#deershark

Ship 160 ~ Posting my favorite ships

Brendon Park 🦈🦴 | Emma Nolan 🦌🩺

Shoutout to @thefudge for making me write my first fic in years. Pairing: Emma Nolan x Brendon Park

Emma Nolan is trying not to fall apart in the ER.

Dr. Brendon Park is trying… nothing, actually. He’s just like that.

Somewhere between trauma bays, quiet observations, and one very unfortunate dead car battery, they start circling something neither of them is ready to name.

Emma tells herself it doesn’t mean anything.

It keeps happening anyway.

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rated t || park x emma

summary: park and emma watch the fireworks, alt s2 ep 15 scene

Park, who somehow managed to get off the clock half an hour after the chaotic holiday and is smoking off the balcony of his high rise. Deeply inhales and is crouched on the railing all contorted to feel the blood rush in his ears. Has been craving this calm all day and then the first wave of firecrackers set off in the park a couple of blocks down his street.

The fireworks.

Yet another 4th he didn’t spend with his family. They always went all out for the barbecue, cousins and siblings and neighbor kids alike sauntering down the block to swipe a plate and move onto the games spread out for them to sink their teeth into hot dogs and tug of wars.

They’re only in the next town over but it might as well be light years away with how much work as taken over his life. But he swears he can smell the charcoal grill and his dad’s aftershave. He misses it. The adults fussing and children screaming, the smells of everyone cooking. The laughter and hisses of gossip. Older cousins competing amongst themselves in their successes and relationships or lack thereof. Park would settle for a smushed leftover burger and soggy chips if it meant he could feel his ma’s hands on his cheeks saying he’s gotten too skinny again.

The kaleidoscope of firecrackers bathe the surrounding buildings, drowning out the clamors of the onlookers down below on the blankets and lawn chairs. He was going to head back inside once they began setting them off in rapid succession, too much noise after a day like today— but the fun shapes begin to burst out. A smiley face. Some stars. Then hearts.

He recalls that they’re the favorites among his little nieces and nephews. It’s been almost ten years since then.

Another drag of his cigarette when the soft gnawing under his rib cage tugs again. An emptiness that wells up in moments like these.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town, the newest ED nurse at PTMC is dashing from her dingy bathroom to the slim balcony of her studio apartment. Soon as Emma got home she peeled off her clothes and chucked her scrubs into the hamper with such vigor it spun around like a coin. She deliberately left a timer on her phone before starting her nighttime routine so she wouldn’t miss the fireworks. Okay so maybe she forgot to press ‘START’ and maybe she spent longer on her self care but she had a very eventful first day— it merited the extra pampering. Before she knew it, it was almost 10pm.

She was applying a face mask when she heard the firecrackers boom. Not to be mistaken by ones set off by neighborhood kids or teenagers driving around with their windows down— these were the expensive and giant ones commissioned by city councils, the kind that require professionals to handle. At least, that’s what Emma imagines.

Still in her robe and half a sheet mask sealed onto her face, she gazes up at the indigo sky dotted with fluorescent jeweled dots and fizzy smoke. She takes out her phone to film it. They’re a bit far, the glints of gold and orange dissolve instead of winking. Her neighbors down below are also watching the spectacle, they wave to her and she waves back. The brief embarrassment of her undress and half finished nighttime routine dissipates with the next firecrackers.

A bunch of stars forming an arc—

There’s an ache in her chest. The star ones are her and her brothers’ favorites. Her sister likes the ones that explode into hearts. She feels completely at home and stranded on a desert island at the same time.

A few more fly up and burst into massive red white and blue hearts.

Emma feels wetness in the corners of her eyes, it stings. She wipes them away and sends the video to her family group chat. The speedy replies and reactions from hundreds of miles away in Sault Ste. Marie bubble up and put a bandaid on her homesickness.

Once the fireworks end within the quarter hour, Park will call it a night and Emma will hurry back inside to answer a video call from her family. It’ll be abrupt and straight to the point— something Emma only does when she’s strung out too far. A goodbye with a bone tired smile and a little wave, just wants some much needed sleep after today. She’ll tell them all about her first day another time, well maybe not getting attacked by that patient just yet. But she’ll mention Mr. Digby and how protective and scary her charge nurse is and that she’s thinking of getting a SANE certification. How she wants to be just as incredible as Dana someday.

Park is off tomorrow, yet still sets his alarm. He’ll call his mother to set up a lunch in the morning.

But unbeknownst to them, they share these next few moments of taking in the same night sky and the tissue deep wanting calling out to each other. Sinus rhythms tuning for a frequency that’ll match.