#booker loving hours are never off at Chez Gab

[randomingoftherandomness]

minor booker headcanon of mine that 'whatever works' is a result of our favorite bastard frenchman having ZERO combat training before he went off to war - he's been improvising for the past 200 years, and has gotten so good at it that it looks like he knows what he's doing. also, i can just see booker using the most mun

Anon I think the rest of your ask got swallowed up 😅

But I'm assuming you mean that Booker would be very useful with weaponising the most innocuous of objects? Jackie Chan style?

Like. I am so behind this? The idea that it's everything and the kitchen sink with Booker is pretty cool because that was the kind of Hong Kong action films and shows I watched growing up so I have a special place in my heart for that art form. It would also jive with the idea that he never had any formal martial arts training other than the bootcamp he got sent to when he was conscripted. So everything goes Booker's definitely something that could happen 💯

Can you just imagine Copley watching the man throw a rubber duckie that takes out the eye of a baddie and is like, what the fuck even. And Andy is like, yeah that's his thing just let him roll with it.

#booker loving hours are never off at chez gab

[randomingoftherandomness]

Sometimes I read meta or a fanfic that mentions Bookers betrayal and somehow it's assumed that Booker wanted to condemn Nicky and Joe to eternity as lab rats from the begining and I'm UGH. That was never his intent. I think the rest of the OG knows he didn't intend to hurt them like that, otherwise they would have banished him forver. Those 100 years is for putting the initial paln in motion behind their backs and putting everyone at risk.

YES!

When Booker said that he expected more but hoped for less? I swear my heart broke. 

I don’t know what movie they were watching but it’s as if the very, very clear and very established threads of love in all its varied and magnificent forms were lost on them. Booker loves them all. He loves them in a way that makes him only want to do what (very stupid, very dangerous things) he thinks is best. He sees the apathy and the loneliness and the grief that hangs around Andy like a yoke and wants to make it better by giving her an ending. He knows that Joe and Nicky’s greatest fear isn’t death itself, but the idea that one of them will outlive each other. So what can he do? Give them a chance to control that fear by ensuring that they will both shuffle off this realm together. 

Sebastien le Livre is so filled with love for his family and I will not take any criticisms on this.

#booker loving hours are never off at Chez Gab #booker #sebastien le livre #the old guard #the old guard headcanon #gab writes stuff

[randomingoftherandomness]

Can you explain to me why I find Booker hot in the scene where Andy wakes him up after he’s died? His stomach is basically missing, but the strain in him as he surges to put his forehead against Andy’s is....

I don’t even know, help, please.

My friend, if I knew, I wouldn't be on this three month bender of loving Booker's dumb ass.

#booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #Booker #sebastien le livre

[randomingoftherandomness]

I get Book's punishment, really, but I love Booker and have a thing for disciplinarian type stuff, so idk if this would count as a hc but what other punishment route would you take besides exile (or idk, eternal torture)? I worded this terribly sorry

I really do not like how I worded that punishment question. What I meant is while I could still see them exiling him, maybe they consider an alternative somewhere between letting him off completely free and exiling though? I mean either way Booker is not going to stop feeling hella guilty. Any ideas/headcanons?

I think I've talked this over with a few people. For me, I'm of that camp of people where, yeah, I do not agree that Booker has to be exiled and essentially alone without anyone who has made up his main support system for the better part of his immortal life, but at the same time they are the ones who have been hurt by him and therefore should have the last say in how his penance should take form. There really isn't any true win win situation because while my heart starts and stops and breaks for Booker, it's the call of Andy, Joe and Nicky, and to a certain extent, Nile.

I suppose, if we were to figure out a hypothetical way for him to work this off, it would be through a structured punishment. I can't remember who it was who posited this to me, so I am sorry, but this one isn't mine, I'm just regurgitating what was discussed. Structuring his punishment means he doesn't have time to get to a point where he goes off on benders and that his 100 years are well spent in making sure he does some good - i.e. Community service. One member of the team will supervise each leg of the structure and each leg will be determined by the person who has taken it and judged up to their satisfaction.

I don't know. This Booker disk horse is... One that has been going on for as long there's been a fandom for the movie. No one has ever come to a consensus on what is the best way forward for this case and I doubt there ever will be. What feels right will feel right for you, I guess.

