@olivepdf made a gorgeous little bingo card for joe and nicky bc we lost the sun/moon bracket this fandom needed some good mobilizing in these trying times (no new set photos or announcements) so i sat myself down n made a little thing for it.
for ‘meant to find each other’
“Why do you always come back to me?”
Joe hasn’t even looked from scrubbing at a spot on his counter, but he senses Nicky freeze. He adds hastily, “Not that I mind. Just, I’m sure Andy or Nile would love to see you. Booker maybe not so much, you did traumatize him that one time.”
“Well he shouldn’t have fought me,” Nicky says. Joe smiles.
Something heavy gets set gently on the floor and a chair at the kitchen table scrapes over the tile. Nicky always lets out a quiet, involuntary sigh when he sits, as if he hasn’t been able to for a very long time. Joe wonders if he knows that about himself.
“You’re easier to find, for one,” Nicky finally answers, once Joe’s nearly forgotten his initial question, content to enjoy Nicky’s silent presence. Joe gives up on cleaning away what must just be a discoloration of his countertop and turns to look at his guest.
Nicky always goes transparent in the moonlight. The beams from the window are cut up by Joe’s curtains and one side of Nicky’s face and his entire right arm is nearly invisible. The rest of him is solid enough that Joe wants to reach out and touch him. Which he knows better than to do.
“Well that’s a little disheartening,” he says, tamping down his worst, most self-destructive impulse. Nicky smiles.
“Yes, you really should get better at hiding from the non-human entities that visit you from beyond the veil,” he says. Joe laughs. Nicky leans toward him ever so slightly, unnoticeable except for the way his face has suddenly lost just a little more definition.
“I’ll work on that,” Joe says.
“Not that you would be able to hide from me,” Nicky says, in a tone that Joe thinks might be trying toward smug, though it doesn’t quite reach.
“That’s what you th—” Joe barely starts before Nicky cuts in.
“You’re like a beacon. Like the sun, if I’m imagining it correctly, brighter and warmer the closer I get.” Joe braces both hands on the counter behind him just to keep from reaching for Nicky. Nicky turns his head a little, cutting off that much more of himself.
“You’re imagining it correctly,” Joe says after a minute. His voice has gone soft without conscious thought and he clears his throat a little. “Is that true of all the souls that come back?”
Nicky looks at him again and cocks his head to the side, bringing more of his face back into the shadows for Joe to see it. There’s genuine confusion in his expression, likely because he did technically answer this question already, but also something fond and amused and affectionate.
“Funnily enough, I haven’t really got much data on that front,” he says. Joe scoffs and turns away to pick up the counter sponge and rinse it properly, hiding his smile at Nicky’s tease. “Most of the souls I touch tend to, you know, stay dead. Otherwise I’d be really bad at my job.” Joe shakes his head.
“Ha ha,” he says, deadpan. He’s still smiling. “So why do you think I get the special reaper-summoning powers?”
“I don’t know,” Nicky says. His voice ticks up half a pitch. Joe’s heart ticks up half a beat. He puts the sponge away and turns back.
Nicky’s hiding in the moonlight and Joe wants to drag his chair back from the table so he can see his face. Whatever expression he has that’s making him hide. How many more centuries will he live wishing to reach for the thing that could kill him.
“Nicky.”
He sees the shape of Nicky’s head turn, though, moments before the name passes his lips. The one hand he can see tightens into a fist on Nicky’s thigh. Joe wants to tell him not to go. Badly.
“I have to—” Nicky starts.
“What’s the other thing?” Joe interrupts, taking a step toward him
“The other?” Nicky asks, staying in his seat though the edges of his form are starting to blur.
“You said ‘for one,’” Joe says desperately. “What's the other thing?”
Nicky bends down to lift his scythe and for a moment his entire body is visible. For a moment, Joe can see the resigned sadness on Nicky’s face.
“Stay out of trouble, Joe,” he says. Like he does every time. Since the first, last, only time he whispered, I cannot keep coming for your soul.
