winter parrot writes

Sal snorted, lobbing a foam football at Tommy's head. He caught it and whipped it back, wincing when Sal actually had to take a step back.

"Right," Sal said, rolling his eyes. "Normal guys can do that."

"When I retire—"

"If you really wanted to retire, Tommy, you would have done it years ago. We're not the only superheroes in the world. We're not even the only superheroes in the city," Sal pressed. "You like being a superhero, admit it. And even if you did retire, we'd still be your best friends. We have to meet him sometime. Or do you really expect, six months down the line, that it's not going anywhere?"

"We have powers, Sal. If it goes anywhere, it's just going to end up putting Evan in danger one day."

"So then cut him loose before either of you ends up deeper in this than you already are," Sal said flatly. He watched Tommy tense up and tossed the foam football back at his head. "Introduce us before he thinks you're a friendless loser or Donato stalks him at his job."

"How close is she to doing that?" Tommy rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Let's just say the kid makes fantastic brownies and leave it at that, shall we?"

"Whatcha working on?"

Buck startled at the question and threw his hands down over the sketch he was working on before he realized it was Athena standing in front of him. Well, that was way better than his boss. Or a customer. Or Tommy.

"Personal project," he told her.

"A project? What kind of project?" Athena asked, leaning across the counter and trying to get a better look at his sketch.

Buck made a face at her and shoved it into his apron pocket before she could yank it out of his hands. "Hopefully something that leads to a new job to replace that old delivery one I quit," he told her, which was as close as he could get to talking about superpowers with Athena in public.

"Sounds interesting. Why don't we get together and you can show me?" Athena offered. Her voice was intentionally light, but he could read the warning in her stance. Buck wasn't going to be allowed to run wild without her permission.

It made sense. He didn't have to like it.

"Hey, Evan's happily dating someone," Tracy interjected, sliding up to the counter and positioning herself at Buck's shoulder. If she was a cat, her fur would be standing straight up.

Buck swallowed a laugh at the thought of Tracy trying to go toe to toe with Athena Grant in a misguided thought that she was — what, harassing him?

"And I'm happily married. What's your point?" Athena asked, standing up straighter.

"I want you to stop flirting with my staff."

"Stop fl—" Athena's mouth snapped shut and she levelled a glare at Buck.

"I told you everyone thinks that," Buck protested. It wasn't his fault that everyone from his boss to the AFO thought that they were flirting. …How could he get people to stop thinking that? Because if he ever ran into one of the AFO out of costume and Athena was there, maybe they'd make the same connection and his identity would get blown out of the water, which would kind of defeat the purpose of faking his own death in the first place.

"Big Sister program." Athena stared flatly over the top of her sunglasses at Tracy.

"He's my Little Brother," Athena continued, when there was no follow up from her.

"Pretty sure you're both too old for that program."

Buck shuffled closer to Tracy, forcing her to take a step back so she and Athena weren't eye to eye anymore. As entertaining as this was, he wasn't excited to actually referee a fight between the two of them.

"I've known Buckaroo a long time."

Tracy narrowed her eyes at Athena, thrusting her latte across the counter. "Thanks for coming today, enjoy your coffee."

"Did I just get banned from your coffee shop?" Athena asked Buck, her lips pressed together.

"Tracy's having a rough week," Buck apologized. "You're fine. Have a cookie, we'll see you next week."

"My place, Thursday. After dinner."

Buck saluted her. "See you then, Sarge."

Bianca frowned at him from the drive-thru window. "Better hope your boyfriend isn't the jealous type."

"We're not doing anything!"

"Tracy thinks Athena was hitting on me at work."

Tommy nearly choked on his beer, and he looked over at Evan in shock. "Tracy — what? Is she… does she need glasses?"

"After today I'm starting to think so," Evan hummed, tapping his beer bottle against Tommy's. "You want another?"

"Oh, are you offering me one of my own beers?" Tommy teased him, sitting up a little straighter. "Sal wants to meet you."

Evan perked up. "Your mysterious best friend who I was starting to think didn't exist wants to meet me?" He asked, beaming at Tommy. "I want to meet him too."

"Gina and Lucy want to come too," Tommy warned him, pressing his lips together. He tried to smile when he realized he was frowning, but based on the expression on Evan's face he hadn't quite pulled it off. "You don't have to."

