Buck has everything planned out - he’s finally going to propose to Larry and it’s going to be perfect.
((huge thanks and appreciation to @looney-mooney who was nice enough to let me ramble out a lot of ideas to them! ✿))
Pairing: Tuddrussel/Larry (Time Squad)
Warnings: lots of fluff, not officially adopted Otto but he’s still their Son, set a year or two post-canon
Something had been off for a week and Otto was determined to get to the bottom of it.
On the surface everything seemed to be normal - the Squad went on missions, his pseudo-parents bickered, reports were filed. Anyone else would think the station was running smoothly but the boy could feel the tension in the air. If it had been only a few years ago he wouldn’t have thought anything of it but ever since he caught Tuddrussel and Larry kissing (’It ain’t what it looks like-’ Otto still scoffed when he remembered Buck trying to come up with an excuse while Larry just covered his face) he knew different.
“Hey, Larry...” Otto knew it wasn’t a good idea to bother the ‘bot when he had a laundry basket but he had to start somewhere. “What’s going on with Tuddrussel?” The Officer placed a Keep Out sign on his door three days in a row by then. He hardly ever put it up since Otto found out they were dating so he was suspicious.
Larry glanced at the door and huffed. “Who knows? As long as the oaf isn’t breaking anything I’m grateful for the reprieve.” Otto let out a thoughtful hum and Larry continued on to wash the clothes. He knew it wasn’t completely true - the ‘bot had stolen his fair share of glances to Tuddrussel’s room since his self-imposed exile, too. It just didn’t make sense! They hadn’t had any major fights and Buck wasn’t throwing any kind of tantrum. He should be out and about training Otto to shoot or bothering Larry while he was trying to clean. Anything other than being locked in his room.
“Tuddrussel?” Otto knocked a few times - apparently it was going to take a direct approach to get any answers. “C’mon, it’s been days. You haven’t offered to teach me how to aim or tried to show me any new moves-” A crash and what he assumed was cursing in multiple languages before the door finally opened. Buck was, as expected, a mess. He did his job on missions and acted normal then but as soon as they got back to the station he locked himself away and it showed. Otto yelped when he was yanked into the room. The door shut and locked again behind him. “What-”
“I need yer help, Otto, but ya can’t tell Larry nothin’. Promise me.” Otto wasn’t used to him being so serious but whatever was going on was obviously important. At his timid nod Buck grinned and gestured to his desk. There was a holo-pad there with...
“Oh my gosh.” There were a few rings pulled up on the screen. “Oh my gosh-! Are you-” Tuddrussel covered his mouth.
“Shh! Can’t have Lar hearin’, alright?” He waited until Otto nodded before he let him go.
“This is great!” Buck wasn’t prepared for the kid to be so enthusiastic about it. “We’re gonna be a family.” Otto still didn’t know that he had filed for the adoption papers - it was going to be his birthday present. Tuddrussel let out a noncommittal hum. He had already thoroughly ruined his image showing the boy the rings. No need to make it worse. “They’re all opals.”
“Larry likes ‘em.” Buck said without a thought but the smile Otto gave him in response made him flush. Alright, so maybe that was a sappy kind of thing to know but it was true. “Now c’mon, help me out?”
They spent some time looking through all the options and narrowed it down to silver bands, with small diamonds definitely lining the opal itself. “I like the oval shaped ones.” Otto chimed in and Buck flicked through a couple of them.
“Otto?” Larry poked his head in the common room but the boy was nowhere to be found. “Oh, honestly.” It was bad enough that he had to do all the laundry - the least the boys could do was put it away themselves. “Boys!” No reply, of course. They were off scheming somewhere, he was certain of that. Larry checked the domisphere and all the practice ranges but they were nowhere to be found. His optics narrowed when he reached Tuddrussel’s door. Apparently he had roped Otto into whatever he was planning in there. “If the two of you cause any havoc aboard this station you will be the ones cleaning it up!”
Tuddrussel snorted. “Keep tellin’ yerself that, Lar!” He waited until they heard footsteps leaving and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, at least he don’t suspect nothin’.”
It took a few more days of sneaking around and planning but eventually they settled on a ring and the order was placed. Tuddrussel made sure to distract Larry when the shipment arrived that day so Otto could get the package safely to his room without notice.
“Okay, so you guys will have Date Night like you usually do. Sometime after, before you come home, you’ll go for a walk. And then-” Otto pulled out the box and opened it with flourish. “Ta-da! You’ll propose!” The ring was a modest size oval cut opal outlined by diamonds on a silver band, just as they had decided on.
