#not the tarlos thoughts i need to be working on though

[rmd-writes]

okay but now I am thinking about TK and Carlos getting into those tuxes together and helping each other tie their bow ties (let’s ignore that Ronen’s bts showed us they were clip ons) and giving each other little kisses because they can’t help it and the soft little oh Carlos lets out when he tucks TK’s pocket square in and then steps back and looks at him and his eyes go big and soft and the way that TK smiles and covers his mouth with his hand when he sees how handsome Carlos looks in a tux and then Carlos reaches out to take his hand and kisses the back of it and TK looks at him and asks, “ready?” and Carlos nods and takes a breath before TK calls out to their family waiting to see them

[corsage]

things i love about tarlos' dynamics — the series.

part one: jealousy.

i think it's clear at this point that the jealous one, between carlos and tk, is carlos. but why?

carlos said he thought he would never in his life have someone like tk by his side. and for more than one moment (see all the times tk has been in danger; that time tk was not sure what to do with his life at the end of season one; that time they broke up) he thought he would never even have tk himself either.

yet in tk he found his soulmate. and carlos loves him so much his heart has been marked by this love. he's not jealous because he fears tk being unfaithful or because he doesn't trust him in general; he's jealous because he thinks he's not enough. he thinks what tk could have, another man could provide better than he does. he's jealous because he's afraid another man could come up and show tk all that he's missing by living his life by carlos' side. that's also why he didn't tell tk about the fact that he's not ready to be a father.

but tk has been cheated on, shouldn't he be the one afraid of 'being replaced'? well, tk is afraid. and he doesn't mask it better than carlos does, he just manifests it differently.

while carlos' fear is projected outward ("maybe i'm not enough for tk, which means other man could do better than me"), tk's is projected inward ("maybe i'm too much for carlos, which means i need to be less").

tk is not jealous, tk is worried. tk doesn't want to be too much. he doesn't want to be a project. he doesn't want to be carlos' responsibility. carlos bought him a house and tk ran because he thought he was being too much. carlos wants to support him the way cooper does but tk doesn't want him to know about that part of himself because he doesn't want to be too much. tk found out his parents were breaking up again and ran to work instead of running to carlos because he doesn't want to be too much.

so, to recap (even though this is not actually the conclusion i was expecting to write when i started this rant) their insecurities inside the relationship come down to two sentences that actually show yet again how perfect for each other they are.

carlos fears not being enough. tk fears being too much.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Summary: Summer is for fun, but sometimes it doesn't always go as planned. Five times the summer handed Tarlos some minor inconveniences and one time it all worked out.

A/N: Did I change the title on this between Sunday and now? Shut up, it's fine. 😅

Read on AO3

Jellyfish

T.K.’s body is fever hot, the sun beating brightly down from overhead, still intense even though the hour is waning toward four o’clock. The sand underneath his towel provides a soft cushion for where he’s lying next to Carlos on the beach, both of them relaxing after a long walk down the shoreline.

Sweat slides down the side of his neck; he’s going to need a dip in the ocean soon to cool off. They’ve been here since early this morning, reading on the beach, playing in the surf, and writing their names in the sand with their fingers like two lovesick teenagers instead of a married couple on an anniversary trip to Galveston. It’s been a perfect day. The most perfect day.

T.K. turns his head to the side, taking in the sight of Carlos lying next to him. He’s shirtless, his chest glistening in the sunlight, a combination of the sunscreen he’s been making them reapply every hour like clockwork, and sweat from the heat rolling over his skin. His blue swim trunks stand out against the gold of the sand, matching with the blue and white stripes on his towel. 

He’s got one arm thrown back, blocking the sun from his eyes, his ring shining in the light, the other hand resting beside him, a little bit of sand clinging to the tips of his fingers. His curls stopped being tame the second the ocean breeze hit them and they’re so soft and fluffy they look like a cloud. He looks like the epitome of a bronzed god.

It’s moments like this, little quiet, nothing moments when T.K. feels the immense gratitude of having a partner who is fun, dependable, and hot as fuck. He knows he’s beyond lucky, to have someone like Carlos in his life. It makes him so damn happy it hurts sometimes.

He looks down and takes Carlos’ hand, linking their fingers together. Carlos turns his head to the side and smiles at him, leaning over to kiss his shoulder. His lips are still cold from the lime flavored sparkling waters they’ve been drinking out of the cooler and they feel amazing against T.K.’s warm skin.

T.K. misses them the instant Carlos goes back to lying flat out on his towel and he doesn’t even think before he’s rolling over so that he’s on top of his husband, his weight pressing him further down into the sand. “You’re hot,” Carlos says, an amused smile on the lips T.K. wants back on him as quickly as possible.

“So are you.” T.K. smirks down at him with that cocky, sexy smile that usually initiates very fun things for them both.

“No I mean you’re physically hot. You’re sweating all over me, get off,” Carlos says, giving him a little push, but T.K. holds firm.

He leans down, capturing those cold lips with his own, his tongue tasting a heady combination of saltwater, lime, and coconut lip balm. His husband tastes like a fucking tropical vacation and T.K. doesn’t waste time diving in deeper for a stronger hit. 

Carlos makes a small noise in the back of his throat and lifts his head up, meeting T.K. with an open mouth, his tongue soft, the kiss slow, but still simmering, both of them barely holding back, vaguely aware of watching eyes all around them. 

T.K. lets his weight drop a little more, pressing their hips together, relishing the way their bare chests and stomachs slide against each other. He braces his hands on either side of Carlos’ chest, digging them deeply into the sand and staring into his eyes. “I want you so bad right now,” he says.

He can feel all of Carlos through his bathing suit. The fabric is so damn thin, being at the beach is practically like being in your underwear in public. The thought of it turns him on even more and he has to resist the urge to grind down in a way he knows drives Carlos crazy.

“There are families on this beach, T.K.,” Carlos says, but his hands come up to rest on T.K.’s hips, and there’s a glint in his eyes that tells T.K. he’s equally turned on right now.

T.K. takes a look around. The area has emptied out considerably in the last hour, lots of people heading home for the night. But Carlos isn’t wrong, there are still plenty of kids and adults nearby, building sandcastles and picking up seashells. They’re not alone enough for what T.K. wants to do right now. 

He lets his head fall. “Ugh,” he groans. “Why do you have to be so fucking hot all the time? It’s not fair.”

He lets out a squeak as Carlos moves suddenly, rolling them over so T.K. is back on his own towel and now Carlos is the one on top. “It’s not my fault you find me irresistible,” he says with a smirk. “Or that you have to keep it in your banana hammock while we’re in public.”

“My banana hammock!” T.K. laughs. He’s wearing the same style of trunks as Carlos and although his are considerably louder, covered in smiling pineapples and coconuts, they are definitely not revealing.

“You’re a menace in those things,” Carlos says, poking him in the ribs right in the spot he knows T.K. is ticklish and making him squirm. “You think I’m hot, you should see how this whole beach has been looking at your ass all day.”

“Nobody is looking at my ass Carlos,” T.K. says with a roll of his eyes. He wiggles a little bit, trying to get comfortable. Carlos is right, it’s slightly smothering to be the one on the bottom in this heat. 

“They definitely are,” Carlos says, lowering his head so his mouth is right to T.K.’s ear. “But that’s too bad because this ass is all mine.”

He pushes himself up and grabs T.K.’s hand, hauling him to his feet and then pulling him toward the water. T.K. stumbles over the uneven sand, both of them laughing as they go crashing toward the surf. They hold hands, pushing past the breakers until they get into deeper water, letting the waves bob them up and down.

“There,” Carlos says as one lifts them up, their feet brushing against the sandy bottom before they land again. “Now this ass is all mine.”

He pulls T.K. in, their lips bumping together a little awkwardly as the under toe pulls at them, but quickly finding their usual rhythm. With their bodies now more hidden from the general public, T.K. wastes no time in jumping up to wrap his legs around Carlos’ waist, his wet hands slipping and sliding over Carlos’ back.

Carlos holds him up, hands gripping firmly under his thighs. Sometimes T.K. forgets how large his hands are, and holy fuck this has to be in the top five hottest things they’ve ever done. Their kisses are not chaste at all anymore, sloppy and a little frantic as the sea buoys them up and down. 

He’s just trying to decide if anyone would really notice if he put his hand down Carlos’ bathing suit out here when Carlos rips his mouth away, a sharp gasp forcing its way out, his hands releasing T.K.’s legs. 

T.K. grips on a little tighter and blinks at him in confusion. “Are you okay?”

“Something stung me,” Carlos says. “Ouch!” he yelps, his body jerking to the side.

T.K. lets go, his feet dropping back to the ocean’s sandy bottom. “Where did it get you?” he asks, concern erasing every drop of lust from his system.

“My leg,” Carlos says, pain slipping into the lines of his face, hand reaching out to grip T.K.’s shoulder for support. “Shit. Ow.”

“Okay, let’s get back up to the towels and I’ll take a look,” T.K. says.

Getting out of the water is way less fun than getting in was. Carlos grimaces in pain with every step and they have to fight against the pull of the waves chasing the tide back outward from the shore.

Once they’re ankle deep in the water, Carlos leans over to try and see the source of his pain. T.K. looks too and winces. Crisscrossing red marks slash their way up his calf like he’s been struck with a whip. 

“Shit,” Carlos breathes out, and then a quick, “Sorry,” when he spots a mom and her kids nearby.

“Looks like a jellyfish sting,” T.K. says. 

“It freaking hurts,” Carlos says, his muscles tight with pain.

They maneuver their way up to the dry sand and Carlos collapses on his towel, a scowl on his face as T.K. drops to his knees and takes hold of his leg, turning it this way and that for a closer look. “It didn’t get you?” Carlos asks.

“No,” T.K. says. “I think because my legs were up.”

“You’re welcome,” Carlos says, a slightly grouchy tease.

T.K. chews his lip as he thinks through his options. “I’ll be right back.”

He jogs back down to the mom and her kids. “Hey, can I borrow this for a second?” he asks, picking up a yellow bucket.

The mom nods her consent and he fills it up with seawater before running it back up to their towels. He gently pours it over the angry welts on Carlos’ leg and Carlos hisses out a sharp breath. “Ouch.”

“Sorry,” T.K. says sympathetically, sitting back on his heels when the bucket has been emptied. “That’s a start.” He reaches into one of their bags for the first aid kit he brought with them and pulls out two Advil. “Here take these.”

He watches Carlos swallow them down, hoping they help with the pain and the swelling. “Do you want to pack up and head back to the hotel?” he asks.

“Um…”

Carlos looks uncertain, which T.K. knows means he’s weighing his own happiness against T.K.’s. So T.K. decides for him. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late anyway. It’s not going to be much fun sitting here with your leg on fire.”

“Are you sure?” T.K. reaches up and squishes his cheeks. “Yes. Shut up. Let’s go.” He pecks his forehead with a kiss before standing and packing up their things.

Carlos tries to help but T.K. shoos him off, shouldering all their bags on his back until he looks like a pack animal. He manages to get to the car without dropping anything, and then gets it all in the trunk while Carlos slides into the passenger seat, wincing in pain the entire time.

T.K. drives them back to their hotel and when they get to the room T.K. sends his husband into a hot shower while he orders up some room service. When Carlos emerges he’s wrapped in a fluffy hotel bathrobe, his hair still damp and curly, his body scrubbed clean of sand and seawater.

“How are you feeling?” T.K. asks.

“Better,” Carlos says. “Still stings a little, but not as bad as before.”

“You okay if I get in there for a minute?” T.K. nods toward the bathroom.

“It’s a jellyfish sting, not a shark bite,” Carlos says in amusement. “I think I can make it fifteen minutes without you.”

“Are you sure? Because if you need me, I can just stay this sweaty, greasy, salty mess,” T.K. leans toward him and Carlos shoves him away. “Get out of here!” he says with a laugh. “You’re gross.”

“But you still love me,” T.K. says with a grin, backing away and wiggling his hips as he starts to push his bathing suit downward, pale skin, untouched by the sun, being revealed inch by inch.

Carlos whips a pillow at him. “Get out of here!”

“Love you!” T.K. yells as he closes the bathroom door.

“Love you too!”

Handprint

T.K. is splayed out chaotically in their bed when Carlos checks on him before heading off to work. His husband had come home exhausted last night after working a grueling double shift. T.K. had barely even said hello, stripping off his clothes as he walked into the bedroom and then face planting directly into their mattress.

By the time Carlos had come in he’d been snoring away, socks still on, his head halfway down the bed instead of up on the pillow. Carlos had gently coaxed him into place before snuggling in beside him and T.K. hadn’t woken up once.

He has moderately more success this morning. He kisses T.K.’s ear, then his cheek, pleased when T.K. sucks in a waking breath and curls up a little bit. “I’m heading out,” Carlos says softly. “Are you guys still going to the pool today?”

The entire 126 has the day off and the plan is to spend it poolside. Tommy is bringing the twins and Grace is coming with Charlie. Carlos is bummed that he has to work instead of participating in the fun.

“Mhm,” T.K. says, his reply muffled by his pillow.

Carlos cards his fingers softly through T.K.’s hair. “Maybe you should skip. You’re exhausted. There’s a new season of Grand Designs out. You could stay home and relax.”

“No, I wanna go,” T.K. says, his eyes still closed. “It’s fine. We’ll just be hanging by the pool. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” Carlos runs his thumb over the shell of T.K.’s ear. “I left a towel and sunscreen out for you. Make sure you put it on every hour, okay? And take a hat.”

T.K.’s fair skin is prone to sunburn and Carlos is always extra cautious with him when they’re outside.

T.K. cracks an eyelid. “Okay Mom.”

Carlos chuckles softly. “Sorry. Have a good time. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Love you, be safe,” T.K. mumbles, already snuggling back into bed.

“Love you too.” 

Carlos makes a mental note to check-in with Nancy in a few hours to see if T.K. actually makes it to the pool outing or not. He wouldn’t put it past him to sleep through his alarm and miss it entirely.

When he and Lexie stop for coffee mid-morning he fires off said text and receives an affirmative from Nancy: T.K. has made it to the pool. So Carlos texts him directly.

Carlos

[11:42am] How’s the water?

