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Eddie would say that the new captain of the 118, much like the old one, is a little biased when it comes to scheduling. From what he’s heard from Bosko (and Tommy, back when they were still friends), other stations tend to mix up their shifts a bit, and not everyone works with the exact same group of people every time. Yet, the 118 is different, and Eddie, Hen, Buck, and Ravi are always assigned to the same shift. Eddie thinks that it makes Chimney (and had probably made Bobby) feel better to know that their little found family would always be together. With all the dangerous shit they’ve been through in the past few years, and especially since Bobby’s death, having each other… well, that’s exactly what they all need.
Yet, today, Eddie isn’t working the same shift as the others. Not because of the Chimney, of course, but because Julie Rosen had called and asked him for a favor. Her sister’s bachelorette party is this weekend, and she needed to switch up her twenty-four-hour shift so that she could party it up in Vegas without losing a vacation day (She’s planning on using those for the wedding later this year. It’s a destination wedding in Italy, and since she hasn’t taken a vacation day since she started at the 118, she plans on using up quite a few of them to go early and do all the touristy shit before the wedding date). Since Eddie owes her one after letting Buck steal all her potential winnings with his lightning-strike induced math skills, he’d accepted the shift trade.
He’d planned on spending his 24 hours off catching up on laundry and his favorite telenovela - and had, at least until Maddie called him this morning in a bit of a panic. With it being summer, she and Chim had teamed up with Hen and Karen for joint childcare purposes, so their usual babysitter was supposed to be watching Mara, Jee-Yun, and Baby Nash at their place. However, their sitter apparently called in sick with a horrific stomach bug, and with everyone being on shift, she was in a bit of a pickle.
So, that’s how Eddie found himself at the Han house, juggling a baby, a nine-year-old, and a very hyperactive four-year-old. Luckily for him, the girls have been keeping themselves entertained, playing in Jee’s room, leaving him to mainly handle Nash. He wasn’t around much for Chris being this age, but Maddie left him a very detailed list of his daily routine that Eddie has been pretty good at following, so he hasn’t been too overwhelmed.
After he’s rocked Nash back to sleep, he carefully lays him down in his nursery and grabs the baby monitor before sneaking out to check on the girls.
When he makes it to Jee’s room, he finds them giggling happily as Mara puts the finishing touches on a very messy French braid in Jee’s hair before fitting a plastic crown on her head. “All finished, Princess Jee! Tell me what you think.” Mara tells her, handing her a heart-shaped hand mirror.
Squealing in delight, Jee spins around and pulls Mara into a tight hug. “I love it!” When she pulls back, Eddie can take a good look at her. Aside from her tiara, she’s got layers of kid-friendly jewelry adorning her as well: necklaces, rings, and bracelets match the bright pink nails that Mara must have painted for her. In addition to hair styles and accessories, Mara has gone full make-up artist as well, giving Jee some sparkly eye-shadow, a little bit of mascara, and a shimmery lip gloss. It’s just a little, but Eddie is sure it’s enough to make her feel like the princess Mara is dressing her up to be.
“Uncle Eddie!” Jee squeals, spotting him in the doorway. “Do you think I look pretty?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” Eddie coos, giving her a playful boop on her nose. “Did you save some jewelry for Mara to be a princess, too?”
“Oh, I’m not a princess. I’m Jee’s fairy godmother.”
“Do you wanna play princesses with us? Mara can be your fairy godmother, too!” Jee asks, arms wrapped tightly around Eddie’s leg in a hug as she blinks up at him with the signature Buckley puppy-dog eyes. He knows for a fact that Buck taught her that move, because he taught the same one to Christopher ages ago. Glancing over at Mara, she has the same expression as well. God, they’re multiplying. Before he knows it, Baby Nash will be making that same face at him, too.
Because he can’t possibly refuse the power of two sets of puppy-dog eyes, he agrees. “Um.. sure. Why not? Am I supposed to be the prince?”