#booker #sebastien le livre #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #the old guard #the old guard headcanon

[randomingoftherandomness]

So I know we all headcannon that Booker would go to therapy or into a bad depressive period during exile (the angst is too good) but imagine, he goes full feral now that he knows that his immorality can't be taken away. Like the Deadpool with a smidgen more mental health.

Like the Deadpool with a smidgen more mental health

Best thing I've read the whole day. But straight up, mental health isn't a competition and everyone is valid.

Booker cutting his arm off just to escape

Booker throwing himself off a highway and into a dumpster truck and saying shit like, "This is where I belong"

Booker sitting on kegs of explosives, finishing his cigarette while making an ode to his family and when he is done, to toss the lit cigarette into the explosive

Booker breaking his wrists and ankles trying to fight a wall of a man who took his only photo of the gang that he had taken with a long range camera

Booker blowing up his house because he found a roach

Booker being a mad lad

#booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #booker #sebastien le livre #the old guard headcanon

[randomingoftherandomness]

hallucinate

I agree this is major heartburn, but you know me: take it further. Copley tells the team that Booker has been kidnapped and when they get there the place is burning, Booker is shambling like a zombie off to the side with broken bones and one arm trying to valiantly stay connected to his shoulder. Booker just stares at them then starts walking again, grumbling under his breath “ I HATE when they use drugs. The last THREE times they used drugs and it’s always the same damn hallucinations.”

(based on this fic)

@dbakeiro Dicky this is all your fault ❤️

--

They could smell the fire from 10 kilometres away. Smoke billowing a thick column up into the night sky, it was hard to miss even if they hadn’t already been told that this was where Booker’s kidnappers had spirited him to.

Copley had rerouted them from South Korea, changing their flight path midflight the moment he got wind that Booker had been taken. No one had argued against this rescue. 

It had been a universally accepted truth that they were never going to last 100 years without Booker back by their side. 

“What the fuck,” Andy mutters, stepping out of the car. They were neck deep in autumn with winter round the corner but standing there on the grounds of what should have been a sprawling compound of nondescript buildings, was now a blazing inferno with an overwhelming heat that was nothing short of intense on their faces.

“Booker is in there?” Nile gasps, eyeing up any path through the blackened structure. Andy shivers at the thought of being burnt alive and begins to motion for Joe and Nicky to circle the perimeter when Nile immediately goes on the defence, lifting her gun at the fire. 

They all do the same, unholstering and unsheathing their weapons, when they see a growing smudge come through the flames. Limping, holding the charred stump of an arm close to his body, Booker drags himself out through the front gates.

Upon sighting them all looking at him in varying degrees of fraught and horrified, he stares for a beat before grunting, “Fucking drugs. It’s always the same shit when they put me on drugs.” Pushing his regenerating arm back with a resolute crack, Booker scoffs when they put down their weapons. 

“Fucking hallucinations,” He mutters maniacally. “Fucking drugs. Hate drugs.” Looking around them, he spies the car and brightens immediately, wincing as his body heals with every step he takes.

“Booker.”

Andy reaches out to him before she can stop herself. “Booker, we’re here.”

This seems to stop him mid motion. His eyes study her, narrowing distrustfully. “Andy?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Book, it’s me,” She says, closing the rest of the distance between them, fingers moving to wipe away the soot streaks on his cheeks. “We’re here.”

“You came for me?” He asks, blinking sluggishly.

“Oh Book,” Andy breathes, uncaring that he was more healing flesh and ash than solid form when she wraps her arms around him. “Did you think we wouldn’t?”

#the old guard #the old guard fic #booker loving hours are never off at Chez Gab #booker #sebastien le livre #andromache of scythia #andromache the scythian #the old guard netflix #gab writes stuff

[randomingoftherandomness]

*prompt* It's easy for the older ones to forget that Booker's been dreaming of Quynh for 200+ years. He's gotten good at hiding it. Even when Nile brings it up, they seem to forget he's still dreaming. One day a mission takes them out near the ocean. Booker falls in and begins to panic, screaming out in flawless archaic Vietnamese (a language he's not supposed to know) "let me out!"

Their boat crests the waves with a jolt and Nile feels her heart stick in her throat as she is thrown off her seat. Andy manages to grab her by her shirt in time while Joe shouts his apologies over the roar of the engine and Nicky complaining about his driving.

Which also means that Booker's strangled yelp and splash into the water is also heard.

"Shit!"