T.K. ❤️

[11:45am] *Selfie of T.K. in floral swim trunks with Marjan, Nancy, and Mateo*

[11:45am] Water’s great. Wish you were here!

Carlos smiles, but feels a little twinge of concern at the dark circles under T.K.’s eyes. He still looks tired. Hopefully the group is taking it easy and T.K. will come home feeling refreshed.

Carlos

[11:46am] Glad you’re having fun. Don’t forget to sunscreen.

T.K. ❤️

[11:48am] *picture of T.K. holding sunscreen in one hand and giving the finger with the other*

Carlos

[11:49am] Good job.

Carlos finishes his shift without any major issues and heads home on time for a change. He stops at the market for some bread to go with dinner and spies some beautiful sunflowers, so he grabs those too. Something to brighten up T.K.’s evening.

When he gets home he sees T.K.’s bag by the door, his flip flops lying next to it haphazardly instead of in the shoe bin where they belong. This is slightly odd because T.K. is usually pretty good about putting his shoes away.

T.K. is also nowhere in sight, so he must be in the bedroom or bathroom. Carlos heads for the kitchen to drop his groceries, calling out for him as he goes. “I’m home babe! How was the pool?”

There’s a long silence and then a very faint, “It was good,” from the direction of the master bath.

Carlos frowns as he pulls the bread and flowers from his canvas tote. T.K. sounds off. “You okay?” he calls back.

Another silence. “…yeah…”

Something is off. Carlos picks up the flowers and heads toward their bedroom. “You sure?” he asks as he approaches the closed bathroom door. “You sound weird.”

“Don’t come in here!”

Now T.K. sounds panicked and Carlos feels an immediate need to bust the bathroom door down. “What? Why not? T.K.? What’s going on?”

“I…”

When no answer comes Carlos squares his shoulders and grabs the door handle. “I’m coming in.”

He pushes just as T.K. says, “No wait!” but it’s too late, Carlos is inside the bathroom, his mouth falling open in shock at the sight of his husband.

T.K. is sitting on the closed toilet seat, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, a bottle of aloe vera frozen in one hand. His face is so pink it’s practically glowing. And that’s not the only thing that’s pink. 

Carlos’ eyes travel with horror down his torso, past the towel, over his legs all the way to the tops of his feet. T.K. is sunburnt from head to toe save for one stark, white handprint across his stomach.

“Please don’t yell at me,” T.K. says, misery all over his face.

It takes another second for Carlos to find his voice. “I’m not going to yell,” he says, far too shocked to be angry. If anything he’s deeply concerned. T.K. must be in a lot of pain. “Babe, what happened?”

“I put on sunscreen when I got there but then I…I fell asleep,” he says, his voice full of sadness. “For like, a couple hours I guess? I was just so tired and when I woke up…”

He gives a sad little shrug. “Oh baby,” Carlos says sympathetically, taking a step forward and dropping to his knees in front of him. “The hand print?”

“My hand was on my stomach.” T.K. looks down and his face crumples. “It’s going to be like that all summer, isn’t it?”

Carlos nods, pushing down the bubble of laughter inside of him. Now is not the time.

“I was trying to put aloe on but it just, it hurts,” T.K. says with a pathetic little sniffle. 

“Do you want me to help you?” Carlos asks and T.K. nods. 

Carlos gently pulls the bottle from his fingers and globs out a sizable amount into his palm. Starting at the top he runs his hands gently over T.K.’s face; his forehead, the bridge of his nose, across his cheekbones, letting the aloe sit on top of the raw skin instead of rubbing it all the way in. Even T.K.’s ears have a rosy hue and Carlos takes the time to cover them as well before moving onto his chest.

From his shoulders to the tips of his fingers, over his pecs and down his abs, Carlos moves slowly and deliberately, careful not to miss a single patch of tender skin.

Despite his gentleness, T.K. keeps flinching and making smalls noises of pain, so Carlos talks to distract him. “How was the day otherwise?” he asks. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Yeah it was good,” T.K. says, his voice rough. “Charlie had a blast. She had this little toy duck that she would toss in the pool and Izzy and Evie would go get it for her. It was super cute. She’s getting so big, even since the last time we saw her.”

“Yeah it’s been a couple months hasn’t it?” Carlos says, smoothing his hands over the top of T.K.’s thighs. “Crazy how fast they grow at that age. We’ll have to offer to babysit soon so I can see her again.”

“Maybe in a couple weeks after they get back from vacation,” T.K. says.

“Sounds good. I’ll send Grace a text.”

When he finishes, he stands up and washes the goopy aloe off his hands in the sink then goes back to kneeling in front of T.K. “Be honest with me, is this a hospital situation?”

“No, I don’t think so,” T.K. says. “Tommy made me drink a ton of water and sit in the shade after we realized. There’s no blistering, I think it’s just a really bad sunburn, not sun poisoning. I don’t have a headache or feel nauseated or anything.”

Carlos is going to send the literal and metaphorical mom of the group a bouquet of flowers for taking care of his absent minded husband. “Okay, what else can we do then? Some ibuprofen maybe?”

“Tommy made me take some.”

“When?”

“Um, like three hours ago?” 

Carlos looks at his watch and makes a note of the time. “We’ll do more in an hour then. Did you take a cold shower or bath when you got home?”

T.K. nods. “I took a bath for a while.”

“Good. Then how about we get you up and into something better than a towel?”

Carlos helps him into a very loose pair of shorts, T.K. wincing every time the material even so much as brushes against his skin, and then settles him on the couch. “I got bread to go with the soup my mom brought us for dinner,” Carlos says. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, can I help?” T.K. asks, looking like he’s going to try and push himself upward. 

Carlos waves him off. “No. You stay right here. It’s literally going to take fifteen minutes to heat up. I think I can handle it.”

He heads into the kitchen and spies the flowers. “Oh I forgot,” he says, returning to the living room so T.K. doesn’t have to try and crane his head around to see. “I got you these.”

T.K.’s face brightens immediately. “You got me flowers?”

“I did.”

“You’re my favorite husband.”

“I’d better be your only husband,” Carlos warns teasingly, setting the flowers on the coffee table so T.K. can see them before returning to the kitchen.

They make it through dinner without too much fuss, but bedtime comes with new challenges. T.K. can only lay flat on his back without any sheets or blankets touching him, even after Carlos doses him with more ibuprofen. 

“I feel like I’m going to glow in the dark,” he says sadly as he lays perfectly still, arms and legs spread out awkwardly while Carlos changes for bed.

Carlos chuckles. “My little neon sign. You do light up my life, so that seems appropriate.”

“Haha,” T.K. says without any mirth.

Carlos sits down next to him. “What can I do? What do you need?”

T.K. flops his head to the side. “I want you to hold me. But you can’t touch me,” he says miserably.

“What if I just play with your hair, like this?” Carlos says, reaching up and toying with a few strands.

“That feels nice,” T.K. says, his eyes closing.

“Good,” Carlos says, pleased that he can provide a little relief to ease T.K.’s discomfort. “You know you’re still very cute. Even when you’re glowing like a stoplight.”

T.K. makes a face. “Will you still love me when my skin is peeling off like Lou II’s when he molts?”

Carlos huffs a laugh. “I’ll try.”

Amusement

The boiling heat of day has slipped into the balm of early evening in Austin, Texas. It’s cooler than usual, only seventy-five degrees tonight, a welcome relief from Austin’s blazing summer. 

Tonight the sunset isn’t the only thing lighting up the night sky. The Catan crew is out instead of in for a change, visiting the carnival that’s come to town. As the sun has dropped below the horizon, the rides and games have lit up in a dazzling display of color, whirling and blinking rainbows punctuated with screams and laughs and cheers from guests of all ages.

Carlos’ hand is intertwined with T.K.’s and his husband is swinging it back and forth as they wander between the carnival games. T.K. is chattering away to Marjan about Lou II’s latest outfit; a pair of lizard size swim trunks. Carlos had caught him turning their bathtub into a mini water park and just slowly walked out and closed the door behind him. He loves his husband, but some things are better left unseen if he wants their marriage to survive.

Nancy and Mateo are walking ahead of them, their hands also entwined, and Paul is to Carlos’ right. It’s been the best kind of day. Fun and friends and time together without any of the stresses of work to weigh them down.

T.K. is practically bouncing as he walks. So far Carlos has watched him down two corndogs, fries, cheese curds, half of Carlos’ burrito, and a pink cotton candy. He’s currently slurping on a blue raspberry slushee, his tongue now so electrically blue that Carlos isn’t sure it will ever be normal again. He’s hopped up on sugar and fun and Carlos is going to have to have extremely enthusiastic sex with him tonight to get him tired enough for bed.

He’s looking forward to it.

“Ooh babe! Do you have any ones?” T.K. asks eagerly. 

“I think so,” Carlos says, pulling out his wallet and handing T.K. about five dollars’ worth. “What do you need them for?”

“I’m gonna go win you one of those giant teddy bears!” T.K. says, already grabbing Marjan’s hand and dragging her toward a ski ball game.

“T.K. we don’t have anywhere to put that!” Carlos calls after him, but T.K. either doesn’t hear or doesn’t care.

“Ooh I wanna go help!” Mateo says, running after them and pulling Nancy with him.

Paul looks at Carlos. “These are the people the city of Austin trusts to save lives. Everyday.”

Carlos shakes his head. “Sometimes I don’t even know Paul.”

Thankfully T.K. does not win a giant teddy bear, having to settle for a small frog keychain instead, which makes them both happy. 

They go from the game to the petting zoo which takes forever because T.K. feels the need to speak to each animal individually and Marjan won’t let go of one of the bunnies that she declares “needs to come home with her” until Paul points out that rabbits chew everything.

“Carlos, just think about it,” T.K. says as they finally walk away. “A baby goat would be so fun to have. And then it would grow up and become an adult goat and we could get goats milk and make goat cheese! You love goat cheese!

“I do love goat cheese,” Carlos says with a chuckle. “I do not love the idea of a goat living in our loft. We already have one pet. That’s enough.”

“If you had fresh goat cheese for our game nights that would be on another level,” Nancy says.

“Well then why don’t you get a goat and keep it at Owen’s house?” Carlos suggests.

“Oh, I don’t think Cap would like that,” Mateo says. “Can you imagine if it got hold of one of his Gucci loafers? That thing would be goat kabobs in a heartbeat.”

“Mmm, goat kabobs. Now we’re talking,” Paul says, licking his lips.

“All right, who’s going with me on the Twister?” Marjan says as they walk past a swirling mass of lights and machinery.

“Yes!” T.K. says immediately. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“Y’all are crazy,” Paul says. “That thing looks like whiplash waiting to happen.”

“Okay grandpa,” Mateo says with a roll of his eyes. “I’m in. Carlos?”

Carlos absolutely does not want to go on the Twister. It swings over their heads, screams filling the air above them and he suppresses a shudder. He’s not a fan of this kind of ride at all. “Come on babe!” T.K. tugs at his hand, glee shining in his eyes and Carlos gives in. 

“Okay, yes, let’s go,” he says and T.K. squeezes his hand excitedly.

“Yes! Nance, you coming?” Mateo asks.

“I think I’m going to sit this one out. I get motion sickness when I spin like that,” Nancy says, her face showing her distaste at the thought.

“Can I interest you in a more sedate ride on the carousel?” Paul asks, holding out an arm.

“Why yes, dahling, that would be delightful,” Nancy replies with a mock southern accent, looping her elbow through his as they wander off in search of a more relaxed ride experience.

They join the line, which is made up primarily of teenagers who are either horsing around or making out. “There’s a ride like this out on Coney Island,” T.K. says. “My dad took me out there one time when I was like eight. We rode it six times in a row.”

“I used to come to this carnival when I was a kid. I think I puked every single year,” Mateo says, a fond look in his eye.

“If anybody pukes on me during this ride…” Marjan says warningly.

“Relax Marj, nobody’s puking on you tonight,” Mateo tells her with a roll of his eyes. 

As they approach the front of the line, Carlos notices that his husband has gone quiet. He looks at T.K.’s face, realizing that he looks a little peaked and there seems to be a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. “You okay?” he asks quietly.

“Yeah,” T.K. says brightly. “Just hot out here.”

It’s not that hot, but Carlos chalks his odd expression up to too much excitement and sugar. 

They board the ride and strap on their seatbelts, their legs cramped up awkwardly because the seat is so low. Carlos and T.K. are smushed together on one side with Mateo and Marjan opposite them. 

Carlos grips onto the safety bar as soon as the attendant lowers it. “This is going to be fun!” T.K. says gleefully, the lights flashing over his face that definitely looks paler than it did before.

The music starts up, something by Aerosmith, and then the next thing Carlos knows they’re moving, whirling around, his legs mashing into T.K.’s even more than they already were, their car whipping around and around so fast that everything besides Mateo and Marjan’s faces becomes a blur.

Carlos can’t help himself, he screams right along with everyone else. It is kind of fun, other than the constant smashing into T.K. and the cramp in his thighs. He hasn’t been on a ride like this in years and it’s a little more painful than he remembers, but also pretty fun.

When it finally slows to a stop Mateo lets out a whoop of glee. “Let’s go again!”

“Hell yeah!” Marjan agrees.

Carlos turns, expecting T.K. to give an equally affirmative response, but instead he’s met with a T.K. whose lips are pressed tightly together. And where he was pale before, now he looks slightly green.

“T.K.?” Carlos asks in concern, but T.K. just gives a sharp shake of his head in response.

The second the safety bar goes up, T.K. is gone, running to the exit as Carlos struggles to free himself so he can jog after him. By the time he reaches his husband, T.K. is retching over a smelly garbage can. Carlos puts a hand on his back and tries not to look too closely at what is coming out of his mouth.

“Easy, easy,” he says, rubbing a comforting hand between his shoulder blades when T.K. starts a second round of puking.

It’s several minutes before T.K. lifts his head and takes a step away from the garbage can. He swallows hard, his face still a sickly shade of green. 

“Here,” Marjan says, offering him a bottle of water she’d run to get when she realized what was happening.

He takes a sip and swishes it around in his mouth, spitting it into the garbage can instead of swallowing. “Let’s sit down,” Carlos suggests gently, guiding T.K. toward a picnic table that’s only moderately covered melted ice cream and powdered sugar from funnel cakes.

