Work Text:
Texting
Buck frowned a little as he scrubbed at a spot on the front of the ladder truck - no matter how hard he polished, it wouldn’t shine. He put a bit more pressure, grunting with exertion as he attempted to get the paint to fucking gleam.
Thankfully, his phone vibrated with a text that distracted him from his fruitless labor, and he unlocked it to his messages with Eddie, frowning at the simple text.
Save me. Now.
Buck quickly replied (what?) because as far as he knew, Eddie was upstairs in the loft, eating a late lunch since he was asleep earlier. Buck waited a minute, watching the bubbles as Eddie typed out his response, and the text that came through had him practically sprinting up the stairs.
Buck reached the top of the stairs, hiding his uneven breathing. Eddie was sitting at the big table at the head, with two of their coworkers - Johnson and Cooper - on either side. He couldn’t tell exactly what they were saying, but he could see Eddie’s tense muscles and the hard line of his jaw.
“Eddie!” Buck called brightly. “I was wondering if you could come help me with some inventory? The ambulance is worse than I thought and if I do it alone, it’s gonna take forever.”
“Sure, Buck, no problem,” Eddie stood immediately. “Sorry, guys, partner needs me.” He didn’t sound apologetic at all as he pushed away from the table and headed over to Buck, following him down the stairs. Hen was waiting at the bottom, eyes narrowed as he watched the two of them.
“I have inventory. Not you. You were cleaning the truck.”
“Right,” Buck smiled tightly. “That’s what I meant to say. Come on, Eddie gotta get those trucks clean!” Buck dragged him down the hall to the supply closet without another word to Hen, shoving him inside and locking the door behind them. “You gonna tell me what that was about?”
“They were talking about planning a double date or something and I could tell they were gearing up to invite me and I couldn’t find a way to leave without being rude,” Eddie huffed as he pushed Buck against the shelves of paper products and dropped to his knees.
“Who did they think you were going to bring?” Buck asked, watching Eddie unbuckle his belt and undo his uniform slacks. “Or was one of them going to ask you? Cooper’s single…” Buck trailed off with a smirk but yelped when Eddie pinched his thigh.
“I don’t know and I didn’t want to find out,” Eddie rolled his eyes, and tugged Buck’s cock out of his underwear. He suckled the tip, using his tongue along the glans before taking him deep down his throat. Buck groaned and dropped his head back against a pack of toilet paper, biting his lip to keep himself quiet.
“Hey, so did you know that the Golden Age of Piracy started around the year 1650 when French buccaneers got pissed at the Spanish for killing all the pigs and cattle they hunted for food and trying to kill them so they moved to Tortuga,” he took a deep breath as Eddie hummed around his length, bringing his hand up to roll Buck’s balls in his palm, squeezing ever so slightly. “They moved to Tortuga 'cause it was small and easier to defend, and that’s when Pierre Le Grand started coordinating attacks on Spanish galleons.”
“Is that what you were reading about last night?” Eddie pulled off Buck’s cock, switching his hand to stroke over the length, focusing his thumb along the vein on the underside. “When we were cuddling?”
“Yeah, started a new book,” Buck bit down on the meat of his hand when Eddie flicked his tongue on the head of his dick. “It was called buccaneering then, not pirating though. And it grew when the English captured Jamaica from Spain because the English gave out these letters that allowed private citizens to attack and capture foreign ships.”
“Yeah? What were the letters called? Did they have a specific name?” Eddie sucked Buck back down his throat, deep enough to get Buck to stutter over his next words.
“Letters of Marque, and if they had the letters, they weren’t technically pirates, they were privateers,” Buck dug his fingers into his thigh, panting slightly. “I’m close, Eds.” Eddie bobbed his head a few times before pulling back to hold just the head on his tongue, lightly scraping his teeth along the underside as he went, triggering Buck’s orgasm - as it always did. Buck muffled his moan in his hand, hips canting as he spilled in Eddie’s mouth.
