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liloelsagranger · 3 years

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Night shift - finally a new Rocketshipping-fanfiction

My dear friends,

it’s been a while since I last posted an entry. Let me tell you why and what, besides Covid-19, made me pause from publishing fanfictions over the last couple of months. Of course, Switzerland was very affected by the pandemic and still is today. We had numerous lock-downs or as Swiss people call it “slow downs”. My mother got very sick last year, I almost lost her. The doctors said she would only live two or three more days, but my mom is a fighter. She had to stay at the hospital for months, she endured countless medical examinations, had to take meds and slowly learned to live again. I’m so proud of my mother that she was strong and determined to get better. When she turned back home, I started to take care of her and I hate to leave her on her own, even if we’re talking about half an hour or less. Right now, she’s doing quite good, actually, we’re on vacation and she makes a great effort to participate in life in Italy. She’s my role-model! She will never be the same as before, but she won’t give up, she wakes up every morning to make progress. I prayed for her and her well-being, I prayed every single night she might get another chance and now we’re here at the beach and dining in fancy restaurants. It’s been a horrible year for everyone, a year full of sorrow, tears and desperation, a year where I was constantly afraid, the hospital would call me with some bad news, but she did it! She survived and she fights for her life! So proud! Good news is: I passed my doctoral exams and I’m officially allowed to call myself Dr. phil. des. Melanie C. but that won’t ever stop me from loving Team Rocket so here it is - a brand new Rocketshipping-fanfiction for you guys. LOVE YOU! Night shift

Chapter 1:

It was past ten o’clock when that miserable looking guy entered the diner. He inconspicuously sat down in the farthest corner of the café and immediately hid his face behind the menu card. Nevertheless, Jessie the waitress could make out the pathetic expression on his face, how he was cowering like a whipped dog. She had seen quite a bit in this diner. Drunks, thugs, addicts and other needy people who asked for a sympathetic ear, compassion and understanding, but that guy was different. He suffered terribly, but did not dare to communicate, instead he hid from the world so as not to attract attention and quietly endure his fate. Jessie had to do something about it. Of course, she didn’t want to play the Good Samaritan. She knew the tricks of the men who entered this diner. Most of the time, they told the waitress tall tales, hoping to be comforted, whatever they meant by that. But this young man did not make a shady impressionHe was well dressed, looked well-groomed, and Jessie was especially struck by his bright emerald green eyes, the only thing in his face that had not yet been veiled by grief and sorrow. She decided to do something about his displeasure.

“Did you have a rough day?” she asked while disinfecting the table.

He looked briefly into her eyes and nodded. “That’s one way to put it,” he answered, the gaze immediately lowered again.

This would be a taciturn conversation, but Jessie didn’t give up easily, she was a natural at making even rocks talk.

“Listen! No matter what happened, I’ve seen or heard some things. If I can help you in any way, my name is Jessie and I’m in charge of this table today. Let me just get the gum out from under your seat and get you a cold drink. What would you like?” She pulled a spatula from her apron and rubbed away the remains of the spoiled brats that marred her diner.

‘Wow,’ the young man thought to himself. ‘A strong, self-confident woman who lends a hand herself and who’s not above cleaning up dirt.’ Their eyes met briefly, and he forced a wry smile.

“You know, kid. You can’t rely on anyone. If you want to get everything done, do it yourself and don’t trust anyone. This world doesn’t give you anything for granted!” She briefly wiped the back of his chair before disappearing behind the counter and pouring the young man an ice-cold Coke.

“I have rarely seen you so concerned about a customer. Normally you show yourself aloof and only take the order, so as not to get involved in embarrassing conversations. Must be a really great pike, this pathetic creature in the far corner. Could it be that you’ve got a tiny crush on this guy?” For Eddy, teasing his best friend was the greatest pleasure. He didn’t know her like that. Jessie usually resisted any kind of small talk. This was due to her dark past, when she had repeatedly fallen for advances from men who were never looking for a steady relationship, but for a quick fix. Eddy had witnessed this bad time of his friend, how her heart was broken, how she was badly played with, and how she was simply dropped like a hot potato. Jack was the worst example of them all. While Jessie was already hearing the wedding bells ringing, he was making love to the women of the Strip and deceiving Jessie night after night with other broads. Jessie was devastated when she found out Jack was cheating on her. She was furious, not even at her lying boyfriend, but at herself for having been so stupid as to trust a man.

Jessie gave Eddy a light pat on the head. “Don’t be silly! That time is over. I can take care of myself, I don’t need male support for that. I’m a big girl, I make my own dough, and I keep my head above water pretty well. No, not a chance, I’ve sworn off flirting.” Nevertheless, she caught herself as her gaze wandered to the young man in the corner. “Oh yes, this time is definitely over,” Eddy smirked.

“Jessie, could you bring us a side of fries, please?” Misty’s order echoed throughout the hall. The twenty-year old waved her hands. She was used to speaking loudly, almost shouting, to attract guests to her daily water Pokémon show. Sometimes she walked up and down the streets of the Strip all day in the blazing hot sun, trying to win people for her underwater attraction. As an excellent student, she could have taught at any college, but she had decided early on to get into show business and make her living doing what she really loved, joined by Dewgong and Starmie. Her parents had not agreed with this decision at all, it was wasted talent, they had claimed, and had summarily turned Misty out the door. Since then, she had been struggling through life on her own, but could always count on Jess, the diner and her two best friends, Ash and Brock, young people who were also not favoured by fate.

“Temper your voice, twerp!” Jessie couldn’t help but grin. She spread the ketchup bottles around the table, hoping Ash wouldn’t spill on himself and the diner again. His constant companion Pikachu immediately hopped on his shoulder, grabbed a fry and popped it in his mouth. Ash and his Pokémon were carnies. He had trained his friend well and attracted many spectators with his performance. Most of them felt sorry for the guy and tipped generously. That’s why Ash was able to invite his friends to the diner every night, a place that gave them hope where they could experience security. They were convinced that nothing would ever disturb this idyll and that fate, for better or worse, had taken its course.

“Who’s that guy over there?” Brock wanted to know. He had barely sold chocolate and roses tonight. The others held back, but they were certain that their friend was just too pushy with women and that’s why he only collected rejections instead of green bills.

“I’ve never seen him here before. Must be from another area. I can’t tell you for the life of me why he’s wearing a suit at theses temperatures, he looks pretty pathetic to me anyways,” Jessie replied.

“Maybe his car has stalled,” Ash suggested, “and now he was forced to wander through the desert until the tasty aromas from your diner brought him back from his delirium.”

“Or,” Brock interfered, “he had to flee his own wedding because his wife is a real pain in the ass, unlike our sweet Misty,” Brock oohed at his friend. “Forget it, Brock! You and me, this will never happen!” She gave him a gentle poke.

“Enough now with your naïve speculations! Just let him enjoy his drink. We’re closing soon, so get going,” Jessie dismissed their absurd ideas with a wave of her hand, but at this point no one knew how right Brock was.

Dark thoughts hunted the young man. He knew what he would face at home if he was late. Beatings, torture, rebuke, harassment, were just a few words to describe his failed relationship. Unconsciously, he stroked his scarred arms.

“Can I get you something to eat?” Jessie pulled him out of the maelstrom of bad thoughts, of course she had noticed the wounds, but maybe he had gotten those injuries at work. The young man rummaged some coins out of his pants and let them jingle on the table. “Is that enough for a cheese sandwich?” Jessie hated small change, but she would make an exception for him. A friendly smile, a quick nod, and she passed on the order.

“Something’s wrong with this guy,” she whispered to Eddy. “He’s scarred, bruised and pays with penny coins. Possibly a vagrant.” Eddy couldn’t help but grin. “That guy’s been keeping you busy all night, Jess. What’s the matter with you? Are you getting weak?”

The young man could not overhear the conversation between the waiters, but he was sure they were talking about him. He sure made a rather frightening impression, but that was a private matter and not something you shared with a waitress in a diner.

His gaze drifted to the daily paper, which had two faces emblazoned on it: Butch and Cassidy. He had never heard of this odd couple, but according to the news, theses two were causing quite a stir and were terrifying the Strip.

“Oh, so you’ve already spotted them, those two knuckleheads! They keep the Strip in suspense, and heads roll when the taxes don’t add up,” Jessie served him the cheese sandwich and gave him a slight smile.

“Can I get you anything else?” He thanked her and took a hearty bite of his dinner.

The last half hour flew by and the remaining guests left the diner to spend the night on the Strip, as very few had a roof over their heads. Jessie set about cleaning up and Eddy checked the register.

The young man stood up and made his way towards the door. But before he left the diner, he glanced back at Jessie for a moment. A sigh escaped him. What if…?

Jessie returned his gaze and watched him go until the young man disappeared. She walked right up to his table and found a little note on the receipt.

“Thanks for treating me like a human being, James.”

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cherishingstydia · 3 years

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5 times Buck helps Eddie+1 time Eddie helps Buck

“Come on it’s easy.” Buck laughed.

“Maybe for you!” Eddie sighed.

“Look Eds you’re not gonna learn if you just stand ten feet away.”

“Fine.” Eddie said coming closer peeking over Bucks shoulder. Which now Buck was regretting having him so close.

“See it’s so easy. You boil the water, and then add the noodles. Then we’re just gonna add the Alfredo sauce. This really isn’t anything I need to teach you Eddie you know how to boil water and open jars.” Buck laughed.

“Yeah, but we’re starting out easy and then we’ll let things get really hard.”

Nope. Not thinking about what things He wants to get hard. Buck cleared his mind as he watched Eddie picked up the pan, and head to the sink to strain it

“Shit!” Eddie said as the boiling water burnt his hand. “This is why I don’t cook.” Eddie shook his head.

“Let me look at it.” Buck said. Buck gently grabbed Eddies hand examining it.

“Let’s go. I have some cream in the bathroom that should help.”

Eddie followed Buck and then sat on the side of the tub like Buck told him.

Buck gently rubbed the cream on Eddies hand careful not to hurt it. He then wrapped it up and with out even thinking he left a soft kiss on Eddies hand. His lips touched his skin...well a bandage over his skin.

“Um I’m sorry I don’t know why I did that.” Buck blushed.

“Kisses are supposed to make it all better right?” Eddie smiled.

“Still I don’t think you needed it.” Buck said avoiding eye contact.

“Here.” Eddie said grabbing his hand and leaving a soft kiss on Bucks hand. “Now we’re even...don’t worry about it.”

Buck felt like his brain short circuited, and he couldn’t help, but think of all the places he wanted to feel Eddies lips.

“Also sorry for pushing you to cook.”

“It’s ok I really do need to learn.” Eddie smiled.

Buck arrived at Eddies and knocked. He was in shock with how little clothing Eddie was wearing. Just some small shorts.

“Man I feel a little over dressed.”

Buck managed to say with a forced laugh.

“Ha ha.” Eddie said sarcastically. “I’m sun burned, and I can’t wear clothes comfortably.

“Well did you put aloe on?”

“Most places. Can’t reach my back.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Thanks.” Eddie smiled handing Buck the bottle.

As Buck looked at the muscular body in front of him he realized maybe rubbing your hands all over your best friend who your feelings aren’t strictly platonic could be a bad idea.

Bucks hands began rubbing down Eddies shoulders and back reaching every muscle.

“Uh I think I got too much.” Buck said after covering Eddies back and shoulders.

“You can put it on my chest...I mean no need to wash it off and waste it.”

“Uh yeah.” Buck choked.

Now his hands were rubbing all over Eddies chest and abs and the look in Eddies eyes made it really hard not to make a move, but he’s not crossing the line when he knows Eddie doesn’t want it.

“Done.” Buck blurted before rushing to the bathroom.

“You ok?” Eddie asked following after.

“Great...I Uh just need to wash my hands.” Buck said....and control what was happening in his pants. Buck had to think of the grossest things possible to calm him down, and luckily it worked.

Buck looked at himself in the mirror as he rinsed the aloe off his hands. He let out a deep breath.

“Um I forgot I gotta go.” Buck said pushing past Eddie to leave.

“You ok?”

“Great I’ll see you tomorrow.” Buck said. Yes he was ok in most senses but his thoughts weren’t ok, they weren’t what you were supposed to think about your best friend...that’s gotta cross some line right?

Buck could barely handle the tension he’s sure he’s imagining. Eddie leaned against the kitchen counter sipping on a beer eyes looking right into Bucks. Buck had to break the moment.

“Uh let’s go finish that movie now.” Buck said clearing his throat walking away.

“Buck....I’m stuck.” Eddie said. Somehow his pants had latched on to a loose nail. “These are my favorite jeans I don’t wanna rip them.”

“Eddie you have a pair of favorite jeans.” Buck smirked. “Didn’t know you cared about clothes that much.”

“Yeah I do, and I know other people like them too apparently they make my ass look great.”

Buck agrees, but he can’t tell Eddie that. Definitely can’t tell Eddie how his ass looks great all the time no matter what he wears.

Buck walked up reaching his arms behind Eddie, standing chest to chest hoping Eddie couldn’t feel how hard his heart was beating or see how red his face was turning. When he finally got Eddie loose Eddie stumbled forward practically pining Buck to the fridge. Eddie turned his head lips brushing against Bucks neck.

“Uh thanks.” Eddie said quickly taking a step back.

“Yeah...anytime.” Buck said trying to control his heavy breathing.

Eddie had one too many shots. Buck knew Chris shouldn’t see him like this and even though Buck was drunk....he wasn’t so drunk to think Eddie going home was a good idea.

Buck called Carla explained what happened and she didn’t mind staying over with Chris.

The Uber ride was interesting. Eddies hand was creeping up Bucks thigh and as much as he liked it he had to stop him every time. Eddie is drunk and doesn’t even know what he’s doing.

“Let’s go.” Buck said leading Eddie into his apartment.

“What are we gonna do?” Eddie asked with a smirk as they walked inside.

“Going to bed.” Buck said.

“Ooh sounds fun. What are we gonna do when we get there.”

“You are sleeping on the couch, and I will be sleeping in my bed.”

“That’s no fun.” Eddie groaned.

Against his better judgment Buck decided to push this a bit. Ask some more questions.

“What um what did you want to do?” Buck gulped.

“You. I wanna do you.” Eddie said before flopping on the couch and not speaking again.

Buck rushed up to his room. Knowing he shouldn’t have asked, but as much as he wants to be with Eddie, wants to have sex with him. He would never do it unless they were both sober, he wasn’t so drunk not to know right from wrong. He’d never take advantage of anyone, especially Eddie.

Buck woke up to clanking in the kitchen. He went down stairs to see Eddie trying to cook.

“What’s going on?” Buck grinned.

“Trying to thank you for helping me last night, and not letting Chris see me drunk.”

“You were pretty wasted.”

“Is cereal ok?” Eddie laughed.

“Probably the safest option.” Buck teased.

“By the way I wasn’t that drunk.” Eddie whispered against Bucks ear as he sat a bowl of cereal in front of Buck.

He can’t mean he knew what he was doing. Knew he was flirting and coming on to him....can he?

After work Buck was stopped by Eddie.

“Hey buck could you help me out? Abuela needs a new fence put in, and she insists it’s a two man job.”

“Yeah of course.” Buck smiled.

“You really don’t have to I can do it all.”

“Eddie you asked for help and I’m gonna give it to you...ok. So when are we doing it....I mean the fence.” Buck blushed.

“Tomorrow?”

“Ok I’ll see you then.”

Buck hadn’t thought much about how hot the days can be if you’re outside working. Eddie had on a white shirt that was clinging to his skin from all the sweat leaving little to the imagination, which Buck already has every inch memorized. Which some people might find sweat gross, but with Eddie it’s incredibly sexy.

Eddie ripped off the shirt tossing it to the side and Buck is sure he literally whimpered just from the sight of Eddie.

“You ok?” Eddie asked.

“You’re hot...I mean are you hot. I think it’s hot. Like really hot out...I can’t stop sweating.”

“Take off your shirt.” Eddie said Buck didn’t know if it was a question but he liked to think of it as a command. He loved the idea of Eddie telling him what to do. Like Eddie ordering him to drop to his knees.

“Boys come get some water.” Abuela said bringing out two bottles.

Buck was incredibly grateful Abuela had interrupted his train of thought.

Eddie sat down on the steps running a hand through his hair he’d just recently grown out. Buck loved the longer hair on Eddie.

“Maybe I should cut my hair.” Eddie said.

“No!” Buck blurted earning a confused look from Eddie.

“I mean I don’t see why, unless at work you get over heated.” Buck said nervously.

“Maybe I’ll keep it. Sorry it’s so hot out today, but thank you for your help today.”

“Yeah no problem, although there are a lot more fun ways to work up a sweat.”

Buck said. He didn’t mean to, but the words just slipped out.

“Yeah, a lot more fun.” Eddie said leaning over bumping Bucks shoulder with his.

Eddies signals are really hard to read recently if he did t know any better he’d think maybe Eddie is interested in him.

+1.

“Can I have your opinion?” Buck sighed.

“Of course” Eddie smiled.

“On a scale of 1-10 how bad is this.” Buck turned on some music and started slow dancing with the air. “Maddie wants to dance with me, instead of dad, and I just I don’t know how bad it is.”

“You want my honest opinion?” Eddie asked and by the expression Buck knew it wasn’t great.

“How bad am I?”

“You’re about a 5 maybe 6...I can teach you.”

“Wait Eddie you dance?”

“Duh.” Eddie got off the couch and started swiveling his hips and thrusting in the air.

“Ok magic mike turn it down, I need to know how to dance with my sister at her wedding not something random girls bachelorette party.”

“I was just proving I can dance. Here.” Eddie said pressing his body into Bucks back one hand on his hip the other on his shoulder. “Just follow my lead.

Buck let out a deep breath the heat coming off of Eddies body, the warmth of his breath on his neck.

“Eddie I think this is a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“You really don’t know...how I feel.”

“I’m not sure if I know for sure, but I know how I feel.” Eddie said nuzzling into Bucks neck leaving soft kisses. “You drive me crazy Buck. It’s unfair how you’re not only an amazing person, but also ridiculously hot.”

“Eddie.” Buck panted turning around grabbing Eddies hips and capturing Eddies lips with his. “Feelings mutual Eddie.....I like you so much, I actually more than like.”

“I more than like you too.” Eddie grinned as he put his arms on Bucks shoulders and started swaying. “We’re dancing see it’s this isn’t hard at all.”

“It’s a little hard.” Buck said pressing his body against Eddie.

“Oh, um well maybe that’s enough dancing for now. We wouldn’t want to rush this.”

“Good things are worth waiting for.” Buck smiled. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled.

“Thanks for the help.” Buck said.

“Thank you for letting me help. Look where it got us.” Eddie grinned.

“So uh you wanna be my date for the wedding. I mean you and Chris both obviously. If not I mean we’d both be there any way, or we could just call it carpooling.” Buck rambled.

“I’d love to be your date.” Eddie said kissing Buck. “Now let’s watch that movie.”

#buddie #cherishingstydiawrites

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throwaninkpot · 4 years

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RotT reactions part 2!

costis, what are you doing here, shouldn't you be in roa? shouldn't you be with kamet? costis, where's kamet? what happened to him? tell me!

"who really owns anything?" eugenides, you utter meme.

if tattoos a custom in eddis, does. .....does helen have tattoos? oh my word, please tell me helen has tattoos, she would look so cool.

so, so, so, horrible invasion, giant army, logistics of war. it's very terrible and interesting, but where kamet? where my boy? is he okay? costis just LEFT him behind, bc he had to get word back to attolia, I don't blame him, I love him. but is kamet okay????????????????????

rip to all the cottage fic people probably wrote about the two having a chill time in roa. (idk, I haven't checked.) megan said we can't have nice things.