T.K. sinks onto the bench, his head in his hands. “I don’t think I should have had that slushee,” he says in a muffled voice.

“Yeah, I’m not sure it was the slushee that put it over the top love,” Carlos says sympathetically, rubbing his back again.

“Good job bro,” Mateo says seriously. “You barfed chunks in the garbage instead of on people or the ground. Impressive.”

“Ew, can you not say ‘barfed chunks’ ever again?” Marjan asks in disgust.

“Whoa what happened?” Paul asks as he and Nancy rejoin the group.

“T.K. got sick,” Mateo shoots a look at Marjan to emphasize his less disgusting language, “on the Twister.”

“Can’t hold your carnival food anymore huh partner?” Nancy asks.

T.K. glares up at her. “You suck.”

“And yet, I am the one who made the mature, adult decision to ride the carousel and avoid this situation,” Nancy tells him in a superior tone. “And also not wolf down snacks like I’m still fifteen years old.”

T.K. opens his mouth, but then looks panicked and immediately closes it again. “Okay, on that note, I think it’s time for us to head home,” Carlos says.

T.K.’s head whips up and he swallows hard. “But we didn’t go on the ferris wheel yet!”

“You really want to risk barfing your guts out three hundred feet in the air?” Paul asks skeptically.

T.K.’s shoulders slump in defeat. “Yeah, I guess that’s a bad idea.”

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Carlos says, pressing a kiss to his temple and then helping him to his feet.

T.K. makes it through the ride home by leaning his seat back as far as Carlos will allow (safety first) and closing his eyes with the air conditioning blasting on his face. By the time they arrive at the loft he looks more like himself, although he still curls up into a little ball on the couch while Carlos finds the Pepto Bismol and makes him some ginger tea. 

“I’m never drinking blue raspberry slushees again,” T.K. says. “I want to forget this ever happened.”

“Your tongue is going to be blue for days,” Carlos says. “I think you’re going to be reminded every time you brush your teeth.”

T.K. groans and buries his face into a throw pillow. “I’m sorry I made you leave.”

“You didn’t make me leave,” Carlos says, patting his calf gently. “You were sick. Of course we were going to go home.”

T.K. says something that Carlos can’t make out. “What?”

He raises his head. “I said I was stupid.”

“You were having fun. Sometimes we don’t think through our decisions when we’re having fun.”

T.K. shifts a little. “Thanks for being nice to me while I’m sick.”

“Thank you for not puking in the car on the way home.”

Mini

“Tío, Tío, Tío watch me! Watch! Are you watching?”

“I’m watching Marco, I’m watching,” Carlos assures him.

Marco takes his kid-sized golf club and plants it into the pathway before putting his other hand on his back and scrunching up his forehead. “Look! See? I’m an old man!”

Carlos chuckles. “I see.”

“Tío T.K.! Look! Do you see me?”

T.K. looks up from where he’s writing down their scores from the previous hole on their scorecard. “Wow! Where did Marco go? All I see is this little old man! Oh no, Carlos, his mom is going to be so mad we lost him!”

“No Tío, it’s me!” Marco giggles and straightens up. “See? I was just pretending!”

“Oh phew!” T.K. pretends to wipe sweat off his brow. “Thank goodness.”

“My turn!” Carolina yells, running across the green.

“Whoa, hang on, we have to let the other people finish first!” T.K. says, jogging after her so he can catch her hand and keep her from interrupting the teenagers in front of them.

The kids have been calling him Tío since the first time they met before the wedding, but something about it still gives him a thrill. There’s something so familial about the term; like he belongs to them. Like they want him to be part of the family.

They’d offered to watch the kids for the afternoon so Ana could spend some alone time with Andrea while they’re in town. So far they’ve had tacos for lunch, visited the playground, and made it through three holes of mini golf without too much drama. Carolina spilled her Sprite at lunch and made a bit of a sticky mess, and Carlos had to grab Marco’s hand to keep him from running across a parking lot to see a dog, but other than that, T.K. thinks they’re doing a pretty great job.

“I need my ball!” Carolina says as soon as the teenagers move on.

“Please can I have my ball?” Carlos corrects gently.

She looks up at T.K. with her big brown eyes, the same ones he sees in his husband’s face every single day, those same, pleading, cow eyes and says, “Please?”

And god, it’s probably good they’re not actually parents yet because she could literally ask T.K. for a pony right now and he’d go get her one.

He hands her the pink ball she picked out when they arrived. “Thank you!” she says brightly. She carefully uses her little fingers to set it down on the green and then brings her club back with a big swing.

“Whoa!” T.K. grabs the collar of Marco’s t-shirt and pulls him back a step so his sister doesn’t hit him in the eye. “Watch out for Tiger Woods there.” So far it seems like most of parenthood is trying to keep your kids from accidentally killing each other.

Carolina completely misses the ball, but it doesn’t deter her from trying again. And again. Finally on the third attempt she makes contact and sends her ball rolling toward an open mouthed whale. It only makes it a couple feet, but it’s enough to satisfy her turn.

Marco goes next, his orange ball managing to go a little further. “My turn!” Carolina says, running up the green toward her ball.

“Hey, what about me and Tío T.K.?” Carlos asks from where he’s just dropped his green ball down.

She glances back at them. “You can go later.”

Carlos takes a step toward her but T.K. shakes his head. “Let her go. It’s fine.”

“Don’t you think we should teach her to take turns?”

“I think that’s her parents’ job. We’re just the fun uncles who take them mini golfing and get ice cream after.”

“Ice cream?” Marco’s head whips around. “We’re getting ice cream?”

“Maybe,” Carlos says.

Marco looks at T.K. who nods and mouths, “Definitely.”

“Yes!” He pumps a fist in the air and then runs after his sister who has managed to get her ball through the whale’s mouth by whacking it repeatedly and then finally pushing it the rest of the way. “Carolina! We’re getting ice cream!”

“Probably should have saved the ice cream detail for later. I’m not sure we’re going to make it through all eighteen holes now,” Carlos says.

“Were we really going to make it through all eighteen in the first place?” T.K. asks with skepticism. 

Carlos looks at the kids who are struggling to get their balls into the cup. “Good point.”

They both take their turns while the kids are occupied with jumping off a big rock between this hole and the next one. Carlos manages to get his through the whale in one hit, while it takes T.K. two to get his onto the other side. 

T.K. watches as Carlos holds Carolina’s hand so she can walk along the raised edge of the green like a balance beam while also listening to Marco talk about Minecraft. There’s something about watching his husband talk to kids that makes his heart a little extra soft. They haven’t revisited the idea of having their own kids yet, and T.K. won’t pressure him, but he can tell in little moments like this that whatever his qualms are, Carlos would make a great dad. He’s so patient and kind and he listens with this kind of intensity that makes little kids feel important.

It’s really special to see.

They head for the next green. This one sits next to a waterfall that splashes merrily into a pool at the bottom and runs down a small river and under a narrow bridge that Marco immediately runs to and stands on. “Look at me!” he cries.

“Okay be careful,” Carlos says. “We don’t want anyone falling in and getting wet.”

“My turn!” Carolina yells, bringing her club back again for another big whack.

“No I want to go this time!” Marco says, jumping down and charging toward them.

“Maybe on the next one we can let Marco go first,” T.K. suggests.

She looks at him, her stare cold. “No. I go first.” Then she takes a big whack at her ball and sends it immediately into the water.

“Okay then,” T.K. says, going to fish it out. 

In the end Carolina simply picks up her ball and walks it across the bridge and into cup on the other side. Marco manages an astonishing swing that sends his ball flying to the far edge of the green and makes par for the first time.

“Wow, good job buddy,” Carlos says to him. “You got it right in there.”

“Yeah!!! I’m so good at golfing!” Marco crows, pumping a fist in the air.

“I’m good too!” Carolina says. “I’m good at golfing!”

“Lina look, I can hit my ball in so fast!”

T.K. sets his red ball down to take his turn. “Is this what it was like for you growing up?” he asks Carlos. “With your sisters?”

“Similar,” Carlos says. “Except there were two of them. And Marco at least has the upper hand being the oldest. Trust me when I say, I never got the first turn. And if you ask my sisters they will disagree and say I always got the first turn. That I was the spoiled baby.”

“Well, they’re not wrong. You’re a little spoiled,” T.K. teases.

Carlos opens his mouth to snark something back, but Carolina lets out a blood curdling scream, causing both of their heads to whip around in panic. “A bee!” she shrieks in terror. “A bee, a bee!”

Both T.K. and Carlos immediately go running toward the kids, but the have to go over the bridge to get there. Carlos takes it first and T.K. follows him over, sliding a little bit on the downslope, but catching his balance easily enough.

“It’s okay,” Carlos consoles her. “Did it sting you?”

She’s wailing loudly but shakes her head, just scared, not hurt thank goodness. Carlos wipes her tears away. 

“You know, bees are actually really scared of people,” T.K. says, squatting down in front of her. “It was probably just saying hello.”

She stares at him with angry, watery eyes. “Bees sting you.”

Maybe this isn’t the right moment for a lecture on pollinators. 

T.K. gets to his feet, crisis averted and Carlos starts to stand up as well, but neither of them have counted on Marco. 

“I see the bee!” he yells.

Carolina screams in fear and bolts away as he charges forward, his club swinging as he goes. It catches Carlos, who is slightly off balance halfway out of his crouch, across the chest.

It’s like watching something out of a cartoon. Carlos’ eyes go wide, his arms pinwheeling wildly as he attempts to catch his balance and fails. T.K. reaches out but he’s too late; Carlos’ momentum sends him flying backward and he lands with a loud splash in the pool at the base of the waterfall.

“Oh sorry!” Marco says, freezing in place and looking scared that he’s just done something really wrong.

“Carlos, are you okay?” T.K. calls anxiously.

“Yes,” Carlos says, his voice full of annoyance. “I’m fine.”

“Sir!” One of the golf course employees comes charging over in his electrically yellow t-shirt. “Sir, you are not allowed to be in the water features! Please get out!”

“I’m trying!” Carlos growls back, uncharacteristically, yet understandably, short tempered.

He pushes himself upright, water swirling around his calves and T.K. reaches down a hand to pull him back up onto the green. “You’re sure you’re okay?” T.K. asks. “Marco hit you pretty hard. And you fell on your back.”

“I’m fine,” Carlos says. “Just…very wet.”

He’s drenched. His clothes are dripping all over the green and he wipes a hand over his face to clear the water that’s running down from his curls.

“Tío, you said we couldn’t get wet,” Carolina says pointedly, crossing her arms in indignation that her tío has broken the rules.

“I’m really sorry,” Marco says.

“It’s okay Marco,” Carlos says. “It was an accident. But that’s why we have to be careful with golf clubs. If you’d hit your sister you could have really hurt her.”

“Can we…still get ice cream?” he asks tentatively.

“Um…”

T.K. steps in. “I think we probably need to take your tío home to get some dry clothes first. But then yes, I think we can still get some ice cream.”

They head home so Carlos can change and then back out for the promised ice cream.

Marco, Carolina, and T.K. had all gone for cotton candy with sprinkles, while Carlos went for a more sedate chocolate soft serve, of which T.K. had stolen several bites. 

They dropped the kids off with Ana and now they’re home. T.K. isn’t sure he’s ever been this tired in his entire life. He hadn’t realized how constantly being called for and answering a thousand questions in a row about everything from “what’s that?” to “is there ice cream in heaven?” could wear you down faster than back-to-back shifts.

“Wow, he really got you good,” T.K. says.

Carlos has taken off his shirt to ready for bed and there is a long bruise running across his chest where Marco struck him. He looks down at it and shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.”

“How’s your back?” T.K. asks.

Carlos had claimed he was uninjured after his spill earlier, but T.K. had seen him wincing when he picked Carolina up to put her in the car.

His husband puts a hand on his back self consciously. “I think I landed on a golf ball. And maybe tweaked something a little.”

“Let me see.”

He turns around and T.K. steps closer so he can take a look, wincing when he sees a perfectly round, dark bruise just to the right of Carlos’ spine. “Yeah I think you did land on a golf ball. That’s going to hurt for a while.”

“I don’t know how my sister does it all day,” Carlos says, turning so he can try and see the bruise in the mirror.

“You’re so good with them,” T.K. says. “They adore you. But yeah, they’re freaking exhausting, right?”

“So exhausting!”

The both chuckle. “Come on,” T.K. says. “Lie down and I’ll rub your back. See if we can fix whatever you pulled.”

Carlos immediately flops facedown into their mattress. “You’re so easy for back rubs,” T.K. says with a laugh as he climbs on top and straddles Carlos’ ass.

“I like back rubs,” Carlos says as he turns his head to the side, mashing one cheek into the duvet so he can talk.

“Oh I know.” T.K. digs his fingers into the muscles of Carlos’ shoulders and immediately gets an appreciative groan.

“You know the kids really love you too,” Carlos says after a minute, his eyes closed. 

“Because I bribe them with ice cream,” T.K. snorts.

“No.” Carlos shifts a little bit. “Because everyone loves you. Because you’re the best. You’re going to be a really good dad.”

T.K. freezes. It has to be a slip of the tongue. They haven’t talked about kids at all. He forces his hands to work again. “Oh you want to get kinky, huh baby? I can call you daddy if you want me to,” he says, choosing to deflect the statement with humor.

Carlos rolls over, forcing him to stop. “No I mean like, for real. You’ll be a really good dad.”

T.K. narrows his eyes, very unsure of how to proceed. “The last time we talked about it, you said you didn’t want kids.”

“I remember.”

“So….I feel like we’re having a different conversation now.”

Carlos looks up at him, his face soft. “I don’t know. I guess we are?”

T.K.’s heart is beating a mile a minute. This is the most awkward position ever to be having this conversation in, but neither of them moves. “Okay. That’s…wow. Do you, should we talk about that?”

Carlos shifts a little. “Maybe not right now? But you know, soon. Maybe.”

Okay. Okay. T.K.’s mind is reeling but he tries to slow it down. “So what I’m hearing,” he says, sly grin spreading across his face. “Is that you might want to make a baby with me.”

It breaks the tension and Carlos rolls his eyes. “You are so weird, you know that?”