"When have you ever known me to do anything I didn't want to?" Evan asked softly, putting his beer down and swinging a leg over Tommy's, settling down in his lap. "Unless there's a reason you don't want me to meet your friends."

"Well," Tommy said, considering the question. There were lots of reasons he didn't want Sal and company to meet Evan. Evan's face fell and he sat back on his heels, hiding a frown behind his beer. Tommy startled, shaking his head and grabbing for Evan's hand. "They're assholes and I don't want them to scare you off," Tommy hurried to reassure him. "It has nothing to do with you."

Evan grinned at Tommy, his eyes sparkling like he'd just cracked the funniest joke Evan had ever heard. "Takes more than a few pointed questions to scare me off," he promised, ducking down to kiss Tommy briefly. "I'm off on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, if you four can get the time off for dinner."

"Fingers crossed," Tommy agreed. Maybe he could lean on the San Diego heroes to cover for a night, just in case someone decided to try something. Because Evan had been plenty understanding of cancelled dates so far, but having to reschedule the first 'meet the family' date probably wouldn't play as well.

"But hey, you're firefighters, I understand if something goes late and we have to cancel. Just do your best to let me know as early as you can."

"I'd hate to leave you on your own," Tommy murmured, tipping his head back and leaning up for another kiss.

"Mm, I'll keep myself entertained somehow," Evan assured him, grinning into the kiss. "I know where your spare key is and I'm really good at taking pictures."

Tommy groaned, a shudder running through him at the thought of Evan taking photos of himself in Tommy's bed and sending them to Tommy. "Can we skip the awkward dinner with my best friend and go straight to that plan?"

"No!" Evan exclaimed, laughing. "I've been waiting for this for a while, we're going out together. We can do that some other time."

"Look, I'm just saying—" Buck pushed himself up using Tommy's thigh, gesturing with his beer bottle. "Maybe the guy deserved it."

Tommy lifted the bottle out of his hands before it could spill. "Next thing you know you'll be waxing poetic about the death penalty," he said wryly.

"I just think," Buck said seriously, holding up a finger. He met Lucy's gaze, flushing a little when she grinned at him. "That the guy had already tried to kill the AFO on multiple occasions. Crosswind in particular, and if Kestrel did kill him—"

"If?" Sal asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Like the cops have never accidentally killed someone and then blamed it on someone else," Buck pronounced, glancing around. "You're a lawyer, right Gina? So, anyway, if Kestrel did it, then it was just in the interest of public safety. It's not like villains have the best interests of civilians in mind when they're out criming."

Criming, Tommy mouthed to himself.

"Do you always get philosophical when you drink?" Lucy wondered.

"Only when it's just me and my boyfriend's friends and I'm nervous about making a good impression." Buck froze. "Uh. Can we pretend I didn't say that?"

"Nope. We're gonna use that against ya for the rest of your life," Sal winked at him. "Cause that's how long Tommy wants to keep you around for."

"As long as you're teasing both of us," Buck hummed, tilting his head back to grin up at Tommy.

"If he's bothering you, let me know. I'll take him out back and rough him up," Tommy murmured in his ear, making Buck shiver.

Buck laughed, shaking his head. "I like your friends."

"This one's a keeper, Kinard," Gina chimed in.

"What are you three doing?" Tommy asked, coming to a stop when he walked in on them crowded around the whiteboard. He hadn't been able to stop them from keeping score about whether or not he was going to tell Evan about his job, but he'd really been hoping that they would get bored of it after a week.

They'd been keeping score two months.

"Trying to figure out how many points to give your boy for that speech he made last night about why Kestrel is so cool and probably didn't commit murder, not to mention just how dreamy Kestrel is," Lucy said, gnawing on the end of her marker. "Gina?"

"It probably would have created enough doubt on a jury to hang them," Gina mused, tapping a finger against her lips. "Would have saved you twenty five to life, at least for a while, so…"

"We are absolutely not giving him twenty five points," Sal interjected.

"Even if they go towards the side that says Tommy should tell him?" Lucy asked.

"It's been months. It's not like you've got any other secrets that'll take the edge off of keeping this one," Sal continued, narrowing his eyes at Tommy. "Unless you've got a secret marriage even I don't know about."

Tommy narrowed his eyes at Sal. "Why is that the first example that you came up with?"

"I dunno, Tommy, probably because if you could get away with it none of us would know anything about your life in the first place. You should work on that."