Eddie swallowed everything down easily - Buck knew he would never admit it in the light of day - or the station, he supposed - but Eddie was a bit of a come slut. He swallowed every time, licked up any that missed his mouth, and, once they got negative STI test results after they started having sex, they only used condoms for quickies when they wouldn’t have the time to clean up after.
Eddie used the shelf behind Buck to push himself to his feet as Buck tucked his dick away and redid his pants, smiling down at Eddie once they were both righted. “Thanks for that, Eds.”
“Thanks for the save,” Eddie leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Buck’s lip, which he returned eagerly, licking into Eddie’s mouth. “We should go, you need to finish cleaning the truck.”
“You gonna come help?”
“Didn’t you hear? I have to help with inventory,” Eddie grinned evilly as he unlocked the supply closet door, stepping out of it. Buck huffed but grabbed a random bottle of cleaner before following him out, both freezing when Chimney stood in the middle of the hall, staring at them, arms crossed over his chest.
“What were you two doing in there?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
“I was telling him about pirates,” Buck said easily - not lying because he was a terrible liar. “And grabbing this.” He shook the bottle. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” Buck clapped Chimney on the shoulder as he walked past, Eddie doing the same thing, though he split off to the locker room - likely to brush his teeth.
Socks
Eddie made a face as he watched Buck step through the murky water as he tried to reach their patient - a couple of teenagers whose car got stuck in a swamp while they were making out in the backseat. The ground wasn’t solid enough to place any plywood down so they had to just go for it, and Buck had drawn the metaphoric short straw (he had lost in rock, paper, scissors).
Eddie stood back with Hen and Chimney as Buck reached the car and spoke with the two kids, reassuring them they would be just fine, even as the back half of the car slipped further into the water. He helped them climb out of the car and on the roof, then the hood, and finally into his arms one by one, carrying them over to where the rest of their team was. Hen and Chim checked one out each, and soon they were heading back to the station - sans ambulance, as that was being used to drive the kids home.
“Oh god,” Buck groaned as he sat down in the truck's cab, moving his feet around in his boots. The squelching was audible over the roar of the engine. “That’s so gross.” He reached down and began untying his boots, but Chimney started yelling.
“What are you doing?”
“I cannot stay in these things!” Buck argued. “Do you want me to get trench foot, Chim?” He pulled off his boots, gagging slightly at the stench of muddy water. Eddie rolled his eyes and began unlacing his own boots, kicking them off.
“Eddie, you didn’t even get in the water!” Chimney protested, but Eddie paid him no mind as he rolled his socks off and held them out to Buck. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Here,” Eddie said, draping them over Buck’s thigh. “Put those on.” Buck looked at him with wide eyes, smiling fondly.
“Thanks, Eds,” he said, quickly tugging his drenched socks off and replacing them with Eddie’s dry ones. “That’s so much better already.”
“No problem,” Eddie waved it off as he shoved his feet back in his boots - sans socks. It would suck, but he could get another pair when they got back to the station. Hopefully, they wouldn’t get another call on their way back. Eddie finished tying the laces and sat back up, pulling a face at Chimney’s look of utter disgust. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Why are you two like this?” he asked, gesturing between the two of them. “You two are…indescribable.”
“Thanks, Chim!” Buck beamed at his brother-in-law.
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment,” Chimney grumbled, dropping his head back against his seat, muttering under his breath - something about ‘oblivious fucks’, Eddie was pretty sure.
Room
Eddie winced a little as he slid out of his hospital bed, but really, he was fine - it was just a couple of broken ribs, a head laceration, and dehydration. He grabbed the pole to his IV and used it as a crutch of sorts as he limped out of his room, glancing around for any nurses. Luckily the coast was clear so he made his way down the hall and around the corner.
His gait was slow, but it was late, so he made it to his destination without interruption, pushing open the room to Buck’s door as quietly as he could.
“Hey,” Eddie got Buck’s attention as he stepped inside the room, shutting the door as silently as possible. “Scoot over.”
“You’re gonna get us both in trouble - again,” Buck said, but he did as he was told, making room on the bed for Eddie to climb in next to him.