“C’mon Carlos. Let’s try it.” T.K. humps him a few times, thrusting enthusiastically with his sweat pant clad hips.

Carlos grabs him around the middle and rolls them over, claiming the top position. “Shut up,” he says firmly, dropping his head so he can kiss the stupid out of T.K.

“Wait, but is your back okay?” T.K. says, suddenly remembering how they got here in the first place.

Carlos gives a long, slow roll of his hips that has T.K. arching up to meet him. “Look at that, I think your hands fixed it,” he says with a smile.

“Good.” T.K. smirks. “Then try and put a baby in me Carlos Strand-Reyes.”

“…That is not the turn-on you think it is.”

Camp

The stars are shining brightly overhead, the moon lighting up the night with its near fullness. Fireflies flicker in the darkness, their glow magical as they sparkle between the trees.

T.K. honestly had thought he’d see a lot more of this kind of sight when he’d left the city lights of New York behind for Texas. The stars at night are big and bright after all. It was Carlos who’d pointed out to him that the next line of the song refers to the deep heart of Texas, not the deep heart of downtown Austin. Their loft doesn’t provide much opportunity for stargazing in the night sky what with all the light pollution. 

The air is still a little warm, but the bugs aren’t too bad tonight thankfully, and there’s a slight breeze that’s keeping things on the nice side of pleasant. The smell of their campfire fills the air and the sound of crickets and the rushing of the river on the other side of the trees make for peaceful background ambience above the snapping and popping of their campfire.

“Babe. Your marshmallow is on fire.”

T.K. lifts his stick and blows out the inferno that has engulfed his marshmallow. “That’s how I like ‘em,” he says, waggling his eyebrows in the firelight as he reaches for graham crackers and chocolate.

It tracks that T.K., with his zest for life and penchant for jumping into action doesn’t have the patience to let his marshmallows roast over the coals, while Carlos, with his desire for order and perfection takes the time to make sure his is a perfect golden brown before eating.

T.K. sandwiches his s’more together, struggling to be patient long enough for the marshmallow to cool so he doesn’t burn his entire mouth. He’s planning to put it to good use when they finally retire to their tent for the night and he’d rather not miss out on fun camping sex with his husband because he was in a hurry for treats.

“Oh shit.”

Carlos’ surprised exclamation pulls T.K. from staring at his s’more in the firelight just in time to see his husband’s gooey marshmallow plop off his stick and into the fire. “Aw man,” Carlos says sadly, watching it go up in flames.

T.K. finally takes a bite, chewing with his mouth open to try and release some of the heat. “See? You should have just set it on fire in the first place,” he says around a mouthful of chocolate and graham cracker.

“I’ll make another one,” Carlos says, reaching for the bag.

“Gee babe, I don’t think we have another four and a half hours for that,” T.K. says pretending to check his watch.

“Ha ha,” Carlos says drily, impaling a fresh marshmallow on his stick. 

“Come on. Try mine.” T.K. holds it out so the s’more is within Carlos’ reach. “You’ll see. The char really makes it taste campfire-y.”

Carlos leans forward and takes a bite, sticky marshmallow clinging to his chin as he chews. T.K. feels something flutter low in his belly. Why is this so sexy?

“So,” he says, clearing his throat, “what do you think?”

Carlos wipes his chin with the back of his hand. “Smoky,” he says. “I still think my way is better.”

“Well one of us has a s’more and the other one doesn’t. The evidence would suggest otherwise officer,” T.K. says, taking another bite. 

The poke and tease each other a little more, Carlos eventually managing to get his marshmallow toasted to his unrealistically high standards. When they decide to turn in for the night T.K. takes his job of putting out the campfire very seriously, putting his firefighter training to good use as he douses it repeatedly before joining Carlos in the tent.

It’s lit only by the glow of the battery operated lantern they’ve brought. Carlos has already stripped off his shirt and is kneeling on top of his sleeping bag as he searches for something in their duffle ag. “Babe do you know where my toothpaste went? I thought I put it in the side pocket, but it’s not there.”

T.K. plops onto his knees on top of his own sleeping bag. The tent is small, cozy, intimate in a rugged, slightly dirty kind of way. Carlos is still searching, so T.K. shuffles forward a little bit, crowding into his space.

Carlos looks up, an amused smile on his lips. “Hi?”

“Hi.” T.K. grins back, biting his lip coyly. 

“We’re in a tent,” Carlos says, his expression saying he knows full well where T.K. wants to take this.

“We are,” T.K. says, letting his eyes slide down Carlos’ tank top clad chest to the zipper of his jeans and back up. “Totally, completely, alone in a tent. No one around for miles.”

There’s another campsite on the other side of the trees, but T.K. thinks his version of events sounds far sexier. 

“I smell like campfire,” Carlos says, but his eyes drop to T.K.’s lips and he leans in a little bit.

“Come on baby. Let me live out my Brokeback Mountain fantasy,” T.K. says, letting the back of his hand trail down Carlos’ arm. “Two sexy, star crossed cowboys. Finally alone.”

Carlos’ mouth captures his, smoky and sweet and hot and T.K. devours him eagerly. He pauses between breaths to rip his tank top from his pants and pulling it off over his head so that they’re both shirtless.

Carlos hasn’t shaved in a couple of days and his stubble scrapes pleasantly across T.K.’s skin. “You’re so fucking hot,” T.K. murmurs, sliding into Carlos’ lap, desperate to be even closer to him.

“Mmm, take me for a ride cowboy,” Carlos responds.

The words shoot straight to T.K.’s dick and he pushes Carlos down on top of their sleeping bags a little harder than necessary. “Pants. Off,” he orders, already reaching for his own zipper.

It takes a lot of wiggling around and some awkward angles to get naked, but finally they’re devoid of their clothes. T.K. sits back on his heels and drinks in Carlos’ body. Sometimes he feels like it’s such a miracle that he’s married to this man.

“Are you going to sit there staring all night?” Carlos asks, throwing one arm up behind his head.

“Shut up cowboy,” T.K. says. “I’m in control of this rodeo right now.”

“Oh you are?”

“Yeah,” T.K. sends him a pointed look. “I am.”

He bends Carlos’ right knee up and kisses it, enjoying Carlos’ sharp intake of breath as he moves his lips slowly along his inner thigh, alternating between nips with his teeth and short brushes of his tongue. When he finally reaches the softness where Carlos’ hip joins his pelvis, Carlos’ entire body tenses and he bites out a very sharp, “Fuck.”

“Is that what you want?” T.K. asks, fully aware that his breath is ghosting over some very sensitive parts of Carlos’ body and driving him crazy.

“Yes,” Carlos gasps, arching his back. “Fucking yes.”

T.K. gives that sensitive crux of skin one more sweet kiss and then gets to work. It’s sweaty and hot and slightly dirty and T.K. feels heady with the fun of it all.

He’s laying drowsily with Carlos draped across his chest, still naked and fully considering dragging him down to the water for a late night skinny dip, when he hears something. He instantly stiffens, his ears straining to make sense of a scuffling sound outside the tent.

“Carlos,” he says, tapping his chest. “Carlos do you hear that?”

Carlos is so blissed out that he’s mostly asleep, but he turns his head and presses a kiss to T.K.’s sweat sticky chest. “Your heart’s still beating really fast,” he mumbles.

“No, not that. Something outside.”

“It’s probably a squirrel.”

“What if it’s a bear?”

That gets Carlos’ attention. His eyes open all the way but he doesn’t move. “There are almost no bears in Texas T.K.”

T.K. hears the swishing of grass moving again and sits up, Carlos rolling off of him unceremoniously. “Almost doesn’t mean zero.”

“It’s basically zero,” Carlos says as T.K. gets to his feet and starts digging around in the messy piles of fabric they’ve made. “What are you doing?”

“If we’re going to get attacked by a bear, I don’t want to be naked.”

“It’s more likely a javelina than a bear,” Carlos says with a roll of his eyes. 

“Javelinas are worse than bears! Put some clothes on!”

He throws a pair of underwear at Carlos and almost hits him in the face. “These are yours,” Carlos tells him.

“It doesn’t matter, just get dressed!”

Carlos rolls his eyes but then there’s an odd chittering sound and they both freeze. “Is that a javelina?” T.K. whispers, his eyes huge.

“I…don’t know what that is,” Carlos says, finally starting to look a little disconcerted.

T.K. yanks his hoodie over his head. “Put. Some. Clothes. On.”

“Yeah, okay,” Carlos says, scrambling to try and find some pants. “Did you put all the food stuff away?”

“Yes!” T.K. says, then thinks. “I mean, I think I did.”

“You think you did?”

“Well I was kind of excited about cowboy role play…” He shakes his head. “No I definitely put everything away.”

“Well then hopefully whatever it is will move on quickly,” Carlos says. 

They both sit in silence, listening hard. “Do you think it left?” T.K. whispers when they don’t hear anything.

“I think so,” Carlos says.

T.K. gets up and reaches for the tent flap. “What are you doing?” Carlos asks.

“I’m going to go make sure our stuff is okay.”

“T.K. just leave it. We can check in the morning.”

“If it got into our stuff we should try and take care of it now so it doesn’t come back!” T.K. argues, unzipping the flap.

“T.K.! T.K. don’t!”

But T.K. ignores him, stepping outside. 

The moon is even brighter now than it was before, lighting up the whole area. T.K. glances around and doesn’t notice anything amiss. He checks their food supply, all of it still locked up tightly, just like he’d thought.

He’s about to head back in when he senses a large presence behind him. “Ah!” he cries, as he turns around, only to find his husband has joined him. “You scared me!”

“Well I couldn’t let you come out here by yourself!” Carlos looks around. “Everything seems okay.”

“Yeah it was probably a raccoon or something.”

“So not a bear?” Carlos teases. 

“No, but if you don’t shave soon I might mistake you for one,” T.K. says, patting his stubbly cheek.

They’re wandering back toward the tent and T.K. is thinking about getting naked all over again when they hear the same snuffling sound from before, this time accompanied by squeaking. “Carlos.” T.K. grips his husband’s shirt and shrinks against him as Carlos pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight.

It flashes over the grass, their doused campfire, the tent, and then lights on something bumbling across the ground. T.K. takes in a sharp breath. “Oh look at it!”

It’s a skunk, but a tiny one. Its little mouth opens and it lets out a squeaking sound before toddling toward them. “Oh it’s a baby,” T.K. says, taking a step toward it.

Carlos grabs the hood of his sweatshirt and yanks him back. “T.K. that is a skunk,” he says.

“Yes I know that, thank you,” T.K. tells him with a roll of his eyes. “I may have been born in a city, but I know what a skunk looks like.”

“Okay so then you should know that we don’t mess with skunks,” Carlos hisses.

“But what if it’s lost? And babies can’t spray anyway until they’re like three weeks old,” T.K. says, sending another look at the tiny skunkling. 

“T.K. you have no idea how old that skunk is. Leave it alone.”

“I’m not going to touch it!” T.K. crouches low. “Hey little buddy. Are you lost? Where’s your mama?”

There’s another squeaking sound and a second baby appears in the light of Carlos’ phone. “Oh look, you’ve got a buddy.”

“T.K. come back here,” Carlos says in a loud whisper.

“But they—“

His eyes open wide as several more babies appear, five in total and then…

“T.K. look out!”

Carlos runs toward him, the flashlight bouncing everywhere, but it’s too late. The most repugnant smell in the entire world fills the air as the mama skunk spots them and lets loose in an attempt to protect her babies. “Oh fuck!” T.K. chokes out, gagging on the fetid air.

“Get in the tent!” Carlos manages, grabbing his arm and dragging him inside. It’s no good. The tent, their clothes, everything they’ve brought with them is well and thoroughly skunked.

After an hour of trying to air things out at the campsite they give up. They pack up, drive home, throw most of their belongings into a dumpster outside of the loft, including the tent and their duffle bag, and now, at four am, they’re both seated in their tub, baking soda infusing the water as they try desperately to get rid of the smell.

“This is the least sexy bath we’ve ever taken,” T.K. says.

Carlos is in front of him and T.K. is using the Dawn dish soap they usually save for accidental grease stains on clothes to try and rid his beautiful curls of the scent. It’s only kind of working.

“So much for our sexy cowboy role play,” Carlos grumbles back.

They’re both mad and trying very hard not to take it out on each other. “Hey,” T.K. says. “Don’t let this tarnish the memories of sexy cowboy role play. It was one of our best ones. You are a very hot cowboy.”

“I don’t smell like a very hot cowboy,” Carlos says, giving his arm a sniff and wincing.

“It’ll wear off. Eventually…”

BBQ

Summer in Texas comes to a slow end, like trying to squeeze the last drops of honey from a bottle, clinging on thick and golden to the final drop. The days slip from blisteringly hot to only moderately uncomfortable as summer wanes and the Ryders invite everyone over for an end of summer barbecue, Judd promising it will be the best meal they’ve ever eaten in their entire lives.

“Babe, we’re going to be late,” T.K. says, checking his watch as Carlos finishes covering an immaculately constructed charcuterie board in saran wrap.

“I’m almost done,” Carlos says, gently pressing the end of the saran wrap into place underneath the board. “There. Perfect.”

T.K. puts a hand on his back and looks down at it. “Stunning. Best you’ve ever made. Now can we please go? Mateo said he’s going to eat all the wings if we get there soon. I want wings Carlos.”

“Okay, okay,” Carlos laughs. “Let me get my shoes.”

He’s slipping them on when his phone vibrates and he pulls it out to look at a text message. “Oh, wait a second.”

“What?” T.K. asks, practically bouncing on his toes. If Mateo eats all the wings before he gets there he’s going to be so mad.

“Grace needs paprika.” Carlos crosses to their spice cabinet and pulls out a half full container of it. “Got it.”

“Okay, great, so we can go now right?” T.K. lifts up the charcuterie board and heads for the door. He doesn’t spot that the corner of the carpet is flipped up until he’s tripping on it. “Oh shit,” escapes his lips as he tries to regain his balance, taking a couple more steps before he catches himself.

“Oh my god!” Carlos lunges toward him his hands outstretched unhelpfully since he’s too far away to catch the charcuterie board or his husband before they hit the floor.

T.K. straightens, the board still in his hands. “We’re good. I’m good.”

