#tiny snippet

And rain buckets down for the first time in a long while. Wind howling through the trees and alleyways, branches snapping off and becoming breif airborne hazards. The humidity and heat finally breaking into the warm and breezy wet season.

The people are quietly rejoicing, cairns being filled and plants getting a much needed dose of natural minerals.

Brad had grown up meeting all manner of people in Ninjago’s criminal underbelly. He’d chatted with fences, ran products to dealers, chopped cars with street racers, shared a cigarette with street workers, trained with assassins, broke bread with terrorists, brewed moonshine with bootleggers, and played cards with gang enforcers. He, regrettably, could tell someone’s childhood economic class based on the slight lit of their voice and the slang that they used (because some criminals were just desperate people and some were apathetic in their greed for another million. Most fell somewhere inbetween).

That is to say, Brad knew the streets like the back of his hand. His time as a street rat only strengthened this. He knew the pulse of the city and could traverse her arteries even when bleeding out and practically blind (long story). He stayed up to date on the ever-changing, lesser-known boarders of gang territories. Who was in prison and who was out. The good cops and the dirty ones. It was as natural as breathing to him.

What type of feelings he may have had that he clearly had to push down. How did he get involved with Shannon? Was it to hide himself? Did he become the mask? Always having to be in control. Then not having a choice but to marry her. But in the end when she died and he found her doppelgänger. He was perhaps trying to let her go and find joy. And perhaps all of these memories will help with realizations. Perhaps across the country Buck is having some of his own.

And when Eddie rectifies his relationship with Chris, they can finally both return to Los Angeles; Eddie and Buck are now shy around one another. Both realizing how they feel but neither wanting to reveal their feelings. After all they will take the other whatever way they can.

But then some dude is interested in Eddie; then Eddie reveals he thinks he has been Gay most of his life, but ignored those feelings. Because his parents wouldn’t approve. Eddie realizes his parents don’t approve of much and he’s trying for joy. Buck is supportive of that but Buck surely doesn’t want to be the first guy for Eddie. He wants to be the last guy. So he encourages Eddie to go out with this person. And Buck keeps his feelings to himself.

Then Eddie overhears a conversation between Hen and Buck. Hen is encouraging Buck to reveal his feelings for Eddie. He can’t believe his luck that Buck would feel the same for him.

Plus Eddie doesn’t really want to date anyone else, but Buck. The person who has always been there for him no questions asked. The person who brought Carla into he and Eddie’s life. The person who is always there for Chris. The person he was so mad at for suing the 118 because he couldn’t see him. The person who clawed at the earth hoping to rescue him. The person who was acting like a fool in love, but oh he now realizes Buck’s feelings initially weren’t for Tommy. And Eddie doesn’t really believe in the theory of first guy and last guy. He’s really glad that Tommy does though.

Buck thinks Eddie and the random dude went out on the date and is sulking in his apartment. There is a knock on the door, when Buck answers it he is surprised to see Eddie standing there in a suit with flowers in his hand.

Buck ask Eddie shouldn’t you be on your date? Eddie is bashful and says “Buck I want you to be the first and last person I’m with.”

Jumping back an entry in Wings Over Gotham, I've been wrestling with the next work in the series for a couple of weeks now, and I've finally realised that it's just the wrong POV, so I'm going to have to sidestep instead and arrive at this one from a different angle. But this did leave me with 600 words of Bruce and his two eldest kids from the initial attempts, and ... it does kind of work as an extra snippet onto the end of Courage of the Fearful? So I figured I'd add it there, while I go back to writing the next installment.

“For the ruler of my heart.”

(Btw I absolutely love tssw and all your characters. You are such an amazing storyteller and you’ve got me invested!)

Manerkol rears back, startled. You’re getting better at sneaking up on him. His red eyes widen as he reaches up to softly trace the flower petals with his fingers.

A beat—then he smiles and brings his hand to his mouth, fingertips lightly running over his lips as if he wants to taste the sweetness of the gesture.

The smile he flashes you is bright and fond.

“I will take good care of it.”

~*~

Louis, apparently.

Because that was all it took — a fleeting, innocent, hardly anything squeeze of Harry’s fingers around his bicep — and suddenly, it was 1984 again, and Louis was on fire, just from his memories.”