"What's this?" Athena asked, picking Buck's suit up between her fingers and squinting at him.

"It's a suit," Buck said, fighting the urge to snatch it back out of her grasp. "You can at least look like you're not holding rancid garbage."

"I thought we talked about the fact that you can't just pop up with a new name and the same powers without everyone catching on to the fact that you might be the villain that died rather dramatically a few months ago," Athena told him, her voice softening. She looked at the suit again, pulling at one of the seams. "Who made this?"

"I did. With some spare fabric I bought from Gerrard's guy. —What? I knew at some point I wouldn't have access to his supplies so I planned to have some of my own."

"Always thinking ahead, aren't you Buck?"

"With the exception of signing that contract in the first place, sure," Buck scratched at the back of his neck, shrugging. He'd always wonder what would have happened if he'd showed up in Los Angeles as a regular powered person and run into the AFO, but there were some perks to the way everything had ended up shaking out. Like Tommy.

Athena smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "Everyone's allowed to make a few mistakes when they're in their twenties, kid. I'm sorry you can't use the suit, though."

"No, that's the best part!" Buck said enthusiastically. "My powers are heat based. Fire is the easiest thing to make, but—" he glanced around the empty house, waving Athena into the backyard. "Stay by the door, just in case," Buck said, rubbing his hands together. "Do you know what else is really hot, Athena?"

"You better not be about to create lava here, Buckley. We just landscaped two years ago." Athena glanced back into the house, hesitating on the threshold.

"Relax, it's not that hot." Buck rubbed his hands together, grinning widely at her. "Have I ever put you in danger before?"

"I seem to remember getting kidnapped more than once."

"Hey, I told you right away that it wasn't a real kidnapping!"

"You tied me up, Buck."

"Are we re-litigating our entire relationship or do you want to see what I can do?"

Athena rolled her eyes, knocking a fist against the doorframe. "Show me what you got, Matches."

Buck blew into his hands and held them out to his sides. "Let there be light," he said, snapping his fingers.

Lightning crackled between his hands and Athena jumped, her jaw dropping. "Buck! Be careful!"

"It's okay," Buck said, clapping his hands together. The lightning sparked and dissipated, vanishing against his skin. "I'm pretty good with the control."

"I'd prefer it if you said that you had perfect control," Athena drawled, taking a cautious step out into the backyard and relaxing when she didn't get shocked. "And are you gonna electrocute everyone you run into as a hero, or…?"

"Pfft. I know how to aim around people. I never hit Kestrel, did I?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Athena asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Buck grimaced, conceding the point. She'd been around for all of their early interactions, and as much as Buck had always admired Kestrel, he hadn't wanted to go easy on him for a variety of reasons. He'd never set out to hurt him, bu he'd also never pulled a punch if Kestrel had moved into his line of fire.

"Okay, well, I never hit him with intent."

"Kestrel's also indestructible and lightning is ten times hotter than fire."

"Why are you trying to shoot this down before I even get a chance to try it out?" Buck asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Athena, I want to do something good with this. I found out about my powers and then I met Gerrard and — I want to be more than a screwup. If people even still think about Firestarter, I'm just a bad guy who had some bad luck. I can help. You don't even have to do anything! Just let the AFO know I'm a friendly."

"I'll think about it," Athena promised, taking another step into the backyard. "You know that even if you don't go back to being a super in public, you're not a screwup. Don't you?"

"Yeah. Obviously." Buck shrugged off the look she was giving him, heading back inside and holding up the suit again. "So, you never said. Do you think this looks good on me?"

"Are you sure you don't want one of those boob windows?" Athena asked dryly, immediately making a face when Buck lit up. "No, don't do that." She tilted her head, giving the suit a more thorough look. "Well, you have a design and Firestarter was just shades of red, so that's good. And everyone has a mask, so… as long as yours covers your birthmark, we can call that a good deal. I'd prefer that it cover your hair again, but…"

"Right, we don't want anyone lusting over me when I'm taken."

She rolled her eyes, flicking a finger in his direction. "On that note. Since you flirted with Kestrel so much as Firestarter, you might not want to do that this time around."

"But no one else does. Athena, it should be a crime that Kestrel doesn't get flirted with by every eligible bachelor and bachelorette in the city. You know — you know, you should really start arresting people for that," Buck said, warming up to the subject. "I mean, does anyone flirt with him in his non-mask life? Do you know?"

