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“Hey, partner.” Eddie greeted Buck as he walked into the firehouse locker room.
“Morning, Eds.” Buck replied absentmindedly as he buttoned his shirt.
“Chim.” Eddie nodded over at Chimney.
“Hey, how come I don’t get a cool nickname?” Chimney complained.
“Hate to break it to you, but Chim is already a nickname.” Buck interjected.
“Yeah, and so is Buck.” Chimney shot back.
Then, even though Eddie was pretty sure this argument actually had nothing to do with him, both men looked at him expectedly for an answer.
“Well, why would I call you partner?” Eddie asked. “You’re not my partner. You’re Hen’s partner.”
It didn’t really explain why Eddie had felt the need to call Buck partner, but at least it was true.
“Hmm.” Chimney hummed, not saying anything else. Eddie figured the conversation was over.
Two minutes later, Hen walked into the locker room.
“Morning, partner.” Chimney grinned at Hen, who stopped in her tracks to look at him curiously.
“Is there a snake in your boot?” Hen deadpanned.
“Why did it sound cool when Eddie said it?” Chimney wondered out loud.
Eddie tried to ignore the way his stomach flipped when Buck shot him a wink.
--
“If you could bring the soap over to the east side of the truck, we can get it restocked.” Buck ordered Eddie, peering over a clipboard that Eddie was certain he had only gotten his hands on because Chimney and Hen were off that day.
“Alright, boss.” Eddie said, grinning at Buck, hauling the bucket to where Buck was standing. Everyone else at the 118 complained to no end when Buck got like this, all serious and orderly, but Eddie didn’t mind it. If he was honest, Eddie found Buck kind of cute like this. The guy who was normally reckless and incapable of forethought being so focused on law and order made Eddie just want to stare at him in wonder.
Maybe cute wasn’t the right word. Or at least the one Eddie would admit to.
Amusing, maybe?
“Boss?” Buck asked, stopping in his tracks. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No.” Eddie replied honestly. “But you are acting pretty authoritative.”
“Okay, now you’re making fun of me.” Buck said.
“I’m teasing.” Eddie admitted. “But I’m listening. Just tell me what to do, boss.”
Buck tried to glare at him, but Eddie could see the smile cracking through.
--
The 118 had been on a call at a music festival for far too long. Buck and Eddie were standing back from the actual scene where Hen and Chim were working on a group of ravers that were having a bad trip resulting in two broken arms.
This meant that Buck and Eddie were meant to be doing crowd control, but the crowd was mostly controlling themselves because they were so far away from the actual music. Meaning, Eddie had actually spent the last twenty minutes listening to Buck argue why festivals were actually the worst way to hear live music.
“I’m just saying, everything that is good about hearing live music gets ruined when you’ve been out in the sun for hours in clothes that chafe. And then your friends almost die of alcohol poisoning, and you realize it’s not even dinnertime.” Buck ranted.
“Whatever you say, rockstar.” Eddie snorted, looking over at Buck fondly. Eddie didn’t really have an opinion on the topic, and couldn’t relate to anything Buck was saying. Still, he was entertained by listening to him talk.
Buck opened his mouth to talk some more, but was promptly interrupted.
“Oh my god. You two are soooo cute.” Some young woman coated in glitter blinked up at Eddie and Buck from a few feet away.
Buck and Eddie got hit on pretty frequently at work, and considered it part of the gig. Usually, Buck was especially nice about it, particularly because once upon a time he apparently used to flirt back.
Except it had been a long day in the sun, and even Buck was running out of patience.
“Uh,” Buck said, flat. “Sorry ma’am. We’re working.”
“What?” The girl giggled. “No, I’m not hitting on you. I have a boyfriend, you know. I don’t know where he went. I meant you two are so cute together.”
“Um,” Eddie pulled a face. “Why would you think that?”
“Seriously? You guys were openly flirting.”
“No we weren’t.” Eddie replied.
“I just heard you call him a pet name, though.” The girl said, and Eddie was about to open his mouth yet again to defend himself before the girl shot off in another direction. “Oh, there’s my boyfriend!” She exclaimed as she bolted.
Eddie didn’t say anything for a moment, and the silence felt somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so defensive about the woman saying they were flirting, and maybe Eddie should say something, but—
“So, what kind of drugs do you think she’s on?” Buck wondered aloud.
Okay, so maybe Eddie was just overthinking it.
--
“Eddie, you coming? We’re gonna be late.” Buck called through the front door as Eddie scrambled to find his keys, finally spotting them on the edge of the couch cushions and shoving them in his back pocket.
“Right behind you, sailor.” Eddie called out, making it to the front door in seconds.
“Really, Dad?” Christopher piped up. He had been waiting outside for a few minutes and was probably already annoyed that they might miss the pre-show at the movie theatres.
“What?” Eddie frowned at his son, letting Buck lock the door as they walked out to the car.
“You called Buck sailor.”
“Yeah?” Eddie asked. “So?”
“It’s weird.” Christopher insisted.
“Why?” Eddie asked, trying to sound accusatory despite his mind starting race. Was it weird?
“You weren’t even in the navy.” Chris rolled his eyes. “You were in the army.”
