This was a result of me trying to write the "coffee shop" prompt I got for AU roulette. (No dice though, this is not that.)
It's set post-season 9. Who knows what plans or thoughts there are wrt Tommy, but it's probably not this. I don't know if I'll do anything more with this seed of an idea, but it's maybe something?
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Chimney spots him first. Buck looks up from his phone when he hears him say, "Hey, if it isn't my favorite firefighter pilot!"
Buck notes the use of the my absently. Chim probably isn't sure where Buck stands anymore after he stopped talking about Tommy. He never stopped thinking about him, but he could take a hint about things people wanted him to stop mentioning.
Tommy, who Buck is surprised but not surprised he didn't recognize, looks up. That's more than just the usual stubble Tommy lets — or let? — himself grow on his days off and his curls are much longer too. He looks good. The way the sunlight frames his face draws Buck's gaze to his distinctive nose. His lips part slightly, surprise registering for a moment before his expression becomes that devastatingly familiar blank.
Buck should've clocked the tan leather jacket. Tommy had only worn it once, but that night — they made some of their best memories when Tommy was wearing it and when Buck was taking it off.
The man next to Tommy asks, "Pilot?" Then, he shakes his head, like he's coming back to himself after a short mental jaunt. "I always forget about that," he says. It's soft and Buck almost doesn't catch it. He and Chimney are maybe ten feet away.
Tommy addresses his whatever first, "You didn't know me when I still had my license."
He turns back to them, nods. "Howie, Evan." His tone is even, unreadable.
In the awkwardness of the long moment of silence between all of them, the stranger with Tommy introduces himself with a quick, awkward wave and his name. "James." He has a tight smile on his face, at least, directed at them both. He doesn't say how he knows Tommy and Tommy doesn't think to share with them either.
Buck doesn't want to assume they're seeing each other just because Tommy's gay and out for coffee with him.
Buck figures he might not get a chance to ask and he's unsettled about the new information so — what the heck!
"Hey, what did you mean about your license?" He tries to look Tommy in the eyes, but he can't tell if he's successful, not with the sunglasses in the way.
Tommy takes in a breath before he starts to explain, but he looks away from Buck as he does. It makes his stomach sink.
"You remember I was suspended after that business with Blake?" James puts a consoling hand on Tommy's arm as he starts explaining and Buck almost completely loses his focus — he feels his reaction to that more places than just his stomach.
Tommy continues, unaware. "The brass had to think about what they'd do with that whole thing with the Army and the Feds and they decided to leave me at their mercy and they directed the FAA to relieve me of my license."
Buck had been stuck on Blake — and the familiarity between Tommy and James, whose relation to Tommy Buck still doesn't know and is trying very hard not to assume. He feels embarrassed that it takes him a minute to remember that Tommy meant Moira.
Moira... who's to blame for Bobby dying and apparently Tommy being grounded for good. Though maybe that's not fair. Maybe it's because of Buck, because Tommy answered Buck's phone call.
Buck remembers the short text exchange he and Tommy had about Tommy acting as pallbearer for Bobby. Athena asked Buck to ask. Those texts were the only ones they'd sent each other after their break-up.
Buck has regretted that plenty of times, but maybe never as deeply as he's regretting it now.
Chimney's concerned face tells Buck he's got regrets of his own about falling out of touch with Tommy.
Chim's got his own questions now. "Tommy, you still with Harbor, man?"
"I was for a while," is Tommy's indirect answer.
"Tommy here's Hollywood now," James answers, with a smile that even Buck can tell is put-upon. The elbow bump that accompanies it though and the small crack of a smile from Tommy — those are friendly.
Tommy finally looks at them again as he says, "Don't listen to Jimmy. You're not gonna be seeing me on your TVs or any movie screens, so don't go looking for my face there."
Jimmy, not James.
"Anyway, we've got to go if we don't want the traffic to make us late, huh?" Jimmy's standing up, headed towards them.
'Late for what?' Buck wonders.
Tommy unfolds himself to follow the guy and it's the first time Buck notices he was sitting a little hunched — his shoulders tight, not in his usual relaxed sprawl.
