What is 9-1-1 HiAUtus?
HiAUtus began its life as a writing ask game -
In which a prompter would provide an idea for an alternate universe (AU) so that a participant in the game may fill said prompt by providing bullet point fanfiction about 5 facts that would be true in the prompted AU.
The game quickly gained popularity in the 9-1-1 fandom during the first Season 9 broadcasting break for the show in November 2025, when it acquired the name "HiAUtus" - as coined by @chemistry66.
What is this 9-1-1 HiAUtus blog for?
Because of the enthusiastic participation in HiAUtus, many found keeping up with all the posts a task and a half. A compilation of the posts was rounded up in December 2025 to make following along easier.
This blog is the new home for that renamed archival project: the 9-1-1 HiAUtus Index.
(An up-to-date edition of the index is currently under construction, but the December 23, 2025 round-up post includes bullet point fanfiction posts about 286 AUs - previously under-reported as 279 or 280 AUs - as explored by 48 HiAUtus participants, with ideas shared by 58 prompters and 55 prompts shared anonymously!)
Who contributes to the 9-1-1 HiAUtus blog?
This blog and the HiAUtus archival project is mainly managed by @nzchance.
All the love and gratitude for the time given by the talented @pluralityofaxes & @aringofsalt to make the art & graphics used.
With thanks to: @thunderstormsandhotcocoa + @frogsinflannel for archival assistance and @beanarie + @frogsinflannel once again for the input provided regarding blog design.
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5 AUs-1 Fact Ask Game | Tag 🏷️: "5AU"
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5 AUs game prompt for you: Buck/Tommy universes where they're both ex-118 members when they meet.
Hope you enjoy this one 🥰
Man. There are so many times Buck could have left the 118. Have one from each season!
1. Buck doesn’t get unfired in season 1. He still needs to pay for his room at the frat house, so he goes back to bartending. He cycles through a couple different bars, working their busiest nights, because for all that he flirts with the female customers, he’s fast and efficient and gets the orders right. One of his coworkers tells him about a gay bar he’s worked at before that needs some extra bodies. Buck starts there, makes more money than he ever has at any of his other bartending gigs, and realizes the lines he uses on women work just as well on men. He meets Tommy on a quieter night, and finds out he’s a firefighter. They start talking when Buck tells him he used to be a firefighter. Tommy becomes a regular fixture at the barstool in front of where Buck likes to work from.
2. Buck doesn’t go back to work after the engine bombing. He wants to, but he’s developed a near debilitating fear of fire engines — even hearing them from inside his apartment can set him off, and he’ll be hiding for the rest of the day. He works with Frank to deal with it and try to get some level of normalcy back in his life. Frank recommends a therapy dog on a trial basis, and Buck meets a sweet dog named Blaze, and his trainer Tommy, also a former firefighter who had transitioned into training therapy dogs after an off-shift back injury.
3. After the train derailment and his talk with Abby, Buck decides he needs to move forward with his life again. He'd really enjoyed his time working the wildfire in Texas — minus Hen’s near death experience — and he ends up taking a leave so he can go back to school for fire science. He ends up joining Special Ops when he comes back, and starts working brush clearance — which is boring, but a good first step. He takes as many courses as he can, finally excelling at school because it’s something he’s interested in. He gets called out to wildfires all over the state, and out of state. One time when there are a few different fires happening at the same time, he ends up jumping in with a helicopter pilot to help manage coordination between scenes — and that’s how he meets Tommy Kinard.
4. After the reveal about Daniel, Buck needs a break. From everything. He packs up his Jeep and drives north, only stopping when he gets to Seattle. He’s never been there before. He finds a cute little house rental on a quiet street. The Jeep breaks down a week later, and he gets it towed to the local neighbourhood garage, Tommy’s. Tommy needs some parts to come in before he can fix the Jeep, and he gives Evan a ride home, because he lives down the street from his rental house.
5. After Maddie leaves and Chimney punches him, Buck makes sure that Ravi can take his spot with heavy rescue, training him as much as he can. Without telling anyone, he puts in for a transfer to a new station and a new shift. He asks for a station the 118 wouldn’t normally overlap with, and he ends up at the 122. His new captain is efficient, smart, and very brusque. He loosens up when they're off shift, and he comes to badge and ladders with them, and throws the occasional barbecue. They’re not as close knit as the 118, but it still feels good to Buck. Captain Deluca knows a lot of members of the department, and they have a rotating door at his barbecues. Buck gets caught up talking to some of the pilots Sal knows at one of them, and Sal razzes them about trying to steal his new guy. They all laugh, but Buck notices how Tommy blushes too and won’t meet his eye after.
Hi Socks 👋 If you'd still like a prompt, for the 5 AUs game, how about your choice of BuckTommy, EddieTommy or Polyfire AUs where Buck and/or Eddie meet Tommy in a situation where they're not on the job and Tommy doesn't mention he's a firefighter (pilot), so for a while there's some mistaken assumptions about what he does.
Hi, bea! Thank's for sending me a prompt! Sorry it took forever, I got a sinus infection and it's made me feel extra awful for a bit. A couple of these are just straight up different meetings but *shrug* I hope you like.
4 of these are EddieTommy and the last 1 is BuckTommy.
1 - Eddie meets Tommy at a mixed martial arts gym and gets really competitive with him, but makes the incorrect assumption that he's a professional fighter. They start sparring regularly and then when the gym holds a fun little amateur tournament they face off and at one point Eddie has Tommy in a grapple and Tommy whispers in his ear "Loser has to ask the other one out on a date." It sends Eddie off balance enough for Tommy to get free. In the end, Tommy wins. Eddie spends the rest of the tournament sitting on the sidelines letting the moment play over in his head.
2- Helena's friend who lives in LA needs someone to judge a charity dance competition and she volunteers Eddie for it. One of the competing dancers is Tommy Eddie thinks Tommy is a pro dancer because he's so good, but he's only good at it because his mom used to be a pro dancer before she married his dad, and she taught him how. Eddie is extra critical with his judging and scoring and at first it pisses Tommy off, but then he sees the way Eddie looks at him and realizes that oh, maybe this guy likes me? So, for the last round, he starts flirting on the dance floor with seductive eye contact and his body movements. That last perfect score is definitely earned.
3- Eddie sees Tommy while he's out with Buck and he recognizes him as the porn star he used to jerk off to in college from the link he would keep buried deep his bookmarks folders at 3 AM and then feel guilty about afterward. He thinks "Oh, that's that old porn star!" Then the hurricane happens and oh my God he's a firefighter! Meanwhile, the entire time he's fighting back flashbacks in the back of Tommy's helicopter.
4- Eddie gets a call that Chris caused a disruption at school by getting into a debate with a military recruiter during a career day school assembly. He gets there and before he hears anything starts going off at Tommy.
Tommy has to explain that he's not a military recruiter, he's a firefighter and he was there to talk about being a pilot, but when he started to take questions Chris called out an inaccuracy from a story Tommy told from his military experience, because "My dad said this is how it happens in the military!" and Eddie has to admit that he had maybe exaggerated a story once or twice. It ends in laughs and apologies, and a date to exchange more stories.
5. Bobby ends up being Micheal's best man after he and David get engaged. Buck somehow ends up delegating himself into planning Michael's bachelor party. Rents out the VIP section of a gay friendly club and invites a bunch of names from a list of numbers that Bobby gives him. The night does not go well as a lot of people don't show up, the food is bad, the music is no one's style.
Eventually, a man in a firefighter's turn outs shows up smudged and dirty as if he's just come from a call. Buck is drunk enough that he doesn't really question it, only thinking "Finally, the stripper is here!" He starting yelling for the guy to take off his turnouts and strip. He's too busy cheering when the guy shrugs, drops his coat, and starts to dance to notice the way Bobby's looking like wants to be anywhere but here. At least Michael looks like he's enjoying himself now.
Hello belovEd 😅😆🥰 You didn't pick a card this time so with the power of free will I've picked a Jeddie prompt for you! How about 5 AUs where Josh thinks Eddie's into Maddie and not him before they both get their shit together? Enjoy and thank you for your alllll your fills 💗💗💗
🥺🥹🥰 Bealoved??? Here's some Jeddies for you. We got a s2 AU, a college age AU, a s7 AU, a Regency-ish AU with the funniest first sentence I'll ever write, and a Star Trek/scifi AU.
