Still up?

You owe me five bucks, Eddie.

@shallowseeker

buddie | 12k | explicit | friends with benefits | sex contract | humor

There's no way to say this delicately about one of your friends, but Ravi likes messy sex. Consequently, Buck and Eddie can always tell when he's coming in for a shift fresh off a hookup.

Eddie raises his eyebrows. Buck smiles back. And Harry pulls his shirt over his head, blissfully unaware.

“Good night?” Eddie asks.

Ravi shoots back, “Better than yours.”

He's probably right about Eddie's night. And Buck spent his evening alone eating the dinner he cooked for one, so it's not like he has much room to talk either. But he does anyway. “Gonna see her again? Is this the future Mrs. Panikkar?”

Ravi winces, horrified.

“He's still young, Buck. Let him play the field.” Eddie claps a hand on Buck's shoulder as he passes, heading for the door. And then he tosses, over his shoulder, like it's casual, “Maybe he'll be ready for the next step soon. In his thirties, he can try out a friend with benefits.”

Buck has heard Eddie say those words before. About himself, even. Buck, not Eddie, that is. Back when he and Taylor were dancing around what would later become a trainwreck of a relationship, Eddie had split a six-pack and some advice with Buck. It had been his own new relationship smugness. “You could just be friends with benefits,” he'd said, his gaze cool and assessing. “If you don't want to date her seriously, that's okay. No one will judge you for it.”

Buck's kept that in his back pocket as a reminder of why he should actually listen to Eddie's advice ever since. He still doesn't, but he should. Hell, if he was smart, he'd get Eddie to vet his partners. He'd do a better job of it than Buck, probably. Buck finds everyone hot and appealing. Eddie would cut out 90% of his dating pool with a single glare. It could save Buck years.

But now, in this locker room, hearing Eddie say the words friends with benefits sends an unfamiliar shiver down Buck's spine.

Like the episode when Bobby was first suspended and it was just everyone going to Bobby for advice and venting while Interim Captain Han was being too much.