HP Mainly - Favorites Sirius & Harry and sometimes, James. RWRB - First Prince & Especially Alex, CBS Ghosts as well - Trevor focused, check out my other blog @CbsghostsmetaandTrevor :) Other interests: Once Upon A Time, Pretty Little Liars, Charmed (1998), Boy Meets World, How I Met Your Mother and basically, anything catches my eye. Writer - AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmagnabosco
After a poll, I decided to make a separate side blog just for my writing. That blog is @boscostickwrites.
I will always post here and on CBS Ghost side blog FIRST, but I'll be reblogging my work from this main blog and my CBS ghosts side blog @cbsghostsmetasandtrevor for reading and to make it easier to view my work and my work only.
I use this blog as a catch-all that I'm interested in, which means reblogging for other people as well.
I do sometimes ask for smaller prompts, but I also have a billion ideas, so here's my AO3 and top tags filtered down.
Here's my AO3
If you're looking for:
Sirius/Harry
Sirius/James
Sirius & Harry
Harry related
Sirius/James/Lily
Trevor related
Trevor/Hetty
Trevor/Sass
Alex/Henry
Alex/Buck
Buck Related
Buck & Bobby
Once Upon A Time
Haymitch/Maysilee
Casey/Severide
If you're curious, you can always send an ask, and I'd be happy to show you my giant list of ideas and/or my pivot table with info. I do post snippets on Wednesdays & Sundays, which obviously won't be in these links, but you can also check out my various tags.
Severide worries that he may have given the boys the same message Benny had given him, but Casey helps him see that he could never be like Benny as they work through the aftermath of their jump.
AO3
***
Casey’s groaning a bit as he hears the sounds of Severide cooking in the kitchen and young voices at the counter. He’s not sure how he managed to miss Severide getting out of bed without him, but he figures it’s probably a good sign.
He was able to get some sleep, and everyone sounds happy.
So, he gets dressed in pajamas pants and Severide’s sweatshirt and brushes his teeth before making his way into the kitchen.
His boys are dressed in their own pjs, and Severide just in a pair of shorts, clearly not up for very long. He kisses the boys on top of their heads and moves around the counter to be next to Severide, who pouts when he doesn’t kiss him, too.
“Where’s my kiss?” he half-teases.
Usually, he would tease something about how he’s not sure Severide deserved kisses, but today, he happily presses a kiss to his cheek. Severide turns and kisses him on the lips already tasting like coffee.
If it weren’t for the confused sounds from their boys, Casey would gladly try and get his coffee fix through Severide, but instead, breaks the kiss and turns to the boys.
“How long you been up?”
“Not long –” Griffin starts, but Ben jumps in.
“We were waiting on you so we can make pancakes together!” Ben says, excitedly. “Dad says, he bets he can make better pancakes than you.”
“Does he now?” Casey questions, tilting his head and smiling mischievously at Severide, who laughs and shakes his head. “And how do you plan on that?”
“That’s not exactly what I said,” Severide counters. “We were debating the best ingredients in mix into our pancakes, and I said that you’re definitely going to go for some kind of fruit, while I wanted to go with something like chocolate chips and who doesn’t think chocolate chips are better than fruit in your pancakes?”
“There are a lot of good-tasting fruits that work well with pancakes. They would taste much better than chocolate chips,” Casey states.
Of course, he knows their boys enough to know that Ben will absolutely prefer anything chocolate over fruit because he’s got the same sweet tooth that Severide has, and Griffin tries to emulate Casey and will want whatever fruit he’s got over chocolate chips.
“We could always test that theory.”
“Oh?”
“Make pancakes with chocolate chips and pancakes with whatever fruit you want and decide which we like better,” Severide offers.
Casey hums. “Sounds fair, I guess.”
“And when mine win, I get a prize.”
Casey laughs. “And what prize would that be?”
The look in Severide’s eyes clearly indicate that his prize would be something that should not be suggested in front of the boys.
“How about the first ride at the water park!” Ben offers, excitedly.
He looks so happy and excited as if he thinks that they could go to their normal water park in January.
“Uh, bud, it’s January.”
“So?”
“So, the water’s frozen, duh,” Griffin says, rolling his eyes. “We can’t go swimming outside in frozen water.”
“Our dads went swimming in the river,” Ben counters.
“Yeah, but not for fun – only crazy people go swimming in the river in January.”
They continue back and forth about whether or not he and Severide jumped into the river for fun swimming and if it could be more fun to swim outside in winter until Casey clears his throat gaining their attention.
“Boys, your dad and I did not go swimming for fun outside in January and the water park isn’t even open.”
Ben pouts, and Griffin says, “Told you.”
“But whichever one wins can decide what we do the rest of the day, okay?”
“Okay.”
He looks at Severide, who smiles. “Sounds good to me, Case.”
“Good.”
***
Casey can’t help noticing as they sit on the couch playing video games (as the pancake competition was a draw and the boys chose the activity) that Severide’s been constantly touching him, always connected in some way.
He taps his foot against his, nudges him with his arm, presses his thigh against Casey’s. He keeps randomly grabbing his hand or squeezing his shoulder. He’s sitting so close that Casey can smell him, and he can’t seem to resist pressing kisses to his shoulder or his hand or his cheek.
Maybe Severide’s a little more freaked out that he let on. The need for connection to prove that they’re really here and together.
He takes the opportunity when the boys want to run around in the snow that he hadn’t been expecting (he’s usually much better at watching the weather) to nudge Severide.
“You okay?”
Severide leans against the back of the house, focusing on the boys, but his hand finds Casey’s and he squeezes it. “That reporter called and left a message.”
He wasn’t expecting that.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, the message said that they wanted to do a day-in-the-life sort of thing for recent heroes …”
Casey huffs.
“… and all I keep thinking is about your talk with Griffin last night.”
He’s still not looking at Casey just yet, so Casey waits for a second before he asks, “And what about it?”
“Do you really think we should… leave 51?”
Casey lets out a breath, that was an unexpected turn. Did he want to leave 51?
Yesterday, he would have said yes, but today, he’s feeling a bit better, more settled. Still, he doesn’t want Griffin to suffer, so he says, “I want to do what’s best for our boys.”
Severide hums. “Do you think leaving 51 is?”
Casey looks at him. “I think a better question is do you?”
Severide finally looks away from the boys to him. “I think… I don’t want to be selfish. I don’t want to be Benny.”
“You could never be Benny,” Casey retorts. “You’re too – you – to be Benny.”
When Severide doesn’t look like he believes him, Casey says, “Kelly, please tell me you know that you would never be like Benny. You couldn’t be him if you tried because you’re already more focused on the boys than he ever was on his children or his spouses.”
Severide blinks, like maybe he really was thinking that he was being like Benny somehow. “No… no… of course not.”
Casey raises his eyebrows at him, and he huffs.
“When I was a kid, I – I did struggle like Griffin has been, but whenever I tried to… tell him, you know before he fucked off, he … he always gave me the message that I was being selfish because of all the people he could be saving. All of the people that depended on him and it wasn’t fair of me to ask him to give that up…”
“And hearing Griffin express the same thing…”
“Makes me wonder if I’m somehow putting that thought in his head.”
“You’re not,” Casey assures him, squeezing his hand. “Trust me, Sev, neither of us are putting that thought out into the world. The boys aren’t thinking that because of us. And you are nothing like Benny. They’re not getting that message from us. I think it’s far more likely that they’re getting that message from all the hero talk and the news and the way people talk about firefighters in general.”
Severide nods. “That’s a good point. There’s a reason why I always wanted to be a firefighter. A member of Squad.”
“And badass Squad Lieutenant.”
It gets a little smile from him.
“Yeah, with my boyfriend, the badass Captain,” Severide offers causing Casey to flush a bit.
“Not captain, yet.”
“But you will be,” Severide states. “Which is why I was thinking that maybe … maybe if one of us made the switch, it should be me.”
“You?” Casey blinks. “This isn’t because of –”
“No,” Severide states, quickly. “Well, maybe a little. I made you a promise that I think I would struggle to keep, honestly, but beyond that – there are other reasons. Putting the boys first, so that I’m not like Benny. The fact that you worked so hard to study for the Captain’s Exam so you could captain at 51. There’s the promise that I don’t know if I can actually keep. And – and I like OFI. I would be good at it. Van Meter has taken an interest in having me help out and … I could see myself doing it.”
For half-a-second, Casey thinks about how he’d never have to face Severide dying in front of him like he had to face Andy’s death, but he knows that Severide isn’t ready to give up Squad and he would never ask that of him.
He could never live with himself if Severide did that for him.
“No, no, I don’t think I could let you do that until you really want it,” Casey states, plainly.
“Case –”
“No, listen,” Casey interrupts. “I am not going to let you make a choice that you’re making for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time.”
“Why is it any different than if you quit for the sake of the boys?” Severide questions, a bite to his tone.
Casey checks to make sure that the boys are too busy chasing each other with snowballs to overhear. “Because I’ve thought about this before. Because I’m not – if I made the choice, it’s not just for us or the boys. Part of it, a good chunk is for me.”
Severide’s anger deflates a bit as he brushes off their patio chairs and sits, pulling Casey over with him. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been 50-50 on staying in the field for years,” he admits, as he dusts off his own chair and sits, hand still laced in Severide’s hand.
Though he’s talked to Herrmann and Mouch (especially Herrmann, who’s struggled with his choice due to his kids more than once) early on, it’s never fully admitted to anyone that he’s questioned himself this much.