1. Josh helps Maddie move into her new place, too. He's no firefighter, but he can help. But every time he's helping her with something, that younger newbie is around. "What's his name again?" Josh hisses. "Eddie," she says, which makes the guy in question look up and smile at them. He's cute. It's too bad he's definitely trying to work up the courage to ask out Maddie. Later, when she's talking to Chimney in her new kitchen, Josh is trying to figure out how the hell an Ikea lampshade thing is supposed to go together. Eddie sits next to him and says, "That's upside-down." And Josh lets out a noise of frustration and asks, "Says who?" And Eddie holds up the instructions and taps the picture. "I fucking hate Swedish people," Josh decides, flipping the piece over. "So, you gonna shoot your shot before it's too late?" Eddie flushes and scratches his neck. "Uh, you noticed?" he asks, and Josh gives him a look that hopefully conveys how obvious Eddie was being. "Well...you like movies?" Eddie asks. "There's a film festival screening thing next Friday if you're not working." The entire lampshade thing springs apart under too much pressure from Josh's hands as his brain points out that Eddie's asking him out. "Are you okay with dating single dads?" Eddie asks, and Josh blinks before nodding, then stops. "I'm not stepdad material," he says, swallowing. "Well, I'm not asking you to be," Eddie says, biting back a smile. "I'm just asking if you like movies." "Love 'em," Josh replies quickly.
2. Maddie's formerly kind of dorky daredevil little brother is home from college and he's now kind of extremely cute. Josh still sees the little twerp who put Vaseline on his car door handles right after he got his license, though. But Ev--Buck's little friend that comes along with him is fucking hot. He's also a sophomore, which makes Josh feel ancient by comparison. He's about to be twenty-five, so he knows he's not, but still. They're crashing with him and Maddie instead of her parents despite the extra rooms at Phillip and Margaret's place, but Josh gets it. They don't care how late the boys get back or whether they're entirely sober. Lucky Maddie has Eddie crushing for sure, because he keeps asking about the area like Hershey isn't boring as hell, asking about places to eat, stuff to do. Josh is ready to tell him to just ask her out or leave him alone, because having to fuel Eddie's Maddie date night fantasies is irritating him. And then Eddie comes back to the apartment one night when Maddie and Buck are out with their parents, and he's weighed down with takeout bags. "What's all this?" Josh asks, taking a few off his hands. "Uh, soup from that Italian place, wings and garlic knots from the pizza place, one of those fancy salads, that pistachio pesto pizza, and cake," Eddie says, putting everything on the dining table. "Maddie's with her parents," Josh says, blinking at the smorgasbord. "I mean, we don't have to do dinner first," Eddie says, chewing on his lip and blushing. "But I don't want you to think I'm just trying to hook up with you on spring break." Josh's eyebrows shoot up, and he looks from the food to Eddie and then the food again, and he turns to get plates and utensils. "You forgot to ask me out, dumbass," he chides softly before kissing the corner of Eddie's mouth.
3. Josh thinks it's a little sad that Eddie's clearly into someone who's about to get married. They're at the tiny engagement party, and Josh overheard him and Linda talking about how nice it is to hear someone's voice from the call center, even if they don't know it makes his day and even if he doesn't have a chance with them. He pops a grape in his mouth and tries to dissociate for a while, because being surrounded by happy couples and smitten firefighters is making his head hurt. Later, at the wedding, he expects Eddie (who's not with Marisol in this one) to look sad or wistful or something. Instead, he just looks happy. He hands Josh a piece of cake and leans against the wall while Buck stammers through an introduction between his parents and the slab of lightly charred beef that is his date. "Good for him for figuring it out," Josh decides. "Yeah, it's hard," Eddie says, sounding almost knowing. Josh slowly looks over at him, frosting melting across his frozen tongue. "You know, I was gonna ask you to dance at the reception," Eddie says softly. "I'm a good dancer, too." "I would've said yes," Josh says, and Eddie smiles at him. "I still would. There's, uh, other places you can do that, I hear."
4. Joshua hates balls. He's always stuffed into a suit that gets too hot, the food is always lacking, his bachelor status means he either has people trying to foist their more unfortunate daughters off on him or they're trying to get him to invest in something or other, and he would much rather be dancing with one of the few handsome men. Evan is making eyes at Thomas, the newcomer that Howard brought to town, and Joshua suspects they'll be out in the woodshed by the close of the ball. It's not like he's the only confirmed bachelor in town, but he feels like the loneliest. He watches Eddie--the one friendly concession the man had made was to give Joshua permission to use his nickname--take Maddie for a spin around the dancefloor, both of them radiant as they grin at each other and talk and laugh. Howard looks oddly unbothered, even though there's been talk of him proposing to her before the season is out. Joshua throws back the last mouthful of wine and goes out to the gardens. They're at the Nash estate, which is sprawling with lovely grounds. There's a rose garden, and Joshua walks among the flowers and runs his fingertips over the petals. He gets to the end of a row and sees a shadow, freezing, but it turns and it's just Eddie. He's holding a rose, probably for Maddie. "No lantern?" Eddie teases. "The moon's bright enough," Joshua points out casually, as though Eddie isn't glowing under the moonlight. "Bright enough to dance by?" Eddie asks. "Likely, yes," Joshua says, suddenly feeling very tired. "Mm, then may I?" Eddie asks, tucking the rose in Joshua's buttonhole and offering his hand. Joshua's lips part, but he can't think of what to ask. When he takes Eddie's hand, he's pulled close enough that it would be indecent even if either of them were a woman. The music is distant, but Joshua can hear it clearly enough as Eddie begins to step. "Why are you leading?" Joshua asks. Eddie laughs and presses his hand more firmly against Joshua's lower back. "I can stop," he offers. "Please don't," Joshua says softly, flushing.
5. "'See the galaxy,' they said. 'It'll be fun,' they said," Josh mutters, trying to find a frequency that's sandwiched between two others. He fucking hates being a Comms officer, he should've gone into xenobotany. The Lieutenant Comms officer, his best friend Maddie, is sitting with him and has her concerned face on. "Still nothing?" Josh asks, and she shakes her head. "They'll be okay." She's monitoring for word from her brother, husband, and their landing party. They'd lost communication two hours ago. Why they don't put Chimney and Buck on separate landing parties will continue to baffle Josh, because they're family now. If something happens, someone will lose two people. Granted, they'd all lose friends. But still. Suddenly there's a crackle in Josh's ear, and he works carefully to tune to it. "--day, mayday, does anyone copy?" And he never thought he'd be so happy to hear Eddie Diaz's voice. "I've got you, Diaz," Josh says. "Holy shit, thank you," Eddie says, sounding relieved. "Let me talk to Maddie." And Josh stares flatly at the helm before handing his headset off to her. Later, in the shuttlebay, he watches Buck get run to Medical on a stretcher, Chimney hot on his heels, and Josh sees Eddie put an arm around Maddie and hug her. He feels a stab of something in his chest, and he turns away to go back to his quarters. He's half a shift over anyway. There's a metallic pounding sound coming closer, and he looks over his shoulder and sees a pale, slightly scraped up field medical officer running towards him. "Quick thinking," he says. "Maddie told me you hotwired the ship to shock him back." "Yeah," Eddie says. "I, uh, thought we were all gonna die down there." Josh gives him a small smile and reaches out to squeeze his bicep. "I'm glad you all came back," he says, and he means it. "Yeah," Eddie says, and he grabs Josh's wrist when he draws his hand back. Before Josh can react, Eddie's leaning in and kissing him. "And I wouldn't have gotten to do that," Eddie whispers as Josh's pulse pounds in his ears. He's at a loss for words for once, so he throws his arm around Eddie's neck and pulls him in for another kiss.
Buck or Tommy’s vehicle breaks down and the other one helps them out (could be personal vehicle or fire engine, etc)
thank youuuu this one was fun!! one au fixit and four au meetings for you!
#1 — tommy is doing one of his drives past buck's place, post-breakup. he's glancing up towards what he knows is evan's balcony when someone coming out of the underground parking sideswipes his truck. it's not bad, mostly just cosmetic damage that he could fix himself, and the other guy is completely at fault, so it's quick to deal with, but not before it draws the attention of some of the residents—including one evan buckley, who recognized tommy's truck immediately. he runs downstairs to make sure tommy's okay, and once he's determined that, he starts interrogating him about why he's even there. tommy admits to just how much he misses him, and buck invites him up to chat.
#2 — similarly to when the 118 gets stuck with the downed power lines, the 217 gets incapacitated and the 118 is who gets called in to help. chim and hen greet tommy and immediately start teasing him and catching up. chim asks after the "girlfriend" he was "seeing" when he left the 118, and tommy grimaces. he admits that he made the whole thing up—gearing up to telling them that he's gay—but buck, who was not-so-subtly listening in, interrupts like "dude, why do you have to make up a girlfriend? looking like that? women must be all over you!" and tommy snaps back "because i was in the closet, dude". he's half expecting some straight dude weirdness but instead buck is very genuinely sympathetic. he does make a funny comment about how lucky tommy is, because some dudes have great asses, which results in tommy, hen, and chim all exchanging 🏳️🌈 🤨❓looks. he figures it out eventually and tommy is the first to know.
