For SBT or any combination of the two of them that so pleases you
"Don't you dare cut that string!"
Tommy looks up from where he has his knife open and freshly sharpened, ready for two quick cuts. One through the red thread that connects him to Evan, tangled and snarled, already broken once and somehow knotted back together. The second through the gold string that ties him to Sal, strong and unmarred. Sal is angry, stalking closer to snatch the blade from Tommy's hands and close it before tossing it away.
"You know it will be easier for you both if you just let me do it now. Before I find a way to fuck it all up."
Sal sighs and takes Tommy's face into his hands, gold thread on his left ring finger, and a new thread on his right, the one that connects him to Evan, still a nebulous shimmering thing, but growing more solid everyday. All three of these threads meet and twist and become tangled together somewhere, drawing them all together.
"We don't want easier, you mook," Sal tells him. "We want you. We want this, fuck ups and all."
@queenandthree requested: Homestead/off grid AU for Buck/ Tommy/ Sal..... And Maurice
1. Sal has always been pretty good with plants. His grandparents invested a lot of time into teaching him everything they knew about keeping a garden - from planting to tending to preparing and preserving. He always had a smug sense of pride that he excelled at all of it far better than his older siblings, so even when he moved to Los Angeles he kept a few plants on his terrace - everything he needed for tomato sauce, because if he ever bought the canned stuff Nonna would find a way to haunt him, despite beong alive and well. It's not much, but it's enough for him, and then Tommy when he comes along.
2. Sal's grandparents leave him their little farmhouse and a small plot of land, and they decide 'what the hell?' and move back to the small town in the northeast where Sal spent most of his childhood summers. They learn quickly that Tommy is detrimental to any plant he comes into contact with, but he's an ace when it comes to repairing and running equipment, good enough that larger neighboring farms hire him regularly. When their crops start coming in, Sal shows Tommy everything his family taught him, and they experiment with new recipes and creations of their own.
It's not easy and it takes time. They take jobs in town in winter when all the teenagers have left to start school, they bust their asses in the summer and fall to keep up with everything, and after a couple of years it starts to pay off. They go from just a few rows of vegetables to adding a small fruit grove, a menagerie of animals, and a little stand at the far end of the farmer's market. They'll never be millionaires, but they do well for themselves, and they're happy.
3. Sal is working their booth at the market one day when a young man he's never seen before makes his way over to browse. He keeps his head down while he picks out a few items and answers Sal's questions in quiet, few word replies. He pays with coins and crumpled bills, exact change carefully counted out. When their eyes meet for a brief moment when Sal hands him his packed up items, he sees the same haunted, tired look Tommy had when he was fresh out of the army trying to learn to be a civilian again, but he's gone before Sal can ask him anything else.
The kid turns up every few days and buys the same rotation of items. He's polite but quiet, doesn't volunteer information as freely as all the other shoppers wandering around who are all too happy to spill information Sal never asked for or wanted. It takes nearly a dozen interactions before he gets a name ("Buck. Well, E-Evan, but people have been calling me Buck for a while now"), it's also around this time Sal starts dropping extra items in Buck's bags from the storage pails under his booth, things he sees him keep looking at but never buying because they aren't part of his predetermined list, like goats milk soaps and various bees wax concoctions that Tommy's been trying his hand at making. Buck never mentions it, but Sal sees the way his cheeks flush slightly the next time he sees him and he can't fight the flood of affection he feels for this kid and his shy smile.
4. Around the Fourth of July, there's a loud bang that echoes around the market as Buck is browsing one afternoon. Sal's not sure if it was one of the old timers trucks back firing or if those annoying ass Nelson kids had gotten their hands on some fire crackers, but whatever it was it's enough to make the color drain from Buck's face and his hands shake almost violently.
"Shit," Sal mutters before he springs into action, just like he used to with Tommy when things were bad. He manages to get Buck around the booth into the fold out chair he keeps there, then tries to start one of the breathing techniques that Tommy's therapist had given them.
"It's okay," Buck says, after a minute. "I'm okay. I just got...it surprised me."
"Can I call someone for you?" Sal asks, concern lacing his words. Buck shakes his head.
"No, there's no one." He sucks in a deep breath and gives Sal a weak smile. "I'll be okay in a minute, don't worry about me."
"Maybe you should let me take you home," Sal murmurs. Buck blushes and looks down at his shoes.
"N-no, that's not...You, um, you still have a lot of stuff here. I can–"
"Evan, you're shaking." Buck looks at his trembling hands and flushes darker. "For my own peace of mind, huh? I don't want anything happening to my favorite customer."
Buck silently helps Sal pack away the remaining produce and items at his booth and carry the boxes to his SUV. After everything is secured, Sal asks for his address and Buck looks at the ground again, kicking at the gravel.
"I don't have an address," Buck mumbles, wrapping his arms around himself. "I've been sleeping in my car for a bit."
