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designateddadfriend"This is great, isn't this great?" Vic said, beaming over at Travis from the driver's seat. "I can't believe we actually talked Maya into letting you work a shift again."
"Mmhm." Travis frowned at his phone. Really, Grindr? He had one more night before heading back to Fandom, and this was what you were offering him for hookup material?
"I hope we get a grisly one." Vic drummed on the steering wheel. "I mean -- I'm not hoping someone's horribly injured, but not all of us were stuck in a mine for three weeks. I gotta catch up."
"You reeeeeally don't," Travis said. He held up his phone. "This guy's profile just says 'SNAKES'."
Vic looked. "Do you think that means he's interested in snakes as a hobby, or is he into snakes like men?"
"Does it matter?"
Vic bobbed her head in vague agreement. "Did you really go three weeks without any sex?"
Travis bit back a sigh. "Weirdly enough, being trapped in a hole wasn't really a sexy situation."
". . . I guess there really wasn't any showering."
"None," Travis agreed. "No showering at all."
"Which could be sexy in its own way," Vic mused. "I mean, like you and that one guy, down in LA during the wildfires --"
"Oh my god." Travis stared at his screen. This could not be happening.
"What? Are we not talking about men anymore?" Vic bit her lip and threw a teasing punch at his shoulder. "C'mon, Trav, this is how we bond!"
"Nothing." Travis quickly swiped the offending profile away. It was fine. He could pretend it wasn't there. Everything was fine. "Don't even -- anyway, speaking of men, when do I get to meet Running Guy?"
"Ohhhh no no no no, you don't get to just change the subject, we're --"
"Here." Travis pointed at the sedan parked by the side of the road with three teenagers crouched nearby. "Doesn't look too grisly."
"Fine," Vic said. "But once we take care of these kids, you are telling me everything!"
It was grisly. Well, not at first. At first it was just a kid who'd burned their arm trying to check their radiator, and Vic and Travis patched them and their friends up and told them to wait for a tow truck. But soon enough, they were called back onto the scene, because the kid's friend had tried his hand at amateur car repair and gotten seriously injured. The next thing they knew, the first kid had run off, scared of getting arrested for drug use, the second kid was barely hanging onto life, there was at least one more kid out somewhere in the dry brush along the road, and the car had exploded, making this a full-on scene requiring multiple engines and stations, with Maya in full Captain mode, in command.
"Oh my god I missed this," Travis muttered, as he scooped up the poor kid with a giant splinter in his gut threatening his shiny newly transplanted liver.
"What?" the kid groaned.
"Nothing," Travis told him. Don't worry about it.
It wasn't until later, when he was showering off at the station, that Vic cornered him again.
"Well, I guess Miller and I aren't friends anymore."
"I'm naked!" Travis yanked the curtain closed again and shut off the water. He was about done in here, anyway.
"I haven't seen you in six months," Vic said. "You had a major incident that you won't give me any details about except for some teen girl who didn't want to help because she might mess up her hair. Miller kicked me out and I went to stay at your place and two days later you got a letter that got you to move across the whole country. Pru's not going to know me as her Auntie Vic anymore, you're leaving again tomorrow morning to teach weird East Coast people how to be firefighters, which they think they don't need even though a bunch of them got trapped with you in a giant hole in the ground, and you saw something crazy on a gay dating app and you won't even gossip with me about what it is. Okay, I need one thing. One thing in my life needs to be normal right now, and if it's not gossiping with you about men, I don't know what it is!"
Travis stared at her through the clear top of the shower curtain. He looked at his favorite person left in the entire world -- all the worlds, why were there so many worlds? -- and decided that he, too, needed one normal thing. And that normal thing would be Vic's reaction to the horrible thing he'd seen on Grindr today.
If he tried to tell anyone back in Fandom about this, they'd probably top it with being their own space grandfather or something.
"It was my dad," he said, on a sigh. "I was swiping for gay sex and I saw a picture of my dad. With his shirt off, wearing only chinos and a belt."
"Noooo," Vic whispered. That was the correct response, yes.
