No Archive Warnings Apply, Jack Abbot & Melissa “Mel” King, Becca King & Melissa “Mel” King, Melissa “Mel” King/Frank Langdon, Jack Abbot & Becca King, Background Jack Abbot/Samira Mohan, Melissa “Mel” King, Jack Abbot (The Pitt), Jack Abbot’s Wife (The Pitt), Melissa “Mel” King’s Mother, Melissa “Mel” King’s Father, Becca King, Frank Langdon, Abby Langdon, Penny Langdon, Tanner Langdon, Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, The Pitt (TV) Ensemble, Melissa “Mel” King Gets a Hug, Divorced Frank Langdon, Pining Frank Langdon, Frank Langdon Has ADHD, Autistic Melissa “Mel” King, Widowed Jack Abbot (The Pitt), Frank Langdon Gets a Hug, Melissa “Mel” King Has a Crush on Frank Langdon, POV Alternating, Frank Langdon Has a Crush, Mutual Pining
Summary:
Mel had insisted that her Uncle Jack wouldn’t give her any special treatment if she switched her residency to The Pitt.
They do so well at keeping their relationship from being seen as nepotistic that they accidentally send a completely different message to their coworkers. Really, is it their fault that everyone is always betting on which coworkers are sleeping together?
Inspired by decayingredroses Tumblr prompt here
Chapter 3: (Excerpt)
“Are you doing ok? I heard you snap at Dr. McKay earlier and I just wanted to check in.”
Damn. He still needs to apologize to McKay for that; he'll have to text that apology since McKay ran off as soon as shift change occurred. Mel is studying his face; waiting for an answer.
“Abby and I had a fight in the parking garage.” Frank sighs and runs a hand through his hair, “Really Abby picked a fight with me over an imaginary problem. It was… insulting, to put it mildly. There's a reason the majority of our communication is through text and we only talk about the kids.”
“That sounds really hard. I’m sorry that you have to deal with that.”
He glances at her, and because it's Mel he knows she's sincere before he even sees her face.
“Sometimes I-” The snow is coming down a little heavier now, and as it melts against his skin it covers the tear that slips out his eye. But it can’t cover how his words choke and get stuck in his throat, “Sometimes I think that maybe my kids would be better off without me in their lives.”
“You don't really think that… Do you?”
Frank shrugs, “On the bad days.”
She’s frowning at him, it’s such a severe expression. “As someone who doesn’t have a dad: I promise you that they will always need you.”
He thanks her, but she must doubt his sincerity because she continues on. “My dad had a lot of problems. He saw a lot of things overseas that he didn’t know how to cope with. He probably was on the spectrum and that mixed with PTSD was just… it wasn’t a good combo and he chose to rely on alcohol to numb it away.
“But just because he struggled doesn’t mean that he didn’t love Becca and me. And it doesn’t mean that I love him any less for being human.
“Tanner and Penny are so lucky to have a father like you, Frank Langdon.” She tentatively places a hand on his forearm and gives it a comforting squeeze, “Your kids will always be happier with you in their lives. And one day they’ll understand just how hard you worked for that and they’ll love you even more for it.”
Frank’s heart is thudding against his ribs, threatening to break out as a few tears escape. God what a sucky Thanksgiving but then Mel’s presence and little speech have slammed into his whole being and he’s floating. “Thank you, Mel.”
Fuck he needs an anchor. He needed it three hours ago and he needs it even more now. The last year has been an exercise in learning to ask for help but he can barely get the words out to ask, “Can I have a hug?” before Mel is pulling him in, her arms around his middle and her head sinking into his chest.
Frank can’t help curling around her, his arms around her shoulders and tucking his chin over her head and breathing in and out. In and out. … in and out. When he comes back to himself, enough to be aware of just how short she is, how she fits against him in a way that feels so right but is different from Penny and Tanner. He feels the contentment nest in his chest. When he pulls away with a “Thanks.” She simply wishes him a “Happy Thanksgiving, Dr. Langdon.”
“You really should call me Frank. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
She beams at him, “Then Happy Thanksgiving, Frank.” before giving him another quick hug, “I’ve got to get going, you should get inside, it’s freezing out here.” and he watches as she walks away, his heart still beating faster than it should and a little dread sneaking his way into his stomach.
