If I were a security guard for a person who’s being targeted by assassins I simply wouldn’t devote my entire attention span to every single noise I hear.
Finale prompt: Everyone is back at work and it seems fine, until Buck accidentally gets sprayed in the face with water from a spray bottle or the mist setting on the hose? Either way he just goes silent and stands there vacant as he flashes back to that awful day when something worse sprayed on him. Then his legs are giving out from under him and Bobby or Chim barely catches him before he smashes his head. Eddie is stunned as he realizes everything. It takes Buck days to come out of this state.
It's nearing the end of their shift and Eddie is looking forward to long the weekend. Three days off with nothing to do but relax at home with his kid.
He wants to see if Buck will come over today after work so they can do a game night, but wonders if maybe Saturday wouldn't be a better option, given how exhausted Buck must be after the last jump and rescue he'd performed not thirty minutes ago in the field.
He's debating this with himself when he spots Buck leaning against the firetruck, talking to the probie about a video game they both like.
Suddenly the probie holds up the hose and says, "You know I just found out this thing has settings?" He looks at Buck excitedly, like a puppy with a new toy.
Eddie watches Buck unsuccessfully stifle his laughter as the Captain comes over with an amused look on his face. "Maybe a little less chit chat and a little more washing?"
Eddie chuckles at that; the truck is a mess after their last call--he does not miss being the new guy around the station, at all.
In his haste to get the hose back to its proper setting in order to clean off the truck the probie ends up aiming the damn thing right at Buck, and thankfully it's only on the spray function, so while not exactly fun to get hit in the face with water from a firehose, it's also not on a setting that would hurt Buck, either.
Which is why Eddie is so surprised to see Buck freeze entirely when he gets drenched, and mere moments later his knees are buckling under him and it's only thanks to the fact that Bobby's already so close by that Buck avoids getting injured when he falls.
Bobby catches him by the shoulder but can only slow his decent to the floor. "Buck?"
Chimney runs over, alarmed at the scene, and grabs Buck's other side, helping Bobby get him up and over to a bench. "What's wrong? What happened?"
The probie is close to panicking, "I'm so sorry! It was an accident, I swear!"
Eddie finally steps in, clamping a hand down on the probies shoulder. "Not your fault." he waves him off. "Go on, get ready for your shift, we've got this. Don't worry."
When the probie gratefully scurries away Bobby looks up at Eddie, worry and confusion evident on his face. "You know what's going on?" He turns back to Buck beside him, who's gone nearly catatonic now, shoulders stiff beneath his touch, barely breathing, barely blinking.
Eddie grimaces. "Yeah...I think so." he sighs, kneeling down in front of Buck on the bench. He gently grabs Bucks knee and squeezes, trying to get his attention. When it seems to work and Buck's wide eyed, ten yard stare is on him at last, Eddie says, soft as can be, "I'm ok," he takes Bucks hand and places it against his shoulder. "See? No blood, Buck. It was just water. We're ok now. You saved me, remember?"
It takes a minute longer than he'd like but Buck does eventually nod, blinking down at Eddie rapidly, tears pooling the corners of his eyes. "Eds?" he shudders.
"Yeah, I'm here." Eddie assures him.
Buck gulps, his hand tracing the line of Eddie's shoulder down to his chest where he was shot not so many months ago now. Chimney looks away, feeling as though he's intruding on a very intimate moment between the two men.
The Captain wants to follow his lead but he can't take his eyes off Buck now, can't stop picturing him the day of the incident, in the hospital waiting area, covered in a spray of Eddies blood, face, hair, neck, chest, the entire front of his shirt, just splattered in red.
Bobby remembers thinking that the kid had also been shot and just not fucking said anything at the time...
****************
Eddie ends up taking Buck back to his place after with what happens at the station. There's no way Buck is in any condition to drive, not with his hands trembling minutely and with that far away look still present in his eyes.
The Captain makes Eddie promise to text him updates or call if anything happens over the weekend while he's keeping an eye on Buck.
Eddie parks in his driveway and turns to Buck in the passenger seat. "Hey, how you doin' there?"
Buck looks down at his shirt, still soaked from before, and clears his throat. "Cold."
Right. Of course. Why hadn't he made him change into something dry at the station? "Shit, alright, c'mon, you can borrow some clothes inside, let's go." he leads Buck into the house and frowns at the lack of signs of life he’s getting from the other man. “I’m gonna call Carla, see if she can keep Christopher at her place tonight.”
Buck nods without complaint, worrying Eddie with the unusual compliance.
While he makes the call, he sends Buck into his bedroom to change his shirt. Carla is understanding and accommodating on top of that and agrees to keep Christopher at her place after school until Eddie can come pick him up in the morning. After thanking her and hanging up Eddie goes to find Buck, only to see him still sitting on his bed where he left him several minutes ago now.