"find yourselves another king" uhhhhhhh, gen?

gen said no more king, now only Thief and Hot Consort To The Sexy Queen.

awww, sophos gave him a book of poetry for his birthday. I love sophos.

"attolia says she leaves with you" *spends several long minutes clutching at my chest repeatedly as I am Overwhelmed*

you know the quote in koa about a careful dance of shafow and unsubstance but under it all, a real marriage of two people? that's literally this. the queen is surely calculated her possible responses to gen, amd this is either a Pointed Message to gen or to the barons, and I'm still not sure what gen is up to actually, but also. she loves him, guys. they're in love. "she leaves with you". they're in love.

"I asked her to leave with me on our wedding night" of course he did.

"except me, I can do anything I want" :'D

they're too soft. I cannot.

go, costis! save your boy!

..........is this where I formally apologize for rolling my eyes back in 2016 when people shipped teleus/relius? I genuinely did not see this coming.

megan said okay, we've been on our best behavior, it's been 25 years, she will sprinkle in a little canon queerness. and then upended a flour sack of it on us.

"he had to bend to keep his lips on hers until she reached the ground" they're too cute, this is illegal.

oh, now THAT'S some soap opera level nonsense. how awkward was it for gen and helen knowing his father was a spurned lover of her mother

sometimes soldiers. I am eating this stuff up.

they get no apology. h*ck the pents. maybe they should have chosen an ambassador that didn't force himself upon women.

"where sounis's father positively beamed with approval at his son, eddis's minister of war glowered. the high king, slumped in his seat, catching his father's glare, slumped even further." it be like that.

ten to one. oof, oof, oof.

okay, the solution is, one of gen's sisters should beat up cleon and therespides.

gen. you were the one paying him. I don't know why I'm ever surprised by the tangled schemes you wrap yourself up in.

every scene that the four monarchs are together, just having a good time and loving each other and sounding so much like the young people they are, every time, it makes me happy.

the fandom tried to figure out at what age boys left the dorms in Eddis, didn't we? I think we settled on 12 or 13. gen killed someone before he was 13. hachi machi.

he called him "my brother sounis". awww.

"without cheating" is that what we're calling godly visits now

eugenides will give me a heart attack, I swear.

they call it return of the thief bc this is the most like himself gen has acted since the crenellations in KoA.

(fitting that this is the book with a neuroduvergent pov, bc I have never happy stimmed more in my life than during the chase scene.)

when he starts windmilling, now I am afraid. oh please, megan, don't let him be hurt.

thank the gods.

helen wearing an eddisian uniform. heck yeah! gnc helen rights continue!

"it was the last lighthearted moment for a long time" :(

they're leaving the city, and I'm suddenly remember the comment from back in book of pheris 1 about an attack by a tomb. am afraid.

it's loving the magus o' clock. he treats pheris so well.

irenides baby......2!!!!

"I don't understand" you and me both, sophos.

"I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes in order to be sure that even at their worst they are loved" I need a minute.

I love tactics and logistics, but I wish I could picture this my head. the map doesn't actually help me figure out where the forces are in perspective.

megan really wasn't exaggerating when she said eugenides's first reaction to seeing an elephant is "I want to steal one."

"he muscled up his other arm and said he would destroy the Medes single-handed" these books are giving me a stroke. megan, that pun was beautiful.

"I have found Kamet!" I'm going to be sick. he had better be okay. he was supposed to be free of nahuseresh.

nasty man had better be lying. my kamet had better be okay.

oh, costis. okay, okay, alright.

why is cleon's death so sombering. I think it's bc I just reread "Thief!", and met him as a teenager in that. I think it's bc it says he's one of three cousins that died that day, and gen already lost so many cousins during the war in QoA. I loved the country of eddis when I was first reading these books and forever after that, bc it's so full. there's a very communal child-rearing system and gen has these packs of cousins, even if most of them spent their childhood bullying him, I loved the idea of having so much family around you. he's running out of family.

oh. I went back to reading from writing that, and. stenides. oh.

I said I wanted gen's siblings, but not like this.

well, here's some cairns. presumably the tombs pheris's foreshadowed earlier. here we go, something bad is going to happen.

Something Bad Happened.

oh, no, Hilarion. D:

*tiffany haddish voice* NOMENUS??? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS. I PUT YOU ON MY BINGO.

the man at the cairn. the god on the battlefield that megan referenced? but eugenides called him a dead man. so not a god. so, did he recognize him as someone he knew to be dead?

"my cousins know not to trust my tears" once again, gen's hail mary is the fact he's a little snipe.

he says he needs a heavier rain, and the gods deliver.

f in chat for nomenus. he was a snake, but still.

"and by my oath to my god, now and for my life, Thief of Eddis." YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, Philo. :(

rip to Legarus and his Awesome Beauty.

they want to kill gen in The Thief? eddis's council wanted to kill him? I'm reeling from all the backstory this book is revealing.

not quite how I had the apotheosis pictured, and yet. *sufjan steven's ascension plays in the background*

"I say it three times, Fordad. It will be so. It will be so. It will be so." holy heck.

someone get in here and analyze that for biblical symbolism.

HE CALLED DOWN LIGHTNING. HOLY

narration only calls him eugenides in that scene with the lightning. significant.

"feeling the tremor in it, he opened his arms to catch the king as he fell." he has fallen and been caught by his god and fallen and been caught by his dad.

I think we'll call the interregnum an interlude into the underworld, if not a journey into.

oh, gods, relius.

for a former spymaster, he sure trusted too easily.

he could have had his farm in the gede valley, but he stayed to help irene and gen. oh, relius, relius.

sejanus has a saving grace afterall.

dite and sejanus protecting each other, and pretending to hate each other so that sejanus at least can be on good terms with their father, that all clicks into place when you know about their older brother who they probably loved just as much.

crying crying crying over Sejanus and Pheris.

the minster of war. D:

at least nahuseresh is dead.

gen lay down to sleep by his father's corpse.

the patrimony divided in three. a triangle.

sophos/helen baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love that gen, knowing his cousin and also being a little sneak who notices everything, figured out helen was pregnant before sophos even did.

f for sejanus. he wasn't as bad as he seemed, and not nearly as bad as he almost was.

oh, xenophon died, too. he of the wooden cannons and receiver of the infamous "I love stupid plans" line.

why is everyone dead. :(

"they're at the pickets, both of them" oh, thank you, jesus. TWO PEOPLE WHO AREN'T DEAD. MY BOYS.

she dreams of Eddis empty. there's no words for the relief I feel.

twinssss!!

and yet they don't tell us the name!!!!! what was the MoW's name??? what is their son's name??? megan!!!!!!

gen holding his daughter for the first time and offering to pitch her off a roof. I don't even have words.

hector. hector. hector hector hector.

rooftop dance!!!!!!!!!!!

HE'S OKAY. RELIUS IS OKAY.

(you couldn't give us one costis and kamet dance? no, it's fine.)

peace. peace. peace.

crying.

#queen's thief #return of the thief #rott spoilers #rott #qt spoilers #this has been a post

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tripleaxeldiaz · 4 years

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all was golden when the day met the night

chapter 4/5

read on ao3

start from the beginning

A few weeks go by, and things are good. Eddie’s tattoo is pretty much healed, and he already finds himself absentmindedly tracing it when his thoughts are too loud, or he feels the wisps of anxiety starting to pull at him. Chris is obsessed with it, fingers roaming it as much as Eddie’s, and he even lets him color it in, just like he does with Buck’s ink.

Buck is good as ever, still in the shop every day, his bright eyes and brighter smile still main players in Eddie’s dreams. Every week, he gives him bouquets confessing his love, a small part of him hoping Buck figures it out on his own, a bigger part knowing he never will. He tells Hen as much one day, and she just levels him with an unimpressed glare.

“He’d figure out your feelings a lot easier if you talked to him.”

Eddie looks at her, bewildered. “But then he’d know.”

One day she’s going to roll her eyes so hard at him, they’ll get stuck in the back of her head.

Maybe he hasn’t told Buck everything, but something still feels different between them. Looks feel more charged, hands linger longer, like neither of them actually wants to let go of the other. Maybe it’s because Eddie has stopped fighting his feelings so much, has let them stretch out in his chest instead of keeping them in a ball. It’s not enough to convince him that everything wouldn’t immediately fall apart if he told Buck how he felt, but it’s a little easier to breathe, at least. A little easier to be open and comfortable with his love for Buck, even if he still can’t say as much out loud. When Buck’s eyes dance over his face a little more intensely than normal, he’s not as ripped in half by naive hope and blind terror as he once was. He still thinks he might have the smallest chance, he’s just not sure what to do with it yet.

But, overall, things are good.

