#coda

aaaaand finished the rest of the cast!! ....and i'll do it again. honestly, drawing them is so fun JKFdgfd

Vinea is 100% on Coda's route but he can't help and dote and be a mom-friend to everyone around!!.. especially when it comes to being a wingman for his future brother-in-law. he will die on that hill

I don't normally write coda's because I can't write shorts to save my life (and this is no different - I've already got plans for where it's going to go). Still, this week's episode made me a little angry, and I'd been contemplating some form of "Buck finally crashes out" fic, so here it is.

How it Starts

It starts as a tactic Dr. Copeland gave him, back when he was trying to navigate a new relationship with his parents.  After being ignored and told he was too much his whole life, they suddenly want to be involved, and it was fine.  It was better than nothing. It was nice that they wanted to make an effort.  But it didn’t go well.  For every reaction he has, and every emotion he showed, his mom would break into tears and act like he was personally attacking her.

"Have you heard of the 'Grey Rock Response?'" Dr. Copeland had asked him during one of his solo sessions.  When he'd shaken his head, she'd explained a little more. "It's not a long-term solution in a relationship, but it is a tool you can use in specific situations."

Buck feels like his life right now might be one of those situations.

It had felt like looking at a funhouse mirror, hearing Hen say all of the things he’s been feeling for months.  It twists something inside his guts, hearing her say that she’d kept everything secrete because no one had asked, as though he had tried to check in with her regularly in the aftermath of Bobby’s death.  As though he hadn’t stopped by to drop off home cooked meals and baked goods after the space capsule had returned to earth. 

He’s constantly reached out, with questionnaires, care packages of baked goods, and offers to hang out only to be brushed off, or gently turned down by Karen on Hen’s behalf.  

It has him second-guessing himself, if maybe he hadn’t made himself as available as he could have in the seven months between Eddie taking over his home again and settling into his own place. He’d thought about inviting everyone over for a house warming, but between Deryl living in his attic and… everything else, he’d just never planned it.

He almost apologizes, especially seeing the contrite expressions on everyone in the room, but then Hen says “He was our captain, but he was my friend,” like Bobby hadn’t died so Chimney could live, like Bobby somehow meant more to her than he did to anyone else in the room for being her friend.  Like Buck hadn’t lost one of the most important people in his life. 

Evan is seething, thinking of all the times he’s tried to be there for her, for everyone, only to told he’s making everything all about himself.  He balls his hands into fists in his lap, white knuckled, blunt nails digging into his palms, and says nothing.

When Hen collapses, for a brief, bitter moment, he’s angry that she’s taken the wind out of his sails, and he’s disgusted with himself for it.

Tellus (aka Coda) (he/him)

Tellus is your childhood friend, but he is no longer that sweet boy who once gazed at you so adoringly. He is bitter and angry, closed off from his fellow Resistenza members. Tellus is air-attuned, and his superior eyesight makes him an excellent marksman—the best sniper in the Resistenza.

Do you guys remember when i updated this like every week? lol me neither

“You, uh—you forget something?” Buck calls as he gets out of the car, walking down the street to meet him, the light, barely there drizzle of rain coming down around them like a daze.

“Yeah,” Eddie confesses, walking towards him, his steps longer, steadier—more sure than any of the ones he thinks he’s ever taken in the past—eyes trained on Buck’s face.

“What? I can—I can run in and get it,” Buck says, shifting his weight as if he’s about to turn around and run back into the house.