@mollymaukteafleak posted a bit ago about putting up a taz Regency au somewhere and it got my wheels a spinnin’ and after a session or two of watching Sense and Sensibility and brainstorming with @fandomsnstuff as usual I’ve been thoroughly ruined so here’s this.
What better pairing than Blupjeans for some stilted pining??
*~*~*~*~*
Barry knew intellectually, of course, that the lord of the Astral Estate in Davenshire had recently married. He’d acted as witness to the wedding of the young man who had in the last year become co-lord of the estate and all its holdings. It must have registered somewhere in his mind the connection between one Taaco and another.
But Barry, clever as he was, had never possessed the knack his mother had for keeping track of the many twists and turns of the social climate that came with this marriage and that. He had never been terribly good at knowing this cousin from that, or exactly which relation of which family would inherit one estate or another, or exactly whom he’d been introduced to at what ball.
All that was to say when he arrived to Lord Kravitz’s estate on his horse that fine Saturday morning, he ought to have been expecting to see Miss Taaco, but by some terrible oversight, he was not, and as such had no opportunity to prepare himself for a fateful re-introduction.
He seemed to be, upon his arrival, the last awaited member of the merry party. He did not know how many Lord Kravitz had invited to their picnic across his well-manicured grounds, but as he rode closer to the fine, large house, he saw them, the merry band, standing in the drive before the front entrance. The ladies’ gowns bright in the sunlight and the men laughing loudly enough to be heard well down the lane, and all manner of servants standing by with baskets and blankets and sheets for a proper outing.
He dismounted a ways up the drive, handing his horse off to the waiting groom, and, steeling himself, he approached them, that loud, happy party.
It wouldn’t be so bad, he tried to assure himself. He may not have been the most… delicate individual in social situations such as these, but he had been invited, and to refuse Lord Kravitz would not only be exceedingly rude, but would prove him to truly be the reclusive dullard he was expected to be by the majority of society. He had to come. And a picnic was a fine idea, on a summer day such as this. The sun was not shining too hot, and Kravitz, if he remembered correctly, had some good fishing on his estate, so perhaps Barry would not look so out of place after all.
He was getting close now. He could see the group better now. Lord Kravitz standing beside his husband, who just as Barry remembered, carried himself with a casual slant, the antithesis of the aristocracy’s stiffness. There was a woman beside them holding a parasol over her head to keep off the sun, another couple, and a short, stout man with graying hair, and -
“There approaches our final companion now!” he heard Kravitz shout from the company, and he saw the man move through the small crowd, jogging over to him to take his hand warmly.
“It’s been too long, Bluejeans,” he said, “ever since my wedding I’ve been near desperation with my wish to reunite you with the rest of my acquaintances. And yet hardly anyone can persuade you out of your home!”
“My work keeps me very busy, my Lord,” Barry replied. The handshake went on longer than he felt entirely comfortable with. He was already sweating. He shouldn’t have come. He always thought that going out would be better than it ever was in reality, and never learned from the mistake.
“Now, Bluejeans, you musn’t stand on ceremony with me,” Kravitz insisted. “I, after all, owe my happiness in part to you. I expect nothing but the warmest of friendships between us, and you must help me see it through as such.”
“Thank you, then, for your kind invitation,” Barry tried. The man smiled. Thank god.
“We shall have to have you over more often,” he said, “now come, let me introduce you to the rest of the party. My husband you know -”
“A pleasure,” Barry said. Taako smiled back, inclined his head slightly. There was something in his eyes that put Barry on edge, but he wasn’t able to read it before -
“And I have been told that you have had the delight of being introduced to his charming sister -”
And she was there, looking at Barry like he had recently returned from the grave, a flush rising to her face, and Barry realized how he had not seen her before. The parasol resting on her shoulder betrayed her; he ought to have noticed her upon his first arrival, but he saw now how the pale canopy had hid her face until this moment. She looked at him, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, looking, for the first and only time Barry had seen her, out of her depth.
Good, he thought to himself, let her be out of her depth here. Perhaps she ought to have a taste of it, so in the future she might take more pity on those poor folk among them who had the foolish inclination to act with honest intent.
But he was at lord Kravitz’s estate. And she was Lord Kravitz’s sister.
He would not shake her hand. Instead, he inclined his head in a small bow.
“Miss Taaco,” he said, “It has been some time since we last met. I trust you are well?”
“I am, Mister Bluejeans, thank you,” she replied softly, still with that - he would say unguarded, if he did not know better - look of shock on her face. She looked for a moment like she had more to say, but Barry nodded again, forcing his face into a stiff smile.
He allowed himself one moment precisely to think how exceedingly beautiful she looked in all her finery, and then he turned away.
The 118 and a few firehouses with athena and a few other police members were dispatched on a stranded container ship emergency.
Then the ship was taken hostage and went to a carribean island. This part was rather blurry so in the end they were able to take control of the situation but had to wait a few days before being able to disembark back to the US.
During this time buck and eddie were giving their typical heart eyes to each other and they decided to take a walk around the island. During the walk they would pine and walk really close (shoulders touching, hands brushing, etc) and at some point they were cheek to cheek and eddie says : buck, what are we doing?
Which then buck proceeds to kiss eddie.
Then like truly tv/dream fashion, it cuts to the morning after and they're in their boxers in bed. And eddie is actually heartbroken because he realizes that this is may be another one of buck's trauma response.
(during this time buck is dating around and still romantically close with natalia while eddie is also dating. In typical buck manner when eddie dates, he also dates)
So eddie talks with buck that they he can't do this, 'cause he realizes that this is a pattern and he deserves to be chosen romantically and not chosen when he decides to move on.
Scene skip to where they're just back in LA and on the drive way home (they're in their own cars) a car pileup happens just as they're stuck in traffic on the bridge, and they start helping people because they're both nearby. Just as they were helping a person in a car, there's an earthquake just like in season 2 with athena, and eddie in on the wrong side of the car and he's dragged down the collapsed bridge but buck catches his hand just in time. They're hanging on to each other....
