#nursey/dex

[sweaters-or-pie]

For those of you who haven’t seen it

[hullomoon]

hullomoon's 2024 voiceteam round up!!!

another year, another successful voiceteam! i had such a fun time with my teammates and fellow voiceteam participants. and now, without further ado, here's a round-up!

works are ordered by posting date

[Podfic] This too shall pass | multivoice | Schitt's Creek | David/Patrick | 00:01:09

David has a kidney stone.

[Podfic] To NHL or Not to NHL: That is the Question | multivoice | Check Please! | Nursey/Dex | 00:05:37

How are you supposed to get over the homoerotic tension of finding your soulmate at 18 playing hockey? Or, Dex makes a decision about joining the NHL

[podfic] 50 Shades | Schitt's Creek | David/Patrick | 00:01:12

David’s tested every shade from Greige to Pewter, whereas Patrick, prefers plain Blue, and thought, they’d reached a compromise with Slate Blue. Or, the first time Patrick and David paint and decorate their cottage.

Surprise! | multivoice | Stranger Things | El-centric | 00:13:49

“Yes, Dustin, for the last time, I got the cake.” Dustin had a clipboard, where he was checking things off. “Chocolate with chocolate icing?” Steve rolled his eyes again for good measure and made sure his voice dripped in annoyance. “Yes, Henderson. I do listen when you talk, and all I’ve been hearing for the past week is chocolate-chocolate cake with chocolate icing - which I also got, before you ask.” “Well I just wanted to make sure, Steve. This is El’s first real birthday party and it needs to be perfect!”

[podfic] i'm making today a perfect day for you! | Fraggle Rock | Boober & Sidebottom | 00:05:19

After having to work on his birthday, Boober is a bit downtrodden. Luckily, a certain Fraggle from the dream realm is here to cheer him up with a pile of presents.

[podfic] Fast and Furry-ous | Fast & Furious; Muppets | 00:11:01

“You can’t be serious about bringing him back on the team. After last time?” Vince hissed. “He’s a loose cannon, Dom.” Letty shook her head, which made Brian even more nervous. If Letty was against something, it might definitely be a bad move. “Nah." Dom smirked, looking off into the distance. "His buddy is the one who climbs into the cannons.” “You can’t be serious about bringing him back on the team. After last time?” Vince hissed. “He’s a loose cannon, Dom.” Letty shook her head, which made Brian even more nervous. If Letty was against something, it might definitely be a bad move. “Nah." Dom smirked, looking off into the distance. "His buddy is the one who climbs into the cannons.”

[podfic] come and rest your bones with me | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 00:18:21

“We’re making a fort.” Steve is barely even halfway through the door when he is accosted with the declaration. His slick raincoat is still zipped up, his wet umbrella still wide open and dripping onto the porch behind him. “What?” He asks, fumbling to close the umbrella and shake it out before a stack of blankets are being shoved into his arms. “We are making a fort,” Eddie repeats, grinning at Steve. He’s got his own heap of blankets bundled against his chest, and when Steve glances past his shoulder he can see that the bones of said fort are already mostly established — Wayne’s armchair has already been moved from its cozy corner of the room to now sit directly across from the couch, and the coffee table has been pushed to the side so as to not be a nuisance to the building process. And, well, it sounds like a lot of fun, actually. “Yeah, sure, alright,” Steve replies with a huff of a laugh.

[filk] none compares with you (in my whump fanfics) | multivoice | Fandom | 00:03:43

You are my favorite character You're the one I always want to see In stories I'll write for hours You belong in my whump fanfics

[Filk] Life on Voice Team | multivoice | Fandom | 00:03:12

A filk of what it's like to be on Voice Team, to the Little mermaid song 'Under the Sea'

[podfic] folktale | Stranger Things | Wayne-centric | 01:01:57

It’s outlandish. It’s implausible. It’s beyond the scope of man, beyond the imagination of children. He wants to shake his head, wants to dismiss it the same way they would laugh at the end of each campfire story, the same way folks would turn their noses up at the talk from the old miners who see things in the coal dust and dark and heat, because everyone sees something in the mine. That’s just the nature of the shadow. Deciding to find his own answers, Wayne picks the wrong (or perhaps very right) moment to return to his trailer.

