#tayes

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The drive up to Saratoga had only taken three hours and neither of them had really anticipated hanging around after meeting with the family of the victim in the latest case the CIU was working but clearly the weather hadn’t bothered to consult them before doing whatever it wanted, as weather is wont to do. -or- This started as a "there's only one bed" fic and instead turned into hurt and comfort and feelings.

Have you spent your time thinking about that sadly stolen from us too early show Conviction recently? Have you been thinking...wow, I really would love to read about my favorite non-canon couple Hayes Morrison and Tess Larson right about now. Have you just spent your time missing Hayes and Tess and their honestly perfect dynamic?

No? Just me?

Well I started rewatching the show and now I can't stop thinking about them so here I am, back at it again. Please come back to me all my old Tess and Hayes fic friends and join me back in this pairing because I need them

[sam-writes]

A Lover's Note

Cherry Smoke series

Roger Taylor X original male character

Word count: 1683

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Note: part four!! I was so so so tempted to just make it full of angst at the end.

__________________________

It was the early morning, and Nicholas hadn't been able to sleep for more than an hour or two. The faintest blue light managed to seep into his room, just enough to show the figure of Nicholas, hunched over, head in his hands. He say cross legged, the sheets of his bed were pooled around his waist. He wore a loose tank top and tracksuit pants. He massaged his head through his unruly hair and groaned lowly.

Ever since Eric and Damien had made him realise what his feelings truely were the previous week, he hadn't stopped thinking about Roger; about the chance he had completely thrown away. He should have gone back to sleep. He should have talked about it. He should have stayed. Stayed in Roger's arms and have forgotten about the world for even a moment. He had thrown all of that away.

Nick decided he didn't want to stay in his room any longer and he went to go boil the kettle. He needed a strong coffee.

He was pouring the hot water into his cup when he heard feet lightly walking on the hardwood floor. He turned quickly and saw a drowsy Eric.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you..." Nick rubbed his neck, feeling bad for waking his roommate at such an insane hour of the morning.

"Don't worry, mate, just grab me a coffee and I'll forgive you." He yawned and rubbed his eyes, taking a seat at the bench.

Nick smiled to himself and filled another mug before sliding it over to Eric. Nicholas sat opposite him and sipped at his coffee, careful not to burn his mouth. The morning birds had began their song and the wind was rustling through the trees that lined the streets down below. As painful as it was to be awake this early, he did enjoy witnessing the world at a time everyone would usually be sleeping.

"I'll take one guess as to why you're awake right now." Eric grabbed Nicholas' attention, "It's Roger, isn't it."

Nick cringed at the fact that it was that obvious. He breathed out slowly, trying to release any tension he was holding.

"What are you going to do about it?" Eric was soft and genuine. He tilted his head slightly and resembled a curious puppy.

"I don't know... I don't even know where to find him..." Nicholas grumbled, swirling his coffee with a spoon and watching it become one uniform colour.

"Well, you're going to have to figure it out. Miranda will murder you if you don't get your shit together." Eric swung around and pushed off the counter, his steaming coffee in one hand, and he wandered back to his room. Nicholas dropped his head to the table and wished to just stop thinking, if only for an hour.

It was band practice that day. Both Eric and Nick had were exhausted from being awake so early, so Miranda and Damien had decided to cut the practice short. For some reason all the and decisions were left up to Miranda and Damien. Eric, Michael and Nicholas were like the children of the band, seemingly incapable of making a sound decision. Everyone had packed up and was leaving. Michael had somewhere to be that he didn't want to disclose. Eric was meeting up with a friend. It was Nicholas, Damien and Miranda still there. Nick was sat at his drum kit, drumsticks still in hand. He hadn't bothered to pack up as it just consisted of putting his drumsticks in his bag. He tapped the snare drum absent-mindedly as he watched a girl walk into the studio. she walked over to Miranda and kissed her on the cheek. Nicholas recognised her as the girl from the party. She was quite beautiful.  She had dark skin not not as dark as Miranda. Her thick hair hung loose and it bounced as she walked.

"Boys, this is Amy." Miranda slipped her arm around her waist and hooked her thumb in the belt loop of her pants.

Amy waved politely and smiled, genuinely happy to meet the band, of what was left of it.

"Nice to finally properly meet you, Amy! Miranda dosent shut up about you." Damien offered his hand and, like a gentleman, kissed her hand lightly. Miranda swatted him in the face, telling him to back off of her girl. Damien laughed before gesturing to Nick, "I doubt he's been paying attention to you though," he put a hand against his mouth, pretending to whisper but didn't bother to lower his voice, "he's got boy problems."

Nick was already moving towards them and punched Damien in the arm when he got there. "It's nice to meet you, Amy." He shook her hand, but unlike Damien, didn't make any moves.