#3 — crash that helicopter! but make it buck. he's going along on a rescue and the helicopter gets caught in a draft or something (idk, i'm not a pilot) and goes down. he has to stablize the pilot after they crash and relay with dispatch about it and he's exhausted by the time rescue gets there in the form of tommy and lucy! he and lucy are catching up, maybe he's just recently come out, and she spends half the ride trying to match buck and tommy up. when buck is leaving, as a final attempt, she jokes that at the very least she can recommend them both as great kissers. they're both like what!? and she just shrugs and says guess you'll have to go on that date and talk to each other to get the stories. (the buck kiss would be the canon one; the tommy one was in a bar after work one night in a "ugh, that guy won't leave me alone, pretend to be my boyfriend?" scheme and the kiss was barely a peck. she was just exaggerating because she thinks she's hilarious) (also the original pilot is fine of course don't worry about it)
#4 — tommy is driving somewhere when he witnesses a bus going off the road due to weather. he calls it in and pulls over to help. when the 118 arrive (of course) he offers to stay and help as an extra pair of hands while they wait for another station because the bus was really full. he gets paired up with buck and eddie. he and eddie get along right away (similar to canon) and buck keeps trying to insert himself in the conversation. slowly tommy does start to gravitate more towards him and eventually, eddie clocks that they're flirting, throws his hands up in frustration, and goes to help hen. meanwhile, buck did not fully clock that they were flirting and is really confused at eddie's exit. tommy asks if he's free later and he eagerly agrees—tommy's so cool! and interesting! and big!—but doesn't realize the context until they're in the rig going back to the station, he mentions it, and eddie asks if he's excited about his date. record scratch, freeze frame, lots of recontextualizing in about .8 seconds before he decides he is excited, actually.
#5 — some fudging of timelines and places and age gaps in this one! an au where tommy is a paramedic working in the hospital where maddie works in boston. he and maddie are about the same age. his team is the one that responds when buck crashes his motorcycle and breaks his arm. tommy spends the ride to the hospital lecturing buck, which somehow turns into mentioning that he could probably fix up the bike but buck should learn and practice a bit more. buck asks how he's supposed to do that and gets an i could teach you moment in response. he inspires buck to get back on the horse motorcycle with him and buck has the most confusing erection of his life going 70 down the highway while pressed against tommy's back.
Hi Ed 💗💗💗 It's me again. You chose clerb ♣️ for your prompt this time.
It is a Buck/Tommy SFW prompt! 5 AUs where something or someone made them do it. But remember☝️it's a SFW prompt, so the "it" that they're made to do should be PG.
In the clerb, we all pervs. But I'll do a SFW prompt for you.
1. Buck likes watching karaoke, he doesn't participate unless he's drunk. And he's not drunk, so he has no reason to be standing on a stage with a microphone in his hand while he watches Ravi, Chimney, Hen, and Eddie drag and shove his ex onto the stage. "Hey," Tommy says, his lips twisting in a 'well, fuck' smile. "H-hey," Buck says. He's about to say more when a country sounding song comes on, and he knows he knows it but doesn't know who sings it or anything. "And now presenting: Buck and Tommy singing 'Need You Now' by Lady A!" the emcee calls over the speaker. "Fuck," Tommy sighs at the ceiling before he starts singing what Buck is pretty sure is the woman's part.
2. Theo and Jee are staring intently at them, Nash is chewing on a teething toy that looks like a carrot. "You know, we're supposed to be in charge," Buck says to Tommy. "Yeah, that's what they want you to believe," Tommy says, holding up a Batman action figure. "Okay, so we're going to pretend Batman is a very cool helicopter pilot, and Barbie, Barbie, Ken, and He-Man are your dad, Aunt Hen, Uncle Eddie, and your dad." He holds up the large model helicopter he'd brought over to let the kids fly. "And this is an Airbus H135, we call her Big Bird--" "Why?" Theo asks. "Because it's yellow and big and it flies," Tommy explains. "Big Bird doesn't fly," Jee says. "Pilots aren't very smart," Tommy says, and Buck bites back a smile. "So, your dad, Uncle Eddie, and your dad showed up at my airfield where Big Bird lives, because Aunt Athena and Uncle Bobby were on a big ship that was in trouble--" With the dolls crammed in the helicopter, Buck and Tommy recreate the helicopter ride in the hurricane and the night they met. By the end, Batman and He-Man are getting married on the rescue boat. "That didn't happened," Buck says. "Yet," Tommy adds, and Buck's heart slams in his chest.
3. Buck doesn't dance. He can dance in a club well enough, he can shuffle his way through a waltz, but he doesn't dance. He's staring flatly at Harry as he goes through the choreography of some TikTok dance. Ravi's picking it up, Hen's doing it, Eddie's adding moves, Chimney suddenly had so much paperwork. "I think I cracked a rib again," Buck lies. "How'd that happen?" Tommy asks, and Buck whirls around and sees him with a tote bag and a smile. "Brought lunch, I didn't know you guys were practicing your Funky Bunch moves." "Gotta go, guys," Buck says, taking a step toward his boyfriend, but a suspiciously Hen-ish hand grabs the back of his shirt. "Nuh-uh," Ravi says. A shirt goes flying past Buck's head and lands on Tommy's face and shoulder. "Welcome back to the 118," Hen says. "Get moving, Kinard." And instead of laughing it off, Tommy sets their lunch down and changes into one of Buck's spare shirts, which is cheating. So the video ends up being the group doing the dance, Tommy pulling Buck into frame, and Buck doing the rest of the dance with a flat expression on his face until Tommy ducks in and kisses his cheek. That hadn't been the plan, but it gets a smile on Buck's face. And boosts the video's popularity. Harry becomes their unofficial social media manager and has a Tommy cameo every so often. The Danger Zone cross-over with Harbor makes it on the news.
4. A housewarming feels pointless when it's just Buck and Theo moving in with Tommy, but Athena says something about never getting to do one with Bobby and wishing she had. So between her and May and Maddie and Karen looking at him with big eyes over wine, he sighs and texts Tommy that they'll have to do one. He invites the knitting group, his parents, the 118, Harbor, his friends, and Tommy's friends. They're gifted a big couch blanket that had been collectively knitted by the group, and it's enough to go around both of them. Buck realizes he gets to just let Theo run loose with the other kids. "The big ones watch the little ones, it's easy," Chimney says, popping the top on a Boylan's black cherry soda. "And then, y'know, they hide the evidence of their collective crimes and we hear about it in fifteen years." Buck settles into the couch and against Tommy, and Tommy wraps an arm around him as he says something to Athena that makes them both lean toward each other and cackle about something, which tugs Buck sideways a little. It's the first time he's ever thrown a big party of his own, first time he's had everyone together since...ever. Theo and Tommy weren't at Nash's first birthday, his parents had gotten stuck with a delayed flight and missed half the party that day. He didn't have Sal, Lucy, his knitting circle, or any of the other people they've collected since then. "This was a good idea," he says to Maddie when she perches next to him. "Yep," she agrees, grinning.
5. "Just do it, pussy," Eddie hisses, and Buck slaps him with a throw pillow. Eddie grabs it and hits him back before chucking it over his shoulder. "I'm going to shoot one of you into space," Karen hisses. "And not in a fun way. In a sad Soviet animal way." Buck stops flapping his hand in Eddie's face and snatches the box that's being held out to him by Karen. "How do I look?" he asks. "Radiant, get your ass out there, they're almost here," Maddie says, shoving him through the door. They're at an Air BnB on the beach, supposedly for a parents' getaway. Except their friends are mostly staying down the block, and they've decorated the deck looking out over the beach with lights and LED candles, and Hen and Chimney are driving back from shopping with Tommy. They're pulling up, and Buck can hear Hen asking Tommy to check if the barbecue is going, and his heart is slamming in his chest when he hears Tommy's footsteps on the wood of the deck as he comes around the side of the house. Thankfully, he's not holding anything. Buck had told them to make sure he wasn't holding anything, even though Tommy would want to carry everything inside. And Tommy stops and looks around, and the sunset is making his skin glow gold, the gray in his temples and stubble is almost glittering. Buck takes a deep breath and nods for him to come over. "Evan?" Tommy asks, and his hand is shaking when he takes Buck's outstretched one, which is also shaking. "I have a, uh, whole speech," Buck warns him. "And then a question." And Tommy's chin trembles and his eyes are getting teary, and he inhales sharply on something that's between a sob and a laugh. "I already know my answer," Tommy says. "If that helps." He goes blurry when Buck's eyes fill with tears, and he nods. "It does," Buck says. "B-but I still want to do the rest."
This was part of a 5AU's prompt from @xunandran "rainy day activities" Well, I kind of went nuts on this one.
For context, this takes place after my abandoned Buddietommy fic "Forbidden Fruit (Hunger)," where Tommy was a cursed werewolf and Eddie is an incubus who feeds off emotional intimacy and affection, (spoilers) and Buck becomes a witch.
