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Buck stills mid button, his shirt halfway done up, as Christopher’s words finally register, having dropped the boy off before his and Eddie’s shift.
He was all smiley and kept looking at Buck only to burst into laughter, as they hugged goodbye he made Buck promise they could play Zelda tomorrow morning.
“That little shit!” He exclaims, earlier his brain had been too occupied between the mystery of Eels reproduction and the Bermuda Triangle for the boy’s words to land.
It must be the calm of the locker room, and Eddie’s steady presence, his boyfriend is often the balm to Buck’s frayed edges.
Buck turns to Eddie, the man showing no reaction to Buck’s earlier remark, “Eddie, your son is a menace, he’s cute, but a menace.”
“Oh I know, what did he do to make you realize?” He asks, grabbing Buck’s hand to pull him into a chaste kiss.
Buck allows it, swooning a little from the affection, they’d been together since Eddie returned from dispatch, a whole three weeks ago.
Buck still had to pinch himself on occasion.
They head up to the loft, Buck keeping up a stream of words, through making coffee and sitting at the table. Bobby can be heard mumbling to himself in the pantry and Chim is sitting on the sofas, channel surfing.
“I bet he ate all of my stock as well, he’s forcing me to forage!” Buck slams his mugs against the table causing his coffee to spill, a spreading pool in dark brown.
“Baby, I can’t tell, are you proud or annoyed?”
“Both,” whines Buck, “The machinations of a nine year old taken just so he can laugh at me,” Buck smiles brightly, “He’s so smart, Eddie, I love him so much.”
Eddie kisses him again.
“I can hear that!” Warns Chim without heat.
Buck chuckles causing the kiss to end, the sight of Eddie’s blushing cheeks adding to his good mood. They don’t separate fully, Buck choosing to rest his free hand on Eddie’s arm, occasionally rubbing his finger across tan skin.
“Yo, Diaz! Put him down and come and do as you promised.” Buck jumps, his eyes looking through the railing to find Sanchez stood in the bay.
“Oh shit, I said I’d take a look at his truck,” Buck nods, reluctantly letting go of Eddie’s arm, “Can you carry on speaking with Bobby?”
Buck swivels in his seat, finding Bobby free from the pantry and standing in the kitchen pouring his own coffee before walking to join them at the table.
Eddie squeezes his shoulder before walking away toward the stairs. Buck, helpless yet happy, enjoys the view of his boyfriend's ass as he leaves.
Bobby smiles at him as he pulls out a chair to sit down, out of the corner of his eye he notices Chim get up from the sofas heading their way.
Buck feels touched, that is until he catches sight of Chim’s expression. The man looks overly excited given the circumstances, like he’s about to witness something incredible and he’s the only one who knows.
That’s never a good thing.
“So, what were you and Eddie discussing?” Asks Bobby.
Buck sighs, because it’s such a long story and really makes him mad, “Trees, I used to love walking through the forest, collecting things but now some of them just jump up out of the ground and attack me!”
Bobby looks alarmed, rightfully so in Buck’s opinion.
“And sure I may be taking their fruit, but I’m trying to save the world. They never used to be like this, stupid new feature, every time it happens I jump out of my skin and Christopher finds it hilarious.” He signs forlornly, “And I get it, objectively it is pretty funny, but not after all this time. Honestly I should be prepared for it by now but it still gets me, every damn time, I just want to forage in peace.”
Bobby nods, slowly, his eyes darting around Buck, concern clear on his face, Buck looks over his shoulder expecting to see Eddie, but no one’s there.
So he continues, “And another thing, the regular trees are called Evergreen but you know what they named the violent ones?”
“Fiend Tree,” suggests Chim, smiling widely, his eyes filled with glee. Yeah he’s absolutely basking in Buck’s misery,
“Nope, they’re Evermean, personally I’m offended on behalf of all trees.”
A weird noise comes across the table, it’s Chim doing his best to keep from laughing, it’s not a fight he’s winning. Buck cuts his eyes to Bobby and finds a much different tone from the Captain, he still looks alarmed, but there’s also worry, sort of how he looks when he’s worried about someone.
Buck has zero idea why, if anything he should be outraged on his behalf.