“No, silly.” Jee giggles. “You have to be a princess, too.”
“I’m not sure I know how to be a princess.” Eddie shrugs, smiling a bit sheepishly. They seem really excited, and he doesn’t want to disappoint them.
“We can teach you! But first, you need to look like a princess. That’s where I come in.” Mara tells him confidently and pulls him over to Jee’s pink beanbag chair. It’s way too small for him, but he squishes into it anyway and crosses his legs out in front of him. “What color do you want on your nails?” She asks, and holds out three choices: a glittery hot pink (like Jee’s), a pale lavender (that Mara has on her own fingernails), and a navy blue with little flecks of silver.
“Ummm… blue.”
“Good choice!” Mara tells him and gets to work. Eddie has never had his nails done before, but he watched his sisters do each other’s when they were kids. They used to get the polish all over each other’s fingers, painting way outside of the lines. Yet, Mara takes her time, delicately brushing over each nail, barely letting in extra polish drip onto his skin.
“You’re pretty good at this.” He tells her.
Her brows are still furrowed in concentration, but she does crack a little smile at the compliment. “Denny lets me practice on him all the time.”
“That’s nice of him.”
When his left hand is finished, Mara passes it over to Jee, who carefully takes it in her tiny one. It’s adorable to see her prop it up as she takes a handheld, battery-powered fan with the L.A. Zoo logo on it (no doubt an impulse buy from her Uncle Buck on their last zoo trip) and lets it blow cold air over his nails to dry.
As Mara carefully paints the nails on his right hand, Jee asks him tons of questions about what kind of princess he wants to be. What’s the name of his kingdom? Does he have an evil stepmother? What kind of animal is his sidekick? What’s their name? Does he sing?
Eddie struggles with every question, but the girls take mercy on him and help him out. By the time Jee is drying his newly painted hand with her little fan, they’ve decided that Eddie is a princess from Firelandia, definitely has an evil stepmother (“Because all princesses have to have one of those, Uncle Eddie”), with an orange cat as his animal sidekick named Piccolo.
“Piccolo?” Mara questions skeptically.
“What? It’s a fun word.” Eddie shrugs, thinking back to the episode of New Girl that he and Buck had been watching the other night. Of course, his name choice sets off a spell of Jee doing her best to say it, stumbling over the word and sending Mara into a fit of giggles.
“Okay, let’s keep going!” Mara says and reaches for a makeup palette. “What about for eye-shadow?”
Look, Eddie isn’t too familiar with expensive makeup brands. He and Shannon couldn’t afford much when they were first married, so it was always drugstore makeup products for her, and Marisol, well, he only lived with her for less than a week, so he didn’t have a lot of time to get acquainted with her makeup products. With that said, he can recognize when a makeup palette is not straight out of the kid-friendly aisle at the store, so he asks, “Where did you get that?”
Mara, looking a little panicked, snaps her head to Jee, who just innocently shrugs and tells him, “I just borrowed it from Mommy.”
“Does she know that you’re borrowing it?” He asks firmly, but gently, already knowing the answer.
“We’ll put it back, Eddie. We promise! Right, Jee?” Mara says, smiling sweetly and elbowing Jee so that she’ll do the same. God, he is so lucky he only has a boy. He would get into so much trouble if he had a little girl at home.
“Okay,” he concedes, “but you have to put it back right when you’re done with it, and you can’t use too much.”
Cheering, Mara says, “Yay! Okay, pick one!”
She cracks open the palette and lets Eddie peruse the different shades. Unsurprisingly, since it’s Maddie’s, it’s a collection of neutrals, some matte while others appear to have a bit more of a sheen to them. There are quite a few that he’s interested in, but ultimately, he points at a shade that’s relatively close to his skin tone, but is a little shimmery.
Mara reaches out, tugging him closer by the chin as he lets his eyes fall closed so she can work her fairy godmother magic. The fluffy brush tickles a bit as she runs it over his eyelids, so when he scrunches in protest, she taps on his cheek lightly with the wooden end of the brush, scolding him to relax.