"And his profile said. . . ." Travis licked his lips, looking off to the side, unable to shake the image from his head. ". . . 'Let me be your daddy.'"
Vic blinked. Her eyebrows went up. She looked away across the shower room, clearly reaching for something, anything to say to that.
". . . Are you sure it was him?"
"I gave him the belt."
"You, g -- Oh, god --"
"It's fine," Travis said.
Vic burst into delighted laughter.
That was not the correct response.
"It's fine," Travis said again, reaching out of the shower for his towel. "It's fine, you know what? You're into men? Great, awesome, live your life! But don't -- stay married to my mom!"
Vic stopped laughing. Her eyes were still wide. "Yeah," she said. "Sure, yeah. Uh, that. And like, the lifetime of shame and internalized homophobia that he inflicted on you. Right?"
Dammit, Vic. Travis sighed, finishing wrapping the towel around his waist. "There's also that."
"Yeah." Vic burst out laughing again. Travis slid the shower curtain open and watched her, wrapped in a towel of her own, delighted by her mixture of hilarity and horror in his favor.
He'd missed her so much.
"Move in with me."
She looked up, biting her lip. "Trav, you live in Maryland."
"And I would hire you in an instant to come work there with me if I thought you'd go," Travis said. "But I mean. Live in my house. For real. Not just while you look for something else. I want to come home to visit and always find you there."
"Yeah?" She looked so damned happy. How did she do that? She just -- lit up, over the littlest things.
"Yeah." Travis nodded. "I mean, who else is going to water my plants."
"Aw, Trav." Vic shook her head, biting her lip and smiling. "You don't have any plants."
"I will buy some. For you to water."
"Yeah? Yeah! Oh, I love you, yes!" Vic burst into the shower stall, wrapping herself around him. Travis let out a squawk. Sure, this was a fire station, they showered and changed and slept and hung out with each other all the time, but -- "Vic, oh, you're naked too!"
"Let me be your daddy!"
"No -- what?!" Travis groaned.
God but he'd missed this. So much.
[open to phone calls if anyone should want to call him. NFB due to distance. Adapted from Station 19 ep 4x01, "Nothing Seems the Same", with all the pandemic crap strippppped right out. . . .]
"Mmhm." Travis frowned at his phone. Really, Grindr? He had one more night before heading back to Fandom, and this was what you were offering him for hookup material?
"I hope we get a grisly one." Vic drummed on the steering wheel. "I mean -- I'm not hoping someone's horribly injured, but not all of us were stuck in a mine for three weeks. I gotta catch up."
"You reeeeeally don't," Travis said. He held up his phone. "This guy's profile just says 'SNAKES'."
Vic looked. "Do you think that means he's interested in snakes as a hobby, or is he into snakes like men?"
"Does it matter?"
Vic bobbed her head in vague agreement. "Did you really go three weeks without any sex?"
Travis bit back a sigh. "Weirdly enough, being trapped in a hole wasn't really a sexy situation."
". . . I guess there really wasn't any showering."
"None," Travis agreed. "No showering at all."
"Which could be sexy in its own way," Vic mused. "I mean, like you and that one guy, down in LA during the wildfires --"
"Oh my god." Travis stared at his screen. This could not be happening.
"What? Are we not talking about men anymore?" Vic bit her lip and threw a teasing punch at his shoulder. "C'mon, Trav, this is how we bond!"
"Nothing." Travis quickly swiped the offending profile away. It was fine. He could pretend it wasn't there. Everything was fine. "Don't even -- anyway, speaking of men, when do I get to meet Running Guy?"
"Ohhhh no no no no, you don't get to just change the subject, we're --"
"Here." Travis pointed at the sedan parked by the side of the road with three teenagers crouched nearby. "Doesn't look too grisly."
"Fine," Vic said. "But once we take care of these kids, you are telling me everything!"
It was grisly. Well, not at first. At first it was just a kid who'd burned their arm trying to check their radiator, and Vic and Travis patched them and their friends up and told them to wait for a tow truck. But soon enough, they were called back onto the scene, because the kid's friend had tried his hand at amateur car repair and gotten seriously injured. The next thing they knew, the first kid had run off, scared of getting arrested for drug use, the second kid was barely hanging onto life, there was at least one more kid out somewhere in the dry brush along the road, and the car had exploded, making this a full-on scene requiring multiple engines and stations, with Maya in full Captain mode, in command.
