Work Text:
1. Jennifer (waitress in a restaurant )
"I've got another first date. They're so awkwardly adorable, it's kinda painful."
Jennifer looks up from where she's balancing a tray of empty plates to give to Michael to load into the dishwasher.
"A guy trying to impress a girl?"
Lucille leans against the fridge in the restaurant kitchen.
"It's two guys. And one of them looks spooked whenever he thinks someone is perceiving him, so I think it's not just a first date but his first date with a guy period."
Jennifer is intrigued now. She remembers her first date with a girl and how she felt like all eyes were on her, all the time.
Of course now she knows that wasn't the case, and subconsciously she had known that back then too.
" So a baby gay on his first date, that's adorable."
Jennifer peaks out of the window of the kitchen door and immediately zeros in on the aforementioned table.
"They definitely look cute together", she admits.
In that moment she watches as another couple, a guy and a woman, walk towards the first date she has been watching.
"Lucy, come look!", she hisses and makes room for the other woman to join her as they watch the scene unfold in front of their eyes.
Baby gay guy is gesticulations wildly and she watches as the other guy's face falls slightly, the longer he talks.
The other couple leaves shortly after and the atmosphere at the table doesn't return to its lightheartedness.
A short while later Lucille comes back from the table, back from bringing them the check and getting a seemingly generous tip.
"The older one seemed sad and resigned. I told him not to give up and that it takes time for baby gays to find themselves. I hope he didn't think I was too weird for that."
Jennifer smiles.
"I'm sure it was just what he needed. You have a great way with words, love."
She leans over to press a kiss to her girlfriend slash coworker's cheek.
Only weeks later the couple they had watched that night is back, the younger man seeming much more confident, holding drinks over their shared dinner and laughing together happily.
Jennifer brings them a dessert on the house and the older guy - Tommy, as she learns from Lucille - tips her $50.
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2. Marie (barista in a café)
"A caramel macchiato and an Iced Latte for...", Marie squints at the handwritten name on the cup she's holding, ".. Fuck?"
She turns to John who's looking at her wide eyed.
"Is this a joke?"
Someone clears their throat behind her and she looks towards the counter quickly.
The man she's faced with is tall, blonde and well muscled. He also looks like he wants the floor to swallow him whole.
"I- I think it's for me? In my defense I did say Buck though."
Now it's Marie's turn to look embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, this writing is not great."
She squints at the to go cup again and sighs.
"Alright Mister Buck, I'm sorry. Here are your drinks."
Tall guy smiles at her gratefully, grabs the cups and bounds away.
Marie watches as he walks towards an equally tall, even more muscular man and hands over one of the drinks she prepared just minutes ago.
She sees as they both take a sip and their faces light up in matching pleasure.
Tall guy - Buck leans against the other man and they both seem to relax into each other.
Whenever these two come into the store next Marie admires the dynamic, the easy air that's between them and envies them for it.
Some people just have it all.
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3. Marius (personal trainer in a gym)
Sweat.
Grunts.
The clang of barbells dropping to the ground.
Marius concentrates on what his senses tell him as he sets foot into the gym he calls his workplace.
"Hey Marius ! You're here early today!"
He shrugs slightly and walks up to the counter.
"Had a last minute booking, they were willing to pay extra so who am I to refuse?"
Sandy the receptionist nods understandingly.
"The name is Adrian Johnson. He should be here in half an hour, could you send him to the weights section when he checks in?"
"Of course Marius, have fun warming up."
He smiles at her and slings his gym bag over his shoulder, heading to the weights section.
Once there he puts it down and takes out his water bottle. Hydration is key after all.
As he drinks he lets his gaze sweep over the room, taking in the other people who have decided 9 am on a Wednesday is a great time to work out.
There's a young woman with big headphones doing squats in a corner, a similarly young looking guy doing pull ups and two big men in front of the mirrors on what looks like yoga mats.
The last two grab his attention and he stares at them a bit incredulously.
Yoga in the weights section? That's certainly an interesting choice.