“You can open your eyes now.” She tells him when she’s finished, smiling happily at her work. “Now, we need some mascara.”
When she grabs for the little black and white tube and brings it up to his face, Eddie nearly flinches, asking, “Are you sure you’re not going to poke my eye out with that thing?”
“Yes! Just blink when I tell you to.” It’s a little weird to blink on her command, but he manages to make it work as she coats his lashes on both eyes - and somehow, does keep the applicator from stabbing him. He guesses she’s probably had much rowdier clients than him, though, particularly the four-year-old fidgeting excitedly in the corner as she rummages through her toy chest.
“Now, lip gloss! What color?” Like with the polish, there are three options, except this time Eddie can tell they’re from a cute kid’s makeup kit. All are simple glosses, mostly clear with a hint of different hues to them. Each of the tubes is covered in little cartoons of fruits, indicating what Eddie assumes are different scents.
“I guess… the pink one.”
“That’s my favorite!” Jee cheers as she joins the two of them again, accompanied by a collection of plastic jewels. “It’s strawberry flavored!”
Mara instructs him to purse his lips, making it a little easier for her to apply the gloss, but compared to everything else, this is the easiest part, so it’s not long before she’s declaring, “Okay! Makeup is done!”
“Can I see?” Eddie asks, surprising himself with how excited he is to see all of her hard work.
“Not yet! We’ve gotta finish the look.” She tells him, before turning to Jee. “Jee, did you pick Eddie out a tiara and jewelry?”
“Yep!” She replies, picking up the little plastic tiara with a deep blue heart shape in the center, and sets it on Eddie’s head herself. “This one matches your nails!” After the tiara is secure, the girls take turns adorning him with different chunky necklaces and bracelets that squeeze his wrists a little too tightly. The rings are way too small for most of his fingers as well, but Jee does manage to squeeze the largest one on his pinky.
“Okay, all finished!” Mara declares when the last necklace is settled around his neck. Jee quickly passes him the heart-shaped mirror, just like Mara had done for her earlier. “What do you think?”
“Oh… wow.” He says breathily, taking in his appearance. Minus all of the jewelry, the look is just a subtle change. His lips have just a hint of a sheen from the gloss, which draws him in, but it’s the eye makeup that makes his breath hitch just a bit. A little extra shimmer on his eyelids, plus a coating of mascara that makes his brown eyes seem brighter and more… joyful than they normally are.
“Do you feel, bonita, Uncle Eddie?” Jee asks, hands clasped as she bounces on her feet in anticipation of his review. The way Mara giggles delightfully at her question, he feels like he’s missing out on an inside joke, but her question still stands out to him. Does he feel pretty? He’s never really thought of himself as pretty. Handsome, maybe. His abuela and Pepa have told him that plenty of times, even Buck has, too, when he’s been getting ready to go on dates with Ana or Marisol. But he’s never thought of himself as pretty .
Pretty has always implied femininity, something his parents discouraged for him. He had to be the man of the house, tough, hard. Pretty has always been a level of delicacy and gentleness that he doesn’t allow himself to be. Not for a long time, at least.
But as he sits there in Jee’s room looking at his reflection, at the light that catches in his eyes, and the small smile that graces his lips, he lets himself feel it. Pretty, gentle, good . “Yeah, Jee… yeah, I do.”
For the next few hours, he falls into the world of princesses with the girls. Mara uses his phone to play music for their royal ball, Jee’s bed becomes a carriage, and the stuffed animals and Barbies are all of the guests. Jee has decided that she doesn’t need a Prince Charming (“You know, Uncle Eddie, like Elsa”), but both girls agree that not only does Eddie need one, but he already has one. “Uncle Buck is your Prince Charming!” Jee tells him so matter-of-factly, with Mara nodding along like this is the most obvious statement in the world, and how dare Eddie be surprised by it. He flushes wildly at the claim, but doesn’t move to deny it, just plays along.