“I love what we do. I am insanely proud of Truck 81, and I would be thrilled to Captain 51, but ever since Andy died, I haven’t exactly been 100% certain about it. I’ve gone back and forth and every time something happens, I think, I don’t know if I can continue to do it. But it’s about me – if I can do it, not entirely about you or the boys. You’re all a factor, especially now, but it’s not like I haven’t considered it after Andy, after Hallie, when Dawson chose candidate on my fucking truck over me…”
He trails off and looks away.
“… you – this isn’t because of – of the near-miss, is it? You’ve felt this way even without that?”
Casey shrugs. “It’s not that I want to quit. I don’t – well, sometimes I do, but mostly, I don’t. But I can’t say that there aren’t days where I struggle with it. Sometimes… being at the firehouse is hard for me. There are times when I think about being a leader and losing another member of my team and I just…”
“I get that,” Severide admits. “Sometimes, I feel like that place is haunted.”
“That’s a good way to describe it,” Casey laughs. “But I do love it, I don’t – I can’t imagine not being a firefighter, not being at 51, which is why I always go back. But if Griffin and Ben would be better off without me on the job and I wouldn’t have to face losing you on the job, I could see doing it.”
Severide frowns. “And yet, when I just offered –”
“Let’s be real, Sev, you and I both know you’re not ready to give up Squad 3. You’re at 100% you wanna be there, you wanna be the Squad 3 Lieutenant and you don’t wanna leave 51, right?”
Severide shrugs. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“But with me, I’m like less than 95% that I wanna be there. I want to be captain, I want to do something with my career, and I love being a firefighter, but at this moment and a lot of moments of late, I’ve been okay… if I had to leave.”
Severide narrows his eyes at him, “I thought you said 50-50. And five percent isn’t exactly –”
“It varies, the point is, I’ve thought about it on my own,” Casey states. “Without all the chaos about it.”
Severide hums, but before any more can be said, Griffin nearly hits them with a snowball and yells, “Come play with us,” and well, there’s no way they can say no.
***
Severide thinks a lot about his conversation with Casey and they talk to the boys about what happened, and while Ben seems to have phased out of they could’ve died to our dads are heroes and that’s so cool, it appears that Griffin may still be a bit uncertain about everything. They’d spent the weekend bonding and reassuring the boys (and themselves), and the boys had gone to school on Monday in much better spirits than they’d been on Friday.
“There’s a message on the machine,” Casey says, as soon Severide comes in with boys after school on Monday. Casey had been looking over an indoor winter gig for construction and been out most of the day.
“From the reporter?”
“No, Boden.”
Severide can see the boys register why he’d be calling. They missed Sunday’s watch, but they were due again on Wednesday. If he needs to find cover, they need to make a decision on if they’re returning.
And while they had both taken the time to reassure themselves, and Ben is in a good place, they can all immediately sense the way Griffin tenses up at the idea.
“You okay, bud?” Severide questions, when he doesn’t move to do his homework like Ben does.
“I don’t know,” Griffin admits.
Casey gives him a soft smile. “How about I make some hot chocolate, and we talk?”
Griffin nods. “Sounds good.”
***
The hot chocolate doesn’t take long, and Severide is more than happy to sneak in kisses while it’s getting made. “I missed kissing you today.”
Casey laughs. “So, no missing me, just kissing me?”
“I like you a lot better when I’m kissing you,” Severide teasingly replies.
He playfully rolls his eyes as he pours the hot chocolate and grabs some marshmallows. “Come and get it boys,” he yells. “We’ll go to the living room.”
Both boys rush in and grab their mugs of hot chocolate, and Severide steals another kiss before leading Casey by the hand to the living room. Ben sits on the ground by the coffee table, Griffin on the floating ottoman, while Casey sits on the couch opposite Ben, and Severide sits on the L of the couch opposite Griffin.
Casey places the marshmallows on the coffee table, and the boys dig in to mix them into the hot chocolate. Casey laughs and shakes his head when Severide winks at him and does it, too.
“Alright, boys, it’s been a few days and we … should talk about if your dad and I are going back to 51 as a family –”
“Why wouldn’t you go back?” Ben questions, sounding confused. “You’re firefighters and awesome lieutenants. Don’t they need you?”
Severide sees Griffin shuffles a bit uncomfortably, but Casey hums. “Well, kid, yes, they need lieutenants, but your and I don’t have to go back if any of us aren’t comfortable with it.”
Ben frowns because he doesn’t seem to get it, but he doesn’t have to ask more because Griffin speaks up.
“I wanna be brave.”
“You don’t have to be, Bud, if you don’t want us –” Severide starts.
“No, no, I do,” Griffin states. “I can be brave…”
“If you’re not certain…” Casey begins.
“I am certain,” Griffin states. “I am so proud of my dads and I just… I can be brave like you, but I – I think maybe I … do need to see more of the, uh, boring side of things?”
“Maybe you want to come visit the firehouse more? Look through some reports?” Casey offers. “We can talk to Boden about a ride-along but those can be… hard to get cleared.”
Griffin nods. “Maybe? I don’t know if it’ll help, exactly, but… it could.”
“What if we did do that day-in-the-life thing for that reporter that keeps calling, it could help a little bit,” Severide offers. “It could be a way for you to see things without actually having to physically be there. Or maybe do something with your class or something?”
Casey nods. “Could be something.”
Griffin shrugs, sipping his hot chocolate. “Yeah, I – I don’t exactly know what would help, but I just – I know it might take a bit to be back to normal, but I don’t want to stop you guys from being at 51. I know it means a lot to you, and it means a lot to me, too.”
Severide hums and reaches over to grab Casey’s hand. He knows that while he thinks he might be okay with skipping out on 51, that had partially been a reaction to everything they’ve been through in the last few days, and now, he didn’t want to leave but he would – for their kid.
“Are you sure about this, buddy?”
Griffin hesitates, sipping his hot chocolate. They wait, giving him the chance to change his mind if he’s not ready, but after a minute or so he nods. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“And you know if it ever gets to be too much…”
“I can talk to you, and I will.”
“And the same for you, too, Ben,” Casey offers.
Ben’s face is all scrunched up, clearly confused, but he nods, anyway.
“Good. Then, why don’t you guys work on your homework, and I’ll make dinner,” Severide offers, gathering up their mugs and standing.
The boys both nod and move to the table to work on homework, while Severide makes his way to the kitchen.
There’s a part of him that worries a little bit about Griffin’s trying to be brave, but he’s glad that he knows that he can tell them. He won’t be like Benny, and his kids aren’t getting that same message that Benny gave him. They know that they’re more important than that.
He feels Casey’s arms slide around his waist as he stands at the sink about to wash out the mugs. Casey slides his chin onto Severide’s shoulder and kisses his cheek.
“That went well,” he offers as he lets go so Severide could turn around.
He’s still in his space. Basically, no space between their bodies aside from clothes and Casey’s arms swing to around his neck.
He lets his hands fall to Casey’s waist, his forehead tilt to be against Casey’s forehead.
He hums. “It did.”
“And you’re still feeling pretty good, assured that you’re nothing like Benny?” he asks, eyes searching his.
Severide hums. “Yes, we talked to the boys the other day about making sure that they didn’t get that message from us – they know that they’re more important than hypothetical people. And they know that they can tell us.”
“Good,” Casey says, offering him a short kiss. “Because you’ve been a great dad, and I don’t want you to think you’re anything like Benny.”
“No, I know that I’m not,” Severide assures him. “I get that message all the time – from you, from the boys. The way our life together has been… I know that we’re doing great together as a family.”
“Good.”
Another kiss before Severide asks, “And you? How are you feeling?”
“Still a little nervous, but I don’t think I’m actually ready to let go of 51 just yet,” Casey says, as he lets go with one hand to pull something out of his sweatshirt pocket, having to out a little bit of space between them. “Especially because I got this today.”
Severide lets go of him to open the letter that tells him that he officially passed the Captain’s Exam. “You passed! That’s awesome, congrats.”
He gives him a big kiss, which Casey laughs into.
“You’re more excited than I am,” he teases when they break apart, but his eyes are dancing in excitement. “But I am so happy that I passed. It’s been a while since I was nervous about something like this. I know there’s probably going to be a training or something, but the letter says that they can do the ceremony before then if Boden wants since this was the plan.”
Severide grins and gives him another kiss. “I’m just so proud of you. My boyfriend’s my captain – kinda hot.”
Casey laughs and shakes his head. “As long as it doesn’t turn into the mess it was with Dawson, I think we’re good.”
“Oh, please, I’d be nothing like her.”
“I know,” Casey says with a bright smile.
There’s a moment where Severide should probably start dinner, but he honestly doesn’t want to move. The last few days have been more focused on the boys and everything going on, but he’s kinda missed these moments with Casey. It feels like just the two of them, a happy bubble of their own.
One that he would happily spend hours in just making out, but sadly, that’s not to be because the phone rings, jarring them apart.
Casey huffs annoyed as he grabs it. “It’s that reporter, are you sure that we wanna do that day-in-the-life thing?”
Severide shrugs. “It can’t hurt to consider it and talk to her about it, right?”
Casey shrugs, “I guess.”
He steps away to take the phone call leaving Severide to cook dinner and all he can think about is that he’s really glad their jump into the river didn’t mess up what they have.
They’re safe, the boys are good, and Casey’s going to be captain.
It all worked out and life couldn’t get any better than this.
After nearly getting caught, Casey re-introduces the no-sex-at-the-firehouse rule. Unfortunately for him, his boyfriend knows just to seduce him.
AO3
***
Sometimes, Casey swears that Severide is testing him.
Well, testing his determination to keep sex off the table at the Firehouse. Even though they have had sex at the firehouse, probably far too often, Casey had decided after nearly getting caught (thankfully, Mouch seemed oblivious while Herrmann clearly knew) that he would be good.
No more sex on the job.