Sal wants to ask how long 'a bit' is, but the look on Buck's face is enough to inform him that it's been longer than just a couple of nights.
"Then you can stay at our place." Buck starts to argue but Sal doesn't allow him a chance to speak. "Not takin' no for an answer, kid. Where'd you park? You can follow me back." Buck scratches the back of his neck.
"It's kind of not running at the moment," He mumbles even lower than before. Sal looks skyward for strength before letting out a slow breath because goddammit, he has a type.
"Get in," Sal instructs. Buck shakes his head.
"You really don't need to–"
"In." He says it with enough finality that Buck climbs into the car with no more argument.
When they arrive back at the farm, Tommy is elbow deep in a tractor, but he emerges when Sal calls out to him.
"This is Evan. The one I've been telling you about." Tommy shakes his hand and studies him carefully, taking in his grip and the way he holds himself.
"Army?" He asks.
"SEALs," Buck answers and Tommy's mouth twists bitterly. He nods to the tractor.
"How are you with a wrench?"
Sal leaves them to talk over the engine while he checks the gardens and takes care of the animals. When the sun starts its slow descent he makes dinner, adding a few extra sides to what he and Tommy had sketched out for their meal plan, remembering Buck's meager purchases at his stand and how carefully he counted out each payment. His suspensions are confirmed when Buck cleans out the casserole dish, then looks at his plate sheepishly when he's finished eating.
"Sorry. It's been a while since I've had something homemade like this."
"Don't apologize," Sal smiles at him. "It's probably been a while since you've had a hot shower, too, huh?"
Late into the night after Buck is settled into a guest room, Tommy quietly tells Sal what hes learned as they get ready for bed. Buck had enlisted young, had been turned into a machine before he was old enough to legally buy a drink, he was in for almost eight years when a humvee explosion left him with a busted leg and medical discharge. Another kid chewed up and spit out by the system that had done the same thing to him.
"I think it's a good thing you brought him here. I think he's been lost for a long time."
The next morning Sal and Tommy wake up to the smell of breakfast wafting up from the kitchen. Buck has eggs, bacon, and biscuits waiting on the table for them when they come down the stairs.
"It's probably not as good as what we had last night," He tells them, his cheeks going pink. "But I wanted to do something. To thank you."
"You don't need to thank us, Evan," Tommy assures him with a smile. Sal tilts his head.
"Where'd you get the eggs?" Buck feeezes.
"Um, the chicken coops?" He answers hesitantly. Sal and Tommy exchange a look. "Was I not supposed to–"
"Was Maurice in there?" Tommy asks and Buck frowns.
"The rooster? Yeah."
"He didn't attack you?"
"No. I mean, he puffed up and looked pissed off, but I told him if he didn't start anything I wouldn't either."
Sal and Tommy stare at him in wonder for a long moment before explaining that ever since they got Maurice they'd been having to wait for him to leave the vicinity of the coop before they could even think about gathering the eggs, and even then they had to keep a watchful eye just in case he came back before they were done.
"We knew roosters were aggressive, but Maurice is..."
"Maurice is a demon who's purpose is to try to scratch my eyes out," Tommy finishes, then he immediately launches in to telling Buck aboit all of their near misses with the beast.
Buck's laughter rings loud and bright through the kitchen and the sound of it sends Sal's heart racing. A glance at Tommy shows that he's not unaffected by it either.
After they eat, Tommy calls the tow yard and arrages to have Buck's jeep brought to the house so he can look it over and try to get it running and Buck helps Sal with the morning chores. When Tommy comes back into the house a while later with a grave expression on his face, Buck sighs.
"I know, I know. It's ready for the scrapyard. But it's the last thing my sister gave me before I left, and I haven't heard from her in...years now."
Tommy sets his jaw and Sal can almost hear the gears turning in his head, calculations and timelines being drawn up.
"Alright," He says at last,"I'll see what I can do. It's gonna take time, I'm going to have to find the parts. Meanwhile, you can stay here and help out. We'll call it even when it all shakes out."
Buck stares at him, mistrusting for a moment.
"Are you sure?" Tommy nods and holds out his hand. Buck shakes it hesitantly.
5. Buck turns out to have a magic touch when it comes to all the animals, not just Maurice. They also learn that he's a pretty skilled baker when he finds out it's Tommy's birthday and leaves a peach cobbler on the table for them to find when they come home from a night out. They make a new agreement that if Buck wants to sell anything he bakes at the farmstand, he'll keep the money, since the wages he would be making as a farmhand are being sunk straight into the jeep repairs.
As the days turn into weeks, Buck starts to come out of his shell more and more. He talks a bit more freely about the traveling he's done since he left the SEALs, how he could never stay anywhere long before he got anxious and restless and had to run.
"I haven't felt that way in a while," He tells them one night as they're sat around the table shelling peas. "It's peaceful here. I feel like I can breathe again."