“That’s why you think it’s weird?” Eddie asked, relieved that his son hadn’t accused him of flirting with best friend.
And then, Eddie realized that he was talking to an eleven-year-old who barely knew what flirting was, and Buck was sliding into the driver’s seat.
Eddie forced his mind to go literally anywhere else.
--
Buck and Eddie were geared up on the side of a cliff, about to be rappelled down to rescue an influencer and her pet pig who had fallen during an Instagram photoshoot.
In other words, a normal workday as a firefighter at the 118.
“Let’s do it, Hercules.” Eddie said to Buck as Chimney secured their lines.
It was a weird one, and Eddie knew it. He cringed as soon as it left his mouth.
“Hercules?” Buck raised his eyebrows. “I know I’ve been working out more, but I think you might be stroking my ego a little too much.”
“Uh,” Eddie stammered. “How do you know I wasn’t talking to Chimney?”
“Really? I thought we established long ago that Buck’s the only one who gets your nicknames.” Chimney said, smirking.
“I never—” Eddie started, but stopped himself, choosing to shut up rather than embarrass himself further. “Let’s just focus on the rescue.”
“Okay.” Chimney shrugged.
Once Buck and Eddie were safely on the ground (and Buck was covered in pig feces) Buck turned to Eddie with a strange look on his face.
“You were talking about me, right?” Buck asked. “When you said Hercules?”
Eddie didn’t say anything, not knowing how to answer with words that didn’t feel like a confession.
“You stink, Buck.” Eddie finally said, walking away.
Again, at least it was true.
--
“Hey Buck, you’re still coming for dinner tonight, right?” Eddie called out as he reached the top of the stairs at work.
Buck was seated at the dining table next to Hen, the two of them scrolling on their phones and mostly ignoring each other.
“Was planning on it.” Buck replied, looking up as Eddie stood in-between Buck and Hen’s chairs. “Why?”
“I kind of forgot to buy the pork.” Eddie said, biting his lip. “And I have to rush home after work because Carla has to take her husband to the dentist, and—"
“I’ll pick up the pork.” Buck said, not even letting Eddie finish his preamble to the question.
“Really?” Eddie asked. “You don’t mind?”
“I’m already cooking it, aren’t I?” Buck teased. “Seriously, don’t worry about it."
“Thanks, babe. That’s a huge help.” Eddie said, going to take a step away before he felt his blood go cold.
There was a second—a split second—where Eddie realized what had just come out of his mouth. His eyes locked on Buck’s, who looked like someone had just sucked all the air out of room. So, yeah, he had certainly noticed, and Eddie started to feel like he might pass out.
But then Buck blinked. And Eddie cleared his throat. And Buck nodded slightly.
“No problem.” Buck said, his voice impressively even.
Buck was letting it go, Eddie realized, and the panic that had been building up deflated. He was left with a puddle of embarrassment that he had just let that happen.
Except Eddie couldn’t feel anything but grateful that they could pretend he didn’t just do that, until—
“I’m sorry, Eddie.” Hen spoke up, her mouth slightly ajar. “Did you just call Buck babe?”
“I—” Eddie felt heat building up in his face. “It just slipped out.”
“One hell of a slip.” Hen said, and she was grinning. Like this was the funniest thing she had ever seen, and that’s when Eddie knew she saw right through him. If he wasn’t so embarrassed, he would be glaring at her for enjoying this.
“Hey,” Buck interrupted, lightly tapping Hen’s arm. “Leave him alone. It was an honest mistake.”
“It was honest alright.” Hen muttered under her breath, and Eddie maybe wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole right then and there.
“Seriously, Hen. It’s—what do they call it?” Buck looked up at Eddie for an answer, but not taking into account the fact that Eddie’s brain had turned to mush. “Right! A Freudian slip.”
To that, a noise did come out of Eddie’s mouth. It was high and squeaky, at a pitch that Eddie couldn’t remember ever producing.
“Buck.” Hen stifled a laugh. “Do you know what a Freudian slip is?”
“Sure I do. It’s when you say something by accident that you feel subcon—oh.” Buck looked up at Eddie sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to imply that you…” Buck trailed off.
“I, uh.” Eddie stuttered. “I didn’t mean to imply anything…either.”
“I know!” Buck exclaimed, his eyes wide and reassuring. “I know you weren’t, really. You can call me whatever you want. I don’t mind.”
Buck was rambling, doing that thing where he tried to fix what was going wrong, and he would keep going until he was satisfied. Knowing how stubborn Buck could be, Eddie recognized that the only way to end this was to walk away.
“Okay.” Eddie nodded. “Well, I’m going to go now. To anywhere but right here.”
“Okay.” Buck said, turning back to his phone. “Sounds good, babe.” And then “Wait—”
But it was too late, because as his brain short-circuited, Eddie found himself tripping over nothing and falling face-first into the floor. It didn’t even do him the courtesy of swallowing him into hell.
Hen broke into uncontrollable laughter.
Eddie groaned. In this place, he was never going to live this down. The only solace was that from how red Buck’s face had gotten in the last thirty seconds, he wasn’t going to either.
And Hen swore it wasn’t her, but by the next shift, both Eddie and Buck’s names were taped over with the word ‘Babe’ in their places.