Joe turns the boat around and Nicky immediately clambers over to Andy's side as they look out over the waters. "I see him!" Nicky shouts before kicking off his shoes to dive into the choppy waters.

Joe kills the engine and hurries to help Andy and Nile with unfurling the rope to toss to Nicky. "Pull!"

They get them both onto the boat, throwing blankets around them. Joe folds Nicky onto a tight hug and reaches out for Booker who immediately starts screaming unintelligibly and scrambling away.

"Booker!" Nile tries to touch his shoulder only for Andy to cut her motion off with a shake of her head.

"You can't understand him, but he is speaking a dialect that no one alive knows besides Joe, Nicky, and myself. And only one other person knew that and we buried her three years ago."

"Quynh."

"Yeah," Andy licks her lips. "He's begging us to not let him drown."

#the old guard #the old guard fic #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #booker & everyone #gab writes stuff

[randomingoftherandomness]

so i was looking over random notes of mine for other ideas in other fandoms and it hit me, Booker gets his shit together, maybe starts seeing a therapist, and he realizes he thrives on homemaking, he accidentally befriends his neighbors or his neighbor's kids, at some point they have a crisis where the kids need watching but there's no one to watch and insert Booker, yada yada, kids love him, parents can relate, he accidentally becomes the go-to baby sitter, blablablah Accidental Daycare Booker

and this daycare nonsense is of course going on during The Exile™ so TOG doesn't know shit until something happens and they worry somehow Booker's gonna End Up In It Too but what they find is a smiling, happy, thriving man, sitting in a pile of small children reading aloud, & those kids LOVE him alright, & the parents ADORE him, & of course they know a sanitized version of him losing his own kids so they EMPATHIZE with the poor man with no family, ,,,until of course TOG stumble in like "waht?"

also (sorry for not numbering these i literally didn't mean to keep coming up w/ more ideas so this is #3) since you ruined my brain for it, ot3 so of course Joe sees this glowing happy Booker doting on these amazing small babies & just-- collapses because cuteness & overload, his poor poetic soft heart can't take it, but Nicky's not doing much better he forgot how to language halfway through a word & is trying to catch Joe but poor Nicky, he can't tear his eyes away & only one arm is working

AHHHHHH JORDGE I AM SOFT AND FERAL FOR THIS

I can already see how he goes to his knees to speak to the kids at their eye level and treats them with the utmost respect and gravitas. And those kids love him. Like, love the absolute cotton socks off of him.

Anita attempts to run away when her little brother was born and thinks her parents love her less and goes right to Booker because his house is right at the end of the street and that’s the furthest she’s ever walked alone, who makes her hot chocolate and puts on Inside Out and calls her parents to tell them that he will talk to her and get her back by bedtime. Phillipe and James who are adopting but worry about whether they’d be good parents and Booker becomes their confidante and helps them make sense of the red tapes and bureaucracies - which is easy coz governmental firewalls are nothing to the man who helped set them in place in the first place.

The Martin children who were new to the neighbourhood with parents who were clearly trying to save their marriage to very little success, so they hang out in Booker’s backyard when the fighting gets too loud and he always keeps a key under the frog-shaped pot in case he is at his weekly therapy sessions and they need a glass of water or something. Juliette who was leaving for uni next year but feels overwhelmed about leaving her family comes over for a chat and soon enough some of the older kids in the neighbourhood come by too. 

Booker keeps his pantry stock with snack and food options because he can never know who’ll show up - whether it was one of the parents or the kids - so he is always prepared. In turn, the community rapidly weaves him into their lives; he takes summer holidays with his neighbours and everyone plans their Christmas parties so that he can attend each and every one. 

And then one day, he manages to pull one of the younger Martin children from a tree but not before the boy sprains a wrist on the fall. Booker brings the neighbourhood brood along with him to the hospital and it’s nothing big and the child was none the worse for wear, but somehow his name pings in the hospital’s system and it brings his family to Paris because hey, his name pinged in a hospital’s system. Andy is worried because she’s mortal now, so what if Booker is too and what if this is a catalyst for him to try yeeting himself off this mortal coil. Joe and Nicky are on tenterhooks the whole time because Booker was and is their lover and while they still need time to heal from the hurt, the idea that Booker is hurting and they’re not there by his side is something they can’t abide by. Nile is just resisting the urge to bang her head on a table because this worry and stress could have been avoided if they’d just listened to her and talked to the man.

