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Chapter Text

As Poppy entered the parking lot and parked her car she decided to take in the building in front of her : large but modest with the gym's name, Ares Gym. 

" Poppy ! I am here !" Turning around she saw her childhood best friend Erdene coming towards her, she smiled at her and gave her a hug. 

" Erdene how are you doing ? " 

"Girl I am doing amazing" She then looked at Poppy's outfit and sighed "Poppy why do you keep hiding those god given curves again ?"

Looking down on herself she realises that she is referring to her large sweatpants and large t-shirt " Erdene we are here to exercise why do you want me to look cute anyway ?"

"But what if you have a gym crush and he sees you in that outfit for a first encounter ?"

"Erdene I don't care about any type of relationship with the male gender right now I want to focus on getting my dream job and you know that "

"Okay I give up for now but just know this : just because you met jerks doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be in a loving relationship"

"Erdene I-" Suddenly a car door was closed and they heard a voice 

" Hello there ladies no need to fight, the highlight of your day is here"

Erdene put her hands on her hips and eyed the man " Goliath how come you are the one giving us a render-vous and you are late again ! "

Goliath chuckled and hugged both of them " Would you like me if I wasn't myself ? " 

" How y'all doing ? "

"We're fine Goliath thank you, now that you're here can we go inside ?"

"Anything for you milady"

Poppylan Wilkes, 23 years old going on 24 wanted to become a firefighter, more precisely a paramedic, after her father died of cancer when she was younger she decided that this pain should not be felt by any other child or adult if she had a word to say. After getting her GED, she majored in paramedic science while studying fire science. She finally got into a fire academy and got her EMT certification. ALL she needed to do now was pass the physical and ability test, as she already passed the writing exam.

Poppylan was a curvy woman and a bit too chubby to her likes but she knew that she just needed to build strength and cardio, not necessarily loose weight, she was not letting that filthy cheater get in her head again. She was born with that body after all, she shouldn't change it for anyone.

She had been training at a gym in Narin but due to renovations it was closed that is where she met Goliath, tall brown skin guy with blue hair, he had the strangest eyes she's ever seen they were like melted gold. He was a lady's man, and tried to hit on every women he crossed path with. They kept meeting each other at the gym and rapidly became friends.

"So G, how do you know this gym anyway ?" asked Erdene 

"Well, my twin brother own this establishment"  

"You have a twin brother, how come you never told us about him ?"

" We don't exactly have a loving brotherly relationship, so we don't talk often"

They entered the gym and Poppylan looked around and was immediately impressed, several equipments, two floors above, three rings at the back of the first floor, mirrors, several classes proposed, this place was well entertained. 

Goliath walked towards a ginger haired guy with cute tattoos, he was behind what seemed to be the reception desk, he was wearing a navy shirt with the gym's name on it " Ronzo, what's up , long time no see right ?"

The guy answered " Stop calling me that my name's Gyu, It is nice to see ya tho, Big bro's upstairs you want me to call him ?" 

"Don't bother yet I want to know what's new in your life Ronzo ?" Guy sighed but still caught up with Goliath

As the boys were talking, Erdene shrieked and walked towards Poppy with excitement " Poppy look they have pilates and CrossFit classes do you mind if I go upstairs for a sec ?"

"No don't worry go on I'll be there " Poppy answered as she was still amazed by the gym, she then heard her name

" Oh this is Poppylan by the way" Poppy waved at him, "the other girl's name is Erdene but she'll be back in a minute, how do we subscribe to the memberships ?"

"What the fuck are ya doin here ? " came up from upstairs Poppylan turned around and saw a tall brooding man with long black hair in a half-bun, he was wearing a tank top with black sweatpants, he had colourful tattoos on his arms and chest : fish koi and flowers. He also had the same golden eyes as Goliath, boi no doubt they were related. 

"Brother ! gimme a hug come on " 

"Goliath I ain't gonna repeat myself " He ignored Poppy as he walked towards his brother 

"Ok I just came here to train like everyone, don't worry I don't expect any favor we are gonna pay like everyone"

"We ?"