They get closer, more comfortable. They trade stories and secrets between the three of them like kids trading baseball cards. Slowly but surely things start to change between them. Casual touches become more common, last a little longer. Looks linger, eyes roaming over how muscles bulge under a shirt or how someone lips look pressed against their beer bottle. A simple, one person task suddenly needs two extra sets of hands. If Buck notices that Tommy has been dragging his feet on the jeep repairs, he does say a word, just turns a blind eye to boxes of parts being delivered and set quietly aside for a few days for no good reason.
All that can only last for so long, though. One evening Buck and Sal are sitting on the back porch, cleaning ears of corn to take to the market the next day when they hear the jeep roar to life on the other side of the barn. Both their hands pause in a silent hope, but the engine runs steady.
"I guess T got it fixed," Sal says quietly.
"Yeah," Buck murmurs, staring down at the corn silks sticking to his boots. "Guess he did."
6. There's no real way to drag it out any longer after that. Buck doesn't have much to pack and there's really no excuses anyone can come up with to make him stay any longer, so two days after Tommy gets the jeep fixed, he's standing by the driver's side, twisting his duffle strap around his shoulder as he says his goodbyes.
"You sure you want to go?" Tommy asks, before he can stop himself. Buck swallows hard, looks away.
"I don't think I have much of a choice," He mumbles.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If I stay any longer, I won't be able to pretend I'm not im love with both of you."
Sal surges forward and grabs by the front of his shirt, pulling him in too fast. The kiss is more a clash of teeth than anything.
"If that's what you're worried about, apparently we've done too good a job pretending that we don't love you, too."
Tommy moves in to get a hand around the back of Buck's neck to kiss him as well, as Maurice struts by and squawks at them, and Tommy swears it sounds like an obscenity.
Ehehehe I saw in your tags you will attempt Sal…. I warn you once you Sal you never go back 🤣🥰
Salbucktommy or Bucktommy: “someone tell me what I’m looking at before I start drawing my own…hopefully wrong, conclusions.”
Hahaha. You say that and then taunt me with a prompt line that even I can tell is so obviously in Sal’s voice! Fine. I'll take the bait. (Okay this is six sentences but I refuse to count that third one as one of my five.)
“Someone tell me what I’m looking at before I start drawing my own…hopefully wrong, conclusions.”
“I told you he'd know,” Tommy said with no attempt at all to disguise the told-you-so glee in his voice.
“You said he'd know, not that he'd catch us.”
“Us?!”
“Yeah, ‘us’ since you were supposed to be watching…”
“If you two hooligans don't step away from my sauce right now, I won't be held accountable for the consequences.
A snippet of the next "Starved" Chapter, Salbucktommy, T-rated, WIP
From the kitchen, Sal's voice climbed again. Tommy's mouth twitched at the corner, even as he leaned back into Buck's space. Seeking comfort that Buck very readily gave. Almost like he was telling a secret, Tommy muttered:
"He's been at it since I got home. I keep telling him it's not his fight. He keeps telling me to be quiet and let him be furious on my behalf."
Which was entirely like Sal. "He's good at that."
"He's terrifying at it." Tommy closed his eyes again. "God, I love our man."
Buck found himself nodding before he'd caught up with his own movement. He could see it. He could see Sal standing between Tommy and a wall of bureaucracy without budging an inch, the way he'd stood between Buck and his own worst thoughts more than once now. Would keep standing.
Then Buck thought about the cutlery in the sink and the way Sal was hovering in the kitchen but decidedly not cooking anything. About the fact that neither of them had eaten, probably, in a while. Buck pressed a kiss to Tommy's hair and slid out from under him.
"Stay there."
Tommy pouted, which was mean, because it almost made Buck move right back into position. Almost. "Where're you going?"
"To cook. Don't argue."
Tommy looked at him for a moment, surprised in a way that was small and unguarded, and Buck felt something settle in his own chest at the sight of it.
"Okay," Tommy said, and Buck was moved to the pantry.
It was still organised in Sal's particular system, which Buck only understood about sixty percent of, even now. Something that he'd have to put his foot down about. Only, knowing Sal, he'd cave delightfully easily if Buck asked the right way.
For the moment, Buck worked with what he could find without asking. Pasta. Garlic. The cheaper olive oil in the back, because the good one was for finishing only, and he didn't have the nerve. A can of tomatoes. Anchovies, which Buck was learning to be braver about. ("They're just anchovies, Evan," said fondly, sweetly; with a kiss pressed to the crown of Buck's head.)
Sal came off the phone with a noise that might have started life as a curse in Italian before it had been swallowed. There was a pause, then footsteps, and then Sal's hand was settling on Buck's hip as he came to stand beside Buck at the counter.
"Evan. What are you doing?"
"Cooking."
"You don't have to--"
"I know."
Buck didn't look at him, just started chopping. He could feel Sal hesitating beside him, the visible internal effort of someone who had been on the phone for too long, trying to redirect that energy into something gentler. Sal let out a long breath before he spoke.