Until suddenly, they’re not.

~~~~~~~~~~

He gets the call on Monday for three standing spray arrangements for a funeral the following week. He gives his condolences as he takes down the woman’s info, asking for the funeral home and the name of the deceased to make sure they get to the right place. When she gives the name — Beth Hubbel, her daughter — there’s a spark of recognition.

He searches for her obituary later, feels his blood run cold when he finds it.

Staff Sergeant Elizabeth Hubbel, United States Army Special Forces. Killed in action in Iraq on her third tour of duty.

They were in Afghanistan together during his second tour. They weren’t friends, but they knew of each other, well enough to nod in passing. And while he’s of course devastated for her family, that’s not what really sets him off. It’s the chilling voice that rises up from the very back of his mind as he reads her accomplishments and the names of the people she left behind, whispering in his ear like broken glass That could have been you. It should have been you. Why wasn’t it you?

He hasn’t gone down this hole, his darkest one, in years. That doesn’t make the spiral any slower.

He tries to hold it back as much as he can — for Chris’s sake, for work’s sake, for everyone — but the dam is cracked and the pressure is crushing. The voice never stops, constantly whispering about how he doesn’t deserve any of this, this life he’s built for himself. He had people relying on him, and he let them down, let them die a fiery death in the desert instead of coming home like he’s sure they promised their families they would. Why should he get to live out his dreams when they didn’t? He lies awake at night, seeing nothing but a burning helicopter when he closes his eyes, feels shooting, phantom pains in his shoulder, like the bullet is tearing freshly through it. He’s terrified of the nightmares he knows are lurking in the shadows, waiting for him, so he just stays up. Fights it until the exhaustion smothers him into a quick, dreamless sleep.

He gets worse and worse as the week wears on, pressure pushing on him inside and out, making it hard to move and impossible to breathe. His “normal” facade that’s hiding the cracks takes too much out of him, so he withdraws as much as he can without being suspicious. If people notice something is wrong, they’ll want to help, and this is not something he’s willing to expose anyone to. The toxic gas of guilt is for him alone. It swirls around him everywhere he goes, soaking into his skin and breaking him down until he’s so fragile that the lightest breeze could break him apart if it blows the wrong direction.

They notice. He knows they do.

Hen mans the front desk single handedly, swoops in to greet customers before Eddie can muster the energy to walk out of the back room. Buck chatters even more about his clients when he visits, filling the silence that surrounds Eddie like a vacuum. Even Chris snuggles closer to him during movie night, his warmth the only thing Eddie registers as he stares listlessly at the TV.

They don’t pry, and he’s grateful, because that’s exactly what he wants, but he also feels like screaming. He’s face to face with the walls he put together with his own hands to protect the people he loves, and all he wants to do now is tear them down. They’re keeping the murky water in as it rises and rises, and Eddie can’t swim on his own for much longer.

But he keeps going. He has to. He swims and he stews because it’s not fair for him to ask people to tear down the prison he built for himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s the last delivery of the day on Friday, and it takes every ounce of mental and physical energy he has to keep his hands steady and enter the funeral home. The funeral director shows him to the room, already decorated with pictures of Beth in and out of uniform, Army crests, an American flag draped over the closed casket.

He tries to keep his focus only on the flowers as he sets them up, but his eyes keep drifting to the pictures — Beth smiling with her platoon, with her parents, kissing her wife on their wedding day. She was someone, she’d had a whole life ahead of her, and she was gone. When Eddie was overseas, he had a marriage falling apart, a son that barely knew him, and no plans for a future when he was back on U.S. soil. And he survived. How is that fair?

He finishes setting up, hands shaking because he’s running out of strength to keep them still. He stands by the casket, contemplates kneeling and saying a prayer. It’s been a while — he’s not sure if he remembers how to, or if anyone is even listening. Would they do anything if they could hear him? Does he deserve to have his prayers answered, even if they’re for someone else?

He just places his hand on the flag instead, whispers, “I’m sorry,” and all but bolts out the door to the truck. He turns the AC all the way to cold, turns the music all the way up, tries his best to drown his senses before they can drown him.

It’s not enough.

By the time he makes it back, the shop is dark and empty. He has a text from Hen letting him know she closed up early and took Chris home with her for a sleepover with Denny. He leans against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor, no energy to even make it up the stairs to crawl into bed. His mind is a hurricane, loud and destructive, and he’s feeling so much that he can’t feel anything at all, he’s just numb.

There’s a soft knock on the back door, and Eddie peels himself off the ground to answer it, figures it’s Chris coming back for a video game. He tries to ignore the winds picking up in his head, the whispers that seem to be getting louder, schools his face into something normal before opening the door.

It’s not Chris, though.

It’s Buck.

He’s got his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and he looks nervous, shifting his weight from side to side. He looks up at Eddie as the door opens, and they just stare at each other, long enough for the storm to keep brewing, strong enough now that Eddie doesn’t think he’ll be able to hold it off much longer.

Buck clears his throat, scratches the back of his neck. “Hey. I, uh— you’ve just seemed really off all week? And I saw you walk in as I was leaving and I just...you looked wrecked. You still do.” His eyes scan over Eddie’s face, like he can see right into him, see the water getting closer and closer to covering Eddie completely.

“Are you okay, Eddie?” Buck asks.

No one’s asked him that in a long time, and he hasn’t asked himself that in even longer. He opens and closes his mouth, trying to figure out the best way to articulate himself that isn’t just an incoherent scream. He feels hot tears fill his eyes that he’s somehow held off until now. It’s too much — the memories, the storm, Buck looking at him with genuine concern in his eyes. His body crumples, finally giving into the pressure, but Buck’s arms are around him before he hits the floor, strong and secure. The scream comes out, sobs quickly following.

He holds onto Buck like a life raft.

Buck maneuvers them to the ground, and holds Eddie tightly, hand rubbing up and down his back, through his hair. He’s shushing him quietly, whispering things Eddie can’t hear as he lets everything go, lets the storm rage on in hopes that it’ll dissipate quickly and with minimal damage.

It’s minutes or days later when he finally runs out of tears. His throat hurts, his face feels puffy, and he feels the dampness of Buck’s shirt from where his face was pressed into his chest. He leans back slowly where he’s sitting in between Buck’s legs, hands scrubbing his face as he takes a few deep breaths. He’s never broken down like that, especially not in front of someone else, and he’s exhausted and embarrassed and just wants to run away, hide in his bed for the weekend or the rest of time.

Buck, however, shows no signs of moving. His hands are on Eddie still, one on his back, one on his side, still holding him close while Eddie gets his bearings again. He feels the warmth of them through his shirt, and it feels as good and as safe as he always imagined it would. Still, he keeps his head in his hands for a little while longer, breaths finally evening out. He doesn’t want to look him in the eye yet, doesn’t want to see the pity because he knows he won’t be able to handle it.

When he does finally look up, Buck just looks worried still, tinged with empathy rather than pity. If his heart wasn’t already smashed to dust, it would crack for Buck, too.

He slowly disentangles himself from Buck until they’re sitting next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the door. He doesn’t know what to do — he wants Buck to stay, he wants to tell him to run, he wants to move on from whatever these past few days have been, fix the storm damage and get back to normal.

He sees Buck turn his head out of the corner of his eye, feels his gaze on the side of his face. He stares resolutely at the floor — maybe if he’s still enough, looks put together enough, Buck will take it at face value and leave while he can.

Of course, he doesn’t.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks instead.

And for a minute, he does. He wants to get rid of whatever walls are still left in his head and let Buck in, let him see every decrepit, rotting part of him because he knows, he knows, that Buck will be able to see past all that. He’ll see the good person that Eddie himself hasn’t seen since he left for the desert, and he’ll be able to coax him back into the light.

It’s only for a minute, though. Because then the whispering comes back, roaring in his ears, reminding him that person is gone, and whatever shell is left is not enough, for Buck or for anyone else.

He still can’t ignore the voices, so he just slowly shakes his head. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Buck keeps staring at him, hands twitching before he slowly reaches over the space between them and grabs his hand. “Talking helps, Eddie. It’s a lot better than keeping everything bottled up like this.”

Eddie bristles at that, the same line he’s heard for years. He knows Buck means well, he always means well, everyone means well when they ask him to talk, but no one gets it. This is just the tip of the iceberg with Eddie. There’s so much darkness swirling underneath that they can’t see, that Eddie will never, ever let them see. Not his parents, not Abuela, not Chris, and not Buck. Especially not Buck. He loves him too much to poison him like that.

He can feel the walls starting to rebuild now that his brain is back online. He doesn’t want to push Buck away like this, knows the small chance he thought they had will disappear if he does, but it’s for Buck’s own good. He’ll see that one day, he thinks.

He stares at their clasped hands before sighing and slowly pulling away. “You don’t need to worry about it. Really, I’ll be alright.”

“Hen told me about the order for this week, at the funeral home. I’m sure that wasn’t easy for you.”

“Buck—”

“Eddie, please, just—”

“You can’t help me,” he says, louder than he means to, as he finally looks Buck in the eye.

Buck looks startled for a minute before his jaw sets, his eyes hardening in determination. “No, I can’t if you don’t let me.”

Eddie scrambles to stand, needs to get away from Buck, from his warmth, everything he doesn’t deserve. “I can’t, okay? It’s— It’s too much. I can barely get a handle on it on my own. You shouldn’t have to worry about it, too”

“I think I can decide that for myself, thanks,” Buck says as he stands too, arms crossing.

“I’m serious, Buck.”

“So am I.”

“Maybe I don’t want your help, did you ever think about that?”

It’s a total lie, but he’s desperate. He’ll do anything to steer Buck away from this. His anger, his sadness, it’s out in the open now, curling around the ceiling in tendrils, threatening to suffocate them both.

Buck freezes, looks like he’s about to keep arguing, but he just deflates instead. He looks at Eddie for another long minutes, and there’s that pity he’s been waiting for. The sadness for Eddie and the mess that he is. Finally, he hears, he finally figured out you’re not worth it.

Buck makes a move toward him, like he did the night he got his tattoo, and Eddie braces for the worst — a slap, a punch, anything to let out the frustration he’s no doubt caused. Instead, Buck just grabs his hand again.

He doesn’t pull away this time.

“I need you to listen to me, okay?” he says, squeezing Eddie’s hand until he knows he has his attention. “You’re my best friend, Eddie. I care about you and Chris more than pretty much anyone in the world. I won’t force you to tell me anything but...I want to help. I want to help you handle it. All of it.” He lets his hand go and walks towards the door, turning back before crossing the threshold. “Just remember I’m here for you, okay? No matter what.”

Eddie watches the door shut as Buck leaves, and he’s alone, again, still trying not to drown.

#eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie #buddie fic #9-1-1 fic #9-1-1 fox #the infamous chapter where eli threatened to burn my house down and also bribed me #i'm sorry!!#it hurt me to write too!!#now y'all get to feel the pain!!#last chapter next week!!#the flower shop #ficcery

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thoughtfullyyoungduck · 4 years

Text

Meeting the parents

Summary: Eddie goes to dinner with Richie’s parents for the first time since they got married

A/N: My entire country is in lockdown, I’m freaking out and I’m bored so if anyone has any requests, please send them to me! Let me know what you think

Eddie has probably never been this nervous in his life before. His palms are sweating, which he finds absolute disgusting, and he keeps shifting from one leg to the other. The old familiar door is still firmly closed, yet Eddie can’t seem to stop the hysteria from bubbling up his throat.

A hand grips his underarm loosely, the rough palms of the hand irritate Eddie’s skin, yet he leans further into it. Richie is looking down on him with a knowing, teasing smile. When Eddie agreed to dinner with Richie’s parents, he hadn’t expected to feel so nauseous with anxiousness.

It’s stupid he knows, he met Maggie and Wentworth when he was barely two years old. They watched him grow up, they know exactly the type of person he was and the person he had become right before he left Derry.

He used to spend all his free time with Richie in that house. Every birthday he begged for his mom to let him go over to their house, and though Sonia refused and guilt tripped him into spending his day with her, the Toziers always tried their best to make his birthday as enjoyable as possible.

He remembers the last birthday before his mommy and him left for New York, which happened to be his fifteenth. On the day itself Sonia had confided him to their house, claiming that he was sick and he needed to either celebrate at home with her, or not at all.

Looking back on it, it was clear that she just wanted to ruin the losers surprise, as they had a party planned at the quarry. It didn’t matter anyway, Richie resigned himself to climbing through the window at night with soda and chips, and they had a small celebration together.

Two days later, Maggie invited him to their home, also for dinner. Eddie didn’t know what to expect, finding it a weird request, until Richie had excitedly pushed him into the living room, where Maggie and Wentworth had a whole buffet of pizza’s and gifts spread out, singing happy birthday to him as if they were little kids themselves.

Eddie had shyly begun to eat, feeling guilty that they had spend so much money on him, but Maggie had given him a big hug, so tight it felt as if she was breaking his ribs, laughing that it was his birthday, and he deserved to have fun and get everything he wanted for a day.

When she let him go, Eddie, embarrassingly so, started weeping. With Maggie, it felt like he had an actual mom. She was an example of what a real mother should be like, just wanting her child to be safe, but also wanting to encourage them to go out in the world. With the Tozier’s, Eddie felt loved.

Wentworth was the one who taught him how to ride his bike. Eddie’s mom didn’t want him to hurt himself so she refused to even buy him a bike, but then Eddie had gotten so mad that Richie would taunt him with his bike riding skills, that Wentworth had gone ahead and bought him a bike too, practicing with him for weeks until Eddie felt ready to ride by himself. He must have tested Wentworths patients an insane amount, considering Richie didn’t even need a week to try it all by himself, but Wentworth never made Eddie feel bad about it, he always allowed him to take things at his own pace without calling him out for it.

When Sonia found out that Eddie could ride his bike without four wheels, she had gotten absolutely furious, storming over to Richie’s house and berating both Maggie, Wentworth and Richie for endangering such a delicate boy.

It was the first time Eddie had ever seen Maggie angry. She hid it well, she was way to respectable to start screaming or attacking anyone, but Eddie could read her eyes, so much alike Richie’s, spit fire as Sonia kept railing to them. The vein in her neck was throbbing wildly.

When Eddie had finally been able to go out again after being on house arrest for two weeks, for learning how to be a big boy for crying out loud, Maggie had pulled him into the kitchen, promising Eddie that he wasn’t as delicate as his mother pretended he was.

He had been terrified that he wouldn’t be welcome in the Tozier home after the performance his mother had given, but luckily neither Maggie nor Wentworth ever mentioned it again, going on with business as usual. Everyone forget about the incident expect Richie, who took amply opportunities to tease Eddie for the way his mother had behaved. All in good fun of course, Richie could never hurt Eddie intentionally, he just found it funny.

So yeah, Eddie was pretty sure that the Toziers liked him when he was growing up, but things were different now. He wasn’t a helpless kid who needed protection from his mom anymore, and he changed, a lot, even though Richie always insisted that most of him stayed the same.

Not to mention, this was the first time Eddie would go over to their house as their son - in – law. Richie and him had gotten married the day Eddie’s divorce finalized, without any preparation whatsoever. It had been a spur of the moment decision, but one Eddie had yet to feel any regret over.

Except maybe for the fact that Richie was wearing one of his Hawaiian shirts, but if Eddie was being truly honest, it was so Richie he couldn’t help but feel endeared when he looked at the picture taken with utter precision.

Beverly was taking pictures that day, while Mike looked over her shoulder every move, trying to give advice on which angles she should shoot, only to annoy Bev to the point her hand started shaking and the photo’s appeared shaky. Eddie liked those the best. Everytime Eddie recalled the wedding day, a huge smile he couldn’t hide, or even bother to hide, took over his face.

Eddie’s first wedding with Myra had taken months to prepare, and even then most everything went wrong. The bands lead singer they had hired was sick, several of their guests cancelled, and the food was either too cold or burned. The entire day Eddie was sick with indecision, not even sure he was going to say yes until right before the vows.

His second wedding, the one where he actually wanted to get married, he had no anxiety or apprehension whatsoever. The only thing strumming through Eddie’s veins was eagerness to commit to the man who helped him be brave, to the man who he loved even when he hadn’t remembered him.

Because it had been such a spur decision, the only people that had been there for the actual wedding and the reception afterwards, were the losers. Richie hadn’t even thought of inviting his parents, simply for they lived too far away to make it in time. Besides, Richie had argued later, he wasn’t thinking of anything except Eddie anyway.

Maggie and Wentworth didn’t even know the two of them were engaged, although to be fair, they hadn’t been. Eddie wonders if they feel upset that they didn’t get to watch their only child marry someone, but Richie assured him that when he did get in contact with them and told them, they had been nothing short of thrilled. Still, Eddie wasn’t sure that that wasn’t a façade they put up to spare Richie’s feelings.

Though Eddie is highly strung with nerves; snapping at every little annoying thing Richie did, which he no doubt would feel terribly ashamed off after thing inevitably turn out alright, the lime green color of the front door also gives him a feeling of internal peace, because more than his own house, this house felt like coming home.

It’s a warm day, humid in a way that causes Richie’s hair to curl up even more, the efforts of Eddie to rearrange it neatly clearly being futile. Eddie tries again, regardless, but just as he predicted the hair flops back up as soon as he takes his hand away.

Richie laughs, and it fills Eddie’s body with something he can’t describe, maybe doesn’t want to think about too much, but it feels good, it feels enchanting, as if he just can’t get enough of things that remind him of Richie.

The weather does nothing to prevent Eddie from shivering, but that could be attributed to fact that he was back in Derry. He overheard Richie on the phone, trying to convince his parents to come to LA instead of the other way around, but Maggie had stayed firm, claiming that she wanted to cook their favorite dishes, just like she did when they were kids.

Eddie figured that Maggie sometimes got lonely, so she was trying to relive a better time, to which Eddie could relate. Sure, he had to live with his mother when he was a kid, but there had been good times too, and he missed the days when all he had to worry about was how he was going to trick his mother into letting him with his friends.

‘You look like a hobo’, Eddie teases, trying a last time to flatten his hair, before admitting defeat with a huff.

‘Yeah? Well you married a hobo then’, Richie replies easily, their teasing bringing a certain spark into his eyes. Eddie can’t get enough of it.

He rolls his eyes, crossing his arms as he does so, and watches as Richie rings the bell twice. He always rings it twice apparently, it’s a code, so that his parents know that it’s him. That way, if somebody annoying was trying to talk to them, Maggie knew not to open it.

Richie turns back to Eddie instantly, opening his mouth to say something, probably more words of encouragement, and Eddie opens his mount as well, ready to retaliate what he knows are just empty promises, but before he can, the door swings open.

It’s Maggie that opened the door, she’s clutching a wooden spoon in her hand, and a pot in the other. She looks ecstatic. ‘Went’, she calls out before carelessly shoving the pan onto a wooden table near the door, storming up towards Richie.

She looks older than when Eddie last saw her, which is obviously a given, but her energy that she radiates has remained the same, Eddie remarks. She has grey hair now, which is sticking in a bun with peaks of hair hanging loosely to the side, and she is smiling vibrantly.

‘Richie, oh my god look at you. You look so much taller.’ Richie scoffs jokingly, pulling back but not getting very far, because Maggie makes sure to clutch him tight regardless.

‘I do not, besides you saw me like a year ago.’

Maggie levels him with a strict look. ‘Indeed I did, which is way too long Richard.’

Eddie can’t help himself, he laughs as softly as he can, placing his hand in front of his mouth trying to muffle it. He remembers a time when every time the name ‘Richard’ was called, Richie knew he was in trouble.

Maggie perks up at the sound of his muffled laughter, wrenching away from Richie to instead pull Eddie into a firm hug.

‘Oh Eddie, you’re still as handsome as you used to be.’

He sees and hears Richie snort at Maggie statement, but he is too consumed with gratitude towards her, he doesn’t bother scolding him.

He missed her, subconsciously even when he left Derry, but he did, so he takes full advantage of the opportunity to hug her back.

When she leans back, she cups his face in her hands. Her hands are soft and are more delicate, especially compared to Richie’s hands. The only people who Eddie never had a problem with touching him are those two. Even when he was married to Myra, he recoiled whenever she tried to be in his proximity, but back then he had just written it off as him not being an affectionate person.

When he got his memory back, he realized that that was not the case. Richie and him touch all the time, to the point were Eddie’s pretty sure the losers are sick and tired of them.

A strong, significant smell carries through the door, and the exact moment Maggie takes notice of it, she frantically turns around and rushes back into the house. ‘My turkey,’ she explains over her shoulder, leaving the door open so Eddie and Richie can join her.

Richie grasps for Eddie’s hand, not caring that it’s sweaty and as Eddie would describe it, disgusting. He never does, never thinks anything about Eddie is disgusting.

‘Told you’, he singsongs as the two pass the threshold and enter the house, where the smell is even more persistent. He’s gloating, because on the way over, all he was talking about to Eddie was how much his parents were going to love him, as they did before, but Eddie didn’t want to believe him.

Eddie rolls his eyes, bumping his shoulder against Richie’s he’s silent warning of stop fucking talking.

