#tmc polycule

Collections of ficlets based on prompts and originally posted on Tumblr. Each entry in the series centers on a relationship or character from Billions.

can i interest anyone in twenty thousand words of assorted billions fic? featuring:

ben/winston

Ben and Winston have so much in common… including, sometimes, their bosses trying to destroy each other.

taylor/winston

Taylor hired Winston for a number of reasons, and compatibility was one of them.

tmc polycule

Taylor, Winston, and the people who love them.

taylor/lauren

Taylor and Lauren don’t get much time alone together, so they make the best of what they get.

rian/winston

Rian and Winston are a pair, and they get along great. Mostly. Sometimes. If Winston’s lucky.

taylor (solo)

Taylor won’t let anyone stop them from moving forward.

taylor & mafee

Taylor and Mafee have something that’s rare on the Street: a lasting friendship.

taylor/philip

a variation: Something like this was never supposed to happen.

Winston was never supposed to be the guy who got that storybook-perfect ending surrounded by people who adored him. That was reserved for people capable of being adored. 

So it’s as much a mystery to him as to anyone else — maybe more — that he’s crammed into the corner booth of this diner with Ben at his right, knee and shoulder touching Winston’s as he peruses the menu, and Taylor at his left, checking their phone one-handed and rubbing his palm with their thumb. And Lauren is on Taylor’s other side, leaning over the table to earnestly ask him about the bars that post-math meetup drinks have taken him to. (She’s always scouting out new spots to party with potential investors, and even she can’t go everywhere in the city at once.) 

i sure will!!! but first, a primer for anyone who may be unfamiliar: the Polycule™ in question comprises ben, winston, taylor, and lauren. ben and winston are dating, taylor and lauren are dating, and taylor and winston have an Intimate Relationship that grew out of their fwb arrangement and that could be reasonably described as “dating” even if / though they don’t refer to it as such. (taylor and lauren’s relationship is canonical; winston’s relationships are just wishful thinking on our part. we’re still right tho.) so, the remaining relationships:

taylor & ben: they’ve known each other the longest out of any of the people involved, having met well before winston or lauren ever came on the scene, and worked together at axe cap for two seasons (approximately two years... maybe... we never really know) and they’re good friends already. ben can be a little intimidated by taylor at times (see: them inadvertently making him cry during a performance review) but he trusts them, generally, and sure doesn’t have any hard feelings toward them for leaving axe cap. (see: “hi taylor! hi mafee!”) taylor trusts ben as well and thinks he’s one of the best and smartest people at axe cap, hence them trying to hire him for mase cap. among other things (e.g., their shared history, what’s going on at work now, how much axe sucks), they bond over how woefully underappreciated winston is, like seriously, how are they the only two people who get this?

winston & lauren: though they’re coworkers, their specific roles don’t bring them together all that much, and winston kind of thinks of lauren as just being Good at existing in all the ways he isn’t. she’s cool and likable and well-liked, so much so that her whole job is to win people over with her personality and her friends and her willingness to party so that they’ll give her (well, her company) tons of money. meanwhile, winston is the guy who (in many people’s minds) just sits at his desk and does math on his computer, except for when he’s saying weird things that make people dislike him. (and, depending on what you’re assuming the timeline of winston’s various relationships is like, it’s entirely possible that taylor and lauren getting together prompted taylor to sit down with winston and tell him “hey, i’m Dating someone now, and i sure don’t wanna be cheating on them, so, we probably shouldn’t be friends with benefits anymore,” which does not do wonders for his self-esteem.) in short: winston doesn’t dislike lauren, but he sure expects her to dislike him. that isn’t necessarily true / universal (see: her returning his first attempt at a high five during fight night though she rebuffed the second, her being on the Same Wavelength about the injustice of compensation via asphyxiation though she was later insisting that it was Not his money in any sense), and certainly once they try to have a more Personal relationship given that they’re both involved with taylor it goes just fine. winston’s directness and sometimes unusual turns of phrase don’t really faze lauren, since interacting with a wide range of people is her Thing and since “direct and unusual” is also how taylor communicates, and obviously lauren’s just fine with it coming from them.

now THAT is wisdom. okay let’s get cracking

2. How do they wake up next to each other? Ex - Tangled in each other’s arms? Is one falling off the bed?

great opportunity to invoke the massively multiplayer bed sharing scenario, wherein all four of them decide to stay the night at someone’s apartment for the first time (most likely taylor’s since it’s almost certainly the Swankiest) and originally pair off, intending for one pair to take the Main Bed and for the other to take over a sofa bed or a futon or the guest bedroom or something, even just sleep on the floor if it’s too crowded… but it’s november in new york, and it’s cold even with the Swanky central heat and a space heater or two around, and when whoever’s on the sofa/futon/floor shows up to the main bed to say “hey can we just squeeze in with you actually” they’re welcomed with open arms. they wake up pretty squeezed together indeed (even a king size bed is a bit small for four adults) and at least one person probably has someone else’s hair in their mouth but no one minds too much.

6. When one of them gets a new outfit, how does the other react?

lauren dresses the most Stylishly out of all of the four, so she’s most likely to both get new outfits and to show them off to the others, to general approval… walk walk fashion baby. ben & taylor both go for fairly generic Conservative Business Apparel, so they don’t really get / show off New Outfits but occasionally winston or lauren will notice and say “hey is that a new shirt / sweater / suit? it suits you ;)”. and winston is normally dressing for maximum comfort, but there eventually comes a day when he both needs to buy + wear a suit and can afford to get one that’s nicely tailored - and when ben sees the result he’s absolutely flabbergasted, in an Oh No He Was Already Hot But Now He’s Even Hotter way. taylor’s reaction is a bit more restrained but they’re still very impressed. 

13. What small quirks do they love about each other?

listing each person by their Beloved Quirk(s):

lauren: on some nights when she’s not out partying For The Fund, she’ll be up at one in the morning in someone’s apartment having a bowl of cereal. they’ll walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water or turn off the light and she’ll just be at the counter placidly munching some frosted flakes. they all have spare keys to each other’s places so it’s fine really.

ben: sometimes while leading the group in Cooking, or just handling it himself while everyone is chilling / clearing and setting the table, he’ll hum / sing / dance along to whatever song someone’s playing from their phone, or just to whatever song is stuck in his head.

taylor: they do the silverware-stacking thing (the thing initiated by their d*d) to pass the time while everyone’s out together and waiting for dinner sometimes, and eventually lauren asks about it, and soon enough everyone’s stacking silverware. the waiters are only slightly perplexed.