"At least let me--"
"Tori," Buck said firmly, but not unkindly. "Sit down."
There was a pause. Then a huff of a laugh, surprised and not displeased. The line of Sal's mouth turned cheeky: "Yes, sir."
Buck went pink and tried not to be obvious about it. Sal kissed the back of his shoulder once, twice, before drifting over to the couch. From the corner of his eye, Buck saw him fold down beside Tommy, who immediately and without comment turned to fit himself along Sal's side.
Sal exhaled like he had been waiting all evening to do it.
for an au prompt - buck is the son of wealthy socialites who has big dreams of exploration and saltommy are the guides he hires for his big trip he plans for himself before he needs to “join polite society”
This is very close to a TTRPG character I made once, so I love this.
1. Buck is an academic who's tired of learning about the world from a lecture hall or a book or pamphlet or etchings. He's pushed off marriage and his proper introduction into society--not that he has to be presented like his sister was, but it's still a nightmare--by going to university. Now he wants to do more than just settle down with a woman he barely knows and make children until he dies. He wants to explore and help people and learn more. He's down by the port watching the boats come in, which he's not supposed to be doing. It's too rough there, too dirty. He sees two men coming off a smaller boat with bags hoisted over their shoulder, and they're big and broad and wearing the cabled sweaters of sailors. As they pass, they glance at him, and Buck flushes and tries not to stare.
2. He's in a bar he's really not supposed to be in, because there's rough types covered in tattoos and earrings who carry knives and don't give a damn about the rules of a polite society. He drinks terrible whiskey and sees the two men from earlier and overhears them talking about Cairo and Rome and goes to their table and sits down. "Hello, I know I shouldn't be eavesdropping," he says to the two men, "but would you be willing to help me with something?" And the men eye him and one of them leans forward on his elbows and grins. "Darling, whatever you want," the man says, and Buck's stomach swoops. In a rush, he explains that he wants to see the world and experience it before he's trapped in a gilded cage. He tells them he can pay them if they'll be his passage out and point him to somewhere better, more interesting, more exciting. They agree to it, even agree to guide him. "What's your name, kid?" one of the men asks. "Oh, uh," he says, flushing. "E-evan." If he gives them his nickname or surname, word might get around before he can leave. His given name is common enough. "I'm Tommy," the man says, smiling. "And this is Sal. Our ship's the Daedalus." And Buck perks up and starts talking mythology with them and what he'd do if he had wings.
3. Buck packs a small trunk and a bag and shoves them through a ground floor window, has dinner with his parents, is disappointed his sister couldn't make it as promised. Her husband keeps her home too much. He leaves a letter for her, another for his parents, and sneaks out in the middle of the night. Sal and Tommy are waiting for him at the docks, and they secure his things and set off to cross the Atlantic. Their crew is small but very interesting. Bobby, Hen, Karen, Chimney, Eddie, and Lucy all escaped their lives, too, but they were different than his. But they welcome him. Bobby's actually more or less the captain of the ship, but it's Sal and Tommy's ship, they bought and fixed it up together. Bobby goes where they're paid to go or where Sal and Tommy find a lead on something interesting. "You, kid, are something interesting," Bobby decides. "Where do you want to go?" And Buck looks at the name of the ship engraved on a plank and says, "Greece."
4. Passage across the ocean is rough and occasionally terrifying. Buck learns how to be a sailor fast. His soft, academic hands get rough with hard work. His muscles ache. He's starting to get muscles. His face isn't smooth and unshaven most days. He learns everything he can about it. He sticks close to Sal and Tommy, because they'll be the ones actually guiding him through his trip. They're starting in Greece to see ruins, maybe even help unearth some, and then it's off to Egypt and then who knew where. The two men are fascinating, having seemingly traveled the world together. There's a closeness there, like they share a mind, and Buck is quietly jealous. The closest he's ever come to that is with his sister, and she's basically gone from his life. There's a night with a storm, a bad one, and Buck is thrown from his bunk. The others are empty, but there's a light around the doorway of the cabin that Sal and Tommy share. He bursts in to make sure they're safe, and they're both getting out of Tommy's bunk. Naked. "S-sorry," Buck stammers, clapping a hand over his eyes and bracing himself against the wall with the other so he doesn't fall. "There's a storm." "I noticed, thank you," Tommy says, sounding amused. They're still pulling their shirts on when they reach the deck to help keep the ship from capsizing. Tommy's the more skilled pilot, so he gets them through it.