[podfic] Insect | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 00:01:04

Poor Aziraphale and the outdoors

[podfic] Lovenerds | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 00:10:03

Steve Harrington is many things: a jock, a good time, a dethroned king, a pretty damn good babysitter. One thing he is not is a nerd. Eddie Munson disagrees

[podfic] The Soft Romance of Growing Old | Supernatural | Destiel | 00:03:25

No one romanticizes growing old. Not the way they romanticize being young. A brief look at Dean's perspective on becoming an old man with Cas by his side.

[podfic] an aborted, "I love you" | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 00:10:05

Steve’s thoroughly grateful that he’s listening to a message, and no response is required—can only stand there, jaw slack, at just how light his mother’s voice is. “A couple of work things fell through,” she continues with a breeziness that probably means several major ‘things’ went disastrously wrong, work related or otherwise. But it doesn’t sound like she cares all that much; if anything, she sounds excited. “So I thought we could—well, I don’t know how late we’ll be, but if you’re not too hungry, we could just order some pizza, lazy dinner? Plain cheese for you, right?” The distant ring of a bell on a counter. “Steve, darling, I know we haven’t been—” She cuts herself off with a sigh that’s gone too quickly for Steve to parse. He hasn’t ordered a plain cheese pizza since he was 12 years old. But she’s trying, he thinks. She’s trying.

baby dive in, cause the water feels fine | Schitt's Creek | Explicit | Alexis/Twyla | 1.1k; 00:10:10

Twyla can't help staring at Alexis's long legs and her itty bitty skirts

[podfic] 4B, Part Three: Christmas Jubilee | multivoice | Stranger Things | 00:12:32

“We’re having a Christmas party on the 23rd,” Robin says. “And our weird kids will not be portalling in through Hell this time.” “That’s good to know,” Maisie says, trying her best to plaster a grin on her face. She’s very good at feigning grins when the Interdimensional Portal Incident comes up. Josh and Maisie are invited to a very odd Christmas party. It's not so much the Christmas party that's odd, but the people who are attending it.

[jacks-long-coat]

Chapters: 8/8 Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter, Chris "Chowder" Chow & Derek "Nursey" Nurse & William "Dex" Poindexter, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Larissa "Lardo" Duan/Shitty Knight, Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Characters: William "Dex" Poindexter, Derek "Nursey" Nurse, Chris "Chowder" Chow, Larissa "Lardo" Duan, Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz, Eric "Bitty" Bittle, Jack Zimmermann, Shitty Knight Additional Tags: Bodyswap, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, hockey things?, canon-typical alcohol use, feat. the mental gymnastics involved in falling for someone who's currently inhabiting your body, Racism, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Microaggressions, Friendship, bad decisions made while drunk, Podfic, Podfic Length: 5-6 Hours Summary:

[5hr 32m 45s] The thing is, he’s had study nights and TV marathons in Chowder’s room. He’s gotten stoned in Shitty’s, and Lardo’s, crashed on Jack’s floor after a kegster, gone to Bitty’s for advice, and checked Ransom and Holster’s for ghosts. If it were anyone else’s, Nursey would at least have some indicator of what was going on, because he’d be able to recognise the decorations, the layout. But Derek Nurse wakes up in William Poindexter’s room and has no idea where the fuck he is. [Written by lenaballena.]

[aristocrating]

me clocking into work every morning in the hopes of one day getting rich to be able to fund a Check Please! animated series

[virgoscringe]

certified loverboy christopher chow 🥰 largely dedicated to @atlasthemayor bc every time atlas shows up on my dash i think of polyfrogs hehe

my comms are opennnn <3

[omgpostsplease]

aw, baby

[wellie-the-dancing-well]

[horribleprotagonist]

dex pining after openly out nursey, it's a classic we all love it okay BUT!!!!!!!! have we considered the far superior nursey pining after an openly queer dex??? will comes to Samwell after growing up in small town conservative Maine and dealing with homophobia on his Jr hockey teams and he decides he's not gonna hide at college he wants to be the role model he needed as a kid. and he absolutely Thrives!!! he's open and out and Radiant and he makes casual queer jokes with bitty and nursey (who is either closeted or hasn't realized his own identity yet) is just obsessed with him but doesn't understand Why so he just continues sulking and maybe staring a dex a bit too long during practice......

