bucktommy + "I don't think they're going to give us medals this time"
Send me a ship and a sentence, I'll write the next five ... or a ficlet like this oops 🫣
cw: blood & injury, nde
“I don’t think they’re going to give us medals this time,” Tommy barely manages, voice wet, breath hitching as blood bubbles at the corner of his mouth. The helicopter went down fast—mechanical failure while he was assisting on a wildfire that had suddenly jumped containment—and he’d taken the worst of it on impact
Chimney lets out a sharp, disbelieving laugh as he drops beside him, hands already moving, quick and practiced. “Jesus, Kinard. You really that desperate to owe me again? You barely paid me back for saving your life last time—and that took, what? twenty years?”
Tommy tries to laugh, but it fractures into a cough, his whole body jerking with it, more blood spilling out. His head tips back against twisted metal, eyes squeezing shut like he’s trying to ride it out.
“Okay—hey, hey, easy,” Eddie cuts in, voice firm, one hand bracing Tommy’s shoulder. “Try to relax for me. You can’t die, man. You can’t. Buck would actually kill all of us.”
At that, Tommy stills—just for a second.
His face shifts, something raw slipping through the pain. “is—” he swallows hard, breath catching, “—is he here?”
Chimney glances at Eddie, then back at Tommy, softer now “Yeah. He’s here. Hen’s keeping him back until we give the all clear.”
Tommy’s fingers twitch uselessly against the wreckage pinning him in place. His breathing goes shallow, uneven. “Um—y-yeah,” he murmurs, voice cracking. “Maybe—maybe don’t let him see me like this?”
“Move.”
Buck’s voice cuts through everything.
Buck doesn't slow-just pushes past Hen when she tries to stop him, Ravi right behind her calling his name—but it doesn't matter. He's already there, he doesn’t even look at the wreckage properly until he’s right there, dropping hard to his knees.
And then he sees Tommy closely.
“Hey—hey, no,” Buck breathes, hands hovering like he doesn’t know where to touch first. “No, no, you’re okay. You’re okay, I’m here.”
Tommy tries for a smile. It’s weak. It doesn’t land. “Told them,” he rasps, “no- no medals this time.”
Buck huffs out something that might be a laugh if it didn’t sound like it’s breaking apart on the way out. “Yeah? Good. I hate those things anyway.”
There’s a beat—too normal, too quiet for the wreckage around them.
“You look like hell,” Buck adds, softer.
Tommy’s eyes flicker, trying to focus on him. “You—a-always say that after long shifts.”
Tommy’s lips part—like he’s going to—but nothing comes out.
Instead, his head lolls slightly to the side.
The monitor Chimney’s hooked up gives a sharp, warning stutter.
“Hey—hey, stay with me,” Buck says immediately, panic creeping in, one hand coming up to cup Tommy’s jaw. “Tommy, look at me.”
Tommy’s eyes barely track back to him.
“Evan—” he starts, but it dissolves into another wet cough.
Then—
A loud beep.
“Shit—he’s coding!” Chimney snaps.
“Damn it, we can’t get to his chest,” Eddie bites out, already trying to shift the metal pinning him down. It doesn’t budge. “He’s trapped—we can’t start compressions like this!”
Chimney’s already reaching for his radio. “I’m calling this in—we need—”
“No time for that!” Buck cuts him off.
He’s already looking at the wreckage. Calculating. Breathing hard.
Then he sets his hands on it.
“Buck—” Eddie warns, immediate, skeptical.
“I got it.”
Ravi’s right there before anyone else can argue, stepping in beside him without hesitation. “Tell me where.”
“Here—help me lift on three.”
Eddie hesitates—just a fraction of a second—eyes flicking between Buck, the wreckage, the impossibility of it.
Then Buck strains against it—and it moves.
Not much.
Eddie exhales sharply. “Okay—okay, go—” He moves in, grabbing hold with them. “On three—one, two—”
They heave.
Metal groans, shifts—
—and gives.
“Go!” Buck shouts. “Pull him!”
Hen and Chimney are already moving, fast and efficient, sliding in the second there’s space, hands careful but quick as they pull Tommy free from the wreckage.
“Clear!”
They drag him back, laying him flat—
Buck is on him immediately.
“I got you,” Buck says, voice shaking but locked in, hands finding position on Tommy’s chest. He starts compressions, hard and fast. “I got you, Tommy. Come on—come on—”
Nothing.
“Don’t you do this,” Buck breathes, leaning over him, counting under his breath. “Come on get up and continue what you were saying.”
Chimney takes over airway, Hen assisting, calling it out—
“Again.”
Buck presses harder.
“I got you, baby,” he chokes, not even realizing he said it. “I got you. Come on—come back to me. Please.”
One beat.
Two—
Then Tommy jerks under his hands.
A sharp, ragged inhale tears into his lungs like it hurts to breathe.
“Okay—okay, I got a pulse!” Chimney says, relief breaking through.
Buck freezes for half a second—then leans in, one hand coming up to cup Tommy’s face again, almost disbelieving.
“Hey,” he whispers, wrecked. “Hey—stay with me.”
Tommy’s eyes flutter open, unfocused at first, then slowly—slowly—finding Buck.
His lips part.
“’van…” he breathes, voice barely there.
Buck lets out a shaky laugh that sounds way too close to a sob. “Yeah, yeah, I’m here.”
Tommy blinks, like he’s trying to hold onto it—onto him.
