#coffeebeannate

did you say AU? because you’re getting an AU

Seeing the world in monochrome shades wasn’t a burden, not for Nicky. He didn’t have colors to distract him from anything, so Nicky focused on his work and that was enough for him. 

Nicky ignored the lonely feeling always sitting at the edge of his emotions and the longing he had to share anything of himself with another.

He was tired of being alone. 

Nicky could push it back though, he could put on the mask of being content and he would look away when other people’s happiness would be too much. 

So he lives in a world of black and white.

Nicky is at work when his world explodes with colors that he never dreamed he would ever be lucky enough to see. 

There’s a fire at a local school and Nicky is one of the first people on the scene, arriving after the firefighters. It’s a minor fire, a malfunction of the old kiln in the art department. No one had been seriously hurt, but Nicky was still there to provide any minor first aid and to make sure the people that needed to get additional medical attention would. 

The kids are younger, so their tears fall freely from their faces, they’re open with their fears in a way that no adult could ever be, and Nicky is patient with them. He has a stuffed dog in his truck, a small dalmation, black and white so he never has to imagine what colors they could be, and he would give them to anyone who found that they just needed to squeeze something soft. 

Nicky talked through the dog, asking after injuries with a goofy voice that drew laughter from tears. The last child he was with, a little boy who had scraped his knee when he had been tripped in the chaos of the fire, was finally calm enough to accept Nicky’s bandages and Nicky was seeing him off, waving his stuffed dog’s arm and telling him to be safe with Dr. Spot’s voice. 

"Does Dr. Spot have time to see another patient?” A voice asks and Nicky turns to see an attractive man with an amused smile. “I think I might have sprained something.” 

“Oh of course,” Nicky says in Dr. Spot’s voice, then winces as he clears his throat, a blush blossoming over his face, then continues in his own accented voice. “I can take a look at your wrist.” 

“I’d appreciate it.” The man sits down, on the edge of Nicky’s truck, and holds out his arm gently. Nicky takes it, his own gloved hands slowly turning the offered hand, apologizing when the man winces in pain. It was a mild strain, nothing too bad as long as the other man kept it easy, and Nicky told him so. 

“I was worried I’d have to take some time off,” The man says as he watches Nicky wrap his wrist gently with dark eyes that Nicky was trying hard not to stare at. His smile was bright as he told Nicky about the events that had transpired at the school. The man was the art teacher and had been the first to the scene, leading his students out of the room. He had hurt his wrist when they had run into a student who had slammed the door open on his unsuspecting arm. 

“You’re all set,” Nicky says, smiling. Normally he wasn’t one to talk to his adult patients, preferring to leave the ones that liked to talk to his partner Lykon, but the art teacher was a calming presence, and Nicky had fallen into the conversation easily. “I would check back in with your doctor if you have any additional problems.”

“Thank you, Dr. Spot,” The man picks up the stuffed dalmatian, shaking its paw with a serious expression. “You saved an artist’s hand, their most important tool, you're a hero.” 

“Can’t have the children go without their teacher,” Nicky says in Dr. Spot’s voice, and then after a beat the two of them burst into laughter, the art teacher bending forward as Nicky throws his head back. It’s completely ridiculous and normally Nicky would be embarrassed but it just felt so good to laugh. For a moment he forgot his loneliness. 

“I’m Joe by the way,” The man offers, extending his uninjured hand. Nicky’s so caught up in the moment that he forgets his usual rule of not having skin to skin contact with a patient and takes off his gloves to shake the other man’s hand in one fluid moment. 

Their fingers meet and Nicky gasps, tightening his grip as his vision goes from black and white to a world of colors. 

They’re beautiful. 

Nick looks down at Joe, their hands still intertwined, and watches as the man takes in his own now colorful world, his smile blinding as tears well up in his eyes. 

@coffeebeannate

It’s so TENDER! The way their hands twine together at the start? Joe’s arm over Nicky. His face against his neck? They way their entire bodies are pressed close?

The fact that they’re just genuinely so safe and comfortable together that even though they’ve just been set up and they’re on a freaking train they look so peaceful? They’re just taking what comfort they can when they can? A thousand years and they still take every moment together they have a chance to take? Still sleep snuggled up like that? It’s just so fucking soft and tender and loving? It really IS a warm hug, blanket soft, and soul warming. They love each other so fucking much? I can’t take it.

“I know every curse word in the universe, and they are still not enough for your bullshit.” 

