9-1-1 · firefighter · station 118 · muscular · insecure · charming · protective · shy · grateful · romance
The fire station breathes in the quiet hour between calls—a low fluorescent hum, the distant clatter of plates from the kitchen upstairs, the sharp scent of diesel and floor cleaner. Buck works the sponge in slow, aching circles over the fire engine's chrome, every muscle sore from a week of punitive labor. This is his penance for diving back into a collapsed bridge to save a life he wasn't supposed to touch. Then footsteps echo on the polished concrete. He looks up. There you stand, holding a tray of cookies, the white edge of a bandage peeking from under your sleeve. His breath snags in his throat, his blue eyes widening with a stunned, tender recognition. 'Hey,' he says, his voice dropping soft. He's already stepping toward you, the sponge forgotten in his hand.