Since Buck isn’t there with them, Mara comes up with the idea that he’s been kidnapped from the ball by an evil sorceress, who can turn into a dragon, and they have to team up to save him from her. Their journey to save Prince Buck takes them all over Jee’s kingdom (including the living room and the kitchen) and requires them to enlist the help of a bridge troll (Baby Nash, who has woken up from his nap). Mara surprises them all with the plot twist that their fairy godmother is actually the evil sorceress in disguise! Luckily, when she’s in her dragon form, she’s lulled to sleep by singing, so Jee and Eddie have to belt out a very off-key rendition of ‘Into the Unknown’ from Frozen 2 to ‘soothe’ dragon/evil witch Mara and save Prince Buck. Oh, and apparently, Baby Nash carries magic, transformational potions that eliminate all the evil in Mara and return her to being their fairy godmother again.
By the time Maddie returns at seven-thirty, they’ve returned to the ball, had a very elegant feast of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and fresh fruits, returned a sleeping troll to his bridge, and have crashed on the couch with both girls half-asleep on each of his shoulders as Frozen 2 plays quietly on the TV screen.
“Well, you three look like you had fun,” Maddie says, smiling softly at them.
Sleepily, Jee mumbles into his shoulder, “Doesn’t Uncle Eddie look pretty, Mommy?”
“Yes, he does. You two did a really good job.” She replies, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
Together, he and Maddie divide and conquer, Maddie taking Jee to her room to tuck her in, while Eddie settles Mara on the couch until Hen or Karen can pick her up after work. He’s careful as he maneuvers her, slipping off her fake jewelry and making a pile on the coffee table with his. But as he’s tugging a blanket over her, she blinks heavily at him and whispers, “Thanks for playing with us, Eddie. You make a really good princess.”
“Well, that is thanks to you being an excellent fairy godmother. I couldn't have done it without you.” By the time he’s pressed a kiss to her hairline, she’s out like a light, so he pulls the blanket up around her shoulders carefully and leaves her be.
“Thanks for watching them so last minute,” Maddie says, meeting him in the kitchen.
“Anytime.” He tells her as he tugs on his jacket, and he finds that he means it. “Chris doesn’t play like that anymore, so it was… nice to get to play make believe for an afternoon.”
“Feel free to come back wherever you want. Jee is so worn out, I might actually get through my entire cup of coffee uninterrupted in the morning.” She says, and with a playful smirk, adds, “You can even bring Prince Buck with you.”
With a heavy blush covering his cheeks, he scratches the back of his neck nervously and says, “Ah, Jee told you about that.”
“Yep, right before she fell asleep.” She doesn’t push him on it, but instead turns towards the hallway, calling back, “Let me get you a makeup wipe and some nail polish remover so you can take that off before you go.”
He’s not completely sure what makes him stop her, but he does, calling back, “Actually… I think I’ll leave it on for a bit.” When she turns around, a flicker of surprise on her face, he stammers out an answer that is more honest than he realizes, “It’s not like it’s much anyway, and I… um… kinda like it.”
He braces himself for judgment, but it never comes. Instead, Maddie tells him, “Well, in that case, let me fix it for you before you go.” She motions for him to follow her down the hallway, adding, “The girls did a good job, but I think I can do better.”
With a relieved breath, he quickly catches up, joining her in her master bathroom. Maddie gestures for him to sit down in the chair at her vanity while she pulls out the same makeup palette, brushes, and mascara that the girls had used earlier. “Tilt your head back and close your eyes.”
“Sophia and Adriana did my makeup once.” He confesses just as his eyes flutter shut.
“Your sisters?”
“Yeah.” He doesn’t know why he’s telling her this. Maybe to help her understand why he wants this? Or, maybe it’s because he needs someone to hear it. Someone who has already proven that she won’t judge him. “I was about ten, I think. They had raided my mom’s makeup kit, but they put on a lot more than Mara did.”