Tuddrussel was confident - they had gone over the plan time and time again. He was going to be as smooth and suave as he had ever been and Larry wouldn’t even think of saying no. He absolutely did not think of his previous marriage and subsequent divorce. Larry was going to say yes - please let him say yes - and they were going to adopt Otto and be a family.
Finally, the perfect night came around - They had a fairly standard mission involving Charlie Chaplin as a musical star which was solved rather succinctly with Otto’s help, as per usual. The mission report was logged when Buck finally made a move. “So, how ‘bout we have ourselves a night on the town?” Larry scoffed.
“You become a recluse for nearly a month and expect me to just-” He hesitated when Tuddrussel seemed genuinely hurt and cursed himself for being so weak. “...Alright! Alright, I suppose it has been awhile...” Buck let out a pleased whoop and hugged him. Larry would have turned red, if he had the capability. Otto waved them off and managed to keep from jumping around until they zapped away from the station. He had been keeping it in for a long time but when they finally came back, he would definitely start calling them dad.
Larry knew immediately that something was wrong.
First of all, Buck was wearing a suit. Even on the nicest occasion he kept his standard Time Squad uniform on. He still had his hood and goggles of course but in lieu of everything else there was formal attire. Then there was... well. Tuddrussel was just acting strange. Like there was something back on the station that he didn’t want him to know about. “Are you going to tell me?” Buck startled to attention and Larry allowed a smile at the sight.
“Tell you...?”
“Oh, honestly, Tuddrussel. If you’re using Otto back at the station to clean up some mess the two of you made-”
“No!” Buck cut in, a bit too loud. Some of the other patrons of the restaurant glanced and glared at them. The Officer sank down in his seat a bit. The night wasn’t exactly going to plan. He hadn’t accounted for sweaty palms and the nerves racing through him. It had all been so easy with Sheila! Of course, that had been a spur of the moment kind of thing, he didn’t even have a ring when he proposed to her... “Ya wanna take a walk?” He had to salvage everything somehow.
“You haven’t even finished-” Tuddrussel put more than enough cash on the table to pay for everything and held a hand out for his partner. Larry rolled his optics but took it indulgently. If Buck wanted to play gentleman for once he wasn’t about to stop him. He didn’t let go of his hand even as they walked around. It hadn’t escaped the ‘bots notice that Tuddrussel chose a place with a beautiful landscape around it.
He was definitely trying to make up for something.
“Larry.” They finally paused a ways away from the restaurant. “I-” He rubbed the back of his neck. It seemed like all of his rehearsal had been for nothing - all he could think of was his partner laughing or saying no. “I...”
“Tuddrussel. Whatever it is, just spit it out! You know I’ll find out when we get back to the station-”
“I’m tryin’ ta propose to ya here, alright? Jus’ let me-” They both froze.
Of all the ways Tuddrussel had ever tried to get out of something... “Beauregard Tuddrussel! You’ve done some awful things since I’ve known you but this - Using that as an excuse to cover up whatever it is you’ve done this time-!”
“I’m not!” Buck fumbled with his pockets for awhile before he pulled out the ring box. “See?” He opened it and Larry genuinely thought he shut down for a second before he processed what he was seeing. “I really tried, Lar. I wanted ta make this go right.” He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and tried to ignore the despair creeping up inside. “Guess I really fumbled the ball on this one.”
“You’re serious.” Larry said with genuine awe. He knew how his partner felt about marriage after everything with Sheila so he never thought for a second even after they got together that they would be married. They wouldn’t even be legally recognized as such in many places. For Buck to still make the gesture though, just for him... He gathered some semblance of calm. “Go on, then.” Tuddrussel just stared at him. “Forget whatever you concocted, Tuddrussel, just ask me.”
It was still an illogical surprise when he actually got on one knee in front of him. Even more so when Buck pulled back the hood and goggles. “Lar, yer an uptight, prissy, dramatic ‘bot and I love ya.” He reopened the ring box. Larry should have been more upset than he was to be charmed by such a boorish man-child. “Will you marry me?”
“You’re an imbecile.” Larry knocked them both to the ground and held onto him tighter than he should to any organic. “Of course I will.” The ring was slipped onto his finger and Tuddrussel let out another happy whoop. Several restaurant patrons heard the commotion and came out to investigate. Some of the more open-minded ones clapped while others grumbled and took off.
Otto was fast asleep by the time they got home - neither had the heart to wake him so they just covered him with a blanket. Larry would show him the ring in the morning.
After all, he didn’t plan on taking it off.