“The medals,” he whispers, broken, soft, “I… liked ’em.”
And Buck—God—Buck just breaks, pressing his forehead briefly against Tommy’s like that’s the only thing holding him together.
Riju, Sidon, Teba, Yunobo and Link would be the best of friends
You can't convince me otherwise.
Teba immediately gets voted 'dad' of the group
Sidon hosts them all at the Zora palace at least once a month
Link brings them all home cooked meals whenever he visits them, especially Riju who loves the Hylian flavors more than the Gerudo ones.
Riju can ride on all their backs
She loves riding on Sidon's back
Sometimes Yunobo will get really scared and bring his shield up which causes Link (or the others but mostly Link) to sit in front of him and assure him everything was alright.
Because the Zora are super vulnerable to electricity and Sidon wants to know what sand feels like, Riju brings some.
Tulin loves Yunobo (because he reminds him of himself)
When Link gets stressed or starts having an attack, Sidon and Teba are the first to try and help
The boys are protective over Riju
It's the same way around though
They all call Tulin "little brother"
Riju opens up a lot about her mom to them, since the guards already know everything and aren't exactly open to talking about it.
Sparring sessions with switched weapons
Link slips up and calls Teba "dad" for real and that's how Teba gets called "dad" by four teenagers
Riju and Link have sand seal races
Yunobo and Riju talk about Gerudo food when he comes and visits
Yunobo brings Goron spices to Sidon, Link and Riju before they go visit Teba. Always.
Once the castle is rebuilt, and BOTW 2 chills, they each have their own rooms
Although they all huddle together in one room and talk
Every night
Everyone now knows how to say some not nice phrases in Gerudo
Sidon and Link dramatically reenact Zora and Hylian love stories
Riju confides in Teba whenever she has trouble first
So I wrote an article on the Next 5 story game (you can read it here). On twitter we decided to do one ourselves as well. This one is based on this picture.
If you do one yourself and send me a link I’ll add it to this article and give you a shout out on twitter! The goal is to use the given image as a starting point and sketch the next five shots of the story.
Check out this one by Kellye Perdue!
And this sweet one by Matthias De Clercq!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
A collection of short pieces inspired by single word prompts from the defunct 365_themes community on Dreamwidth. It came with 500 words and I've kept all but one of them, switching it for another, because antidisestablishmentarianism was just a little too silly for me (and didn't fit very neatly in the table).
Ratings and tags subject to change.
I’m up way too late, but I just finished adding seven more snippets to this. :)
Four more to When Defunct Prompt Lists Attack! (various characters)
One more to The Prophet and the Prime (Drift/Rodimus---up that rating goes, woo! robo-smut, ahoy!)
And two more to Green Means Go. (Sideswipe & Sunstreaker)
Also, I’ve still got three prompts available in the Next Five if anyone wants to toss some characters my way.
hiii <3 this also is more than 5 oopsie... Send me a ship and a sentence, I'll write the next five
cw: blood & injury
"Let's get married."
Buck's voice is low, shaky in a way Tommy has never heard before.
Tommy frowns, shifting where they're slumped against the cold metal. "What? Evan?"
"What, what?" Buck mumbles, blinking slow, unfocused. "We've been stuck here f-for—um, I don't even know how long. I'm probably hypothermic, and you—" he lifts a trembling hand, brushing it clumsily against Tommy's forehead, his fingers cold and unsteady, "—y-you're bleeding."
Tommy opens his mouth, but Buck keeps going, words slurring together.
"S-so?" he says, breath hitching. "Let's just get married, so when we get to the afterlife—or if we're ghosts... we can find each other easier."
Tommy goes still for just a second, then he smiles and let himself lean into it. "Yeah?" he murmurs, "And who's gonna marry us?"
Buck hums, "Mmm... I don't know. Don't you have a certificate? You have a lot of hobbies. Just figure it out, like you always do."
That pulls a laugh out of Tommy, even if it hurts. "Pretty sure I can't marry us myself—even if I had the power," he says, wincing slightly. "God, Evan, I'm not even sure if you're real or I just hit my head too hard."
Buck just looks at him, eyes getting heavier by the second, then slowly he lifts his hand again.
Tommy takes it.
Their fingers slot together, instinctive, familiar.
By the time the 118 finds them, Buck's head is tipped against Tommy's shoulder, Tommy's resting against Buck's, their hands still loosely laced together.
"This is not how I had planned it" Bucktommy for the five sentences, please 🫶
hello fren, ty <3 .. Send me a ship and a sentence, I'll write the next five
"This is not how I had planned it." Tommy says it into the quiet, his voice rough from holding it in too long, eyes fixed somewhere past Buck's shoulder.
Buck's heart stutters, already bracing, already thinking oh. "Okay," he says carefully, quieter than usual, "Then... how did you plan it?"
Tommy lets out a shaky breath, finally looking at him. "Less blood, ideally," he mutters, gesturing vaguely at Buck's busted lip.
Buck huffs a quiet laugh, something in him relaxing. "Yeah... fair."
Tommy's mouth twitches, hand coming up—hesitant for a second—to cup Buck's jaw. "I had a whole speech planned," he admits, softer now. "Was gonna ask you to get coffee with me."
Buck leans into the touch without thinking, his smile going a little wider. "Yeah? You wanna try again?"
Tommy studies him for a second—messy, bruised, and grinning—then shakes his head, pulling him closer instead. "Nah," he murmurs, pressing a quick kiss to Buck's mouth, "this works."