"Yeah. Nice seeing you guys. Howie, Evan." That same nod, still no smile — not even one that's there only to be polite.
---
Was tagged in the last little while by these lovely people: @ambernotember, @leashybebes, @letsdosciencetoit & @sierranovembr 💜💜💜
No pressure tag-backs to you all with some more tags for: @frogsinflannel, @quintessenceofdust88, @capitalnineteen, @beanarie, @inawickedlittletown, @nine-one-wanton, @winter-parrot, @jamieroyjamieroy & @angels-all-sin 💖💖💖
Trying to get this in under the wire while it's still my Monday.
For my Buck & Tommy & Theo WIP, a snippet where the reason for my choice of 🏰 emoji for this WIP in the Make Me Write game finally becomes clear.
-x-
Buck — and Tommy — should probably be stricter about getting Theo to pick up after himself, get him to slow down and go back to things that need doing instead of letting him speed from one thing to the next, bouncing around while he's at it.
Luckily, neither of them mind doing clean-up. It's kind of part of the job as a firefighter.
The helicopters look worn, like the crashes Theo makes happen are real and not imaginary. Buck picks up the yellow one that reminds him of ones he saw at Harbor when he took that tour with Tommy. Its nose has a scratchy grey patch, like someone with spiky feelings to pour out took a pencil to it. The paint flakes lost to reckless and rowdy play are probably stuck to some pavement somewhere — maybe a stretch that's outside the 118, outside the house, or outside Theo's daycare center.
Buck puts it away alongside the 3 others that he doesn't feel as fond of. He and Theo seem to feel the same because they're all in better condition than the first one, though still worse for wear.
Buck finds himself squatting right where Theo was when he got home. He doesn't have his back to the castle. He's facing it, like Tommy was. It's big, the largest thing Theo has to play with that isn't the seesaw he, Tommy, and Chimney installed in the backyard for the kids. It catches the eye — the centerpiece of Theo's playroom, still standing and intact in spite of all the hits it takes during Tommy and Theo play time. Not even a single scuff or any paint transfer as evidence of the fleet of helicopters "crashing" into it daily at this point.
It was a gift from Jee — a hand-me-down that looked new. It still looks new. Its pristine condition is down to some Buckley magic she got from Maddie for sure. Buck definitely didn't get it from Mom like Maddie did.
-x-
Been tagged of late for writing games by @ambernotember, @leashybebes, @queerasbuck, @owlgirl495, @aringofsalt, @frogsinflannel & @nine-one-wanton! Tysm 💜 No pressure tag backs to all, with additional no pressure tags for: @unhingedangstaddict, @capitalnineteen, @sierranovembr, @letsdosciencetoit & @thegirlinthe118bubble 💜💜💜
Hi Dylan! Tysm for poking me into writing more of this, sorry it took so long to share 💖
Pillow Talk (i)
Continued here in Pillow Talk (ii)
"You understand him better than I do."
"I don't know about that."
"You… you've been there. I don't have the experiences he has."
"I mean, I wasn't 4, and my father's still alive. So if I do get it more, it's not by a lot."
"But he —" Buck is sure he's remembering this right. "It's kind of in the way my father's still alive though, right?" Buck remembers a dinner with Tommy that led to some illuminating bedroom play after they exchanged small bits and pieces about the men who made them. Genetically, at least.
Buck hasn't told Tommy about his parents getting divorced and how raw his last deep conversation with his dad was, what they said about Bobby. There's a lot Buck hasn't told Tommy yet, but he imagines telling him everything, a lot of it when they're just like this — turned on their sides and only just able to make out each other's features in the dark.
Tommy makes his adorable and distinctive 'You're a menace, Evan' face. Buck noticed Tommy making one at Theo earlier too. Buck noticed it was a different one, softer and somehow even more wondrous. He gets it though. Theo inspires the same feelings in him and so many new ones he can only wonder at.