[atlasthemayor]

(I may have to make a specific tag for these frogs comics later)

The dialogue is from a convo a friend's friend had with their bf

My friend told me it was peak nurseydex, and tbh she was RIGHT

[zzzbittle]

What I feel like because Check Please began 11 years ago and ended 4 years ago as of this year.

And I still can't LET GO

I'm gonna be here forever guys if Check Please has one fan, that fan is me. If it has no fans... you know what that means lmao

[billypoindexter]

“Frog Study Time” rarely included any actual studying. Chowder would suggest that the three of them get together to work on homework, and it wouldn’t take long for the books and computers to be abandoned in favor of the stupidest conversation topics known to man (their conversation about Barbie movie lore had gotten so out of hand that they were unofficially banned from all going to the library together). But even though they all realized that these study sessions were literally a waste of time at this poitn, Nursey and Dex never turned down Chowder’s offer.

This particular Wednesday night Dex was doing his best to fight the urge to yap, as he needed to make headway on his comp sci midterm before their roadie this weekend. Nursey hadn’t even grabbed any of his books before pulling Chowder onto Dex’s (“the top bunk won’t hold us both!”), and Dex was doing his best to tune them out while he coded. But even with good intentions, Dex knew there was no way he wouldn’t inevitably be drawn into the chitchat.

“Nineteen is not old, Nursey!”

“Dude, you’re literally a D1 athlete, you can’t tell me that no one was interested before Caitlin.”

“Just because girls were interested doesn’t mean I had to oblige. I wanted to wait for someone I actually liked.”

Dex must have been focusing in way more than he thought, because he had no idea how Chowder and Nursey started talking about their first hookups. It wasn’t unusual for the team as a whole to discuss their sex lives, but with the frogs they usually geared their conversations towards more sophisticated subjects, such as Barbie movies

Nursey turned toward Dex at his desk, and Dex could hear the annoying grin on his face as he said, “Bet you waited for someone special, Pointdexter. You seem the sentimental type.”

Dex just continued to type and squint at his computer screen. “Actually, I’ve never had sex.”

Chowder slammed closed his psych textbook—there’s a chance he had opened it at that moment just so he could slam it closed for dramatic effect—and shouted, “HOW DID WE NOT KNOW THAT????” He let out a moan of despair. “We’re supposed to tell each other everything!”

“Yeah, what happened to the sacred frog bond?” Nursey added.

Dex shrugged, doing his best to not get drawn in. Realistically, he knew that he wasn’t going to get anymore work done, but he continued to stare at his computer in the hopes that he could refocus.

“Dude, we can totally find a chick to hook you up with. Unless I was right about you being a romantic,” ribbed Nursey. “Also, we can see you’re not working on your midterm anymore, so you can give up the act.”

Huffing, Dex swiveled around in his desk chair and crossed his arms. Chowder was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands as he stared at Dex. Nursey, ever chill, was leaning on his side, messing up Dex’s pillows as he propped his head on the back of his hand.

“I never said anything because it never came up,” said Dex flatly. “And I’m not a romantic, I’m just not interested.”

“C’mon,” whined Chowder, “give us the chance to find you someone!”

Dex shook his head as he clarified, “No, I mean I’m not interested in sex.”

A pause. Two blank faces looking at him. As much as Dex wanted to play it cool, he could feel his heart beating a bit faster and a blush creep up his neck; he’d never admit that to anyone before, even though he’d known it himself for a while.

Nursey was the first to break the silence: “Huh.” (This guy really knows how to make use of all those English classes.)