(Ignore Ignore Ignore)
Frank Langdon is well on his way to falling in love with Melissa King.
the thing about Tangled is that this is a story geared towards little girls (even if it's "fun for the whole family," it's a disney princess movie, it's geared towards little girls), and it says, "here is a girl who is naive and doesn't know anything about the 'Real World' or how to navigate it safely and correctly. now pay close attention: the good guys are the ones who help her grow and explore new things while still respecting her own perspective and feelings, not making her feel stupid. the bad guys are the ones who tell her that she is too weak/immature/naive to do the things she wants to do, because she is fragile and needs protecting." and I watched this when I was nine years old and it resonated deep in a part of me that I couldn't articulate with words yet.
and you know what? i am REALLY sick of these ads that are openly mocking people for being concerned about the products they’re selling.
Amazon’s super bowl ad where the Alexa mocks Chris Hemsworth for being worried about giving spy software control over his entire life. Waymo’s ad with the intro “the robots are coming!” mocking people who are rightfully extremely concerned about sharing the road with, or riding in, self-driving cars.
i don’t know, it’s just genuinely insane to me. “Oh, you have legitimate concerns about our shitty product? sounds like you’re just lame!!!” like what kind of “quiet part out loud” marketing is that?
so this post blew the hell up — which is i’m sure a sign that things are very normal and fine and none of us are remotely frustrated by this kind of thing — but it’s given me time to think about how to articulate the SECOND thing that pisses me off about these ads, which is that they don’t even bother to address the concerns.
i feel like any normal ad would go, for example, “i know you’ve heard that this shaving cream might give you cancer. but it doesn’t! and also it smells nice!”
but THESE ads mock you, and then go “anyway, your concerns are invalid because our self-driving cars that run over children at crosswalks have heated seats!”
it reminds me, in a much less comical way, of that scene from Emperors New Groove when the angel and devil on Kronk’s shoulders are having a debate, and the devil goes “don’t listen to that guy, because look what i can do” and then does a handstand. Only these are real-life commercials. That they expect you to take seriously.
i’d like to think the cast and crew of the pitt are simply playing a game where they narrow down the options for where mel and langdon are gonna kiss eventually. so far, gemmil has told us it’s not a bed, and now pball has shared that it won’t be in a closet. personally i’m leaning towards car but lmk what you guys think
They're infantilizing Mel because she's autistic. It's not that they're shedding refreshing light on platonic friendships. Dennis and Trinity are a refreshing platonic friendship. Abbot and Dana are a platonic friendship. They don't think that Mel can be a fully realized adult with romantic and sexual inclinations because she's autistic and they think that makes her a child. That's why NW is against the ship.
"I just don't see her that way." Right. Why do you think that is?
When it’s announced that a Bay Area middle school teacher is one of three heroes sent to save the world, San Francisco clamors to rename things to “Ryland Grace.” Grover Cleveland Middle is quick to the draw, becoming Ryland Grace Middle the very next school year. Grace also gets a street, of course, a science wing at Stanford, a state park along the coast — by the time the Beetles return, you could probably throw a rock in San Francisco and hit a Ryland Grace reference.
Eva Stratt, meanwhile, is a stain. Graffiti tucked away in alleys and under bridges, forever painted over by the powers that be. A name meant to be forgotten. Stratt has always known this was part of the deal: after all, humanity needs a villain just as much as it needs its heroes. The best she can hope for is to be erased entirely on Earth.
And yet, light-years away, there is a beloved body of water, its surface dancing with artificial waves, that Ryland Grace wistfully refers to as The Sea of Stratt.
whats a stereotype for your country that you absolutely do. mine is that i unironically go "eh" and apologize a lot and i often drink maple syrup straight
explained to an 8 year old that once a fruit is ripe you only have so much time until it rots so you have to eat it soon and she said so i'll never be able to keep it perfect like this forever? no and there are about a million pieces of art for you unrelatedly
"here's my original character, Man Who Sucks But Loves His Daughter Very Much" and it's a guy who worships at the altar of patriarchal violence and the woman he uses as an excuse and an effigy to absolve him
