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apompkwrites · 1 day

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the school-bound kingscholar || leona kingscholar

masterlist characters: Mwezi Miji Trio (OCs), Leona, Ruggie (platonic) genre: Angst contains: (Brief) Swearing, Possible OOC moments (depending on how you view Leona and Ruggie [mainly Leona]) summary: Following the admittance of Night Raven College's newest freshmen, both Kingscholars begin to come to terms with the newest changes in their lives. notes: I AM SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING AGAIN OTZ. Unfortunately, my lapses of writer's block and demotivation have only increased since I last posted. I'm trying to get back into the hang of posting things (as evident by my art account suddenly coming alive again). ALSO! As you can tell by the formatting, I'm actually writing with proper grammar on Tumblr now! Right now, I don't plan to go back to reformat the older chapters, but maybe once I find the drive to do it, I will! Thank you, everyone, for being so patient with me, I really appreciate it <3 parts: [og post] | [previous] | [next]

Leona felt something knock the air out of his lungs. To Ruggie, who stood right beside him in a robe that was a few inches too long, it was hilarious. Seeing the very prince (well, second prince) of the Afterglow Savanna lose his composure was enough to make Ruggie let out a quiet "Shyeheehee" under his breath before he ultimately straightened his posture under Leona's pointed glare.

Nothing could have prepared Leona to see (Name) again. Honestly, he had long since come to terms with the fact that his little sibling was missing, lost to the Outlands and likely a rotting corpse in the middle of nowhere.

He's lying, he could never come to terms with that, no matter how much he deluded himself.

But they were here. They were here and they were walking closer and they looked exactly the same as he remembered them.

Well, obviously, not exactly. But they looked so familiar and yet so different at the same time. Leona didn't even notice the tip of his tail swishing behind him until he heard one of his dorm members complaining about a tickling sensation against his ankles. And that only caused Leona to grumble under his breath and snatch the base of his tail to stop it from moving.

By the Seven, had they changed. They seemed bolder and more confident compared to the last time he had seen them. The way their shoulders were no longer hunched forward and instead rolled back in a pride strut he wished he could attribute to someone who had come to accept their own status or the way their eyes seemed sharper rather than soft and wide with innocence. And their hands. By the gods, what happened to their hands...? No, they had changed severely, akin to the way Leona recalled seeing the royal guards before and after their training.

Something had happened, that much he could figure out. And as much as he wanted to advance the board, reach out, and capture them like a king in a game of chess, he couldn't. Not when they were surrounded by a queen and two rooks.

"Ignore him," Nuru advised, although his words were more of a formality if anything. He knew how well you could handle yourself, but this was a unique situation.

"I know," you replied curtly, flipping your hood back on and sidling up to Nuru's right side. Jabori immediately flanked your other side in turn, followed by Jabali. It was a familiar formation, one that the four of you had cultivated for as long as you could remember.

"It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would," you whisper. However, the sharp pain lingering in your chest said otherwise.

Student after student soon began trickling out of each coffin, repeating the painstaking process of standing in front of the mirror, listening to its spiel about their innermost workings, before joining whatever dorm they were assigned to. Until finally, finally--

"We're done with orientation and dorm assignments?" One of the hooded figures lamented, his hand perched prim and properly on his hip. If you didn't any better, you'd assume that he was royalty or nobility. But, judging from his scent alone, he wasn't.

"Well, that ceremony was as boring as ever," Leona yawned, covering his mouth with his sleeve as he turned on his heels, facing the mass of hooded figures now under his care. "I'm going back to the dorm. If you're in Savanaclaw House, follow me."

He went to take a step amidst the other chattering dorm leaders before the doors slammed open, the handles banging against the wall from the force at which it swung. Leona groaned in response, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Psst, Nuru," Jabali called from his spot beside Jabori, leaning forward to actually see him. "Are you sure this is the right place? We're actually supposed to find answers from..."

Jabali paused and motioned out towards the commotion now terrorizing the mirror chamber. The little gray cat scampered around the floor, setting fire to whatever he could in some strange show of physical prowess and magical ability. "...These people?!"

