Work Text:
“Fu-” hasty coughing erupts behind Ana and she doesn’t need to turn around to know it’s Kati, desperately trying to pretend she wasn’t just about to swear in the middle of a hall full of young, impressionable ears. “Wow.”
Ana also doesn’t need to check to know exactly where Kati is currently staring because she’s already got her eyes fixed there. If Ana had thought inviting the parents to Sports Day had been a bad idea…well, she clearly hadn’t remembered about Career Day.
“I know.” she comments mildly, tilting her head with a wistful sigh as Buck bends down to pass one of the smaller children a flyer.
“If I hadn’t totally sworn off men for a year after Malcolm, I would be all over that like a stripper on a pole.” Kati whispers in her ear, prompting Ana to choke (rather violently) on thin air. “Well, the whole gay and married thing put aside, of course.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s one out of two of the most unattainable people here.”
Kati huffs, shifting a little closer to Ana as she lets a few kids rush by, calling out a sharp, “No running!” that makes Ana chuckle. “Wait,” she continues, voice lowered once more, “Two?”
“You didn’t know?” Ana actually raises her eyebrows at this, turning to face a very lost looking Kati.
Kati shakes her head, squinting at her. “Know what?”
Ana sighs, perhaps a little too exaggeratedly but who can actually blame her? Her best friend really can be an unobservant fool. “Eddie is here too!”
She gets the response she expected almost immediately; Kati’s eyes widen as she whips her head around, scanning the nearby stalls in search of Buck’s other-half. She rakes a hand through her blond curls, lifting herself up onto her tiptoes to check over the ridiculous amount of boards and banners some of the visitors have brought with them (mostly just those trying to make a boring office job seem much more exciting).
“Oh my ever-loving God!” Kati groans, dropping her head to Ana’s shoulder for a split second as she gathers herself together again. “He’s in uniform too.”
Ana laughs, patting her friend’s back sympathetically. “Uh huh, it is Career Day. He’s a firefighter, what did you expect?”
“For his ass not to look that good, Ana! I wasn’t ready! How am I supposed to go home to my limp salad and wine when I am now privy to the knowledge that Eddie Diaz has an absolute ass and a half?!”
The snort that escapes Ana is most definitely not ladylike but she can’t find it within herself to care. Besides, the words leaving Kati’s mouth are much worse.
Ana is just averting her gaze from Eddie and his very distracting ass back to Buck, who, of course, turned up in full dress uniform – seriously, who knew a guy could look so good in an all-white suit with a cap and golden detail to match his unearthly golden hair…and, she’s getting off track again – when there’s a voice from her left that startles her.
“Are we talking about Christopher Diaz’s dads?” Mike smirks, crouching down to stay close to Kati and Ana, a playful glint in his eyes as he casts them back towards Buck with a very approving hum. “That suit really is a fine fit.”
“Mike,” Kati scoffs, nudging his ribs with her elbow and paying no mind when he yelps, “you literally broke up with Robbie last week!”
Mike shrugs. “So? Does that mean I can’t appreciate good eye candy when I see it?”
“You dated Robbie for, like, two years! Aren’t you supposed to be heartbroken?”
“Hun,” Mike fixes Kati with a pitying look, “I’ve already burnt all of his designer shirts and finished off all of the alcohol in the house – yes, even the year old Baileys. I’ve never felt better!” He slings an arm around Ana’s shoulders and pulls her into his side, spinning them so they can both subtly stare as Buck lets one of the children try on his hat. “So, you think any of his buddies are single?”
Ana laughs, hitting Mike in the chest.
“What!” he gasps, tutting at her with a disapproval that could rival her own mother’s. “I’m being serious! That redhead in the back would look really good with my new navy bedspread.”
“Oh my God, Mike! You are the worst!” Ana snorts, again, as Kati struggles hard to keep her laughter quiet.
“Oh, I’m not. You should’ve seen Janice when he walked in! I swear, there was literal drool down her chin as she watched him walk by reception. He smiled at her the second time he passed and, no word of a lie, I thought I was gonna need to call an ambulance here.”
“Janice?” Kati squawks, “No! She’s, like, fifty.”
Mike holds up a finger, shaking his head. “More like seventy.”
“No way!” Ana scoffs, sharing a look with Kati. But Mike is nodding, looking deadly serious.
“Way. She’s retiring next year.”
“I told you she was a cougar.” Kati sneers at Ana, smirk threatening to take over her face. Ana rolls her eyes, trying desperately to get the mental image of Janice and Buck sharing a bed out of her head. She really doesn’t need, nor want, to be thinking about that.
“Then, of course, you’ve got Megan and Hannah. Both, need I remind you, are still very much in denial about either of them being married. Or gay, for that matter. I caught Hannah flirting with Buck when they were setting up earlier; she was fully leant over that table and playing with her hair. It was embarrassing to watch.”
Megan and Hannah were the youngest of the teachers here, they both started last year – straight out of training, which they went through together. They’re practically joined at the hip, all false nails and sleek hair. Ana doesn’t dislike them but, if she had the choice between them two and Janice, she’d pick Janice over them any day. At least Janice has a sense of humour.
“Honestly, they brought it on themselves.” Mike continues to speak, still watching Buck as he laughs with one of his Navy SEAL friends. “I mean, who seriously thinks they can show up at a Career Day looking like that and not get fawned over. What’s worse, is that they’re both completely oblivious to it all.”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that Buck has absolutely no idea when anybody is flirting with him.” Kati adds, before gesturing at Ana. “I mean, look at this one! She’s been traipsing after him ever since they met and he still has no clue.”
“Hey! I have not been ‘traipsing after him’.” Ana attempts to defend herself but even she knows it’s a lost cause. She can’t help it, it’s not like it’s her fault that the universe decided to throw the world’s hottest (and sweetest) men at her feet and then proceeded to tell her she can’t touch. Everybody knows that making something forbidden only makes the heart want it more.
“Right,” Kati drawls out, pursing her lips and quirking a brow in the annoying way that she does when she knows Ana is full of shit, “and I didn’t binge watch Dance Moms last night. C’mon, Ana, don’t be stupid.”
Ana groans, going to hit Kati (already planning to tell any nearby kids that what she’s doing is wrong and definitely cannot be repeated), when Mike pulls away from her with a rather determined clap of his hands. She lowers her hovering fist, ignoring Kati as she sticks her tongue out at her, and looks at Mike in silent question.
“I’m going to go talk to him.” Mike says, smiling wide. He straightens his shirt, smoothing a palm over his hair, and nods. Ana isn’t sure if she’s heard him right. Mike isn’t exactly one to actually go and speak with the people he admires from afar.
“What? Buck?” Kati asks, glancing between their friend and the Navy SEAL in question, clearly thinking the same as Ana.
Mike clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “No!” he whines, drawing the vowel out three times longer than necessary. “The redhead!”
Ah. That makes more sense, Ana realises.
Actually, no. It doesn’t.
“Wish me luck!” Mike smiles, already stepping backwards away from them and squeezing his fists together. Ana laughs, smiling back, and offering him an encouraging thumbs up. Whatever. Maybe she should take a leaf out of his book and actually get herself out there – she’s hardly gonna meet anybody when she’s always daydreaming about two very married, very uninterested guys.
“Good luck!” Kati shouts, almost loud enough for the furthest away stands to hear, causing Mike to flick his finger up at her before spinning on his heels and making his way towards Buck’s table. “How’s he always so optimistic?” Kati sighs wistfully as they watch him laugh at something Buck says, sneaking in a little bicep feel too.
Ana laughs. “Please. Have you seen him before his morning coffee?”