It's a birthmark, not a shiner

A sign of the times

While going home after a long shift, Eddie finds an injured man laying on the road. He wants to call 9-1-1 but the man is too terrified to go to a hospital. The stranger doesn’t remember who he is or where he comes from. The only word he remembers is ‘Buck’. Eddie assumes it’s the man’s name.  

Eddie takes him at his house to clean his wounds, but Buck looks confused, disoriented. The man doesn’t belong to this time. Eddie comes to the crazy conclusion that Buck comes from the past. It doesn’t make sense, he should take him to the hospital for thinking that he is some kind of time traveller, but instead he just takes care of him. 

He can’t explain how comfortable he feels around that man, how nice it is to have him around, and the more time he spends with him, the less he wants to let him go. He promised him that he would help him go back to whenever he belongs to, but Eddie is not sure he wants to keep that promise anymore.

Send one for your muse to…

★ - drag my muse by the arm ⁂ - grab my muse by the front of their shirt, possibly shoving them back ✱ - take my muse by the hips to carefully move them out of their way ➜ - smack my muse upside the head ⌧ - grip my muse by the back of the neck © - put a hand on my muse’s back to steer them somewhere ✂ - point sternly at a chair and tell my muse to sit down ✉ - push my muse back down when they try to get out of bed (perhaps involving illness, injury, or sleep deprivation) ☛ - press a finger to my muse’s lips to shut them up ♚ - put a hand on my muse’s knee while sitting next to them, to discourage them from standing up ♧ - slap my muse’s hand away from something they shouldn’t touch ♦ - grab my muse’s hair and yank ♤ - slam a door shut before my muse can leave the room ♞ - physically pick my muse up and carry them ♭ - grip my muse’s jaw to make them look yours in the eye ♨ - rub my muse down with a sponge/wet cloth  ☀ - pin my muse with their arms behind their back ☠ - slam my muse into a wall ☾ - wrestle/pin my muse to the ground

For the first time since meeting the android, a glint was in his own eye that matched Nix’s, along with a smirk. He could remember pulling pranks like these back when he was with the 118, though they were usually on the more mild side. A situation such as the one they were currently in though required something a little more…devious.

“What have you got in mind?” Buck asked, grabbing one of his own shirts, as well as an extra one, tossing it in Nix’s direction. During his time as a firefighter, he learned that it was a dirty job, and that meant having to change clothes often. He figured he could spare a shirt to Nix.

“You know, one thing I gotta say is that you guys are lucky that you can’t physically feel anything the way we do….cause boy…am I sweating like crazy right now.” He chuckled, making the off-handed comment as he peeled off the shirt he had yet to take off. A few small tattoos could be seen on parts of his arms and torso that hadn’t been revealed before. As his shirt came off, his hair became slightly tussled, a hand coming up to immediately fix it.

Phoenix was absolutely relieved—at least it seemed he had made a friend here who accepted him. Maybe it would make being away from home bearable. He grinned, gratefully catching the shirt tossed his way. “Well, maybe tell ‘em the new android is running around naked outside the firehouse looking for his clothes. That outta keep their attention for a bit while I change all the locker combinations.”

“…-I mean, it’s still uncomfortable. I can sense heat for, ah, obvious reasons. But I guess it’s a perk that I don’t sweat at least–…, ” his voice trailed as Buck stripped off his shirt, instantly distracted by the other’s toned muscles—and the aforementioned beads of sweat on said muscles. Really, Nix? Well, he can’t help it; at this point, the boys back home were family and he never thought twice when they changed. But this was very much different.

For a moment, he could've sworn that he caught Nix's stare lingering upon him a moment, but...no, no, that likely wasn't the case. Probably just a trick of the eye on his end. Just as he was about to head out though, he turned to look once more to Nix, who was still running through the combinations on the automated lockers.

"Hey, Nix. Lemme be the first to say it, but uh...you're alright. I'm glad to have you on the team, and I'm sure the guys will eventually come around...even if it means teaching 'em a lesson, first." He smiled cheekily at the android before turning on his heel to head towards where the other members were.