Nuru said nothing at first. From where you stood beside him, you could tell doubt was beginning to creep up behind him. Lucky for him, Jabori decided to take the lead.

"This is Night Raven College," he points out, pulling back the hood of his robe by a hair to peer over at his twin. "Pretty much everyone here, especially the dorm leaders, are adept at some kind of magic. I mean, look."

This time, Jabori pointed towards the commotion, his finger following the way that the redhead shot a spell in the cat's direction, materializing a red and black collar around its neck.

"It's the best shot we have," he concludes, nodding in support of Nuru. That single gesture instantly calmed Nuru down, his shoulders no longer hunched up and his wings relaxing behind him. You merely smiled and patted his forearm in response. Jabali, on the other hand, grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms in begrudging compliance.

"Fine. But I'm not gonna get along with 'em or nothin'," Jabali huffed, rolling his eyes. Jabori laughed lightly at his brother's annoyance while Nuru let out a single huff of air.

"I wasn't gonna ask you too, either," Nuru hummed, glancing at Jabali from his peripheral. "Same goes for both of you, (Name), Jabori."

"Copy that," you nodded, the quiet chuckle that seemed to bubble from your throat disappearing the second Leona turned to face you and the rest of the new Savanaclaw members.

"You heard the headmage. I'm headin' back," Leona grumbled and, without missing a beat, brushed past the crowd and headed towards the door. Another hooded figure, one who had been standing beside Leona the entire ceremony, let out an exasperated sigh before raising his hand.

"Savanaclaw! Follow me," he ordered, earning a few half-hearted "Yes, sir"s from the rest of the huddled crowd.

You had to admit, it was pretty entertaining watching Jabali and Jabori marvel at the size of the campus halls. And Nuru too, if only he'd have more obvious reactions rather than just a single flick of a wing or a tilt of the head.

While the halls were nothing compared to the Kingscholar home, it was still pretty big. If you were any smaller than you were now, you'd probably react the same way.

"No way they need these doors to be this big," Jabali murmured, lightly elbowing your arm and pointing at one of the classroom doors. Your eyes followed his finger and a snicker managed to escape you. He wasn't wrong, those doors were freakishly huge, both in height and width.

Jabali went to comment on something else before he stopped, his eyes drifting over toward the new mirror chamber everyone had been led to. The doors were held open to accommodate the crowd, letting handfuls of students walk towards a mirror and get sucked into it, the glass rippling as if took wisps of bodies and left nothing in its wake.

"Savanaclaw House! This'll be your only way in and out of the dorm," the same hooded figure that led you all here called out. He had hopped up onto the lip of the mirror's decoration, using one of the rib-like sculptures as an armrest.

"Hurry up and get in! The faster you do, the faster you'll get to claim your rooms," he snickered before skipping ahead of the first dorm member and hopping into the mirror.

The prospect of first come first served seemed to spur on the first years, causing a near stampede of people trying to get into the mirror first. Nuru hooked an arm around your waist while Jabali did the same with Jabori, the two of them finding a single break in the crowd to get away, Nuru through flight, and Jabali through scaling one of the pillars by the wall.

Lucky for the four of you, the mirror seemed to accommodate more and more people as the crowd diminished. Perhaps through how many bodies reached a specific threshold, you thought. Regardless of the magical mechanics, it allowed Nuru and Jabali to let you and Jabori down after a few minutes.

"So many people," you grumbled under your breath, earning a quiet chuckle from Jabori. Nuru and Jabali nodded at your observation before the four of you hopped into the mirror yourselves.

Immediately, the four of you felt the familiar searing heat of the sun beating down on your skin. It almost felt like home if not for the increased heat coming from the fire serving as lights just outside the dorm's entrance.

Jabali and Nuru were the first to shrug off their robes, the former because he finally had enough of the stuffy fabric, and the latter because the heat was already starting to congregate around his feathers. You and Jabori followed suit, although the two of you merely hiked up your sleeves and flipped down your hoods.

