Work Text:
New Boss + New Hire by violetvaria - Mac gets permission from James to start working for Jack at the stable
Chapter 1 of Gift + Skill + Choice by violetvaria - Jack learns that Mac doesn't like to be locked into a promise
Future Correspondence by Slightly_ajar - Mac works on a writing assignment and thinks about his future
Stablehands + Stable Homes by capnamvrica
On the Way Down (I Held on to You) by violetvaria - set in Chapter 2 of Stablehands + Stable Homes
So Good They Named It Once by Slightly_ajar - An AU set during Stablehand + Stablehomes where instead of running to Jack Mac runs away to New York
Hunger + Hoarding by violetvaria - Mac is afraid to take things that don't belong to him, including food
Completely + Forever + No Matter What by violetvaria - Mac breaks a glass and is terrified of Jack's reaction; Jack reassures him of his love
Safe and Sound by Slightly_ajar - Jack goes out, Mac checks something important
Ground Rules by violetvaria - Jack and Mac discuss ground rules
Chapter 2 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar - Jack calls his mom to ask about rules
Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies by violetvaria - Mac thinks he needs to say what Jack wants to hear whenever he asks a question
Baby, You're a Firework by violetvaria - Mac and Bozer make fireworks for New Year's Eve
Unsafe + Undernourished = Unfit by violetvaria - Ms. Sparrows, their social worker, makes two visits to Mac and Jack
Chapter 2 of Gift + Skill + Choice by Slightly_ajar - Jack learns first aid
Cairo Blues by violetvaria - Mac goes on a field trip and has a run-in with some bullies
Nadir + Zenith by violetvaria - the night before the adoption, Mac runs away
Chapter 1 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar - the day of the adoption, Jack calls to introduce Mac to Nana Bea
Chapter 1 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - the evening of the adoption, Jack can't sleep because he's too excited
The Pizza Incident by violetvaria - the calamari pizza calamity, plus a gentle pizza prank
Thoughts + Fears + Balance by Slightly_ajar - Mac deals with intrusive thoughts
Fire + Ice + Truth by Slightly_ajar - Mac gets in a fight at school with Donnie
Chapter 3 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar - Jack feels guilty for scaring Mac
Broken Arm + Broken Rule by violetvaria - Mac breaks his arm and doesn't tell Jack
Brushstrokes by Slightly_ajar - Diane paints Mac's cast
Favorites + Father's Day by violetvaria - Mac makes Jack a Father's Day gift
Ninety Five Miles for Ice Cream by Slightly_ajar - Jack loses his balance, Mac helps him find it again.
Written in the Cards by Slightly_ajar - Mac and Jack go to a Halloween fair
Cards on the Table by violetvaria - the Halloween fair from Written in the Cards from Riley's perspective
Chapter 2 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - set after Written in the Cards, Mac can't sleep because he ate too much candy
A Visit from the Truth Fairy by violetvaria - Mac gets his wisdom teeth removed
Father + Son + Shaving by violetvaria - Jack teaches Mac to shave
Christmas Squared by Slightly_ajar - Mac decorates for Christmas
Mono a Mono by violetvaria - Mac gets mono
Chapter 4 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar (set just before the second chapter of Mono a Mono) - Jack calls his mom to get her soup recipe
Like Troubled Water Running Cold by Slightly_ajar - Mac meets Dr. Amanda
Warm + Safe + Loved by violetvaria - Mac is having trouble sleeping, and Jack gets him a therapeutic stuffed animal (JJ)
Burglary + Gun by violetvaria - burglars break in while Mac is home
Chapter 3 of Gift + Skill + Choice by violetvaria - Dr. Amanda helps Mac tell Jack he's proud of him
New Names and Heartbeats by Slightly_ajar - Jack gets a new horse at the stable, one that's been abused and is extremely skittish
Chapter 5 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar (set between chapters 1 and 2 of New Names and Heartbeats) - Mac waits for Jack at the hospital, afraid of going into emergency foster care
Chapter 3 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - Jack is sore after the incident with Hal and can't sleep
Chapter 6 of After the Beep by Slightly_ajar - Jack talks to his mom about what would happen to Mac if anything happened to Jack
Chapter 4 of Gift + Skill + Choice by Slightly_ajar - Mac learns Jack sits with him when he has a nightmare
The First Language We Speak by Slightly_ajar - Mac thinks about the language of touch
Everything Under the Stars by Slightly_ajar - Herschel has kittens
Chapter 5 of Gift + Skill + Choice by Slightly_ajar - Mrs. Bellamy teaches Mac and Jack about grief, loss, and change
Chapter 6 of Gift + Skill + Choice by violetvaria - outside POV, someone learns from Mac and Jack
Sheet Happens by violetvaria - Halloween pranks, puns, and competitions
Poetry + Proof by violetvaria - Mac has to write a poem for school
Scotch on the Rocks by Slightly_ajar - Mac gets drunk for the first time
Road Trips + Rituals by Slight_ajar - Mac and Jack celebrate Christmas together as they think about their family expanding
Away in a Manger by Slightly_ajar - Mac and Jack to go Cassie's Christmas show and think about what makes the perfectly imperfect Christmas
Where Do I Put This Fire by Slightly_ajar - Elwood returns
Friday 25th by Slightly_ajar - A day in the life of the Stableverse and it’s characters
Birds + Bees by violetvaria - Mac is talking about Katie. Jack is talking about Diane. Neither knows that they aren't talking about the same thing.