“I don’t care,” Eddie shrugged, gasping a little when he laid down, the movement pulling on his ribs as he settled into the mattress. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I had a staircase fall on me, same as you,” Buck rolled his eyes and pressed a lingering kiss to Eddie’s forehead. Eddie grumbled a bit and shuffled as close as he could to Buck, resting his head - the uninjured side - on Buck’s shoulder. They got almost an hour of rest before the door was pushed open and a nurse glared at them, foot tapping on the tile.
“Mr. Diaz, I told you I would restrain you if you snuck out of your room again,” she said, crossing her arms. “Let’s go.”
“Please,” Eddie whined. “Just let me stay here, I won’t leave or do anything wrong or complain if you let me stay in here.” The nurse considered him for a long moment.
“You have to stay in your own bed,” she said sternly.
“I will, I promise,” he agreed, turning to smile at Buck. “See. No trouble at all.” Buck just pulled him into a gentle kiss, tangling his fingers in Eddie’s hair.
“Alright, Mr. Diaz, time to get into your own bed,” the nurse returned with another bed, pushing it through the doorway. Eddie pouted as he carefully slid out of Buck’s bed, using the IV to stand and transfer to his bed.
“Can you move us closer?” Eddie asked, using what Buck referred to as his big brown cow eyes to persuade her.
“Fine, but only because I really don’t want to have to restrain you and neither of you is in danger of coding,” she pushed his bed until there were only a few inches of space between them.
“Thank you,” Buck told the nurse sincerely, holding his hand out in the open space for Eddie, slotting their fingers together. The nurse just rolled her eyes but grinned a little as she turned the lights off and left the room.
“Love you,” Eddie whispered, squeezing Buck’s hand.
“Love you too,” Buck replied, squeezing back.
*
“Now this is just ridiculous,” Eddie startled awake at the voice, blinking his eyes slowly.
“What…” Eddie sat up, wincing a bit at the stretch on his ribs. He looked over at the open doorway to see Hen, Chim, and Bobby standing, staring at the two of them.
“We went to your room first and, lo and behold, it was empty,” Chimney sighed. “And as we know you, we assumed you had discharged yourself against medical advice so we came to see Buck and what do we find?”
“Chim, shut the fuck up,” Buck grumbled. “I was sleeping.”
“And we’re here to spring you from this joint, so I think you could be a little more appreciative,” Chimney flipped the lights on. “You two really can’t spend a single night apart?”
“It’s not preferred,” Eddie huffed. “If you’re here to take us home, can we go? Chris is waiting for us.”
“Us, he says,” Hen sighed. “We’ll go get your discharge papers.” Hen and Chimney left the room, leaving just Bobby alone with them.
“So,” Bobby crossed his arms. “Do I need to get you some forms to fill out for HR?”
Tissue
Buck used one hand to dredge the raw chicken tenders through the egg mixture, and the other through the seasoned flour, setting it on the paper towel-covered plate once he was finished. “Looking good, Buck,” Bobby complimented him. “Make sure to keep using one hand for wet, one for dry - and don’t make a joke.”
Buck laughed but kept his mouth shut. Bobby was prepping some green beans next to him while Ravi was peeling potatoes on the other side of the island. “What’s the purpose of doing both?”
“Well, the egg is to make sure the flour sticks better to the chicken. It’s not entirely necessary, you can just do the flour dredge, but the coating won't be as thick or crispy,” Bobby explained. Buck nodded and dropped a few pieces of chicken in the flour, causing some of it to float up in the air. It tickled Buck’s nose enough that he had to turn and sneeze into his elbow, groaning in disgust.
“Fuck, I need a tissue,” he whined, glancing down at his hands - covered in raw egg, chicken juice, and flour.
“I got it,” Eddie said, standing from his spot on the couch across the loft. He strode across the space, grabbing the tissue box as he passed, yanking one out and holding it up to Buck’s nose as he came to stand in front of him. “Blow. And don’t make a joke.”