Nuru shook out his wings and let out a soft grunt, one of his feathers falling into the sand beneath your feet. Turning to look over his shoulder, he shot the three of you a soft, almost comforting smile.

"Off we go, then," he hums, waving for you all to follow. If it were anyone else, you three probably would've found offense to a command as expectant as that. But it wasn't just anyone else. It was Nuru, the Guardian, and your dear friend.

The inside of Savanclaw was nothing really to marvel at like the rest of the school's campus. It wasn't cramped, per se, but it was quite a bit more tight than to your liking. Luckily, the walkway opened up the building quite a bit with the roped bridges connecting each floor.

Nuru scanned the room for a moment before his eyes landed on a room on the top floor, tucked all the way in the furthest corner. You figured everyone else left it since it was so far and their mentalities were focusing on that first come first served promise your leader from before declared.

Nuru unfurled his wings and shot up past the bridges, making a beeline towards the unoccupied room. He didn't have to go that fast, of course, considering only a few students were lingering in the walkways who sure as hell weren't planning on making the long walk up there.

Jabali seemed to share their sentiment considering his frustrated "Damn it, Nuru" muttered under his breath. A long, drawn-out sigh escaped his lips before he trudged up along the nearest bridge, his hands shoved in his pockets and his robe slung haphazardly over his shoulder.

You and Jabori took a more relaxed walk up behind him, appreciating the familiar decorations that reminded you of your hometown. Of course, that appreciation turned into apprehension at the thought of Mwezi Miji now being unguarded by the main four.

What if something happened? What if they had sent word of an all-out war between themselves and the Dens and you hadn't heard of it since you all were knocked out in coffins? What if they were all already--

"On your right," Nuru called to you from the doorway, his hand shooting out to grab your shoulder. Ah, you had gotten distracted. Nuru shot you a concerned glance, his brows furrowed in the same way they always were when you got stuck in your head before he ushered you into the room.

Jabali and Jabori had already claimed their beds on the left side of the room, Jabali near the door and Jabori near the window. This left the entire right side open for you and Nuru.

The winged beastman glanced over at you, patiently waiting for your next move. You caught his glance and mustered up a small smile before heading towards the bed closest to the door. Nuru subtly lit up at your decision, a little skip in his step as he moved towards the window.

You managed to hold back a snort at his hidden excitement. He always loved the window spot. Maybe it reminded him of when he was small enough to fit through them back home.

"So, what's up with you and that new first year, huh?" Ruggie huffed as he walked straight into Leona's room, leaning down to pick up a discarded shirt and dropping it in the laundry basket. "I've never seen you react that way other than with them."

"Watch your words, Ruggie," Leona growls from the bed, his head already buried in his pillow. His back was facing Ruggie who still stood in the doorway, but with the way his ears were perked up, it was fairly obvious that he wasn't even close to sleeping.

"My bad," Ruggie snicked in response, holding up his hands defensively. "But, seriously, who was that? Someone I need to watch the pockets of? I mean, who else would it be if not roy--"

"Out," Leona demanded, his hand latching onto his pillow and launching it backward at Ruggie, the soft fabric turning into dust and scattering across the floor as he muttered the incantation under his breath. Ruggie yelped and scampered out of the room, throwing the door closed behind him before he could see the pillow disintegrate into sand.

Leona took a single breath through his nose before slowly sitting up. He rubbed at his face before reaching over to the desk placed beside his bed, his fingers curling around the drawer's handle and pulling it open.

Underneath notebooks thrown carelessly inside lay a single photograph. It was small, yet free of any creases. He lifted the books off of it before slipping the photo out, nearly cradling it in his palm.

Back when he first found the photo tucked neatly in one of his notebooks, he grimaced. It was an annoying keepsake, one that only served to remind him of the bothersome family waiting for him back home. But now...

Now the sight of his little sibling smiling ever so brightly while his older brother screamed in the background about a bug in his hair brought the smallest twitch of a smile to his lips.

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muffinrecord · 2 days

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Current Plans + Musings

I don't plan on playing Exedra to the degree I did for Magia Record, or playing it at all. Because of that, I won't be taking an active role in the community and archiving anything for it. Of course, if Exedra has like amazing gameplay and stories then this is all subject to change, but for now I think I'm done with phone games.