They spoke for a while, getting to know each other. Amy was a wonderful girl, she was incredibly wise for her age; Nick could use some of that wisdom right now.

"Well, we better be off. I'll see you boys around." She waved them goodbye before picking up her bag and exiting the studio. Amy moved to hold he hand and Nick smiled at the small gesture.

After a moment Nick swung back around to face Damien, uttering a shocked, "Boy problems? Really?"

Damien shrugged as we walked back over to his guitar case. "It's the truth."

Nicholas stood in a shocked silence until Damien piped up again. "Oh! Buddy, I saw the man that plagues your thoughts yesterday afternoon by chance at the pub, and he gave me this." Damien held up a slip of paper between two fingers. He took it, on one side it said:

Incase you change your mind. Rog.

And on the other side was his address and phone number.

Nick stared at it for a long time, memorising the street name and the numbers, enjoying how his letters curled and looped. Damien slung the strap of his guitar case over his shoulder and grabbed his bag. He put a hand on Nick's shoulder and spoke, very seriously, "I think you should go talk to him." Nick just nodded as Damien patted him on the shoulder and left.

He felt nauseous and like he was going to collapse any second, but here he was, on Roger Taylor's doorstep. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he considered just turning around and driving back home. Maybe he didn't need to do this, he could just leave and Roger would never even know he was here. Nick shook his hands, anxious and unready. In a strange surge of faux confidence he was not expecting to have, he knocked on the door. It took a while, but eventually the door opened to Roger.

"Nick? You actually came..." His voice was full of surprise and shock.

"Can we go inside?" Nick was almost visibly shaking. He was so unsure if he made the right decision. "I want to talk..."

Roger ushered him in, taking him to the lounge room. Nicholas took a seat on the edge of the lounge. Roger sat next to him, but kept a reasonable distance.

As the silence drew out, Roger spoke up. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Nick dug his fingertips into his temples and rubbed them, he looked up at Roger and felt time stop. It hadn't even been that long since he had last seen him, but god he had missed him. And the look of worry that was plastered on Roger's face wasn't helping. Finally he replied, "Us."

Roger let Nicholas take the lead and let out what he needed to say.

"Roger. I know our bands don't like each other, that they wouldn't work together, and that this whole thing could jeopardize our entire careers but I..." He stopped. He hadn't said it out loud before. Not even to Damien or Eric.  He took a shaky breath, "I like you. I don't want to lose whatever it was we had and I know I was an idiot and I threw it away because I was scared. And I don't know if you could forgive me and maybe try and work this out, but I would love to try... I don't want us to just have been a one night stand." He looked up at Roger, so unsure and scared to be rejected.

The silence that followed was the scariest part. It seems to stretch, going on and on, lasting a lifetime.

"Look, Nick..." Roger slowly began, Nick closed his eyes ready for this whole effort to be worthless. "I like you too, but..." He stopped there for a moment, thinking, making sure Nick knew there was more to come. "You said it, we could jeopardize our whole careers. We've both got good things going for us. I'm sure you don't want to ruin that, I definitely don't. Maybe we shouldn't... As much as I want to."

Nicholas furrowed his eyebrows, a stone dropped in his stomach and he felt sick again. He steadied his rapid breathing and held his hands still. "I know, I don't want to screw that up. But I don't want to screw this up anymore than I already have." He waved his hand between the two of them. "I want to be with you, Rog..." His voice dropped to a whisper.

Roger matched his tone, "You should have stayed with me... We should have just stayed in bed."

Nicholas felt tears prick at his eyes, he felt so guilty. He was full of regret. "I'm so sorry... I can stay now... If you'll let me. If you let us try."

Roger held his gaze for a long while, just watching him, almost giving him a chance to take it all back. And when Nick didn't look away, or open his mouth, Roger finally nodded. Slowly and unsurely at first but quickly it became a strong, certain nod.

"Okay. Let's give this a shot."

___________________________________

Comment and reblogs are highly appreciated!! 💙

Permatag: @siriuslymooned @benhardysvoicee @onceuponadetectivedemigod @hotspacedeacon @fastidious-and-a-mess @horribly-unstable @andtheytoldustotellyouhello @writingsthegame-dylansthename @rogerandhishair @greatkinglulu @angrylizardjacket @queens-n-roses @rogerlad

Cherry Smoke Taglist:  @itsanarrum @fire-and-blood-got @bitemerog @rogersmeadows

[bigtimebrollins]

character aesthetic - tess x hayes ↳ “You look familiar...have we met?”    “Oh no, I would remember.”

[timelessbian]

1) Pairing: Tess x Hayes (!!!) 2) AU Setting: high school AU (or zombie AU) (or both because hello amazing)

“You know,” Hayes remarked absently as she gazed out the window, “I’ve had nightmares about being trapped in here, but I don’t think zombies ever really factored into it.”