“Buck,” Eddie hovers over him, “C’mon bud, we gotta get you into dry clothes.” he reaches over to unbutton Bucks shirt, thinking Buck will snap out of it and insist that he can do it himself but that doesn’t occur. Instead, Buck sits there and simply lets Eddie manhandle him--the shirt is still damp under his fingers.
Once he’s unbuttoned the shirt down all the way Eddie helps him shrug it off at the shoulders and before he can turn around and retrieve one of his shirts from his drawers, Bucks hand latches onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Buck?”
Buck blinks up at him, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “Eddie...” he gulps, voice cracking around the word. “Eddie.”
Eddie leans over Buck, stepping further into his personal space. “I’m here.”
Buck pulls him the rest of the way over, closing what little distance was there to begin with and wraps his arms around the other man, holding onto him tightly. His heart is beating so rapidly--Eddie can feel it against his own chest.
“Everything’s ok now.” Eddie promises, the words muffled by the fact that his face is tucked into the space between Bucks neck and shoulder. Buck is trembling, his breaths coming out in short huffs, like he’s trying not to cry outright. “Let it out.” Eddie knows Buck doesn’t need his permission, but it does help Buck allow himself to let go at long last.
“Eddie,” he cries out, “Eddie.” his shoulders shake with every sob, his chest heaving with the weight of everything he’s been holding at bay for months now.
“I’m here, I’m here.” Eddie continues to reiterate, rubbing circles against Bucks back in an attempt to sooth him.
Buck pulls away abruptly and wipes hastily at his face, sniffling pitifully. “I can’t lose you.”
“I know.” Eddie begins to reach out but Buck shakes his head.
“You don’t get it.” Buck cries. “Eddie I love you, I don’t--what would I do without you?”
Eddie swallows hard. He can’t mean...right? No, Eddie thinks, Buck doesn’t mean it like that. There’s no way.
“I know,” he repeats, “I love you too.”
But Buck shakes his head again, this time more fervently, “No.” he says, “I’m--” his breath hitches on a sob. “Eddie I want to wake up next to you every day and make you breakfast in bed and go to parent teacher conferences with you and I--I’m so in love with you and I’m so tired of hiding it and I know you don’t feel the same way and I’m sorry that I’m--”
Eddie lunges forward, essentially shutting him up with a kiss so fierce in its intensity that it takes Bucks breath away.
“I love you, I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for so fucking long, Evan Buckley.” Eddie confesses, their foreheads touching, lips brushing together with every word he utters. “Buck I love you.”
He’s never going to get tired of saying that, he thinks, dazed when Buck leans into another kiss.
Wiiiiild. He did commit murder (in self defense - no judging) and America‘s Best Housewife was sent to jail because of insider trading, securities fraud, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. This is wiiiiiild 😄😄😄
also he has every right to make fun of kanye west considering snoop has had a successful career for about two decades including his own cookbook and appearing in movies whereas kanye is a flat earther who had to crowdfund another album because he ran out of money despite kim kardashian being with him, not having the money to produce another album should be the metric when you know you can tell a musician has failed somewhere in either money management or actually being a musician rather then a famous trainwreck
Whenever I think about snoop I remember that episode of cribs where he lived in an unusually modest house compared to everyone else on that show, spent the entire time with his young daughter hugging onto his leg and dragging her around as he walked. He even talked about how he didn’t want his kids to be musicians and that he just wants them to have a chance at a normal life / he doesn’t wish music career drama on anyone
The dude is mega down to earth for having a networth of 135 million dollars and staying relevant for longer than some of the top charting musicians have been alive
he says he keeps a supply of poptarts in the house for his nieces/nephews and grandkids but admits theyre really for him and then goes on to discuss what selection of condiments your fridge should have to jazz up leftover takeout
hes one of the most thoroughly human humans ive ever known of
all these people going on about how Hozier is the peak representation of musical soft masculinity when Snoop has been out here rocking the smoothest braids and most hype manicures for decades
He also did an episode of Storybots and my kids adore the computer man. Which is wild to me. Cuz I remember gangster rap Snoop. And we love and support Snoop in this house.
Hozier is the peak of good white masculinity. Snoop is the peak of good Black masculinity, and on top of what Hozier does, Snoop adds something a lot of Black children never get to see—you can be a man, you can have “cred,” you can be cool, and also know how to make cookies. (Hozier is great, but he’s never been cool a day in his life and he freely admits this. The two of them have very different kinds of good masculinity both culturally and personally.)
There’s this idea—and the tweet opening this thread exemplifies it—that being “gangsta” means being self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent. Snoop is just like “nah, I have bling and street talk and I’m higher than a kite and also I love my kids and cooking and FUCK your toxic masculinity,” and that’s an important message. You can have the look, if you like the look, but you don’t have to be a stereotype to have the look.
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