The two youtube channels will stay up and I'll check em periodically to make sure there aren't copyright strikes against the content. I've saved all my raw files, especially for the battle animations, so I can remake them in the future if the music ever becomes a problem for some reason.

Google Drive will stay up until Google rots away. I haven't recorded footage in a long time (as in stories, I do for the character doppels and such), but I'll upload things if they're sent to me.

Magia Union Translations still plans on translating things and making videos, especially leading up to the end, but also for after the game is over for whatever wasn't made in time. I'm not sure what form this will take in the future-- if it'll be manual captions added to the videos or not, but I know it WILL happen.

As for this blog, I'm not going to delete it or anything. However I'm going to be taking a step back. I'd like to say that I'll do liveblogs but I mean... *gestures at blog* I've been saying that for years and the only one I really did successfully was the Oriko one lmao. Ahhh oh well.

I'll have more words later, but it was really fun to be part of a fandom experience like this. I'm excited to work on my own original story projects though and quiet down a bit.

...

When I started this blog, I never expected it to have people actually read it. Or look at it. I just wanted a place to gush about how much fun I was having. I didn't even want to tag the posts with "Magia Record" at first because I was terrified people would be mean at me, haha.

But I'm glad I did. I made so many good friends through this game. I'm glad it existed. And it made me happy to have a place where people cared about what I had to say. Some folks actually got their news from here, can you imagine that? They had notifications turned on for this blog. My god.

Anyways, I'm going to be here for the next two months, and tomorrow I'll start reblogging fan projects and initiatives, plus general news. Maybe this blog will turn into a dumping site for art and fanfic reblogs, who knows. I might watch the remaining stuff and add various thoughts here and there.

Otherwise, you can find me on my main blog @malignmuffin, which only reblogs stuff (I don't talk much if at all there). I have another tumblr blog for my comic, but I think I'll reshare the name once I actually have content you can look at on it. It's pretty bare bones for the moment.

Actually it'll be funny if the end of this game is what makes me finally work on it again. I was in the process of working on it when NA came out, and it totally derailed me. Stopped writing, drawing, just focused on this silly little phone game. Now it's like those five years have gone by and I'm going back to where I started, except I think my lil comic is going to be a bit better than it was before. If I actually make it, that is.

If I ever do actually make my comic and start posting it, I'll be sure to update y'all here. hah

Anyways, thanks for being on this wild ride with me. The memories have been great, and I'm glad I had this experience, even if it had to end.

#Magia Record #End of JP

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dragonydreams · 1 day

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Cake is a Love Language - BuckTommy, HenRen

Title: Cake is a Love Language Fandom: 9-1-1 Rating: General Audience Pairings/Characters: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Tommy Kinnard, Hen Wilson/Karen Wilson, Denny Wilson, Mara Driskell Additional Tags: Double Date, Cake is Love Summary: Tommy thanks Hen for introducing him to Buck, so Hen invites them over for dinner. Timeline: post 7x06 Word Count: 2,494 Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Reamworks, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Television, and 20th Television. Betas: Thank you to @medieshanachie for looking this over for me.

Read on AO3

The doorbell rang as Hen and Karen were getting the kids ready for school the Monday after Chimney and Maddie's wedding. Hen was a little harried as she opened the door to see a man standing there wearing a shirt with the logo for her favorite bakery.

"Andy, what are you doing here? I already picked up my order," she said, thinking of the single cupcake in the fridge decorated in the bisexual flag colors she planned on taking in for Buck.

"Hey, Hen. This isn't an order you placed, but something that was ordered to give to you," Andy said, holding out a box and envelope.

"Who's it from?" she asked, accepting the package.

"Can't say, but they knew what you like," Andy said, turning to go.

"Hang on, let me grab my wallet for a tip," Hen said, quickly.

"Already covered," Andy said and waved as he headed back to his car.

Hen closed the door, more curious than ever, as she carried the box and envelope to the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Karen asked.