5. Buck can't get the image out of his head, the sight of the two of them. He's seen naked men before, he's met confirmed bachelors who definitely engage in buggery. He's never thought poorly of them. He's never looked down on Joshua or classmates or anyone who weren't able to hide it. He's an ally to their cause, he doesn't see any reason why it should be illegal or frowned upon or cured. But he can't stop wondering about them, about what they do. Buck finds himself picturing it to the point of distraction. Now that he knows, they're less shy with it. Karen and Hen, too. Bobby doesn't talk about it, Eddie had a wife, Chimney has no one, and Lucy's evasive about it but talks about a writer woman she knows who's trying to make her name as a journalist. Buck feels the keen stab of loneliness when he sees Sal wrapping an arm around Tommy and kissing his cheek. He doesn't want a stiff, advantageous marriage. He wants love. He's curled up and reading one of Tommy's books about Greece and its pantheon of gods and wonders if he should pray to Aphrodite when they get there. When Tommy pokes his head in to let him know they've spotted land, he sees the look on Buck's face and sits with him, Sal trailing behind. Everything spills out of Buck: not wanting to marry, not wanting to be lonely anymore, wanting something true and real and to see the world and not dying in regret and obscurity. "Maybe I'll find someone out here," he says, wiping shameful tears away. "Maybe," Tommy agrees quietly, squeezing his hand.
6. They get to Greece, the crew splits off to go do something else (maybe they're smugglers or freelance merchants or do transport or idk) and Buck gives Chimney a letter for his sister (and the hand delivering of this will kick off Chimney and Maddie's love story). He and Sal and Tommy start off on their exploration, and it's everything Buck wanted. He sees ruins and meets people who don't care about the upper echelons of Philadelphia society. He tries foods he's never heard of, drinks in bars with people he can only communicate with through gestures and laughter, and he has Sal and Tommy as a constant. It's late one night on an island in the Mediterranean Sea he can't remember the name of, and he's had a drink or three, he's been kissed by two beautiful women who wandered off expecting him to follow but he yanks Sal and Tommy in the other direction instead. They're on a beach, and he looks out and pretends he can see the shore of Egypt. "Think he'll like riding camels?" Tommy asks. "I think he'll end up with a flock of 'em following around with stars in their eyes," Sal teases. "Our boy's a charmer." And Buck flushes in the sea breeze and looks at them and knows what Sal means, but he wonders if he can maybe just pretend for once that he belongs to someone. He doesn't know what his face is doing, but Tommy steps close and kisses him. It's not playful and a little messy like the kisses from the women; it's soft and gentle and sweet. And when he pulls away, Sal takes his place with a question in his eyes, and Buck pulls him into a kiss.
7. They go to Egypt, to Istanbul, to Asia Minor, up through the edges of Russia, up to Sweden and Iceland and across to the wilds of Canada. When they stop in Philadelphia, it's been nearly two years away from home for Buck. He looks different. He's got the working muscles of a man who's used to being at sea and climbing through forests and mountains. He has tattoos, carefully hidden under his shirts and seen only by his lovers and the people who put them there. His hair is a riot of curls that get cut less frequently than they should, and stubble stays on his cheeks for days, sometimes growing into a full beard. He's been sending letters home to his sister, receiving none in return, but he's rarely anywhere long enough for that. He's surprised to ring the bell at his family's home and to be greeted tearfully by his parents. They'd known he was alive, just not that he was always safe. His sister lives nearby for now, and he asks after her. "She'll be alright," his father says, and the way he says it sends ice through Buck's veins. He finds out about her murderous husband, how Chimney protected her and got her back from him, how she's now waiting for her missing husband to be declared dead or having abandoned her so she can marry him instead. "We're just happy you're alive," his mother says, squeezing his hands. "Who are your friends?" And Buck stammers through introducing them, calling Sal and Tommy his companions. His parents exchange a look. "I'm not getting married," he adds. "I'm sorry, but I-I can't. I won't." And rather than cut him off or disown him or turn him away, his parents ask that he just come home more.
8. It turns out that Eddie and Joshua have a flat together now, but Joshua has the itch to travel after hearing Eddie's stories. Bobby met a woman named Athena, brought her to sea, and the boat nearly sank. No one's willing to call her a jinx, but everyone starts doing superstitious rituals whenever she's onboard. Lucy is in New York with a journalist "friend." Hen and Karen opened a settlement house, helping their neighbors and taking in children who need a family. They meet a young man named Ravi who spent his childhood being sickly and wants to explore, too. It turns into a crew of even more rag-tag friends that brave the sea to California, to the growing city of Los Angeles. By the turn of the century, they're settled there. And sometimes Buck looks at his lovers and says something like: "We should go to the Andes." And then they get on their boat and go down to the Andes, nearly coming home with llamas. "I warned you this would happen," Sal sighs as Buck scratches the neck of a llama. "Happened with the camels." "And the horses," Tommy adds. "The reindeer. The sled dogs." "Us," Sal says, nudging him with a smile. "And us," Tommy agrees, smiling as Evan laughs at a llama that's trying to eat the shoulder of his coat.
If you’re still doing prompts ! salbucktommy where the weeks leading up to their anniversary Buck gets evasive and a little secretive and Sal and Tommy are little 🫤? until the anniversary reveal that Buck got two new tattoos- one for each of them
The tattoo design is under the cut because I got annoyed with myself trying to describe it.