They find Richie’s dad in the living room, seated in an old massage chair with his leg propped up on it, and a newspaper in his hands. He’s trying to be casual about it, pretending that even the slightest of his attention is on his paper, but Eddie can tell he’s taking the both of them with a very precise look.

Eddie feels the urge to take his hand out of Richie’s, because it makes him feel a little self-conscious. Years of experience of hiding away his true emotions does that to a person he supposes. If Eddie thinks about it, he’s pretty sure that even if for some reason Richie had confessed to him, and it would have had to be Richie, since there was no way little Eddie would have ever confessed under any circumstances, he still wouldn’t have been comfortable enough to do this with Richie.

It’s maddening, how much power this town and his mother really had on him, and specifically on the way he viewed himself. He hates himself when he thinks about it, but changes were that if Richie would have confided in him about him being gay, Eddie might have tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Being back in Derry forces those repulsing thoughts and sensations back to the surface, and Eddie doesn’t want to entertain the thought of them. He wants to leave his past behind him, and he wishes it was as simple as carving out the parts he didn’t want to carry with him, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. He’s seen it first hand when his mother died and he married someone like her regardless.

Just before he takes his hand out of Richie’s, the grip strengths, and Richie kisses the top of his head rapidly. Eddie splutters, all at once locking up and fearfully glancing at where Wentworth was siting, extremely fearful of his reaction.

He doesn’t have one. Not really anyway. He does put away the paper though, no longer pretending to be interested in it.

‘Hey son.’ Went leans forward in the chair, puffs as if takes all of his energy to even do that, and then straightens up.

‘Went.’ Richie nods in acknowledgment, a smirk playing on his lips. He then turns his body sideways so that he’s angled in Eddie’s direction, yet he keeps his face pointed towards his dad. ‘Dad, this is my husband. His name is Eddie. I know you’ve never met him before, but I would have been a wanker if I didn’t marry this fair madden straight away.’ Richie is using his stupid British accent that he has perfected over the years, he’s gotten amazingly good at it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t use it at any turn to annoy Eddie.

‘Well, I’m chuffed you found yourself someone to marry with, I was beginning to you’d never find someone.’

Eddie is stunned into silence as he watches father and son due grin at each other in delight, Went following Richie along with his own version of the British voice. In a way it makes sense that Richie would have gotten the voice from somewhere, yet Eddie never associated it with anyone else, just with Richie.

‘I don’t know how we do it every day.’ It’s Maggie, carrying a tray with an assortment of appetizer, every single one looking healthier than the one before. A small part of him feels smug, knowing that Richie has no choice but to eat some of it, even if he never would eat something as healthy as that on his own, but the biggest part feels guilty, for not helping Maggie cook, and for not coming to visit them sooner.

He can think of a dozen things to reply to that, some more appropriate then others. His first instinct is to make a joke and deflect. Despite the fact that he loves Richie more than he has ever loved anyone ever, it still cause him a lot of hardship to confess that whenever he wants too. He can sense the horrendous beast that is jealousy rising up again, threatening to tear him apart with confliction because he refuses to pay it any mind, but it forces his attention merciless.

He tries so hard to normalize his relationship, for just because him and Richie are two men, does not mean they are any less in love in comparison to a man and woman.

Fear still suffocates him from time to time, and in those moments it seems like all of his efforts to overcome it are in vain. He begs to whatever god is listening that Richie has enough with Eddie showing him how much he adores him in the confinements of their home, since Eddie can never seem to get over himself and show affection in public.

He’s scared now too, but then he thinks back to Went’s reaction to Richie’s joke, and how normal his responds had been, and Eddie deflects from making a joke.

‘Because we love them,’ he says instead, hearing the way his own voice shakes with reluctance, but he does mean the words, fully and holy, so he repeats it more firmly.

Maggie nods her head and places her arm with care over Eddie’s shoulder while nodding.

‘That we do. That we do.’

----

All in all, Eddie would say that the night has been a success. His anxiety had been unjustified, what a surprise, and he found himself relaxing more and more as the night prolonged. He allowed the occasional touches of Richie as long as it stayed PG, and even granted him a small peck when Richie said he would only help with the dishes if he did so.

Maggie squalled in delight, thanking Eddie for making her son less of a slob, although the fond look in her eyes gave away that she was never that she never found that too off-putting in the first place.

By the time dessert comes, Eddie has let his guard down without thinking twice about it, but alas, of course something was bound to go wrong. It’s not that bad perse, but the second Maggie mentions Eddie’s mother, the entire table falls into an awkward silence, after Richie hastily shushed his mother.

It’s just an innocent question, about how Sonia was doing, but she has always been a sore subject, so much so that Eddie and Richie barely talk about it themselves. Eddie knows that his mother isn’t a good person, she proved that herself time and time again, but it’s not easy to talk bad about your own mother. She had many flaws, but she also raised Eddie, and shaped him into the person he has become. Richie and him had a massive fight, once over her, where Richie accused Eddie of making excuses for her, and Eddie had gotten so worked up over that statement, that he had rented a hotel room for the night and stayed there.

His mother is a sore subject, and it’s complicated, which sounds like a load of bullshit, but is still the truth. She is dead though, and that for Eddie is reason enough to not dive deeper into that subject, choosing instead to let that be for what it is, focusing himself on the things that he does have control over.

Yet when Maggie asks, it doesn’t make his skin crawl with the need of changing the subject, in fact, he craves to talk about her for a little while, which is something he has never said or thought before. He can’t figure out why he wants to, only that he does.

Richie clears his throat, trying to change the subject, but Went places a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. ‘Help me get some more drinks out of the basement?’ It very clearly a statement, but Richie still gazes at Eddie questionly, as if to make sure Eddie would be okay if he left the room. When Eddie gives him an affirmative, Richie follows his father, leaving Eddie and Maggie by themselves in the dining room. He takes the offer that Maggie has provided, and starts talking.

‘She died a few years ago actually.’

Maggie instantly looks horrified, and Eddie sees her trying to scramble for a way to backtrack, to apologize to him even though she did nothing wrong.

He interrupts her before she can try. ‘It’s fine. Really, it’s not. It’s not like you could have known. I don’t talk about her much.’

He can see the sympathy in her eyes, but it’s not condescending in any way or shape. It just is, like the way Richie looked at him when he was recovering in the hospital after being impaled and he would hiss if a movement hurt too much. They want to help, in an actual way, not the way Sonia did.

Maggie reaches across the table to hold Eddie’s hand for a minute. ‘You can talk about her if you want? Did you, Would you have invited her to the wedding if she were here?’

He can sense the under lying question, the one she’s reluctant to ask. Would she have accepted you as gay? The answer is simple, no. She would have hated him, every single pore of him, but she wouldn’t have dropped him. She might have tried to get him to go to a conversion camp, or maybe a psychiatry, or perhaps she would have just twisted the situation to get him to marry a woman, which is what she did with Myra, but the last thing she would have done was accept him.

When he doesn’t answer for a beat, Maggie continues to prod carefully. ‘She was an old school woman Eddie, maybe if she would have been born in a different time it would have been different.’

Except Eddie knows that it wouldn’t have been. He’s mother hurt him on purpose, and made him think he was sick even when he wasn’t, she did her best to scare him so he would listen to her, and that had nothing to do with the time she was born in.

He shrugs at Maggie. ‘It doesn’t matter. You accepted Richie. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think to myself that I’m an idiot. That I’m sick and I need to get help, because she taught me that.’ Eddie’s eyes begin to sting bitterly, but he refuses to shed another tear for a woman that is no longer alive to even gloat about it. Maggie watching him, sensing that he’s not ready and allowing him to take his time to say what he needs to, like a real mother.

‘But then Richie wakes up, and there’s this moment where the light just falls perfectly and his glasses make a stupid rainbow or something. Or when he annoys me so much by saying something stupid I could kill him, or when I see him caring about others and I get hit with this overwhelming sense of love for him, and then I realize, that it doesn’t matter what she said, because she has no idea what love was truly like.’

‘She thought loving someone entailed keeping that person in your sight 24 hours a day, and locking them up to ‘protect them’. Or convincing someone that they can’t do something because they’re too weak, even when you know for a fact that they’re not but you’re just scared.’

Eddie shakes his head to clear his thoughts, looking up at Maggie while throwing her an embarrassed smile. ‘I never really had a mom that loved me, but now I have Richie and I’m so happy I do. He makes my life better by being in it, and I’m so thankful for that. And it isn’t always that easy, some days I can’t stop thinking about all the things my mother said, but Richie accept those days, and loves me all the same.’

Maggie looks close to tears, still holding one of Eddie’s hands in her own, with a sturdy grip. ‘Well’, she sniffles, ‘You do have a mom that loves you now.’

It’s only nine words, but they cause Eddie to burst out into tears anyway, feeling like a complete and utter idiot. He’s happy though, and the fact that he was doubting coming here seems so absurd now.

‘Thank you’, he whispers, as if the words are supposed to be a secret, but he doesn’t want to break the atmosphere of love and acceptance they have. Then Richie walks back in with Went, and it burst like a bell bubble Richie always wants to pop as if he’s two years old.

‘Oh does Eddie Spaghetti need a tissue?’

‘Seriously shut the fuck up Richie.’

#reddie #reddie imagine #My writing #it chapter two imagine #maggie tozier #wentworth tozier #the loser club imagines #fluff I guess #also angst a little little bit #idk even know what this shit writing is but whatever here have it 😂😂

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tthael · 4 years

Note

Are you still taking asks? Disregard if not, but I'm still thinking about the TTHAEL universe now and then, and I know Kay has plenty of justified reasons for not being too jazzed about Richie, but I'm wondering if, over the course of Bev's life with R and K as some of her best friends, they ever end up having any more positive interactions?

My state of taking asks is nebulous because it takes me a while to get around to them but I do usually plan to answer.

So the thing about Kay is that she’s angry with Richie’s stage persona and his early career. And some people--like Eddie--make a clear division between the things that Richie says on stage and the things he actually thinks, and are relieved by him turning over a new leaf after Derry and writing his own stuff and the still-irreverent but overtly gay and left-leaning comedy he now produces. And some people--like Kay--maintain that Richie is still responsible for the things he said, even when he wasn’t writing them, because he put them out into the world and he had a significant fan following of people (mostly men) who treat women very badly. The division between Kay’s followers and Richie’s early followers is pretty clear, it’s a straight line down the middle.

And Kay loves Bev with all her heart, and agrees that Ben Hanscom is certainly an improvement on Tom Rogan, but Kay always second-guesses Bev’s relationships around men. She’s always keeping an eye out. Bev’s in charge of Bev, but if Kay witnessed behavior that worried her she would start making a list and just... preparing herself, the way that she did when Bev was married to Tom. So the fact that Bev went off to Derry and came back with five previously-unheard-of man friends, several of whom are extremely famous, one of whom is Richie goddamn Tozier? Kay is completely flummoxed. And out of the lot of them, Richie Tozier is definitely the worst, as far as Kay’s concerned.

So Richie is himself when they’re like, sitting around Ben’s firepit in Nebraska, and he isn’t overtly an asshole (or at least, not any more than he naturally is). He’s obnoxious, and he’s a man, but he doesn’t seem to be deliberately misogynistic the way he plays on stage. And Kay doesn’t know what’s going on with him and the little guy (the fact that Eddie is exactly her height doesn’t stop him from being the little guy) until Richie Tozier actually like puts an arm around him and pulls him tight to his side, and Kay understands how toxic masculinity is a prison that doesn’t allow men to touch each other except in acts of violence, but she’s pretty surprised that Richie Tozier would pull a move like that. And Eddie kind of snarks at him a little but also leans his head back against Richie’s shoulder because he’s had too much to drink and he’s totally nodding off, and Kay just... files that away. (She works it out by the time she sees them dancing together at Ben & Bev’s wedding.)

So Kay and Richie are probably two of the most important people in Bev’s life (Kay being the exceptional non-Loser) and frequently they’re at events that are important to Bev. They’re in closer proximity than Kay would prefer, but Kay can be civil. For Bev. And Richie never says anything to Kay that really sets her off, but he also never apologizes.

(It never occurs to Richie that Kay might want an apology. He never said anything offensive to her specifically, and he’s not going to ask her for a benediction from all of womankind or anything.)

But I picture maybe one day there’s some kind of event happening in a gallery, and Bev’s there, and Kay’s there, and inexplicably Richie’s there but Eddie’s not so he’s sulking a little, and they’re both like in the back of the room drinking and pointedly not talking, and Kay is noticing how Bev’s actually mingling with people this time. When Rogan&Marsh did their public appearances, their congratulatory events, Tom always did the talking, and if Bev dared to speak to anyone it was because she was on his arm and he could listen to what she said. If Bev was tired and perched at the bar and drinking screwdrivers because she was just worn out, she didn’t talk much. But now Bev’s heading her own label and she’s out there working the room and accepting the congratulations that she’s due for her work, and Kay--who is two drinks in and feeling relaxed enough to initiate conversation with Richie goddamn Tozier--asks something about the security at the event.

And Richie snorts and tells her about the time after he and Bev got papped, when they were all convinced that Tom Rogan was out standing in the pool at his apartment complex. Kay casts an eye over the big glass windows (lots of natural light!) of the gallery but it’s all pretty opaque darkness out there. She doesn’t touch her scar. She doesn’t wear concealer over it either.

“She told me that night that she wanted to kill him,” Richie says quietly. He’s also been drinking a little but he probably wouldn’t say that to anyone other than Kay. Not Ben, because it would upset Ben. Maybe Eddie, but talking about Bev like that to Eddie feels a little bit like going around Bev’s back. Kay’s different, though. Kay understands.

“Out in your pool?” Kay thinks about the logistics. It would have been very easy.

“No,” Richie says. “We were, like, eating nachos and drinking, that’s what they papped us doing, and she was like, ‘I want to kill him.’“

Kay remembers those photos--Beverly Marsh’s New Funnyman?--and how at ease Bev had looked, despite being tucked into the corner. The way they shoved the dish of nachos back and forth at each other. Bev didn’t look the way she did with Tom, she looked the way she did with Kay, when she forgot there was anything to hide. She can’t imagine Bev saying anything like that to her with that look on her face. Bev holds things back, now that Tom’s hurt both of them.

“Really,” she says, almost impressed.

“Yeah, and then she walked it back, but.” Richie Tozier shrugs. “I mean, if the opportunity presented itself, I’d ask her first, but.”

There’s a sealed court case in Derry, Maine, with Richie Tozier’s name on it. Kay doesn’t know the details, but it’s like a little bit of the night comes in to their corner, casting shadows over them while Bev, out on the floor, just blazes with light.

“Well, how kind of you to ask her first,” Kay says airily, but actually she prefers that to him taking things into his own hands. Better Richie than Ben--Bev doesn’t want to do without Ben, for all that she could--but he’s still the one that draws the most of Kay’s suspicion, seconded only by the horror writer Bev’s still tense and awkward around.

Richie smiles in response to the joke and replies, just as airily, in a voice tending toward an English accent, “I am but a simple old-fashioned man. I need her blessing before I go out and commit vigilante justice.” In his own voice he says, “Also Eddie would fucking kill me, so we’d have to be really good at cleaning our tracks.”

Kay snorts. “If you two go out and kill him without inviting me along I’ll never forgive you,” she says. It’s not even that she wants to kill Tom Rogan, it’s that she’s so angry about what he did to her and Bev that she wants him to hang himself with his own rope. She wants to take what he did and throw it back in his face--this is not /her/ fault, it’s his, and she wants him to never be able to do anything without what he did haunting him.

That’s not always the world they live in, but it’s the one Kay McCall is trying to make.

Richie Tozier just lifts his eyebrows, considering. “Fair,” he seems to decide. He looks at her glass, which is down to just ice. “You want another--?”

“Yeah.”

“What’re you drinking?”

“I don’t know, it was friggin’ disgusting.”

He laughs. “What do you want to be drinking?”

“Just get me a screwdriver,” she says. “Me and Bev’ll match.”

“Got it,” he says, and goes to get her a drink.

#long post #my fic #tthael #tthabl #things that happen after beverly leaves #domestic violence #violence against women

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myemergence · 4 years

Text

Names

5+1 - The 5 times Buck is called by a last name other than Buckley, and the one time Buck’s last name actually changes

A/N: prompt from Ale on the discord & thank you to taxing-ninja for the beta on this one - you work wonders!

Buck slipped his hand into the pocket of his black trousers, the fabric of the white button down shirt taut against his chest. A smile parted his lips, eyes resting on Maddie and Chim who were sitting a few steps away. The simple white chairs were still in neat rows, calla lilies adorning the chairs at the edge of the aisle, tulle draped down their backs.

He glanced up, feeling a light hand resting on his shoulder. “Well, they did it, didn’t they? Never thought I’d see the day.” Hen chuckled lightly.

“Yeah.” Buck nodded his head absently.

The ceremony had been beautiful. They had opted for a smaller gathering of close friends and family versus an extravagant wedding, and it had suited them. They had exchanged their vows on the edge of the beach, overlooking the water. Maddie had looked like something out of a magazine, wearing a cream colored dress that was long and flowing. The entire thing had been the complete opposite of her ceremony with Doug, which had been a spectacle to say the least. Doug had wanted a huge wedding with all of the bells and whistles, and that was exactly what their parents had paid for.

Her marriage and relationship with Doug had sucked her into a terrible and dark place, one that she had to claw her way out of. Buck’s relationship with his sister had suffered immensely because of Doug. But Buck had never been more proud of his sister than he was on the day that she’d arrived on his doorstep, effectively breaking the silence about what she’d been enduring alone.

She deserved happiness, she deserved this, with Chimney. Buck watched as Chim placed a quick kiss against her lips, arm sliding casually around her waist and pulling her close.

“Congratulations, you two.” Hen congratulated them as the couple stepped closer to where she’d been standing with Buck.

“Maddie Han, finally making an honest man out of me.” Chim chuckled. Buck’s face soured slightly at Chimney’s words, watching as Maddie’s hand effortlessly slipped into Chimney’s.

“I’ll be right back.” Buck murmured, flashing a quick smile before stepping away.

Eddie glanced at Buck as he stepped over to him, placing a slow kiss on his lips. Buck pulled away after a short moment, causing Eddie’s eyebrow to arch lightly. “Everything alright, querido?” He asked lowly, gently grabbing Buck’s hand.

A barely audible sigh escaped his lips then, nodding his head curtly. “Yeah, fine. Everything’s great,” he spoke, his voice even.

Eddie felt a laugh dance past his lips as he studied his boyfriend for a long moment. “No offense, but I don’t think that you know what ‘great’ means.” Buck frowned, arms crossed against his chest at Eddie’s teasing words. Eddie let out a slow breath at Buck’s usual stubbornness, placing his hand on top of his arm, gently gripping the white material there. “Evan Buckley, talk to me.”

“Don’t call me that.” Eddie’s words had caused the frown on Buck’s face to deepen.

Eddie’s face reflected the confusion that he was feeling. His eyes rested on Buck, as though studying his features would explain the change in his behaviour. “What?”

“Don’t call me Evan Buckley.”

Eddie continued to look at Buck, searching for some sort of understanding and coming up empty. He scratched at the back of his head, eyes seeking out Buck’s, “But that’s your name.” He responded carefully. Eddie tried to keep the laugh out of his voice. He didn’t understand what the problem was, but it seemed like Buck had suddenly developed some sort of complex.

“Well, it’s not fair.” He mumbled, a clear pout making its appearance on his full lips.

“You can’t do that in public, Ev.” Eddie spoke lowly, hazel eyes fully focused on Buck’s full lips. Eddie brushed his thumb over Buck’s bottom lip, his eyes continuing to consume Buck.

“Alright, you two.” Maddie interjected as she stepped over to her brother and his boyfriend. “Let’s keep this PG, okay? You can’t be over here outdoing the newlyweds.” She laughed.

Buck rolled his eyes at his sister. “Whatever you say, Mads.” It wasn’t fair that only Maddie got to change her last name. Chim was his family now, too, and that meant that he was a Han.

“Do you want to tell me what has you all bent out of shape?” She asked slowly. Eddie stood beside Buck wordlessly, his curiosity also piqued, glancing to Buck for an explanation.

After letting out a huff of a breath, Buck spoke. “How come only you get to change your last name, Maddie? It’s so unfair.”

Maddie was unable to withhold her laughter as she listened to her brother, Chim rejoining her. “Because I’m the one that just got married?”

“Oh, so I get to be the only Buckley left, that seems like an unusual punishment. Did I kick your dog or something?”

Maddie rolled her eyes, Chim at her shoulder. “Would it make you feel better if I called you Evan Han?” Chimney asked, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“You have no idea,” Buck said

“Welcome to the Han family, Buck.”

Quiet twenty-four hour shifts were the worst. They were what most of the team loathed the most. Having quiet parts of any given shift was generally appreciated, especially in between busy calls. But having to effectively spend the majority of your day handling chores and housekeeping was not at the top of anyone’s list. Especially if you were Evan Buckley, and you were ready to climb the walls. He needed to be out of the firehouse, physically doing something. Not checking inventory in the supply closet for the third time, or buffing out a shine on the big rig.

And Buck feeling like he was going to climb the walls meant that he’d spent the entirety of the shift driving everyone crazy.