I doubt I will ever go back and finish that, so please have this scene that takes place after what I had planned for the original story. I hope you can enjoy it for what it is.
The rain had been pouring down nonstop for almost two days now, the power going out periodically, and they were all gathered in the living room by the light of a couple battery powered lanterns. At an hour, this was the longest outage thus far.
"You've been staring at that yarn for 10 minutes, Buck," Eddie said. He sat on the living room floor, doing his best to keep Theo distracted with Legos while Buck was on one end of the couch picking at a tangled up, bunch blue yarn, his face scrunched up in frustration. Eddie had actually noticed Buck's scent had been off all day, he'd just assumed it was from being cooped up inside for so long. It had changed from its usual, bright, warm and welcoming honey smell, taking on an anxious sour tinge that stung Eddie's nose.
"I'm attempting to do knot work." He held up the mess for Eddie to see, as if it were a puzzle he couldn't solve and maybe Eddie could see what he couldn't.
"Is that the best medium for this?" Eddie didn't do spells, his own abilities were in enough conflict with his faith for him to wrap his head around, but he paid attention when Buck talked about his craft. Buck had said once that knot work was primarily used for severing bonds and working metaphorical concepts. It wasn't a bad medium for Buck, people and connections were his strength, but it didn't sound like it applied here.
"I know, but I've got to do something. You saw the news." Before the power had gone out they'd gotten an alert on their phones that the storm was quickly progressing towards hurricane status. "I can fee this pressure in the back of my eyes building, like a warning sign of some big disaster about to happen." There was real panic in Buck's voice as he spoke.
"I think that's just called a pressure headache," Eddie said, dismissively.
"No, it's real," Tommy said. He'd gone to check the circuit breaker in the mudroom and from the look on his face and the lack of electricity, it didn't seem like they'd be out of the dark any time soon. "I've been feeling it, too, and it's been getting worse in the last hour or so," Tommy said, his expression pained.
The connection between the three of them was different for all of them, but for Tommy, being their paladin, their protector, meant feeling everything they did. Tommy's senses were heightened, not in the same way they'd once been when he was cursed, but they did make sensory information, including pain, real or shared, double for him.
Tommy walked over and kissed the side of Eddie's head, and his tart and sweet cherry flavor flickered across Eddie's tongue. It was brief, but he could taste the same anxiety he'd smelled coming from Buck earlier. Something was definitely off.
Tommy took the empty spot on the couch, laying down on his back with his head in Buck's lap. Buck abandoned the tangled yarn, his fingers playing with Tommy's hair in a half hearted attempt to massage his scalp.
"Can't you just make the rain stop?" Chris suggested. He'd been sat on the floor across from Eddie and Theo, his eyes glued to his phone the entire time the power had gone out, despite the fact that they had all warned him about conserving his phone's battery life.
"No!" Was the resounding response from all three adults. Technically, Buck could 'just make it stop' but dipping into that well was dangerous, and none of them, especially Buck, wanted to deal with the potential backlash that force stopping nature would cost. Small magic and ritual spellwork only, that was the rule.
"Geez, okay, nevermind then!"
Another hour went by. Evan was reading through one of his aunt's old journals, looking for anything he could borrow from, anything he could work with what he had on hand or was compatible with his talents. Tommy was also reading, although from the looks of the two shirtless men on the cover holding hockey sticks, it wasn't about spells and potions. Theo had gotten beyond restless.
Theo's frustration at not being able to go play outside was starting to make him fidgety and irritable. He'd lost interest in the Legos, having thrown one at Eddie's head. He'd missed, but it was as clear a sign as any that the kid needed a nap.
It felt wrong to put Theo to bed in his room alone. There was something about the darkness of a power outage that felt preternatural and a little scary. So, a few minutes later, Tommy came back from the lenin closet with blankets and pillows.
The three of them, Eddie, Theo, and Chris, whose phone battery had, in fact, died, ended up in a pile on the floor.
Eddie listened to the rainfall and the rattling of the wind against the windows that had been steadily picking up in force. He could feel Theo beside him, shuffling restlessly. He remembered nights when Chris was sick with a fever, or the months after the tsunami when Chris had trouble sleeping on his own. He would sing to him until he nodded off. He thought about it for a bit, but only one tune came to mind. He started to hum softly under his breath.
The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout...
From his spot on the couch, Tommy started to hum as well, picking up the next verse.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out...
Buck followed after him, humming the third verse.
Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain...
To Eddie's surprise, Chris finished out the rhyme with a little less finesse.
And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again
There was something heavy hanging in the air when it was done, a kind of anticipating tension that was telling him, telling them, to keep going. Eddie hummed the first verse again, and Tommy followed, passing on the melody to Buck again who passed it to Chris.
On the third go around they begin to speak out loud, reciting their verses in gentle, lulling whispers.
Then at once, they sang together, connected, sharing their collective energy until Eddie felt the tension break with a thunderous force.
He'd expected to hear the sound of lightning cracking open the sky when it was done, but there was only the sound of Theo's steady, rhythmic breathing as he slept, and the rain had finally stopped.
For the 911 HiAUtus 5AU event - (any pairings] - prompt: rainy day activities
First, thank you so much for sending this!
Second, so sorry this took forever! I was struggling on the brain train on this one and most of these are duds, but I think I did okay at the very end there. Especially #5... you'll see!
These first 3 are all BuckTommy.
1. Early into their relationship, Tommy and Even make time for hangout dates whenever they can. This sometimes includes the odd morning workout or jog before an afternoon shift. On one of these mornings they get caught in a massive downpour. When they make it back to Tommy's place the only option is to strip and get clean. After having fun in the shower, Tommy takes the lead and begins to towel Evan off, noticing for the first time that Evan's hair gets quite curly when there isn't so much product in it. Evan's really shy about it, thinks it makes his look too childish, too messy, that he always tries to keep it short but Tommy tells him his curls are gorgeous, that he should grow it out even longer, and Evan never uses hair gel again.
2. (For context, this takes place in my Playdate Verse)
They're having a sleepover, this time at Tommy's house, and Buck and Tommy are hanging out on the couch while the kids are in Mason's room. It's been raining on and off all day when it starts to pickup. It isn't until the first roll of thunder and a call out from Theo that Buck and Tommy come running. They find Mason huddled away in his closet, scared of the storm. It takes a little while, but with some encouragement from Tommy and Theo, they get Mason to come out and they all end sleeping out in the living room in a giant puddle pillows and blankets,
3. The thunderstorm warning edges toward hurricane status when the power goes out. It can be a long while before the storm stops and Tommy forgot to charge his Kindle and refuses to let him charge it with one of their external batteries, so for a while Tommy just watches Evan knit by the light of the battery powered lantern. Eventually, Evan suggests teaching Tommy how to knit. They start out with simple scarf. The whole endeavor...does not go great. It somehow ends in near tears with Tommy almost throwing the needles across the room. Evan suggests they switch crochet.
This next one is EddieTommy.
4. It's a lazy, Sunday afternoon with just enough of a drizzle to cool down what has so far been a blaze hot summer. It's the perfect day to waste watching movies, Tommy's favorite rainy day activity, and this time he has someone to share it with. Tommy wants to watch a RomCom, but Eddie wants to watch a musical. The compromise on dance movies. They're near the end of Dirty Dancing, the final dance scene, when Tommy says he could definitely catch Eddie he did the leap. Eddie, being the only one with any actual experience with dance, calls him on it.
"It takes practice. Skill. Core strength, Tommy!" Eddie says.
"You don't think I have core strength?" Tommy lifts up his shirt, flashing his flexing abs. Eddie smirks at him, playfully slapping Tommy's stomach before he pulls the hem his shirt back down.
That should be the end of it, but Tommy won't let it go, and against Eddie's better judgement they end up clearing out the living room, pulling back the furniture and moving the TV to make space for the dumbest thing they've ever done that didn't require breaking the law. Chris watches at a safe distance, phone in hand and ready to record, after overhearing the commotion from his room.
They get into position and Eddie presses play on his own phone because you can't dance without music, and on the count of three, he makes the run towards Tommy's awaiting arms...
5 minutes late, the call center gets a call from a familiar number. At first, Josh thinks Chris is panicking, but he soon realizes what he's hearing is laughter.
"Oh my God, I think you landed on my wrist!" says a familiar voice in the background.
5. Stay tuned! As in now. On its own post, because I did a little thing.... HERE!
Jessica, I have... perhaps a very silly prompt for the 5 AUs-1 fact game. I hope you like it. Maybe it'll spark something for you! 💜
Buck/Tommy different first date AUs (maybe because they also have different first meetings). But... Eddie and Marisol — or whoever Eddie's seeing at the time — still run into them in every universe.
Bea!! Thank you so much for the prompt. I hope this at least somewhat fulfills it? I played very fast and loose with the term "first date" and this is going to immediately go under a cut because it's 4,443 words. The first two (the second especially) got very long, but the last 3 are normal I promise lol Also 5 is very silly, and I hope it's not too hard to read.