Writing this post as one of the world's slowest writers always feels really very like this:
All my love to @corporatebanana, @leashybebes, @letsdosciencetoit, @capitalnineteen & @whenshewrites for tagging me and wanting to know though! 💜 Anybody that wants me going 👀👀👀 at their WIP pile feel free to still include a tag for me in your posts!
Putting three lists under the cut: active WIPs, anticipated WIPs + plot bunnies, and not-yet-abandoned WIPs along with my tag list. (Unless stated otherwise all WIPs/ideas are for Buck/Tommy)
Long af. Tl;dr: some of these might see the light of day, but probably only a handful of them if I'm being realistic!
I. My current dance partners // Active WIPs
Being written and progress is near-daily, planning complete or near-complete, intended to be posted this hiatus/this year
(A) Buck & Tommy & Theo in a not quite a-Crash That Helicopter fic: "Castle Crash" (WIP tag)
(B) BuddieTommy hockey playoffs as a stage for relationship complications (and a lot of smut): "Sports Weirdos" (WIP tag)
"hea-Teddie-ed rivalry" (joke post to interact with for tag list addition)
(C) BT Big Bang Idea #1: Can't say much more besides the fact that I've been working on this since December and it's fairly short (just about around the minimum word count) and it's more than half-way complete so I'm holding onto it as a back-up if I can't write enough of my new idea in time.
(D) BT Big Bang Idea #2: Just started working on this, experimental for me given what I think my plans are for it, and significantly longer/larger in scope than idea #1.
II. On my dance card // Anticipated WIPs
(A) Has significant planning work done, some amount of words written, very hopeful about posting some or all of these sometime this year
"Beatles 5+1 fic" (WIP tag)
9x14 bad idea sex smut ficlet (snippet)
Post-mpreg just the tip smut ficlet
Robert Nash Han is non-binary: "Rho"
(B) Plot bunnies with some planning work done, perhaps some words, but more formless than anything else in these lists, may be posted this year or may not happen
S10 Buck/Tommy secret relationship (+ Theo custody dispute "speculation") fic
Post-9x13 conversation ficlet(s) on deserts, isolation, and art -> something that may or may not be part of the Buck POV series listed below actually, still thinking about that
Added to the pile literally just today, but a drabble cycle that's based on/prompted by the first kiss scene dialogue with S7/S8 Buck/Tommy (1.0) drabbles in conversation with S10/S9 canon divergent Buck/Tommy (reconciled 2.0) drabbles -> I feel so old for having this idea as it's so LiveJournal flavored, but so many of my favorite fics back then were this writing exercise as done by my favorite authors.
For the record: drabble cycles were collections of writing based on a list of prompts with exactly 100 word responses to them, usually but not always grouped thematically by prompt or by some commonality in the response drabbles. 911 fandom might actually be a current one most likely to get the appeal of this since the 118 daily drabble challenge did attract a lot of authors iirc.
III. My (not-)dead wives // Not-yet-abandoned WIPs
Various stages of completion, progress incredibly variable, may be posted soon or never as they are not on the agenda/calendar
(A) Various Novempreg & kidfic WIPs:
Advanced-stage cryptic pregnancy body swap fic (snippet)
Tommy confirms on his birthday that he and Buck conceived a baby during an ill-fated hook-up on Buck's birthday: "mabortion consideration" fic (snippet)
"Buck's mystery condition" is not COVID, but is it mpreg? (snippet)
Buck's bump pops humor ficlet
The "separation anxiety" mpreg ficlet
Buck & Tommy have another roundest baby/roundest babies cousins fic (there was a snippet for this but I hate it, don't look for it)
(B) The Forever Fic/Perma-WIP in my head: "Buck POV series"
I have been writing some form of this fic since I joined the fandom — in its early stages when I didn't really have a direction around February/March 2025 before S8b aired, then when I sorta got what it was around the S9 premiere in October 2025. I've kind of never stopped writing it even when it's on the backburner. When I'm "thinking about Buck/Tommy" in a general sense, I am thinking about this series. I've written about this before in WIP progress writing game posts.
