#cranberrymoons

Enjoy!

Very Much Not Pining (Please Stop Saying That)

i:

a very normal man

Buck is fine.

He says it out loud to his brand-new, definitely-not-Eddie’s, entirely his own kitchen. “I am fine,” he announces to a bowl of cereal he isn’t hungry for and a plant he’s trying not to kill.

His new house has creaky floors and south-facing windows, and a water heater with opinions. It also has a bedroom that could, theoretically, be a kid’s room someday, which is absolutely not why he liked the listing, thank you, next question.

The point is: Buck has a house. He has a fucking mortgage and rugs that he chose and a neighbor who asked if his boyfriend would be mowing the shared strip of lawn, and Buck said “I don’t—there’s no—there isn’t a—I’ll mow it” while trying not to die.

He has walls, dammit. He has space. He has a closet that looks like an adult lives here instead of a man who keeps getting blown sideways by his own life.

He is fine.

Eddie is back.

He is also fine.

This is what Buck tells Maddie, then Hen, and the mirror. This is what he will tell anyone who even hints at the word pining, which, by the way, is the most humiliating verb in the English language. It sounds like a Victorian ghost making jam.

It’s not that he hasn’t thought about it—about Eddie—about the thing Tommy fucking Kinard said (“the competition,” casual as a thrown elbow; Tommy knows how to land a line). It’s not that Maddie didn’t practically sit him down and, in sister-voice, ask, “Are you in love with Eddie?” and had to interject, “It wouldn’t be so crazy.” It’s not that Buck didn’t blurt out “Everyone wants me to be hopelessly pining for my straight best friend” like he’s been rehearsing that exact scenario for a week and a half.

It's that his primary concern at the time was not Love, capital L. His primary concern was Dignity, capital D. The fact that people might think he was, or is, pathetic.

The thing about pathetic is it’s sticky, like that Victorian ghost jam. It clings to your ribs. Buck has spent a lifetime trying not to be the punchline in a story he didn’t write.

So now he wakes up in a house that’s only his, and he goes to work where Hen partners with Eddie because Hen needs a partner now that Chim is Captain, and Bucks runs with Ravi, and it’s good, it’s fine, it’s—fine.

He’s not pining. He’s fucking living, okay?

The day Eddie walks into the station for the first shift after he’s back, everyone does the thing where they act normal for exactly two seconds before turning into a chorus line of relief and excitement. Hen hugs him for so long, Karen texts Hey, where did you run off to ??? to the group chat. Chim cries, and then he claims he didn’t, then clears his throat and pretends he isn’t wiping his eyes.

Buck says, “Hey,” and Eddie says, “Hey,” and for a second the floor lines up under both of them in a way that feels suspiciously like gravity, and a lot less like lava.

Then Buck goes back to being extremely fine. Magnificently, fine, even.

here you come again by @cranberrymoons with art by @glitterfang

Steve and Tommy haven't talked in nearly three years. After everything, maybe the best way forward is back.

this is all what ive more or less deduced from the show. and like it makes sense for her to go back for ilya's father's funeral if their dads were friends or whatever. but she also goes back with him a number of other times like she is just always tagging along with him. narratively i also get that they need someone for ilya to like, interact with besides shane and his teammates (none of whom he seems particularly close with off the ice) shane has his parents at least, and whats his name who is genuinely his friend outside of hockey.

🫵

SCREAM SAGE NOOOOO DONT CALL ME OUT!!!!!!!

hmmmmm how do we feel about steddie lazy morning because I don’t want to get out of bed right now lol

Steve's alarm going off prompts twin groans from the bed. There's sunlight sneaking in through the gaps in the curtains, leaving a strip of light going across the bed and illuminating the pair snuggled up there. Eddie's on his back, arms firmly holding Steve against him as Steve uses his bare chest like a pillow.

As they both groan and squint their eyes open, Eddie tightens his grip on Steve and tilts his head to press a kiss to his head.

"Wassappenin." Eddie murmurs into Steve's hair afterward, prompting Steve to properly open his eyes (or attempt to) and stretch in place.

"Ugh. Late alarm." He grumbles, going to sit up to turn off the blaring sound. Eddie doesn't let him get up, though, just tightens his arms around him and tugs him back to his chest.

"Don't leave me." Eddie whines, always going for dramatics.

"I don't wanna listen to this any longer, Eds." Steve replies, voice equally whiny.

Eddie finally lets go with a grumble, and Steve leans over to shut it off with another very deep breath. God, he's so sleepy, even though that alarm was their 'oh shit, you slept the morning away' alarm.

Good thing Steve remembered to set it once they settled in bed after their movie night.

"Breakfast?" Steve asks, feeling a little more awake now that he's moved a bit.

"No," Eddie complains, reaching out to grab at Steve and pull him back to him, "Stay."

Eddie's clearly still half asleep, and once he has Steve's back to his chest again, he rolls them onto the side and fully wraps himself around Steve. As if him clinging to him like a koala will stop Steve from needing to get up.

"Eddie." Steve giggles, and Eddie grunts into the back of his neck. Steve gives him a few seconds to hopefully wake up some more, but after fifteen seconds he feels Eddie's grip slacken slightly, and a sigh of a breath tickles his hair.

"Eddie." He says again, louder. A fond smile is on his face just being here when Eddie's so sleepy. He's so cute.

"I'll make you breakfast in bed if you let me go." Steve tries, and suddenly Eddie's rolling off of him to snuggle into the blankets instead of him.

Steve blinks at him, not aware he's awake enough to move that fast. But clearly, he is. Eddie blinks innocently at him, sleepiness still clinging to the corners of his eyes.

Queer Platonic Stobin my beloved <33333

Okay but no this is exactly how I picture Stobin in the future! This is what I mean when I talk about qpr Stobin! Every time a fic is like "Steve is sad Robin is moving away for school" like no silly he is going to go with her! They are going to spend the rest of their lives together! This includes major life decisions, and after a while it just makes sense for them to get married, especially for the opportunities that open up for them wrt all the stuff you said with insurance, loans, and the like!