"Oh my god I missed this," Travis muttered, as he scooped up the poor kid with a giant splinter in his gut threatening his shiny newly transplanted liver.
"What?" the kid groaned.
"Nothing," Travis told him. Don't worry about it.
It wasn't until later, when he was showering off at the station, that Vic cornered him again.
"Well, I guess Miller and I aren't friends anymore."
"I'm naked!" Travis yanked the curtain closed again and shut off the water. He was about done in here, anyway.
"I haven't seen you in six months," Vic said. "You had a major incident that you won't give me any details about except for some teen girl who didn't want to help because she might mess up her hair. Miller kicked me out and I went to stay at your place and two days later you got a letter that got you to move across the whole country. Pru's not going to know me as her Auntie Vic anymore, you're leaving again tomorrow morning to teach weird East Coast people how to be firefighters, which they think they don't need even though a bunch of them got trapped with you in a giant hole in the ground, and you saw something crazy on a gay dating app and you won't even gossip with me about what it is. Okay, I need one thing. One thing in my life needs to be normal right now, and if it's not gossiping with you about men, I don't know what it is!"
Travis stared at her through the clear top of the shower curtain. He looked at his favorite person left in the entire world -- all the worlds, why were there so many worlds? -- and decided that he, too, needed one normal thing. And that normal thing would be Vic's reaction to the horrible thing he'd seen on Grindr today.
If he tried to tell anyone back in Fandom about this, they'd probably top it with being their own space grandfather or something.
"It was my dad," he said, on a sigh. "I was swiping for gay sex and I saw a picture of my dad. With his shirt off, wearing only chinos and a belt."
"Noooo," Vic whispered. That was the correct response, yes.
"And his profile said. . . ." Travis licked his lips, looking off to the side, unable to shake the image from his head. ". . . 'Let me be your daddy.'"
Vic blinked. Her eyebrows went up. She looked away across the shower room, clearly reaching for something, anything to say to that.
". . . Are you sure it was him?"
"I gave him the belt."
"You, g -- Oh, god --"
"It's fine," Travis said.
Vic burst into delighted laughter.
That was not the correct response.
"It's fine," Travis said again, reaching out of the shower for his towel. "It's fine, you know what? You're into men? Great, awesome, live your life! But don't -- stay married to my mom!"
Vic stopped laughing. Her eyes were still wide. "Yeah," she said. "Sure, yeah. Uh, that. And like, the lifetime of shame and internalized homophobia that he inflicted on you. Right?"
Dammit, Vic. Travis sighed, finishing wrapping the towel around his waist. "There's also that."
"Yeah." Vic burst out laughing again. Travis slid the shower curtain open and watched her, wrapped in a towel of her own, delighted by her mixture of hilarity and horror in his favor.
He'd missed her so much.
"Move in with me."
She looked up, biting her lip. "Trav, you live in Maryland."
"And I would hire you in an instant to come work there with me if I thought you'd go," Travis said. "But I mean. Live in my house. For real. Not just while you look for something else. I want to come home to visit and always find you there."
"Yeah?" She looked so damned happy. How did she do that? She just -- lit up, over the littlest things.
"Yeah." Travis nodded. "I mean, who else is going to water my plants."
"Aw, Trav." Vic shook her head, biting her lip and smiling. "You don't have any plants."
"I will buy some. For you to water."
"Yeah? Yeah! Oh, I love you, yes!" Vic burst into the shower stall, wrapping herself around him. Travis let out a squawk. Sure, this was a fire station, they showered and changed and slept and hung out with each other all the time, but -- "Vic, oh, you're naked too!"
"Let me be your daddy!"
"No -- what?!" Travis groaned.
God but he'd missed this. So much.
[open to phone calls if anyone should want to call him. NFB due to distance. Adapted from Station 19 ep 4x01, "Nothing Seems the Same", with all the pandemic crap strippppped right out. . . .]