1. [I am changing the age gaps so Evan, Eddie, and Shannon are 14, Tommy is 15, and Maddie is 17]. I am also playing fast and loose with pretty much everything.
Evan is on a cross-country RV trip with his family—Pennsylvania to California, Tommy's family is moving from Denver to Sacramento, and Eddie & Shannon are taking a trip with her family to visit a great-aunt in Portland.
The Buckleys and the Kinards have somehow managed to stop at the same rest stops the last 3 stops and Evan and Tommy noticed each other, but hadn't had the courage to say more than "hi" or "cool shoes" but then they're both stopped in [insert random city in CA just across the Nevada state line → I gave up choosing when I couldn't find any cities in Nevada or California that had the type of place I was describing lol] and it's Tommy's last chance to actually talk to the cute guy he's been inadvertently following for 4 states now.
Their respective families order food from the food courts and are sat at their tables while Evan and Tommy are still in line for fast food places that are right next to each other. They keep trading each other glances and shyly looking away. Once they've both got their food, Tommy asks Evan if he wants to eat with him outside at one of the picnic tables. Evan blushes and says sure and Evan tells his parents he's eating outside and the Buckley's wave him off and tell Maddie to look after him. Maddie rolls her eyes, never looking up from her phone, but she follows him outside anyway; then she ruffles his hair and tells him to stay out of trouble and gets back in the RV.
Evan and Tommy sit at a picnic table; they eat their food and talk about their summers so far. Not long after, a boy and girl around their age ask if they can join them. Evan and Tommy share a look, but it's not like they have a reason to say no; neither of them said it was a date, but it's what they both want it to be. Tommy shrugs and says sure and the newcomers introduce themselves as Eddie and Shannon.
Evan notices a ring on Shannon's left hand and asks if he's married. Eddie shakes his head and says it's a promise ring. Evan doesn't know what that is and doesn't want to seem dumb for asking. The picnic table is surrounded by dandelions and Evan imagines picking them to make a smaller version of a flower chain that Maddie taught him how to make, until he looks at Tommy and sees his nose wrinkle and he drops the idea. Eddie and Shannon are nice enough to talk to and they're paying enough attention to each other that they don't notice the way Evan blushes when Tommy hooks his ankle around Evan's and winks at him.
After Eddie and Shannon leave, Evan asks Tommy if he has any money (he does) and says they should go to the gift shop. Tommy agrees and they stand up, but then Tommy pats his pockets and says he actually needs to get money from his parents and he'll meet Evan in there. When Tommy finds him inside, Evan says they should split up and buy something for each other. Tommy agrees and tells Evan not to peek. Evan flails and says vehemently that he wouldn't. Tommy gives him a look that says he doesn't believe him and then they split up to find something for each other.
Tommy hasn't yet found the thing yet but he does have a box of Reese's Pieces when Evan rounds the corner of the aisle with snow globes on the shelves. Evan's face lights up and he says "Reese's Pieces?" Tommy tries to look put out rather than fond or smug, but he thinks his face is probably just doing something unflattering. "I saw you pick them out at the stop in Rock Springs." Evan looks at him with far too much awe for something concerning candy. "And you remembered?" Tommy shrugs. Evan says, "they're my favorite." Tommy grins. "Like E.T.!" Evan's brow furrows and he laughs. "What?" Tommy sighs and shakes his head and says, "never mind" and shoos Evan out of the aisle so he can keep searching.
Tommy ends up buying two postcards; at the register, he fills out one with his new address and hands one to Evan to do the same and they exchange them so they can write to each other.
Evan buys keychains with their names. When they get outside, he hands one to Tommy and Tommy furrows his brow and says, "you gave me the one with your name," and Evan just smiles and says, "I know." Tommy blushes and closes his hand around the keychain; then he takes his Swiss Army knife out of his pocket and puts it on the keychain.
Tommy's parents come outside and say they're ready to leave and Tommy has to go. Tommy shoves his hands in his pockets so he doesn't do something something stupid like give Evan a hug.
Evan can't do what he really wants to do which is close the distance between him and Tommy and press their lips together, so presses a kiss to his own fingertip instead and touches Tommy's forehead. "I'll be right here." It's so dorky…the dorkiest thing he's ever done, but it's worth it when Tommy blushes and grins.
Tommy keeps his eyes on Evan as he slowly steps backwards. "Don't forget to write."
"I won't," Evan promises. He stands in the same spot on the sidewalk as he watches Tommy get in the moving truck and is driven away.
And now it's Evan's time to leave. He makes the excuse that he forgot something at the picnic table. It's silly, maybe, but he wants to see it one last time—the first place he had a sort-of-date with a boy. When he gets to the table, he sees something carved into the top of it, on the side where Tommy had sat—E + T, circled with a heart around it. He runs his finger over it until Maddie sticks her head out of the RV window and yells for him to get inside or they're leaving without him.
When Evan gets home to Pennsylvania, there's a postcard waiting for him.
2. The Buckleys and Diazes start vacationing during the summer at the same lake shore cottage resort when Evan and Eddie are 11 (Maddie is 14 and Eddie's sisters are 13 and 14) [located at some unnamed lake in some unnamed city in California]. The Buckleys are from Portland and the Diazes are still from Texas.
Tommy (who is the same age as Evan and Eddie) lives with his parents a few miles down the road and they're pretty secluded so Tommy has no neighbors and he doesn't really have friends from school so his summers are lonely until he starts spending time at the resort when he's 9. The owners of the resort, Thomas and Mitchell, take pity on Tommy and let him hang around, seeing that he's too shy at first to make friends his own age. Mitchell teaches him how to swim, when Tommy shyly admits that, despite living on a lake his whole life, he never learned how. Then Thomas teaches him how to fish and eventually how to clean and cook what he's caught. They let him hang out in their cottage and read or draw or watch TV when he needs to just hide out, but they try to encourage him to go play with the other kids too.
Age 11: The first time Tommy meets Evan and Eddie is when a bunch of kids decide to play badminton. On the way to the court, which is actually just a net set in a large patch of dead grass and gravel. Evan and Tommy are paired for doubles against Eddie and a girl named Kya. Evan's taller than Tommy and must have recently gone through a growth spurt if the way he doesn't seem to have total control of his limbs is anything to go by and he knocks into Tommy a few times. The one time Evan nearly takes them both down, Tommy steadies him and says, "careful there, Bambi." Evan blinks and stays quiet and Tommy worries he's offended him, but then Evan laughs and says, "good one, Tommy" and for the first time in Tommy's life he feels like he made a friend (one his age, anyway, which Mitchell and Thomas are always stressing is important for him).
Age 12: The resort has a campfire each Saturday night, everyone gathers around and socializes and cooks hot dogs and s'mores. Evan never learns that his stomach isn't actually a bottomless pit and consumes far too much sugar, but he always saves the last s'more for Tommy.
Age 13: While kicking a soccer ball around, Evan knocks a brick loose from the side of Thomas and Mitchell's cottage. Him and Tommy hastily try to put it back, but discover something in the space left behind. Tommy pulls out a rusty, green Lucky Strike tin. Inside are folded up pieces of paper; Tommy takes one out and unfolds it and it appears to be a letter. Evan tries to look at it over Tommy's shoulder, eagerly asking if they should read it. Tommy hesitates, says that maybe they shouldn't. Evan rambles about what it could contain—directions to some lost treasure buried under the lake ("probably not") or a secret formula ("…to what?" "I don't know, Tommy, that's why we have to read it!"), or the details of a torrid love affair (Tommy pretends to gag, "where did you even learn that word?"). Tommy folds the paper, puts it back in the tin, puts the tin back, and then the brick too. Evan is disappointed, but doesn't push, and they go back to kicking the ball around until Tommy has to go home.
Later that night, after dark, there's a quiet knock on Evan's window. He hadn't been sleeping, otherwise he might not have heard it. It's Tommy and Evan sneaks out to see him, brings a flashlight and blankets like Tommy says. Evan follows Tommy down to the dock. With the moonlight reflecting off the water, Evan sees that Tommy's eyes are red-rimmed, but Tommy turns his face away when he catches Evan looking so Evan doesn't acknowledge it. Tommy shows Evan that he brought the tin from earlier and takes out the letters, handing 2 of them to Evan. "Do you want to do the honors?"
They sit sideways on one of the benches, their backs pressed together, a blanket wrapped around each of their shoulders. Evan turns on his flashlight and reads: "Dear Thomas…"
When they walk back from the dock, Evan asks Tommy if he'll be okay getting home, if he needs somewhere to stay. Tommy sniffles and says he'll be okay. They part ways and Evan watches Tommy walk to Thomas and Mitchell's cottage, root around for what must be a key, and then let himself inside.
