I think there ought to be a little music here
911 POC Week 2021 day 1 prompt: “I really want to kiss you right now.” + fluff
read on ao3
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“I really want to kiss you right now.”
Hen grins, checks her watch. “Can you hold that thought for—another five hours?”
Karen sighs down the line. “Shift work is rude, and I miss you.”
“Hey.” Hen drops her voice as Eddie enters the bunk room, scrubbing a hand over his face. He doesn’t seem to realise she’s there; flops, face down, onto the bed nearest the door. “I always miss you. See you soon?”
“Love you.”
Hen pulls the phone from her ear, watches the call screen time out to her wallpaper: a laughing Karen, in her favourite yellow sundress and heart-shaped sunglasses Hen gave her one Valentine’s as a joke, but which she wears unironically with the confidence Hen first fell in love with. In the photo she’s crouched outside their house, hugging Denny from behind, who’s grinning as wide as he can to show off his missing front tooth. Today’s shift has been almost non-stop and the photograph calms Hen, grounds her. When the screen goes black she thumbs it open again, even though she could trace the image by heart.
It’s another minute before she pockets her phone, rising from her bunk in the corner to join Eddie. She makes sure he can hear the sound of her boots on the floorboards but he doesn’t move, just groans into the pillow.
“You know I’d expect this from Buck, but you?”
“Mmphm,” Eddie says, into the pillow.
“I’m sorry?”
He turns his head. “It’s about Buck.”
“Ah.” Hen sits on the bed. “Care to share with the class?”
Eddie only sighs.
“Okay, scoot over.” Hen wiggles until she’s sitting lengthways on the bed, back propped up against the headboard then the wall. Eddie’s head is close to being pillowed on her thigh and she pats it gently. “You know Karen and I were best friends, before. Still are, but don’t tell Chim.” Eddie doesn’t say anything but she can tell he’s listening. “And for a long time I thought that was all we would be. Could be. I was—scared, I guess. To ruin it.” She closes her eyes, remembering.
Karen’s hair was shorter, and she wore these earrings with sparkling blue stones that seemed to catch the light every time she smiled, winking twin suns. They met at the coffee shop around the block from Hen’s apartment—a bougie hole-in-the-wall, not Starbucks, Karen wouldn’t be caught dead there. She’d been in front of her in the line, hair tucked into this complicated twist Hen couldn’t fathom even as she spent the better part of five minutes staring at it. When she went to pay for her latte, the barista waved her away. “It’s been taken care of.”
Karen caught her eye from the pick-up queue. Hen fought the urge to pat the creases from her hoodie when she walked over. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know,” said Karen. She smiled; her earrings glittered. “I wanted to.”
The first time Hen kissed her it was over caramel lattes and a shared orange and almond friand, and there were crumbs on Karen’s lips Hen licked away, carefully, afraid of taking too much. At least until Karen curled her fingers around Hen’s jacket and pulled her close, and she tasted citrus-sweet and perfect.
Eddie finally rolls over beside her, onto his back, staring sightlessly at the ceiling while his hands clench and unclench at his sides. Hen grabs one, squeezes. His swallow is audible in the empty room. “How did you know? That you wouldn’t?”
The kiss had ended because the both of them were smiling too much to keep going. “Took you long enough,” Karen said, and scooped the last of the friand into her mouth. Hen chased the taste of it, even while the kiss was just pressing their grins together, Karen’s earrings gleaming in the afternoon light.
“Because she was my best friend,” and still the memory makes her stomach butterfly with happiness, “and I knew she’d forgive me for it if she didn’t feel the same way.” She looks down, nudges her knee against Eddie’s elbow. “Somehow I don’t think you’ll have that problem.”
Eddie scoffs, jostles her right back. “You’re kind of mean.”
“I know.”
“Does your wife?”
“Oh, she loves it.”
His nose wrinkles. “Gross.”
“Uh huh.” There’s a knock at the bunk room door; Buck pokes his head and shoulders inside, managing to look unthreateningly small despite his—well, everything.
“Hey, um, dinner’s up.” His eyes flit over Eddie, then Hen, then Eddie again. “I can save you a plate, though. Um—both of you.”