They were practically asking for trouble doing it in his quarters when the Chief’s office wasn’t all that far away, anyway, and that’s not a good look for a Captain to be fucking one of his lieutenants on the job.
So, he decided to try harder to keep things to himself and re-institute the initial ban on sex at the firehouse for the sake of being somewhat normal and not risk coming out with Severide’s dick down his throat.
Except, well, Severide knows how easy he is to seduce. Especially when he’s not wearing a shirt.
And particularly when he’s working out.
It’s not just watching him show off his hard-worked-for body or the way he glistens when he sweats, it’s the way that his lifting weights shows off his strength which reminds Casey of all of the times that he’s manhandled him since they’ve gotten together. It reminds him of him picking him up somewhat effortlessly (the first few times were hilarious disasters) and fucking him against the entryway wall.
It's so ridiculously fucking hot thinking about that.
Severide’s lips on his neck, being pinned against the wall, his legs wrapped around his waist…
He hears laughter from the not-quite Squad table where Herrmann and Ritter are playing cards with Capp and Tony, jarring his attention from Severide lifting weights with Cruz spotting. He’d been working on making sure that the Truck was stocked so that way Severide couldn’t get him alone in his quarters where it’s harder to adhere to his no-sex rule.
Of course, Severide followed him out here and just had to show off. And of course, he got distracted because fuck, his hot as fuck boyfriend is showing off his strength and he kinda wants to get fucked against a wall. Or better yet, fuck Severide against a wall.
And of course, Herrmann and Ritter would catch his reaction to Severide showing off and laugh at him. Herrmann really loves to tease them both now that he knows that he was right about them inevitably falling in love and getting married (someday).
He catches Herrmann’s eye and flips him off (grateful than none of Squad sees) and leaves the app floor because he’s way too turned on to continue doing this inventory.
Hopefully, he can calm down enough to refocus on work and not melt the second Severide inevitably comes to follow him.
***
Severide grins when he notices that Casey’s gotten a little hot under the collar. He finishes his rep quickly, ignores that Cruz probably needs a spotter for his turn (sure that Capp or Tony will help) and follows after him to his office, winking at the howling Herrmann as he does (it’s so much more fun now that he knows that he approves after all – he knows Casey had been hurt when he thought otherwise).
Casey’s door is open, but he doesn’t seem him waiting at his desk, so he turns towards the bed to see Casey with his pants down and his cock out. It’s already glistening with lube, as he strokes himself.
Unbelievably fucking hot.
Grinning, he closes the door and makes a beeline to join him only for Casey to stop and sit up.
“Who says you get to join me?” Casey questions. “Showing off and getting me all hot bothered doesn’t mean you get to get off.”
“Fuck, Case,” he breathes. He’s hard in his pants. His gorgeous boyfriend is basically naked and teasing himself and he’s not allowed to touch, hardly seems fair. “You serious?”
Casey stands, letting his pants and underwear falling to the ground, grinning mischievously as he approaches him. He runs his hands down Severide’s glistening chest to his waistline, hovering just slightly over his hard cock.
“The only way you’re getting my dick is if I get to fuck you, is that what you want?”
“Fuck, yes,” Severide admits just before Casey kisses him.
He’s lost in his lips. He lets Casey take the lead, though he desperately wants more.
More of everything and anything.
Casey pushes him up against the wall and falls to his knees, ripping down Severide’s pants and sucking on him.
“Damn, Case,” he groans. He’s torn between watching the beautiful sight of Casey down on his knees and closing his eyes and throwing his head back, enjoying the sensations that Casey’s sending through him.
Fuck, he’s got the best boyfriend ever.
***
It always takes a little bit more time to prep Severide than it does Casey, partially because he’s spent most of their time together (since the first time he suggested it) being the one on the bottom, doing it far more regularly than he does, but Severide’s gotten a recent appreciation for it.
So, once he’s prepped, he tosses him on the bed. He’s naked, hard and glistening and looking unbelievably gorgeous.
He takes him in, still somewhat surprised at how different things were even a year ago. Fucking Severide in his Captain’s Quarters hadn’t been on his bucket list, but it definitely is now.
He’d fuck him every day if he could.
“Stop staring and fuck me already,” Severide huffs, looking mildly annoyed about being naked and alone.
Casey laughs as he joins him on the bed. “Patience, Sev, relax.”
He squirms a little at the tone, clearly wanting more, his eyes dark with arousal.
Casey grins as he gets into position. “Breathe, nice and easy.”
Severide focuses on his breathing, but eyeing Casey, his legs spread wide. “Come on, Case, I’m ready.”
Casey’s smiling down at him. He wiggles his fingers inside him just a bit, making sure he’s ready before he lubes himself up a little bit more.
“Ready?”
“Didn’t I already say I was, asshole?” Severide scoffs. “Just fuck me.”
Casey wants to tease him, but they’re playing with fire right now with the alarm able to go off any moment, so he pushes in and Severide gasps. He closes his eyes, and his chest falls up and down as he breathes and adjusts to having Casey’s dick in him.
He slowly sinks in, pushing carefully, so not to hurt him, feeling that unbelieving tightness around him, it feels so good. He has to stop himself from pushing too hard too fast, but once Severide’s eyes open, he gives a little nod, and Casey can start thrusting.
Between being so ridiculously turned on since Severide decided to show off and the way that it feels to be thrusting into Severide, it takes very little effort to get him to the edge. He’s kissing Severide, who has one hand in his hair, the other on his dick matching his pace as they move together and he finds himself cresting over the edge in mere minutes, moaning into Severide’s mouth to stop himself from being too loud.
He keeps thrusting into the spot that makes Severide’s eyes roll back in pleasure, having him arching from the bed as he comes all over Casey’s chest.
It’s fucking mess, but fuck, he loves it.
***
It takes more than a minute for Severide to catch his breath and when he does, he can’t help looking over at Casey with satisfied smile. “So? Thoughts on my efforts in seduction?”
Casey laughs as he reaches over for some wet wipes. “Think we’re still lucky no one’s caught on yet and that it didn’t exactly take a lot of effort.”
“I lifted weights for ten minutes before you caved,” Severide teases.
“Oh, wow, I made it ten fucking minutes before I got so turned on that I couldn’t resist you,” Casey retorts. “I should be able to resist you, but fuck, I just – you – I am way too easy.”
Severide grins and gives him a kiss. “I like that you’re so easy. Makes you my favorite boyfriend ever.”
Casey laughs as he gets up and pulls on some sweats and t-shirt. “I’m your only boyfriend ever.” He leans over and gives him a kiss. “Normally, I’d invite you into my shower, but we’re not at home and we don’t need speculation.” He kisses him again and Severide loves the way he lets his eyes roam appreciatively over Severide’s naked body. “I love you. Take your time, but don’t get caught naked in my bed looking fucked out.”
“I won’t, I promise.” He pulls him in for another kiss. “And I love you, too.”
“Good.”
Casey leaves and Severide waits a few minutes before getting dressed himself and heading to the showers.
Hopefully, no one is any the wiser or he’ll have to work a lot harder to get lucky at the firehouse again.
For now, at least Casey is easy to seduce, and he can’t wait to seduce him again later. Always fun.
Severide doesn't shave when he has to heal from an injury and Casey finds he really likes that.
AO3
***
They’d been following their rule about making sure that at least one of them would survive to be there for the boys, even if Severide’s recent brush with death when he had a chimney fall on him had deeply tested Casey’s commitment to it when he wanted to cover Severide’s body with his own and Cruz had thankfully come up with another solution.
Severide survived with minimal injuries – just some bruised ribs and had taken the doctor seriously about the few weeks off that he needed to take to heal properly.
Which is why he’s been home for the last week or so playing househusband and hasn’t bothered to shave his beard. The boys are at school, but Casey should wake from his post-shift nap soon, so Severide’s making something good for lunch.
He doesn’t pine no matter what the boys tease, but he did miss hanging out with him on shift all the time (and trying to convince him to have sex in his Captain’s Quarters and succeeding), even if he also enjoys just spending time with the boys.
So, he brightens when Casey exits their bedroom in his underwear and Severide’s sweatshirt, slides up to Severide and kisses his cheek.
“Hmm,” Casey hums, lifting his hand to run his thumb over his beard. “Different.”
Severide gives him a quick kiss. “Good different or bad different?”
“Yes,” Casey answers, playfully before placing his hands on Severide’s jaw and bringing their lips together.
Severide hums as he puts his hands on Casey’s waist pulling them flush together, enjoying the way his minty-fresh breath and soft lips feel against his own. He’d gladly lead Casey back to bed if it weren’t for cooking lunch.
Casey smiles as he leans back, but he keeps rubbing his thumbs over Severide’s beard, so he’s pretty sure that Casey likes the beard.
“I take that as a good different?” Severide prompts after a minute or so.
Severide chuckles as he notices Casey’s eyeing him up and down.
“Hmmm?” Casey asks, snapping his eyes up from where he was checking him out. “Sorry, I was thinking horny thoughts, what did you say?”
“I said – that’s a good different, then?”
Casey nods. “I love you in any version, but I’m very much enjoying the feeling of your beard on my skin.”
Severide grins and eyes him up and down. “Well, then, I’ll just have to see just how much you enjoy my beard after lunch, then.”
Casey groans. “Fuck, you know what I love about having a boyfriend?”
“That you get to enjoy sucking dick whenever you want?” Severide teases as he pulls their lunch off the stove. He knows how much Casey has relished sucking his dick over the last near-year.
“Close,” Casey admits.
Severide raises his eyebrows, and Casey admits, “I love that I can admit that I was thinking horny thoughts and instead of getting mad about it, you’re clearly delighted.”