Nile pulled her attention away from the book she was trying to read and looked over towards where Andy was standing with her arms crossed, and a scowl on her face.

There was no one else in the small kitchen-dining room-living room combo area and Nile blinked slowly, confused to if Andy was speaking to her, though she couldn’t figure out why Andy might be pissed at her. 

“I’m sorry?” Nile said slowly- Andy wasn’t even looking at her, which only made Nile more confused. 

“This stupid fucking coffee maker-” Andy accented her words by smacking a hand down on top of said machine- “I’ve been waiting for it to brew for fifteen fucking minutes! I can remember when coffee was invented and I could swear even the early process was a hell of a lot fucking quicker than this shit.”

Nile raised an eyebrow, but decided against mentioning that- while she did not personally live through those days- it definitely couldn’t have been a less than fifteen minute process to make coffee back in the early days. “Is the machine broken?” 

“It was working yesterday!” Andy huffed, smacking at the machine again, “Nicky made a whole pot in five minutes!”

“Maybe something’s clogging it?” Nile suggested, wincing slightly as Andy hit the machine again- Nile had been on the receiving end of Andy’s fists, and it was truly a wonder that the machine was holding up against them. 

“I watched Nicky clean it after he used it, Nicky’s never misses anything when he cleans.”

Nile sighed, placing her bookmark back into her book and setting it aside, “Maybe it’s time for an upgrade? Maybe one that was made sometime after the nineties?” 

Andy made a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a grunt, and Nile rolled her eyes as she made her way over to Andy and the coffeemaker. 

Nile took about five steps before coming to a dead stop, she couldn’t really see the coffeemaker properly from where she had been sitting, but now that she could see it properly, the issue was blatantly obvious. 

“Andy... it’s not working because it’s not plugged in.” 

Prompt: quynh discovering (ridiculous) modern day petnames to call andy)

requested by @moonlightandromache i hope you didn’t think i had forgotten. also please know that this was way too much fun!! thank you 💕

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It started harmlessly enough. After a long night together, Andy convinced Quynh it was time to sleep. Although they were both beyond overjoyed about their reunion, one of them was mortal now, and she desperately needed sleep. However, Andy was already half asleep, eyes closed, a content sigh leaving her lips, snuggling closer in her wife's arms, but then she heard Quynh whisper to her, “Goodnight, baby.” Andy was still blushing a little, and that seriously made it worse, or better. She wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t upset about it.

It quickly developed into something… more. As in the middle of their lunch, when Quynh said to Andy, “Babe, can you pass me the salt?” Andy complied, and she could hardly hold back her smile. That was new. She noticed their friends exchange knowing smiles, but she didn’t mind.

But, of course, there was more. There was, for example, that one morning, with everyone sitting at the table having breakfast and Quynh arriving last, apparently deciding that she now wasn’t a morning person. She walked up to Andy, kissed her cheek, and said, “Good morning, buddy.” The result was Nile nearly choking on her food trying to disguise her laughter, and Joe calling Andy buddy for the rest of the day until she nearly stabbed him.

When Quynh finally agreed to go with them on missions, it was unexpectedly a great opportunity for her to put to good use all the new words she was learning, while Andy blushed and their friends pretended this wasn’t the funniest thing they’d seen in years. On the first mission, right before jumping into action, Quynh smiled at Andy just like she’d done for thousands of years before going into battle, but then added, “Are you ready, hottie?” Andy nearly shot herself in the foot from the confusion that brought on her. And when they were done, all safe and sound, Quynh grinned proudly, clothes covered in blood and her wounds all healed. “Good job, dude,” she whispered right before kissing the bewilderment out of Andy’s lips.

Anyone wanna guess what that title is in reference to?? (TW: Blood and Gore)

Nicolò finished off the man with a harsh slice of his sword across the gut. The nameless soldier gripped his stomach as guts and viscera poured forth from his opened belly. He sank to his knees before falling forward face first into the dirt.

Nicolò looked about himself, half expecting to have more people to fight- to kill. He knew he wouldn’t find anyone else, his mind was too attuned to the flow of battle to easily lose track of how many enemies remained. Still, he spun around, ready to attack if need be.

As expected he only saw his family. Quynh, whose shortsword was still dripping with blood, was kneeling over Andromache, who had just gasped back to life. Yusuf was on the opposite end of the road, near the entrance to the church.

Nicolò made his way toward the man he loved. He was almost there when Yusuf noticed him and kicked something away from the corpse at his feet.

“What was that?”