you found me underground

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@.firefighterbuckley: if i was at home right now i’d be lounging in the sun with a few bevvies like

@concerningcody: Man.

As it became altogether clearer that they were both in the same boat, Ellie smiled even wider. So, both of their best friends had coerced them into an awkward night of trying to impress strangers, while being ushered along a sexy, human conveyer belt. She couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they should be shot with the whole thing and introduce their friends to one another instead. Maybe they’d get along just great, if these types of events were to their tastes! 

“Do you think we should be offended that our friends think we need help in the romance department?” She found herself giggling, not really offended at all. Reid knew her better than anybody, just as he knew how pathetic her dating history was. He only wanted to help, and she was hopeful the same could be said for the man across from her. 

She’d been quite adamant that she would mention Dylan early on. It felt important to her that any potential dating prospects understand that she has a son sooner rather than later. Not that she had any illusions about the success of her night, but she didn’t think it was a detail that she should lie about. People should know what they were letting themselves in for, and many men didn’t want children. It wouldn’t be right to spring a child on somebody after months of dating. Luckily, the rugged gent across from her seemed to brighten at the mention of her son, and she felt a spark of hope in her chest. 

“A firefighter? Wow!” Ellie gasped, eyes widening in surprise. She wasn’t much of a daredevil herself – not like Reid – but she’d always thought of firefighting as such a brave and commendable job. Far more than any other profession, in her opinion. 

She smiled fondly, her voice low and breathy as she whispered, “Dylan will be so jealous.” 

Her rascal of a son loved anything that involved a little danger or chaos. He was young enough now that she hoped he might grow out of it, but she’d be lying if she said it didn’t frighten her to wonder just where he might land as he reached his teens or his twenties. She certainly wouldn’t put it past him to want to jump into a burning building for a living. 

“You have a son?” Ellie beamed at this new information, immediately setting aside her concerns for Dylan’s future. It seemed she’d really hit the jackpot, and she suddenly wanted to know everything. Maybe their two boys were the same age! “I’ve never seen Lord of the Rings, but it’s so sweet that you have something that bonds you both.” 

Ellie’s own father had always been present when she was growing up, but she knew the same couldn’t be said about her son’s father. It was refreshing to be reminded that men like this could still exist, though. Men outside of Ozzie and Reid who effortlessly slipped into the doting uncle roles without hesitation. 

“My little boy – Dylan – loves dinosaurs. He’s big into Jurassic Park, but maybe I need to start introducing him to Lord of the Rings. I’m more of a hallmark romance girl, unfortunately!” 

“Admittedly, I think he’s under the impression that I need help in every department,” he said, already knowing Dylan would have his head for playing a hand like that. He shouldn’t start off declaring how much he was lacking, not in front of a pretty blonde that he had no doubts his friend would deem radically acceptable. But Cody had always been far better at being self-deprecating than bigging himself up.

At least his occupation helped to present the illusion of attractiveness. Cody had come to learn that there were very few people out there who didn’t get starry-eyed about firefighters. He could look like damn near anything and the FDNY badge on his uniform would do everything to make him at least a little appealing.

The grin froze on his face when Ellie mentioned Dylan. Quickly, he tilted his head in confusion.

“Dylan?” he asked faintly, knowing that in a city like New York there was a slim, slim - actually near impossible - chance that they were talking about the same Dylan. But wouldn’t that be just Cody’s luck? For the pretty blonde he was talking with to be someone the other pretty blonde in his life knew?

The thought was shattered in his mind’s eye the moment it crept into his head. A wave of bullets took it down and he quickly buried it in the sand. Vain as his Dylan was, he’d have no qualms about being called pretty. But Cody couldn’t think of him that way. He shouldn’t even be thinking of Dylan as his anything.

It seemed like the woman in front of him hadn’t taken too much notice of the way he had stumbled over her innocuous use of his best friend’s name. Why would she? Normal people didn’t react like that. Cody awkwardly cleared his throat, shifting in his seat as he tried to recalibrate the situation into something a human being with his trademark faulty wires could still claw his way through and come out reasonably unmarked on the other side. Who knew that a man who had crossed warzones could handle that better than a regular conversation? He really hoped Dylan wasn’t looking his way right now.

Thankfully, the woman across from him was graceful enough to smile when he told her he had a son. Normally, most women did a double take, wrinkling their nose a little and then forcing a pleasant expression onto their face to mask their horror. At the very least, knowing the woman in front of him also had a kid of her own was a relief. Not enough to make Cody completely relax, but his shoulders inched down ever so slightly. It was enough for now. 

“Yeah. Walt. He’s ten,” he smiled fondly, fingers itching to pull out his wallet and show off the various photos of Walt he had tucked away inside. He knew most people didn’t really care to see that sort of thing though, whether they were parents themselves or not.

“Ah,” he nodded when she clarified that the Dylan she was talking about was her son. What were the odds of that?

“There’s nothing wrong with… sorry, hallmark romances?” he asked, a curious smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Is that different from regular romances?”

Feeling a little brave, he rested his arms on the table, leaning in. “Do they have a lot to say about…” He gestured vaguely around them with one hand. “The like, I dunno, merits of speed dating or something?”

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