Send “UNF” to pin my muse against the wall with DESIRE

Send “UGH” to pin my muse against the wall from FURY

Send “DONT” to pin my muse against the wall to prevent them from LEAVING

Send “OOF” to pin my muse against the wall by ACCIDENT

Send “HA” to pin my muse against the wall as a JOKE

Send “NO” to pin my muse against the wall to PROTECT THEM

Phoenix wasn’t sure what to expect from Buck; for all he knew the guy could go rat him out now. Maybe he was a fool for being so open–he tensed at the idea. But the instant the other firefighter revealed himself and Nix saw the softened look in Buckley’s eyes, his fear melted away. The android smiled sadly, face still covered in ash. ”Yeah…-well, it’s only been a day and yet it feels like a week. Leaving was...-, ” Nix looked away, hoping down from his seat on the counter. ”…-it sucked.”

”The central department is all I’ve ever known. It’s the one place in this city that I was safe…-the people there are my family. Not many androids get that lucky. I guess I forgot they could all be taken away so easily.” Nix scans the line of lockers, finding his own labeled as ’plastic.’ He smiled bitterly, opening it to find it empty. Of course they’d take his clothes–the only thing he was allowed to own here and they took it as a joke. Didn’t Buck warn him about this? Oh, he’ll surely get them back. He sighs and shuts it, ”Well. Being emotional has been fun and all, but I’ve got some revenge to take.”

"What have you got in mind?" Buck asked, grabbing one of his own shirts, as well as an extra one, tossing it in Nix's direction. During his time as a firefighter, he learned that it was a dirty job, and that meant having to change clothes often. He figured he could spare a shirt to Nix.

it’s genuinely in the interests of advancing plot (e.g. ‘Pass the screwdriver?’ and you can assume my muse passes the screwdriver over, or even just that your muse ended up with the screwdriver one way or another, without having to stop the reply altogether for my interjection)

it’s NOT my muse’s dialogue, inner or outer

it’s REASONABLE for my muse (e.g. if they’ve already made it quite clear the screwdriver is a sentimentally precious family heirloom or something, then the screwdriver might not reasonably change hands)

the reply isn’t solely about my muse’s actions, thoughts or feelings, but rather is about your muse, with reference to mine

you are willing to accept criticism & critique and change the reply if I can’t reasonably see my muse doing that

As others began taking interest in Sparky, Phoenix spotted Buck slipping away from the corner of his eyes. He’s then reminded of his guilt–as much as he’d like to sit here with his beloved dog all night, he had to set things right. Affectionately ruffling the fur on Sparky’s head, Nix leans forward to whisper in his ear, ”Keep ’em entertained for me, pal.”

He stands, taking advantage of the crew being distracted to slip away as well. Once inside the locker room, he perches himself atop the long counter that sported several sinks. Nix crosses his legs comfortably, leaning against the wall.

”Sparky saved my life once, you know, ” he breaks the silence, eyes focused on the ground, ”…-that’s when things starting really coming together for me. I wasn’t supposed to be afraid to die–wasn’t even supposed to consider myself alive. But as the flames got closer, as my system told me I only had ten minutes left…something snapped.”

”Nothing would have stopped me from doing what I did back there. Not even a direct order.” Phoenix sighed, finally looking at Buck, ”Don’t ask me why, but I trust you, Evan Buckley. But your crew? Not yet. Maybe not ever. Sometimes I have to play the good little robot.” He rolls his eyes, ”If the wrong person finds out…-they’ll decommission me and maybe even others. I can’t risk that.”

Slowly, he began to walking around the wall of lockers, slowly revealing himself to Phoenix. His hair was slicked back with water, having been lightly rinsed just a moment ago to get some of the ash out. “I...I remember when I first left my old crew to come here....God, you must be so homesick...” He murmured softly, eyes softening, an expression that he hadn’t shown Nix before up until now.

Today was still Phoenix’s first day...and boy had it been something. It was natural for any human to have an adjustment period before they were used to new surroundings, but...androids didn’t have that. They were expected to just go along with their surroundings for whatever task they needed to complete.

Phoenix is miserable the entire ride back, overwhelmed with guilt and homesickness. He leans his head back, closing his eyes as he accessed memories of his crew, replaying them in his head for some semblance of comfort. This sucks; why should he have to prove himself all over again? Why didn’t they just send some shiny new android to handle it?

He’s snapped out of his pity party when he realizes the truck is pulling back into the station, quick to unload and find a quiet place to escape. He just wants to call home and—his eyes widen. A familiar, large Saint Bernard android is bounding toward him. He falls to his knees instantly, arms wrapping around the dog as it licks his face. “Sparky? What are you doing here? Did cap send you to check-up on me?” And just like that, he was acting very human once more. “You better not tell him I’ve already made trouble.”

