tough shift with an unrelenting fire. The ache was bone-deep now, radiating up and down his leg with a fierceness that had Buck gritting his teeth and biting back a wince as he stepped into the shower.
He needed the fancy massage gun Maddie had gotten him for Christmas. And maybe some deep heat. The one that Eddie’s Abuela gave him, made from capsaicin from chili peppers grown in her hometown in Mexico. And maybe a nap, too.
But all of that would have to wait another three hours until shift change. For now, a shower was the best he could do.
The only thing better than peeling off his sweaty, sooty clothes was the feel of the warm spray on his back, the heat of it soothing the ache beneath his skin. He tipped his head back and let the water wash away the last few hours, all of the soot and the ash and the sweat and the grime of a job well done and a fire knocked down. It took him three rounds of shampoo until the water ran clear.
He was rinsing out the last of it when the alarm rang and he remembered.
Remembered that Bobby wasn’t here, that gone were the days of a thoughtful captain. Gone were the days of a leader who looked out for his own, a leader who cared enough about the people under his command to afford them a basic respite after all they’d just seen and done.
Gerrard was no Bobby.
It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since they arrived back, and yet the alarm was already ringing out with another call. Buck hurried out of the shower, toweling off and pulling a clean shirt over his still-wet head as he listened for the details.
STATION 118. HELICOPTER CRASH. 101 SOUTHBOUND. LAFD AIR SUPPORT PILOT DOWN.
His stomach dropped, his heart tripping over itself in his chest.
No. No. Please no.
He shoved down the panic rising in his throat and finished dressing, running towards the bay.
Eddie ran up alongside him. “Is Tommy–”
“–Out on air support."
continue on ao3
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Heya,,, hello,,, Just wanted to say I'm in LOVE with the art you make Squid. Your style and designs always manage to hit so nicely and its so unique to me <3
Your QSMP art and ESPECIALLY ones of miss Baribal are some of my FAVORITES and drives me (and a friend) bonkers over her and I thought I'd show appreciation for the content you provide of she-bear Baribal 🫡
I always look forward to seeing more of your art posted on here <3
Other than that, I wish you a good day, Squid! ^^
THIS IS SUCH AN OLD ASK BUT I DONT CARE IM ANSWERING THEM NOW
I’m so so glad you and ur friend like em !! THE FEM BARIBAL PROPAGANDA IS STRONG !! Do you really love a character if you haven’t evolved far from canon and changed their design hundreds of times ?
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oughhh one and a half days, 85+ layers and too many ikea pages later i present to you..... klara & toby's apartment('s floorplan). it's like, 56 m^2 if i counted right (65 m^2 if u count the balcony) :^)
we have....
- east (bedroom & living room) & south (kitchen) facing windows + 9 m^2 balcony w windows
- a bath :^)
- too many soft places to lay on
- tons of closed cupboards/bookshelves (reason: cat)
- a cat
- a bass guitar (klara's, don't touch)
klara inherited it from her aunt. which is probably the only way they could afford getting an apartment in a city centre JJFBFBCCNCKCK
taglist (reply/dm/ask in tags to be added or removed):
@spaceratprodigy @elvves @dekarios @aeducanthaig @edgepunk
@dickytwister @hiddenbeks @terendelev @koslun @babylon5
@claudiawolf @velocitic @eluvixns @the-lastcall
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