“Wow, really?” asked Chowder, clearly curious, sitting up straighter. “You’ve never seen a girl and wanted to…ya know…” He made some weird hand gestures that Dex very much did not know, but he got the idea.

“Nope.” He took a breath and added more quietly, “It’s not really girls that I look at, anyway.”

Again a pause. Again two blank faces. Again a quickening heartbeat and a spreading blush, as Dex voiced another thought that wasn’t new to him. But this time Chowder was the one who reacted first.

“Oh! Oh, ok!” He clapped his hands together. “We’re learning so much tonight! This has got to be one of our more productive study sessions.”

He grinned brightly at Dex. He gave him a smile back, not as big but just as genuine. He then flicked his eyes to Nursey, who also had a small smile as he slowly nodded his head. “Right on, Pointdexter.”

Nursey and Dex held each other’s gazes for a moment longer, then Dex cleared his throat and announced that that was enough emotion for one night and turned back to his computer. He worked a bit longer, letting Nursey and Chowder get back to their conversation (“You were seventeen and you’re giving me grief for being nineteen? Oh fuck off!”).

Chowder gave Dex a hug before heading back to his room for the night, which wasn’t unusual, even if this one was tighter and longer lasting than most. Nursey let Dex use the bathroom first while he worked on extricating himself from the bottom bunk and smoothing out the bedding. After brushing his teeth, Dex headed back to the room and passed Nursey, who grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Hey,” he said softly, seriously. Once Dex turned his head to him, he continued. “Do you want to talk more about it?”

Nursey had come out as pan to the team last year. Dex knew him and Bitty had talked about being queer and playing collegiate hockey, and the difficulties that could sometimes came with that. He tensed up for a second, thinking that Nursey was upset that he hadn’t said anything about his sexuality before, but there was nothing but concern in his face.

Dex shook off Nursey’s hand. “No, I’m alright,” he said, making his way to his bunk.

Later, as they both were laying in their beds, Dex spoke again. “Thank you, though. For, um…for offering. I appreciate it.”

“See, I knew that you’re secretly a softy.”

Dex rolled his eyes at that and reached with the palm of his hand out to punch the bedframe above him. Then he turned and nestled into his pillows, breathing deeply of the scent the lingered there and trying not to think about why he liked it so much.

[zimmerdouche]

time for a dumb baseless frog senior year headcanon

dex bets the new freshman backup goalie if he shuts out during his ice time in the next game he’ll let the team roast him for exactly 5 minutes in the locker room after.

that madman does it. and leads the charge with “dex you strike me as a man who puts on a porno and has to turn it off 2 minutes later because you noticed an osha violation”

[omgpoindexter]

shows that nursey forces dex to watch:

glee

emily in paris

gossip girl

pretty little liars

bridgerton

scream queens

barbie: life in the dreamhouse

[zimms]

new york city

you called me last night on the telephone and i was glad to hear from you cause i was all alone you said, "it's snowing, it's snowing! god, i hate this weather" now i walk through blizzards just to get us back together

Derek twists the telephone cord around his finger, straining to hear Will's words down the phone. "Sorry, you're cutting out. The landline's a little dodgy."

He definitely doesn't fail to hear the crackle of Will's laughter down the phone. "A landline? What is this, Nurse? The eighties?"

"Shut up! My moms prefer it for some reason. And, I don't know, it has a bit of je ne sais quoi, a bit of nostalgia, a bit of style, y'know." To emphasise the point, even if only to himself, Derek winds the cable around his fingers a couple more times.

"I don't, but I'll take your word for it."

Derek huffs his own laugh before softening his voice. "Look, the point is that I missed what you said the first time. Please could you repeat it, babe?"

Will's voice comes through the phone. "I said that it's snowing here."

"Isn't it always snowing in Maine in December?" Derek says, "Like I thought that was a given?"

"Yeah, but it's the first time I've seen snow since I last saw you." Will's voice goes quietier. "I miss you."