Carlos lets out a sigh of relief. “Please be careful.”

“I will,” T.K. says. “It’s fine. I got it. Party is still on.”

They make it across town to the Ryders’ without further incident. T.K. balances the board on his lap while Carlos drives carefully, taking turns with a speed that a senior citizen would be proud of. When they arrive at the house he parks the car and then runs around to take the board gently out of T.K.’s hands. “What, you don’t trust me anymore?” T.K. asks as he climbs out of the car.

“I do trust you. You can take the paprika,” Carlos says, nodding to where it’s sitting in the Camaro’s cupholder.

“Gee, thanks babe,” T.K. says drily, grabbing it and heading for the front door.

“My heroes,” Grace says when she opens it, the sounds of the party spilling out with her from inside. “These deviled eggs are not going to devil without some paprika. And somebody used up the rest of ours in his dry rub without telling me.”

“Happy to help,” T.K. says as they step inside. “Didn’t think we’d be saving the day with paprika, but here we are.”

“Oh my god, Carlos you made that?” Grace asks, when she spots the charcuterie board in Carlos’ hands. “That looks incredible.”

“I just threw it together,” Carlos says, a blush coloring his cheeks.

“He spent three hours on it,” T.K. says, squeezing his shoulder, an amused look on his face. “Many Youtube tutorials were watched. The salami roses have been shaped to perfection.”

Carlos’ face takes on that slightly strained look that it does when he’s miffed at T.K. but trying not to let it show. “It was one Youtube video T.K.,” he says tersely.

“Well your hard work paid off. Go ahead and take it on over to the table. I’ll just finishing whipping these up and be right over.” Grace nods toward their dining area, the table already laden with chips and drinks and other treats.

Carlos deposits his board on the table next to a pasta salad and some carrots and celery, gently pulling off the wrapping and adjusting a few olives that have slipped out of place.

“Hello boys!” Owen says as he wanders in through the slider door, Buttercup hot on his heels.

“Hey Dad,” T.K. says.

“Owen,” Carlos acknowledges. 

“You have arrived at the perfect time,” Owen says. “Judd just pulled some wings off the grill and they look delicious. I also brought along some marinated tofu that I think you might find equally as appealing. We’re going to do a little taste test comparison.” He glances down at the table. “Are those roses made of salami?”

“Hey you two, get your asses out here! We’ve got Giant Jenga going on!” Nancy yells from outside.

They head out, saying a hello to Judd who is wielding a pair of tongues at the grill and Tommy who is supervising all the kids. Izzy and Evie are playing with Charlie in one corner of the yard, while the rest of the crew is crowded around a towering stack of massive Jenga blocks in another.

“T.K.! You’re with me and Marj,” Paul says immediately.

“Whoa whoa whoa, why do you get to pick your whole team? How is that fair?” Nancy protests.

“Okay fine. You want Captain Chaos on your team?” Paul offers.

“Hey!” T.K. cries. “I’m a paramedic! I have excellent fine motor skills!”

“Yeah, fair point. You can have him. We’ll take Carlos,” Nancy says.

“Yeah!” Mateo says, slinging an arm around Carlos’ shoulders to welcome him to the team.

“Play nice children,” Tommy says as she walks by with a bowl of watermelon.

The game starts off with everyone in good spirits as most of their games do, but the tension quickly ratchets up as the tower grows more and more unstable.

“Careful, careful,” Nancy says, watching Carlos closely as he gingerly attempts to pull a piece from close to the bottom.

The tower teeters dangerously and Carlos freezes. “Oh you’ve got no shot Reyes,” Marjan says, glee in her eyes.

Carlos takes his hand off and wipes his sweaty palm on his shorts. “Hey, you can’t choose a different block,” Paul says quickly. “You touch it, you take it.”

“I’m not taking a different block. I’m adjusting my strategy,” Carlos says, taking a breath and going back in again. 

The tower teeters, but it doesn’t fall as he slides the block out and carefully places it on the top. He turns around with a sly grin on his face. “Next.”

Marjan steps up, her eyes narrowed with concentration as she studies the tower. 

“All right, food’s ready!” Judd calls. “Come and eat!”

“And don’t forget to try the marinated tofu!” Owen reminds them all.

They abandon the game for now, leaving it stacked where it is as they all head to fill their plates with the steak, chicken, and ribs that Judd has cooked up. 

Carlos is chatting with Paul about a book they’ve both been reading when he catches movement out of the corner of his eye. Charlie has wandered over toward the Jenga tower and is trying to pull out one of the blocks with her little fingers. But the tower is currently only balanced on one, singular block, and it sways dangerously.

Carlos cuts off mid-sentence and dashes over, catching her around the middle and lifting her up and away as the tower of heavy blocks comes crashing down right where she was just standing.

The rest of the group turns around at the sound of the crash, everyone’s eyes wide. Charlie giggles, tucked safely under Carlos’ arm, unaware that she was just saved from a probable concussion and/or stitches. 

“Okay little lady, that’s enough danger for you today,” Judd says, coming over to take her from Carlos. “You tell Uncle Carlos thank you. He just saved your life.”

“Thank you,” she says with another merry giggle, still unaware how close she came to ending this party with a trip to the ER.

“And that’s a lesson for the rest of us on child safety,” Tommy says. “No more Giant Jenga towers unattended with children around.”

“Nice save Carlos,” Paul says.

“And he didn’t even drop his beer,” Mateo cheers.

“Whoa, hey, nope!”

Distracted by Charlie’s near accident, the food has been left unattended and they all turn back to find T.K. has only just managed to grab the platter of barbecue, holding it high up out of Buttercup’s reach. Buttercup looks up at him curiously and sits down politely, his face expectant as he licks his lips and waits for T.K. to give him a treat even though he very nearly just made off with their entire meal.

“Damn. Okay, Crisis Number Two averted,” Marjan says.

“Thank God for the Strand-Reyes boys. Just saving this party again and again,” Grace says.

“Amen,” Tommy echoes.

The rest of the party goes on without further incident. Everyone tries Owen’s tofu and most of them regret it. They rematch for Jenga and T.K.’s team wins. Charlie and Buttercup chase Evie and Izzy around the yard while everyone watches and cheers them on and Charlie cries when Grace tells her it’s time to go to bed. She gives everyone a hug and then goes back around for seconds before asking if Buttercup can sleep with her.

The sun sets and Judd turns on the patio lights and they talk and laugh and eat Tommy’s cherry cobbler with Blue Bell ice cream on top and it’s truly the best kind of summer night.

It’s late by the time they get home, both of them tired and overly full, but so deeply happy and content. T.K. flops onto their bed and looks up at Carlos. “We,” he says, “are heroes. We saved that party three times today.”

“I mean kind of,” Carlos says, sliding beneath the sheets beside him.

“No, not ‘kind of.’ That party would have been a disaster without us.”

“Well you do always bring the party,” Carlos says, an amused smile on his lips as he leans in for a kiss.

T.K. obliges him and then snuggles in close. “This has been the best summer. I love being married to you. I love hanging out with our friends and going to the beach and having cowboy sex.”

Carlos laughs. “And getting stung by jellyfish, sunburnt, skunked…”

“Yeah but we did all those things together. None of it was so bad because I was with you.”

“Speak for yourself! That jellyfish sting hurt!” Carlos teases.

“Carlos!” T.K. smacks him gently across the chest. “I’m trying to be sappy here!”

“I know, I know,” Carlos says, tweaking T.K.’s nose fondly. “You’re right. It was a really good summer.”

“The best summer.”

“Sure, the best summer.” 

T.K. flops onto his back and sighs contentedly. “I hope all our married summers are like this.”

Carlos smiles and pulls him in close. “Yeah. Me too.”

[sageandred]

Ranking LS Disasters *by personal preference

(only doing the major ones that were big and/or filled an entire episode // I didn't include the GraceJudd car accident, because I wanted to do natural disasters, but I did include 4x09 because it takes the whole episode of Marjan trying to get to safety // maybe i'll do a gigantic post of every single event later down the line)

1) Ice Storm (3x01)-The fact that this was a 4 part event (A pregnant Grace stuck in the storm, Carlos waiting for TK to wake up from a coma, Paul..it was all very good)

2) Marjan runs for her life (4x09)-such a good solo episode (mainly focussing on 1 character the entire episode can usually be a miss, but Lone Star does good in all of their character-focussed ones)

3) Dust Storm (2x14)-speaking of solo character-focussed episodes...Mateo getting his time to shine(!), but also this was a well-constructed episode and every found family based show needs an episode where the characters are split up due to unforseen circumstances out of their control, like being reassigned to different work locations. (#3 and #4 were switched originally, but I just found this episode a little more entertaining all the way through)

4) Wildfire (2x03)-They took on a big task with such a packed episode, with this being the crossover event, and with [character] death being just 1 episode before it. I like the stakes and the team moments coming together, with their own and the LA force. (we also get the mention of Mateo's LA doppelganger cousin)

5) Volcanic Eruption (2x02)-for the shock factor (+ all of the graphic gore from the opening to the episode highlight), and we get great solo character moments + support for each other at the end

6) Arsonist Fire (2x12)-We get that great tarlos plot. It feels wrong to put this above #7, because the fire's such a small part/factor to the episode, but points since there were some episode shocks and the entire arc wasn't completely predictable the way that I thought at first]

7) Tornado (1x04)-There's a sense of togetherness and feeling like a family; the disasters got better with this being so early in the show. loses points for the car between the buildings, but the story of the man with his two kids was heartbreaking, even being as stupid as he was.

8) Solar Storm (1x10)-a pretty solid plot; as an episode it fell flat in some places.. but that radiation case from space on the phonecall with Grace 😭 (this episode and the plot was flawed, but this idea was promising and I was interested to keep going into season 2, so that's why it's higher than a couple)

9) Building Explosion (3x18)-(this previous episode end leading into the big finale is purely ranked on preference) not their best disaster, and not their worst...This moment was eventful and provided some good moments for Judd/Grace and even Wyatt due to Judd being trapped in danger. This might be higher if the Judd main plot wasn't so short, although a good fake-out with a new conflict of another one of their own going down, but that Owen hallucination arc was a miss for me. The explosion itself (at the start of 4x18/end of 4x17, especially) was epic, though!

10) Plane Engine (3x08)-I really liked the response to the emergency on the plane, the father-son stuff, and the help on Tommy via phone. Episode was great; the disaster itself falls last on my ranking. It was interesting, just not that intense; this being lowest on the list is solely because there are more mishaps that ended up being more intense. Though, it was a good emotional moment. (led to the great emotional tarlos reunion, too). The parallel of the flashback to present day that led to TK confessing to Owen was beautiful!

[shit-talker]

I'm gonna go through the "confirmed storylines" from the lone start wiki because I have thoughts;

1. Owen's brother - literally don't care, they added the character that they could have fleshed out way more before they killed him off, the only slightly intreasting thing that could come out of this is if Tyler (Owen's dead brother) becomes something of a plot point - does TK know about Tyler? Does he know where his name comes from? Is TK nicknamed TK because Owne found it hard to call him Tyler?

2. It's giving the main 911 show, which I love. Btw, I'm telling you, the 126 member who "might get injured" is either going to be Tommy, or TK. I'm willing to bet my life. I'm leaning more towards Tommy but this show has a habit of putting TK in damger soooo

3. That's an interesting one. I know that it's gonna be between Paul and Marjan, but honestly, Paul should get it. He's more experienced, and Marjan is known for making reckless decisions. Though, I think it'd be funny if Mateo is somehow pulled into the chaos because of his stint as lieutenant.

4. Yeah, is this is just referring to Wyatt becoming a dispatcher? Unless they introduce a whole new character? See below.

5. I take this as a clue that Tommy is going to be out of commission for a bit, which makes me think she'll be the one hurt with the train stuff. It will be cool, especially because TK is her partner and has historically challenged Nancy in the past. I want them to be the bestest of friends, give me more of their friendship. Also, if Tommy is not there for a bit, and Nancy takes over as captain, that means they'll probably need a new paramedic, which could be the new member of the 126 that we'll apparently love? I mean, I feel like it needs to be someone we already know because introducing a brand new character seems risky, especially if Tommy is going to come back as captain and they'll have to get rid of said character. The only character I can think of is Pearce, though. Which, considering his character in S3 could be a possibility.

6. I'm hoping to God this has something to do with Nancy. I know that Tim wasn't killed by an asteroid, but if we could touch back on the impact it had on Nancy, especially if she's a captain in charge now. Maybe TK or the new paramedic (?) gets injured or close to being injuried in this and she freaks out. I want a bonding moment between Tommy and Nancy. I want the med team to be a little family.

7. I have a lot of feelings on this, but for the most part, I love it. It was sort of obvious that was the direction they wanted to go after Wyatt got hurt, and I love it. I love the dispatchers in the 911 universe, and having the first main dispatcher be a guy for the first time is fun. I do wonder how they'll deal with Grace no longer being in the show, especially because her character won't be in it at all. Also, it'll be a fun dynamic when Judd returns to the 126 (which he will, unless Judd's character is also leaving this season, which I doubt (please don't take him away from me))

Also, gotta talk about tarlos because I have THOUGHTS.

The person from TK's past will be interesting, I know a lot of people think it'll be Alex, but at the same time, what would the point be? Why would he? I don't think it'll be Alex. I also saw a lot of people saying it'll be Enzo and Jonah, which I can see but "from his past" kind of inplies it's someone he hasn't talked to or thought about for a while, and we know he keeps in contact with his brother and Enzo. Though, It would be really REALLY fun to actually meet Enzo (come on, it's time to meet him, he's been mentioned so many times). I'm really hoping it's either an old friend from his addict days or someone he used to work with in New York.

Also, Carlos solving his father's murder will be fun. I'm hoping we get to see more of the Reyes family. I want the Reyes sisters, and I want them now. TK will also totally be freaking out, and I'm hoping for a bonding moment between him and a member of the 126 that ISN'T Owen. I want either Tommy or Judd, saying they've both been married and also can you imagine TK going to them for relationship advice? Adorable.

[1heartfanfics]

Tarlos (9-1-1 lonestar) Sickfic pt. 2

If you haven't read the first part it is linked here: Part 1

Depictions of vomit below the cut (and in the link above)

T.K. was woken up by Carlos lurching out of his arms to lean over the side of the bed with a harsh gag.