Evan sneaks back inside his room and falls asleep wrapped in the blanket that smells like Tommy.
Age 14: Tommy doesn't come to the resort. Evan worries and sulks and worries some more. After he's been there for a week with no sign of Tommy, he pays a visit to Thomas and Mitchell. They're frustratingly vague and won't tell Evan anything, sharing looks when they think he's not paying attention. But they don't tell him to get lost; they feed him sandwiches and lemonade and set aside a pile of books that are Tommy's favorites. Evan reads them all. He writes Tommy a letter and right before he leaves to go back home, he folds it up and puts it in the tin hidden behind the loose brick. Tommy had returned the letters to Mitchell and Thomas, so Evan's surprised to find a piece of paper inside. It's hardly a letter, but it's addressed to him; telling him not to worry and that Tommy would see him next summer. Evan scoffs, it's too late for not worrying. There's no closing, just Tommy's name and he suddenly feels self-conscious about signing off with Yours, Evan but it's too late to change it now. He pockets Tommy's letter and leaves his own for Tommy to find—whenever that might be.
Age 15: Tommy's back the next summer like he said and they don't talk about his absence, but they both silently and surreptitiously catalogue all the changes they notice in each other. Nothing has changed between them though and they hardly leave each other's side all summer. Evan teaches Tommy how to catch minnows with his bare hands. Tommy tries to teach Evan how to fish (it's too passive and boring for him), and he shows Evan how to gut and clean a fish to be cooked (and he doesn't make fun of Evan when he gags).
Age 16: Margaret and Phillip have to teach summer school for the first half of the summer and Maddie makes plans with her friends/roommates (2 fellow nursing students), so Evan's parents suggest that maybe it's time they find a new summer tradition. Evan begs them to go one last time, so he can say proper goodbyes to his friends he's spent the last 5 summers with, and besides…they've already booked and paid for the rental. [Evan just recently got his driver's license, but he doesn't have a car yet and his parents would never let him drive that far on his own]
Evan arrives at the cottages to find that Tommy and Eddie have apparently become best friends (they were always friendly before, they got along but Evan admittedly took up a lot of Tommy's time). Evan's moody and simultaneously wants to be included in everything they're doing and wants nothing to do with either of them at all.
Evan always had Maddie or Eddie or Tommy, or even Mitchell and Thomas, to socialize with, so he never really made an effort to make other friends, but now he guesses he'll have to.
He meets Kaci, who is tall and red-headed, and loud and happy-go-lucky and who Evan doesn't think has ever had trouble making friends, but somehow still agrees to spend time with him. She even makes them friendship bracelets. Evan shamelessly flaunts their new friendship in front of Tommy and Eddie, who seem equally confused and annoyed with his antics.
One night, when they're all gathered at the campfire, Kaci tells Evan that she gets the impression he's using her to make his friend jealous (friend—singular, Evan notes, with a strange emphasis on the word), but that he can kiss her anyway. He denies her claim and she gives him a look that says be serious so he does kiss her; to prove a point, maybe, but also because he wants to. When they pull apart, though, his eyes immediately find Tommy's across the crowd. Kaci doesn't need to look to see for herself, she just smiles smugly. Evan sighs. Kaci tells him it's okay. He says that he really does like her and Kaci says, yeah…but you love him. Evan frowns, doesn't know what to say as the word rattles around his brain. Kaci pats his shoulder and says she'll see him around. He looks around the crowd, but Tommy's nowhere to be found.
Tommy stays away the whole next week. Evan tracks down Eddie, who hasn't seen him either and he's pissed at Evan about it, even if neither of them knows if it has anything to do with him. Evan walks back to his cottage in a bad mood—Eddie's mad at him, Tommy's maybe probably mad at him or at least avoiding him for reasons he's afraid to entertain, Kaci's not mad at him but she has a girlfriend now and has no time for him. His parents are out, probably next door at the Millers. Evan raids the fridge—he takes a plate of fruit and cheese and crackers and a bottle of sparkling juice—then he goes down to the dock and gets into his parent's boat.
It isn't long before Evan spots Tommy walking out of Thomas and Mitchell's cottage. Tommy freezes when he sees him, but then keeps walking. Evan stands up and shouts Tommy's name, nearly tipping the boat over in the process. He falls on his ass, but manages to save the bottle of juice. When he sits up, Tommy's looking down at him.
"I'm okay!"
Tommy purses his lips. "You're an idiot."
'"Hey!" Evan scrambles into the seat. "Can we talk?"
Tommy shifts and looks down at the foiled covered plate in his hands.
"What's that?"
"Fish."
Evan frowns. Mitchell and Thomas hadn't invited him over for fish—were they mad at him too? "Hey, you know what goes good with fish?" He holds up the bottle.
"Are you drunk?"
"What? No." Evan rolls his eyes. "It's sparkling, duh."
Tommy stares, unmoved.
Evan sighs. "I just wish you would talk to me."
Tommy hands Evan the plate and asks for Evan to help him into the boat. Once they're both seated, Tommy asks what Evan wants to talk about.
Evan grins and asks Tommy if he trusts him. Tommy doesn't say no, he just narrows his eyes and asks why, so Evan hands him a life vest and tells him to put it on. He puts his own vest on and starts the motor.
"Evan…"
"Don't worry, I know how to drive it."
"Uh huh. And you have a license?"
Evan gives him an incredulous look, making Tommy smirk, and it finally feels like they're them again.
Evan drives them out far enough that it feels like they're the only ones on the lake, but still close enough they can see the cottages. They talk and eat and pass the bottle of sparkling juice back and forth and stare just a little too long at each other's lips. "Tommy, I—"
Tommy surges forward and Evan has to grab the side of the boat to steady himself when Tommy kisses him.
When they part, Evan ducks his head and laughs quietly. "Yeah—uh, me too."
They spend long stretches in comfortable silence, looking out at the water and listening as it laps at the hull, sharing flirty smiles and sticky kisses.
Until another boat approaches them. Thomas is driving, Mitchell next to him, and Eddie and some girl Evan's never seen before are in the back.
Mitchell peers in their boat, looks between Evan and Tommy, and raises his eyebrows and Evan just knows they're going to be the subject of gossip later. "You okay, kid?"
Evan blushes. "We're fine."
Thomas gives him a knowing smile. "Eddie here thought you got stranded."
Evan glares daggers at his friend. "Nope, not stranded."
Eddie frowns. "Then why are you just sitting in the middle of the lake?"
Evan opens and closes his mouth, and is ultimately saved from saying something embarrassing or having to lie when Mitchell suggests they all head back to shore.
They only have a few weeks left of summer, but they make the most of it (Eddie remains oblivious).
Thomas and Mitchell retire when Tommy is 30 and they leave the cottage resort to him (they want to move to Seattle as soon as possible and anticipating the money Tommy will have to put into it, they don't want to ask him anything for it. And they know it'll be in good hands).
Tommy still lives in his childhood house down the road, for now, until he can move in to the cottage that was Mitchell and Thomas's; he's estimating about a year before renovations are done and he can reopen the resort.
Tommy walks the whole of the resort, clipboard with checklists in hand, as he notes everything that needs renovated. He checks Thomas and Mitchell's his cottage last; his heart skips several beats as he notes the loose brick in the siding. He takes it out, the old rusting tin still behind it, and he opens it to find a notes from Evan. He doesn't know when Evan put it in there, but it had to have been the last year he came to the resort. It says: do you like me? Check yes or no. Tommy shakes his head and smiles, makes a checkmark on the note and puts it back.
He's at the kitchen table, looking over his lists, when he hears a car pull into the gravel lot behind the cottages—much earlier than expected. He hears the slamming of a car door and a few minutes later, a knock on his door. Tommy gets up and answers it.
Evan's tall, bulky frame fills the doorway. His cheeks are flushed and he's sporting a wicked grin as he holds up the note with Tommy's answer. "Yeah?"
Tommy doesn't know why he thought he could get away with Evan never finding it. He tries to fight it, but a grin overtakes his face in return. He rolls his eyes and opens the door further to let Evan in.
Evan strolls inside, dropping his bags on the floor, planting himself in a chair at the table, and kicking his feet up.
"Sure, make yourself at home."
Evan gives him a look that makes Tommy's stomach swoop and then he grabs the clipboard and starts looking it over.
Tommy clears his throat. "The 13 other cottages are still functional, for now, so you can take your pick."
Evan leans back in his chair and looks around. "What's wrong with this one?"
Tommy's brow furrows. "…it's mine."
Evan raises an eyebrow. Tilts his head. "I know."
Tommy swallows. "Evan, I didn't invite you here for…that."
Evan laughs and nods. "Riiight. You asked me to come here because I worked a few construction jobs nearly a decade ago."
"When I asked for recommendations, Mitchell gave me your number."
Evan leans closer. "You didn't have to use it."
Tommy bites his lip. "We haven't seen each other in 14 years."