"Yeah, this is Poppylan, and my other friend is-"

"So you're bringing your hoes here, I don't want drama in my place"

At this statement, Poppylan felt insulted and knew she had to speak for herself " Excuse me SIR, but as my friend stated here we only came to train, and for your information, the fact that you own this establishment doesn't mean that you have to be disrespectful towards your clients" 

Tora turned around and took in the little brunette standing in front of him, surprised by the glare she was shooting at him, she was barely reaching his chest. But she had the largest eyes he ever saw, they stared at each other for a moment, everyone holding their breath, when they were suddenly interrupted "Poppy we NEED to take those pilates classes girl, it is even more gorgeous upstairs, do you-" she stopped in her tracks and took in the tension "Is everything ok ?" She noticed Tora "Oh are you the twin brother ?"

Poppy shot one more glare at Tora before hooking her arm to Erdene's, they bought their memberships and walked past Tora, Poppy looked at him " Don't worry, we'll only be in your hair for three weeks, following the renovations and because you didn't care too listen to the end, this is my friend Erdene" She then looked at Gyu and smiled at him "Nice meeting you Gyu, have a nice day"

Gyu waved at her and gave Goliath his pass, Goliath then walked next to Tora and placed his hand to his shoulder "Feisty isn't she, she nearly punched me in the face the first time we met" he chuckled and joined the girls.

Tora kept looking at the brunette and smirked Feisty indeed , he went back to his activities.

.............................

Tora had finished his business duties and was now taking a tour of the gym to see if everything was okay, passing by the first floor he saw his brother and his two ladies friends : He was lifting on the bench while the tall purple haired girl was on the treadmill.

His attention was caught by the brunette once again : she was wearing headphones and was working with heavy weights but appropriate to her frame, she knew what she was doing, unlike her friends she still had all her layers on her back, wearing those large clothes. He was intrigued , she had some guts, after all she didn't seemed to be intimidated by him.

She suddenly stopped to grab other weights, and caught his eye, she gave him the same stare as earlier and went back to her workout : Damn, was she gonna give him a nasty look every time ?  She definitely was something else "Tora !" He looked away from her and towards his brother as he walked inside the floor "Whadd'ya want Goliath"

"Did ya get Quincey's message ?"

" Ya mean this stupid party he wants to do , how is it different from all his other parties ?"

"Well he wants to celebrate our 27th birthday so I guess here's the difference, but ya know it won't be as crowded as his other ones since we don't have as much friends as him ?"

"I don't give a damn I'm not going"

"Come on just one hour and then you can go ? "

He didn't go out a lot, he thought it was a waste of time and useless, all the memories he had from these were negative : women trying to dry hump him or sit on his lap, weird looks for ordering a strawberry juice and the worst of all having to drag Quincey's drunk ass out of the club. For him, 27 wasn't that big of an age he thought we should celebrate the 50th anniversary for example. There was a time were he didn't even knew if he was going to make it to 21 years old so he was just glad he was able to.

"I ain't going" He then turned around and continued his tour, by the end of it, he joined Ronzo at the reception "Oi Ronzo, how is it going ?" Gyu looked at him with distress in his eyes, Tora frowned and looked behind Ronzo : he immediately knew why he was uncomfortable.

"Hi Tora, Gyu, was telling me he didn't know where you were" She stared at Gyu and ran towards Tora, pressing her body against his : Candy , back in the days he had a job to do at Club Miracle and since then she had done everything in her power to seduce him, but then she just HAD TO follow him  in his establishment.

She was a good looking woman but a bit too trashy for his likes, despite his several negative answers to her propositions here she was , wearing the shortest gym shorts he ever seen and a "sports bra" that let nothing to imagination.

"Candy why did ya want to see me ?" he quickly removed his arm and put some distance between them

" You know I always want to see your handsome face and body" she gave him a suggestive look and Tora wished he talked a little more with his brother

"Look ya came here to exercise right, so do it I have better things to do than support your harassment", this was the first time he was grateful for Quincey's rich vocabulary, he ignored her and  talked to Ronzo.