"Shit," T.K. said under his breath. He didn't know how much time had passed but judging by how tired he felt, he doubted it had been long. He tried to blink his eyes awake as he scooted over to wrap an arm around Carlos's chest. He'd looked like he was about to spill out of the bed.

"I've got you baby," he said, taking more of Carlos's weight as he leaned further over the side to heave and retch over the trash can. There was nothing left for him to bring up, but his body clearly hadn't gotten the message.

"I-can't-" Carlos gasped in between gags, moaning in pain as his stomach continued to clench.

"Try to breath honey, you're all worked up right now," T.K. said, wrapping his arm tighter around Carlos and rubbing his other hand up and down his back. "Breathe with me, okay? You're done, you're all done."

Carlos let out a sob as he went almost completely limp, body spent. Thankfully T.K. had already been supporting a lot of his weight, and was able to prevent him from falling off the bed and pull him back up. Tears streamed down his face.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's all gonna be alright baby," T.K. shushed gently, pulling Carlos into his arms and holding him.

"No-I-wait-" Carlos protested, weakly pushing away from T.K. to turn back toward the trash can on the floor.

"There's nothing left baby, you're empty I promise," T.K. shook his head, holding him tightly to keep him where he was.

"I feel so sick," Carlos shook his head, trying to push away again.

"Hey, hey listen, I know, okay? But I promise you, there's nothing left in your stomach to throw up. And even if you did, it would not be the worst thing I've had on me, not by far," T.K. explained.

That seemed to be enough to convince Carlos because he relaxed into T.K.'s arms. Carlos's shaky breaths slowly calmed, his stomach along with it. He still felt horrible, but the overwhelming nausea had receded for the moment.

"Think you could try and go back to sleep?" T.K. asked after a while.

"I don't know," Carlos answered honestly. He was exhausted, but he wasn't sure that his stomach would let him sleep. His whole body was starting to ache too.

"Do you want to go watch some tv out in the living room then?" T.K. suggested, hoping that a distraction could help him get back to sleep.

"Okay," Carlos nodded. "You don't have to," he added, feeling horrible for keeping T.K. up practically all night after his long shift. Even though the thought of going through this alone made him want to cry again.

"No.. I'm not just going to leave you to fend for yourself when you're so sick baby," T.K. shook his head.

"I'm sorry.." Carlos said miserably, sitting up in T.K.'s lap to drop his head into his hands.

"Hey, look at me," T.K. said, gently tilting Carlos's head up by his chin. "I want to take care of you okay? And yeah, I am tired, but I'm okay. I'll probably just fall asleep on the couch out there, that way I'll wake up if you need me," T.K. said.

"Okay," Carlos sniffled, a few stray tears falling down his cheeks. T.K. reached up to wipe them away with his thumb.

"Okay," T.K. said, smiling softly at his boyfriend.

He helped Carlos carefully get off the bed and slowly trudge out to the living room. T.K. helped get him settled on the couch with his pillow and a blanket, then set the trash can up in front of him again, just in case.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked, turning the tv on.

Carlos just shrugged, looking horribly pale in the light from the tv. T.K. turned on grey's anatomy, one of Carlos's guilty pleasure shows, then set the remote on the coffee table where Carlos could reach it if he wanted to. Then he climbed onto the couch behind him.

"I probably am going to fall asleep soon baby, but please wake me up if you need anything okay?" T.K. said as he wrapped his arms around Carlos, who curled up to him in turn.

"Mmm," Carlos hummed against T.K.'s chest.

T.K. kissed Carlos's forehead, then brought a hand up to card his fingers through Carlos's curls, hoping to put him to sleep before he fell asleep himself.

[alrightbuckaroo]

Hi, I don’t know whether you are still doing the soft fic prompt. If you are, then #37 for Tarlos please.

37. ‘I missed you.’

I didn't know if I wanted to go sad or sappy with this one but sappy won out eventually. Here's something that became a little bit of a 4x04 coda :)

--

"Hey babe," TK stops just short of his greeting when he sees the mess cluttered around the kitchen. Empty mixing bowls, flour scattered across the counter top, and chocolate morsels spilling out of their packaging.

He looks at Carlos, currently splayed out on the couch, his apron covered in what looks like many attempts at baking. Around him, it looks like the living room was tossed up, turned around and torn apart. "Were we robbed?"

"If you ask that a third time, it's going to come true." Carlos pipes up from his spot on the sofa, making no effort to move.

"I didn't know felonies worked like Beetlejuice, but hey," TK finally ventures into the kitchen. He places the groceries on a clean spot of the counter. "You learn something new every day."

He walks over to join Carlos on the couch, pulling him up to join him in a sitting position. "You want to tell me why our apartment is in disarray?"

"Lou II got out." Carlos explains, bluntly. "I was in the middle of making cookies and while I was waiting for the oven to heat up, I went to feed him. Imagine my shock when I saw his tank was empty."

"I don't think I need to imagine it, babe." TK jokes.

"Not funny." Carlos' mouth is a straight line and TK fights back a laugh.

"Anyways, I started panicking because the cookies have chocolate in them and Lou II can't have chocolate and the last thing I want to do is kill our pet lizard," Carlos rambles on, his words starting to tumble over each other. "Long story short, Lou II seems to be a Spurs fan. I found him nestled in my jersey in the closet."

"Aw babe," TK caresses Carlos' cheek. "He wanted to be closer to you."

Carlos pushes TK's hand down. "Don't try to make it cute."

"That's hard when everything you do is so cute." He stands up, going to put the groceries away. Carlos' dough is currently sitting in rounded mounds waiting to be placed into the oven that is currently off.

When Carlos said he was making cookies, TK thought nothing of it. He's been on sick leave and while Carlos is good at many things, enjoying his free time is not one of them. Now that TK's stepped into the madness, he sees they aren't just any cookies. "Carlos, is this my mom's cookie recipe?"

"Yeah," Carlos joins TK in the kitchen. "I make them whenever I miss you and well, I missed you."

"I've just been out on call."

"I always miss you when you're not around." Carlos defends, casually shrugging as if he didn't just say something that makes TK want to melt.

"As I said," TK leans over, pulling Carlos is for a kiss. "Cute." TK looks at the ingredients cluttered on the island. "You are missing the secret ingredient though."

"Love?" Carlos asks. "Though, as long as I've got you around, I have that in spades."

"Toffee." TK answers, smiling at Carlos. "But I love the way you think."

send me a soft fic prompt!

[liminalmemories21]

Reading out of the woods has been SO lovely. It’s top favorite series (regardless of fandom) for me. I love Paperstorms missing moments series as well, which is a similar vibe. I’ve read the rest of your work, Minus the one AU b/c I don’t tend to read those lol (I’m sure it’s great though!) Do you have any further recommendations for Tarlos fics for a new reader? I usually nose through my favorite authors bookmarks on ao3, but you don’t have anything marked (publicly at least) so I thought I’d ask. I’m brand new to the lonestar fandom so I’m trying to get my bearings lol. I haven’t joined a new fandom in 10 years so it’s a little odd to start from scratch.

You’re a remarkable writer! I hope you continue to write and I look forward to reading whatever you decide to do next!

Oh thank you! This is so lovely to hear. I'm so glad you're enjoying them.

Unfortunately I am approximately the worst person to ask for recs. Partly, because I never ever remember to bookmark anything (seriously, I need to get on that, because I also do what you're doing, but also because it would make my life easier when I'm trying to find that one fic where all I remember is one scene or one line of dialogue. But, also because I am notoriously bad about remembering the name of anyone or anything. My partner translates for me constantly, and untangles the mess of three things that I've mashed together into one title.

I know @lemonlyman-dotcom has been leading fic roundups for the Lonestar Rewatch with this tag - Rewatch Read-Alongs

Anyone else have good suggestions for fic rec posts?

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Tag Game: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tag, @chicgeekgirl89 @ladytessa74 💝

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

It was right about two years ago around this time of year, and the who would be Owen Strand himself, Mr. Rob Lowe. I was on Hulu and bored and saw this go by and thought well I've never met a Rob Lowe something that I didn't like, so what the hey.

I was not expecting to get this into it at ALL- like by the time the title card appeared for the first time I was like what is this show! (literally, I hadn't written anything in about 13 years, and I had no computer at the time, and there I was, scribbling down fic in my notebook like a child of the 80's lol).

Which season is your favorite?

For me it's a horserace between seasons one and four. Season one did so much with those ten episodes (why I have hopes season five can still be amazing with only twelve episodes) and season four for a couple reasons; one, season four fixed sooooooooo many of the mistakes they made in season three, and season four compared to season one is like them living their lives out loud.

Like that sad boy from New York who just wanted a way to bury his pain? He's getting married now!

That cop with zero work-life balance? Also getting married and has friends who adore him!

The trans firefighter worried he'll never date anyone he can be himself with- look at his relationship blooming now!!

It's just the best, season four.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?

Well, first pick would be my Tarlos boys, but I also do love me some Owen Strand. Yes he's flawed but there is so much good in him, and he's an amazing dad and captain when his character doesn't suffer from the show needing him to be the center of everything and the fact they can't land a decent romantic storyline for him (though I do know why that is lol).

Top Five Episodes - Go!

4x08 1x01 1x10 2x05 4x12

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Carlos, cause I'd like to go just like a year before the show started - like it's been confirmed TK was his first real relationship but did he try to date? Did he ever hook up? Also I feel that because he is a good son that he wouldn't cut off his parents completely, but wouldn't see them until they asked, what was that like? Did he want to tell his mom about his life and feel like he couldn't? (note; this might be the most depressing begins episode ever - TK really burst in like the Kool-Aid man and color this boy's whole world).

Also Nancy, just because we don't get anything about her hardly - did she go to college? How long has she been with EMS? Did she have another captain before Michelle? All could use answers.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season five?

TARLOS DOMESTIC MORNING SCENE PLEASE AND THANK YOU -

I want Carlos to be up early and trying to wake TK up gently. After TK says just a few more minutes four times, Carlos uses stern voice and tells him it's time to get up. TK still is hiding under the covers so Carlos puts those long fingers to use and tickles his husband right out of the bed.

Beyond that - for TK and Owen to have scenes together like they did in season four; for Owen's rich girlfriend to not be a thing anymore, for Robert's death not to cause any bad feelings between Strands, and for TK and Carlos to be on a team against their problem, not on opposite sides against each other.

Also Carlos picks TK up; in any context. I would love a Carlos puts his husband on his shoulder and carries him out of somewhere while he's protesting but would also accept in a romantic setting he picks TK up, or he picks a very sleepy TK up who wraps his legs around his husband and lays his head on his shoulder.

The still of a concerned Carlos on the phone and a despondent-looking TK behind him- what do you think is going on there?

I think a mean person told TK that Catan is stupid and TK got very upset about it and Carlos's phone call consists of "you made my baby sad? You picked a good day to die, son".

Juuuuuust kidding lol - no I think that Carlos has to do something dangerous (perhaps related to his father's murder, perhaps not) but it's known to be dangerous and TK is scared for him and begging isn't there anyone else? And Carlos gets the call confirming there's no one else; it needs to be Carlos.

We all know about the elusive spicy 5x05 scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

That is tough because they're still on network TV - I would say one or both of them are wet - possibly it is raining and they're at the famous Reyes ranch and Carlos takes TK in the barn.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

(I may be stealing this) but I could see them going somewhere in Mexico - pretty but also not terribly far away, because of what happened but also because TK is very nervous about leaving their lizard child and is constantly texting his dad like what is Lou doing why haven't you sent me videos of him!!"

Shoutout to one of your favorite fan creations

The Little Monkey by @anewkindofme - my most reread fic and chock full of sweet TK and Owen feels. It is the ultimate comfort fic.

Where All This Love Comes From by @carlos-in-glasses - so much angst, so much heart, so much love, so much writing talent possessed by one person!

No pressure tagging - I tag @anewkindofme @nancys-braids @carlos-in-glasses @actualalligator @lemonlyman-dotcom @carlos-tk -tk @heartstringsduet and anyone else who wants to do it - open tag 🫶

[reyesstrand]

ten questions for writers

thank u @rmd-writes @freneticfloetry for the tag <3 needed some distraction tn!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 90!

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 381,498

3. what fandoms do you write for? it’s been predominately 911ls since 2020 (save for some dabbling in the old guard when the movie came out)

4. do you respond to comments? why or why not? yes!! though i’m sometimes so stuck on the joy they bring that i end up letting them sit in my inbox for too long and spam-reply to them all days later akdnsjdn but they mean the world to me and i love hearing peoples’ thoughts on my little stories!

5. have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of….

6. have you ever co-written a fic before? i’d love to and have an idea in the works w a lovely person! it seems so fun (despite my own self-doubt about my process or sometimes lack thereof ruining things andnsn) i also don’t know if this counts but i LOVEE getting to be a part of the general brainstorming/screaming about ideas stage for fics written by friends like it’s so fun

7. what’s your all-time favourite ship? this is. so hard. but writing-wise nothing’s ever inspired me like tarlos has (most of the lone star pairs i ship have this quality, tbh)

8. what are your writing strengths? umm i’d say exposition/introspection/anything to do with exploring the emotions of characters

9. what are your writing weaknesses? DIALOGUE! also titles/summaries

10. first fandom you wrote for? i think the get down? the first fandom i published fic for at least, there’s probably some cringey teen wolf fic in some old notebook somewhere ajdnsjd

no pressure tagging @strandnreyes @theghostofashton @bonheur-cafe @alrightbuckaroo @paperstorm @safeaswrites @nancys-braids @pelorsdyke @captain-gillian @carlos-in-glasses @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @sanjuwrites @heartstringsduet & open tag!