Booker isn’t in the hospital obviously but he is at the address he leaves at the hospital. They arrive, ready to spirit him away if they need to, only to find the house filled to the brim with people and laughter and happiness. A teenage girl opens the door and asks if they’re Basti’s friends because they’re out of ice and could they go get some, please? There’s a game on where the clear team supporters are religiously gathered around. In the kitchen, there is something like a cooking marathon happening and the dining table is bowing under the food piled on it. It is simultaneously chaotic and homely and Joe stops a man with a baby to ask where ‘Basti’ is. 

They’re all directed to the backyard where Booker is seated on the grass with a small gathering of children and teenagers who are lounging with their books and phones while Booker is reading out loud to the youngest members of this group. The child on his lap has a cast on his arm and sucking on a thumb but seems to be transfixed and calm as Booker does the voices to Beauty and the Beast.

Booker looks radiant and content and healthy and hale and he smiles easily when the children cuddle closer to him and demand for his attention. Joe is struck breathless by the almost unrecognisable way Booker looks in that he is so soft and content and so very alive, while Nicky is speechless at how much his heart spills with love at the kindness he sees in the way Booker treats the children around him and how his home is so filled with people who clearly care and are comfortable with Booker in their lives. 

Andy is confused as hell and Nile is ready to drag them all out because Booker seems to be doing well but they do not need to have their reunion right here and now because there are too many strangers around them right now. And that is when Booker looks up to see, oh, it’s them and his face changes from relaxed and calm to tense and guarded. Which doesn’t go unnoticed by the children. 

Who all move to put themselves in front of Booker. The Immortals are highly befuddled. 

#i think there's enough here for a full length story that i will never write lol #booker loving hours are never off at Chez Gab #joe x booker x nicky #booker x joe x nicky #joe x nicky x booker

[randomingoftherandomness]

Booker thrives on family, purpose, & homemaking & that's why he failed at war & that's why he slowly crumpled horribly into his depression, the og teased/played at/tried family in the quiet moments between missions but it was never enough, never quite enough /investment/, Joe'n'Nicky had their thing, he & Andy could commiserate in their loss & misery but I bet he didn't truly see how they could really thrive as a family until Nile but by then he'd made his choice & had to suffer the consequences

Ouch. Wow. Just. Ow.

Honestly, yeah. Personal headcanon is that Booker is big on family. He went back and stayed far longer than he should with them, didn't he? Is it any wonder that he has a lot of trauma from the last time he saw his youngest? Isn't that why he warned Nile off contacting her own family? This is a pain that isn't worth experiencing.

There is also a headcanon that rattles around in my head that Booker probably did not get as much guidance from the og Guards. Maybe due to their grief and regret and mourning of Quynh? Maybe by the time he joined them, he was at a different place than they were; he had lived a full life with a wife, kids, entrenched in his own community... Like, we know Andy was a warrior. A god like figure in her time. We know Joe and Nicky fought for their causes before coming together in peace. So, how could they connect with Booker who was just a man? Someone whose first thought after attaining immortality was to go home?

Idk. Generation gap, maybe. You know how sometimes the youngest child is probably the one who has parents that have learnt from the mistakes they made with the elder children? Booker hopes this is the case for Nile. That the family she has is a better one than the one he got.

#booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #booker #sebastien le livre

[randomingoftherandomness]

I just had a thought and I need to share it with someone and you’re the only one I “know” in the TOG fandom so I hope that’s ok 😊

Imagine Booker with a tongue piercing

My new coworker looks a bit like Booker (well, not really.. but he has that scruffy look..), and I saw a glimpse of silver in his mouth today. Now, the only thing I can think about is Booker with his tongue pierced.

I don’t think I’ll get much work done today 😅

Well. That’s certainly a thought 😆 Booker with a tongue piercing, huh?

I can certainly see him unconsciously pursing his lips just to ‘play’ with his piercing; how he would rub the metal over his teeth in thought, how he would suck in his teeth just to feel the pressure. Oh! Most definitely can 1000% see Booker darting his tongue out to lick at a melting ice-lolly. Can also see him laughing, lips parted with his tongue out as he tries to catch a snowfall in his mouth.