"Yeah, but"—Evan shrugs—"we've talked almost every day for the last 6 months." When Tommy stays silent, Evan slowly nods. "Okay." He stands up, places the note on the table in front of Tommy—the checkmarked yes staring up at them.
Tommy's heart races as Evan starts to walk past him. He doesn't think; he reaches out and grabs Evan's arms and turns him back around and then they're a flurry of motion as Evan cups Tommy's face and Tommy grabs Evan's waist and their lips crash together. Evan climbs in Tommy's lap as they kiss, closing the distance of their years apart, and the chair creaks ominously.
Evan pulls away first, panting and quietly laughing, and presses his forehead to Tommy's. "Please tell me there's a bed."
Tommy hums. "Just washed the sheets this morning."
"I would fuck you on a bare mattress, I don't even care."
Tommy snorts.
Evan climbs out of Tommy's lap, tripping over himself in his eagerness.
Tommy steadies him and chuckles. "Easy there, Bambi."
Evan grins and pulls Tommy to his feet, turning him around and pressing him against the back of the couch. He kisses Tommy while he fumbles with Tommy's pants.
"Baby." Tommy revels in the shiver that wracks Evan's body. "The bedroom is 20 feet away."
"I know," Evan mumbles against his lips, "but you're right here."
They make it eventually.
3. Buck and Tommy go on their first date to Miceli's and Eddie and Marisol show up just like in canon, except—even though neither Buck or Tommy says they're on a date, Buck doesn't like and he especially doesn't say something heinous like they're going to go looking for hot chicks. Dinner ends naturally and they go to the movies and make out in the back row and then they take an Uber back to Buck's place and they don't leave his bed until the next afternoon.
4. It's after the firefighting games in Nashville and Buck and Eddie are at the bar. Buck's waiting for their second round of drinks when a handsome stranger sidles up next to him and introduces himself as Tommy. They talk about the firefighting games and Buck can't stop looking at him and wondering how he missed seeing him there—he's so bulky, Buck reasons, and hard to miss. Eddie stumbles over, clearly having already gotten several shots ahead of Buck, with two women on his arms and interrupts them, hanging onto Buck and telling him they're invited to a party. Buck eventually shrugs him off and tells him to go have fun and be safe and is relived to find Tommy still there when he turns around.
Tommy looks Buck up and down. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Buck blushes and swallows hard. "You can buy me anything you want."
5. 2031 Southern California Firefighter Expo. Who knew a hotel restaurant could be the perfect place for a first date?
Until, that is, Buck hears his name called out. He turns around and sees Eddie and his girlfriend, Jenny, approaching their table.
"Eddie," he grits out. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to that place down the street?"
Eddie looks affronted. "We were going to, but then you had talked this place up so much we wanted to give it a try." He frowns. "Why are you being weird?"
"I'm not being weird, you're being weird."
Jenny eyes Buck and his date and tilts her head. "Who are Patrick and James?"
Buck had forgotten he was still wearing the name tag. He takes a breath. "Well. James is a retired engineer—"
Tommy kicks Buck's foot under the table and snorts.
Eddie's eyes widen in alarm. "You know what," he says, a little too loudly, "it's a little crowded in here actually, I think we will go to the place down the street."
Jenny stifles a laugh, waving goodbye to them.
Buck turns back around. "Now where were we...Patrick?"
Tommy points at Buck's name tag. "You're Patrick."
Buck drops his head down and laughs. "I keep forgetting." He smirks. "You wanna say fuck it and just go back to our room?"
Prompt for the 5 AUs game for you, BuckTommy different first meetings that involve Buck's Jeep somehow!
Hope you have fun thinking up some 💗
ohhh these were FUN. putting most of them under a cut cause this is 1600 words altogether 😂
#1 — tommy is a mechanic in montana. buck is on his way to his new job at the ranch, having just blown perhaps too much money on some flannels and a new cowboy hat because he's so excited, sure he's found the perfect job, when something blows in his engine. he's still an hour at least away from where he's headed and now he's stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. luckily, the next car that passes by is actually a tow truck, KINARD and a phone number painted on the dirt-covered side. buck manages to wave him down and tommy takes one look at this kid in his too-clean gear, laughs incredulously when he desperately tells him his situation, then shows him how to fix the (luckily minor) problem well enough to get the rest of the way to billings and his new job. he fully expects to never see buck again, but the next weekend, there he is, darkening the door of tommy's garage and shyly asking if he can buy him a beer in thanks.
#2 — tommy has routines. he loves his routines. and he would never admit it, but he does not love when his routines are interfered with. like this morning, when he pulls up to his favourite coffee shop (approximately fifteen minutes from the station, which gives his drink time to cool down just enough that he can chug it in the time it takes him to get changed) and some douchebag in a jeep has parked in his spot. of course, it's not really his spot, it's a public parking lot, but it's towards the back of the lot and far enough away that most people don't park there. grumbling to himself, he parks next to it, and barely even looks up when he nearly runs into someone on his way in the door, only catching a hurried "sorry!" as the guy runs off with two stacked trays full of drinks. he gets his coffee, treats himself to a muffin because why not, and when he gets back out to his truck, the jeep is gone. but it keeps happening. not every time he goes, but often enough that it's starting to get annoying. it takes a couple weeks before he finally runs into the jeep's driver; one morning, he pulls in right before the jeep does, and makes it to the spot first. the guy behind the wheel hops out cheerfully and waves. "oh, hey, that's funny, that's where i usually park!" he says, pointing at tommy's spot. "i know," tommy says, rolling his eyes. "it's where i usually park, too. you just get here first sometimes." but try as he might, now that he's met the guy, he can't be too annoyed. especially when evan buckley introduces himself with a warm smile and handshake and offers to buy tommy a coffee "to make up for stealing your spot".
#3 — it's not that buck misses living on the road. just, sometimes, he needs to get out of the city. he lived out of his jeep for a long time and sometimes it's nice to just get out and do that again, visit a state park or something and sleep with the stars outside his car windows. he has a spot about forty-five minutes out of the city that he likes to go to sometimes, tucked away on a cliff with a great view of the ocean, and he's never seen anybody else out there. he's got the back of the jeep open, looking out at the water and picking absently at the snacks he'd packed, when headlights come down the overgrown lane behind him. he freezes. it's not private property—he'd checked, just to be sure; it would be a bad look to be arrested for trespassing—but you never know who you're going to encounter out in the woods. the new vehicle stops behind the jeep, parks, then someone is coming around. buck tenses, but the guy who appears around the corner of the jeep just looks concerned. he asks if everything's okay and buck explains that he just likes to come out here sometimes, for the quiet. they introduce themselves and tommy tells him that his cousin lives across the street from the lane and noticed buck going in but not leaving, and asked tommy to basically do a wellness check since he's a first responder. then they start exchanging stories, buck mentions the 118, they realize they know the same people, and before they know it, they've been talking for an hour and tommy's phone starts ringing because his cousin has now seen two vehicles disappear to the cliff without returning and he's starting to get worried. tommy assures him he's fine, then tries to apologize to buck for intruding and says he'll leave him to it. buck just waggles a dessert container at him and asks him to stay.
#4 — tommy also has a jeep. they go to the same gym and tommy comes out one day to find a rubber duck sitting on his mirror. he's seen the other jeep around, but doesn't actually know who it belongs to. he puts the duck on his dashboard and the next time he's at the grocery store, he picks up a pack of little multicoloured ducks. the other jeep is there when he goes for his next workout and he returns the favour, putting a green one on the other jeep's mirror. four days later, the next time they're both in the lot at the same time, tommy comes out to find one sitting on his hood, this time with a little note that just has a smiley face drawn on it. this goes on for a while; after a month or two, tommy has ten little ducks in various colours and styles sitting in a row on his dashboard, and a little pile of notes with silly jokes written on them by the stranger clipped onto his sun visor. the other jeep has its own row of ducks. it may have gone on forever, with the gym just busy enough that he was never fully sure who it was, except the next duck the stranger leaves has a little firefighter helmet on, with "118" scribbled on the badge. tommy had just added an lafd bumper sticker to his jeep, so maybe that's why the stranger picked this particular duck, but how would they know tommy used to be at the 118?? he's still staring down at it, wondering if he should be concerned, when the tall guy with the birthmark he's noticed looking at him a few times walks up to him. "do you like him?" he says. "couldn't help getting it for you. he's so cute." tommy nods back. "yeah but—how did you know about the 118? i haven't worked there in years." buck just blinks back at him. "oh that—that's my house. i just thought it would be funny, yknow, giving you a little duck-me." tommy looks closer and, sure enough, the duck also has a little scribbled birthmark above his eye. now that he knows who evan is, they end up getting flirty, and soon enough, tommy has duck-buck on his dashboard and human-evan in his passenger seat.