"Delivery," Hen said. She opened the box after setting it on the table where Denny and Mara were eating cereal. Inside were four cupcakes.

"Cupcakes!" Denny exclaimed. "Can I have one now?"

"No, finish your cereal," Hen said. "We'll have them for dessert tonight."

"Who are they from?" Karen asked, obviously sharing the same thought as her son.

Hen closed the box and put the cupcakes in the refrigerator and then opened the card. Her eyebrows rose as she held the card out for Karen to see.

Thank you for convincing me to fly into a hurricane. - Tommy

Karen laughed as Denny asked what the card said.

"It's from an old co-worker, Tommy," Hen said.

"You think that's about Buck?" Karen asked, quietly.

"Oh, definitely," Hen said. "We should have them over for dinner. Soon."

"Tell Buck to let us know when Tommy's next free night is," Karen said.

"I will," Hen said. She pulled out her phone and scrolled to find Tommy's contact info.

You're welcome. And thank you for the cupcakes. I'm going to ask Buck, too, but Karen and I would like you to come for dinner the next time we all have a night off.

Tommy replied immediately.

We'd love that. I'll have Evan coordinate our schedules.

"Evan, huh," Hen muttered.

"What's that?" Karen asked.

"I texted Tommy to thank him and invite them to dinner and he said Evan would coordinate our schedules," Hen relayed.

"Who's Evan?" Karen asked, confused.

"Buck," Hen said. "That's his real name."

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone call him that," Karen said.

"They don't. He introduced himself that way when he first started but said to call him Buck, so we do. Maddie's the only one who ever calls him Evan anymore, aside from his parents."

"Interesting," Karen mused.

"Very," Hen agreed.

~~*~~

Buck was already upstairs by the time Hen arrived at the station. She quickly changed into her uniform before heading up. She found him sitting at the table, grinning at his phone.

"I suppose this isn't much of a surprise, but I still wanted to give this to you," she said, placing the boxed cupcake in front of Buck. "Welcome to the family."

Buck's face lit up. "Maybe not, but it is very much appreciated." Then his face scrunched up in confusion. "I thought we were already family."

Hen nodded to the decoration on the cupcake. "That family."

"Oh, right," Buck said, blushing. "Um, yeah, thanks."

"I got the flag right, didn't I? I know we haven't talked about it yet. And there's no rush to label yourself," Hen rushed on, suddenly realizing she may have been presumptuous.

"Hen, it's perfect," Buck assured her, taking her hand in his. "It's the right flag. I'm definitely bi. I still love women, but have recently come to realize that I also really like men."

"You know, I always thought you might be, but since you never talked about wanting to date men, I didn't want to make you confront something you weren't ready for," Hen admitted.

"I probably wouldn't have believed you," Buck agreed. "I had no idea that what I was feeling for Tommy was attraction until he kissed me. I just knew I wanted to spend time with him."

"If you were confused, you could have talked to me," Hen said, a little hurt that he hadn't.

"That's just it, I wasn't confused," Buck said. "It was like everything suddenly made sense. Like that thing that I've been searching for so desperately was suddenly right there. I wasn't confused, I was at peace."

"That's beautiful," Hen said. "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm happy, too," Buck said.

"Karen and I want to hear all about how you and Tommy got together over dinner the next time our shifts all give us a free evening. I already told Tommy when I thanked him for the cupcakes."

"He followed through with that?" Buck asked.

"He did. I assume you told him which is my favorite bakery?"

"Yeah. When he told me he wanted to send you something to thank you for introducing us I told him that cake is your love language and gave him the number to call," Buck said.

"That was very thoughtful, thank you," Hen said. "Tommy already said yes to dinner, so once you have his schedule, he said you'd coordinate on his behalf."

"I look forward to that," Buck said.

The bell went off then, so Buck stashed his cupcake in the fridge before they both ran for the engine.

~~*~~

It took about a week for everyone's schedules to align, but soon Buck and Tommy were ringing Hen's doorbell.

Denny was hovering behind her as Hen opened the door. He and Mara had eaten earlier, but he wanted to say hello.