👅❤️👍🏼

#booker #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #sebastien le livre

[randomingoftherandomness]

Hc: the first time the gang managed to catch up and find booker’s safe house, he narrowly escapes out the bathroom window into the night. Next time, they have Nile stand guard, and he manages to sneak past her in a ridiculous disguise. He has become adept at evasion and avoidance, and will not make it easy on them. Cue the wild goose chase around the world while Nicky and Joe try to get their man back. They only manage to find him when either he lets them or in the funniest comedy of errors.

Omg just imagine 😂

It's like a game of Where's Waldo but instead it is Where The Fuck is Booker and him just doing somersaulting off a mountain and into a boat like one of those Bugs Bunny/Road Runner shit. Like, they strip search him before putting him in a room but still they miss the lock pick, the knife, the pen, and a grappling hook. They don't know how he hid them and where.

Like, they lose his trail in Venice and spot him an hour later on a water taxi in a Hawaiian shirt and a wig and it is like, how the hell did he even do that he was just wearing a three piece dinner suit.

Eventually they corner him in Iceland and get Nile to sit on him and coz he isn't immune to her puppy eyes yet, he's still for long enough that Joe and Nicky can wrangle him into the back of a van.

Only to lose him in Laugavegur when he dislocates his thumb to slip out of his cuffs and into the crowd of tourists.

They find him two weeks later on a beach in Thailand drinking coconut water out of a coconut peering at then over his sunglasses. "Took you guys long enough to catch up."

#booker #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #sebastien le livre

[randomingoftherandomness]

Lol booker is a “mad lad” got to me. Booker (once he has gotten help and is livin it up in ot3 land) has gained a sense of adventure and a love for adrenaline and extreme sports. He nearly gives Nicky and Joe a heart attack when he Tokyo drifts his motorcycle during a mission. But oof, if it doesn’t make Nicky and Joe just the tiniest bit hot under the collar when they see Booker being a bamf on that machine that Nile calls a death trap.

Personal headcanon is that Booker has a collection of motorcycles and his favourite is his Vincent Black Shadow. Hunter S. Thompson once remarked that “if you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die.” Guess which bitch died a fair few times already.

The death trap looks like this.

And for some reason, Booker manages to do shit like this

And he also pulls stunts like this

Nile takes some time to get used to this mad lad behaviour. Andy just makes sure that the baby of the family is suitably distracted half a city away when the Joe, Nicky and Booker are busy doing the mambo italiano combo on every available surface because she loves them but they start thinking with their balls whenever Booker and motorcycles and death defying feats are involved.

✌🏼

#the old guard #the old guard headcanon #joe x booker x nicky #yusuf al kaysani #Yusuf al-kaysani #booker #sebastien le livre #nicolo di genova #nicolò di genova #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab

[randomingoftherandomness]

Just think about a soft booker. Booker who likes very worn clothing and hates the texture of new clothing, unless it’s very soft to begin with. Booker who sleeps with the fluffiest comforter because it’s lightweight, warm, and very cushy. Booker with a soft pillow because god love it the man needs something soft on his face. Just let the man be happy and have a soft, comforting place to rest. Maybe Nicky and Joe can join if they are quiet and cuddly.

Okay this one comes from the depths of my personal Headcanons

Booker had weighted blankets in all of his personal safe houses and I'm talking Yaada Weighted Blanket with the chunky knit and the Gravity Blanket because who doesn't want to be swaddled like a human burrito

He gets Kassatex European White Goose Down Pillows for all his houses. Andy tried to steal one. He catches her at the door and she hands it back sheepishly. He gives her ten the next time they meet.

His winter knit clothes are the softest angora wool

He enjoys having a soft fabric in hand to wash his face with

After they get together, he sets up his own room in Joe and Nicky's safe houses as they do in his but the difference is that its more a nest of pillows and blankets and black out curtains

They only join him there by invitation and they only sleep in those rooms because he's not about to explain to the launderette why there's a suspicious stain on his blankets for the umpteenth time

#booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #booker #sebastien le livre #joe x nicky x booker #joe x booker x nicky #booker x joe x nicky #the old guard headcanon

[randomingoftherandomness]

Hey Gab! So I was here thinking... What was Booker's reaction to realizing that Nick and Joe are one thing. I have several scenarios in my head. Was he homophobic? (considering the time is quite possible) I like to think that he might have surprised others with his reaction or lack of it. Would Nick and Joe try to keep "hidden" for a while? (if they could do it!) Anyway ... What are your thoughts on this? if you already wrote about it, I didn't see it! I'm sorry!!