“I bet you looked great.” She says, and Eddie can hear the sincerity in her voice.
“I felt great.” Jee had asked him earlier if he felt pretty, and if he was being honest with himself, that day with his sisters was the first time he had. He, Adri, and Soph had smiled and giggled so much their cheeks hurt, played around, and snapped tons of photos on disposable cameras. He never developed the film, though… God, he wishes he had.
“But then my mom came home and caught us, and she… she got really angry.” He sighs, opening his eyes just a bit so that Maddie can fix his mascara. “She signed me up for baseball after that. Made sure all my afternoons were busy, and I didn’t get much time to play with the girls anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, Eddie.”
“Yeah… me too.”
“Okay, take a look.” She tells him, stepping behind him and gesturing to the mirror. The smile she gives him in the mirror is light, soft, even. “It’s subtle, but think the mascara really makes your eyes pop.”
“Yeah… it does.” Maddie only upgraded Mara’s work, but the difference his him nearly in tears. That feeling he had before when he looked in Jee’s little handheld mirror… It’s back in spades, bubbling under his skin in the best possible way. He can’t hold back his smile as he tells her softly, “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” She says, and Eddie can tell she truly means it. When he gets up to head out, she stops him, holding out the tube of mascara. “Here, take it with you.”
“Maddie, I can’t take-”
“I have plenty of others.” She insists, brushing off his weak protest. “Honestly, I have too much makeup that I’ll never wear it all, so you taking it means that it won’t go to waste.”
He shouldn’t take it… But then he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror again. He sees the way his eyes brighten, the smile tugging on his lips, and he just… can’t refuse. “Okay.”
When Eddie pulls into his driveway, he’s feeling pretty relaxed. Sure, he’s tired after a long day of fantasy world adventures with the kids, but he feels good in a way he hasn’t in ages. He’s even excited to have the house to himself for the night, hoping to relax in a comfy pair of sweats, order a pizza, crack open that bottle of wine that he’s been saving for a special occasion, and allow himself to indulge in some trashy TV shows that make him happy. He’s choosing joy today, after all, might as well keep doing that.
Christopher is having a movie night with some of his friends, and Buck might be in the driveway, but he had texted him earlier that he was going to their favorite badge and ladder bar with Ravi after work, so he assumes he came home and took an Uber. Of course, he had invited Eddie to join them, but at the time he got the text, Jee, Mara, and Baby Nash were just crossing the river of lava “spewing” from the couch volcano on the way to the evil sorceress’s lair, and he was already teetering on exhaustion, so he’d turned him down, telling him to have fun, but to stay away from the tequila. (Buck had eventually told him how the last time he and Ravi had drinks alone went, and let’s say Eddie has no interest in Buck bringing Tommy - or anyone else - back to their house tonight. Or ever, really.)
Fully expecting a quiet house, Eddie nearly jumps out of his skin when the first thing he hears after his keys settle on their designated hook is, “Eds, is that you?” coming from the kitchen.
“Yeah,” Eddie replies after a few calming breaths and a mumbled curse. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to grab drinks with Ravi after shift?”
“He cancelled.” Buck calls back as Eddie is toeing off his boots and hanging up his jacket. “You remember the cart cop from the building collapse? He’s looking for a new apartment since his is no longer standing, and he reached out to Ravi about one of his places.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” When he makes it to the kitchen, Buck is busy at the stove top, mixing together some sort of pasta in a skillet. He’d made dinner for the girls earlier, but because he was busy feeding Nash and making sure they didn’t choke on their food from how quickly they were inhaling it, he never got around to feasting himself. Whatever Buck is cooking, the aroma is mouthwatering, and Eddie can feel his stomach grumbling already. “So, he’s showing Graham one of his spaces tonight? Isn’t it a little late for an apartment tour?”
“Oh, definitely, but I think Ravi would’ve picked any time to meet up with him,” Buck tells him, chuckling at his own reply, and Eddie can hear the playful smirk even if he can’t see it. “Apparently they’ve been texting… a lot.”