“Maybe it’s less that I am a boyfriend and more that we’re just both on the same page about enjoying sex with each other,” Severide retorts as he leads the way to the couches and tries not to wince too much as he sits. “As often as possible, and whenever either of us are in the mood.”
“True,” Casey offers as watches him carefully. “Although maybe we shouldn’t be planning anything too strenuous with that wince. How are you healing?”
Severide gives him a slightly annoyed look. “I’m healing just fine, Case. Definitely fine enough to have my way with you.”
Casey sits beside him, one leg bent in so he’s half-turned towards him. “You winced.”
“I went to the doctor today and he said I’m doing just fine,” he lies as he mirrors him.
“You do realize that you were in bed with me all morning, right?” Casey retorts as he starts eating. “Like you dropped the boys off at school and picked me up, and then, went to bed with me as if you’d be on watch with me.”
Severide shrugs. “I wanted to make sure that you got some sleep, you sleep better with me.”
“Uh-huh,” Casey agrees. “But you know what that means, right?”
“That I should be spending the night at the firehouse instead of at home without you?”
“No, that you clearly didn’t go to the doctor this morning.”
He makes a face. “Okay, fine, but you can’t come out of our room dressed like that and tease me with your horny thoughts and then deny me.”
“I just don’t want to impact your healing and delay your recovery, so you can pine a little less,” Casey teases as he finishes his food and puts his hand on Severide’s thigh as he finishes, too.
“I don’t pine,” Severide retorts, eyeing the way that Casey’s hand is dangerously close to his dick for a guy that is trying to deny him. “And I will be more irritable and at more risk of delaying my recovery if you tease and deny me.”
Casey smiles and moves a hand over his chest, he does his best not to wince because he’s really wanting to tease Casey all afternoon until they have to pick up the boys.
He brings his hand up and gives him a sweet kiss, his thumb running over Severide’s beard. “Alright, I – just… we’ll take it easy.”
Severide grins. “Trust me, I won’t push myself.”
“Good.”
***
Fuck, Casey thinks. He really really likes the beard.
There’s a part of him that has been enjoying Severide’s last few weeks on leave to heal from the whole chimney thing because he really likes the beard against his skin. His cheek, his neck, his chest, his thighs… Severide has really enjoyed teasing him endlessly with the feeling.
It’s a shame that he’s going to be shaving it after their morning shower since Severide’s heading back to watch today. He’s been doing well during his recovery, healing far more quickly than expected, which is great, but fuck, he really likes the beard.
“I’m going to miss the beard,” Casey admits as he runs his hands down Severide’s chest as he sits straddling his waist, while he lays back with his hands behind his head. They’ve been up for a while and already had some fun that he hopes the boys didn’t hear, but instead of getting right into the shower, he’s just admiring his boyfriend. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says when Severide quirks an eyebrow. “I love that you’ve healed well and you’ve coming back to watch with me, but I really liked the beard.”
Severide grins. “Maybe someday when I take Van Meter up on his offer to join OFI instead of being at 51, I’ll grow it out, again.”
“You don’t have to grow it out for me.”
Severide laughs. “Case, if you’re going to look at me like that and squirm and moan like you’ve done every night since you admitted just how much you enjoy my beard, do you really think I’m going to pass that up to be clean-shaven? Nah.”
Casey hums. He runs his hands over his chest and up to his beard. “I just don’t want you to shave or not shave because of me. You should do whatever makes you comfortable.”
“You’re so cute, Case, like absolutely fucking adorable.”
He opens his mouth to – well, he doesn’t really know what – when Severide pulls him down for a kiss.
It’s a little rough since he wasn’t expecting it, but when they break apart, Severide says, “You do realize that every time I’ve been hurt or spent time away from 51 on our vacations with the boys that I don’t typically shave?”
“Ummm… I hadn’t really thought about it.”
Severide smiles. “I’m not a fan of shaving. I shave because I have to, so I’m not changing anything by having a beard whenever I can.”
Casey hums. “I’m glad.”
He gives him a sweet kiss, nearly tempted to get them both going again, but their alarm goes off and he sits back disappointed. “Guess we gotta get up and get ready,” he offers, running his thumb over the beard.
Severide grins up at him. “Don’t worry, the beard’ll be back someday.”
“Good.”
He gets up off of him and offers him a hand. “Now, let’s go shower.”
“Gladly.”
***
After they’re both clean and Severide is freshly shaven, Casey makes a point of giving him a long, lingering kiss before he says, “For the record, I love beardless Sev, too.”
“I never doubted it for a moment,” Severide assures him.
Cory and Shawn return to Philly for the holidays and prepare to come out to Cory's parents.
AO3
***
Life has been good – great, even, since Cory had confessed to Shawn and Shawn had kissed him in Vermont. They had opted to take things slow, but there had definitely been a lot of exploration that they were quite happily playing around with.
It was different in a good way. Shawn already knew that he hadn’t gotten passed first base with Topanga, and that he was already nervous about all that, especially with Shawn being far more experienced with women, but he’s not a woman, and they were both new to fooling around with a man. It made it easier and less nerve-wrecking that they were on the same page and same level of experience.
Sex wasn’t off the table, just not ready, yet.
Kissing Shawn was definitely, amazingly, on the table. He loves making out with the makeout king. He loves feelings Shawn’s beard against his skin. He loves the easy way that his hands can wander down his chest and in his hair without worrying about crossing a boundary and upsetting him.
It’s, honestly, just ridiculously easy being with him.
Except, of course, the next part of this.
He and Shawn had been together for nearly three months, they’d sent postcards and deliberately only left messages for Cory’s parents when they knew they’d be at work or too busy to answer. The one time he had gotten on the phone with them, he’d been a nervous wreck talking about him and Shawn because he wasn’t sure how to come out to them, especially since they were already mad that he’d quit school to play around with his video camera, traveling the country with Shawn.
And, well, they never exactly talked about the possibility of kids – their kids – being not straight. It was always assumed especially with him that he was straight, and he would eventually marry Topanga.
Would his parents accept it? Would they accept Shawn as more than Cory’s best friend?
He’s not sure.
“It’s going to be okay, Cor,” Shawn assures him as he navigates through the snowstorm on their way to Philly for Christmas. “Whatever happens, your parents love you and we’ve proven over the last six months that we can make good money doing what we’re doing.”
Cory nods, glancing back at the trailer, which they’ve spruced up quite a bit. It’s a lot cleaner and more organized and it looks good for their home. A lot better than it did when Chet had it.
“I just – I don’t know if they’re going to be okay with you and me. I am worried that they’ll think you’re corrupting me or something and – and I know that they love you, too, but it’s –”
“I know,” Shawn offers. “But they made a point of telling us all about my stocking on the mantle, and how I’m family, too, and that they want us both to come home for the holidays.”
“Home is with you,” Cory says, honestly. Yes, his parents’ place is a bit of a home, too, but he truly feels at home with Shawn.
“Cute, Cor,” Shawn replies, sending him a grin before focusing on the road. “But we both know that when your mom says home – she means, her home – the one you grew up in and the one that I spent all of my childhood sneaking in and out of your window.”
Cory huffs. “Fine, but I just – how are we supposed to tell them?”
“Very carefully. Just take our time, when the moment is right, it’ll work out.”
Cory is usually the optimist between them, but clearly, there’s been something good about the last six months or so since going on this cross-country trip and re-finding their passions together that has ignited Shawn’s optimism.
“If you say so.”
“Don’t make things worse with assumptions, Cory,” Shawn states, giving him a sidelong glance. “Just hope for the best and if the worst happens – you’ll always have me.”
There’s a warmth that passes over him at that thought, always have Shawn, he has no idea what he’d do without him.
“I like the sound of that.”
“Good, then, you should stop worrying.”
“I’ll do my best.”
***
It’s nearly midnight when they finally make it to Cory’s childhood home. There’s a part of him that thinks maybe he should just sleep in the trailer, but the second that they pull up, the door opens, and he can hear Morgan’s “Mom, Dad, Cory and Shawn are home,” from inside the trailer.
Shawn laughs as they exit the cab and Cory shushes her. “It’s midnight, let them sleep.”
“Come on, Cory, you know they’ve been up all night waiting on you,” Morgan retorts as he gets close enough to the door to give him a hug.
She hugs Shawn, too, as Amy appears and hugs him, tightly. “My baby’s home!”
He can hear Shawn laughing behind him as he says, “Pretty sure Eric or Joshua should be –”
“You’re all my babies, Cory,” Amy retorts, as she lets him go. “Even Shawn is like one of my babies,” she adds as she pulls him in for a hug.
Alan hugs Cory, then Shawn, too.
Cory likes the smile on Shawn’s face as Alan lets go. “Your mother has been making a midnight snack, so don’t tell us that you’re too tired.”
“We’d love to have a midnight snack, Mr. Matthews,” Shawn offers.
“Alan,” Alan offers, putting an arm around Shawn’s shoulders. “Now, tell us all about your travels.”
“Gladly.”
***
It’s going well, even though everyone’s a bit sleepy.
Cory’s feeling pretty good about being home, his parents are happy and smiling at him and Shawn, and talking about how they’d been nervous, but proud of them for basically starting their own business that has been going very well.
That is until Morgan asks, “So, have you heard from Topanga?”
“Morgan,” Amy admonishes.
“What?” she asks but doesn’t get an answer.
“Actually, Morgan, I decided that it was for the best that we split up,” Cory states. “Mom was right, we should have spent high school exploring, maybe realizing a few things.”
He tries to resist looking at Shawn, but he knows that Shawn’s giving him a soft look. That hopelessly in love look that he’s come to completely adore over the last few months. He nudges him with his leg, but it’s too late, Morgan’s already giving them the most gleeful look, and Amy’s got her hands over her mouth.