“And you know what’s even more ridiculous?” Bobby shakes his head, “At this point I’m only putting myself through it for Christopher, mushrooms really only get you so far, there are other items with better payoff without edging around those damn trees like a ghost. But Christopher’s laugh when I eventually jump out of my skin just makes my heart feel so full, I really love that kid.”
Bobby nods before turning to Chim, his eyes full of worry.
“Is Eddie calling the hospital? Buck, did you bang your head today?”
Chim breaks out into giggles so hard he has to wipe tears from his eyes, until he places his head against the table as he loses it, “No, stop, please, this is too funny!”
“Funny? Chim he could be really sick,” warns Bobby.
Buck looks between the two of them, are they talking about Eddie? He furrows his brow quickly shaking away the thought, oh, Bobby means him. But why? He’s fine, feeling really good actually, life is the best it’s ever been for him, ever.
“He’s not sick,” thank you, Chim, “He’s talking about a video game!”
Oops, thinks Buck as the penny drops, “Oh my God, Bobby, I’m so sorry, Chim’s right, I promise I’m not hallucinating trees attacking me at will.” Buck punches Chim’s arm, “Stop laughing,” demands Buck, flashing his harshest glare at his brother-in-law.
“Okay, now I feel ridiculous,” says Bobby, the tension leaving his shoulders as he sits back in his chair.
Buck shakes his head, “No, don’t, it’s nice that you care so much, it’s like therapy for my shitty childhood,” great, nice one Buck, now Bobby looks heartbroken, “Shit, forget I said that.”
“Your parents never deserved you, Buck,” says Bobby.
“Seconded” adds Chim.
Hen comes up the stairs, quickly joining them at the table, “I love hating on Buck's parents, what did I miss?”
“Like the funniest thing ever,” declares Chim, quickly filling her in between laughs, “You should have seen it, Hen, Bobby was making plans to get Buck to the hospital, he was conjuring scenarios from head injury to a break in reality.
“What’s going on?” Everyone jumps at Eddie’s question, Buck thought he was as sneaky as those fucking Evermeans.
“Aha! Here is the real culprit! Ever since he came back from dispatch all loved up with googly eyes.”
Eddie raises his eyebrows, “Hey, what did I do?”
Buck turns to face his boyfriend, “You walked off without telling Bobby what I was talking about!”
“Oh,” Eddie grimaces, “I’m sorry, Bobby.
“It was so entertaining!” comments Chim.
“There’s nothing like a Buck ramble,” offers Hen as she takes a seat having grabbed a mug of coffee. While Eddie shifts his own seat closer to Buck, allowing their shoulders to brush together.
“It has a name! Is it annoying?” He asks, his heartbeat skyrocketing.
“Absolutely not!” Buck sees the others recoil at Eddie’s tone, the effect on him was very different.
Bobby responds first, “It’s not Buck, with Eddie gone we all experienced them more frequently, but I love seeing you so passionate about what you learned, our last topic was about the dessert Eton Mess.”
Buck remembers that one, the fact that a mistake could be turned around so easily was inspiring.
“Crop circles for me,” offers Hen.
“Well who makes them!” shouts Buck, rather annoyed he was still in the dark.
“You spent almost an hour talking about angler fish, I found it very illuminating,” everyone groans at Chim’s joke.
“They’re so cool,” adds Buck.
Buck loves to share his research spirals, though he approaches his team differently, it’s a little like a Goldilocks situation. Bobby is a great listener, only he asks too many questions leading Buck to spiral onto different topics, so he’s best approached with a clear head. Hen, while indulgent, is already pretty knowledgeable, so he does his best to pick things she has no clue about (like Ming dynasty artifacts and insects) but his brain doesn’t really work to order. Chim, simply adds in too many jokes. And in this analogy Eddie is the baby bear, he’s just right, always encouraging, he peppers in enough of his own thoughts and he just lets Buck talk.
“So, do you have a topic for today, Buck?” asks Chim, "Beyond video games.”
“No, um Eddie kind of distracted me last night.” Answers Buck, knowing he’s flashing a very smug smile.
Eddie smirks, as both and Chim and Hen say ew and Bobby gets up from the table.