"I think his boyfriend takes care of that, Buck," Athena sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Speaking of boyfriends, just what are you going to tell Tommy if you start running around in spandex?"

"I hadn't gotten that far yet, actually. I wanted to make sure you'd be on my side if I went out first."

Athena sighed, shaking her head once. "Put all of that away before Bobby gets home. Do you want anything to drink?"

"I wouldn't say no to a sandwich, actually. Using the powers tends to make me hungry," Buck told her, shoving the suit back into his backpack and zipping it up. "I think it's because heat burns calories."

Athena paused, looking at Buck over her shoulder. "…Just how much did you eat as Firestarter?"

Buck scratched his chin, considering. "I mean, I didn't really keep track, but I guess I kept up with professional athletes? The employee discount at the coffee shop comes in pretty handy. And then when I stopped being Firestarter, I just sort of stopped eating so much."

"And Tommy never noticed you were packing away that much food?" Athena asked, amused.

"Well, we only started dating like a week before Firestarter died, and we weren't really spending a lot of our time together eating." Buck leered playfully, ducking behind the island when Athena launched an oven mitt at his head. "No, I made sure that I ate before I saw him so any meals were a normal size. Not really a safe way to explain why I ate like a linebacker, huh?"

He paused, sitting down on a stool and scratching his fingernail lightly against the counter. "Let's hope I don't go broke on a barista's salary while I'm superheroing. Does the AFO have a food budget?"

"I haven't even said that I'm going to talk to them about you."

Buck dropped his chin in his hands, beaming at Athena when she put a roast beef sandwich down in front of him. "No, you haven't," he agreed cheerfully, taking a bite. "But you're going to."

"Really? Why am I going to do that?"

"Because you like me. We're friends."

Athena froze. "Oh my god, we are."

"Could be worse," Buck consoled her, amused. "We could li—"

"Don't you say it, Buckley."

"—ve together," Buck finished as Bobby walked into the house. "Heya, Cap."

Bobby made a show of looking around the living room before kissing Athena's cheek. "Did I miss a memo about hosting?"

"Nah, I just came over to ask Athena if she could be a reference for a new job I'm hoping to get." Buck wrapped the second half of the sandwich in a paper towel and shoved the last bite of the first half into his mouth, saluting Bobby. "I'll let you get back to hanging out, because if you're off that means Tommy is too."

"Nice seeing you," Bobby offered, smiling bemusedly when Buck scooped up his backpack. "Does Tommy's boyfriend often stop by while we're on shift?" Buck heard him ask Athena.

"Hey, Buck was my barista before he was Tommy's boyfriend."

"That doesn't really answer my question, Athena."

"I can make coffee or I can take out the trash, and we had a rush!" Buck called over his shoulder, muscling the back door open as Bianca kept grumbling at him. "Oh, hey, you can't be back here," he said, catching sight of someone lighting a cigarette in the shadows of the alley. "This is private property. You can smoke around the front."

"I could, but I couldn't talk to you out there," they said, and Buck froze. They blew out a cloud of smoke and met his gaze, and their eyes shimmered as they smiled at him.

"…You know I hate it when you sneak up on me, N," Buck said faintly, taking a step back. He'd never seen this face before. "How did you find me? Does he…"

"You've been serving me coffee since you started working here," Nullity said, taking a step towards him. "He doesn't know anything. Your friends burned my contract and I haven't talked to him since."

"Right, but how did you know that—" Buck gestured at his face.

"I can change the molecules of my body at will. Things like masks don't really stop me from seeing what's underneath them," Nullity offered, drifting closer. They paused in front of Buck, their expression shifting to a face that he absolutely recognized, given that they'd worn it every time they'd met up with Firestarter.

"Heya, Nat," Buck offered cheekily, and Nullity scowled at him before blowing smoke directly in his face.

"I do not look like Black Widow," Nullity grumbled.

"Yeah, you do." Buck said, laughing. "It's a good look, though."

"I wanted to let you know that I'm leaving town," Nullity continued, ignoring Buck's comments. They flicked the butt of their cigarette, ash drifting to the ground. "I won't be around to help if you run into trouble from now on."

"I think I can handle myself," Buck said, torn between being pleased that Nullity had been worried about him and offended that they thought he couldn't take care of himself.

"You're too nice," Nullity said, leaning in. "You don't hit first, hmm? So if someone hits harder, then you might have a problem."