"Come on in," she greeted them. "Tommy, it's so good to see you again."

"Thanks for having us," Tommy said as he followed Buck into the house.

"Hey, Buck," Denny said, coming over to give Buck a hug.

"Hey, Denny, loving the new hair," Buck said. "How'd it get so long so fast?"

"It doesn't feel like it was fast. I just haven't seen you for a while," Denny said.

"I guess we haven't," Buck agreed.

"Who are you?" Denny asked Tommy.

"Denny, this is Tommy, he's Buck's… date?" she said, unsure of what label they might be using. "Tommy, this is my son, Denny. Tommy used to work with me at the 118, before Buck joined us. He’s the one who sent the cupcakes.”

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Denny," Tommy said, holding out his hand to shake.

Denny shook it and said, "You, too. Those cupcakes were so good."

Tommy laughed. “I’m glad you liked them.”

Hen looked over to see Mara hovering in the doorway, clutching her blanket. "That's Mara over there. She's a little shy." Raising her voice she asked, "Mara, would you like to come meet some of my friends?"

Mara shook her head and retreated from the room completely.

"We’re going to play video games while you have your dinner," Denny said.

"You're not joining us?" Buck asked.

"Nah, we already ate," Denny said. "I'll see you later."

They all watched him go after Mara. "Mara's our foster daughter. She's had a tough time settling in but she's been opening up to Denny. He's being the best big brother," Hen explained.

"You're very lucky," Tommy said.

"We are," Karen said, joining them. "Sorry, I had to get dinner out of the oven before it burned."

"Tommy, you remember my wife, Karen," Hen said.

"It's a pleasure seeing you again," Tommy said.

"You too," Karen said. "Dinner's ready, so let's move this to the dining room."

Karen looped her arm through Buck's and led him to the table with Hen and Tommy following close behind them.

Once the couples were seated on either side of the table, Buck said, "Ladies, you have outdone yourselves."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Hen teased.

"Except perhaps another dinner invitation," Karen added.

"That's all I'm after," Buck said.

"Is he always such a shameless flirt?" Tommy asked, amused.

"Always," Hen answered at the same time that Buck said, "Hardly ever!"

They all laughed and began to serve themselves.

After they'd all had a few bites, Hen said, "Thank you again for the cupcakes. Although I don't feel like I deserved them. Chimney's the one who brought Buck and Eddie to Harbor, not me."

"Don't worry, I got Howie a nicer wedding present than was necessary in thanks. I'd never hear the end of it if I hadn't. Besides, he may have been the one to physically bring Evan into my life, but he wouldn't have been there if he hadn't anticipated you calling in air support to go after Captain Nash and Sargent Grant. We all know better than to ignore your hunches."

"You know, I had a hunch about you," Hen admitted, leaning back in her chair as she looked at Tommy.

Tommy blinked. "How? I was completely in the closet when I was at the 118."

"After Gerrard left, you stopped talking about girlfriends. If you mentioned dating at all you used gender neutral pronouns."

"I didn't think anyone noticed," Tommy admitted.

"I'm sure most of them didn't, but I'm well familiar with that game," Hen said.

"Anyone in our community would recognize those signs," Karen added.

"I probably wouldn't have, but I also got caught out by trying to keep neutral pronouns," Buck said. "That's how Maddie found out about Tommy. I slipped up. Granted, it was the first conversation I'd had after our first date."

"You also came out to the team pretty quickly," Tommy pointed out.

"And what a way to come out," Karen said. "You've gotta tell me, was that planned?"

Buck and Tommy shared a look and grinned.

"Not exactly," Tommy said.

"I mean, Tommy was always going to be my date for the wedding," Buck added.

"But I hadn't exactly planned on coming straight from a fire covered in soot," Tommy continued.

"And I couldn't resist kissing him when I saw him," Buck said, blushing.

"You didn't tell him his face was covered in your soot?" Hen asked.

Tommy laughed. "Oh, I did."

Buck was grinning. "It saved me the trouble of making some big announcement."

"True that," Hen said. She raised her wine glass. "To nonverbal announcements."