" Everything is under control ? " 

"Yes Big bro don't worry I'll call you if I need anything"

"Good" 

"What about me Tora ? Aren't you gonna help me ?" asked Candy 

He didn't bother to look at her and went back to his office "Help yourself, ask one guy of my crew or get the hell out of my gym" He heard her gasp but didn't care. Worst than a leech

Chapter Text

3 weeks had passed since she first went to Tora's gym, she kept going there three times a week on the morning preferably and she would walk or run (if she was in a good mood) on the side. As the days past, she was feeling a little more nervous because she was due to pass the test next week . As she entered the gym's parking lot, Erdene stopped her train of thoughts "Earth to Poppy are you listening ?". Poppy parked the car and looked at Erdene " I'm sorry Dene, I'm kinda spiralling here, the test is next week and I don't know if I am gonna make it I mean what if something bad happen, what if I forget everything what if-"

"What if you go there and give it your best like I know you will ? You've worked so hard for this Poppy, you are worthy of everything good that is going to happen to you".  She took Poppy's hands into hers " Look at me Poppy, you are going to kill it, there is no reason why you shouldn't, and if they don't choose you, they are BLIND because you are fit for this job, you care about people more than you care about yourself sometimes". She laughed a bit " Now take a deep breath, you are going into that gym and following your program, everything is going to be fine Poppy."

"Thank you Dene I really needed this" Poppy then hugged her, took a deep breath and grabbed her by her shoulders " So are you wearing a new gym set because of Damien ?" she said wiggling her eyebrows, she was wearing a blue pale set the top had long sleeves and was cropped the leggings had pockets, Erdene was naturally flawless, she had a slander figure and everything was proportionate she could have easily be a model, Poppy didn't count the times she was in awe regarding her friend's beauty.

Erdene flicked her hands of her shoulders and got out of the car, Poppy followed her, giggling , last week they met a guy named Damien and Erdene didn't want to admit that she liked him. 

The girls were walking on the treadmill to warm-up when Poppy noticed a pink haired guy looking at Erdene, he was wearing the same t-shirt as Gyu so she assumed that he was working here as well "Dene do you see that guy with the pink hair ? He keeps looking at you" Erdene turned her head to look at him : he was tall, heavily tattooed and she thought it was cute the way he blushed when he realised he was caught. " I'll be right back " said Erdene as she came off the treadmill and walked towards him.

Poppylan watched the interaction between them while she kept walking she then noticed that they shook hands and Dene pointed at her , the guy then shyly waved at her, with red cheeks. Poppy waved back and Erdene turned around coming back to Poppy not without giving him a second look.

Erdene was back on the treadmill and turned it back on " So, how did it go ? What's his name ? Do you like him ?" Erdene looked at Poppylan and laughed "Slowdown speedy, how come when I am the one interested in your love life you shut me down but I have to give you all the details ?" Poppy rolled her eyes "That is because I gave up on love Dene , it is not for me BUT that doesn't mean that I don't want little humans running around and calling me auntie Poppy" Erdene's eyes went  huge " Girl don't talk about you like that I am sure you will find someone who loves you for you, and don't think you're the only one wanting nieces and nephews but let's not get over our heads" Poppy kept looking at her in expectation , Erdene sighed and gave up.

"His name is Damien, he's a Sagittarius and his favourite colour is pink, I introduced myself to him and said that I have been coming here with you for the past two weeks, then he said that he found me beautiful and that he was in vacation so that's why I didn't see him before" She smiled to herself and pursued " I said that I was looking forward to see him again and that's pretty much it" Poppy shrieked and  did a little victory dance " That's so cute , look how you're smiling" Erdene rolled her eyes and increased Poppy's treadmill speed " Just do your exercise Pops" Poppy was now running but had a big smile on her face.