"I went toe to toe with Kestrel on multiple occasions," Buck hissed.

"Neither one of you was trying your hardest," Nullity snorted, taking a step back. They stubbed their cigarette out on the wall and tucked it behind their ear, their face morphing back into the same man Buck had first seen in the alley.

"Do I get a number?" Buck asked, shaking his head. "You know, since you're so worried about me."

Nullity grinned, their teeth sharpening. "No point," they hummed. "You get into trouble loudly. I'm sure I can find my way back here in time."

Buck wasn't sure if it was just getting darker out or if Nullity was doing something to the light in the alley, but by the time they'd finished speaking they had completely disappeared from view.

"Get into trouble loudly," Buck grumbled, throwing the garbage bag into the dumpster and waiting for the clang when it hit the bottom. "And what do you call what you used to do, huh?" He wondered, just in case Null was hanging around out of sight. "Geez."

"We should go out," Buck declared, stopping in the doorway to Tommy's living room.

"I could have sworn we were going out," Tommy replied dryly, looking Buck up and down so intently he felt like he was going to combust. "Or do the kids call it something different these days?"

"The kids— stop trying to pretend you're old. And stop trying to change the subject."

"Trying to change the subject? I didn't even say anything."

"You're—" Buck gestured at him. "Looking at me."

"My mother raised me to always look at the person who was talking to me," Tommy teased him, smiling lazily.

"I — okay, I want to hear about this mother later — am serious, Tommy. When was the last time we actually went out? And the introduction to Sal and Gina and Lucy doesn't count. If there are more than two people, it's not a date."

"I believe both polyamorous and people who like going on double dates would disagree with you."

Buck tried to hold on to the grumpiness he was feeling but had to laugh at that one. "Tommy, stop being so…"

"Pedantic?"

"Pedicktic, maybe," Buck joked back, flopping onto the couch besides Tommy. "Anyway. My point is that we should, you know, do something that isn't just takeout and sex on the couch."

"If you want to have sex against the wall, all you have to do is ask."

Tommy was laughing silently before Buck reached out and smacked his chest. Tommy caught his hand and kissed his knuckles, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes deepening.

"Okay, sorry, I couldn't resist."

"Yeah, that's our problem! You look like that and expect me to share you with the rest of the world?" Buck asked, shivering at the gentle touch.

"And you look like that and expect me to share you with the world?" Tommy volleyed back, shaking his head mock sadly. "It's just a tragedy."

"So, dinner? Drinks? Somewhere public?" Buck pressed.

"Absolutely."

"Sometime soon?" Buck continued.

"Right now?" Tommy countered, arching an eyebrow at him.

"…Maybe tomorrow," Buck decided, squeezing Tommy's hand and smirking at him. "Those are the kind of clothes I want to get you out of, not the kind I want to take you out in."

"On the couch?" Tommy asked, mock offended. "I thought you were tired of that."

"Ha, ha," Buck deadpanned, standing up. "The bedroom is fine."

"Be honest. Did you look up hot date spots in Los Angeles?" Buck asked, leaning across the table and dropping his voice. "This doesn't exactly strike me as your speed?"

Tommy glanced around, gesturing to his left. "A guy can't like a nice rooftop terrace?"

Buck looked in that direction, sighing when the table full of finance bros beside them leered at their waitress. "Well, some guys can't," he said ruefully. If he was out on his own he'd direct a little heat at their feet, get them jumping around. It'd distract them from the waitress and hopefully get them kicked out, but he was with Tommy. He didn't want to risk Tommy noticing anything, because then it might get back to Athena that he was still using his powers, and then she'd probably (rightfully) walk back the reluctant offer to talk to the AFO about him.

Tommy stared too, a furrow between his eyebrows. Buck wanted to reach out and smooth his fingers down through it until Tommy stopped frowning.

"Some people shouldn't be allowed out in public until they've taken a Miss Manners course," Tommy said dryly, hooking his ankle around Buck's under the table.

"I mean, right now I'm having an idea that would get me thrown in one of those classes," Buck offered, reaching out and catching Tommy's hand in his. "But I'm being very responsible and refraining." From the urge to drag Firestarter out of retirement and the urge to drag Tommy into the bathroom. Could Buck give himself a gold star? He deserved one.