Only Alan is looking confused, but the soft, slightly understanding look in her eyes prompts him to say, “Uh, well, it seems like Morgan and Mom have already sorted it out, but,” he glances at Shawn, who is giving him a very supportive smile and a slight nod. “… I spent a lot of time since the breakup thinking about why I wasn’t as hurt as I should’ve been, why I wasn’t as determined as I was when the thing with Lauren happened to make it all better, and why there was a part of me that was… frankly, relieved. And then, I realized something about myself and a few months ago when we were watching the leaves change in Vermont…” he takes Shawn’s hand in his and can see that it’s clicked for Alan.
He blinks, once, twice, three times before he starts to awkwardly laugh until Amy hits him on the arm.
“Sorry, sorry, I don’t – don’t mean to laugh,” Alan offers. “I – I am not really surprised… more surprised that it took so long, but –”
“What does that mean?” Cory asks. “Surprised it took so long?”
“Cory, every time you and Shawn got in a fight and tried to end your friendship, you acted heartbroken,” Amy offers. “It wasn’t exactly the same response that Eric had about Jason. It was more like your response to your breakups with Topanga except worse in some cases.”
“Yeah, well, losing Shawn…” he doesn’t exactly have the words, but maybe they make a good point. “… you’re… okay then?”
“Of course, Cory, we love you – both of you – no matter what,” Alan assures him, clapping his hand on his shoulder.
Cory lets out the breath that he didn’t even realize he’d been holding and smiles at Shawn as he squeezes his hand. “Good, that’s good. I was – kinda worried.”
“We understand,” Amy assures him. “But we’re happy for you.”
“Good,” Cory says, glancing at Shawn. “Because he makes me pretty happy.”
“We’re glad.”
***
The rest of the holidays go smoothly.
When Eric finally appears, sometime over the visit, all he says is, “About damn time,” in response, which is a good feeling.
By the time that they’re saying goodbye at the end of the holidays, Cory and Shawn can leave home completely content, knowing that the whole world is open for them, and they get to enjoy it together.
Severide loves watching Casey work and attempting to distract him.
Ao3
***
Severide loves watching Casey work on … well, anything. It’s fun watching him get all worked up when they’re watching sports. It’s fun watching him lead his team in drills out in the sun. It’s fun watching the way he focused on his reports or his drawings for construction gigs.
But what he really loves is watching him work in his workshop (which is really the storage shed). He loves leaning in the doorway and seeing him build something. He’s been working on a few things for the basement that he’s been trying to turn into gaming room or at least a room that could be used more comfortably so Severide figures that’s probably what he’s working on today.
It’s just too bad for him that Severide’s more interested in distracting him most of the time. Which is why he’s made his way to the door of his workshop to watch him until he decides to distract him.
It’s so hot watching him work that he usually ends up all riled up.
“Are you building a doll house?” Severide questions as more of whatever he’s building starts to become more obvious.
Casey jumps. “Sneaking up on me, are you?”
“I like watching you work,” he admits. He eyes him up and down. “I could try and distract you, but I am a little more curious about why you’re making a dollhouse to distract you.”
“It’s a secret,” Casey offers.
He raises his eyebrows. “From me?”
“Technically everyone, not specifically you.”
“Case… come on, you gotta tell me. Obviously, I can keep a secret,” he says, gesturing between them.
Casey rolls his eyes. “Alright, it’s for Davidson.”
“Davidson? He wants to play with a dollhouse?” he asks, curiously. “Woulda thought he grew out of that when he was ten?”
“No, dumbass, he’s not playing with it,” Casey retorts, sarcastically. “He wants to surprise Lisa with a dollhouse because they found out that they’re having another girl.”
Severide blinks in surprise. “What – are you serious? I didn’t know Lisa was pregnant…”
“No one knows. She was sick, and they were worried, and the blood test told them that she’s pregnant and they could tell that it’s a girl. So, she’s working on transferring and he wanted to surprise her with the dollhouse, which is how they’re going to tell their kids they’re going be big siblings (again, in Dani’s case),” Casey explains, still working on the dollhouse. “And they want to wait a bit to tell people, but he told me so I could make the dollhouse.”
Severide approaches the dollhouse. “I can see why he asked you to build it. It’s great craftmanship.”
Casey flushes, pleased. “Thank you, I aim to do my best whenever I can. Haven’t really been building much lately since someone keeps distracting me.”
Severide eyes him up and down. “Can you blame me? You’re hot as hell, and I love watching you work with your hands. Love imagining the dirty things that you do with those hands.”
Casey coughs. “We’re not having sex in my workshop.”
“Why not? It’d be just as hot as doing it in your truck,” Severide offers.
“Because there are tools and mess and dirt everywhere, and I don’t want wood shavings up my ass or in my mouth or anywhere else.”
He pouts a little because he’s got quite the list of places that he’s trying to get Casey to branch out and have sex in, but he knows that he also doesn’t need wood on his ass in any way.
“Well, then, can I entice you back to bed,” he offers, moving closer to Casey with the intent of kissing him, but Casey moves out of his reach.
“Not right now, I told him that I’d get this done before we switch watches, and I can’t start painting until I have the whole house done and it’s settled and sturdy. So, I need to get it done now, so I can paint tomorrow.”
Severide hums. “Well, then, I can just… watch you work, right?”
Casey flushes at the way Severide’s eyeing him, and says, “If you can be good and behave until I’m done.”
“Don’t I always?” Severide teases, but Casey just rolls his eyes and gestures for him to sit in Severide’s admiring Casey chair.
He loves it.
***
There’s something undeniably hot about Severide just watching him work. He seems to really love it for some reason even though Casey doesn’t think doing this is in any way hot, unlike watching Severide work out.
But as he finishes the dollhouse and looks over as Severide eyeing him and his work appreciatively, he can see just how turned on he is just watching him.
“Looking good, Case,” Severide says as he gets up and wraps his arms around Casey’s waist.
“The dollhouse or me?” he teases.
“Well, you always look good, Case,” he whispers in his ear and kisses underneath it.
“Charmer.”
He moves his kisses down his neck and Casey shivers a bit.
“We’re not having sex in my workshop.”
Severide hums. “But you’re done now, right?”
He looks over the dollhouse and nods. “I still have to paint it, but yes.”
“So, I get to drag you back to bed and have my way with you, yeah?”
Casey laughs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Sev, you always get to have your way with me whenever you want.”
“Good.”
***
Severide loves this.
Casey laying in the middle of their bed, naked and tied to the bed, body littered with his marks. He’s panting, his eyes dilated. He’s hard and wanting.
Severide’s been teasing and edging him. They both love when they have time to enjoy this stuff together.
“You look so gorgeous, sweetheart.”
Casey shivers in pleasure at the pet name.
“I look like I belong to you,” Casey teases, eyes roaming over Severide’s body. “Maybe because I do.”
That’s so fucking hot. He knows, despite arguing against it, that he is a little bit possessive and the thought of his partner belonging to him is fucking hot.
“Fuck,” Severide groans and nuzzles his neck. “You can’t say things like that, or I might cum without even trying.”
Casey laughs. “That hot, huh? Great excuse to say it more often.”
“Hush, you,” Severide retorts, kissing him quickly.
He loves kissing as almost as much as marking him up. The way their lips slide together easily, the way he can brush their noses together, the way Casey always lifts his head to follow him because he, too, can’t get enough of kissing him.
He pulls away, slowly, and Casey doesn’t open his eyes right away. Eager as he always is to keep kissing him.
When he does open his eyes, he looks so pleased, though he wiggles a bit. “So, you gonna fuck me or not?”
Severide laughs not surprised. He knows that it’s not that long until they have to pick the boys up from so school, so he quite happily reaches over to the lube on the bedside table.
“Gladly.”
“Good.”
***
Casey can’t help the way he settles on the couch with his beer after checking on the boys, his legs thrown Severide’s lap, his back on the arm rest. He’s wearing Severide’s sweatshirt because he loves wearing it and because it hides the hickeys.
Sometimes, Severide’s lucky that his oral fixation works well with Casey’s desire to wear his clothes because he does not want to explain to the boys why it looks like he’d been mauled today.
“Am I your leg rest?” Severide questions, one arm over his legs and the other arm on the arm rest and around Casey’s shoulders.
“You should be given the way I was like your snack earlier,” he teases.
“You were not my snack.”
Casey laughs. “Tell that to my chest and thighs that make it look like I got mauled.”
“Okay, maybe you were my snack,” Severide grins. “But you certainly weren’t complaining.”
“Nah, although you’re lucky it pairs well with me wanting to wear your sweatshirt, so I don’t have to explain to our pre-teens boys about hickeys.”
He laughs. “Didn’t you say Lee Henry has been coming home with hickeys and that was how Herrmann could tell I gave you one when he found out?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“So, given that Griffin’s questions about how he thought kissing and holding hands lead to babies came from Lee Henry… what makes you think that he doesn’t know about hickeys?”
Casey frowns. “Okay, how about this? I don’t want our son to see the hickeys you’ve left on me and be able to imagine how they got there.”
Severide tilts his head back and forth. “Fair enough. I know I definitely wouldn’t want to know those things about Benny.”
“And for all they need to know, we just kiss and hold hands.”
Severide snorts. “Yeah, they’re totally going to believe that.”
“Let me pretend. After all, it’s not going to be any possibility of proof like a new baby,” he offers.
“Not for lack of trying,” Severide teases, causing them both to laugh. “Can you imagine being nearly 40 and starting over with a baby?”
Casey laughs. “You should’ve seen his face; it was like Herrmann’s reaction to Kenny. First time I have sex in six months and she’s pregnant again.”