They entered the gym and went to the reception desk wanting to say hi to Gyu, they chatted with him a little bit and Damien came in " Hey Gyu can I have the truck keys, Big bro want me to collect the water fountains " He then noticed Erdene and blushed a bit " Hi ,how are you doin'" 

"I'm doing well Damien how bout you ? " He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and answered " I'm good thank you, nice fit you look beautiful in that set" Erdene looked at herself and said " That old thing ? oh thank you " Poppylan slightly shook her head as she knew that this gym set was new, they kept talking without realising that they had an audience : Poppy and Gyu watched the whole thing and smiled to each other These two are cute

Gyu cleared his throat and handed Damien the keys , which he took while looking at Erdene still, Poppy talked to Gyu " Can you book us two places for the next pilates class " This brought Damien out of his daydream not realising that Poppy was behind Erdene " Oh hi you're Poppy right ?"

"It is me, nice to officially meet you Damien" they shook hands "Dene I'm gonna go ahead while you finish your conversation" she then thanked Gyu for the class reservation and walked toward the stairs.

"Oi Pinky what the fuck are ya still doing here ?" Damien froze and turned around Tora was there, arms crossed "I told ya to go collect the fucking water "

"Sorry Big Bro I'm going right now " He apologised to Erdene and scurried away

"Do you ever not curse at your coworkers" Erdene asked hands on her hips

"They work for me, and that's how I talk can't change it" he then noticed Poppy climbing the stairs " why ain't you with your friend ?"

"I was talking with Damien, so she went ahead until someone interrupted us" She thanked Gyu and went upstairs joining Poppy who was still going up.

........................

Tora looked at the girls interaction : the shorty was clapping her hands with excitement and Erdene was trying to ignore her they entered the floor and he couldn't see them anymore. Seeing her made him think about the talk he had with his brother.

A few days ago, Quincey invited his adoptive brothers in his loft in order to refine the details of their birthday party, actually Goliath tricked Tora into coming

"So, what do you think Booboos, I booked a space in the Vip lounge it is going to be a very private party since you two are not as amazing as me but I guess that's why we love you"

"Quince I am going to invite two friends of mine is that ok ?" asked Goliath

"G, you don' have to ask it is your party after all, so who are these new friends of yours?"

" Erdene and Poppylan, one is a graphic designer and the other one is about to become a firefighter, and yes we are just friends"

"OMG I need to meet them you have ladies friends that you haven't shared your DNA with"

" Hey that's not really nice making me sound like-"

" Are ya talking about the shorty ?" Both Quincey and Goliath looked at Tora, Goliath then smirked at him

"Yeah the one that put you in your place last time" 

Tora ignored that remark " Her tiny self wants to be a firefighter ?" 

"How short is she exactly ?" asked Quincey, curious about the way his brother was surprised by the carrier choice of that woman " Because it seems to me that as long as she passes the physical tests and written exams, her height doesn't mean anything, I mean if the skills are here why worrying"

"How do you know that much about firefighters ?" asked Goliath " Well I had my time around firefighters , I am allowed to have fantasies like everyone"

" She's like 5 foot nothing" answered Tora, Goliath scoffed " Don't listen to him Quince, you'll meet her at the party, actually this is the night she'll get her results so we'll see but I have faith in her I've seen her sweat and work hard for this job"

"Did she ?  Oh we love strong women, I can't wait to meet her" said Quincey with excitement

Tora thought about his brother's friend , quite impressed by her carrier choice, this wasn't an easy job "And maybe you can take this opportunity to apologise to her Tora" said Goliath 

"Apologise ? I don't know her why should I-"

"You basically called her a whore, listen she is a genuine person with a big heart, I would hate for the two of you to despise each other and me to be in the middle, I ain't asking you to be best friends just to be cordial because you're going to see her again, I hang out with her and Erdene a lot, not to mention that she now train at your gym  "

Tora did called her a hoe, maybe they could actually say hello to each other instead of her givin' him a bad look every time they crossed paths at his gym : she was kind with every member of his crew except him if she was an important person in his brother's life he supposed he could try to set things with her feisty ass, he was still impressed with how she quickly answered to him when they met.