"That was literally two weeks ago, Dex." Derek rolls his eyes, knowing full well that Will can't see him. "You can't possibly miss me that much; you literally went almost two years without talking to me between leaving Samwell and the spring." He sighs and grins to himself "But- I miss you too."

we met in the springtime at a rock and roll show it was on the bowery when it was time to go

One second Derek is bouncing along to the song that the band is playing, the next, his gaze is fixed on a very familiar head of red hair that's darting through the crowd at the gig.

Dex?

Derek is too packed in by the surrounding crowd to do anything but watch, tracking the figure of a man who, two years ago, he never thought he'd see again. Well, maybe not never, after all they'd been to two weddings together this summer alone. But the point is, it would never be just the two of them again.

He allows himself to be swept back up in the words of the song, singing along with the rest of the crowd, but he never truly stops staring at the back of Dex's head. It's fine; Derek will catch him at the bar after the show. He has to.

The gig is in a tiny bar that masquerades as a club/concert venue, packed to the brim with people here to see bands make their first stumbling steps into the music industry. Derek first listened to these guys in his Senior Year at Samwell and fell head over heels in love with their music. They were even the soundtrack to his alarms for the year, greeting him before every 5am practice (because Dex was a total hardass).

After the final song, the crowd starts to disperse and Derek seizes his moment to chase after Dex.

He can't let him slip away from him.

Not this time.

Derek pushes through the crowd, apologising every step of the way, until Dex is finally within reach. Naturally, as soon as Derek goes to close his hand around Will's shoulder, the man in question takes a step forward and Derek takes a big handful of just air. "Dex! Hey! Dex!"

Will spins around and suddenly they're chest to chest for the first time in- Derek doesn't even know how long.

He forgets how to breathe.

"Nursey?" Dex's eyebrows furrow in that familiar way: the way they would when he couldn't figure out the problem with a particularly tricky bit of code, or when he was trying to figure out the best way to shut down the opposing team's attack. Derek hasn't realised until now just how much he missed that expression.

"Dex!" he says, trying desperately to sound normal and not at all breathless and relaxed. "How are you? I didn't- I didn't know you were in New York?"

Dex rubs the back of his neck. "I'm, erm, I'm not really, but I guess, I am?"

"Dex, I say this lovingly, but genuinely what the fuck does that mean?" Derek takes the opportunity to step back, breaking the physical contact between them at last. He can finally breathe.

"I'm living over near Lincoln Park, but I'm working for a start up here."

Derek laughs. "Dude, you could have just said that!"

"I was suprised to see you, okay!" Dex mumbles. "Though I'm not sure why I'm that surprised considering that you were the one that got me into this band, but it's whatever."

Derek pauses and considers what to say for a second, looking Dex up and down to try and gauge how much interaction with him Dex would be willing to stand. He takes another second to throw all of that consideration out of the window and just say fuck it.

He grins up at Will. "Can I buy you a drink?"

we kissed on the subway in the middle of the night i held your hand, you held mine, it was the best night of my life

One drink turns into two and two turns into four and so on and so on until the two of them stumble out onto the Bowery and into the open air at 3am.

Derek doesn't know how to describe it, but everything always feels easier at 3am. As they walk along the street towards the subway station, he brushes his hand against Dex's once, twice, three times until finally Will takes his hand in his.

They tangle their fingers together, relaxing into the easy rhythm that they lost at some point during senior year, and falling into each other's orbits yet again.

Derek tugs Will towards the Houston Bowery Wall, gravitating towards the explosion of colour in the night light. "C'mere." He squeezes Will's hand. "This is the Bowery Wall Mural. It's one of my favourite pieces of art in New York, especially this one."

"This one?" Will's voice trembles a little as if they're in a holy place rather than stood on the intersection of two busy streets in New York.

"They change the wall every so often, a constant fresh start, constant new opportunities. Sometimes they decide that a mural has had its time, sometimes other people decide for them, covering up the work with graffiti, showing the world what matters to them. But the wall always comes back with a newer piece of art, a never-ending cycle of hope and new beginnings."

Derek looks down at his and Will's interlocked hands and gives them another squeeze. "Last year, they decided to stop commissioning new murals because they kept being destroyed, but out of the ashes came this mural."