“He loves being a dad, though.”
“He does, just like Herrmann does, but it’s hard to start over from beginning, I assume.”
“We did kinda skip those baby / toddler years, but yeah, the idea of starting over with a baby… crazy. More power to him. Where’s Lisa going to transfer to?”
“Not sure, I didn’t ask,” Casey offers. “I think he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, yet, but he wants to surprise her with the gift so that she doesn’t think he’s disappointed. Starting over after a decade – rough, but he’s happy about it.”
“Of course he is, and I promise that I’ll act surprised when he tells the rest of us.”
“You also have to promise to distract all of the kids when they’re visiting tomorrow so I can paint the dollhouse before our next watch.”
Severide gapes at him. “I have to distract six kids tomorrow?”
“Yes, just for like an hour or two,” Casey offers. “I’ll be able to help you set up for the sleepover once I’m done, but it needs to settle overnight and they’re dropping them off before watch.”
Severide huffs and rolls his eyes. “Fine, I could easily distract them by racing down to the park or something, but you better be right about it only taking an hour or two.”
Casey gives him a kiss. “It will, I promise. But I can’t blow the secret, especially to their kids.”
“That’s fair.”
He gives him another kiss and he knows that tomorrow will be nearly impossible to sneak off to enjoy alone time, so he pulls back and says, “What do you say to giving me more hickeys instead of watching whatever this is?”
Severide grins, brightly. “Sounds like a great night.”
Casey and Severide bring the boys to Christie's for a backyard camping trip that ends up a little wetter than they planned.
AO3
***
There’s something nice about getting out of the city, and not just going to the cabin, but getting out and spending the weekend at his sister’s place in Naperville. She has a little fire pit and with the nice fall weather, they have the opportunity to set up a bonfire for the kids as they make s’mores and tell stories.
The kids – including Severide’s brothers, but not Voilet, who has insisted that she has a perfectly comfy bed inside – are planning on camping in the backyard. He finds it funny that somehow that means that he and Severide are also camping in the backyard to make sure that the boys don’t get into too much trouble.
The boys had quickly teased that they would never get into trouble, but somehow, that hasn’t saved him from having to spend the night in a tent on the ground.
At least for now, he gets to watch Severide telling ghosts stories as the sun sets. He is still the better storyteller than Casey and he loves that partially because it reminds him of the fact Ben is loves getting Severide’s bedtime stories (even as he’s kinda grown out of them).
“You two are so adorable, you know that?” the teasing voice of his sister, Christie, asks as she moves beside him.
He laughs. “You think we’re adorable because he’s telling ghost stories?”
“You’re adorable because you’re looking at him with this so completely in love look on your face and he keeps glancing at you as he talks and gives you a wink and a smile as if you’re the only two people in the world,” Christie offers. “Like, honestly, seeing the two of you now, I can’t believe it took you so long to get together.”
Casey flushes. “I just – we were just … nervous, that’s all. We spent so much time building our life with the boys and if things were different…”
Christie hums. “I understand that, really, but looking at the two of you now, you could’ve been so much happier so much sooner.”
“Maybe.”
He still thinks that it’s probably better that he spent more time figuring himself out rather than jumping in without thinking about it. Especially because those feelings were so confusing to him, even if they were obvious to everyone else.
Christie gives him a smile and then, nudges him and nods at a couple of seats to let them join the kids and Severide.
He nods. Maybe he could come up with a good story or two himself.
***
Severide loves weekends like this.
Even though he probably shouldn’t be sleeping on the ground (although Christie did give them an air mattress), there’s something fun about spending the weekend away from the city, telling ghost stories around the campfire, seeing the joy on the boys’ faces, and just the pure love in Casey’s eyes as he watches them happily.
Sometimes, it’s still mildly surprising getting that I’m so in love look from Casey towards him. While he’d been hopelessly pining and not wanting to throw their coparenting partnership out of whack, he never really thought he’d get this even though he desperately wanted it.
He’d never thought that that look would ever be directed towards him, but now, he gets it all of the time and it always sends butterflies in his stomach.
And fuck, he feels a little bit like a teenager.
And he kinda loves that.
“What’s on that mind of yours?” Casey asks, quietly, as they don’t want to disturb the boys (who are pretending to sleep but are probably up to something) as they wait for the bonfire to die down. “You just gave me the dopiest smile.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “I … was just thinking that … I never thought you’d look at me that way.”
“What way?”
“Like you’re stupidly in love and you can’t believe how lucky you are,” he offers.
Casey smiles and laughs. “I never thought I’d feel so stupidly in love, again. Not since Hallie died. I wanted to feel this way about Dawson, but I never did, and I half-think I felt this way about you even before we kissed.”
“Yeah, Case?” Severide asks, raising his eyebrows. There’s a part of him that knows that they’d both had feelings but hadn’t gone for it for a long time. “I didn’t know that was possible, but you’d make it possible.”
Casey shakes his head. “I didn’t know either, but it feels like it. I just spent too long in my own head worrying about being wrong and thinking that there was no way … that you were just naturally affectionate. That’s all.”
“Only with you, Case. You’ve always been special.”
He loves the way his face floods with a flush of sorts, clearly pleased.
“I know it should have been obvious,” Casey admits as he reaches down to playing with his hand. “And maybe it was, I just …”
“You weren’t ready for it,” Severide offers. He gets it. “And that is absolutely okay. I’d rather take our time to end up here than to rush it and end up unhappy or ruining our friendship and coparenting relationship. Honestly, I’d like to think I was ready for it shortly after I figured out my own attraction to you, but maybe I wasn’t either? Maybe it’s good that we took our time because I’ve honestly never been happier.”
Casey smiles brightly at him. “Me either. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Severide thinks about the ring he’s kept hidden with him since he confessed to Casey that he has one. “Luckily, you’ll never have to.”
Casey leans forward gives him a kiss.
He easily melts against him; the sounds of the dying fire and their giggling kids fade away as he focuses on Casey.
Unfortunately, just as he reaches up to tangle his hands in Casey’s hair, he feels a sudden bout of cold water over his head.
He gasps and leans back just in time to see Griffin and Charlie run away while he can hear Ben and Caden laughing in their tent. He sends a glare their way, causing them to quickly zip up the tent as Casey opts to chase after the two older boys with a water gun that happens to be laying around.
Severide grabs his own and chases after them.
They are so going to win this.
***
“Weren’t you two supposed to keep the boys out of trouble,” Christie teasingly asks as she hands them towels. “Do I wanna know how you two got soaked like this?”
“It was an ambush,” Severide states.
“They threw water on us while we were distracted, led us to the other side of the house so the other two can climb onto the deck and lie-in-wait for them to lead us directly under them,” Casey explains. “We should’ve known better.”
Christie laughs. “Yes, you should’ve.”
“At least the boys have actually settled down now.”
“And I suppose since you weren’t so good at keeping them out of trouble that you should probably just crash upstairs,” she says, teasingly.
Severide senses that she may have been in on this plan given that she barely managed to keep herself from laughing at them and he definitely heard giggling from Voilet upstairs.
“That would be great,” Casey says. “Especially because it was definitely going to be hard sleeping on an air mattress.”
She smiles. “Your normal room is ready for you once you’ve dried off.”
“Thanks, Christie.”
She gives them both a smile and heads up the stairs.
He waist until she’s disappeared at the top of the stairs. “You think she was in on it?”
“Absolutely,” Casey says, no hesitation. “As soon as she was so insistent on us spending the night out there, I knew. The boys have camped out there before just fine.”
“Good point,” Severide offers, then he leans over and gives him a kiss. “At least we had fun with it, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then, it was totally worth it.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Another kiss, the towels thrown into the laundry room, and Casey offers him his hand and leads him towards the stairs.
Whew, this has been a hot one! 🥵 Luckily James and Sirius have had lots of sun cream and beach umbrellas🏖️, and when the heat got too much, they cooled off by diving into the ocean🌊, exploring a dark cave🦇 or going to outer space🚀 (pro tip for anyone still suffering the heatwave😉). And neither the heat nor the trouble with public transportation stopped them from going on exciting adventures!
It's been so great to see all the Bad drawings from both veterans and newcomers! Let's sum(mer) it up:
46 artworks by 11 different artists
Check them all out here!
Three people posted every day: @domsdayriver @goldenlionprince and @lovelymasks, while the productivity award once again belongs to the reigning Queen Supreme @jenjentheboscostick who submitted 14 drawings - one for each prompt.
A big thanks to everyone who participated: @diamondmeadow, @plecotusauritus, @mycupofrum, @in-flvx, @mikibou, @art7crafts, @fiendishfyre and the above mentioned ❤️
Also to my tireless secretary, Lina, and to everyone who reblogged, commented and liked - you keep us going!
Hoping to see you all again when we return for the Halloween challenge!
Everyone's still struggling with the aftermath of the river jump, but they're all trying to brave their way through it.
AO3
***
None of them were in a particularly good mood come morning. The boys hadn’t gotten much sleep and neither had Casey and Severide, but there wasn’t much choice in the matter – the boys had to go to school, so they get up as normal. Mildly annoyed, and definitely grouchy, but it’s better than what this morning could’ve brought.
Casey notices that they’re getting stared at more than usual as Cindy greets them while dropping off her and Herrmann’s kids. The boys are holding on tight to their arms as if worried they’ll disappear, and don’t let go even as she hugs them both a lot tighter than she normally does, the worry evident on her face. If she didn’t see it herself, she evidently already heard it from Herrmann, even though he’s still on watch.
“How are you all doing?” she asks, after a longer-than-normal goodbye gets the boys sent off to school. “It can’t’ve been easy. I’ve got some food I was going to bring over later.”