“So, did you ever wonder why they call it a driveway when you park on it?” Buck asked, drumming his fingers against the edge of the table. “And why do they call it a parkway when you drive on it?”

Chimney let out an audible sigh from where he stood, tired of all of Buck’s open-ended questions and random facts. Dinner had consisted of them learning that butterflies taste with their hind legs, that India has a Bill of Rights for cows, and that almonds are a member of the peach family.

Chim leveled Eddie with a gaze as Buck joined Bobby in the kitchen to help clean up after their meal. “You’re going to need to lock yourself in the bunks with him, before I kill him.” There was a brief pause as Chimney set his hands flat on the table, leaning towards Eddie. “And I don’t think my wife will ever forgive me for killing her baby brother, so please help.”

Eddie held up his hands in surrender, letting out an amused laugh. “Listen, man. I would help, really I would. But, Cap said the bunks are off limits, if Buck’s in there, I’m out here. So… you need a new plan.”

Chim groaned as his eyes scanned the upper loft of the fire house, searching for something, anything that would hold the younger firefighter’s attention for more than five seconds. His eyes landed on Hen, who had settled herself over by the video game console, clearly enjoying the escape. A mischievous smile crossed his lips then, his eyes moving to where Buck stood at the sink.

“Hey, Buck?” Chim rose from his spot at the table, clearing his spot before he reached the sink. “Hen said she has crushed the high score over there, and doesn’t think she has any competition. You should go and show her how it’s done, I’ve got clean up.”

Buck’s mouth was slightly ajar. “Hen!” He called across the loft, tossing the hand towel to Chim. “Thanks, brother.”

“No. thank you.” Chim smirked as Bobby loaded the dish drying rack, before grabbing a plate to dry.

“You are terrible, you do know that, right?” Bobby let out a small laugh, shaking his head at their antics.

Chimney shrugged his shoulder lightly. “We all have to be good at something.”

Buck closed in the space in quick strides. “So what’s this I hear about there being no competition in this firehouse?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, plopping himself down next to Hen gracelessly.

“What nonsense are you talking about now?” Hen shook her head, pushing down on the keys to the remote controller in quick succession.

“You can’t fool me, Hen.” He spoke, his attention split between looking at Hen and looking at the game. “What are you doing? You’re gonna get--”

“Buck!” Hen shouted, watching her character die on the screen. She heaved a heavy sigh before shooting a glare in his direction. “Look what you did!” She motioned to the screen, annoyance evident on her face.

Buck frowned at Hen’s reaction. “I did no such thing. It’s not my fault that you can’t concentrate.”

“Please tell me that you’re not being serious right now.” Hen told him flatly. “Of course it’s your fault. You are so distracting.” She paused, deciding to take a different approach. “Okay, how about a friendly little wager?”

Buck turned his attention from the video game, shifting his body slightly as he looked to Hen. “Oh, so I should decide what you’re going to give to me when I win?” He asked, as a cocky grin crossed his lips.

Hen clenched her jaw before she released a slow breath. “If I win, you have to be quiet for thirty minutes.”

Buck let out a laugh at her terms. “That is really the best that you’ve got?” Hen simply raised her eyebrows in reply. “Okay, okay…” Buck drummed his fingers against his chair in thought. “Okay.”

“I think we’ve established ‘okay’. What’s it going to be, Buck?”

“If I win, you have to do inventory for me next time, because I hate it.”

“Alright, so those are the terms. Let’s do this.”

The two firefighters sat side by side, Hen taking her turn first. Her face stilled in concentration as she focused on the screen in front of her, feverently pushing buttons, eyes not wavering from the screen. Once Bobby and Chim finished with the dishes, the three remaining members of their team joined Hen and Buck.

“So, what’s going on over here?” Bobby asked.

“Hen’s trying to get me to be quiet for thirty minutes, as though that’s something any of you would want.” Buck scoffed, eyes moving back to the screen. Bobby and Chim exchanged a silent look.

“Alright, well-- when you and Hen are finished with this friendly little wager you’ve got going, I have a few things I need you to take care of, until the next call.” Bobby told Buck. He briefly considered the work that he had to do in his office, but decided it could wait another few minutes. Bobby crossed his arms over his chest, as heavily invested in the wager as the rest of the team. They were all envisioning what a quiet firehouse would sound like.

“Watch out! Hen, Hen!” Chim warned, before letting out a loud groan as the ‘game over’ icon appeared on the screen. “Oh, Wonderboy over here is up.”

Buck grinned over at Hen. “Alright, my turn.” Hen let out an audible groan, smacking the controller against Buck’s chest. “Ouch.” He mock grimaced, rubbing his chest for a moment. He took the remote control before restarting the game. “Prepare to lose, Hen.” Buck spoke, before his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Eddie stood there in the welcomed silence, trying to decide who it was exactly that he was rooting for. He dipped his head down, lips dangerously close to Buck’s ear. “You know, if you don’t win, there are ways that I can keep you quiet for thirty minutes.”

Buck drew in a sharp breath, trying to ignore Eddie as he stood up straight, giving Buck his space. The team stood there in silence, though it was unclear if they were just enjoying the fact that Buck was finally not talking, or if they were all so invested in who was going to win the friendly wager.

“Oh come on!” Buck frowned, continuing to press the keys roughly, even after his character had died.

“Alright, alright…” Bobby spoke evenly, like a parent trying to settle his arguing children. “So, who won this thing?”

“Oh look Hen, high score!” Buck grinned widely at her.

“Give me this.” Hen muttered as she took the remote control from Buck, Chim groaning as he and Bobby walked away. Bobby dismissed himself, making his way down into his office to do so much needed work while things remained quiet.

“Hey!” The blond-haired firefighter frowned as she pulled the remote control from his hands.

“You are such a pain in the ass, you know that? You’re like a totally obnoxious little brother who doesn’t know when to quit.” Buck rolled his eyes at Hen before they traveled to the screen, looking at what Hen had typed in.

BUCK WILSON.

“Aw, Hen.” He placed a loud kiss against her cheek, making a spectacle as he grinned from ear to ear. “You do love me.”

Buck and Eddie arrived at the Grant-Nash residence right on time. Buck rapped on the door briefly before he stuffed his hands in his pockets, waiting for them to answer. Eddie stood at his side, their shoulders gently bumping together as they waited. “Do you want to explain to me how this whole thing came about?”

Buck’s shoulder shrugged lightly as they waited, hearing soft footsteps approaching the door. “Bobby and I were talking, and I told him I’d never done this kind of thing before.”

Eddie paused, looking to him in confusion. “This kind of thing?” There was a question in Eddie’s voice, his hand slipping to the low part of Buck’s back as Bobby greeted them, allowing them into the house.

“I’ve never done a family game night before.”

Eddie had a stricken look on his face, “Wait, you’ve seriously never had a family game night before?” Buck shrugged at the question as they made their way into the house. “We brought snacks.” Eddie spoke, handing a bag over to Bobby as they made their way into the kitchen area.

“Thanks, guys.” Bobby offered them a smile. He busied himself with taking the veggie tray out of the bag, setting it beside the smorgasbord of snacks that they already had laid out on the counter. “Get yourselves something to drink, grab a snack, and then let’s head in. This usually takes a bit.” He laughed then, glancing at their two newest guests to arrive.

“Oh, look what the cat dragged in.” Chim spoke as they made their way into the living room where the rest of their friends had gathered.

“We got caught up doing… something.” Buck offered a small shrug of his shoulder after his voice trailed off.

“Eww, gross,” Maddie’s face scrunched up immediately at her brother’s words. “Let’s not talk about that again, okay?” She requested with a roll of her eyes, as Buck sat on the floor with his legs criss-crossed, Eddie seated on the couch behind him.

Bobby and Athena joined everyone in their living room, the entire one-eighteen team and their significant others gathered around. After the topic of family game night had come up with Buck, Bobby thought it would be a good idea to have everyone over for a family game night. In the last week they’d had some pretty intense calls, and it was the perfect opportunity for everyone to let that fall away.

“I hope everyone is ready for some friendly competition,” Athena smiled as she brought the glass of wine to her lips, savoring a sip. “Welcome to your first Grant-Nash family game night.”

“Hopefully, the first of many.” Bobby added, sliding his arm around Athena’s waist and drawing her closer.

“So we are playing a game called Celebrity, some people call it Salad Bowl. We’ll have Team Nash and Team Grant,” Athena paused. “On each team there will be one person that is giving clues to the rest of their team. The goal is to name as many of the celebrities as you can, in the given time. There are three rounds, and the team with the most points will win.”

“That sounds easy enough.” Buck spoke from where he sat. He heard a laugh from behind him and spun around to look at Eddie. “What?”

“It will be easy, for everyone who knows pop culture,” Eddie explained. Chim looked from Eddie to Maddie, and then back to Buck. One thing that the siblings were not known for, was their knowledge of pop culture, or essentially any movie reference.

“Alright, Bobby and I will pick our teams.” Bobby and Athena took turns selecting their teams, until both teams had been filled, less for the Buckley siblings.

“Come on guys, this is like being picked last for a team during gym class,” Buck whined, crossing his arms over his chest like a child. “I’m going to be the last one picked, too. Because Athena still resents me from the call with the baby in the pipe.”

“Boy, do not start bringing up the past.” Athena sassed Buck, looking at him in mock seriousness before breaking into a fond smile. “You had better get your butt over here, since you are Buck Grant tonight.”

A smile lit up Buck’s face upon hearing her words, “Are you serious?”

“Evan, you are such a child. Pouting so that you don’t get picked last.” Maddie shook her head as he joined the rest of her team, which consisted of Bobby, Eddie, and Karen.

Athena exchanged a glance with Bobby, before she patted the seat beside her on the couch. “Get over here, before I change my mind.” She took the time to explain the specific rules of each round.

“So to start with, I’m going to give everyone a few slips of paper. You are going to write down some celebrity names, and movies. Then we’ll fold them up, put them into the bowl and we can get started with the first round.”

Everyone took a few minutes, scribbling on the small slips of paper that Athena had passed out before she collected the folded pieces in a large clear bowl. “Hen, why don’t you give the clues first?”

Athena joined Buck and Chimney on the couch. She started the timer as they began with the first round, and Hen grabbed a slip of paper from the bowl before she began giving clues.

“A classic movie… Burt Reynolds is driving beer across the country in a hurry, and they are chased down by the sheriff, Buford T Justice.” Hen spoke, she glanced at Buck who had a blank look on his face.

“Uh… that’s, uh… Smokey and the Bandit.” Chim spoke, snapping his fingers as the title finally came to his mind. Hen dropped the paper onto the table before grabbing the next one.

“Who in the hell…” She glanced up from the paper, looking for Buck. “You did this one.” Hen rolled her eyes. “A… classic... cartoon character.”

“Mickey Mouse?” Athena asked slowly, her face scrunching in confusion.

“From Looney Tunes.”

“Daffy Duck? Bugs Bunny?” Chim shot off the names, before Hen acknowledged that it was Bugs, moving on to the next. The game continued for a while, everyone becoming more involved and competitive than the round before. And their friends realizing with each round how very little the Buckley siblings knew about pop culture and movies.

The game ended up being far closer than any of them had expected. Chimney and Karen clearly carrying the majority of their teams through each of the rounds. At one point in the game, Athena’s team lost their lead thanks to Buck. He had ended up earning them several penalties, when he blanked on a few of the answers and either blurted out the answer outright, or used words that were too close to the actual answer. After three rounds, Team Nash was declared the winner.

Athena laughed as everyone cleared their glasses and bowls and moved into the kitchen to help clean up. “And for the record? Bugs Bunny is not a celebrity.” She told Buck as she took his glass and set it in the sink, a motherly smile on her face.

“Harry! You need to finish up. You and Bobby have to leave soon for the game.” Athena called outside. The Department was hosting a Father-Son Basketball game as a fundraiser for Fire Prevention and Safety programs in some of the local schools. Bobby wasn’t intending to play; he just planned to go there to sit on the sidelines, cheering people on and seeing where he could help. However, Athena had suggested that Harry might want to play with him. And after Bobby had spoken to about it with Michael and gotten the okay, Harry could not have been more excited to be on Bobby’s team.

The boy had been spending much of his extra time outside, practicing for the game. Bobby treated Harry like he was his own kid, and not just some step-kid that he’d inherited from another marriage. The last thing that Harry wanted was to disappoint him. “Mom!” Harry’s screech came from out back, and Athena was there in an instant.

“Harry, what is it? What’s wrong, baby?” She made her way out the back door, crouching down beside him to where the little boy sat on the ground, clutching his ankle.

“I was just practicing!” Tears slipped down his cheeks quickly. “Mom, how am I going to play?”

Athena gently reached for his ankle, trying to gauge the injury, seeing the swelling that had already begun. “Oh, baby, you’re not going to be able to play in the game today.”

“But Mom, Bobby is going to be so upset!”

“It’s going to be alright, let’s get you inside and get this taken care of, and then we’ll worry about Bobby, okay?” Athena helped Harry to his feet, helping him to hobble inside and settling him on the couch before she retrieved an ice pack to help with the swelling.

“Hey Harry, are you as psyched as I am about--” Bobby stopped mid-sentence as he made his way out to the living room where Harry was resting, watching as Athena gently stroked his cheek. “What happened?” Bobby’s brow furrowed in concern as he joined Athena beside the couch.

“Bobby, I’m so sorry.” The words tumbled out of Harry’s mouth so quickly that Bobby could barely understand them. Harry’s eyes moved up to Bobby’s, afraid to see the disappointment there.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” Bobby assured him softly. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“He’s alright.” Athena spoke after a pause, rising from the couch and placing her hand on Bobby’s arm. “He was practicing for the benefit game, and he twisted his ankle pretty badly. He can’t put much pressure on it, so he’s not going to be able to play.” She explained.

“That’s okay.” Bobby told her as they stepped away from the couch, where Harry was trying to rest. “I’ll just call and let them know that I won’t be playing today.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” Athena told him with a sideways glance.

Bobby looked at her in confusion. “I only have one step-son, Athena. I don’t think I can produce another one in the next two hours.”

“You’re only considering one of your houses, Bobby. Don’t worry, I’ll have a backup for you in no time.” She told him with a confident smile, before she pressed a kiss to Bobby’s lips. “Why don’t you go up and get showered before the game and I’ll take care of everything else?”

A short while later, Bobby returned to the living room where Harry had dozed off with his ankle elevated and iced. Bobby heard a knock at the front door, and not seeing Athena, he walked to the front door and pulled it open.

“Buck, what are you doing here?” Bobby asked after he opened the door. “Is everything okay?”

To his surprise, Bobby heard his wife’s voice behind him. “If there is anyone I know that should be an honorary Nash for the day, it’s Buck.”

Bobby turned around and looked at Athena. She truly never ceased to amaze him. Aside from his own children and step children, there was nobody else that he looked to with the same kind of fatherly love as Buck. He’d done everything in his power to protect him in situations in the past, often beyond the typical protection or guidance one would give to a subordinate. A conversation with Athena quickly came to mind, where she’d given Bobby some parenting advice, in regard to Buck. At the time Bobby had argued that Buck wasn’t his kid, but that notion had long since been pushed aside.

Bobby smiled warmly at the young firefighter who stood in front of him, wearing a LAFD shirt and a pair of gym shorts. “Thanks for coming on such short notice, Buck.”

“Of course, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Buck assured him, adjusting the small black duffel bag over his shoulder.

A small grin crossed Bobby’s lips before he gently clapped Buck on the shoulder. “Let’s do this, Evan Nash. You’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

Christopher was settled on the couch at Maddie and Chimney’s, a coloring book resting in his lap. Chimney sat on one side, and Maddie on the other. They had been begging for some extra time with Christopher as of late. As Buck and Eddie’s relationship had grown, Aunt Maddie and Uncle Chim had become pretty regular faces for him.

He loved spending quality time with them, and the couple enjoyed his company even more. It was a good chance for Buck and Eddie to get out on their own and enjoy a quiet date night too.

Tonight had been even more special because Hen had dropped by, and the four of them had enjoyed a dinner together, followed by an intense game of Uno Attack. A game that Christopher had slaughtered every single one of them in, more than once.

Christopher sat hunched over his coloring book, focusing closely on the firefighter that he was coloring, his tongue pushing out past his lips in what appeared to be absolute concentration.“Uncle Chimney?” Chris asked, not glancing up as he spoke.

“Yeah, bud?”

“You and Aunt Maddie live here together, right?” Christopher asked, not glancing up from the coloring book as he spoke.

Chimney nodded his head lightly. “Yeah, we live together, Chris. We’re married.” He added, in his mind thinking that explained everything, when in reality that sparked an entirely different set of questions.

“And what’s her last name?” He asked carefully, closing his coloring book as he looked to Chimney for the answer. He balanced the book on his lap, letting the red crayon roll gently back and forth against the cover.

“... Han.” Chimney hesitated as he answered, eyes moving to Maddie as though to ask her what this was all about.

“And Aunt Hen, Karen, and Denny, they all live together. And their last name is Wilson.” He stated simply.

Maddie looked at the little boy closely, trying to understand where the questions were coming from. “Chris, is there something that you needed to ask us?” She asked gently, turning her attention to him as she moved the coloring book and crayons out of his lap, setting them down on the coffee table.

“All of your families have the same last name.” Chris observed, his eyes locking on Maddie’s. Her mouth opened slightly as though to speak, before Christopher continued. “So, my Buck should be Buck Diaz, then.”

“I…” Maddie trailed off slowly, at a loss for words for a moment. She pursed her lips momentarily, trying to figure out how to explain to Chris that Buck and Eddie weren’t married, not like everyone else was. “But Buck doesn’t live with you.”

“Not all the time.” Christopher told her matter-of-factly. The truth was that although Buck still had his own apartment, his own things, and his own space, he rarely used them. Most nights he would choose to go to Eddie and Christopher’s and they would spend family time together, which was Christopher’s absolute favorite. The only way to top those evenings, was for Chris to wake up and have both his Dad and his Buck there in the morning. Those were the best days. Perfect days.

On those days, Buck would help Eddie make breakfast, and they’d turn on cartoons and lounge in their pajamas all morning. On one of those days, Buck and Eddie had surprised Christopher with a trip to the zoo, and they had spent a solid forty-five minutes studying the elephants, just because those had always been Christopher’s favorite.

Chimney rose to his feet, gently grabbing hold of Maddie’s arm and urging her into the other room. “We’ll be right back, Chris.” He called, turning to look Maddie square in the eyes as they reached the kitchen. “There is only one way to stop the madness.” Chim hissed at his wife in a loud whisper.

“What’s that, Chim?” Maddie laughed quietly, bringing the glass of wine to her lips, her eyes dancing with amusement.

“Buck needs to actually change his last name,” he said, as though it were that simple.

“There’s just one problem.” Maddie reminded Chimney. “They aren’t even engaged.”

“Well, when the hell is Eddie getting back here?” He asked as he opened up the cupboard, grabbing a bag of chips and dumping it into a bowl.

“They should be back any minute now.” Maddie assured him as she glanced at the clock. “They said they’d be back by nine-thirty, and it’s after nine now.” Maddie and Chimney returned to the living room, and Chim offered the bowl of chips to the boy.

“I have another question.” Christopher quipped after a short pause. Chimney resisted the urge to groan, doubting that he was going to have the correct answer to anything that Christopher would ask.

“Sure, what’s that?”

“How did you get Aunt Maddie to marry you and have the same last name as you?” Christopher turned his body slightly, focusing on his Uncle Chimney intently.

“I just asked her.” Chim explained simply.

“Oh.” Christopher nodded, deep in thought, as he took a chip from the bowl that Chimney had offered him and popped it into his mouth.

Maddie watched the boys get situated on the couch as she grabbed a throw blanket off the back of the couch, covering both of them up. “How about we put some cartoons on until your Dad gets here?” Christopher nodded his head in approval, a small yawn escaping his lips.

Fifteen minutes later Buck and Eddie arrived at Maddie and Chim’s. “Sorry we’re late.” Eddie apologized. “How was he?”

“He was an angel as always.” Maddie replied, a fond smile spreading across her lips as she glanced at the boy who had dozed off only a few minutes into the cartoon.

“He sure asks a lot of questions.” As Chim spoke, Maddie shot him a warning glance. Wordlessly, Chim held up his hands before he grabbed the empty bowl and returned to the kitchen.

Buck smiled as he crouched down to Christopher’s level, gently scooping the boy up, lifting him until his head was resting heavily against Buck’s shoulder. “You got everything?” He asked Eddie quietly, who had grabbed the bag with all of Christopher’s things.

Moments later, they had said their goodbyes and left the apartment. “Buck…” Christopher’s voice was heavy with sleep.

“Go back to sleep, buddy.” Buck spoke to him gently as they reached Eddie’s truck, Eddie opening the door to help Buck get him in more easily.

“Will you be my Bucky Diaz?” Buck had a look of surprise on his face. He remained silent as he got Christopher into his seat and buckled in. He finally let out a quiet laugh, eyes searching for Eddie.

“Eds? Where’d you go?” Finally, Buck turned around as he continued his search for Eddie. His breath caught for a brief moment, seeing Eddie behind him on one knee.

“So, this isn’t how this was supposed to go. And this isn’t where I planned on asking you, in the parking lot at Maddie’s,” Eddie said as he let out an uneasy laugh. “But that kid in there loves you as much as I do, maybe even more. And he clearly wants you to be a part of this family, too. So I feel like it’s unfair to wait. We’d love for you to become a Diaz, or a Buckley-Diaz, if that’s your thing.” Eddie laughed again, the nerves consuming him. “What I am trying to ask, so completely terribly, is will you marry me Evan Buckley?”

Buck reached down wordlessly, grabbed Eddie by the hands and pulled him to his feet - making sure they were as close to each other as physically possible. “I didn’t think you were ever going to ask.” Buck teased, before Eddie grabbed his face in both of his hands, and pressed his lips against Buck’s, both of them falling easily and blissfully into a deep kiss.