They are both in a downward dog pose right now, so he doesn't see their faces, but it gives him a chance to look at their well muscled bodies. From a purely professional point of view of course.
Both men have huge arms and torsos, really everything he can see of them is huge.
As they come out of the pose Marius turns away, not wanting to be caught staring and called a creep.
He busies himself with some small barbells, trying not to catch the two guys' attention.
When he glances over again they have both sat on their mats, eyes closed.
Now that he can see their faces he can tell that one of them has a bruise - a birthmark? - over his eye and looks slightly younger than the other.
His arms, huge and perfectly visible with the tanktop he's wearing are scattered with tattoos, big and small, some recognizable and others not so much.
The other man, older but not obscenely so, is even more muscular, arms lightly tanned and face just as relaxed as his workout partner's.
Over the next 20 minutes he watches as they finish up their yoga before setting up some weights to lift, moving around each other with an admirable ease.
When his client - Adrian - arrives, Marius has warmed up and is ready to instruct.
He tries not to keep throwing glances at the other guys until Adrian lets out a disgusted noise next to him.
He turns to see what has caused this reaction only to see the muscular men sharing a seemingly chaste kiss.
"Really? In public? This shouldn't be allowed", Adrian scoffs next to him.
Marius watches the two men turn to him so quick he thinks they must've gotten whiplash.
He himself has turned to face Adrian, pinning him with a cold glare.
"It seems our time is over, Mr Johnson. I'm sorry to say but I don't think we'll be a good fit for you. It would be best if you found a new gym."
Adrian gapes at him.
"Seriously? Over one small comment? You gotta be kidding me!"
The two men who they had just been looking at, have made their way over and are now standing next to Marius.
"Is there a problem here, sir?"
The bigger man asks and his voice is sharp like a knife.
Adrian lets out a disbelieving noise and turns to Marius as if expecting him to retract his statement.
When he doesn't, Adrian exhales heavily through his nose and grabs his gym bag to storm off.
"Thank you man, you really didn't have to do that."
It's the slightly smaller man who has spoken now.
Marius sighs.
"This is no place to bigotry. People like him shouldn't be indulged in their tantrums."
The two men look at each other, then beam at Marius.
"It's always nice to know when a gym has that policy. I told you it was a good idea to come here Tommy!"
Bigger guy - Tommy - smiles at his partner indulgently.
"It was a great idea, sweetheart."
Marius' heart constricts at the easy affection he witnesses before him.
"Seriously, thank you. We didn't mean to cause you trouble. We figured it would be okay, with the rainbow flag in the window and all."
"It's no trouble. It's always best to know those who I don't want to keep as clients."
Tommy and his partner - Buck, he learns - are delighted at the policy and both buy year long memberships with the promise to book some private sessions with Marius at some point.
The friendship that grows between them eventually extends beyond the gym and Marius even gets help when he decides to move closer to his place of work.
As it turns out, neither man is afraid of putting those muscles to good use, proving so by helping him lug all his furniture from one apartment to the next in the span of a few hours.
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4. Layla (florist in a flower shop)
Flowers have always been something Layla enjoyed.
Learning that there was a whole industry centered around them was a revelation to her little nine year old self.
From a young age she had known that this was what she wanted to do in life.
Make people happy with flowers.
At the age of 34 she is the proud owner of her own flower shop, a symbol in her neighborhood, attracting attention from all over.
Most of all she loves making custom orders, some with deep meaning attached to them, some just with simple instructions like "make it as colorful as possible" or "my abuela loves pink".
Today she thinks there are some with deep meaning again, although there have been no further instructions besides what flowers to use and a budget.
She happily lays out Amaryllis (pride), Baby's breath (everlasting love), red Camellias (you're a flame in my heart) and basil (good wishes) for the first arrangement.
Tying them together she sets them aside in a vase and begins on the second bouquet.
This one she starts with white Camellias (you're adorable), adding a single Dahlia (good taste), Daisies (loyal love) and honeysuckle (bonds of love).
Placing it in a second vase she glances at the clock.
Both orders are due to be picked up any minute now, so she hurries to the front of the store.