Casey nearly laughs. He’s tense and overtired and he can see Griffin and Ben reaching the doors of the school and looking back as if worrying that they’d just poof away. But Cindy’s offering her amazing cooking and it just … it nearly makes everything better.
Nearly.
“It’s a lot still to deal with, and we didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep.”
That was an understatement. The nightmares have returned, and their bed was just not made for four people.
Cindy hums. “I’ll come by after lunch. You two catch up on some sleep.”
“Gladly.”
***
There’s so much to talk about, Casey knows, but it’s no surprise that they don’t talk on the way home, their hands still linked between them, as has become customary. But they’re both in their heads still thinking about everything.
This isn’t the first time that they’ve come close to death, but it has been a while. Some things couldn’t be helped – the shooting at the firehouse when they had all be captives of a sort – for example – but they’ve been more aware, trying better to make sure that there are less injuries and less chances of stupid stunts that could get them killed while on the job. Including refusing to participate in another one of Voight’s cases because Casey had learned his lesson from Nesbit (not that Voight doesn’t try to flex his power to get what he wants – he’s never taken no for an answer easily).
The last time they’d gotten this close to dying at the same time had been when Severide jumped the bomber at Med three years ago. And it had been … jarring, to say the least, back then, and it had prompted them to do what they did with that first summer that the boys became permanently theirs, separate so that they would always have one parent.
They all worked through the issue, and had gotten back on the same watch with the idea that they could handle it and be more careful.
Now, this.
It’s worse than the shooting or Casey getting trapped during a call, it’s even worse than Severide jumping on that bomb because the boys saw it firsthand, not just hearing about the softened version from their dads. Seeing it live, not knowing for even a few seconds…
Casey knows that if it weren’t for the adrenalin that he would have been terrified himself. He knows what he felt back when Severide jumped the bomber, and that was… before they had gotten intimate. Now, his life is so entwined with Severide, he can’t imagine life without him.
He doesn’t want to.
And that’s definitely scary considering what happened yesterday. And he doesn’t know what to do about it.
“Case?”
“Hmmmm?” Casey asks, turning to him.
“We’re home.”
“Oh, right.”
He lets go of Severide’s hand and moves to get out of the car, but Severide stops him. “Case, I know there’s a lot going on, but are you – are you okay?”
Casey takes a deep breath, closing the car door and facing Severide. He puts a hand on the hand Severide has got on his arm.
“It’s not – it’s stupid. We’ve been best friends the entire time that we’ve been firefighters, we’ve been raising the boys together and aside from the situation with bomb, even when we’ve gotten hurt, it just – it wasn’t a big deal, we laughed it off, but now… I haven’t felt what we do … in a while.”
“We’re so used to brushing death and coming out on the other side…” Severide trails off.
He’s not sure how Severide’s feeling about all this, but Casey… he doesn’t know how he can come back from this. He’s feeling it so much more this time.
It’s been a long time since he questioned whether he could continue doing what he loves.
“Yeah,” Casey says, looking down. “I just –”
He stops; he doesn’t have the words.
“I get it,” Severide offers, a soft, understanding look in his eyes when Casey looks up at him. “I remember not even a year ago when you were saying goodbye to me and the boys and I – I lost it. You were trapped and I couldn’t do anything, and I thought about how I was going to have to tell the boys and –” his voice nearly breaks, and Casey feels a pang through his heart. He never considered what Severide was feeling in that moment. “– and how I was going to live without you … and I can’t imagine a life different to this life with you.”
“Me either,” Casey admits, and he knows from the way he’s struggling to say this that Severide’s … feeling the same way he is. And that’s – fuck – it probably means that they can’t do this job together after all.
“And I know that… it doesn’t make sense because we both survived, neither of us are even hurt but I’ve been – picturing what happened with Andy and with Shay and …”
He trails off, again.
Casey can see it in his eyes. They’re both so freaked out about a near-miss, far more than they’ve ever been in nearly twenty years on the job.
“And it’s freaking you out?” he prompts. “I feel that. I keep seeing Andy’s death, again, except sometimes it’s you.”
“That why you weren’t sleeping last night?” Severide questions. “Because I know it’s why I wasn’t.”
Casey nods and swallows the lump in his throat. The thought of them seeing each other’s deaths in their dreams is not good. But he doesn’t – he can’t really voice what he’s thinking – giving it up after everything… it’s a hard thing to do.
“We just need some time.”
Severide hums, as if he could tell that Casey’s not wanting to talk about it or maybe Severide doesn’t want to talk about it. “We should go to bed, try and sleep.”
“Yeah.”
***
Severide’s not remotely surprised when he wakes to end his nightmare of seeing Casey blown to bits to Casey tracing shapes on his stomach through his chest hair. Of course he’s not sleeping.
“Case, did you get any sleep?”
“Some,” he offers, but when he looks Severide in the eye, it doesn’t look like it. “I just … can’t sleep. Every time that I close my eyes…”
“I get that,” Severide offers, because he sees it, too. Casey’s death, having to tell the boys… “Me too.”
“I know that it’ll pass,” Casey says, trying to sound confident but his voice is breaking a bit. “We’ve survived so much and it’s … we’ve been doing this for so long. We’ve been doing this as best friends and… I shouldn’t be shaken by this.”
“We’re not just best friends, anymore, Case,” Severide retorts. As much as he wanted to pretend that it – that this doesn’t affect them on the job, he’s not stupid. Their coparenting relationship affected them, and this affects them even more. “Yes, being best friends affected things, I cared every time you got hurt, but it’s different now. It’s been different for years, but the way I feel for you now… it’s different. You realize that, right?”
“Of course, I do,” Casey replies. “It’s not just this,” he says running a hand down his chest, “it’s the boys, too.”
Severide nods, because he knows that the boys are the key component in this, not just their new-found relationship with each other.
“I know it’s been a while since the bombing, but maybe we focused so much on the boys that we never talked about it ourselves. How it affected us.”
It was partially because they were more focused on making things better for the boys than for themselves. They both figured that it hadn’t affected them beyond the boys. Even knowing that they were both in a weird place since losing Andy three years prior and Shay a year before hadn’t helped, but they ignored any worries for themselves losing each other to focus on the boys losing another parent-figure.
Severide knows that Casey had been weird when he’d been recovering, and Severide had managed not to be as weird when Casey had gotten shot or trapped, but he had felt some sort of way when he’d been worried about Casey being hurt and not knowing how to tell the boys. When he thought about going home to an empty bed and doing another firefighter death in action funeral.
For Casey.
His stomach clenches at the thought.
Casey traces shapes on Severide’s stomach in that way he does that mimics Griffin’s wringing his hands when he’s nervous or bothered. “The first time it hit me a little bit harder was when Halstead wanted to black tag you.”
“Go on.”
“I realized for the first time just how deeply affected my life would be without you – we lived together, shared a bed, a life, our boys and – and I would have to come back here and you’d be gone and now that’s even more true,” Casey admits, a bit quieter but it’s nearly silent in their bedroom aside from the hum of the heater, so Severide catches every word.
It’s a valid point. Severide had certainly felt it when Casey was giving that goodbye not even all that long ago.
It was a gut punch.
The thought of losing him.
Going home and telling the boys. The thought of entering their room and he wouldn’t be there… it’s not a great feeling.
It’d be worse than going home after losing Shay. His life has become so fucking entwined with Casey’s that he’d feel like he’d lost his other half (and isn’t that a terrifying thought). He’d never thought he’d ever feel that way about another person.
“I – I know that … neither of us have been particularly good with loss, especially on the job loss, but we can get through this,” Severide assures them both. He can’t – he doesn’t want to go back to 51 without Casey and he doesn’t want to give up the job just yet. He’s not ready. And they’ve survived worse before. “We’re fine, we survived. And – and it might happen again, but the odds –”
“… are a lot higher than it has been for everyone else considering.”
“Not funny,” Severide retorts, shifting slightly to be more on his side and actually look at Casey. “We’ve had a lot of near-misses, but –”
“But we’ve been a lot better since the things that happened at Med,” Casey interjects, shifting to mirror him. “I know that the odds are not as high as they seem. We’ve been more careful, but the decision that we made – being there at the top and both of us refusing to go –”
“– can’t happen again,” Severide states, eyes searching to make sure that they’re on the same. “It can’t.”
“It can’t,” Casey repeats back to him. “If we go back to the same watch, we can’t make a decision like that and leave the boys without either of us.”
Severide nods, not necessarily liking the idea of not being on the same watch.
“But I, Kelly, I can’t be the reason that the boys lose another dad.”
He starts to argue that Casey’s not the reason that they lost Andy, but Casey plows on like he’s been thinking about this all night (which he probably has).
“I don’t think I can handle losing another partner, I just … don’t,” Casey states, plainly. “Losing Andy and having to step in for him, losing Hallie and having to go on – I know what I’m asking of you, but I can’t do it.” He’s got tears in his eyes as he continues. “I know it’s not fair – it’s not – but I just – I can’t.”
Severide’s not really sure that he would handle it any better, especially considering how he’d nearly became addicted to drugs for his shoulder in the aftermath of Andy (alienating everyone who cared for him), and how he’d nearly become an alcoholic after Shay passed (if not for Casey, he honestly doesn’t know how he’d survive).
But he knows how hard and for how long that Casey grieved, he knows how much he struggled and went on because others needed him and if the worst happens… he needs to be that man this time.
So, he nods. “Okay, if it’s both of us and I can get out of danger … I will, you know...”
Casey searches his eyes. “I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“It is, but what’s even more is – if one of us in danger, the other one can’t run in to save the day. Even if you don’t think you can handle losing me and I am the one in danger, you can’t do it. You can’t risk your life to save me and risk the boys being without their dads. We let Chief make the decisions, right, Matt?”