Tora was not the type of person who cared about people's feelings but his brothers were the exception him and Goliath were orphans until Joe took them in with his mother Alice, that old geezer knew how to raise boys and knocked the hell out of them every time they messed up. Joe was a good friend of Vincent who had Quincey, naturally the boys hung out together more and more and Quincey quickly became a second sibling to him even if he was annoying most of the time.

"I guess I could tell her sorry for assumin that she was one of your numerous hookups but as ya said I ain't becoming her friend or some shit like that"

" Thank ya for the effort Tora, I already talked to her as well about you and she is willing to make an effort"

" Okay" Tora changed the subject to threaten Quincey about bringing strippers. He still had a bad memory of their 22nd birthday.

" Don't worry honey I learned my lesson" He continued to give them the details of the party, after that they hanged out by playing video games for the twins and writing for Quincey. 

Chapter Text

This was it : today was D-Day, after months of training at the fire academy and, on the side, the day had finally come. She was feeling nervous as always, but there was some excitement too, she was finally going to have the answer : was she going to be able to save people's lives, to run towards danger ? 

In her heart she knew she was. The thing is, she was always a nervous ball, stress had been her companion for every important thing in her life : her father's funeral, her GED, EMT certification, her mother's non-existence, every test and exam she passed, but this was the most important thing in her life right now, and she wasn't going to screw this. For her father, for her family, for herself. She took a deep breath and stepped out of her car. She was wearing leggings and a large t-shirt but less large than what she was used to , she figured out that she would need to move a lot during this evaluation, hence not her usual large clothes.

She entered the fire academy and presented herself to the reception. She was told where to go and stepped into what seemed like a gym field but wider and filled with people in gym outfits and seven firefighters. She looked at the clock on the wall 7:50. Apparently, she was not the only one to get here early. The physical tests started at 8:30. She sat on the floor and kept breathing through her nose to calm her nerves. After a few minutes of relaxation, she decided to stretch thoroughly in order to prepare her body for the amount of exercise she was going to put it through.

Once the time came, the firefighters asked all candidates to go on one side and they stood in the middle of the facility. "Okay everybody, listen up, first of all I want to thank you all for your commitment til this day. Being a firefighter is the definition of putting your life at risk to save others'. A firefighter has the duty to save and rescue : lifesaving service isn't something you win, it is something you earn and today, some of you will by the dint of work and dedication you've put into those last months".

"You will be tested physically and mentally today, but this training won't last you through your service if you're selected : working under pressure is everyday of this job. This is why we are going to put you through this as if your life depended on it, because it will be the case outside for every call you'll get : a matter of life or death, again if you make it.

Another firefighter took the floor. "Today you are 35, you're here because you passed the written exams of firefighter and paramedic : at first y'all were like a hundred or something, out of all of you I'm thinking 20 if not 15 will be enrolled. It is up to you to give your best, as you are almost there. So if you have any kind of reservation about a lifetime commitment, I suggest you walk back these doors immediately : we are not children playing firefighters, this is the real game."

The first firefighter walked in between the three lines the candidates had divided themselves into, "Here is what you're going to do exactly : as you can see here, there is an obstacle race installed inside this facility. You are going to do each step. It is a recreation of the equipment that you could use in the future. You will be timed during the whole process, then we will switch to the outside of the facility in another building that we use to train ,you will be timed again as you gear up entirely and enter the "burning" building. We disposed several "victims" in it that you'll have to rescue." 

"Once you are out of the building, we will tell you what they are suffering of. From this moment on, you'll have to apply the best first aid techniques to the mannequin, again, you will be timed. I would like to remind you that being a paramedic means giving those first aid techniques in the least amount of time so that the victim can survive long enough until we reach the hospital.

This building has three floors, so us firefighters will divide in two groups : one on the roof and the other on the ground. It is up to you to decide if you want to bring your victim back on the ground or to the roof, depending on where you are."

Poppylan felt the anxiety rising again : this was going to be a lot and the fact that her last name started with a w stressed the hell out of her. Each candidate will pass in front of the others after all. As the time passed, so did the candidates until it was her turn. "Next candidate, Poppylan Wilkes !"

"Yes I'm here" she walked towards the firefighter and shook his hand, she fixed her low bun and took one last deep breath "Are you ready ?" asked the firefighter. She nodded and he started the time.