[rmd-writes]

20 questions for fic writers!

tagged by @jesuisici33 💖

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

80 (this blows my mind)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

539,880 but this is skewed by several collaborations. The total words that are exclusively mine is probably closer to 400-450k

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White & Royal Blue, 911 Lone Star, Schitt's Creek (barely, but I'm not letting them go)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all RWRB fics:

titles are the worst, we refuse (collab with @athousandrooms @clottedcreamfudge @indomitable-love @everwitch-magiks)

Everybody needs good neighbours

yours for the afternoon

to the victor, the spoils

Hook(up), line & sinker (collab with @athousandrooms, @clottedcreamfudge, @indomitable-love, @the-amber-fox)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love comments so much and appreciate readers who take the time to leave them, so I like to acknowledge that. Also, I've made several friends as a result of leaving comments or vice versa 💖💖

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

No angsty endings in this house

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of my fics have a happy ending (usually literally as well 😉)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Occasionally

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA (yes, mostly smut with so many feelings)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't ever written a crossover!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I'm aware

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have (I think). I don't remember which one though

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Several and it's so much fun! I love writing with my friends

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Nope, you can't make me choose between my three otps (David/Patrick, Alex/Henry, Carlos/TK)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Schitt's Creek paint and sip au

16. What are your writing strengths?

completely gratuitous outfit descriptions, banter, people seem to like when I write smut with feelings

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely world building, I'm not good at that

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've included Spanish dialogue in both RWRB fic and Tarlos fic before with the generous assistance of some Spanish speaking friends. I think it can definitely work if the context is right.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Schitt's Creek

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

To the surprise of no one, my RWRB lawyer au (start with to the victor, the spoils, which I've linked up there ^^)

tagging @welcometololaland @three-drink-amy @cha-melodius @strandnreyes @stereopticons @rosedavid @carlos-in-glasses @clottedcreamfudge @dumbpeachjuice @orchidscript @maxbegone @liminalmemories21 @lilythesilly

[mooshkat]

kinktober day 8: breeding (ft t4t tarlos!)

TK knows they’re being loud, knows they need to close their mouth and shut up before they find themselves with a noise complaint tomorrow morning. How are they meant to stay quiet, though, while getting fucked this good by their girlfriend?

“That’s it, baby,” Carlos says, snapping her hips and fucking into TK deeper, grinding against them and giving TK that delicious friction against their clit. It makes them scream and dig their nails into her back, scoring streaks of red across her skin that she leans into eagerly. 

“God, do you know how tempting it is to fuck you until it sticks? I could keep you at home, make a pretty housewife out of you. I want to fuck you ‘til you’re soaking wet and dripping with my come, baby, then fuck it back into you to keep it all in.”

A whimper spills out of TK’s mouth and they clench around Carlos’ cock, eyes rolling back. They weren’t actually trying to get pregnant, Carlos has made her opinion on that known and they’ve since settled on being pet parents, but fuck. The idea of Carlos using them, over and over and over until she’s satisfied? 

They’ll do anything for her as long as it means she keeps talking like that.

"Yeah?" They tease and bring their hands up to brush along Carlos' shoulders, down her arms where her biceps flex as she hitches TK's legs higher to change angles.

Her body has changed in the years since they started dating, getting softer and curvier as she started hormones, but she still has some muscle hidden under it all that makes TK downright dizzy with want. 

They brush those thoughts away and grin. "You sure you'd be able to keep enough control to do that? I think you eat me out after you fuck me more often than you don't these days, honey. How would you resist?"

Carlos leans down and buries her face in TK's neck, brushing her nose along the cord of muscle that she often covers in bites and bruises. "I could do it," she says against their throat, right before she bites down roughly on the junction between their shoulder and neck, hard enough that TK will be lucky if their uniform covers it. It makes them moan and clench around her, and that drives Carlos' hips to snap harder.

"All I'd have to think about is how fucking gorgeous you'd look, baby, so bright and beautiful with that pregnancy glow."

Her hands start shaking around their hold on TK's hips then and their moan twists at the end, turning into a confused whine in concern as Carlos' rhythm stutters to a stop.

"Carlos?" TK asks and gently pets their hand through Carlos' curls. It's grown past her shoulders now and she puts it up on a tight bun most days for work, so seeing it down and free of hair gel is a special treasure for TK. "What happened, baby? Where'd your mind go?"

Carlos shakes her head, but she refuses to lift her face away from TK's neck. It sends alarm bells ringing through their head. "It's nothing," she says, but TK's concern only grows when she sniffles quietly right after. "I'm fine."

"Sweetheart…" TK sighs and finally manages to pry Carlos' face from hiding. They cradle her face gently, cooing softly and wiping away the tears in the corner of her eyes with their thumbs. Her heavy, guilt ridden eyes. "Talk to me, Carlos."

"It's stupid," she tries to protest, but TK isn't having it.

"It's not stupid if it upsets you."

She huffs and rolls her eyes, but it's fond. She sniffles again and starts to speak, avoiding looking at TK's face. "I got–caught up, in what I was saying and my mind started to spiral. I started thinking about how if I actually did knock you up," and TK does their very best not to squirm at the idea, because the fantasy is hot but the reality would be a dysphoric hell on their body. 

Carlos notices somehow anyways and a hurt noise tears through her chest, her eyes getting wetter as the tears flood them again. "I know! I know, but I was just…maybe I'd be able to keep you at home from work and safe if you were pregnant. You wouldn't be able to get hurt again," her voice cracks, and TK soothes her on instinct, wrapping their arms around her to hold her close. "It's awful of me, I know. Especially since I–I don't want kids."

They have an idea of where the thoughts come from. They've only been back to work for two weeks now after their latest stint in the hospital thanks to a car wreck while driving the ambulance. Nobody was badly hurt, thank god, but TK had left with a sprained wrist and an annoying concussion.

Definitely not the worst injury they'd gotten while with Carlos, but her worry was always the same. Mostly, they're shocked the thoughts are only just now springing up.

"Oh, honey," TK blinks away the tears that threaten to spill, their chest heavy with guilt. They hate that they've caused Carlos so much distress. "I'm sorry I've made you worry so much, baby. And you're not awful, I promise. I understand why your mind took that turn, you always do your best to keep me safe. Do you want to stop for the night and talk about it?" 

Carlos shakes her head again. "No, no, I want to keep going." Her hands brush down TK's sides, and her skin is so hot it feels like she's branding them. "I want to make you feel good."

"You do, baby, you always do. You don't have to turn me into a cream puff to do that," TK tries to joke and lighten the mood, and it does the job of making their wife laugh.

She looks at TK and leans down, capturing their mouth in a kiss. "Do you want to keep going?" she asks, because she's always concerned about consent and making sure TK is still in the mood if they stop for anything.

(Which TK is always in the mood, especially when they have such a hot wife, but Carlos asks every time and it's one of the things that makes them absolutely adore her.)

To answer her, TK clenches around her cock and rolls their hips. They lock their ankles together behind Carlos' back and pull her in impossibly deeper, all while grabbing her hand and bringing it down to press against their clit.

She circles her fingers around it, testing the waters, and TK lets out a hiss, eyes fluttering shut. Carlos moves her hips again, pulling out until the fat head of her cock is stretching out TK's hole before fucking back into them, filling them in one thrust.

"Yes, yes, that's it, baby." And it's a risky move, but they tangle their fingers in her hair and pull her close, nipping at her ear lobe. "You always fuck me just right, baby. You're doing so good. Come on, I want to be so full of your come I'm bursting with it. Fuck, baby, I want you to fucking breed me."

[chaotictarlos]

🌸 Pink 🌸

ship: Tarlos | fandom: 911 Lone Star | author: chaotictarlos | read on ao3

Rating: Explicit | Warnings / Tags: Canon Compliant, Bottom TK Strand, Lace Panties, m x m smut, guided masturbation, dirty talk, feelings, porn with plot

Summary: The panties look good on him, though, and that’s what TK wants. He wants to look and feel good in the things that he’s wearing. The delicate panties and garters are something that does both. He smiles at himself in the mirror, a little shy even though it’s just him, and thinks about how proud he is for being able to push through the anxiety he’s feeling to surprise Carlos with this. 

Part 2: TK dresses up for Carlos.

Author's Note: When I slide into @paperstorm dms to annoy them into being friends with me I never expected that we would end up writing a fic series together. But here we are after being consumed by the thought of TK in panties and everything that goes with that. It's been such a delight to write with Andie and create this series together. I've had the most fun writing this. I hope you enjoy it. Comments and kudos are always a delight. Thank you to Andie for looking over this and assuring me it wasn't terrible.

Read Part One: Turquoise

--

If TK was ever told when he was younger that he would be with a man who not only likes to see him in panties but would actively buy him panties at a store and proudly say they were for his boyfriend TK would have thought the person telling him was crazy. That they were making fun of him for something that he likes. That just wasn’t something he was given hope to expect. His past boyfriends hadn’t liked it, thought it was too weird, and would actively shun TK for it until he just stopped wearing them and convinced himself that it wasn’t something he likes. 

Panties weren’t a thing for men, he’s been told repeatedly. It’s okay to be gay as long as you don’t look the part — a past boyfriend had said when they found the flimsy material in his dresser drawer — the moment had made him burn with shame, creating a core memory that flashed into his mind every time he allowed himself to look at a pair of panties for too long after that.

Carlos, though, prompts TK to forget that shame when he finds a pair of panties that TK long forgot about. The shame he felt, is replaced by the burning passion that Carlos fucks him with when TK models the panties for him for the very first time. Not only passion but love and tenderness that TK isn’t used to. It makes him want to rediscover that part of himself again. It makes him feel safe to explore a side of himself he had long buried under homophobic slurs and dirty looks.

However, it’s hard, to allow himself to want the softer things again after going so long denying himself. He knows it’s not something that will change overnight — even with Carlos being the most supportive boyfriend, but TK wants it to.

So he decides not to force it. After Carlos gives him the new panties, he shoves the five pairs in the back of his drawer, not to hide them away necessarily but so that they won’t be there, glaring him in the face and taunting him every time he opens his drawer. He likes knowing that they’re there, but not seeing them every time he needs to get a new pair of boxers. 

On days when Carlos is at work, TK takes them out. 

At first, he just runs them through his fingers, feeling the soft material and watching how they glide delicately through his hands. The colors Carlos had picked for him were good ones — shades of pastel that TK knows will look great against his skin. 

Eventually, TK gets up the courage to put a pair on. He chooses the high-waisted pair and pulls them on, holding his breath as he chances a look into the floor-length mirror that they have. He’s surprised by how good they look on him. 

They’re a soft orange that looks delicate and pretty against the pale skin of his thighs. They’re snug around his cock and make his ass look even perkier than it usually does in his boxers. The waistband of the panties comes up just below his navel, covering the soft trail of hair that leads down to his cock. TK reaches down, brushing his fingers delicately over his bulge and a shiver runs through him.

He’s missed this more than he’s ever let himself think about.

He continues to stare at himself for a few more minutes. TK looks good, he knows he does, but there’s still a dark pit in his stomach that twists and rattles about that tells him he shouldn’t enjoy this, that he shouldn’t enjoy wearing something soft and delicate.

Before he can get lost in his mind too much, he slides the panties off and folds them up neatly, returning them to the spot in his drawer. He wants to keep them on, but the ugliness in his mind is raring its head and he doesn’t want to taint the pretty panties that Carlos so thoughtfully bought for him.

READ MORE ON AO3

tags: @strangefurychaos @sapphire11 @first-kanaphan @noxsoulmate @rangergurlgleek1211 @detective-giggles @tarlos-spain @lonestardust @bubblesandroses8 @thebumblecee @mooshkat @importantbailiffpaperpony @cowlos-reyes @meditating-honey-badger @paperstorm @otter-love-asl @kiloskywalker @angeltk @firstprince-history-huh @brouill3r @sanjuwrites

[sugdenlovesdingle]

Here it is, the first of my tarlos @flufftober fics! I'm going for the full 31 days (so a fic a day the entire month of October) Let's see how many I'll actually post on time

Also Gabriel is alive because I said so.

---

Day 1 - "I've got you" (AO3)

“APD officer requiring medical assistance” Those few little words coming over the radio had the ability to turn the blood in TK’s veins into ice. “Ambulance 126 are you free? You’re the closest unit.”

“Medical unit 126 free and responding.” Nancy replied to the operator as the three of them got into the ambulance and buckled up. She started the engine and pulled out of the firehouse just as the officer’s location came through to their computer.

“It doesn’t have to be Carlos.” Tommy said over their headsets, knowing where TK’s mind was at.

“I know. I know.” TK said, briefly checking his phone but seeing no text or any sign of life from his husband.

“And you know what cops are like, they call us out when they stub their toe.” Nancy offered.

“That’s protocol.” TK said absent mindedly. It was almost four months since Gabriel had gotten shot, and even though he was recovering well and back at work on desk duty, Carlos hadn’t given up on trying to find the shooter.

“Dispatch do you have a unit number of the officer needing assistance?” Nancy asked over the radio in an attempt to calm TK’s nerves.

“363H20. There is another officer on scene but the call came from 363H20.”

“That’s Carlos’ badge number.”

“Are you sure?”

“Nance, I could recite that number in my sleep. I’m sure.” TK deadpanned while putting on gloves. “I just hope he hasn’t done anything stupid. He promised me he would lay off his one man investigation into Gabriel’s shooting.”

“How is Gabriel?” Tommy asked, trying to get TK to focus on something other than his injured husband. “I’ve been meaning to check in.”

“You know how he didn’t want to wear the sling the doctors had given him at our wedding? Because he didn’t want a reminder of the shooting in our wedding pictures? And only did it when Andrea made him? Well that’s about as much of his doctor’s advice he’s taken. He’s alright but stubborn as ever.” TK sighed. “Carlos really is his father’s son.”

They pulled up to the location a few minutes later and saw Carlos sitting on the curb next to his cruiser with a tea towel pressed to the side of his head, and Lexi Mitchell standing beside him.

TK jumped out of the ambulance, torn between wanting to strangle his husband for getting himself in trouble again, and wrapping him up in a hug and not letting him out of his sight for the next few months.

He grabbed his gear and walked over to where Carlos was sitting.

Carlos who was staring at his shoes instead of looking up.

“Hey Lexi.” TK greeted her before kneeling down and putting a hand under Carlos’ chin so he’d look him in the eye. “I thought I was the danger magnet in this marriage?”

“Don’t start.” Carlos rolled his eyes and groaned. “Things just got a little out of hand.”

“Yeah I can see that.” TK said and tightened his grip on Carlos’ face when he tried to look away. “What the hell happened, Carlos?”