Buck awoke to a feeling of heady warmth behind him. A contented sigh slipped past his lips, as he felt an arm circle around him before resting against his bare chest. “Good morning, Mr. Buckley-Diaz.” Eddie murmured against his ear.

“That’s not my name.” Buck spoke back quietly, the pads of his fingers gently moving against Eddie’s arm.

“Buck, we are not playing this game again. You don’t have to worry about just being a Buckley anymore, I thought our wedding yesterday would solidify that for you. This has been going on for a year now, since Maddie and Chim’s wedding.” Eddie laughed, as Buck turned over in his arms.

“I’m not playing a game.” Buck assured him, leaning forward to brush his lips against Eddie’s. “I decided it’s not going to be Buckley-Diaz.”

“Oh,” Eddie nodded his head minimally as he sat up in their bed. There was a slight sound of disappointment in his voice. “Decided to keep the Buckley name alive after all, did you?”

“No, Eds.” Buck looked at Eddie closely for a moment, before realizing what must be going through Eddie’s mind. He sat up beside Eddie in bed, his fingers moving in small circles over Eddie’s bare back before he placed a tender kiss against his shoulder blade. “I’m dropping Buckley. I want to be Evan Diaz. I want to share a last name with my boys.”

“Evan.” The emotion in Eddie’s voice was discernible, as he turned his body towards Buck, so that he was able to search Buck’s face. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” He assured him, a smile pulling at his lips. “Now will you shut up for a minute and kiss your husband?” Buck’s laugh was low in his throat, before he pressed his lips against Eddie’s, fingers resting below Eddie’s abs, at the waistband of his sweats.

Eddie pulled back an inch to speak. “Oh, I’ll do more than kiss him.” Eddie promised quietly, a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

As their bodies intertwined, Buck couldn’t think of anyone else that he would rather be than Evan Diaz.

#911 #911 fanfic #buddie #911 fandom #fluff #prompt fill #5+1 fic #5+1 things #fire fam #evan buckley #eddie diaz

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inthebreadbinwrites · 5 years

Text

losers getting married

Reddie

out of the losers, richie and eddie get married first.

it’s not a surprise, considering they’ve been together since sophomore year.

richie has been saying he’s going to marry eddie for years and eventually eddie starts saying it too.

it’s how it happens that’s a shock, even though it’s in the most richie and eddie way possible.

when they’re in college, they all decide to drive down to vegas for ben’s 21st birthday as he’s the youngest.

they all get piss drunk and that’s when reddie decides to get married.

both of them eye up the chapel when they walk past but eddie is the one who actually ‘proposes’.

“hey richie. let’s get married.” “fuck yeah eds!”

they pull all the others into the chapel and quickly set up their ceremony.

the losers are a bit shocked but go along with it, partly because of the alcohol and partly because richie and eddie are stubborn shits and will do it with or without them there.

they decide that stan and bev will be richie’s groomsmen and mike and ben will be eddie’s.

bill gets to chuck roses onto the floor as richie walks down the aisle.

their vows are a bit of a disaster. richie drunkenly cries in the middle of a metaphor comparing eddie to a bowl of spaghetti and eddie attempts to make your mom jokes.

they finally get through them though and they are married by an elvis impersonator.

he also offers to sing the song for their first dance, as long as it’s by elvis. he expects them to choose ‘can’t help falling in love’. they end up dancing to ‘hound dog’

richie’s wearing a hawaiian print button up and converse and eddie��s wearing a blazer and a tie that somehow ends up ties around his head.

when they wake up the next morning, both are surprisingly relaxed when they find out. they knew it would happen eventually.

they do end up buying new rings. they get matching gold ones with r + e engraved on the inside.

they look exactly the same, and they constantly mix the rings up.

on their fifteenth anniversary, they decide to renew their vows.

they choose to have a big ceremony this time, with their children involved.

this time around, they have full suits and they actually have prepared vows.

they still have their first dance to hound dog though.

they both agree that both times were perfect.

Benverly

ben and bev get together in their senior year of high school and have a fairly serious relationship throughout college.

they don’t get married straight after they graduate college, instead waiting until they have jobs to start discussing it.

at 28, they finally decide it’s the right time. ben has landed a job at an architecture firm after an internship and bev is working under a fashion designer.

even though they discuss it, ben wants to surprise her when he actually proposes.

he proposes on the 4th of july, during the firework display. it’s beautiful.

they have don’t have a very long engagement, only waiting eight months to tie the knot.

ben mostly lets bev plan it, although he steps in when things get wild.

(we are not serving weed brownies, bev!)

beverly makes her own dress and it’s truly beautiful.

it’s sleeveless and an almost golden off white color, with a lace back. she wears her hair down with some daisies weaves in.

ben wears a suit with a yellow tie.

bev has richie as her best man as well as stan and her friend kay as the rest of her wedding party.

ben has mike as his best man as well as bill and eddie serving as groomsmen.

they have mike and stan’s dog as the ring bearer and bev’s niece as the flower girl.

richie takes bev to a strip club for her bachelorette party although stan intervenes before things get too wild.

ben has a lowkey bachelor party at a fancy restaurant and then a broadway show, because he loves musicals.

the actual wedding is perfect and they have their first dance to ‘can’t take my eyes off of you’

Stanlon

stan and mike get together during their first year of college.

they have a very stable and loving relationship all the way through.

when they graduate mike brings up marriage.

stan says he doesn’t want to get married. his parents had a strained relationship and he always got the feeling that they were never really in love.

mike is hurt by this, because he always imagined he’d get married. before they died, his parents had been deeply in love and he always wished for a relationship like that.

they have their first major fight after that discussion and stan goes to stay with eddie and richie for a few days.

it’s not a break up by any means but stan still feels unsure about their strong relationship for the first time.

most of all, he just misses mike. it leads to him doing a lot of thinking and realizing that he wants to spend the rest of his life with him.

he goes back home and they have several long talks.

they decide that they’re not completely tabling the idea of marriage and if they both feel ready at some point, they’ll do it.

some point occurs at ben and bev’s wedding. stan can’t help but take in the beauty of the ceremony and the couple’s happiness. he realizes he wants that for him and mike.

he decides to propose around two months later and finally works up the courage to actually ask mike three months after he decides.

there’s a part of him that’s terrified mike will have changed his mind about marriage and that he’ll say no, but he knows he has to at least ask.

he takes mike to the old farm where they spent their teenage days slowly falling for each other, but not knowing it.

he proposes at sunset. he has a whole speech planned, but he ends up just speaking from the heart instead.

mike is well and truly shocked but he says yes, because it’s everything he’s wanted for ages.

they have a long engagement as stan takes forever to plan everything to perfection.

almost two years after ben and bev, they finally get married at the farm.

they have the ceremony at night and they both wear matching tuxes.

they put lights up around the trees and give the guests candles to hold. it’s absolutely stunning.

they have similar wedding parties to ben and bev’s wedding, with richie being stan’s best man and ben being mike’s.

they have the reception in a large tent outside. their first dance is to hey ya! by outkast. it’s stan’s guilty pleasure and one of mike’s favorite songs.

instead of a traditional wedding cake, they have guests bake small cakes and then have a small competition for the best cake.

richie gets upset when his (inappropriate) cake doesn’t win, although he quickly shuts up when eddie assures him he secretly had the best.

stan gets drunk at the reception and spends the night telling mike how much he loves him and how glad he is that they did this.

mike falls in love with him just a little bit more, even though he didn’t think that was possible.

Bill + Audra

bill is the last one to get married.

he has a string of relationships in his 20s that never really work out and he starts to think that maybe he’s just not destined for marriage.

he throws himself into his work as an author and screenplay writer.

that’s when he meets audra phillips.

he’s at the coffee shop where he always writes when he first meets her.

she’s a new barista there and she gives him a sweet smile when he walks in.

throughout the next two weeks they slowly start to talk and bill finds himself developing feelings.

after some prompting from his friends, he decides to ask her out.

before she says yes, she reveals that she’s fresh out of rehab.

bill doesn’t care, he finds her perfect no matter what.

after there first date, they develop somewhat of a whirlwind romance.

he wants to propose to her a month after they start dating but the losers manage to talk him out of it.

they manage to hold him off for around five months.

he proposes on their six month anniversary.

she accepts of course, because she’s as far gone for bill as he is for her.

they get married on their one year anniversary in an intimate ceremony on the beach.

bill can’t quite believe his luck as she walks down the aisle, in a beautiful short sleeve dress.

he finds himself tearing up and he doesn’t think he’s ever felt so intensely happy before.

if you’d told him a year and a half ago he’d be here today he would have laughed in your face but here he is, marrying the love of his life.

he stutters a bit during his vows but audra just gives his hands a comforting squeeze, smiling sweetly.

they honeymoon in england, audra’s home country.

bill constantly uses the word wife and smiles every time he says it.

#this bitch long #reddie #stanlon #benverly #baudra #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #stanley uris #mike hanlon #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #bill denbrough #audra denbrough #audra phillips #headcanons #indigo writes

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eddie-boii · 5 years

Text

Never Let You Go (part 1/14)

Fic info: Both Eddie and Stan live because I do what I want. Multichapter.

Rating: Teen and up (may change).

Pairings: Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak, Beverly Marsh and Ben Hanscom.

Ao3 link: here

Summary: The Losers prepare for a wedding.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Richie was settling for a quiet night in. He’d been invited to a premiere of some horror movie but, after the shit he’d seen, he found them kind of bland. No amount of fancy editing and special effects could scare him when he’d faced the real thing. And besides, red carpets and chatting cordially with interviewers and smiling for cameras while dressed in an uncomfortable suit all required far more effort than he was willing to give. He was more than content with staying home in a ratty old t-shirt and boxer shorts, a can of beer in hand as he watched reruns of old nineties sitcoms. But his classy evening was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Bev?” said Rich after he’d hastily tugged on some pants and opened the door.

“Hi, Rich. Sorry to just turn up like this...” Beverly gave him a tight smile, her eyes glancing up only briefly before moving to focus on the floor, and Richie frowned because something was obviously up.

“You okay?”

“I-” she started but broke off, swallowing. “Um… can I come in?”

“Oh shit,” said Richie abruptly, realising they were still hovering in the doorway. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” He ushered her inside towards the living room, then quickly removed some empty beer cans and piles of clean laundry he had yet to put away so she had space to sit down. He sat beside her on the couch and she faced him, her legs pulled up as she leaned into the soft backrest of the couch. “What’s up?”

Beverly swallowed. “Um, something happened between me and Ben…”

“Oh shit,” said Richie eloquently. He’d thought she and Ben would last forever; the guy doted on her completely and they were perfect together. “Shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I-” She frowned then looked up at him finally. “Rich, do you remember when we were kids and we said if we were both single by fourty we’d marry each other?”

Richie blanched. He had not been expecting that. “Um…” he said, face bright red as he looked anywhere but at Beverly. “I mean… Well, yeah, but... I- I’d had my heart set on being married to Eddie’s mom by now and -” Shit. How do you tell your best friend you’re actually super gay and have been hiding it from her for years coz you’re a damn coward?

“Richie,” Beverly said softly. She was still looking at him tenderly and reached over to take his hand. “Rich, will you -”

Shit shit shit.

“- be my man of honour.”

Richie blinked. He gaped. Then Beverly pulled a ring out of her jacket pocket and slipped it onto her ring finger, wiggling the impressive diamond in front of Richie’s face.

“Ben proposed,” she said, her facade finally cracking to make way for a grin.

“You- you-” Richie stared at her and then leapt to his feet. “YOU ASSHOLE!” he exclaimed as Beverly burst into a fit of laughter, her whole body shaking and her hand clamped over her mouth in a meagre attempt to stifle the sound. “YOU FUCKER! YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT TO A GUY! I WAS MENTALLY PLANNING TO JUMP ON A PLANE TO BERMUDA AND LIVE OUT THE REST OF MY LIFE AS A HERMIT!”

Beverly had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she gasped out finally. “I-” More laughter - “I couldn't resist. Your face…” She pointed at him before dissolving into more giggles. “Fuck, my cheeks are cramping.”

Richie slumped back down beside her and glared at her, which was a mighty feat as he was trying not to laugh too. “You are such a dick,” he said, then tugged her towards him in a tight hug. “Congratulations, you fucking asshole, of course I’ll be your man of honour. Jesus Christ.”

Beverly just buried her face in his shoulder until her laughter finally died down. It took quite a while and when she finally pulled back, smile apparently fixed permanently to her face, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Do I get to wear a beautiful flowing dress?” he asked her, framing his face in his hands and giving her his best girly grin.

“You can wear whatever you like, babe,” she told him, then she gave a pointed look at his current attire. “As long as it’s not that.”

“Rude,” said Richie, feigning offence. “I am a fashion icon. So do I get to come help you pick a dress? Write the wedding invites? Uh… I don’t know what else happens at weddings.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ll have Stanley to help you,” she told him.

“I thought people only had the one man-slash-maid of honour?” said Richie.

“Fuck traditions,” shrugged Beverly. “And no offence, but I do not trust you with organising a wedding.”

“That’s fair,” said Richie who could barely organise his own life. “So when’s the special day?”

“January sometime,” Beverly replied. “We’ll have a little ceremony with just the Losers, then a bigger one with family and colleagues and everything.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling like she could already envision the day.

Richie couldn’t help but smile too. “Sounds perfect,” he said, honest and sincere for once.

Beverly pulled him into another hug then stood. “I’d better be off,” she said. “There’s so much shit to do, you have no idea. I’ll let you get back to your-” She glanced around at the six-pack of beers, the TV, and the general mess - “busy schedule,” she finished.

“Do I detect a hint of judgement?” Richie said, raising an eyebrow as he walked her to the door.

“None at all,” said Beverly, smiling innocently. “See you later, babe.”

“Farewell, honey-bun,” said Richie with a wink and Beverly rolled her eyes before making her exit.

Richie returned to his well-worn spot on the couch with a grin still plastered on his face. He hadn’t been to a wedding in years, and definitely not one for people he actually cared about. One where he’d be surrounded by the people he loved most in the world.

Halfway through another sitcom episode, he pulled out his phone and shot a text to Ben:

[8:57] Richie: Congratulations hot stuff how much did you fork out for that ring?

A reply arrived only a few minutes later full of heart and sparkle emojis that Ben was overly fond of using.

[9:01] Handsome Haystack: I can’t believe she said yes!!!!! And ok it was a lot but still less than she’s worth

[9:02] Richie: Thanks gonna go vomit now brb

[9:02] Handsome Haystack: You’re just jealous

[9:04] Richie: Well how can I not be? It’s not my fault you’re so stinking hot now!! Bev better watch out

There were a good few splurges of keyboard smashes before another text came through:

[9:09] Handsome Haystack: Oh Rich you know you've only gotta ask ;)

Richie snorted.

[9:10] Richie: Hi Bev you got back quick

[9:10] Handsome Haystack: Ben was waiting down the street :)

[9:12] Richie: Give him a smooch from me

Another round of keyboard smashes, then:

[9:15] Handsome Haystack: So Bev says hi

[9:16] Richie: Did she give you that smooch?

[9:16] Handsome Haystack: She did

Richie could imagine the crimson blush spread across Ben’s face and grinned.

[9:18] Richie: Soooo who are you picking as best man? Shame I can’t do both

[9:19] Handsome Haystack: Eddie and Mike

[9:19] Handsome Haystack: We have other plans for Bill

[9:20] Handsome Haystack: And uhh just so you know

[9:20] Richie: What?

[9:23] Handsome Haystack: It’s a tradition for the maid of honour to dance with the best man

[9:23] Handsome Haystack: Man of honour in this case of course

Richie blanched. He’d have to dance with Eddie… Or Mike, of course, but… Well, if he had to choose...

[9:28] Richie: What happened to Bev saying fuck tradition??

[9:28] Handsome Haystack: She’s very insistent on this one

“That sneaky little-” Richie muttered under his breath, picking up his can of beer for strength.

[9:29] Handsome Haystack: And you’ll also be walking down the aisle together

This was almost to much for Richie’s system and he started choking on the beer he’d just taken a sip of.

[9:30] Richie: Do I have to???

[9:30] Handsome Haystack: For the bride :)

Richie swore under his breath.

[9:34] Richie: Fine.

[9:34] Handsome Haystack: Love you! xoxo

Richie grunted and turned off his phone, then turned it back on again to send a begrudging ‘Love you too’. He went back to staring at the TV but didn’t take any of it in.

He’d have to dance. With Eddie.

Walk down the wedding aisle. With Eddie.

He hadn’t even let himself dream of such things.

He ran a hand down his face, his stubble rough on his palm, and groaned. Then he grabbed another beer and decided he’d deal with this in the morning after he’d drunk every can he had. * Next

#it chapter 2 #benverly #reddie #richie tozier #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #eddie kaspbrak #fic #fanfic #writing #it 2017 #fluff #fix it #EB writes #more to come at some point uwu

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nancythebisexualslutwheeler · 4 years

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So a what happens in Vegas au where Richie and Eddie get wasted. Cause Richie is in VIP and Eddie’s never received this much attention in his life. So any who they drunkenly get hitched. And post it on Richie’s Instagram. It’s blurry and black and white and just artsy enough to be something he would actually post. So anywho they’re married and win the jackpot which this doesn’t make a lot of sense since Richie has money but bare with me. In order to get a share of the money they must remain married for a month (let’s shorten the time frame) and ok I am here for:

Richie’s dirty, he is, and that’s the reason why he lives alone. Eddie absolutely cannot live in his place, so they live at Eddie’s. It’s not on purpose, he’s just always been busy or had someone to pick up after him. So Eddie gets so agitated and at first Richie thinks it’s cute and then he gets annoyed and then he gets spiteful. Until one night Eddie is sitting on the couch and crying over one glass that had a crumb in it but he’d already drunk the whole glass of juice and he realizes this is for real and hugs Eddie and promises to do better, if Eddie teaches him.

The running into each other into each other with just towels over their waist.

Richie wears real boxers and he has a habit of wearing them around (and drinking oj out of the container... Eddie bought him his own so he could still do it), and it shows off his little tummy and ass and Eddie is so attracted to him.

They’d only made out on the night of their wedding.

Richie’s parents flip out - they need witnesses for their relationship- and charm the shit out of Eddie and Jesus Eddie gives it back just as good over homemade meals and Maggie stopping by unannounced with Eddie’s favorite smoothies or baked goods or asking Eddie if he wants to go to her yoga class. Which he does sometimes!!!!!!!

And now I need yoga instructor Eddie and Maggie sets him up with her son but yah

Richie is obsessed with watching Eddie interact with his family. He wishes it was real.

One night the heat breaks, and they share a bed. Eddie wakes up curled around Richie’s body.

Eddie’s mom is a no go so Richie has no choice but to charm his one friend (Richie thinks he’s lying but also maybe not cause he’s Eddie), Bev.

Bev adores him and thinks he’s hilarious and the way Eddie watches them interact is magical.

They have to leave the house so they go on weekly dates and make sure to get papped together, even though Eddie mainly hides his face in Richie’s shoulder out of embarrassment.

Richie falls asleep on the couch sometimes and his head falls onto Eddie’s shoulder.

Richie still has shows of course and there’s lots of jokes about his husband and quirks that Eddie doesn’t even realize he had.

And he waits backstage and Richie always beams at him and asks how he did and Eddie smiles and Richie hugs him so tight and pulls him off the ground and it’s a lot.

The kisses too. They started as pecks but divulged into soft, real as in involving light tongue, kisses. Richie’s hands were so big around his waist.

And one day Richie wakes up and he’s got his robe that Eddie forced him to buy and he walks over to gently guide Eddie by the hips out of the way so he can grab his juice and he squeezes and just ducks down to kiss him like habit and Eddie is like what!!!!!! Because no one is around.

#reddie #it 2017 #it 2019 #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #my writing

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tawaifeddiediaz · 4 years

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jis raah bhi jaaun (tujhko hi chaahun) - Chapter 1

Hello!!

This fic is a product of growing up with Bollywood movies, and I really do hope you guys enjoy this one! @dusky-rambles and @bamfbuddie, I know we talked about Bollywood!Buddie, so I’m tagging you here!

There definitely will be a bit of a culture shock to this fic, but it's something new that I wanted to try, so here it is! I was originally going to post the entire thing but it got way out of hand so...chapters it is!

Thank you to @tk-strand for reading this over for me :)

The title is from a Hindi song, "Humraah" from the movie Malang. The lyrics I chose to name this fic basically mean "no matter which way I go (i'll only love you)" [as you're going to learn later, translating Bollywood music to English never bodes well xD]

I also have images of the outfits [which i don't own by the way] I imagine all of them to be wearing at the bottom of this post!

Disclaimer: I do not own any images, links or videos that I embed in this work! All credit for external media goes to the original owners.

Chapter 1 [AO3 Link] [4235 words]

“Hello?”

The faint Indian accent resounded across the bunk of the station where the 118 had just sat down to eat. Bobby exchanged looks with the rest of the team before standing up to peer over the balcony.

The two faces were vaguely familiar. They were a South Asian couple, holding hands tightly as they looked around the station.

“Hi, can I help you?” Bobby responded. The couple looked up at him and smiled, recognition flashing across their faces.

“Yeah, you’re just the man we were looking for.” There was something clutched in his grip. Bobby waved them upstairs as he racked his brain to figure out who they were.

“Oh, hi Prem!” Buck bounded over, his chair screeching as he made his way over to the man. The man looked taken aback to be recognized by name but shook Buck’s hand anyway. The young firefighter gave a respectful nod to the woman who was dressed in traditional Indian clothing.