It’s always the last thing he says, always the last word because he’s just a bastard like that, and he’s gone before he’s even finished standing. Joe stares at the empty chair, blinking through sudden tears, imagining that he can still see the faint outline of Nicky’s moonlit form.
There’s never enough time. For two immortal beings, they never have enough time. Joe wonders what’s worse. Seeing the wretched look on Nicky’s face when he has to collect Joe’s soul for however long his death lasts. Or feeling the wretched pull of his own heart every time he has to watch Nicky disappear.
Walking over to push the chair back into its place at the table, Joe takes a steadying breath and consoles himself the same way he always does. Always has for centuries. Nicky will be back. At the very least, Nicky will be back.
After all, Joe's very easy to find.
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Rating: General Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Relationship: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Additional Tags: Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: MP3, Alternate Universe - No Powers, musician au, Pre-Relationship, Falling out
Language: English
Summary:
'This is how you show love?' Joe continued, his own jaw tight [...] 'Annoying someone until they want to strangle you?'
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Podfic of raedear's miserere
I have 100% been forgetting to post here but I am slowly but slowly working my way thru the musicians au @raedear is torturing us all with. I have three parts posted and I have no idea when I’ll post the next one! We can all be surprised together.
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Seven(ish) Sentence Sunday 🍩
Tagged by @diazsdimples & @wikiangela
Guess who got the first chapter of Rival Firefighters 🚒 beta’d today and is working on a summary and tags so they can post it next week? 😃😃😃. I am so so sooooo excited to start posting! (still have that last chapter to finish but it’s almost done and I really don’t wanna wait anymore to start sharing this story).
Today’s snippet isn’t from Rivals though, but from LA Lonely 🏙️, the other wip taking over my brain atm.
Prev snippet here.
Buck arrives at dispatch for lunch with Maddie ten minutes early. It’s his day off and he’s finished all his errands with time to spare so instead of waiting the last ten minutes in the car, he decides to head up to the break room. He may also be secretly hoping that by coming in a bit earlier, there may still be a danish left in the pastry box dispatch gets delivered every morning.
He spies the pastry box and makes a beeline for it, letting out a small cheer of victory when he opens the lid and spies a couple of donuts and a blueberry danish. He grabs the danish and takes a bite, groaning and wiggling his shoulders in a happy little shimmy as the buttery pastry floods his tastebuds.
Turning around to find a seat and wait for Maddie, Buck immediately freezes because sitting down at one of the tables and looking right at him is Eddie. Hot hook up Eddie. Chris’s dad Eddie. Eddie from the coffee shop. That Eddie. His eyes are shining bright with amusement and he’s biting his bottom lip trying to suppress a smile.
If the ground could open up and swallow him whole, that would be great.
Buck chews the remaining bite of danish thoroughly before swallowing, not wanting to have another choking on bread situation. One of those is enough for one lifetime thank you very much.
“Uh, any chance you can pretend you didn’t see that?”
“Nope, not a chance.” Eddie says, an amused grin finally breaking free and okay it’s really unfair how one smile from him has Buck’s heart fluttering.
No pressure tagging: @spotsandsocks @hippolotamus @wildlife4life @sunshinediaz @watchyourbuck @weewootruck @rainbow-nerdss @exhuastedpigeon @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @epicbuddieficrecs @evanbegins @monsterrae1 @missmagooglie @mellaithwen @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @athenagranted @sibylsleaves @shitouttabuck @steadfastsaturnsrings @neverevan @nmcggg @princessfbi @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @tizniz @the-likesofus @lover-of-mine @loserdiaz @ladydorian05 @king-buckley @jesuisici33 @goforkinard @giddyupbuck @homerforsure @honestlydarkprincess @hoodie-buck @devirnis @bidisasterbuckdiaz @dangerpronebuddie @captain-hen @bekkachaos and as always, anyone else who wants to share something -> consider this your official tag 🏷️
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