“No pet names? Ouch. You’re really in the dog house now, dude.” Nancy commented.

TK briefly glared at her before turning his attention back to his husband. He turned his head to the side.

“Move the towel so I can take a look.”

“It’s fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Move the towel.” He ordered, sounding way more angry and annoyed than he actually felt, but he figured maybe making Carlos think he’d really pissed him off would make him stop his investigation and let the team assigned to it do their jobs.

“Your bedside manner needs work, paramedic Strand.”

“It’s Reyes-Strand actually. You see I got married four months ago to this amazing man, he’s my soulmate, he completes me, but he’s being a world class idiot lately.”

“Why don’t we leave you two to it.” Tommy suggested. “Officer, are you hurt?” she asked Lexi.

“No ma’am. But he is.” She pointed her thumb at the backseat of the cruiser. “I put him in there for safekeeping. He got a little too close to the ground. With my help.”

“Is he dangerous?”

“Not anymore. And he’d be really stupid to add assaulting a paramedic to the list of offences we can book him for.”

“Right, well, let’s go take a look. Way over there.” Nancy said and turned to TK. “Try not to kill him. Too many witnesses here.”

“I’ll do my best.” TK replied while cleaning the cuts and scrapes on Carlos’ face. “But I’m not making any promises.” He grabbed an antiseptic wipe from his kit to clean the wound he’d had the towel pressed against. “This is going to sting a little.” He murmured.

Carlos winced when the wipe touched his wound and tried to move his head away as a reflex but TK kept him in place.

“Don’t do that you big baby. I’ve got you. I’ll find something that doesn’t sting so much. And then we’re going to take you to hospital because you need stitches.”

“I don’t need stitches. I’ve got work to do. Can’t you just put a bandage on it?”

“Do you want an infection? Do you want to be bleeding through that bandage all day?”

“No, but…”

“Carlos.” TK said sternly but then softened a little when he saw the concerned look on his husband’s face. “Baby do you trust me?”

“What? Of course I do.”

“Do you trust me to know what I’m talking about? That I know how to do my job?”

“Of course.”

“Then trust me when I say you need stitches. And before you say anything, yes I can do it, but you want a plastic surgeon for this because the wound is on your face. I can patch you up but you’ll end up with a scar.”

Carlos mumbled something that sounded like “I don’t care.” And TK barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at him.

He grabbed some gauze and tape from his kit and covered up the wound on Carlos’ face.

“That should do for now.” He moved to sit next to Carlos and grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“The guy came out of nowhere.” Carlos started after a minute. “He took a swing at me and I hit the wall and then the ground. I think his ring cut my face.”

“Hmm… it’s not like you to let the bad guys get a jump on you…”

“Yeah. I guess I’m having an off day.”

“Just one day? Baby you’ve been distracted for weeks, you’re running yourself into the ground with your investigation. You’re awake half the night obsessing over it.” TK said and held up a hand when Carlos tried to argue with him. “We share a bed, remember? I know you’re not sleeping. I can feel you tossing and turning.”

Carlos sighed.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere.  I had a solid lead that brought me here.”

“Then why didn’t you tell detective Washington and her team?”

“I did! But they didn’t do anything!” Carlos argued. “I told them they had to move now but they just thanked me for my help and sent me on my way.”

“Probably because they had to check out the info. You taught me that police work involves a lot of checking and double checking and gathering as much information you possibly can before making a move.”

“I know… but I feel like I’m getting close to figuring it out.”

“So you grabbed Lexi and went to investigate on your own?”

“No… she just… kind of insisted to come along and didn’t take no for an answer.”

“Thank god for Lexi Mitchell.” TK muttered.

“I know it was stupid to go alone, ok? I know. But I… I can’t just... drop it. It’s my dad who got shot and nearly died.”

“I know babe, but if you keep going like this, he won’t be the only one coming close to dying.”

“Why? Because you’ll kill me if I don’t drop it?”

“No, you’ll be beating me to it.” TK deadpanned. “I don’t want to become a widower before we even get to our one year wedding anniversary. I love you and I hate seeing you like this. You need to start taking better care of yourself, baby. Promise me you will. ”

“I promise.” Carlos mumbled after a minute. “But I can’t just walk away from it and pretend it never happened.”

“I’m not asking you to. But I need you to sleep for more than 10 minutes a week and not spend every minute of every day obsessing over your dad’s case. You know they’ve got the best people working on it, so you can take a step back. Relax. Do something fun. Forget about it all for a couple of hours. Can you do that for me?”

“I’ll try…” Carlos promised.

“Why don’t we order pizza tonight and watch that show Paul was talking about last week?” TK suggested. “And we can just relax and turn off our phones for a couple of hours… and who knows what else we could do.” He winked, making Carlos laugh.

“I don’t think that’s really considered relaxing, babe.”

“Maybe not, but it’ll be fun.”

[howtosingit]

S4 E1 Thoughts

Overall I definitely thought this was one of the show’s weaker episodes. It felt messy and clunky and not really what you expect a premiere episode coming back from an 8-month hiatus to feel like. I thought there was too much carnival but also not enough interesting carnival moments. I also pretty much completely checked out after the Tarlos bunk room scene as my brain struggled to wade through that mess, so I just don’t have much to say about all that Owen stuff and Tommy’s new guy 🤷🏻‍♂️ But obviously I’m gonna have some thoughts about the Carlos plot. Oh, that Carlos plot. I will say that, generally, I’m not excited about it. There are things that I get and there are things that I don’t, but honestly at this point I’m just hoping that it can be salvaged by the end of this 4-episode arc. 

There is always a certain amount of handwaving that you have to do with a show like this, when it feels like the writers are just pulling stuff from out of nowhere and throwing it at the characters. Tim has very much gloated about writing this way for the past 4 years, so it’s not a surprise. For me, I think that Carlos has very much escaped that kind of free-spirited story slinging in the past, so it’s unfortunate to see him now be the center of some of it. Anyway, now that a bit of the shock (though we really did all see it coming) has worn off, I’ve been able to sort some things.

What I Get:

I get Carlos coming out to his parents, them not reacting the way he wanted, and then his willingness to please everyone in his life leading him to try and “fix” his problem.

I get him being friends with Iris and him only getting close to Michelle when she disappeared. I’ve had that thought since season 1, so while it wasn’t explicitly planted that season, obviously there was something there to infer.

I get that Iris was the only person there for him after his coming out and that she loved him and he loved her, even if not romantically, and she was feeling just as lost as he was, so these young and confused kids (around 18-20, I’m guessing) made a decision that felt the best for them at that time (or the only option really)

I get that the marriage didn’t work out, that maybe their friendship was damaged as a result, and so they walked away from it all. They grew apart. They saw other people. Iris met Dustin and at some point, her mental health began to suffer.

Then Iris disappeared and for 3 years, Carlos came to terms with the fact that she was dead. He got close to Michelle, and tried to move on. I get that that’s where he’s at when we first meet him.

Then he meets the man that he knows almost immediately he wants to marry, but it’s rough and not straightforward and complicated. Also, Iris is alive! But Iris isn’t doing well, so she needs his healthcare to get the help she needs. Of course Carlos isn’t going to deny her that. And he’s right at the beginning of his relationship with TK, so in Carlos’s mind it doesn’t need to come up right then 🤷🏻‍♂️

So, like, I truly get how and why everything happened the way it did in the beginning.

What I Don’t Get:

I don’t get why they didn’t get a divorce when the marriage first fell apart. Carlos just says it was complicated. Maybe that means we’re getting more of it in the next few weeks, maybe “it’s complicated” is all we’ll ever get. But I still don’t get it.

I don’t get how Carlos was not a bigger deal in the investigation into Iris’s disappearance/possible murder. Like, I’m sure he had an airtight alibi and it was 3 years later when we met him, but... how did this never come up? This just makes Detective Washington look bad at her job, honestly. Not a single mention of their marriage status during all of those conversations? 

I don’t get why it took this long for Carlos to tell TK. Sure, at the beginning of their relationship, maybe it didn’t need to be said since the marriage was really just a piece of paper at that time. But did they never talk relationship history? They moved in together, they bought a loft together. How, at the very least, did it not come up during the conversations about Carlos’s will? Or even during the proposal? Why the damn delay? Especially when he presented it this episode as such a non-thing... it would’ve been even more of a non-thing if he hadn’t waited until they were LITERALLY. GETTING. MARRIED.

[This one I’m going to answer here because it has a reason but not a good one: it’s a TV thing. It didn’t come up before now because the writers weren’t interested in it coming up before now. While I do buy the relationship history between Carlos and Iris being established back in season 1, I do not buy that it was a marriage. I think that was created solely to happen during the Tarlos season 4 wedding plot to complicate the Tarlos marriage. So, Carlos Reyes as a character is suffering and being dragged through the dirt because the writers just decided to make this a thing EVEN THOUGH THE MAN HAS BEEN WITH TK FOR THREE FULL SEASONS AND TAKEN ALL OF THESE STEPS TOWARDS A LIFE TOGETHER. The writers failed Carlos here by thinking that the top of season 4 was the right time for this to come out and that it wouldn’t undermine so much of his character from the past 3 seasons.]

I don’t get TK being so damn chill about it. I hope he doesn’t remain so. That scene was incredibly painful to watch. I didn’t understand either of them. I didn’t understand what was happening. I just didn’t get it. I hope TK gets a moment to really feel about this in the coming weeks because oh my fucking god

[Though let’s be honest, Carlos hasn’t always gotten the opportunity to feel about things either so I guess TK is just getting that same treatment at the moment. The show loves to be like “nah they’re all okay with this now” and just skate on past.]

I don’t get Gabriel and Andrea. Sure, their son comes out to them and they hug him and tell him they love him. Sure, they don’t bring it up again because they think it’s best not to spotlight it or make it into a big deal (I get that impulse, even if it’s a misstep). But then their gay son brings home a girl and then marries her and they just... never talk about it?? According to Carlos they have literally never said another word about his sexuality to him. So, okay, sure, they’re probably thinking the gay thing was a phase and so they accept Iris. But then that marriage falls apart... do they ever ask why? Then Iris disappears. Do they... react at all?? Then they see Carlos at the market with TK and apparently immediately know that they’re together so... the gay thing is back on the table?? Without any conversations in the years between?? And then they’re just like “Yes, TK, we love TK!” But they never question why Carlos never tells TK about his marriage?? And then they get engaged and it’s not the first thing out of someone’s mouth?? What the fuck is going on with these two and the weird-ass whiplash that must be happening in their minds?

[I realized as I was writing that maybe since it’s established that Gabriel and Andrea never brought up the coming out again, maybe they also decided to just never bring up the marriage again to Carlos after it fell apart or after Iris disappeared? Which begs the question... DO THEY EVEN KNOW IF IRIS IS STILL ALIVE?? I tell ya, these next episodes better crack this Reyes family wide open or I swear to god...]

Other Thoughts:

That bunk room scene was really not great at all. Oof, that writing. It felt choppy, so I think they definitely cut a number of lines throughout it. Also, it was just a giant exposition info dump that ruined the flow of the scene’s emotional arc. They had to wedge in the reveal, remind everyone exactly who Michelle and Iris were, have Carlos poorly explain his reasoning, establish his shame and guilt that is clearly going to carry through the next few episodes, have TK be understanding so that the wedding isn’t just suddenly called off, and get us back to the venue update to set the timeline. There’s literally no room for any of it to breathe. Ronen and Rafa do the absolute best they can with dialogue that nearly suffocates them and becomes more confusing as the scene goes on. They struggle to find the through-line of it because it’s just... you can see the puppet strings! OOF. That needed another pass for sure. Or to just, y’know, go in the garbage bin altogether.

FINAL: I really dislike this. I’m convinced that it’s going to be a thing for 4 episodes and then, like everything else in the Reyes family, never mentioned again. It sounds like Carlos is really going to crack open as a character during this arc and while I am incredibly excited about that and I know Rafa is going to do great work, I wish it didn’t have to be riddled with plot holes and characterization inconsistencies. I wish it didn’t taint the return of these characters. I wish it didn’t (slightly) taint all of the great things that we’ve gotten before this. I don’t know what it’s going to do for the future Tarlos scenes, at this point I’m feeling hollow about them. I guess I’ll know in about 3 weeks when they wrap this all up and move on from it. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to move on from it just as easily as Tim Minear... 🙃

But truly, would it kill a whole fucking room of professional writers to actually think through major character decisions like this?? Did anyone ask any questions at all??

Okay, I’m done for now.

[heartstringsduet]

Get to know your fanfic writer

When did you post your first ever fanfic?

Oh god like...2007? My best friend back then told me to my face it was bad lol. And it was.

First character(s) you wrote for:

Naruto

Main character(s) you’re currently writing for:

TK (one foot in the grave) Strand and Carlos (cow-eyes) Reyes

Character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan on writing about soon:

I realized that my AUs don't always feature much of the rest of the 126, so this lovely bunch

Fandom(s) you’re currently writing for:

911 Lone Star (and I mean I do have an unpublished 100k Glee fic lol)

Platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:

No platonic pairings but I love friendships. But frankly, also something I could include more

Romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:

Tarlos

Your top 3 tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):

E-rated, hurt/comfort, TK Strand needs a hug

Your current platform where you post your works:

AO3 my beloved

Snippet of the wip you’re currently working on:

verrrry raw but the last paragraph I wrote: The couch is wide enough to fit three people the kind of size few apartments would fit comfortably but this one does. It’s leagues above his own. Carlos settles back, not quite knowing how TK wants to sleep, how much space he should leave between them. But as soon as he reclines one side of the short side of the U shape, TK crawls over, places his head on his chest and curls one hand into the fabric of his shirt.

“Carlos?” TK mumbles into his stomach right after Carlos has closed his own eyes.

“Hm?”

There is no reply. Just the little huff of steady breaths. Carlos wonders what was left unsaid, one idea tumbling into thousands. Eventually though, TK moves a bit. He settles his head below Carlos’ rib cage, seeking the softer parts of him. Nothing has ever halted his thoughts more effectively.

tagging: @carlos-in-glasses @louis-ii-reyes-strand @ladytessa74 @paperstorm @welcometololaland @freneticfloetry @ambiguouspenny