#5 — in typical 118 shenanigans, after a day of everything going wrong, buck comes out to the parking lot after work to find that his jeep won't start. and it's raining. and it's saturday evening and none of the car repair places he calls are willing to come out right now. he's about ready to just lie down on the ground and sleep in the rain, but chimney comes out and mentions he knows a guy and he thinks he might be off shift. sure enough, an hour later, tommy shows up in his truck. he offers to tow the jeep back to his place (note: i'm not even sure if you can tow a car with another car but we're just gonna pretend ok? ok. tommy knows what he's doing i believe in him), where he's got a lift and he can at least look at it and give buck a place to shower and get into some warm clothes while tommy figures out what's wrong, and they can go from there. they do just that, tommy shows buck to the bathroom and then goes out to the garage. a little while later he goes in to find that buck has showered, ordered in dinner and some fancy craft beer that chimney suggested, shyly offering it up in thanks. they eat together while tommy explains what's wrong with it and says he can fix it, he can go pick up a part tomorrow probably, and buck is welcome to stay the night if he wants, or tommy could bring him home and get him again in the morning, or— but buck agrees to stay. they watch a movie and end up falling asleep together on the couch. they wake up a few hours later around the same time to buck half on top of tommy, dangerously close to accidentally groping him, but they both ignore it in favor of stumbling sleepily down the hall to tommy's bed and going to sleep again. they fall asleep firmly on opposite sides of the bed—neither of them wanted to dig up extra blankets or whatever at two in the morning, so agreed to share—but wake up in the morning cuddling, and buck admits it was the best sleep he's had in ages.
Hi, Sylvie 👋 for the one (1) fun fact from five (5)* different AUs, if it sparks joy, either Buck or Tommy is recovering from an injury and has to be off work for weeks or months and to pass the time, they take some type of class and the other is either taking the same class or is the instructor
1 fun facts for 5 AUs
HI JESS!! this is such an intriguing thought!! I tried to take it as many different directions as I could think of. and it got. so very very long. like 1.5k long. so most of it is going under cut:
Tommy gets a shoulder injury on the job that affects his hand function, which is kind of critical for being able to operate a helicopter. As part of his PT, one of the recommended activities is knitting to help rebuild some of his fine-motor control, so he signs up for a class at a local art center. The instructor is a sweet old lady named Cecilia, who works what looks like magic with a pair of knitting needles. After a few sessions, she invites Tommy to join her Stitch n Bitch group, and she's surprisingly hard to say no to. He lets himself be coaxed by the promise that there's already another firefighter in the group, so he won't be the only odd one out. Of course, said other firefighter just happens to be one Evan Buckley, who stuck with his Stitch n Bitch crew after the auction because they were sweet. Cecilia absolutely clocked that the hot firefighter-pilot Tommy in her class was Buck's hot firefighter-pilot Tommy, and orchestrated the reunion. A lot of money exchanges hands within the Stitch n Bitch club when Buck and Tommy do, in fact, get back together.
In the weeks after his recertification, when he's still not allowed back on the job, Buck goes looking for an outlet. Preferably a physical one, where he can both work out his frustrations and also continue to build his strength, so no one can possibly fault him on his physical readiness. He tries a few different things: yoga (too slow), kickboxing (fun, but his PT says not to stress his newly-healed leg with that much targeted impact), Crossfit (the right intensity, but the wrong crowd), but nothing sticks. One weekend he sees a Muy Thai gym, and drops in on an impulse. The biggest, hottest guy he's ever seen--what, he's got eyes, and that man has great legs and great arms and wow, a great face--is there practicing some drills. Buck watches for a while, entranced, until the man finally turns to him with a raised eyebrow. "You here to spar, kid, or just to spectate?" Buck manages to stutter something about being new, and not knowing what he's doing. The guy introduces himself as Tommy; he's not an instructor, he says, but he's been doing this a while and he's happy to show around and give him some beginner's pointers if he wants. Buck Definitely Wants. It takes four weeks, a lot of gentle coaching and drills, and exactly one sparring session with Tommy, before he realizes that he might want something more than a sparring partner. Specifically, he's pinned to the mat under Tommy's weight, breathless with more than just exertion, when the thought enters his mind: I want to kiss him right now. So he does. They got hollered and wolf-whistled at by basically everyone in the gym, but he gets a boyfriend out of it, so that's a win in his book.
The thing about getting your head knocked about, and nearly poisoned to death by a silent gas leak, and then nearly getting exploded, is that it kind of fucks with your entire body. Tommy's put on six weeks of medical leave, with strict instructions to avoid heavy exertion and physical activity for at least four weeks. Too bad he starts climbing the walls about six days in. In his search for any excuse to get out of the house and Do Something, he finds an urban foraging hike that promises a city tour on foot, easy enough for children and elderly. When he shows up, the crowd is mostly LA hipsters, and a few parents with kids they're desperate to keep entertained for at least a few hours. One of the less hipster-y guys is a tall, blue-eyed man with a striking birthmark who introduces himself as Evan. Apparently he's new to LA, and was looking for a way to familiarize himself with the city. He also seems to know a lot about urban foraging for a guy who just moved here from Peru, of all places; Evan eventually admits that he likes research rabbit holes, and his most recent one was on urban foraging. He makes for an interesting commentator throughout the "hike," all enthusiasm and fun facts and more words than Tommy's heard from a single person in years, probably. It should be probably annoying, but it's actually annoyingly charming. And then Evan finds out that Tommy's a firefighter, and insists on quizzing him on ten thousand different things about the job. It goes so long that Tommy gives Evan his number, and they meet up again over coffee to talk more about the job. Three weeks later, Evan tells him he signed up for the fire academy. Throughout his training, he keeps plying Tommy for tips and advice, and Tommy keeps answering. Six months later, Tommy asks Evan what he wants to do to celebrate getting his certification; "kiss me," Evan says, and then slaps a hand over his mouth in mortification. Tommy gently pulls the hand away and kisses him as requested.
It's been one year since Bobby died. Well, eleven months, three week, and four days, but it's the closest class Buck could find and fit into his schedule. For a long time he couldn't figure out how to mark the anniversary; but then he remembered the local kitchenware store hosts cooking classes--he saw the posters, when he was hoarding baking supplies--and that felt right. A way to remember Bobby, and remember what he taught Buck, in a way that wasn't just about the job. He's expecting the lump in his throat, the weight in every one of his bones, as he walks into the giant kitchen at the back of the store. He's not expecting to see a familiar, giant shape there, trying and failing to fade into the background. Their eyes meet across the room, and for the first time in a year, he remembers a different part of the night. The terrified exhilaration of a helicopter chase through the LA skyline. The sheer artistry of watching Tommy play a high-stakes game of keep-away with the US Army. The weight of a gaze exchanged in a dark cockpit, and the echo of three words that felt like possibility--before all possibility died a bloody death in that lab. And for you. Maybe Tommy had the same idea that Buck did; Bobby was once his captain too, after all. Or maybe this is Bobby's doing, nudging them back into each other's orbit. Tommy's good people. He's good for you. By silent agreement, they share a counter. Tommy doesn't mention it when Buck starts crying silently halfway through the class; Buck pretends he doesn't see Tommy wipe away a few stray tears of his own, before they ever have the chance to fall. They don't exchange a word all class, but when it's over, all it takes is a glance before they leave together.
After the break-up, Buck decides that if Tommy wants him to get more experience, then goddammit, he's going to get more experience. Like by taking a class on bondage from a sex shop. Tommy, meanwhile, dips his toe back into the shibari as a way to try and get himself back on even ground. He's never really vibed with the more strictly formal, structured part of bdsm, but he likes the control, the careful artistry, the trust involved in doing complicated bondage. He never really got around to introducing Evan to this part of his life, like so many other things, so it's a safe place to run to. His old contacts in the scene are happy to have him back, and he lets himself get roped (haha) into teaching a class for newbies at a friend's sex shop. He regrets it almost immediately, when Evan fucking Buckley walks in as one of the five (5) registered attendees. The others came in as couples, so when Tommy needs to demonstrate, it's kind of inevitable that he has to do it on Evan. It's a special kind of torture to have Evan under his hands like this, to watch the way Evan softens despite himself as the rope coils around him, the intricate knots drawing pretty patterns on his arms. He looks mesmerized--probably by the feeling of the rope, although Tommy's treacherous heart decides it must be his hands making his patterns with his rope that has Evan's attention. After class, he wants nothing more than to leave, but Evan looks halfway down; Tommy might be a shit partner, but even he draws a line at leaving someone like that. Especially when Evan looks at him with wide, sad eyes as the ropes come undone, and says, "you're going to leave again now, aren't you?" So he stays. He means to only stay until Evan's back on even keel, but Evan's a talker even when he's halfway down, and Tommy finds it more impossible than ever to deny him when Evan looks at him so sweetly. So they talk. And talk. And talk. And they walk out with a new coil of rope, held in the joined hands.