Characteristics that have remained true as the idea has evolved:
The thesis statement(s) -> Buck wants to get good grades in Tommy Kinard and being a boyfriend/life partner, things that are normal to want and possible to achieve — I recognize this meme is steeped in irony, but genuinely the core of this is running into the ground the ideas of 'I kinda can't stop thinking about him' + 'I just — I wanted to get to know you' & the sentiment behind Tumblr tags about Tommy to the effect of #I need to study him like a bug because, duh, Buck is president of that club.
The presentation/concept -> Post-reconciliation future fic which is a Tommy character study without Tommy POV: mainly Buck POV with possible limited outsider POV snippets + other "multi-media" inspirations/inclusions. (Currently considering a "web weave" format.)
The building blocks: Original characters aplenty because it is both a Buck/Tommy future fic and I need their world to be bigger as they move forward in it, but also it's an introspective backstory exploration fic built on Buck learning about Tommy and himself through encounters with Tommy's people, who we never get to meet in canon. Plus main and supporting cast, past and present, either reveal past shared experience stuff with Tommy to Buck or develop their dynamics with Tommy as Buck observes and inserts himself in those relationships.
The progress: "Grief fic" (Fic 1 of ? in this series, yes series) has been kind of stuck at 75-90% completion since late November/early December, a handful of other installments are plotted, with some 25-50% written.
🏷️ Tagging, with no pressure: @nine-one-wanton, @thegirlinthe118bubble, @spacetimeconundrum, @queermccoy, @queerasbuck, @cappuccinoandglitter, @frogsinflannel, @harmless-variety-of-garden-snake, @mushysquashythingamajig, and @xunandran.
"There are many, Theo. You know 'many'?" Tommy's question is gently challenging. Tommy doesn't know if Theo knows, but he believes he does. Buck can tell.
"Lots lots many, many is lots! Lotsa candies!" Theo declares quickly and with confidence with a hand thrust out at Tommy. He's a smart kid and quickly trained his adults to know when he deserves a reward. Buck will forgive the imposition of how he asks for it this once. The long road towards developing manners was one Buck remembers vividly.
Tommy puts a lone jellybean taken from the half-full dish on the coffee table exactly in the middle of Theo's palm. Theo closes his fingers quick and just keeps the jellybean from falling. Theo's hand hadn't been shaped to hold it right.
Theo scoffs, wrinkles his nose as he laughs in a way that makes him crash straight into waves of memory. That's his dad in him. He's so little, but that doesn't mean there's isn't lots — many things inside him. Like memories lodged too deep to ever be cut away by time.
This is a little bit of a BuddieTommy fic built around the idea of Tommy and Eddie increasingly being nasty fucks to each other because their hockey teams are playing each other in the Conference Finals. Luckily for Buck, they are also all fucking nasty about it the whole time. (This snippet is SFW though!)
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Eddie switches cameras for a few seconds to show Tommy coming down the stairs and says, "He's coming back. He's gonna tell you about Kenny McDemon leaving the game. Try not to look too happy about it when he mentions it."
That'll be hard. Buck Googled him and he thinks Kenny McDemon looks like B Shift Sammy who's a probie fresh out of the academy, except somehow even younger-looking.
He asks, "Can this guy even drink yet?"
Tommy won't be back in his seat for a couple more minutes and Eddie didn't think to share his observations about Tommy and the kind of attention he was paying to "the game" right after saying hello, as if Tommy having his eye on some jailbait isn't a minor emergency. Buck definitely cares about this more than the "jerseys fouls" Eddie spotted and spent 5 minutes describing and mocking.
"Well," Eddie answers, "he's Canadian, so he can drink when crosses the border and heads back home." It sounds very much like that is exactly what Eddie wants the kid to do despite a maybe bum-ankle.
While Buck listens to Eddie snickering to himself, he finds the guy's birthday on his Puckpedia page. He was already in the middle of looking it up even as he asked Eddie the question — and, yup, Tommy's sports twink isn't legal to drink in LA where he plays. He just turned 20 in February. Buck's not sure how he's supposed to play it cool and not let some schadenfreude slip when Tommy gives him their usual game events rundown.