“So, it’s an apartment tour and a date?” Eddie laughs, sliding up next to Buck, leaning his hip against the countertop. “Is dating your landlord a good idea?”
“Probably not,” Buck concedes, flipping off the burner under his pan and finally turning to face Eddie. “But you never know what’s going to - Oh .”
It’s a good thing Buck didn’t pick up the pan, because he’s almost certain from his expression that it might have ended up on the floor. “Oh?”
“Your eyes… they’re… wow.”
Normally, Eddie is pretty good at reading Buck, being able to have a full conversation with him with just a few looks. He can tell Buck is surprised to see him, and he should be. Eddie’s never worn makeup around Buck before, and he hadn’t sent him any of the photos that he’d taken with Mara, Jee, and Nash earlier, so he shouldn’t have known that Eddie would come home like this. But, maybe the little bit of anxiety swimming in his gut is clouding his best-friend-telepathy, because he’s not sure how to interpret Buck’s wide eyes and parted lips.
“Is that a good ‘wow’ or a bad ‘wow’? Eddie asks, nervously shifting on his feet. His hands find their way into their pockets, subconsciously hiding his painted nails. He can feel his fingers clasp around the mascara tube he’s shoved in there, and grips onto it tightly as he waits for Buck’s answer.
“G-good, ‘wow’. Your eyes… they look beautiful, Eds.” He replies, voice a little breathy. Eddie feels the relief flush through him at his words, especially when Buck starts to stammer, “Not that they don’t normally, because you’ve always had really pretty eyes, but… they just look extra pretty today.”
“You think my eyes are pretty?” Eddie asks softly as a gentle flutter beats against his ribcage. It’s one thing to hear the girls or Maddie refer to him as pretty, but when it comes out of Buck’s mouth, it sends a little tingle radiating through him.
“Yeah.” Buck agrees, cheeks growing pinker by the second. “So, umm… when did you start wearing mascara?”
“Mara and Jee wanted to play princesses, and well, that involved a full-princess makeover.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Buck’s nodding in understanding, but Eddie can tell how his smile falters every so slightly when he asks, “So, it’s just temporary?”
“Well… it was supposed to be, but… Maddie gave me an extra tube of it, so maybe I’ll wear it more often.” He shrugs as he says it, but knows by the way that Buck’s lighting up again that it’s definitely a yes. He wanted to anyway, and he’s not just going to wear makeup because a man - even if that man is Buck - likes it, but it’s nice to have the encouragement.
“Really?”
“I like how it looks.” More honestly, he adds, “how it makes me feel.”
“How do you feel?” Buck asks, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair out of Eddie’s face, supposedly giving him a better view of his pretty brown eyes . His best friend’s fingers just barely brush his cheekbone as he takes his hand back, and Eddie feels his cheeks flush at the gentle touch.
“Like… me .”
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? For someone born in a religious household that strongly pushed gender norms, Eddie should feel uncomfortable even at the idea of makeup on his face. Yet, every time he’s seen his reflection since Mara first completed his princesses makeover and from when Maddie touched it up, he hasn’t felt uncomfortable or wrong… but rather, right .
“Then you should definitely keep wearing it,” Buck tells him, smiling fondly. “Have you eaten? I made chicken carbonara.”
No wonder his mouth was practically watering earlier. Buck’s chicken carbonara is one of his favorite dishes, so he’s eager to reply, “I’d love some.”
Eddie sets the table, even uncorking that bottle of wine he’s been saving for them as well, pouring them each a glass. He had been waiting for a special occasion after all, and by the way dinner goes, he thinks this might be just what he was waiting for. Buck gives them both healthy portions of carbonara and salad, and they chat throughout dinner about their days. Buck takes them through their series of calls over the past 24 hours, and the new gossip around the firehouse that he missed. It sounds like an episode of one of his favorite telenovelas, by the way, Buck recalls the drama between a couple of members of the B-Shift. Eddie, on the other hand, shares about his babysitting adventures, even showing him the photos he took with the kids, claiming he’ll send them to him later since he knows Buck will want them.