The wall is painted in a bright array of portraits, depicting people of all shapes and sizes. It takes Derek's breath away as he looks at it, even though he walks past it every week; there's something different about bringing Will here.

Will's voice catches in his throat. "It's beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here."

Derek grins back at him. "Thank you for coming with me."

Will's expression shifts and his eyes begin to dart around. "I should be going."

"What? All the way back to Jersey at this time? You're not going to get back until like 8am. Seriously, come back to my place; you can take the guest room."

(Internally, Derek kicks himself.)

"No, no, I can head back; I wouldn't want to impose."

"No, seriously I insist," Derek says, slowly beginning to steer them towards the subway station. "We're like ten minutes from my place on the subway; way better than going back to Jersey."

Will huffs a sigh, knowing that he's lost this battle. "Okay, fine. But I'll pay you back somehow, y'know."

Derek smiles at him as they enter through the ticket barriers. "I know."

(Derek will unashamedly admit that they made out in the empty subway carriage. Like c'mon, how could he resist waiting until he got home?)

because everyone's your friend in new york city and everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty the streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see but the best thing about new york city is you and me

Derek wraps his arms around Will's waist and pulls him in closer, letting their bodies slot together in the warmth of the bed. "I'm so glad that I spotted you at that gig," he whispers into the crook of his neck. "I couldn't let you get away again."

Will leans back into the embrace. "I'm glad you found me too." He wriggles a bit, getting more comfortable. "It feels like I was stumbling blindly around the city before you found me. Like New York and you are so intertwined; you are New York, New York is you. It was weird to be in the city without you, to be honest.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Will turns around to look at him. “Seriously, Derek. I’ve loved the past four months of you dragging me around the city.”

Derek tickles his sides and Will squirms in his arms. “Drag?! I seem to recall you were the one that made a whole list of places that you wanted to see, including Co-Op City.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Will mutters, ducking his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t have trekked all the way out to the Bronx just for it, but I thought I should see it, okay? It was a big case study in my urban planning class.”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing you.” Derek leans down to kiss his boyfriend. “I think it’s sweet, honestly. Especially considering you didn’t think to do any of this stuff in your first two months of living here.”

“I was getting used to a new city! I wasn’t trying to sight-see; I was trying to survive!”

Derek hums to convey his total belief in Will’s statement. “Uh, huh.”

“It’s true!”

Derek hums again and grins down at him. “Anyway, do you still have that list somewhere? I need to figure out what’s left on your New York bucket list.”

Will blindly flails his arm onto his bedside table. “Yeah, yeah. Lemme just find it.” He rummages around a bit more, before finally producing a crumpled-up piece of paper. “here you go.”

statue of liberty, staten island ferry, co-op city, katz's, and tiffany's, central park, brooklyn bridge, the empire state, where dylan lived, coney island, and times square, rockefeller center

“Okay, I think I have the perfect idea for what our final stereotypical New York sightseeing trip will be,” Derek says.

“Mhhm, am I allowed to know what it is?”

“You’ll find out in, like, three months, I promise.” Derek can’t resist and gives Will another peck on the cheek. “It’ll be worth it.”

wish i was there

Derek finally removes his hands from where they’ve been covering Will’s eyes for the past ten minutes. “Surprise?”

They’re stood just outside the Rockefeller Centre ice rink, which is filled with a hurricane of screaming children and couples desperately trying to keep their balance whilst holding hands.

Will chuckles. “I’d say yes, but somehow the fact that you blindfolded me when you caught me looking at a sign for the Rockefeller Centre says otherwise.” He pauses. “Also, the fact that I caught you stealing my skates from my apartment the last time we were there.”

“Okay, you got me,” Derek says, “but it was good choice, yeah?”

“Yes, definitely.” Will threads his hand in Derek’s. “It was a great choice. Plus it’s like full circle, y’know. We first met at an ice rink and it’s nice to bring the list to a close with an ice rink too. Especially considering how much our relationship has changed over the past seven years, though it was a bit touch and go for a while, eh.”