Buck shot him a grateful smile before blowing his nose into the tissue, Eddie using a new tissue to rub him clean of any snot afterward. He threw both used tissues away and stepped around Buck and Bobby to wash his hands.
“What in the world was that?” Ravi asked, frowning as he looked between Buck and Eddie.
“What was what?” Buck asked, returning Ravi’s frown.
“I know you don’t have kids, Pannikar, but it’s not that strange,” Eddie shrugged as he turned around, drying his hands on a paper towel. He threw that away, pressing his hand in Buck’s lower back as he passed, heading back over to the couch, leaping over the back to drop down into his previous position.
+1 Gum
Eddie unwrapped his last piece of gum, throwing away the paper cartridge and foil wrapper as he passed the trash can on the way to the couch in the loft. He placed one hand on the back and used it as leverage to jump over, landing in the corner in his usual spot with a little bounce.
“You know you can walk around the furniture like a normal person,” Hen said, not looking up from her book.
“Now where’s the fun in that?” Eddie shrugged, tugging his phone from his pocket, and opening up his crossword app. They sat in silence together for a few long moments before a few others joined them - Chimney, Cooper, and Ravi - sitting on various pieces of furniture.
“Buck?” Eddie called a couple of minutes later, glaring down at his screen.
“What’s up?” Buck walked over from the kitchen, throwing the dish towel he had been using to dry the freshly clean plates over his shoulder.
“Fat found in some bird feeders, four letters, starts with ‘s’?” Eddie tilted his head back to look up at him.
“Suet,” Buck answered easily. “You got any more gum? My mouth still tastes like onions and I don’t like it.”
“No, this was my last piece,” Eddie shook his head. He could see the pout begin to form around Buck’s mouth so he rolled his eyes and used two fingers to grab his chewed gum, holding it out to the other man. Buck beamed and took it, sticking it in his own mouth.
“Thank you!”
“NO!” Chimney stood. “I’m done, I am so absolutely done!” Everyone startled, staring at Chimney with wide eyes. “You two are - I don’t - what the fuck?”
“What?” Eddie asked, raising his brows. “I truly don’t see a problem here.”
“You - you just have him the gum that you were chewing! And you don’t see a problem with that?”
“I regularly have his dick in my mouth, Chim, I don’t think a piece of gum is that different,” Buck said simply, but his comment elicited gasps from their entire audience.
“Since when are you two having sex?” Hen asked, book forgotten on the coffee table.
“Uh, for a while now. Since we got together,” Eddie scratched his head, trying to do that math in his head. “Which was back in July.”
“You two have been together since July?” Chimney gaped. “How - what - when?”
“You guys didn’t know?” Eddie frowned a little. “I could have sworn we told you all.”
“No, no you definitely did not,” Hen shook her head quickly. “So spill.”
“It wasn’t long after Chris got home from Texas,” Eddie said. “He was in his room playing a game after dinner and Buck and I were in the kitchen cleaning up and I realized that that was the life I wanted. So I leaned over and kissed him.”
“And then I ran out of the house, terrified, and Eddie had to track me down at the loft with Chris and promise that they were all in, forever,” Buck smiled down at his partner. “We got married within the week.”
“Married?!” Chimney dropped onto an armchair, head in his hands. “Does Maddie know?”
“Of course, she knows, I told her the same day it happened,” Buck popped the gum. “I figured she would tell you.”
“Well, I want to say congratulations!” Ravi said brightly. “I’ve always thought it was romantic when divorced couples can get back together, that they found their love and rebuilt it, or whatever.”
“Divorced?” Eddie turned his gaze to Ravi. “Do you…you think Buck and I were a divorced couple?”
“Uh, yeah? You weren’t?” Eddie just groaned as Hen burst out laughing, looking up at his husband instead.
“I want a transfer,” he said, ignoring Buck’s giggle, happily returning the enthusiastic kiss Buck planted on him, and ignoring the cries of protest from their coworkers. Buck pulled back a moment later and departed to finish his cleaning.
Eddie hummed, chewing the piece of gum in his mouth.