Green Eyed + Green Eyes by Slightly_ajar. When Mac gets jealous while he’s out on a date with Katie he and Jack have to deal with the dark place the green eyed monster came from.
Unbreakable + Always by Slightly_ajar - Mac and Jack to looking for something and find more than they expect.
Family History by violetvaria - Mac and Jack try to fill out a family medical history form
Operation Healthy Heart by violetvaria - Mac worries about Jack's heart health
Colds + Cough Syrup by violetvaria - Jack has a cold and it becomes Mac's problem
Chapter 4 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - Mac can't sleep because he got Jack's cold
Supply + Demands by slightly_ajar - An incident in school makes Mac think about the new shape of his family, and wonder if he really is a nerdy as everyone says
My Only Guiding Light by violetvaria - James is dead, and Mac comes back from MIT to spend some time at home
Chapter 5 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - Mac and Jack can't sleep because they are both thinking about James
Chapter 6 of 5 Times Jack and Mac Couldn't Sleep (+1 Time They Couldn't Stay Awake) by violetvaria - Mac is home for Thanksgiving and, thanks to a food coma, he and Jack both fall asleep in the living room
Out of Chaos
Fingertip shaped crinkles dimpled the printout in Jack’s hand. He was staring at the fridge, had been for untold minutes, scowling as if his failure to find what he was seeking in the papers stuck to it’s closed white door was a slight intended for him personally.
“Do you ever worry that it might fall over?” Mac said conversationally, as if his words hadn’t broken the long silence that had accompanied his dad being locked in a silent battle of wills with an appliance.
Jack blinked at Mac. “Hmm?”
“The fridge,” Mac waved at the domestic device innocently humming away, unaware of the scrutiny it was under. “Do you ever wonder if the weight of all the things you’ve stuck on it will get too much and the whole thing will topple over, like…?”
Mac raised one arm up, fingers pointing ceiling-ward, then brought it crashing down like a building levelled by coordinated explosions or a tree felled by precise axe blows.
Timber!
Jack looked at the dimpling paper he was holding.
“Nah.”
Mac’s school had posted pictures of a recent pep rally on its social media sites and Mac was in the background of one of them, high in the bleachers laughing with Bozer and Riley. As soon as Jack had spotted his son in the photo he’d printed it out. While it chugged out of the printer Mac had said he couldn’t see how the picture was fridge door worthy since he was barely in it, only a face in a crowd, and Jack had said that not everything was about science and test scores, what was fridge worthy, what mattered too, was that he was happy. What mattered most was that he was happy.
“And look at you,” Jack had flicked the paper heaving itself out of his printer, “in a crowd of shiny, happy teenagers being all shiny and happy. Conforming ain’t important, I’ve always said to fly your own flag, but feeling like you belong is, and in this photo, in that moment, there with your friends, you belonged.”
Then he’d imparted some more Jack wisdom, rambling around and around and mentioning birds and saltwater taffy for reasons Mac had had to spent five minutes unpicking with clarifying questions.
“So, where are you going to put that?” Mac pointed to the shiny, happy, pep rally photograph in Jack’s hand.
Jack shrugged. “I dunno. That’s what I’ve been trying to decide.”
“Can’t you just stick it on the fridge door anywhere?”
“No!” If he’d been wearing pearls Jack would have clutched them. “There’s a system!”
“There is?”
“Yes!” Jack didn’t have pearls but he did have hips so he planted his fists on them. “My system isn’t alphabetical or based on the periodic table but it’s there.”
Mac’s gaze flickered up the fridge door and down, across it left to right, around in a spiral, and he couldn’t spot anything that looked like a system.
“Where?”
Jack allowed Mac’s scepticism with a dip of his head. “To tell the truth it’s based on vibes mostly, themes. There’s no specifics, it’s more about the cosmetics.”
“It’s about the aesthetics?”
“If you say so.”
“Oh. Okay.”
It wasn’t that Mac insisted on order, anyone passing a glance over his basement lab could tell that, but he liked patterns, he liked to know why something was the way it was and how it fitted in with the other things around it, so Jack’s Vibes system was something, strangely, that made sense to him. He understood that the new picture couldn’t go just anywhere because while there was no quote unquote order of where things were placed in Jack’s fridge door system, things in Jack’s fridge door system had their place.
Jack had been watching Mac survey the fridge door.
“You get me?” he asked.
Slowly, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was about to say Mac answered, “I do.”
Jack grinned. “So where would you put this new picture?”
Mac hummed out a thoughtful breath.
“Don’t think about it too hard. Just go with your gut,” Jack said. “Stretch out with your feelings.”
Mac stepped closer to the fridge. He tilted his head and looked over it’s collection of good memories.
The satisfaction of things being in the right place. That’s what Mac loved about the Rubix cube Katie had given him, that’s what he loved about successful experiments. Things slotting together, in harmony, to form a pattern, work towards a goal, offer clarity or just look good, that felt right, safe, like things would be okay, like there was simplicity and beauty when it could sometimes feel like the world was full of darkening chaos.
Mac and Jack studied the fridge door together, considering vibes, themes, aesthetics, and feelings. In the new picture Mac was at a school event, a non-academic one, there was a crowd, music, he was with his friends, they were happy, so it would fit in…
Mac pointed. “There.”
“Perfect,” Jack said.