Buck loves this habit they have when they go to the arenas and stadiums and fields and call him from their seats to give him a recap when there's a break in play that he only cares half as much about as he does looking at them enjoying themselves or suffering through the cruelties of sports fandom. He loves that even when he'd rather stay home and use his time for his hobbies, they still include him in theirs. He loves how both their faces get very animated and expressive about referees fucking up and things like player injuries.
It figures that's what Tommy leads with when Eddie hands over his phone in exchange for the beer and burger Tommy got for him. It's not unusual of him to lament someone going down, but Buck's also imagining Tommy fantasizing about going down on this guy and he's just glad he doesn't look like he's popping a vein over the thought in the little thumbnail in the corner of his screen.
"Our star d-man's fucked, Evan. He was totally slew-footed, had to leave the game when there was still half the period left."
Tommy's face is pure agony and Buck hopes Kenny McDemon is feeling that same agony — the same agony he's feeling over his boyfriend's overinvestment in a child.
---
Tommy's hockey blorbo's actual name shall be revealed in due time. It is not Kenny McDemon, which is Eddie's moniker for him. I have also decided to not include any real current NHL players in this fic, so he is not secretly someone actually on the Kings roster or development system. He is not based on any real baby d-man either, but feel free to send me face claims if you have them.
Tagging my beloveds @corporatebanana, @frogsinflannel, & @queerasbuck 🫶 I know the BuddieTommy crowd is pretty small, but if anyone else is reading this that has something to share featuring our favorite sus old man Tommy (even not in a BuddieTommy universe) this Sunday please feel free to take an open tag from me 💜
Hi Beans, thanks for sending me my last Make Me Write request last week 💜 I think I might actually finish this fic sometime this month, amazing to me as one of the world's slowest writers!
Castles
He remembers looking at maps and pictures of places he thought Abby might have gone. Ireland has castles like the Hollywood Hills has mansions. So many he couldn't read about all of them even if he wanted to. Not even just to know a little about what Abby was maybe learning — to guess where she might've been. He wonders now if the plan had been for her to go with a husband she never got to marry — if she ran away to find her future by taking the honeymoon she and Tommy never got to share.
The thought is a complicated one for Buck to work through. He can feel an ache for her still, the wounded woman who gave him the kind of attention he hadn't at the time been clear-eyed about looking for. Not the sexual attention — though Buck knew that wasn't lacking — but attention that was real interest, interest in him. Not an obligation, not something given to make up for what someone else wouldn't give him. Just a fascination with Buck. She wanted to know him.
Tommy paid him the same kind of attention. It's no wonder it was the both of them — of the people he'd slept with, hoped to maybe connect with deeper than that — who were the ones who changed him.
Transformative. Like an accident you watch happen and can't stop. Like the loss of your life.
He went through his last year and Theo's is fresh. A year and a half gone, he knows there's no full recovery from it. Like how his leg isn't fully healed and never will be, Theo will always feel that there's something missing — something gone that he used to never even think about.
Nobody saw the version of this post where I forgot to say thank you and I love you, HJ, NOBODY.
Pillow Talk (ii)
Pillow Talk (i) here, this directly follows that part
Eventually when making a face is getting neither the answer nor reaction from him that Tommy wants, Tommy sighs and says, "Evan, I can't answer that. I don't — I don't know your dad, or that much about him."
They were just talking about Phillip Buckley, but Buck wants to answer, 'Yes, you did. You do. It's why you threw in with us again after everything, even after I broke your heart like you predicted. Even if I did mean to, just a little, and we could both tell.' Buck is sure that what tied him to Bobby and what tied Tommy to Bobby is why they're back here now. It's part of what ties them together, and part of why Buck is letting Theo and Tommy get further entangled too — why he's making it happen.
They haven't talked about it and they definitely should, but Buck knows Tommy understands the kind of dad figure Buck doesn't want to be and understands the kind he does want to be. He knows it the way Bobby knew Tommy was good for him.