Prompt: when Booker joins the team, Joe and Nicky try to keep their relationship low key, are keeping distance, are kinda cold towards Booker, all because they expect homophobia from him. But Booker is very affectionate, hugs them, kisses on them on cheeks/lips, doesn't bat an eye when he walks on them together. It can either bacause he's just so French, or grew up in a brother and is used to affection idk. Just Joe&Nicky being wary meeting Booker and Booker just being easily affectionate.

So I got the above prompt for a fic but I have yet to write anything for it I'm so sorry Anon... But let this just be the answer yeah?

Okay personal thoughts were that he probably saw at least one of his brothers in arms die on the battlefield calling out for their very male lover. He probably grew up with an aunt who was a confirmed spinster and lived in a one bedroom flat with her best friend who dressed in the snazziest three piece. Super personal headcanon is that she taught him how to forge papers and stuff and took him under her wing and passed her contacts on to him when she retired to the seaside.

He definitely clocked Joe and Nicky from the get go. The love on those two can't be hidden for too long and he tries in small ways at first to let them know that he is okay with them. Doing little things like, when he invites Joe for a walk he asks if Nicky was coming too, when he gets their accommodations he makes sure to put them both in one room, being respectful of their privacy because if they don't want him to know then they don't want him to know. He doesn't initiate physical contact with them, unsure how it would be taken, but when it is clear that they don't mind being kissed on the cheek, hand held as they walked, a hug of happiness or commiserations, piling together in the back of a horse drawn buggy with Booker placing himself in front of Joe and Nicky while they sleep so that anyone looking in wouldn't see them first.

The first time he saw them kiss in front of him it is over coffee on the rooftop overlooking Madrid in the Kilo safehouse, they turn to him and he says, go on, I'm enjoying the view.

#the old guard #the old guard headcanon #booker #joe x nicky #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab

[randomingoftherandomness]

Oo 👀 imagine booker does get therapy throughout the 100 years. But when they come back? He’s even more bitter, because now he understands how they fucked up as well. Booker is ready to fight

His front door is ajar when he steps up to it, pushing his sunglasses up to the crown of his head, he shifts his bag on his shoulder and juggles his groceries into his free hand. Nudging it open with his foot, he is wholly unsurprised when he sees them - all four of them - making themselves comfortable in his home.

Booker bristles a little at the sight of that.

Kicking the door shut behind him, he walks to the kitchen to put away his food. It isn't that he's ignoring them or dragging the moment of confrontation out. No, it is more that Booker is threading his thoughts into some sort of response that would be less of him screaming hysterically and them actually having a chance to listen.

"You didn't show up."

Nile's voice cuts through the quiet of his home. Out of all of them, he has had less time to know her and really, he hopes they did better with her than they did with him.

"I was busy," He says, casting a smile her way. "I took a job at the archives and we were reviewing some texts that became a bigger deal than we originally thought. I lost track of time."

Her eyes carefully watch him. "You didn't think to call?"

"No contact," Booker says, smile curling into something cooled and measured. "Remember?"

"You could have left a message," Joe interjects and his voice makes something unpleasant prickle up his spine. It is that familiar brush of regret and guilt and anger and frustration and sadness that sit like a tight ball of misery on the base of his neck.

Booker turns away, stacking his canned soup and sticking them in the cupboard.

"And what would I say, pray tell?"

Slamming the cupboard door shut, he lays his hand on the wood, breathing deeply and exhaling slowly. Just the way his therapists taught him to do. He was doing so well here.

"You wouldn't have listened."

"You don't know that."

"Don't I?" Booker scoffs. Rubbing his hand over his mouth, he allows himself a beat to calm down before turning back to them. Meeting Nicky's eyes, he picks up a knife from the wood block, holding it out handle first. "Well, brother? Will you come take your pound of flesh or will you be satisfied to hear that, yes, I am sorry and I have spent a very long time thinking about all the ways I have betrayed you? Or would my permission for you all to take a stab at me each work just as well?"

He cocks his head, challenging. Booker lowers the knife, setting it on the counter top. Moving his gaze to Andy who sits haloed in the light of the mid afternoon sun, he holds his breath. "Or must I tell you to leave? That you have had your turn and now it's mine."

Andy rises then, crossing the room to stand on the other side of the counter. "Is that what you want, Booker?"