Tommy grinned back at him, rubbing his thumb over the back of Buck's hand. "You're so hot when you're being responsible."

"I want you to know that you're tempting me right now," Buck told him. "It's actually kind of superhuman, how much I'm resisting you right now."

"I'll find you one of those domino masks," Tommy joked.

Buck laughed, ready to tease him some more, and the door to the terrace exploded in a blast of light. "Ladies and gentlemen! If everyone would kindly make their way to the far side of the roof, I'm here to liberate you from your valuables."

No way. Buck groaned, exchanging a tired stare with Tommy. "I regret saying we needed to spend more time in public," Buck whispered.

He'd never worried about getting held hostage when he was working for Gerrard; he'd known when everything was happening and he'd had the ability to sneak away. Now he was just… Evan Buckley. And Tommy was here. How was Buck supposed to protect him if he couldn't use his powers?

"Come on," Buck whispered, using the grip he already had on Tommy's hand to drag him along with the rest of the group. "I'm sure someone will show up soon. Or we'll be out a few bucks and he'll leave."

The guy looked like an evil Egon, plasma gun strapped to his back and Buck knew if he could get a little distance, he could make that sucker explode and keep him incapacitated until the cops showed up.

But he wasn't on his own and he couldn't do anything that would put Tommy in danger.

The finance bros jostled Buck, and the grip he had on Tommy's hand slipped. "Tommy—" Buck twisted, trying to find him. There! He could see the top of Tommy's head, and — oh no. That was the edge of the roof, that was the crowd panicking, that was Tommy going over— Buck pushed through the crowd, hoping that the roiling mass of people was big enough to cover him moving in the opposite direction, and he rolled over the edge of the roof, fire igniting under his feet. He let himself fall and spun around, looking frantically. Tommy couldn't have fallen all the way, yet, he still had time to grab him and then— there. A person in midair.

"Tommy?" Buck sputtered to a stop in front of Kestrel, who was halfway between the date outfit Tommy had been wearing and the uniform Kestrel always wore.

"Evan?" Tommy's jaw dropped and he glanced down, taking in the fire. "…Firestarter?"

"Oh my god. I'm gonna be so weird about this later," Buck promised, his hands itching to touch. He reached out and then shook his head, pulling away. "No, we have to deal with him first."

"I have to deal with him," Tommy said firmly. "You're dead. And a villain. And you don't have a mask."

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Buck snapped his fingers and the fire crackled, growing larger and changing until it was lightning dancing across his skin. He pulled a piece loose and pressed it over his eyes, throwing finger guns at Tommy. "First one up there is a rotten egg," he teased. His lightning let off a sonic boom as he took off, and it was enough to have everyone on the roof looking in his direction when he rose above it.

"Hey, Moodbuster," Buck called, lightning flashing between his fingers. "What happens to a robber who gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else," he finished cheerfully, launching a bolt at the guy's feet.

He yelped and dodged away just in time for Tommy to come arrowing in, grabbing him off the roof.

"Party pooper!" Buck called after Tommy, waving at the crowd. "If I know anything about that guy, the cops are going to be here any second to take statements and then you can all get back to your dinner," he saluted the crowd and took off around the corner of the building, looping back to one of the empty corners and landing. He dismissed the lightning with a wave, rejoining the other diners and making his way back to his table. Tommy would be able to explain his absence much more easily if they weren't both gone.

It had been chaotic enough that they might go unnoticed, but Buck wasn't about to risk it.

He was working his way through Tommy's wine and his appetizer by the time Tommy came back, Athena hot on his heels. "I hear we had some excitement up here," she said, flipping her notebook open. "Now, I don't suppose either of you can tell me exactly when the robber came onto the terrace?"

this has the immediate benefit of making his business look more exclusive, and he books up three months in advance and manages to pay molly the same amount of money that he was before.

it also means that he ends up with a lot of free lunches from the restaurants that he does deliveries for. in return, he offers the owners a free flight for birthdays and holidays.

his favourite by far to drive for though is the florist. amelia's kitty corner to the air field and her partner owen is a rather flamboyant man who takes one look at tommy and invites him out to the local bar. tommy gets inducted into the local queer scene with little fanfare and even less ribbing when it takes him a long time to actually do anything more than admit that he likes men.