“We’ll be up in a minute,” Hen promises, nodding encouragingly at Buck, who hesitates in the doorway for another five seconds before backing up, that little hop-skip he does when he’s happy or nervous or both. When Hen’s sure he’s gone she looks back down at Eddie, who’s draped an arm over his eyes like some swooning Victorian.
Hen pinches it. Eddie jerks, sits up.
“You’re as stupid as each other,” she informs him. “Just—talk to him, Eddie. He won’t run away.”
“I might.” The words seem to punch out of him: he presses his lips together, stares down at his hands.
“Maybe.” Hen shrugs. “He’ll run after you.”
“Yeah.” Eddie’s laugh sounds a little wet, and he sniffs, rubbing at his nose. “He does that.” As if the words give him strength he stands in one sudden motion, sniffing deeply again before cracking his neck one way, then the other. “You coming?”
“In a minute.” She watches him go; slides the phone from her pocket and hits call.
“Hen?”
“I love you.”
Karen’s voice is soft and amused when she says, “okay?” like it’s a question—as if Hen’s never been anything but certain about the way she feels.
“I just—didn’t say it before. And I wanted to now.”
“Hm.” The sound echoes slightly, like Karen’s put her on speaker. Hen can picture it: Karen folding the washing, maybe, or reordering their bookshelf like she does every other week. “Can I get an ETA on that kiss?”
“Still five hours, babe.”
“You better make it a good one, then.” As if they aren’t all good—as if every time she kisses Karen doesn’t still feel like that first time.
“It’s always good with you.”
Hen can see the way Karen smiles at that; pictures her, in the sun, in those silly heart-shaped sunglasses, skin warm to the touch. “Yeah,” she says, the word a punctuation mark, like it’s a given. The perfect fold of Hen’s uniform shirt, added to the top of the ironing pile. “It is.”
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Welcome to 9-1-1 POC week 2021 !
Join 9-1-1 POC week from October 4th - October 10th 2021
For the gif/art/fanvideo makers:
October 4th - Day 1: Favourite POC character
October 5th - Day 2: Favourite POC centered scene
October 6th - Day 3: Favourite POC friendship
October 7th - Day 4: Favourite voice over spoken by POC
October 8th - Day 5: Favourite POC love relationship
October 9th - Day 6: Favourite POC minor character
October 10th - Day 7: Free choice
Prompts for the fic writers:
October 4th - Day 1: “I really want to kiss you right now.” + fluff
October 5th - Day 2: “So ... I think we’re trapped.” + fun
October 6th - Day 3: “No, I’m not gonna leave you. I’m not. ” + hurt
October 7th - Day 4: “You’re my home.” + love
October 8th - Day 5: “It hurts. Make it stop, please. Make it stop.” + comfort
October 9th - Day 6: “Get your fucking hands up. ” + angst
October 10th - Day 7: Free choice
Rules:
Every creation made for this week should be posted on Tumblr, so it can be reblogged on this blog.
You can participate with gifs, edits, graphics, playlists, moodboards, videos, fics, what ever.
Please tag your work with #911pocweek2021 so it can be found and reblogged to this blog.
Be respectful to all the people who are participating.
Have fun!
Any questions? If yes, please ask. If not, please reblog to spread the word. Thanks!
Excited for you all to particiapte and share your wonderful creations in this week!
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9-1-1 POC week 2021 - Day 5: Favourite POC love relationship
Hen Wilson & Karen Wilson || “You and that man are the two things that get me home every day. A couple more footsteps stomping around the house might be nice.”
(lyrics used under the cut <3)
Brandi Carlile ‘I belong to you’
I know I could be spending a little too much time with you
But time and too much don't belong together like we do
If I had all my yesterdays I'd give 'em to you too
I belong to you now
I belong to you
Mary Lambert ‘Love is Love’
made me believe in love
I give you my heart
And all my tomorrows
If the road gets rough
I know we'll find our way
PVRIS ‘Anyone Else’
'Cause I could touch a hundred thousand souls
But none of them would ever feel like home
Heather Mae ‘You Are My Favorite’
You are my favorite person
You are my favorite smile
You are my favorite heartbeat
To fall asleep to every night
We have my favorite memories
We have my favorite glances
we have my favorite hard times
Cause I’ve got your hand in mine
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