"It's what I need, Andromache," He says, meeting her gaze head on. "I can't come back to you. Not until we can figure out what to do with this."

"What can we do to start?"

Booker ducks his head, eyeing Nile from the corner of his eyes. He considers his family who are all waiting on him to make the next move. He could tell them to leave now and stay gone and they would do it.

The thought of pushing it that far is something his mind shies from. Booker sighs. Love was never fucking easy, wasn't it?

"You can start by helping me prepare dinner," He says. Jerking his head at the direction of his bedroom, Booker turns away from them. "Second drawer has some clothes that would fit you guys. Make yourself comfortable. We're having Thai tonight."

"I like--"

"Good," He interrupts. Not looking up from where he was measuring out the cups of rice to rinse.

It will take more than Thai to patch up everything broken, he knows that. But when he hears them file into his room to change, he thinks it is a good enough beginning.

#booker #sebastien le livre #booker & everyone #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab #the old guard fic #gab writes stuff

[randomingoftherandomness]

It’s always sad Booker hour when will it be happy Booker hour 🥺 (probably never, anyone know any good french therapist?) You’re not accepting prompts I know but I’ll probably forget this by the 7th so I’ll just write: Booker being forced to go to therapy by Nile during exile, like she’ll keep sending pamphlets and websites. Nicky agrees with her—he’s still hurt but yeah therapy. Maybe OT3, open for debate.

OK. So. I definitely see Nile going, fuck this I'm calling Booker's number whenever the hell I want. Coz he obviously needs someone and Nile is gonna be that someone.

Also, Booker Loving Hours are Never Off at Chez Gab = doesn't matter whether it's sad or happy hours with Booker coz we love him just the same.

--

The first stack of pamphlets come on a Thursday, placed in a neatly tied pile on his doorstep. Booker almost kicks them aside before he spots the spidery flick of his name written on a note that accompanies it. Even after two hundred years, only one person he knows writes like that.

There is nothing else written behind it but Booker can't help standing at his front door with his ice cream melting in his shopping bag just to savour the way Nicky's familiar handwriting makes his heart ache.

Every pamphlet, once he gets round to untying the bundle, is a recommendation for mental health personnel. Non descript clinic brochures with their numbers printed in bold under their hours. Booker has to chuckle. This much he knows must be Nile's doing.

He leaves them on his dining table for a week before tossing the whole lot in with his trash. The note he keeps.

How they get his new number, he will never know. But his phone starts chiming every few days with links and resources. Some of them in English but most of them in French.

Even when he changes his number three more times, because he is trying to wallow here God fucking dammit and he isn't supposed to contact them for a hundred years and it doesn't seem fair that they keep pushing and he can't tell if they're taunting or not, the messages keep coming. Booker gives up and just starts ignoring the messages out of pique.

He should have expected Nile slipping into the seat next to his while he is having his morning coffee and croissant at the café. Booker is about to ask her, 'is Andy OK?' before letting her know she shouldn't be here lest the others find out, when she says, "Andy is fine. Everyone is fine. They know I'm here. Stop ignoring my messages."

He bites at the inside of his cheek. "I don't know what you're expecting from me."

Nile sighs, crossing her arms across her front. "Booker, you need help. You need someone you can talk to and you shouldn't be alone."

"And talking to strangers about my immortality and how I was a Judas to my--" His throat clicks at the swallow. He looks away. "I don't know how it will help."

"But you don't know how it won't help either."

Booker blinks, surprising himself with the sudden blurring of his vision. Nile is next to him in an instant, curling her hand into his. "They're discreet. Trained to talk to military personnel with a high security clearance and they know to not go into details. Nicky and I vetted them ourselves." She grins. "Joe and Andy helped."

"They did?"

Nile tucks herself against him, sighing as she wipes away his tears. "Just because they're mad Booker, they're not abandoning you. They love you. Even if it hurts right now."

"Joe must be rubbing off on you," Booker huffs a little wetly. "You've got very pretty words, little sister."

He looks back to the street, feeling his chest thrum. "I need help. Don't I?"

"Yeah, Booker. You do."

He let's himself lean into her warmth. "Will you come with me? The first time? I don't want to be alone."

Nile slides her palm into his. "Of course. That's why I'm here."

#booker & nile #booker #sebastien le livre #nile freeman #the old guard #the old guard fic #gab writes stuff #booker loving hours are never off at chez gab