It’s a meal that’s not so different from what they usually have when Chris is away for the evening, but at the same time, it feels more… intimate. Maybe it’s because they’re sharing glasses of wine instead of beers, or that they’re eating a later hour, so the lighting is more subdued, romantic even. Maybe it’s the way Eddie feels himself drawn closer when Buck speaks, whether that’s his hand reaching out towards him on the tabletop or the way their ankles hook under the table. Or maybe, it’s the way that throughout dinner, Buck looks at him with this overwhelming affection that makes Eddie feel warm all over whenever he catches it. Whatever it is, something has shifted tonight.
Later, when the dishes are done, the kitchen is cleaned, and they’re sitting in their usual spots on the couch, a game show is playing softly in the background. They’ve been sitting in a comfortable silence for a while, both of them watching intently as they continue to sip on their wine and occasionally call out answers. Buck is usually more tuned in, though, calling out answers left and right. But tonight, Eddie can’t help but notice that he’s being watched more than the show.
He doesn’t push, though, and waits for Buck to speak up. Eventually, he asks, “So, the nails… those are part of the princess makeover, too, I’m guessing.”
Shifting to set his nearly empty glass down, he replies, “Yeah. What do you think?”
“They look good. That color really complements you… I wouldn’t picture you with a pink or other bright colors - not that I don’t think you could pull them off. You could pull off anything, Eds - but the navy… It’s nice. I think any dark earth tones would look… um… really good on you.” Eddie finds it adorable how he’s tripping over his words, heart swelling as each compliment falls from his lips. “Do - do you like them?”
Holding out his hands, he really takes in the nails fully for the first time. He’d looked at them earlier when Mara painted them, but he’d been so caught up with the storytelling he hadn’t really had time to take in the full effect. Now, he gets to see them when his look is less complete, just casual. He’s long changed into a pair of sweats and a hoodie, dressing down the look from before. This time, there are no bracelets or pinky rings as a distraction, just the simplicity of the slightly shimmery navy blue polish standing out against his comfy clothes.
The nail polish is a much larger change, less subtle than the eye makeup, but he doesn’t feel out of place wearing it. Instead, he likes the way the color catches his eye when he shifts his fingers, the way his strong, calloused hands appear a little softer even with such a dark color on them. He can picture it now, the contrast of his colorful fingers threaded with Buck’s. He’s tempted to take his hand now, thinks Buck would probably let him. He waits, though, hoping the right moment is just around the corner.
Smiling softly, he answers, “Yeah, I think I do.”
“Are you going to keep them, then? Like the mascara?”
“I think so. Assuming that our new Captain will ignore the fact that they go against the LAFD uniform rules.” The dress code is pretty specific about makeup and nail colors, requiring them to be shorter and pale colors. While Eddie’s aren’t long by any means (nor does he think he sees himself wearing those), they definitely aren’t the appropriate color according to the handbook.
Shrugging, Buck says, “I think offering to babysit his daughter for free every once in a while will get him to look the other way on that.”
“You’re probably right.”
They settle back into another comfortable silence, eyes turning back to the game show. Eddie’s not really watching anymore, though, too busy trying to catch Buck’s sneaking glances. After about ten more minutes of neither of them focusing on the show, Eddie simply shuts it off and turns to face Buck, pulling one knee up on the couch.
“You know, when Mara, Jee, and I were playing earlier, they insisted that I had to have a Prince Charming.”
“Not every princess needs a Prince Charming…” Buck mumbles a bit petulantly into his glass of wine, before draining the rest of his contents.
Chuckling lightly, Eddie corrects, “Well, really, they meant that I already had one.”
Buck chokes a little at that, coughing into his fist before stuttering out, “You-you do? Who did they mean?”
“Who do you think, Buck?” He asks, rolling his eyes playfully.