That’s when it struck Bobby.

“You’re the couple from that wedding we saved downtown three years ago, right?”

The lady nodded. “Yes. My name is Savita, and this is my husband Prem.”

“I’m Captain Bobby Nash, and that’s my team over there.” Bobby turned to introduce them by pointing at each firefighter in turn. “Chimney, Eddie, Hen and of course, Buck. Would you care to join us for lunch?”

“No, thank you. We actually came by to thank you for saving us that day. Even if we’re three years too late.” Prem chuckled ruefully. Bobby smiled at them.

“It’s no problem, it’s what we do.” He said humbly. He remembered that call vividly now, remembered raging over the owner of the place who’d built an illegal third floor using Pal-Kal instead of steel reinforced concrete. Pal-Kal had been banned because it was a type of construction that used metal plates to build a concrete floor, but it was a very lightweight type of structure. There had been no way it could’ve held the entire weight of the wedding party.

Sure, he hadn’t handled it the way he was supposed to, but it had been fast rage; a product of the emotional turmoil he’d been going through at the time. And then to see Prem so helpless in trying to find his bride, to see their big day destroyed by someone who thought they could get away with some extra bank by illegally constructing a rooftop wedding hall, it hit Bobby hard.

“We came to give you and your crew this invitation.” Prem handed him the maroon card in his hand. Bobby pulled it from its envelope to read a reception invitation. “We were already married by the time the rooftop fell down, but after that catastrophe, neither of us wanted to hold any other celebration. Instead, we spent the next three years just learning each other, relearning how not to be terrified of multi-story buildings.”

From the looks on everyone’s faces, they were all taken aback by the honesty. There was sorrow written on Buck and Hen’s faces, probably them relieving the moment. Eddie’s face held residual sympathy, since he hadn’t been part of the squad during that particular time.

It was in these moments that Bobby wished he’d really gotten the bastard arrested for manslaughter instead of illegal construction.

“Our families realized that we had not celebrated our wedding with the traditional reception. So, on the occasion of our third anniversary, we are holding a belated wedding reception, and we would like you and your families to be our special guests.” Savita spoke softly, her accent placing emphasis on the vowels. Her voice was strong as she looked kindly at them.

“It’s an honor, and we will be sure to do everything we can to make it.” Bobby accepted with a large smile.

“We actually have one more thing to request from you.” The couple exchanged a troubled look, one that put Bobby slightly on the edge of confusion.

“I am a designer, and I’d like to design ethnic wear for all of you and your families. For that, I would need to take all of your measurements.”

Bobby felt like his mouth was flapping open as he cocked his head at Savita. The request was strange, but it wasn’t the strangest thing he’d heard on the job. He turned around to find the rest of his crew in varying degrees of confusion, except Hen who was practically bouncing in her place.

“That’s so nice! Did you design the dress you’re wearing?” Savita was clad in a short black tunic with straight pants, and she had a scarf pinned to her right shoulder. The tunic had varying swirls of designs on them, all done in brightly coloured threads. The only jewelry she was wearing was a familiar-looking black and gold chain.

“Yes, I did.” Her face flushed at the attention as Hen gushed over the dress. Buck looked like he was restraining himself from complimenting her as well. Probably out of respect for their culture.

“I mean, if it’s alright with the rest of the team, I don’t see any problem with it.” Bobby smiled. Prem and Savita looked relieved to see them accept. “But let me make it clear, we don’t expect this from you guys. We are more than happy to have just saved you, to see you two happy and healthy today.”

“We know, but we would like to show you a token of our gratitude, and this is the best way Indians know how to.�� A teasing tone was present in Prem’s voice as he pulled out a legal pad and pencil from his satchel. “We can’t wait to introduce you all to what a real Indian wedding reception looks like; from the Bollywood songs, to the dancing, to the food. You guys are sure to have fun!”

The man seemed so excited, that Bobby didn’t have it in him to say no to anything. Savita pulled out a measuring tape and got to work with Bobby first, calling out measurements in another language to her husband. She pulled the tape taught across Bobby’s shoulders, around his chest, the length from his shoulder to his knee, the length from his hip to his ankle and the sleeve length.

Buck hovered with a cheeky grin as she measured his bicep and circumference of his stomach.

“See, you have a dad bod. They’re totally in right now.” Bobby gave Buck a deadpan look, rolling his eyes affectionately.

“I’m also twice your age and have half your metabolism. And I am a dad.” He presented the facts in his usual way, not paying heed to Buck’s ribbing. Savita finished measuring him and moved onto Buck next.

“He’s also twice as attractive as you, Buckaroo.” Chim teased, earning a playful shove from Buck and a hooting laugh from Hen and Eddie.

As Savita stretched the tape across Buck’s broad shoulders, she laughed at their banter.

“This is why I’m calling out the numbers in Hindi, and not in English.” The response sent a chorus of laughter throughout the dining area.

Working together as a team, Prem and Savita quickly got all the measurements for the five of them, chattering away in a mix of Hindi and English. “Do any of you have significant others and kids? Could you give an approximation of their sizes too?”

This was bordering on a lot. The poor girl would have to work a lot to get this done within the three weeks between now and then.

As if she was sensing what all of them were thinking, Savita waved off their soundless worries. “Oh no, do not worry. I have a full team, I am not going to be doing this by myself. But it will be rewarding to see you standing in our traditional attire at the reception.”

Bobby exchanged looks with the rest of them and shrugged. “I have a wife and two stepkids.”

“I’ve got a wife and a son.”

“I’ve got a girlfriend.”

“I’ve got a son.”

“I’ve got a sister, who’s also his girlfriend.” Buck hooked a thumb at Chimney begrudgingly. It really was an act, and Buck was a terrible actor. Everyone knew that Buck was more excited about Maddie and Chimney dating than the couple themselves. “Oh, and my best friend, but he also happens to be Eddie’s son.”

“I thought I was your best friend?” Eddie leaned his hip on the counter to fold his arms across his chest and glower at Buck. The younger man just shook his head, like he couldn’t believe that Eddie had even asked.

“No, Edmundo. You don’t hold a light to Christopher. That kid is my best friend. But if it’s any consolation to you, you come third.”

“Third? Whose second?”

“Isabel and Pepa are tied for second.” Buck shrugged. Eddie looked floundered by this recent news. Chim and Hen were cackling in the corner.

“No girlfriend?” Prem cocked his head, and then seemingly caught his tongue as silence settled over the dining area. “I’m sorry, I should not have intruded like that, I just remembered the last time we spoke.”

Buck, though, didn’t take any offense to it, even if the impish grin dropped from his face. He just good-naturedly shook his head at the couple, letting out a soft laugh. “No, no girlfriend.”

What was interesting was Buck’s very brief side-glance at Eddie, who was already studying the younger man. Bobby quirked an eyebrow to himself at that. He knew for a fact that they weren’t dating, because he knew that apprehension to hurdle over the initial attraction. It was only made complicated by Eddie being a single father to a kid with special needs. But Buck loved Christopher like his own, and Bobby was very close to just locking them into the supply closet.

Even if it meant breaking his station’s decorum.

Bobby didn’t like the way Buck’s shoulders seemed to minutely shrink, as if the man were trying to make himself smaller. This wasn’t the attention Buck adored, and Bobby knew that Buck felt lonely, since everyone else had someone to go home to, someone to share the burden of the job with. His entire life was connected to this fire station, and that worried the part of him that had come to love Buck like a son.

Bobby veered the conversation off by giving Prem his best size estimate of May, Harry and Athena. Harry, Denny and Christopher were around the same size, so Eddie and Bobby made their best estimates of the boys. Eddie had lots of experience with clothes shopping for kids because of his large family, which came in handy.

Maddie and Athena were pretty similar in size as well, so Bobby, Buck and Chim worked together to give the best estimate they could of the women. Hen just rolled her eyes at their squabbling and said that Karen was pretty much her size.

“Okay, this should be good! We’ll let you know if we need anything else. Thank you Captain Nash.” Prem shook his hand.

“Please, call me Bobby. Thank you for inviting us once again, we are honored to be able to attend.”

“Didn’t think this was what we’d be working on today, Cap.” Chimney said after Savita and Prem left. The five firefighters made their way back to the table to eat lunch before the alarm rang.

“Well, we’ve seen stranger things in this firehouse.” Bobby pulled out the invitation again and set it flat on the table for everyone to look at. It wasn’t like any wedding card they’d seen for sure. This one had Prem and Savita’s parents’ names written on it above their respective child’s name, and there was an inscription at the top that Bobby took to mean a greeting.

“I wasn’t even at this call, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer when I tried to tell them that.” Eddie leaned back in his chair. “What was this call about anyway?”

“Someone in downtown LA tried to make some extra money by building a third floor that he could rent out as a venue. Long story short, he’d made it with Pal-Kal, and with the weight of the guests dancing, the entire floor plummeted two stories.”

“Savita and Prem were actually part of an arranged marriage.” Buck spoke up.

“Is that how you remembered them?” The blond shrugged noncommittally at Hen’s question.

“That’s interesting. They looked so in tune with each other, almost as if they were each other’s best friend.” The meaning in Chim’s voice was painfully obvious, but neither of the intended targets paid any heed.

“He respected her work, even going as far as helping her out.” Eddie mentioned, lifting his eyes from his plate. “I had a few Indian friends back in Texas, because Texas has a huge South Asian population. The dress design and garment selling is actually pretty common. But their husbands aren’t always supportive of the work.”

“Have you worn Indian wear before?” Hen asked. Eddie shook his head no, but Buck held up his phone to where he was scrolling through Google.

“These are gorgeous, guys.” The other four firefighters leaned in to get a good look at the intricate designs.

But naturally, before they could do so, the alarm rang.

Three weeks passed by so quickly that Buck had almost forgotten that they were supposed to attend the wedding reception.

“Hey Eds, did you remember that we have the reception tonight?” He called out to his best friend from where him and Chris were playing with Legos.

Eddie stuck his head out into the living room. “Yeah, I did. Chim and Bobby mentioned it at least ten times yesterday. And Christopher wanted to get ready with you, remember?”

“I’m excited, Bucky.” Christopher piped up, sticking one Lego onto whatever stack Buck was holding in his hand. “At school, we learned a little bit about India.”

“Oh yeah? What’d you learn?” Buck turned his attention to the boy.

“There are 22 official languages in India. Their currency is the Indian Rupee. And it’s the seventh largest country in the world.” Chris sprouted off some random facts as he fiddled with the plastic pieces.

“I swear Christopher picked this up from you.” Eddie added as he walked into the room with a coffee mug. He plopped down cross-legged on the sofa across from Buck and Christopher. “He loved researching facts before but now it’s like a Buck-level obsession.”

“Not the worst habit to pick up from me. Gotta admit it, Diaz.” Buck grinned cheekily, his heart fluttering at Eddie’s mock-exasperated scoff.

“The worst thing you’ve taught him is the puppy-dog eyes, thank you very much. I already couldn’t say no to my son, but now, it’s a quite-literally impossible feat.” Buck laughed and high-fived Christopher, much to Eddie’s chagrin. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. We’ll see you laughing when he turns them on you.”

Buck tried to ignore the warmth in his chest that he got whenever Eddie referred to anything in the future tense. It was like Eddie knew that he wasn’t going anywhere, and while Buck really wasn’t going anywhere, it was just nice to know that Eddie knew and believed it.

He just wished that it could be a little more.

Like always, he immediately shook off the thought, knowing that it was greedy of him to even begin to think like that. Burying the thought, he glanced up at the clock, seeing that they had an hour to get ready.

“I better go grab the dress from my Jeep, hang on.” Buck told Christopher as he made a move to get up.

“It’s ironed and hanging in my bathroom.” Eddie took a sip of his coffee, flicking through his phone lazily. Buck gaped at him. Eddie finally looked up at Buck to shrug.

“You two were busy and I was ironing anyway.”

“Th-thanks.” Buck didn’t know what else to say as he sat back down, his mind racing a mile a minute as his heart swooped into his stomach.

Goddammit Eddie.

“Can we start getting ready now?” Christopher piped up after ten minutes of playing Lego’s. Buck didn’t even know where those ten minutes went.

“Yeah, mijo. Let’s go shower. Buck, you can use the shower in my room, your clothes are right there.” Eddie finished off the last of his coffee. Despite himself, Buck wrinkled his nose. He didn’t know how Eddie could drink the stuff this late and still be able to sleep.

As Christopher and Eddie went off to the other bathroom, Buck remained exactly where he was sitting. He needed a quick minute to stop his mind from jumping to every possible conclusion that ended up with them as a real family.

It just seemed so domestic to him.

But he didn’t know that Eddie was over in the other room thinking the exact same thing.

Prem and Savita had included instructions with the clothes, but they were pretty straightforward for the most part. It was weird to go from wearing T-shirts and hoodies to wearing something like this, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

Buck looked at himself in the mirror, his eye critical. He was wearing a long maroon tunic that had sleeves that went a little past his elbows. The length of the tunic went down to about an inch and a half above his knee. There was also an off-white waistcoat to put on that had traditional Indian swirls and designs made with golden thread, but Buck was busy criticizing his look with just the kurta and the red pants. The fabric was roomy, but the cut of the pants was straight, ending right at his ankles.

Prem had told him to wear black dress shoes with the outfit, so Buck had dug out an old pair of shoes and shined them up.

Honestly, he was really loving the look. It was comfortable, he could potentially lounge in it, and the fact that Savita had made the outfit to his measurements exactly meant that every line of the dress was perfectly tailored to him.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his stupor. “Yeah?” He called out.

“Are you ready? Can you help me get this waistcoat on? My arm keeps getting stuck in the sleeve.” Eddie’s sheepish voice filtered through the door. Buck laughed as he opened the door, the smile immediately melting off his face as he observed Eddie muttering under his breath as he wrestled with the coat.

To put it very simply, Eddie looked delectable.

“God fucking dammit.” Eddie hissed as he took the fabric off. Despite his frustration, he was treating the garment gingerly, but the sleeve kept twisting in the slightly loose fabric around his arms.

“Dude. It’s a simple coat.” Buck walked up to him and took the waistcoat, sliding it quickly up Eddie’s arms. The older man smiled at him before stepping back to get a good look at Buck while he buttoned his waistcoat. Buck took the opportunity to admire his best friend unabashedly.

Eddie’s outfit was more of a tarnished gold that looked amazing against his skin tone. The tunic’s sleeves were just as short as Buck’s but they had a strip of red fabric at the end of them; the length was an inch above his knee.

The waist coat itself was a deep red with golden designs etched into the fabric, three buttons up to the neck and a decorative collar. It tapered to Eddie’s narrow waist, made him seem taller and it looked almost regal on his shoulders. The man had also set his longer hair in his usual brushed-back quiff.

Eddie let out a low whistle that had Buck flushing pink. “Damn, you clean up nice. Where’s the waistcoat?”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Diaz.” There was a small, comforting pause before Buck answered his question. “It’s behind the door. I was just looking at the...kurta?” The word felt foreign in Buck’s mouth. Probably because it was.

The couple had written what each item was when they sent the clothes to them; it was a thoughtful gesture. Especially considering that Buck had researched the hell out of Indian weddings, and it helped to know the actual names of things.

“Yeah, I think that’s what it��s called and don’t call me Diaz. Put the waistcoat on.” Eddie went to the washroom and brought the fabric over, brushing his fingertips over the ethnic designs. “Man, Savita and her team must have worked around the clock for this.”

Eddie helped Buck put the jacket on while Buck tried to ignore how his heart swelled in his chest again. Naturally, his mouth started running with more facts off the top of his head as his fingers fiddled with the buttons. “Apparently these are called Nehru jackets, because the first Indian prime minister used to wear this other type of coat that was knee-length, which I can’t remember the name of anymore. These are modeled after that. Though Nehru never wore one.”

“Achkan.” Eddie said, smirking. “Those other coats were called achkan, I remember you and Christopher pouring over your phone to research this.”

Get a grip, Buckley.

Buck mentally smacked himself. “Right. Gotcha. Where’s Christopher anyway?”

“He’s on the couch, he’s ready. And we should also get going.” Eddie herded Buck out of the room, before pausing. “Wait, hang on. Put this on, it’ll complete your look.”

Eddie handed him a watch with a black watch face and a silver body, along with a black metal strap. It was the perfect match to the outfit. Buck pulled out the black watch he’d originally planned on wearing and passed it to him with a grin.

“I think this is a better fit for you then.” The two men laughed as they put the respective matches on and headed out to the living room.

“Ready, buddy?”

“Yes!” Christopher’s excited yell had them laughing again as the kid stood up from the couch. Prem and Savita really had thought of everything, because Christopher’s outfit was a kurta, too, but more western with the buttons. It was modeled so the sleeves ended above his elbows, and they didn’t interfere with his crutches. The pants were white and loose, but the design was such that his legs wouldn’t get tangled in the billowing fabric.

“You look so handsome, buddy!” Christopher looked beyond cute, and Buck couldn’t resist pulling his phone out to take a few photos.

They took Buck-and-Christopher pictures first, Buck handing his phone off to Eddie and swinging Christopher up in his arms as the two of them grinned at the camera. Naturally, they then had to make funny faces. Eddie’s fond smile was unmistakable, partially hidden behind the phone as it was.

Eddie-and-Christopher pictures came next, Buck trying to capture every possible angle there was of the father-son duo. Together, he could see a mini-Eddie in Christopher, from all the photos hanging in his Abuela’s house. The only part of Eddie that was different in his son were the gray eyes; though, the intellect behind them was the same. And he was willing to bet that Christopher got both parents’ good hearts, which made him into the perfect kid he was. Buck’s heart warmed as Christopher laughed at him while Eddie shook his head.

Buck-Eddie-and-Christopher pictures were next, and this proved to be a trial for them. They had to prop the phone up on a stack of books and then practically sprint to the sofa to make it in time for the self-timer to go off. Buck and Eddie’s thighs were pressed together as Christopher sat with one leg in each of their laps, smiling sweetly at the camera.

Eddie wanted one vertical picture of the three of them too so Buck positioned his phone a little further to accommodate for his and Eddie’s height.

“You and Daddy are too tall for this.” Christopher giggled as they tried to squeeze themselves into the small frame, beaming at the very last second to capture the perfect moment.

Then, upon Christopher’s insistence to work the camera, Buck-and-Eddie pictures were last. Christopher went and took Buck’s phone down from where it was teetering. He made sure he was balanced before lifting the device and urging them together.

Eddie’s hand came to rest on the small of Buck’s back, which surprised the younger man enough that his head swiveled in his friend’s direction.

Don’t make this weird, it’s just a picture.

Buck chanted to himself mentally as they posed for the camera. He took his phone from the young boy and knelt down so all three of them could see all the photos they’d taken.

“I’d say we’re pretty photogenic, what do you think buddy?” A pleased tone colored Eddie’s voice.

“We need to frame all of these. I want that one in my room.” Chris pointed to the one of the three standing, which was the best picture by far.

If Buck’s eyes glazed over just a tiny bit, no one needed to know.

After finally choosing the best photos, and deeming themselves 10 minutes late, the three were off.

Outfits [click on them for better quality, or use the AO3 link!]:

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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

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[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Fifty-Five: A Beautiful Choice ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Suigin Ryū ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

For once in his life...Uchiha Sasuke has no idea what he’s doing. For the most part, his decisions and actions since he was seven years old have been rather...simple. While he ran into many an obstacle on his journey for justice in the name of his clan, he could typically improvise, drawing on what he’d learned as a shinobi to move forward.

But this...this is completely outside of his element.

And he’s not even sure who to go to for help.

Naruto, he knows, is about as well-versed in this as he is. And the last thing he wants is the blond in on his business. Because as soon as Naruto knows anything, half of Konoha will know what’s going on. And he’s trying to be discreet.

Sakura...gods, he’d rather take a kunai to the gut than ask Sakura for advice. Sure, she’s a woman...but also one he’s had one of the most annoying relationships with out of anyone he’s ever known. She might be going steady with Naruto, but he doesn’t want to even hint at this topic with her for any reason.

Kakashi is just...no. He’s possibly the only person beyond himself that Sasuke can think of who would be worse to consult. Never married, never dated, and reads porn in public.

Itachi has already been coy enough about the whole thing. He doesn’t want his brother to have any more reason to tease him than he’s already got. And Shisui? Might be worse than Naruto. It’s a close call...but either way, a definite no.

The only person left he has to consult...is his brother’s wife. Which, honestly? Makes the most sense out of anyone he could ask. She’s a lady, has a suitable temperament...and happens to be friends with the person otherwise involved in Sasuke’s latest predicament.

He’s going to propose to Hinata.

But there’s steps to this process, and he’s...rather unsure about how to get from point A to...whatever letter the actual proposal ends up being. At the very least, he’s sure about it. He’s never been more sure about anything in his life. But this is also his first relationship...let alone one that’s ever gotten this far.

So, he just...needs a little help.

“Can I...ask you something?”

Glancing up from the bed of herbs she’s tending, Sasuke’s sister-in-law sits back on her haunches. “Of course. Is something wrong?”

“No. I just…” He sighs, rubbing at the tense muscles in his neck. “I need some...advice. About...girls.” Gods, can he sound any more like a clueless genin?

She blinks at him, and then smiles, expression free of the taunting her husband would be giving him. “I see. What in particular do you want some help with?”

“...I want to propose to Hinata.”

Greys go wide. “...oh! Sasuke, that’s wonderful!”

