Work Text:
Josh was happy to get a job anywhere since the world of being a professional cameraman was pretty hard to break into. Through a friend of a friend Josh was able to get a position with The Weather Channel filming field reporters as they stood out in blizzards and hurricanes. The job was very...wet and naturally he spent most of his life worrying about protecting his equipment and trying to stay warm.
Josh was still bottom of the totem pole at the network when he was specially picked to work on a new show. The reporter was some young rising star that had seen him at a company fancy function and thought Josh's hair was the 'aesthetic he was going for' though Josh had no idea what that mean since Josh would be behind the camera anyway.
Their first meeting was very unconventional. Josh was sitting in a conference room at headquarters when a whirlwind of a person burst in, practically a force of nature himself. Tyler energetically shook his hand for about 45 seconds while already talking a mile a minute.
"Tornadoes! I love them! They scare the crap out of me but I love them. You've got to be scared of them, that's important or else you wouldn't survive a day in the field. There's nothing you can do to stop them; you're vulnerable to their whims and in a heartbeat what you think the twister will do, it will do the opposite. So we're going to follow them and figure out why—well, that's if you want to?"
Josh wasn't sure why he nodded—his mother was going to kill him when he told her that apparently hurricanes and floods and blizzards weren't enough excitement for him and now he was joining a complete eccentric to go dangerously close to tornadoes. Maybe it was Tyler's enthusiasm and smile, or the entrancing way he had Josh and the audience hanging on every word, but it felt like a blink of an eye and they were out in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a supercell.
It was absolutely terrifying. Loud, rain and wind pounding the van that felt more like tinfoil against the sheer power of nature. Tyler wanted to get closer and closer, though Josh's instincts screamed for shelter. He hid behind the camera, easy to pretend this barrier meant he was safe. If Tyler was animated in their first meeting, he was on another level here. And it translated well through the TV.
Their first three episodes all came from the week of storms they chased that first trip, and it was a sensation. Even other channels were talking about it, the build to the tornado, the human slice-of-life stories interspersed with music Tyler himself scored to the episodes. The way Tyler would talk to the twister as if it could hear him, along with a steady stream of conversation with Josh who was shocked they kept what he considered to be "behind the scenes" dialogue (i.e. Josh's muttered complaints at how Tyler must be trying to kill him and nervous prayers/swearing). If anything, Josh too became a character in the whole show, with countless memes of "josh dun with your shit" and the Internet shippers jumping on board with the whole "stormboyfriends" thing (though Josh agreed with the true OTP: Tyler/Tornado).
They had a following and there was a push for more and more shows, and to amp up the drama. Their third trip was definitely the scariest with a lot of near misses that ends with a part of a roof ripped off some building breaking their windshield. They hadn’t even been driving so neither were buckled into their seats. Tyler hit his head hard on the steering wheel and Josh slammed sideways into the dashboard.
Josh’s senses were overcome by the noise and sudden pain, and he curled into the fetal position clutching his head for protection in case there was any more debris to fall on him. When it was quiet but for the whistling wind and rain he peeked up at Tyler who was slumped over.
Josh shook him gently, seeing quite a bit of blood on his forehead and he was clearly knocked unconscious. Tyler woke up almost immediately, blinking at Josh in confusion, so he made the executive decision to start getting the hell out of there before a tornado snuck up on them. Josh yanked Tyler out of the driver’s seat and strapped himself in to drive to the first hospital they could find. The cameras he installed facing the driver’s side caught the footage of him yelling at Tyler to stay awake, cursing the broken window, and apologizing to this mother—all in all making for an exciting episode (the fan-made drinking game stated you had to finish your drink anytime Josh was on screen for longer than one minute).
Both were fine and got a few weeks off to recover from the concussion (Tyler) and broken rib (Josh) each had sustained, though they made a few appearances in-studio to say that they were fine and will be back at it before long. If anything, both were chasing storms again far sooner than their doctors or mothers would approve of.
(“Don’t worry mom, I’m usually more in danger with Tyler’s driving than with the actual tornadoes”)
Josh didn’t think he was superstitious before but it almost felt like everything was building up to the thirteenth tornado they were going to chase together.
It didn’t feel very auspicious that Tyler’s data was indicating this was going to be a strong storm, and Josh nervously filmed all the primary footage praying he was wrong (Tyler was never wrong).
Josh had never felt more acutely that he was about to die than that single trip. There was so much debris in the air that their van was sustaining a lot of damage. And Tyler’s conversation turned from compliments to the tornado (“You are so magnificent. Just let me look at you.”) to fearful prayers (“No, no, don’t come over here. Oh God we gotta go. Josh, hold on!”). They were speeding down the highway as fast as they could as the dark cloud bore down upon them. They could feel the pressure changes in the air, and it was surreal.
Tyler was apologizing now, seemingly believing they were close to being blown away, when he made a sharp turn down a dirt road. Ever the reporter, Tyler explained to Josh’s camera that he was banking on the fact that tornadoes rarely turned left. Josh listened numbly with his heart beating in his throat, his continued existence completely in Tyler’s hands. They went on for what seemed like ages, though it probably was only minutes until the wind let up and they chanced a glance back to see the tornado moving away in the distance.
“Oh God, that was the closest,” Tyler sagged into his seat. He’d been sitting pretty much pressed up against the steering wheel.
Josh’s breathing was still rapid, and Tyler looked sideways at him before pulling over the truck. “Josh we’re okay now,” he said and patted Josh on the knee, who placed the camera on the dashboard with shaking hands.
“I think I’m having a panic attack,” Josh gasped, and Tyler touched his face.
“Breathe with me Josh, we’re going to be okay. We’re alive—you’re okay. The tornado is far, far away now. Breathe in, and—”
Josh surged forward and pressed his mouth against Tyler, who made a started noise but met his kiss with enthusiasm. They had so much adrenaline that it was only natural to need to expel this energy. Josh made sure turn off his cameras before climbing into the back of the van to give Tyler a sloppy blowjob in the little space between all their equipment.
They lay sweaty and sated as the rain stopped and the skies cleared. It was far from comfortable on the hard floor, but Tyler hummed a tune as he ran fingers along Josh’s body.
“I’m so glad you agreed to come on this adventure with me,” Tyler said finally.
“I’m glad you didn’t get us killed today. It would’ve totally sucked to have died without getting to finally kiss you.”
Tyler pecked him on the cheek, “Nah, you love the excitement. There’s nothing quite like a post-near-death orgasm.”
“Somehow I have a feeling there’s a lot more of those in our future.”
And Josh would only pretend to be a little mad that Tyler included the film of their first kiss in the season finale. But he couldn’t blame Tyler for long since it did make for excellent television. Also, who would have figured that the #stormboyfriends would start trending on Twitter?
Even when tornado season was over, they continued filming, deciding to explore other wacky weather internationally. Tyler explained they needed to expand and switch things up, but Josh figured it was just another way to get soaked and risk both their necks. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.