They all clinked glasses.

"So that's how you came out, but how did you get together?" Karen pressed, leaning forward in her seat, eagerly.

"Yeah, so do you remember when Eddie had to stay behind on light duty because he'd sprained his ankle during a basketball game?"

"You mean when you pushed him during a basketball game?" Hen clarified.

"Chim?" Buck asked, guessing that Chimney would have given his partner the play by play.

"Chim," Hen confirmed.

"After I took Eddie to urgent care and then got him settled with pain meds at home I went to talk to Evan. Eddie and I had been hanging out a lot since the rescue and I didn't want Evan to think I was trying to come between their friendship," Tommy said.

"I was kinda jealous," Buck admitted, bashfully. "But not just because Tommy was spending so much time with Eddie, but because Eddie was spending so much time with Tommy."

"I get that," Karen said.

"Luckily, so did Tommy," Buck said. "He understood better than I did because I didn't realize it was because I was attracted to him until he kissed me."

"Damn, Kinard," Hen said. "Way to just go for it."

"I've gotten pretty good at reading signals," Tommy admitted. "And if it didn't go the way I'd hoped, it's not like I can't take a punch."

"Eddie's the hitter, not me," Buck said.

"No, you're the pusher," Hen drawled.

"Ooh, ouch," Buck said, hand to his heart, everyone laughing.

Tommy brought a hand up to rest against the nape of Buck's neck. "Luckily, Evan didn't pull away and he agreed to a date that Saturday."

"Which I totally ruined by being an ass when Eddie and Marisol showed up at the same restaurant," Buck said, leaning into the touch.

"He did not," Karen gasped.

"Oh, he did," Tommy said, taking a sip of wine. "Their appearance sent Evan running for that closet."

"I was caught off guard," Buck said, "and I reacted badly. Very badly. After dinner, Tommy ended the date early and left me at the restaurant."

"Can't say that I blame you," Hen said, earning a slap on the arm from Karen.

"I didn't actually blame him. I understood why he'd behaved the way he had, but also I knew that Evan needed to really think about whether or not he wanted to date me," Tommy said.

"Which I did," Buck rushed to say. "Eddie talked sense into me after I told him that he'd interrupted a date and not just a dinner between friends and he convinced me to call Tommy. We met up for coffee the next day and I invited him to the wedding."

"After buying me truly disgusting coffee," Tommy said.

"I guessed at his coffee order," Buck admitted.

"Why didn't you just order him a black coffee with a handful of creamers and sugars?" Karen asked.

"Because if I'd gotten it right he would have been impressed," Buck said.

"Do you still take it–?"

"Yes," Tommy rushed to say. "I take it the same way, which Evan hasn't figured out yet."

Hen tapped her nose and pointed at Tommy. "Gotcha."

"How many cups of bad coffee have you had to drink by not telling him?" Karen asked.

"Way too many, but I'm not giving in now," Tommy said.

Buck turned hopeful puppy dog eyes on Hen.

"No," she said. "You won't get it out of me. Unlike some people on our team, I can keep a secret."

"So you're going to make Tommy suffer through my guesses rather than allowing me to bring him the perfect cup of coffee?" Buck wheedled.

Hen glanced at Tommy who shook his head. "Yep."

Buck gave an exaggerated pout and Tommy used the hand that was still on Buck's neck to pull him closer until he could kiss the pout away.

Hen saw the way that Buck melted into the kiss. She looked over to Karen who had the same soft look on her face that she knew was on her own.

Hen leaned over to whisper in her wife's ear, "I don't think I've ever seen him so relaxed and happy in a relationship before."

"He really is happy," Karen agreed. "They both are."

"Stop talking about us," Buck teased. "We're right here."

"You were a little busy," Karen pointed out.

"Our ears still work," Buck countered.

"And yes, we are happy," Tommy said.

Lifting her glass again, Hen made another toast. "To happiness."

The End

#911 fic #bucktommy #henren #evan buck buckley #hen wilson #karen wilson #tommy kinard #Fic: Cake is a Love Language

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