“I just...I dunno how to go about it. I thought maybe you’d...have a better idea.”

For a moment the woman is silent...and then she laughs a bit into a hand. “I’m sorry, dear...I’m not laughing at you,” she explains during a breath, seeing his expression. “I just...well, you know well enough your brother and I had far from a...typical courtship. So honestly, I’m not sure I’m the most knowledgeable about the...traditional means. But...I’ll offer what I can.”

Abandoning her task, she stands and dusts some dirt from her clothes. “...first thing is first, really: you’ll need an engagement ring. One that suits both your feelings for her, and her. After all, she’ll be the one wearing it.”

“Suits my...feelings?”

A nod. “Something that, when you look at it, reminds you of her. A testament to your love for her for her to wear and sort of...display! Your wedding bands will be different, of course. Think of it as…” She pauses, pondering for a moment. “...a symbol of your courtship. Your offering to symbolize your affection, and your intentions to make her your wife.”

“...I guess that makes sense.” A few ideas are already eddying through his mind. “So...what should I do to...give it to her?”

“Well...that part I can’t really help you with too much. A proposal is very personal. Some people go to places that mean a lot to them both, like...where you had a first date, or a first kiss. Or some make it very...theatrical. A fancy restaurant, or a public display. Though personally, I would avoid the latter...it adds unnecessary pressure for her answer.”

Sasuke blinks. “...good point.”

“Otherwise, it’s mostly up to you, dear. This is a moment you’ll both remember for the rest of your lives - how you want to make it memorable is up to you. Of course, on that note, don’t be nervous,” she advises gently with a smile. “Mistakes can and do happen. But just remember that this is the person you hold dearest, and who loves you regardless of the circumstances. Hinata won’t judge you if something goes awry.”

Glancing aside, Sasuke mulls that over. “Yeah, you’re right...she’s too kind for that.” In his mind, he can still see how she’d giggle, and then apologize for laughing, all smiles and pretty pink blushes. Just that alone brings a soft smile to his face.

“...otherwise...that’s really all you’ll need,” his sister-in-law then says, noting his reverie. “Find a good ring, and a good time and place. And I’m sure it will turn out perfectly. You two are so good together, everything will work out just fine.”

Head full of thoughts, Sasuke goes quiet for a moment. “...thank you. And, uh...don’t tell anyone, okay? Last thing I need is aniki giving me crap.”

She laughs into a hand. “Of course, your secret is safe with me, dear. And good luck! Not that you’ll need it. I can’t wait for Hinata to tell me all about it!”

He nods. But before he can go, she calls out his name.

“She wears a size seven, by the way,” his sister offers cheekily.

“...how do you know that?”

“Let’s just say I was...thinking ahead. I told her I had some old jewelry she could have, and asked her her size. I had a feeling you’d need it one of these days.”

Sasuke blinks in surprise...and then gives a soft huff of a laugh. “...thanks.”

“You’re welcome, dear.”

Confidence much higher, Sasuke abandons his brother’s yard and makes his way back into the village proper. A ring that reminds him of her...that symbolizes his affection...can he really find something that will fit?

Meandering toward a jeweler, not wanting to be spotted, Sasuke makes sure he senses no familiar chakra before slipping into the store. Behind the counter is a middle-aged woman, who smiles pleasantly as he looks around curiously.

“Good afternoon, young man! What might I do for you?”

“I’m, er...here to buy a ring…?”

Her face alights. “I see! Congratulations! We have quite a few styles to choose from, and can custom make a band for you, of course. Have you any ideas?”

“Not yet…”

“Well, feel free to browse, and I’ll answer any questions you might have!”

Feeling a bit sheepish, he approaches the counter, eyeing the stock behind the glass. There’s...a lot. More than he’d ever think up, that’s for sure. Jewels of all cuts, colors, and styles are almost overwhelming. How is he supposed to decide?

Something that reminds me of her… Eyes trailing over the choices, he pauses at one that nudges something at the back of his mind. A shining pearl sits in a silver band, a small diamond nestled along either side. There’s a bit of flare to the metal around them, but otherwise the rest of the ring looks fairly simple, yet elegant.

A pearl...it looks like...her eyes…

A feeling blooms in his gut. That’s what he wants. “...can I look more closely at that one?”

The employee fetches it from the display, letting him look it over in more detail. The pearl is even prettier up close...it’s perfect.

“I think...I’d like this one.”

“A beautiful choice, sir! Do you know the lady’s ring size?”

“Seven.”

“Perfect! We keep all of our rings in stock in several sizes, so I have it here and now for you, if you’re ready.”

Sasuke sets his jaw. No going back now… “I’m ready.”

“Wonderful. Let me just get the order written up, and as soon as we have the ryō, you can have the ring, sir.”

All throughout, Sasuke stares at the little box she slips the band into, a heavy feeling in his chest. While he’s satisfied with his choice...this seems like the easy part now that it’s done. The real challenge...will be asking her.

He’s sure she’ll say yes. She...she has to. But the nerves remain, that sliver of doubt like a canyon in his mind. He has time to plan...he’ll just...take this slowly. Everything has to be perfect. Perfect like her...the pearl he never expected to find.

Handing over the money once the receipt is done, he accepts the box. “A pleasure doing business with you, sir. And I wish you luck with your lady!”

“...thank you.” Slipping it into his pocket, he sweeps the street again before heading out.

Now...it’s time to plan.

.oOo.

OKAY FIRST before you come at me with pitchforks and torches for the cliffhanger: I AM going to do a sequel to this TOMORROW - I peeked the prompt and it'll work perfectly for a follow up! I just didn't want this to get monstrously long, so I cut it there! I'm sorry xD Anyway...here we go, guys gals and nonbinary pals! We're FINALLY getting a chance to look into how a proposal might go between these two. The ring, at least, I've had in my mind for a looong time - a pearl is just such a perfect fit, imo! It's what Hyūga eyes have always reminded me of, tbh. And Sasuke seems to agree! But yes, tomorrow we'll see part two to this, so I hope y'all can be patient with me xD And hopefully I can live up to this hype, haha - but for now, I need some sleep. Thanks so much for reading! See you tomorrow n_n

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #suigin ryū #a light amongst shadows [ canon verse ]#365daysofsasuhina

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thoughtfullyyoungduck · 4 years

Text

Married at first sight AU part 4

A/N: I’m so sorry it took me so long to add another chapter! I’m thinking about applying for a writing course in college so i would really appreciate any honest opinion about my writing!

Summary: It’s time for Eddie’s part of the home-stays. Unfortunately, this also means that they’ll have to visit Sonia.

warning: there’s one sex joke in this (it’s Richie) and Sonia is in this so mental manipulation

@impalagurl67 @juhavs @werenotinhawkinsanymore (sorry if you guys didn’t want to be tagged anymore)

About five weeks into the experiment, Eddie is ready to call it quits. Not because Richie and him aren’t working as a couple, they are, really well actually, but because Eddie made a grave miscalculation.

He has long abandoned his own promise to leave the program as soon as possible, instead cherishing every date he and Richie go on that is paid by the production, spending more money on one date than Eddie has done in all his previous get-togethers ever.

It helps that for now they are in their own little world, away from every stress point of the daily life, in a place where they only have to focus on each other. He’s not ready yet to have to go back to work, or to move away from Richie, with him living in New York, and Richie residing in Chicago. Richie made him fall hard, and now he doesn’t think he ever wants to go to a house without him, for that house would not be a home.

As per consensus, Richie and him agreed on staying right until the week before the homestay at Eddie’s to avoid having to go and live with Sonia. The thing is, neither of them really kept track of what week they were on, for days in the same place blended together rather easily, or what the next would bring, not while they were having so much fun.

There’s no one else to blame but his own stupidity for that error, since they days before the commitment ceremony, they went to Richie’s homestay. It was only natural that Eddie’s followed. When that was revealed, Eddie and Richie looked at each other in shock, both of them cursing their obliviousness and forgetfulness, but by then, it was too late.

Suggesting that they forfeit anyway, Richie tried to help as best he could, but Eddie refused to do that, claiming it would portray them as a bad couple, and he wasn’t up for that; Richie deserved better than that. Not to mention his career. If they were to call it quits now, an explanation was obligatory, and that might result in reputation damage. For someone who worked in the business Richie did, that was not permissible.

That’s why they find themselves in a plane with destination New York, Eddie gripping Richie’s arm tightly, praying to whoever was up there to help them make it through the week. One might argue that Eddie isn’t forced to go see his mother, it’s only the home-stay, which means go to your own home, and Eddie wouldn’t have gone to her, if she didn’t live with him.

The last time they were on the plane, only days prior to this, their moods had been significantly better, Eddie full of anxious excitement at the prospect of meeting the people he had heard so much about.

Maggie and Wentworth Tozier lived in a fairly small house, only 30 minutes away from where their son lived, with a medium sized garden filled with all sorts of flowers and herbs. It may not have been as big as Eddie’s house was growing up, nonetheless it exhibited a warmth and serenity, the flowers and spices creating scents that lingered every time they entered the backyard, a welcome aroma that greeted them.

Maggie loved to bake, roping Richie and Eddie into baking one with her and bonding, while Wentworth set the table, and showed them his collection of Richie’s comedy specials, disks all neatly combined in one folder.

Their support in everything their son did was heartwarming, but it also pushed Eddie out of his comfort zone, made him feel out of place. He didn’t have that sort of support system, and he was clueless on how to act around parents who did.

Richie assured him that his parents adored him, and Eddie believed him, mostly since he was completely amoured by them too, and he hoped that they deemed him good enough for their son.

Right after dropping by his parents, the two of them went to Richie’s home. His apartment was the same size as Eddie’s in New York, the only difference being that Eddie’s was much neater, not filled with so much unnecessary stuff and memories. There were a lot of pictures, most of them of Richie and his parents, and the friends he made during stand up, but also a few of a dog he once owned as a kid.

The pictures forced Eddie to think about his own apartment, bare of anything that made the place him. He only had one picture, and that was the photograph that was taken when he was thirteen with his mom coiling him in her grasp, scolding when he didn’t smile bright enough for her liking.

He listened to her, as he always did, the smile more manufactured than her figurines she bought from China, but he remembers how much he longed to be in his room so he had the change to cry in peace, helpless and stuck while she controlled him like a puppet. He swore to himself that day that he’d stick up for himself, and defy her, but his rebellion only lasted a month, before he realized that it did nothing but cause her claws to stick in deeper, and stealing the little freedom he had.

He’s ashamed of himself for living with his mother, and for allowing her to wring her way back into his daily life like he needed her to be there for every decision, but it’s hard to be brave when you have no one else to fall back on. He never had a reason to fight back, but with Richie, he has found one.

His idea was to talk to his mother after the show, keeping his foot down and demanding her to move out, but since the wedding, he ignored every single call his mom made, convincing himself that he needed a little bit of extra time to gain the courage.

Because he dropped of the grid and didn’t contact her in any way, he understood that he needed to call her, at the very least to let her know Richie and him were coming.

However, Richie and him hopped on a plane first thing after a meeting with the experts, leaving him with no time at all to warm his mother about their arrival, and without a proper conversation between the two of them.

He’s certain, that as soon as Richie walks over the threshold, she’ll chew him up, and then spit him out like he’s a filthy piece of dog shit. And god damnit Eddie is sick of her being allowed to do those things without any consequences. Someone should say something about it, and that someone should be him.

The whole trip, he divides his time between prepping Richie for the monster that his mother can be if she opts for it, thankful that the cameras are nowhere in sight, and assessing every possible outcome to prevent a huge blowout from occurring.

He will address her about her behavior, just not on television broad cast, so he’ll try the whole week to appease her, without throwing Richie under the bus. That’s a slippery slope to ride on.

His husband, for five weeks already yet the word still causes him to brighten up, is animatedly practicing for his next movie roll, and cracking jokes, attempting and achieving to mollify some of Eddie’s fears away.

‘Hey Eddie Spaghetti, how much you want to bet that I can indulge this whole sandwich in one bite?’

‘If you even try, I’ll leave you on this plane all by yourself.’

‘Auch, dully noted.’

His mother may be a horrible person, but this time he won’t have to face her alone. That also is reason for concern be as that may, because even despite the fact that Eddie told Richie all about his mother, there’s a whole lot of difference between hearing about it, and seeing it in the flesh.

Though he obsesses and over analyses every possible outcome of his sudden appearance with his mother, he is taking aback by her reaction none the less. Knocking on his front door, after ensuring Richie to take everything that comes out of her mouth with a grain of salt, the sight of her tight-lipped smile emerges.

She’s wearing the same dress she wore on the day of the wedding, the door clenched in her fists, glancing at them with glare she is careful to keep hidden from everyone who is unfamiliar with her. It’s one of her specialties, to mask how much hell she’s about to bestow upon Eddie towards other people.

Eddie immediately knows that she is livid, and by the hand that falls on his lower back, he can tell Richie understands it too.

‘Come in Eddie-bear’, she invites them in, as if the flat isn’t registered in Eddie name instead of hers. Eddie allows himself one more moment of hesitation, before faltering inside.

The minute he steps in, he wants to run back out. The walls metaphorically close in on him, like he is going to buried under the concerns and scrutiny of his mother, hiding him from every real love he could ever hope to get.

It’s torture, and he fights against every instinct in him to stay put. The place has been under his name for six years, and when he first bought it, he associated the place with new beginning and freedom, causing him to happily skip home after school every day. He discovered what kind of person he is here, what his personality entails, and he despises the fact that, just like with everything else, his mother took this away too.

His knees start to get a little weak, and Eddie thinks he might pass out any second, until Richie comes up beside him, his arm thrown over his waist and allowing Eddie to lean his weight on him, all his muscles relaxing after being cramped up in fight or flight mode.

A feather-light kiss is pressed to his forehead, Richie’s body shielding him from the camera and Sonia’s havoc eyes for barely a minute, but enough for Eddie to compose himself.

‘Hi miss K, I’m Richie.’ The greeting is one that is so unlike Richie that Eddie comes close to calling the whole thing off, his heart bleeding with the need to protect and preserve everything good about the man who is goofy and kind-hearted.

‘Richard,’ Sonia allows with a curt nod, inching her body away from Richie when he tries to hug her as a salutation. He doesn’t let it get to him, Richie’s polite smile remains on his face, determined to prove to her that he is above all that pettiness that she’s displaying.

The camera man shuffles closer, presumably zooming in on Richie’s face, gauging his reaction. Her attempt to conceal her distaste is not working effectively, but that is the opposite of a problem for the tv-show.

People eat drama up, and this will be no different, except that Eddie is now the one they’ll be gossiping about behind his back. A shiver rolls over his body, annoyance prickling the back of his neck. It’s easy to forget the cameras are rolling when he’s enjoying Richie’s company, but the reality that others observe them and every move they make is under scrutiny, is infuriating.

‘Oh Eddie-kins, it’s been so long since I’ve heard of you.’

She attempts to embrace him, but he only allows if for a second, detangling them to create more space between them. A mother touch should provoke a feeling of safeness, of care and love, but Sonia’s hugs always made it feel like tiny bugs crawled their way across his body, and no amount of whipping would ever get them off of him, and he avoided them at all costs.

Try as he might, he can’t fight the need to practically fall on his knees and apologies to her, his earlier determination about standing up for himself slipping away like water between his hands. He manages to shrug in lieu of it, but only by the skin of his teeth.

‘You look so skinny,’ she adds, true to form already doing her very best to poison his mind with the ideas of him being unwell. ‘I’ll bring you something to eat too.’

She spurns Richie, failing to ask him if he needs anything, marching to the kitchen.

Eddie grabs Richie’s hand, their finger interlocking while he catches the reassuring smile Richie gives him. ‘Wanna go see my room?’

‘Oh kinky Eds, and the first time I’m visiting too? I didn’t peg you for such a guy.’

With a gentle push of expiration and an accompanied eye-roll, he drags them over to his bedroom, the only space in the apartment that holds any worthwhile to him, or at least the a box hidden under his bed does. He guesses his mother will be busy with her tea , the one that Eddie has such a distaste for he almost dry heaves every time he takes a sip of, for a little while so they have a bit of time to spare.

The bedroom door remains open so the camera crew can pile in after them, their equipment enough to block the door from his mother’s prying eyes.

He crouches down on the floor in order to grab the box, pausing to really think things through, and then takes out just the picture, the lone one that was taking of both him and his father, previous to standing up, and joining Richie on the edge of the bed.

If he wants to relationship with Richie to work, he needs to reveal everything about him, including the parts that have yet to be healed, but he rules out that conversation until they’re alone.

There were more stuff in the box that belonged to his father, but those aren’t as important s the picture.

The photo gets muffled away out of sight of the camera, saved for a time when all the production crew has gone to bed.

His intent was to show Richie around the rest of the apartment, but the tea is prepared faster that he had foreseen, so he backlogs his plans, and they move to the living room.

His mother has, gracefully, packed a third mug, which she fills to the brim with her disgusting beverage, and offers up to them.

While Eddie and Richie choose the seat next to each other, his mother sits opposite to them, the tea sloshing on the table as she swirls it. Inwardly, Eddie cringes, the need to clean it up presenting itself with such a velocity that his hands shake.

‘So Eddie, talk to your mommy. How have you been?’ Eddie is muddled over her behavior. On the one hand, she is much calmer than he expected her to be, but on the other hand, he knows better than to let his guard down around her.

‘It’s been great mom, I’m really happy that I got paired with Richie’, he remarks. He’s being intentionally vague, as to not give her any ammo to verbally attack them with.

From the moment they stepped foot into the flat, she disdains Richie, never once addressing him, and it’s starting to get on Eddie’s nerves. He almost wishes she would scream, so sheltering himself and Richie is an option, whereas now it feels like he’s waiting for the punchline to drop.

‘Oh yes, Richard.’ The malicious sneer has resumed it’s place, her eyes squinted together as she leers at Richie. Richie’s posture shift, his body ridging but his mouth still firmly shut, biting his tong. The fact that Richie refrains from any sort of humor, or talking in general, leaves Eddie unsettled and on edge. He doesn’t like it, and the absence is an experience he’ll avoid as much as possible in the future.

‘What have they been feeding you Eddie-bear? You are so skinny. It’s not good for you you know, staying away from home for so long. Are you homesick? Is that why you’re barely eating?’

Embarrassment tints Eddie’s cheeks bright red, her treatment of him not unlike that five year old, condescending in the worst way.

The penny drops, and Eddie all at once understands what her game plan is. She’s trying to manipulate the situation so that it seems like Richie isn’t a good husband or partner, both for the tv show, and for Eddie.

She must have known that demanding Eddie to come home would have only resulted in him turning his back on her even more, so she ventured to do it in a different way.

‘Eddie is perfectly fine, misses K, his abs and frankly the rest of his body can vouch enough for that.’ Richie laughs, but the joke falls flat and dies out at the hard stare he receives. Tittering awkwardly, he clears his throat.

‘He isn’t homesick either, in fact, he told me that he loved to travel, he’s fine,’ Richie defends him, their legs locking under the table, not in view of the camera’s and his mother.

‘Even so, I’m very essential to my sons life, Richard. If you even consider being part of his, I come with the territory.’

‘Eddie is perfectly cable of being by himself, he doesn’t need anyone. Are you sure that it isn’t you that needs him?’

Sonia jumps up from her seat, her lukewarm drink spilling over the top and dripping of the side. She turns pale, her whole visage drained of any color, so utterly devoid of any other emotion other than enragement.

‘Do you hear that? Do you hear the way he speaks to me?’ She screeches to the lens-man, who blinks sheepishly at her, finding her outburst rather strange., as there was barely any provocation. The man glimpses at Eddie and Richie, who remain quite, and he follows their lead.

‘Eddie, force Richard out of here, he is no longer welcome. I won’t accept someone talking ill about me.’

‘He is mom’, Eddie states, his voice trembling somewhat, although the words don’t lack conviction.

‘Excuse me?’

‘This is my home, and you’re powerless to decide who comes through those doors.’ The camera is glaring right in his face and he is tempted to push it away, which is almost the perfect outlet for the anger he’s experiencing, but he’s better than that.

‘Eddie-bear’, she chuckles uncertain. ‘I’m just trying to look out for you. You’re delicate honey, and people like him,’ she spat at Richie, ‘will derail your mind.’

Scoffing, Eddie rises from his chair as well, establishing eye contact to assert dominance.

‘He won’t. But even if someone would try, they wouldn’t succeed.’ The picture in his pocket calls his attention, and his hand wonders into the pocket to touch it for a second, drawing strength from it.

‘Not anymore.’

Sonia gapes, her mouth opening and closing, unbelieving that her sweet, innocent boy said such a thing to her.

‘We’ll talk more when I get back, me and Richie are staying in a hotel tonight.’

He denies her the chance to reply and ruin the day even more, trudging outside with as much confidence he has. Richie says something to Sonia, out of hearing shot from Eddie, before he too, falls into step beside Eddie.

‘I’m sorry that this home-stay turned out to not be such a ‘home’-stay after all,’ Eddie apologizes, using air quotes on the word home.

‘Hey, Eds it’s fine. I don’t care where am I, as long as it’s with you.’

The blush returns, now for a whole different reason.

#reddie #reddie fluff #My writing #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrack #eddie kaspbrak imagine #richie tozier imagine #it chapter two imagine #it chapter 2

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