after he's been flying for a few years, he's able to stop running deliveries for everyone on his off days. except for amelia. there's something about the way that people react when he drops off flowers that make it worth it to give up a day or two of his week. he figures he'll keep driving for her until she says she doesn't need him anymore (molly thinks that he's insane for still driving at all, but she's been calling him that since she showed up for the interview and found out that the tourist operation was him and a mechanic that he paid by the hour when he needed a tune up so it doesn't carry a lot of weight)

one day amelia calls him in a panic because she's just gotten a rush order for twenty deliveries and her normal driver is off writing an exam. tommy's spent eight hours doing loops of the city and he was planning on heading home, but he agrees to do the drop off.

it's not until he's pulling up that he realises the address is for a fire station. it's one that he's relatively familiar with; his old roommate sal used to work there but he hasn't thought about it much since sal moved in with his girlfriend. he's not sure why someone would order twenty flower arrangements to a fire station, but hey. it's not his money.

he muscles four of the arrangements into his arms and kicks the car door closed behind him, walking towards the open garage door. "hello? delivery for uh—"

half a dozen firefighters pop up on the balcony and the oldest one holds up a hand, asking tommy to wait. "chim, buck, maybe we can give the nice man a hand, hmm?"

"great, because i've got another sixteen in the car." tommy grins. "someone have a birthday or something?"

"hen, stevens, roger, and… matthews. looks like it's all hands on deck. welcome to the 118. i'm captain nash."

"tommy," tommy says, handing the first of the arrangements off to the two men scrambling down the stairs. well, the shortest one comes down the stairs and the other comes down the pole and tommy thinks very hard about his first ride in the vomit comet so he doesn't embarrass himself.

"cap, we should make buck get all of these!" the shorter man calls up, brandishing the card tommy had with them. "they're all for him."

"evan buckley?" tommy confirms, and the other firefighter nods, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. "ev- uh, yeah, that's me."

"chim, i think—" an alarm goes off and captain nash frowns. "buck, man behind. tommy, tell me you're not blocking the driveway, or you're about to need a new car."

"nope, in the parking lot." evan — tommy's going to have stop calling him the really cute one in his head, and it's been awhile since tommy had a date and that fact is coming back to bite him right now — pulls tommy to the wall as the fire truck and the ambulance speed out of the way.

"man, i hate being man behind," evan mutters, shifting one of the arrangements to shake tommy's hand. "you better bring them up this way." he leaves tommy with two of the plants and starts back up the stairs, and tommy keeps his eyes firmly focused on the step in front of him and not the way evan's back muscles shift every time he takes a step.

"so, evan buckley, why has the city of los angeles decided to grace you with nearly two dozen floral arrangements?" tommy asks, putting his down on the long table in the middle of the loft.

evan heaves a sigh. "some reporter saw me on a scene and asked me a few questions, and i guess i have some admirers now."

"i wouldn't think that was a bad thing?"

"they're all very grateful when the rescue happens. then the shine…" evan shrugs. "tends to wear off."

"well, until it does, you'll have enough flowers to keep this place looking cheerful."

tommy makes himself stick to asking generic questions while they bring the other arrangements in, fighting the urge to ask as many weird and invasive questions as he can. he's known evan buckley for five minutes and he wants to know everything about him. the tiny owen in his head starts laughing at him. this is bad. tommy's never had a crush like this, and he was in high school during the boy band era. "—what do you think?"

tommy tunes back into the conversation and realises he's lost the plot. "actually, i was thinking that uh. well, it's no flowers, but if you want to see the city from a different angle, i can make that happen," he says, handing evan one of his own business cards.

"kinardcopters? you know a helicopter pilot?"

tommy grins. "something like that. if you ever want to go up, i'll make sure it happens."

"i'll think about it." evan glances around the empty loft. "it's pretty hot out. you want a drink before you go? there are a lot of snacks."

"i—" there's the roar of a loud engine and tommy reflexively glances down to the floor as the engine comes back in. "i should get going, actually. this was my last run of the day." and his first, but no one at the firehouse needs to know that.