1. Sal's got it good. He's the captain at one of the best houses in the city, he's about a decade out from retirement (maybe less), he's got a husband and a boyfriend who he loves with all his heart, a sort of stepson that he also loves with all his heart, and he's got his health. He didn't always have it so good. There were years of hiding and struggle and anger and loss, and he and Tommy felt like they'd never figure it out. And then they did, and Tommy brought Evan into Sal's life, and with Evan came Theo. It was more than he could ever ask for. So he's acutely aware that he could lose it all, and it starts to feel like he might. Evan's dodging them. Sal knows that the idea of having more than one partner when he had a kid had made him skittish, but they'd worked through that. Well, he thought they had.
2. Evan drops by to pick up Theo after an appointment, and he kisses both of them but shies away from anything more than peck. Theo's down for a nap, and normally he'd be angling for a quickie or some making out, but he wiggles away and says he has to leave. Which is fine, but then he just keeps finding reasons to not be alone with them. When Tommy brings it up, Sal finally feels like he's not going crazy. He knows that Tommy and Evan broke up right after their six month anniversary, and the three of them are coming up on a year. Hell, they were about to ask Evan to move in with Theo. They'd finished the addition on the house, it feels big enough for the four of them. Maybe a dog or two. Or a bearded dragon, which Theo had been asking for. Maybe the issue is that Evan can't marry either of them. Sal and Tommy had gotten back together not long after Bobby died after not being together for a couple years. They'd gotten married fast, fast enough that Evan had been surprised and apparently more than a little heartbroken when he'd heard. Does he still think that he's not equally important to each of them?
3. The thing is, he keeps their date. He drops Theo with Maddie for the weekend, he shows up to dinner in a pair of high waisted pants and a shirt that's unbuttoned halfway down his chest. He's smiling and beautiful and breathtaking, and he kisses them sweetly and says, "Happy anniversary." Sal and Tommy exchange a look as he leads them into the restaurant. He's too happy to be gearing up to break up with them. But three weeks of this indicated something had to have been going on. They sit down and order, and dinner's totally normal. Evan's at ease, freely affectionate with both of them and teasing and a little bratty and flirty. The feeling of unease unravels from Sal's stomach. He gives them the concert tickets he'd bought, Tommy hands over the itinerary for their vacation up to Napa, Evan gives them one for a camping trip he wants to take them on up in the Sierras. He and Tommy hold back on the moving in question, but Sal feels like they should bring it up before the end of the night. They take a car back to his and Tommy's place, and Evan only takes off his shoes before walking toward their bedroom.
4. Evan turns around to face them in front of the bed and slowly unbuttons the few buttons keeping his shirt closed. And just below his right pec is a new tattoo. It looks like a mandala at first, and then Sal gets closer and realizes it's a Presentosa. He's seen the filigree pendants before when he and Tommy went to Abruzzo years before, back when they'd been together just over a year and before they'd broken up for a while. He's seen them with all kinds of symbols in the middle, but usually it's two hearts to symbolize engagement or marriage, depending on if there's a crescent shape attaching them. At the center of Evan's is three hearts, a crescent shape attaching each one. "Uh, I wanted to wait until it was kind of healed for you guys to see it," Evan says, licking his lips. "Do you li--" And Sal cuts him off with a toe curling kiss, and Tommy's pressing in next to him to look closely at it. "You know what it means, right?" Sal asks, and Evan nods. It's as good as a wedding ring or a marriage certificate, symbolically, and he knows. Tommy kisses him, and Sal kneels to look at the tattoo up close. What he thought was more filigree in the middle of the hearts is a tiny rosette, the same one that's on each of their uniforms. He kisses the tattoo and feels Evan's ribcage expand as he inhales sharply.
5. Sal is wrapped up in his boys, his fingers digging into their skin as he gives them all the attention and love they deserve. Evan's under him and taking his cock, his back arching and pushing his tattoo into their hands. Tommy's behind Sal, fucking him open and panting in his ear as he hooks his chin on Sal's shoulder. Sal's other hand is reaching back behind Tommy's head, holding him there so he can feel the weight of him against his back. He's moving syrupy slow between them, wanting to draw this out all night. Fuck, he'd draw it out longer if he could. He'd spend all weekend right here. But Evan's getting sniffly and sweet, and Tommy's whining softly in his ear, and Sal needs to take care of them. "Help me make our boy cum," Sal murmurs, and Tommy tucks his face in and fucks him hard and fast, forcing Sal's cock into Evan just as hard. Evan wails with it, his hips lifting until he's getting it right where he needs it most. When he cums all over himself, he's got tears leaking out of his eyes, and Sal covers him with them and kisses him breathless. Tommy doesn't let up, and Sal cums inside Evan, gripping the pillow under his head and drooling against Evan's neck while Tommy fucks him full. After, they're laying together and tangled up with the duvet and each other, and Sal and Tommy quietly ask him to move in. He says yes, and they link their hands over Sal's chest, right on top of his heart.