“I don’t think zombies ever really factored into any of my life plans,” Tess replied, “which, in hindsight, makes me wish that I had watched more of The Walking Day with you so I knew what to do now.”

Hayes smiled, that familiar mischievous gleam sparkling in her eyes as she took Tess’s hand and said, “Now we raid our dear principal’s office because I know exactly where my mother hides her booze.”

[bethgreenesgf-archive]

hayes being scared of tess is cute

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

It's becoming a familiar dance: they lose a case and Hayes is at her door.

Hayes' refusal to knowledge it all the next morning is just as familiar.

So I miss this show and I miss this pairing and I guess I’ll go down with this ship because I just need it in my life.

I wrote this for the day 3 prompt “lost” on this prompt list here.

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

Here is my Femslash February Bingo card!! You guys have to give me prompts!! I want to write for Skimmons, Tayes (AKA Hayes/Tess) and Carterwood (AKA Dottie/Peggy)!! Also I could maybe write for Supercorp...except I think I’m not good at it...

So please prompt me guys!! I want to do lots of Femslash February stuff!

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

Tayes + "I need you, though"

“Congratulations,” Wallace saysdryly, “you have invented a new kind of stupid.”The conference room is so quiet thatyou could hear a pin drop and Tess shifts in her chair, uncomfortable with thesilence and the tightness in her chest. Everyone else is staring down at thetable but Tess stares at Hayes. She’s looking at Wallace, jaw tight, shoulderssquared. Combative to the end.

Wallace shakes his head. “I hopethis isn’t the end, Hayes, but I don’t know where the CIU is going to go fromhere.”

And with that he leaves and Tesshates him in that moment for having the power to leave them like that, hangingin the balance. The silence continues even after he’s gone. Slowly, the rest ofthe team files out; Sam, first, shoving files into his briefcase and leavingthe conference room. Maxine goes and then even Frankie leaves until it’s justTess and Hayes and the overwhelming silence.

Tess looks at the crime board, atthe artifacts of the case that had become so personal that Hayes crossed theline to find the truth. And for what? It doesn’t matter anymore.

Hayes looks at her and Tess issurprised when their eyes meet; she hadn’t realized that Hayes even knew shewas still there. “Aren’t you going too?” She asks. “Don’t you want to startcleaning out your desk?”

Tess shakes her head. “You don’tknow…Wallace was probably exaggerating. You know he likes to blow hot air andhear himself talk.”

Hayes smiles, though there’s littlemirth behind it. “What he likes is to keep me on my toes,” she mutters. “Toremind me who’s really in charge here.”

Tess bites her lip to keep fromfiring off a few more of her opinions on Wallace. “You’re better than that,”she says softly instead. “Better than him.”

Hayes is silent. She walks over tothe board, pulling a picture of the victim off, studying it for a moment beforeletting it drop into the trash. “How does this always seem to happen?”

Tess thinks that she’s talking aboutthese cases, how they become personal, how each one seems to up the stakesamong the team, to become the focal point until nothing else matters for thenext five days.

But Hayes says, “How are you alwaysthe last one here, with me?”

“I…” Tess isn’t sure how to answer,isn’t sure what Hayes wants her tosay. Is she being lauded or chastised? With Hayes it’s always hard to tell.

“My own private cheerleader.” Hayessmirks and Tess feels the first pricks of embarrassment making her skin hot andher heart beat faster. “Wallace thinks he has all the power. He thinks he haswhat I need. But I don’t need this, I don’t need the CIU, I don’t need this job…”

Hayes shakes her head and Tess sitsthere, silent, unsure of how to respond.

“But,” Hayes continues and she’slooking at Tess again, her smile softer. “I need you, though.”

“Me?” Tess hates how quiet her voiceis, how she manages to sound so off kilter and uncertain.

 “My own private cheerleader,” Hayessays again, quietly. She doesn’t look at Tess, closing her eyes. “The onlyperson who doesn’t make me feel like I’m shit even though I always fuckeverything up.”

“No, you don’t,” Tess assures herquickly and there’s a ferocity in her voice that seems almost to surpriseHayes. “Don’t say that. You haven’t fucked anything up.”

Hayes just flips a hand at the nowempty conference room as though that’s proof enough.

“Wallace will get over himself,”Tess says firmly. “You were just trying to help, you were doing what youthought was right.”

Hayes scoffs. “And what do I knowabout what’s right?”

Tess purses her lips. “You’re a goodperson, Hayes,” she says softly. “Aren’t you tired of fighting it?”

Hayes doesn’t answer. She just turnsback to the board, methodically pulling off each item stuck to it, keeping herback to Tess. They don’t say anything more and Tess only sits, watching Hayesas she works. But she doesn’t leave, doesn’t even consider it. She never does.