"okay." evan wilts for a moment and then perks up. "thanks for dropping all this off. i don't know what i'm going with it, but they're gorgeous."

the rest of the firefighters wave at tommy on the way out and he waits in the parking lot long enough to make sure that the driver has gotten out of the truck before leaving himself; he doesn't want to be a pancake.

he doesn't spend the next week checking his phone every ten minutes to see if evan has called and he missed it, because that would be extremely juvenile and tommy is in his mid-thirties and he is not in junior high and he does not have a crush. really, owen. no he doesn't. his friends are awful. he makes the mistake of mentioning the teasing to sal and the guy laughs him off the phone. this is why they don't hang out much.

the massive amounts of flowers seem to have been a one-off, but tommy gets a call at the end of the week to do a delivery at the firehouse. it's a different shift; no evan to be seen. tommy drops the flowers off and bolts, and tells amelia he'll be happy to keep going on those deliveries. (maybe he has a crush.) the next week there are three arrangements, and still no evan. the third time, the truck is out but evan's in the loft. this time it's an enormous aloe plant, and evan's already smiling sheepishly when tommy pulls in. "you think this is a firefighter pun?" tommy wonders as he heads up the stairs. "since aloe is used for burns?"

"i hadn't even considered that," evan says, beaming down at him. "we should probably leave this one here, then, just in case." he takes it out of tommy's hands and turns away to put it on a windowsill, and tommy shakes his hands out and tries to ignore the tingling. he lets himself accept evan's offer of a glass of water and gets treated to a history of flower arrangements, courtesy of wikipedia and about a dozen botany blogs.

evan's admirers have switched to potted plants. at least they have a chance of staying alive, tommy thinks to himself when he stops by every week. not every plant stays at the firehouse, but any of the ones that have a connection to fire (or are just orange, red, or yellow) stay. the windowsills are getting crowded. "you've got an awfully dedicated admirer," tommy says, handing the latest over to evan. "you two must be pretty serious."

"i don't even know who they're from," evan says, fishing the card out of the pot and handing it to tommy as he takes the tiny money tree and tries to find some free space on one of the sills.

tommy slides his thumb under the flap and tracks evan across the loft, pushing the card out of the envelope. "i mean, you probably want to know, just in case they're following y…" tommy blinks down at the paper in his hand. "uh. this is."

evan scratches the back of his neck. "i'm not reading this wrong, right? i've caught you staring at my ass like a dozen times."

"ten, max," tommy argues automatically before flushing. "i'm sorry. i didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"i'm not uncomfortable. if i was i wouldn't have been ordering plants for the last three months. the — the first few times were legit. but the aloe and everything after were uh—" evan shrugs. "i wanted to see you, but i didn't know how to uh. ask?"

"this is pretty good," tommy admits, tucking the card into his wallet. to tommy, can i take you out to dinner? evan buckley. it's one of the sweetest things he's ever gotten and he's going to tuck it away with the rest of the things that makes his heart skip a beat when he thinks about them. "when's a good day for dinner?"

"uh, oh! i'm off on saturday. well, i get off friday night, but i'll have been on for twenty four and i don't want to fall asleep on you, so saturday. saturday is good."

"i'd hate for you to fall asleep on me," tommy agrees, smiling helplessly. it gets wider when evan blushes at him. tommy pats his pockets and pulls out another business card, scribbling his personal cell phone number on the back, and the address of the airfield underneath it. "meet me here three hours before dinner, okay?"

"wait, you don't even know what time—"

"any time is good," tommy promises, taking a step back as the fire truck comes back in. "you can let me know what time the reservation is."

"how do you even know i have a reservation?"

"because you like planning, evan."

"what's going on?" chim asks, leading the rest of them up into the loft. "tommy, hey. you got another delivery?"

"last one, i think," tommy agrees, smiling over at evan. "talk to you soon."

"ooh, you finally asked him," tommy hears hen crow as he heads down the stairs, and evan's "hen, stop! he can probably hear you!" follows him out of the station.

tommy's got a text from evan by the time he's gotten back to his house, and they spend the rest of the week talking about any little thing that gets their attention. tommy manages not to spill the beans about him being the pilot before evan shows up on saturday, and the surprised and delighted look on his face is worth all the texts he had to back out of in the meantime.

"you're the pilot?"

"if you'd called to set up a flight a few months ago, you probably could have saved yourself a few hundred dollars worth of plants," tommy agrees, leaning back against the door of the helicopter.

"but then i wouldn't have gotten a chance to woo you with all my random facts," evan protests.

"sweetheart, you would have had even more time to woo me," tommy promises, watching the way the flush on evan's face deepens at the endearment. "i had a crush on you the minute we ran into each other."

"aren't you a bit old to have a crush?" evan teases, taking a few steps closer until he's firmly in tommy's personal space.