Derek can’t help himself; he laughs. “Eh? Have you been spending too much time with Jack, huh?”

“Shut up.” Will lets go of his boyfriend’s hand so that he can elbow him instead. “I’m trying to be romantic and poetic and shit; don’t make fun of me.”

“Okay, okay.” Derek says. “You said exactly what I was gonna say, is all.”

“Oh?” Will mock-gasps. “So, I was in fact being poetic and shit?”

Derek kisses him – mostly to wipe the smug grin off his face – and then pulls back. “Are you ready to go and show these kids and tourists how it’s done?”

“Aren’t we technically tourists for this exercise?”

“Shhhh.” Derek kisses Will again, just for the fun of it this time and as they break apart, he feels something wet on his cheek. “Wait, are you crying?”

“No, you idiot, it’s snowing.”

Oh.

So, it is.

Derek feels a little stupid right now, but he can’t tell if that’s because of the kiss or because he was so obviously wrong.

Will taps him on the shoulder. “Come back here, idiot. This feels like a pretty perfect ending to my first year in New York.”

Derek waggles his eyebrows at him. “Yeah?”

He’s met with an eyeroll, but Will also rewards him with a “yeah” and another world-stopping kiss.

Derek has to agree with Will: with the snow falling down on them and the hubbub of the city around them, it does feel like a pretty perfect ending to their first year in New York together.

you wrote me a letter just the other day you said, "springtime is coming soon so why don't you come to stay" i packed my stuff, it's on the bus, i can't believe it's true. i'm three days from new york city and i'm three days from you.

Will has to laugh when his mom hands him the mail stack, an envelope with his name on it sat on top. Did Derek seriously send him a letter for the two weeks that he was back in Maine? Well, yeah, clearly – that much is evidenced by the fucking letter in his hand.

In fairness, the gesture does have Derek written all over it.

He carefully rips open the letter, thankfully not wax-sealed like some of the love letters that Will had watched Nursey send in his earlier years at Samwell, and the contents spill out.

Will pick up the letter first and begins to read it.

Dear Will,

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been nine months since I found you again at that gig on the Bowery; it feels like we’ve been exploring New York together for years. But springtime is coming soon again and I’m hoping that I’ll never have to find you again, but instead that you’ll always be in easy reach by my side. You know how you said one night that to you New York is me? Well, in the past nine months, New York has instead become You and Me. I feel like you’re pulling back the curtain and I’m seeing the city I’ve lived in for my whole life in a completely different light. Everything is suddenly so much brighter and more beautiful with you around. I hope that this new light continues with the dawn of this new spring, a third new beginning for us perhaps, but just to make sure, would you do me the honour of moving in with me? I mean, if nothing else, it saves you (and, rather selfishly, me) the commute the Lincoln Park every other night.

I know it’s only been a week, but I miss you so much.

I love you.

Derek.

The other item sitting on the kitchen table in front of Will is a keyring with two keys and a picture of the one of the windows from the current Bowery Mural. The keys are engraved with the numbers #24 and #28 and Will can’t quite hold back the mistiness that begins to gather in his eyes.

Of course, after everything, Derek brings it back to hockey, back to Samwell, back to that period of time when they were inseparable, but constantly at odds with each other, so similar, but so different.

Will carefully threads his old keys onto the new keyring. A third and final new beginning sounds perfect to him.

because everyone's your friend in new york city and everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty the streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see but the best thing about new york city is you and me

[aristocrating]

Nursey: turns over tarot card that shows a tall red haired guy sitting in a sinking lobster boat and drowning

Dex: is that good

[virgoscringe]

My birthday's this monday

If you could draw some polyfrogs, I'd die a HAPPY man ❤️❤️❤️❤️

atlas ily ur the best thank u for always being the first to request smth whenever they’re open 💝💝 happy early birthday!! polyfrogs upon thee!!

pick up ur local goalie! give him some kisses! be his best friends! GRAAAAAH!!

(comm info <3)