What surprised him even more though was how sudden the dog started bounded towards them the second a certain android hopped off the truck, immediately tackling him to the ground. Well, that, and Phoenix's reaction. No longer as analytical or cold as he'd been not that long ago when they were at the house fire. He...He wanted to stay mad at Phoenix...but the scene before him was making it very difficult.

He'd wanted to potentially become friendly with the android at the start, but what was his angle? He acted one way around him at the start, before completely flipping the script and being an entirely different person...and now he was seemingly back to how he'd been before. If this was some kind of game, he certainly didn't want to be a player.

Nix is taken aback but Buckley’s outburst, his LED circling in between red and yellow. It appears the sister was right in saying he ’wore his emotions on his sleeve.’ Ah man, he feels really guilty. He’s touched by the words; it’s a lecture he’d gotten countless times from his crew back at Central. That is, of course until they finally accepted that Pheonix’s mind would never change.

What did he have to say? Not wants he wanted to say, that’s for sure. He’ll have to apologize to Buck later, privately. For now, others are watching him closely. He needs to self-preserve.

”I am a tool, ” he corrects, ”I can be misused, as was the case in this instance. I did not receive direct recall orders via my serial number. A radio call does not suffice. At any rate, I was designed to withstand collapse–to bear exposure that humans cannot. If I were not used to my full potential, that family would have not their daughter.”

”And you would likely have been crushed in the process,” he adds, meeting Buckley’s gaze before looking to the captain. ”In the future, if you wish to recall me, you will have to send the command to my serial number. It should have been given to you.” He’d never told a bigger lie. Even if the captain had recalled him properly, the outcome would have been the same. ”This is why I was sent. A less-experienced model would have been severely damaged in this instance.”

Buck knew what it was like to place himself in danger in such a way similar to what Phoenix had done. Hell...he could still remember his old team always chastising him for endangering himself while on the job. But in the end, in spite of it all...they cared about him. He supposed that now he finally felt what it was like to be on the other side of such a situation. It kinda sucked.

Even though he'd just met Nix, he could've sworn that just maybe they were somewhat getting along...or at least something LIKE that. Seeing him duck into those flames after having pushed him aside...it almost immediately prompted panic to be etched on to his face. He didn’t know what to feel...disappointment? What did he expect...the guy was an android after all. Androids weren’t human, and they certainly weren’t supposed to feel anything...right?

The diminishing time he had displayed in his head—he wouldn’t have enough of it to get out before the structure fails. There is only one option, then. With luck, the collapse will smother a majority of the flames. Working quickly, Phoenix stripped his thick coat, easily freeing the girl from the rubble with enhanced strength, and protectively wrapping her in it.

Her breathing was raspy, but she was conscious. “…-you’re safe with me,” Nix encourages her softly as the flames drew nearer. Without the insulation of his coat, his systems were heating up—warnings flashing across his consciousness. He’d seen them hundreds of times before; they don’t even frighten him any more. Phoenix was deviant, yes, but he was still willing to sacrifice himself for his job. That’s not programming, that’s just who he was. Still, today’s not the day.

Positioning himself like a shield above the girl and hunkering down, he closes his eyes tightly as it all falls down around him. He was designed for things like this, whereas any other android might be severely damaged by such force and weight collapsing in on him. He wasn’t indestructible, no, but he would hold up.

A deathly silence falls over the foundation, the home how reduced to ash and debris. The family outside, already crying, were now sobbing inconsolably—the mother trying to rush forward as the father holds her back, tears in his eyes as she tries to fight him. Just as things looked grim, Phoenix pushed the rubble away: rising from the ashes, as it were.

He ignored the glares from his new crew as paramedics rushed to take the girl from his arms. Next thing he knows, he’s being tackled with a hug from the mother, the woman thanking him. Phoenix smiled sadly, patting her back. Tragedy had a strange way of making people forget he was supposed to be an ‘unfeeling machine.’ She also didn’t seem to care that he was absolutely coated in soot, his nose leaking a bit of thirium due to heat exposure.

There were two major differences in how the Cap and Buck looked at Phoenix. Unlike the look in Cap’s eyes that were full of only anger, Buck had something else in his own. Just behind the very obvious anger, there was worry in Buck’s. “I understand that you’re an android and all, nearly indestructible, BUT YOU CAN’T GO DOING THAT! Yes, the girl is safe now but you’ve gotta warn us all before doing something so reckless, because let me tell you, I don’t give a damn if you’re AN ANDROID. The city might see you as expendable, but right now you’re apart of our team, and as a member of our team you can’t do shit like this.”