6. Bonus drawing of the tattoo except it would be uhhh better:
7. Eventually, one day, Sal and Tommy also get the tattoo. Ma loses her fucking mind when she sees Sal getting into the pool at his sister's place. But her dad's from Abruzzo, and when she finds out it was Evan's idea, he gets kisses on the cheek instead of a spoon across the knuckles like Sal got. "Nonna's scary," Theo says as he treads water next to Sal. "Been telling you for years," Sal says before he hauls the kid over his shoulder and launches him toward Tommy in the deep end.
for the 5 facts for 1 au thing, mayhaps a salbucktommy au where sal and tommy don't transfer before buck shows up and are in a secret relationship, only getting found out when buck accidentally interrupts a midnight tryst in the 118's supply closet?
1. Backstory: Tommy manages to pull Sal back before he really says something stupid to Bobby, and it keeps him from getting suspended. Bobby tries to get him the spot at the 122, but a captain transfers in from the valley. During a check in/unofficial performance plan meeting, Bobby tells him he'll help him find a place to become a captain inside the next couple years. But Sal has to trust that Bobby knows what he's doing and let him help him get to that point. Sal's still too rough around the edges, he needs to get better with authority or he'll get demoted fast. So they have a deal: Sal will be the unofficial LT for the house (since LAFD doesn't do LTs for some reason), he's just gotta learn to toe the line a little better sometimes. Tommy isn't as interested in getting out of there with Sal still around, so he misses the transfer opportunity to Harbor without realizing it. They're still there, but someone else on the shift leaves (one of the randomly named guys we see once a season), and they need a probie.
2. Buck joins the 118, fresh-faced and enthusiastic. He likes everyone on shift. Bobby's great, he's got a good mentor vibe to him and reminds Buck of the older guy who trained him at the dude ranch. Hen is fun and funny but so smart, Chimney seems like a goof off until he's in the field, and Sal and Tommy are like this crazy competent matched set. They're partners in the field, but they're just always together. They work out together, play video games together, help with meals together. Buck is a little jealous of that. He has his roommates, but their schedules are all different. And they're all more focused on partying, and he's too busy and tired for that. But Sal and Tommy are nice to him, too, including him when they seem to realize that they're just pairing off instead of interacting. He's still jealous of their closeness, wishes he could be part of it, but they've got years of friendship and he's just the new guy. He's been through that before.
3. He's cleaning the engine and runs out of chrome polish. Bobby says it's in one of the supply closets, he just bought a couple cases. When Buck goes looking, he doesn't think to ask which one it's in, and it's kind of late. Chimney and Hen are snoring away in the bunks, maybe Sal and Tommy are, too. Then he opens a door and sees Tommy rear back from kissing Sal and turn his back to Buck while Sal is hastily wiping his mouth and yanking his other hand back from...somewhere. There's an audible zipping noise from where Tommy is, and Sal's pants are undone but up. "Uh--" Buck says, gobsmacked. And Sal reaches forward and yanks him inside by the front of his shirt. "Not a fucking word," he says, low and dangerous and it makes Buck shiver a little. "I-I won't," he says as Tommy turns around. His mouth is red, probably from Sal's stubble. "A-and I'm okay with...it," Buck adds, gesturing awkwardly between them. "Y'know, I'm an ally, I don't--" And Sal is grinning, and Tommy snorts and crosses his arms over his chest. "Kid, relax," Sal says, squeezing his shoulder. "We just don't want to get transferred to other shifts. Fraternization rules. My transfer's gonna come up soon enough, though. Until then, keep this between us." Buck nods. "I can do that," he promises, unthinkingly holding up his pinky. Sal stares at it, but Tommy hooks his around it. "Thanks," he says, his cheeks still flushed. When Buck smiles and looks down, they're both still hard. Fuck.
4. It's difficult to not think about it now, though. He wonders if they've always done this at the station, wonders if they're dating or just messing around. A lot of people seem to just want something casual, he's finding. It's fun, it's fine. He's doing fine with that. But he finds himself watching them, which he kind of always did, but now he's looking like there's something else to look for. And it's there. There's smiles, quiet teasing, little touches, considerate things like Sal making a cup of coffee for Tommy with his own or Tommy making sure there's fried eggs with the normal scrambled ones for Sal. Chimney, Hen, and Bobby don't seem to notice. But it's like a neon sign to Buck now. He tries to be so cool and normal about it, he doesn't want to betray their confidence, but he also wants to kind of know everything about their Whole Deal.