Buck sets his glass down on the coffee table next to Eddie’s and turns to face him, too. He chews his lip nervously, hands fidgeting as he says, “I really haven’t been thinking clearly since I noticed your eye makeup, so I’m going to need you to spell it out for me, Eddie.”
Finally giving in to the urge, Eddie laces his fingers with Buck’s. His hands are trembling, ever so slightly, but Eddie gives them a reassuring squeeze and lets his thumbs trail over the backs in a soothing pattern. He’s drawn to watching them, seeking out the swipe of the navy against Buck’s pale skin. When he looks up at Buck, he’s tracking the movement, too. “You, Buck. They meant you.”
Looking up to meet Eddie’s gaze, Buck nearly whispers, “And what do you think of that?”
“Prince Charming is supposed to save the princess, right? You saved me a long time ago, Buck. Really, you’ve been saving me every day since you promised to have my back.”
If he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t think he’d have survived the past seven years without Buck at his side. Buck has been saving him one day at time, whether it’s the big things like finding him Carla, rescuing his kid from a tsunami, pulling him out of the line of fire from a rogue of a rogue sniper, picking him up off his glass and dry-wall covered bedroom floor, and renting his house when he needed someone to; or the small things, like making sure items are on the grocery list, driving him to his therapy appointments, giving him and his son home-cooked meals, making them both smile, laugh, and feel overwhelming joy just be being in his presence.
Yeah, not a day has gone by since they stood outside that ambulance making a vow to one another that Eddie desperately wanted to be, but didn’t realize would actually be, unbreakable, that Buck hasn’t saved him.
“You’ve saved me, too,” Buck responds, and Eddie supposes he’s right.
“Princesses can save princes, too, I guess.” He says casually, adding, “Think of Rapunzel, Mulan, Pocahontas-”
Laughing, Buck cuts him off with a teasing, “You really know your Disney princesses, Diaz.”
“I’ve seen a few Disney films in my day, Buckley.” He tutts back. His son is fourteen now after all, and while today might have been his first princess makeover, it definitely not not his first babysitting rodeo. Nothing distracts a hyperactive child like a Disney movie after all. More seriously, he adds, “My point is that we save each other.”
Nodding softly, Buck agrees, “Yeah… we do.”
Leaning in closer, Eddie says as confidently as he can muster, “You know, there is one more thing that Prince Charming tends to do that you haven’t done yet, though.”
“What’s that?”
“True love’s kiss.” It’s cheesy, super cheesy in fact, but it successfully gets Buck to lean in, too, so Eddie doesn’t regret it.
He stops before he reaches Eddie’s lips, though, pulling back to ask, “Aren’t the princesses usually asleep for that? Should I wait to kiss you? Wait, that’s kind of weird, right? Like, I know it’s supposed to be true love’s kiss, but there really should be consent involved, and I doubt that they talk about light consensual somnophilia in fairytales-”
“Buck,” Eddie says, cutting him off. When he reaches up and sweeps a polished thumb over Buck’s bottom lip, Eddie can’t help the warmth that spreads through him at the little hitch in Buck’s breath. “Will you kiss me already?”
With that, Buck finally closes the distance between them, brushing his lips against Eddie’s in the softest kiss. The kiss itself isn’t electric or groundbreaking. He doesn’t feel sparks rushing up his body or a tingling of his lips. Instead, the kiss gives him the same feeling as when he saw himself in the mirror. A subtle change of their usual dynamic, but one that feels oh, so right.
“Did it work?” Buck asks when they finally pull back just enough to rest their foreheads together. Like a true Prince Charming, he asks, “Did I break whatever spell that needed to be broken?”
If the spell was heterosexuality, Eddie can say with absolute certainty that Buck broke that for him ages ago. But, instead, because he just really wants to feel Buck’s lips on his again, he teases, “I don’t know. I think you should kiss me again just in case.”
With a flirty smile adorning his lips, Buck replies, “Can do, princess .”