There’s a bit of hesitation, but Casey nods. “That’s only fair.”
“Good and we should probably –”
The doorbell rings before he can finish his sentence, and he groans.
Casey laughs, gives him a kiss and then rolls out of bed, throwing on some pants and Severide’s sweatshirt before leaving the room.
Severide takes a second to listen to Casey answer the door and says, “Herrmann, Chaplain, come on in,” and he knows he’s gotta get dressed, too. Damn.
***
It was nice talking to Herrmann and the Chaplain.
Neither of them knew about the change in their relationship, but Casey had had conversations with Herrmann and Mouch about why he’d chosen to go to first watch for the summer when Griffin had been struggling after everything with the bomb at Med, fighting over Otis and Rice, and all of the chaos back then.
It had always primarily been for the boys, but there was a part of him that kept thinking about seeing Severide so close to death and knowing that he would have to tell the boys that they lost another father-figure, and it was devastating. It had shaken him, but he’d been so focused on the boys that he recovered somewhat easily.
Severide hadn’t had a near-death experience since then and this was giving him flashbacks. Flashbacks to losing Andy, losing Hallie, having to tell the boys about Severide being in the hospital… the weird feelings when he worried about what could happen to the boys if neither of them had survived that day and how lucky they both were.
It was… things have changed now that he has to think about losing a partner or having to tell their kids about losing them. Their lives have become so entwined that it’s fucking scary as fuck to imagine anything changing them.
And… jokes aside, Herrmann gets it. The Chaplain gets it.
They could talk through things, find some assurances.
Near-misses can easily shake a firefighter just as much as a near-death experience. And nearly losing one (or two) of your own can be devastating.
But by the time Casey’s pick up the boys alarm goes off, he’s actually feeling a lot better. Maybe he really did just need a little bit of time. Time to remind himself that he shouldn’t make any hasty decisions.
“You both better know to call me if you need anything, alright? And Capp and I already told Boden we’d cover next watch, too,” Herrmann says, on the way out.
“Appreciate you, Herrmann.”
“Good.”
He leaves and the Chaplain smiles. “I can always come back if need me, just give me a ring.”
Severide nods and they both smile. “Thanks, Chaplain, we’ll be sure to call. Promise.”
“Good.”
***
They had been met at pickup with great big hugs, and a surprisingly cheerful couple of boys.
“Everyone was talking about it,” Ben starts as they climb into Severide’s car. “They said it was a pretty big deal and talking about how brave you were…”
Griffin’s a little quieter as he talks about the things he was hearing in his classroom, but soon enough they both start to talk over each other as they explain about all of the kids thinking that they were so brave and selfless and somehow, heroic as Severide drives home.
Casey can’t say that he thinks of what happened as heroic, even if they had to evacuate everyone else, leaving them both stranded on the rooftop. In fact, he’s begun to think of it as stupid over brave, but at least the boys are feeling better.
“Well, I’m surprised that you learned anything today if all that was talked about was us,” Severide half-teases and Casey laughs.
“It wasn’t all day,” Griffin says. “But there was a lady from the newspaper that came by.”
“A reporter?” Casey questions with a frown. “Wha – how – did, uh, did she try to talk to you?”
“She did!” Ben says, gleefully. “I saw her at breaktime.”
“Yeah, I saw her at lunch, too, but it was too cold to chat outside.”
Casey shares a concerned look with Severide. “Did you tell your teacher?”
“No,” Griffin shrugs. “She asked if I was your kid, I said yeah and I walked away. There was nothing to tell her.”
Severide snorts and Casey gives him a look.
“A strange woman talking to you on the grounds of your school about whose kids you are is something, even if it wasn’t a long conversation,” Casey states as Severide turns the car down the alley towards their garage. “But I suppose there’s nothing we can do about it right now.”
He’ll certainly deal with it, later.
“Right now, it’s Friday night, so why don’t we have pizza and video game night, sound good?”
Both boys cheer and he takes that as a yes as Severide parks the car, time to have some family fun.
***
“Hey dad,” he hears as he goes to close Griffin’s door after checking that he was asleep.
Casey pauses. “Thought you were asleep, kiddo.”
He’d seemed exhausted an hour ago when they stayed up far too late playing video games. A late night after the previous rough night wasn’t exactly ideal, but he knows that family bonding was definitely in order, and he never turns down a chance to hang out with his boys.
“I was, kinda,” Griffin says, scootching up on the bed because he clearly wants to talk about something.
Casey moves into the room, sitting on the edge of his bed. “But you’re not anymore, huh?”
“I was just…”
He waits when Griffin trails off, knowing that he’s just trying to find the right words.
“… I wanna be brave like you and dad and dad number one, but I don’t know if I can be all the time,” he admits.
“Oh, kid,” Casey says, shifting so that he’s sitting next to him with his arm around his shoulders. Griffin leans into him, easily. “No one is brave all the time. Not me and not any of your dads.”
“But I have three dads that do things like jump off an exploding building and all I keep thinking about is how I wishing that it was anyone else.”
He reaches over to his teddy bear Hot Stuff, the one that he hasn’t been sleeping with much of this year and wrings the ears as he continues.
“I just – everyone was talking about how awesome it must be to have heroes for dads, dads that have all these cool stories, and I’m jealous of Johnny’s dad’s boring job because he never – he wouldn’t …”
“Kid,” Casey says, softly, squeezing his shoulders.
It breaks his heart that this is hurting him so much and it brings him back to what he’d considered during the Med bombing situation. Maybe it was time to change things up – for the sake of their kids.
“It’s okay to feel this way. It’s okay that you’ve … you understand what it’s like to lose one of your dads to his job. To this job. You know what it’s like to worry about your dad not making it and having to deal with that. It’s not all fancy rescues and heroic feats that make the news, there’s a lot more to it than that, and you’re having to deal with that worry every time we go to work.”
He takes a deep a breath and says, “And you shouldn’t have to worry about that. You’ve had enough of having to deal with … the consequences of your parents’ choices in a negative way… Maybe it’s time your dad and I talk about switching –”
“NO!” Griffin yells, a bit too forceful and surprising Casey. “I don’t want you to do that.”
“But you – if we changed it could help you.”
“But you and dad would be unhappy,” Griffin says, plainly. “I don’t want you to be unhappy. You already did that for me once, I don’t –”
“That’s our job, kid,” Casey interjects. Trying not to think about that first summer as them being unhappy just for Griffin because, truthfully, it was something that they needed, and he didn’t want Griffin that it was somehow on him. “We told you that when we went on separate shifts that first summer, and we meant it. We love you more than we love our jobs, and we don’t want to be causing you issues if there’s something we can do about it. Besides, that summer apart did your dad and I a lot of good.”
Griffin frowns, twirling the ears of Hot Stuff.
“I don’t want anything to change, really. You and dad are really good at what you do and lots of people have been saved because of you and – and I just – I wanna be brave about it, so no one loses because of me.”
“It would never be because of you, kid. If we made a change, it’s not on you, alright? And you don’t have to put hypothetical rescues above of your own peace of mind or comfort. You’re our kid, you come first. I’m sorry if you ever thought –”
“No, you didn’t – it’s not –” Griffin interjects.
It’s clear that he can’t exactly figure out what he’s trying to say, but that it’s not something that he or Severide made him feel. Which is good.
“I just – I wanna be brave like you and dad and dad number one and – and Jessie’s parents and Dani’s parents and Max’s dad … I just…”
He trails off, at a loss for words.
Casey, honestly, isn’t sure how he could help Griffin be brave about it when there’s still a part of him that isn’t feeling all that brave after the events of yesterday. Fuck, was it only yesterday? Feels like it’s been forever.
“Well, what can we do to help you be brave?” Severide asks, causing both of them to jump, eyes shooting to the open doorway where he’s leaning.
Casey’s not sure how long he’s been there, but it’s clearly long enough to be aware of the conversation.
Griffin bites his lip. “I don’t really know. That’s – I – watching that on the news, it wasn’t – it wasn’t great, but – but it’s not as if my mind hasn’t thought up crazy things when you’re both at work even without that. I – I’ve just been able to be like… trying to imagine there’s a no hitter going on or something. Even when I know there’s not and…”
“Maybe it might help to hear more about the usual calls we get,” Severide offers. “Less of the big rescues or things that end up on the news and more of the boring cat-stuck-in-a-tree calls?”
“A lot of times, they’re very simple and not risky at all,” Severide adds, even though he’s definitely had more of the riskier calls as part of squad.
Griffin makes a face like he doesn’t quite believe him.
“Maybe we could try a ride-along,” Casey offers. “You could spend a watch with us and see that it’s not as … risky as it seems all the time.”
“Little captain in training?” Severide teases.
“I’m not captain, yet,” Casey retorts, but focuses on Griffin, who shrugs.
“I don’t know if that’ll help.”
Severide hums. “Why don’t you sleep on it, and we can revisit this in the morning?”
Griffin shrugs. “Sure, I guess.”
Casey nods. “We don’t have to make any decisions tonight by any means, and we’ll be right downstairs all night if you need us, alright?”
Griffin nods and Casey stands, letting him scoot down. He doesn’t protest as Casey tucks him in and kisses his forehead.
“See you in the morning, alright, kid?”
“Yeah. Night, dads.”
“Night, kid.”
“Night, bud.”
Casey follows Severide out the door, closing it lightly behind him.
He can see that Severide wants to talk about it, but Casey says, “Tomorrow, please? Tonight, I just want you to kiss me and help me forget the last day or so and think only of kissing you.”
Severide gives him a small smile. “Your wish is my command.”