5. It comes to a head when he notices them slip away while Bobby is in his office on a call and Hen and Chimney are out on a medical call. Buck makes it three minutes before he goes up to the roof after them, except they're just watching the sunset and standing next to each other. "Come on over, kid," Sal says, and Buck shuffles to them. Tommy looks over at him and says, "Whatever you want to ask, just--" "Are you guys, like, dating?" Buck blurts out. "You know, my money was on 'does it hurt,' he thought you were going to ask to watch," Tommy says, smiling. "Didn't expect that. Yeah, we are." And Buck's brain screeches to a halt at the idea of purposely watching them. "C-cool," he stammers. "Oh, and if you ask what it's like to kiss a guy before a certain day, I win, after and he wins," Tommy adds. "What's the bet?" Buck asks weakly. "Something you'd have to ask to watch," Sal teases, and Buck flushes. "Well, what's it like?" he asks. Tommy reaches over, turns his head, and kisses him. "Like that," Tommy says softly after the kiss breaks. Sal drapes an arm around Tommy's shoulder and grins at Buck. "I'll collect my winnings later," Sal says, and Buck and Tommy both flush. "What's the verdict?" "C-can I try again?" Buck asks, and Sal reaches for him and kisses him.
6. Buck is sitting in an armchair in their living room--he really thought they were just roommates before, and now he feels dumb--and his palms are sweating. In front of him, Tommy's on Sal's lap and kissing him, and they're grinding against each other and moaning, and Buck wants to tell them to just start doing anything else already. He feels like he's going to vibrate out of his skin. But then Tommy's shirt comes off, and Buck watches Sal kiss Tommy's chest and suck on and bite one of his nipples while Tommy pants and moans and grinds down on Sal's lap. He pulls at Sal's shirt, getting it over his head and tossing it away and immediately going for Sal's waistband. "Better get it all off," Sal murmurs, kissing across Tommy's chest. "Wanna make sure you can see everything." It's the closest they've come to acknowledging Buck since they started kissing. They stand and strip, and Buck has been watching enough gay porn in the last few weeks that a couple of hard dicks isn't a surprise, and he's also been in a few threesomes with a guy and a girl. But now he's looking at them with the full knowledge that he more than likely will be having sex with these two guys. He hopes he will. He watches Tommy get on his knees and suck Sal's cock until he's got drool running down his chin, and Buck is pretty sure this is the hardest he's ever been. When Tommy gets on his knees on the couch and puts his hands on the back, Sal reaches down and pulls a plug out of his ass, and Buck is digging his nails into the arms of the chair. All it takes is more lube before Sal is fucking into Tommy, and Buck makes it about thirty seconds before he's taking his dick out. The two of them moan so fucking loud, like they'd been waiting for it, and they all cum so much faster than they probably expected to. But when Buck is shaking with aftershocks in the chair, Sal gets up and bends down and kisses him. "Clean up," he murmurs, pressing the shirt he'd used to clean himself up into Buck's hand. "And you'll get to participate next time. How long you need?" "Uh, five minutes," Buck decides, and Tommy snorts from where he's curled up on the couch. "Okay, well, give us a little longer," Sal says, smiling. "But that's good to know."
7. Sal transfers, heading to the 122 still. The captain from the valley was what he called "Gerrard lite," which had earned a round of winces from some of the other people. "I'll miss you guys, some more than others," Sal says, grinning through the whipped cream on his face. "And some of you I won't get a chance to miss at all." He winks at Buck and Tommy, who are standing next to each other. Later, when he's ducked into a bathroom to clean off, Buck and Tommy slip in and lick some of it off. It's sexy near the mouth and jaw, not so much around the nose. When the door creaks open, Tommy's wiping whipped cream out of Sal's ear and cupping his face, and Buck looks to the door, his heart beating out of his chest. "It's not what it looks like," he says, and Bobby looks totally perplexed. "Buck, they have the same address and wear each other's clothes, I don't care," Bobby says, going to the urinal. "You guys thinking about telling everyone now?" "Well, I mean, we're still figuring out how it works with the three of us," Buck says, and Bobby's heard turns slowly with his eyebrows in his hairline. "That's--you weren't talking to me, were you?" "Uh, no," Bobby says, zipping up and washing his hands. "You three better be where I can see you in the next two minutes." Then he leaves, and Buck covers his very red face with his hands while his maybe boyfriends start cracking up.
8. Tommy transfers four months after Sal. Buck kisses him with the face of frosting and all, and Sal, who's surprised him from the back of the ambulance with the balloons, does the same.
Been doubling down trying to work on the BT Bang, so instead of writing, imagine this:
There is a plane and vintage car show at the local airport. Buck invites Tommy to join him and Theo for father's day.
Alternatively, local airport is putting on a plane and vintage car show. Buck is there representing a coffee shop and roaster that started after two pilots were laid off during covid. Buck is their main baker. Tommy shows up with his small biplane. He's been fixing it up and uses it for solo flights. Sal's there as captain of the 122 with the fire engine, doing community out reach.
Cue Sal and Tommy trying to flirt with the cute baker.