Not five minutes later two big men walk into the store together.
"I still don't understand why you couldn't wait outside, I just wanted to pick something up", one of them pouts, wine red lips pursed.
"I also want to pick something up, Evan."
The other man answers, a confused glint in his eyes.
They reach the counter at the same time.
"I want to pick up an order for Thomas Kinard? I placed it a week ago."
Layla nods but before she can hand it over, the other man interrupts.
"You actually ordered something??"
"Yes, I did."
Layla hands over the second bouquet she had made earlier, telling Thomas the price and taking the money he hands her.
Once the transaction is done she turns to the other man.
"Order for Evan Buckley?"
He seems to have collected himself a bit more.
She grabs the other custom piece and gives it into his waiting hands.
He also pays and then the two men stand awkwardly next to each other, both with a flower arrangement in their hands.
They stare at each other before breaking out into loud laughter.
Simultaneously they exchange first flowers and then kisses.
"Happy anniversary, Babe."
"Happy anniversary, sweetheart."
Saying their goodbyes they walk out of her store hand in hand.
Layla exhales softly and gets back to her flower arrangements.
Over the coming years she becomes the go to flower provider for their relationship, including their wedding where she personally makes every arrangement.
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5. Oscar (journalist for a news station)
"What's so special about this guy?"
"Are you serious? Do you mean you've never heard of Buck the firefighter?"
"No? Was I supposed to?"
Oscar lets his head fall onto his desk.
"He's only been on the news countless times. And he used to date THE Taylor Kelly."
Samantha "call me Sam", the newest intern, doesn't seem anymore impressed than seconds before.
"Alright", she says sceptically.
"So why do you wanna do a piece on him?"
"He seems to attract bad luck. He got crushed by a firetruck, was stuck in the tsunami a few years ago while still recovering from that injury and he got struck by lightning recently. I wanna do a biography style exposé on him."
"He's still alive, isn't he? Wouldn't that mean he had good luck throughout all of this?"
Oscar thinks for a second.
"Maybe, but most people may not see it that way, since it happened in the first place."
"So why do you need me when you already know all of this?"
"Every time I tried approaching him recently he's been with this other guy, also a firefighter I think, and I couldn't get him alone to ask for the interview."
"So you're just a big coward?"
Oscar doesn't deign to answer.
The next day he watches as Sam distracts the other firefighter while he approaches Buck.
He doesn't expect to be rejected so quickly.
According to his research Buckley should be happy about the spotlight, should crave it really.
But the wide, slightly panicked eyes looking at him after his interview proposal tell a different story.
Seconds later Buckley's protector is back next to him, curling a steadying arm around his shoulder and shooting a dirty look at Oscar.
He resigns himself to not getting the article about his hero and instead reaches out to the LAFD press office to extend his apologies.
At least he knows that Buck is in good hands if the protective stance of his companion was anything to go by.
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+1 Christopher
Christopher knows that his dad and Buck are best friends.
They have been for years.
He also knows that whenever Buck has a girlfriend he becomes distant from the Diaz family and it isn't usually until after they break up that they reconnect fully.
When he meets Tommy he thinks he's cool, he's friends with his dad and he gladly tells him all about Buck, one of his favorite subjects.
When he sees his dad after Tommy brings him home from the hospital he's confused.
Usually whenever dad is injured Buck is with him from the hospital until he is safely at home and beyond that.
Tommy sighs and explains that Buck had something come up but that he would go over to check on him as soon as Carla is at the Diaz house.
When he hears from his dad a few days later that Tommy and Buck are on their way to being boyfriends he cries angry tears.
He doesn't want to lose his Buck again.
He wants to be angry at Tommy, but how can he?
He knows first hand how amazing Buck is.
His worries of losing Buck are alleviated when only days later Buck and Tommy take him to the aquarium together.
Tommy doesn't know as much about the fish as Buck or even Chris himself, but he listens intently, asking questions when appropriate and nodding.
He also buys Chris a stuffed dolphin from the gift store.
This relationship has Chris' stamp of approval, he thinks as he cuddles the toy to his torso that night.