30 minutes later, Poppylan was lying down on the floor, a water bottle in her hand, reminiscing her passage. She kept the pace during the race, using her body and frame to her advantage like she always did. Concerning the outside building "fire", she had to go through the third floor and pull the victim out by the roof. She was then told that the victim had inhaled a huge quantity of smoke and several third and second degree burns. They asked for her diagnosis. After checking the "vitals", she told the firefighters that she would check if the throat was swollen which, if it was the case, would result in an emergency escharotomy to help the victim breathe on the way to the hospital.

She thought she did a good job, but it wasn't up to her anymore, there were three more people to go, and she was feeling the pressure releasing from her chest. By 2pm, everyone had passed the tests and there was a deliberation between the firefighters. Soon enough, they asked the candidates to come towards them as they were calling those who passed the exam. " We have come to a conclusion, 18 people were chosen today. If you hear your name come behind us in a line, for those who weren't chosen, I suggest that you keep working. This job is not a joke, but the mere fact that you made it here means a lot. We are always open for recruits, so try again next year."

One by one, candidates were called. After the 13th one Poppylan started to lose hope. Maybe she wasn't fit for it ? What was she going to do if this didn't work out ? Go back home ? Find another job she has been dreaming about for YEARS ? Here she was spiraling again "Poppylan Wilkes". She turned her head in surprise : she had made it ! Four other women had made it, making Poppy the fifth.

The ones that didn't make it exited the facility with disappointment and one of the firefighters spoke to the chosen ones." Welcome to Narin fire departement, please go to my colleague so that we can have your measurements for the uniforms. You will be back here on Monday and receive your house assignments and uniforms. Again, congratulations to you all."

It was 3:30 pm when she reached her car. She sat for a moment realising what had happened. She was officially part of the Narin fire department as a firefighter paramedic, she was eager to start this hopefully longtime journey of her life. She started her car and drove out of the parking lot. She was exhausted and now that the weight was lifted she deserved some rest.

........................................... 

It was around 10pm when Tora walked out of his apartment. The princess wanted him and Goliath to be at fallen angels by at least 10:45 and he quote him "  to officially celebrate their passage to 27 years old " because he didn't give a shit, he decided to drag this moment as he had absolutely no trust in Quincey not messing this up. He stepped into his car and, for the first time in his life, he respected the traffic laws, hoping he could waste more time. Unfortunately for him, the only time he wished for traffic didn't happen as the roads were calm, resulting in him arriving at the club by 11:20.

He parked his car and walked towards the club's entrance, ignoring the bouncer who called him "birthday man". How many people knew about Quincey's party ? Loud music was playing in the club and people might as well be fucking because this was no dance. He couldn't tell where their bodies started and ended. He figured that they were already wasted. He made his way through the crowd looking for the princess in th vip sections " Honey ! I told you to make an effort. Why didn't you call me? I would've picked you an outfit". Tora immediately picked out his loud brother in the crowd. You would think it was his birthday : he was wearing another one of his expensive shirts. This one was white and made of silk and some gold pants, and a scarf on top of that.

" I don't want your stupid party anyway, no chance in hell I end up looking like you" pretty much all of his clothes were black, and he didn't give a damn about fashion sense : his outfit was composed of a black t-shirt, grey jeans, combat boots and one dark leather jacket. "You know booboo, a little color in your wardrobe won't hurt you" He shot him a glare and smacked the back of his head to witch Quincey responded with a scream "Oh come on ! You know these hurt like hell I'm already feeling a bruise coming, do you know how much time I spend on this beautiful face of mine ?"

"Quincey, I swear-"

"Ok ,I'll shut it come with me. Everyone is pretty much already here." They walked towards the vip sections, he saw his brother talking with Gyu, everyone from the gym was there and someone he didn't want to see : Quincey's latest "soulmate" Cordelia, tall, masculine looking woman who got on his nerves easily he couldn't put words on it, but she gave him the ick.

"Everyone ! I am back with our second guest of honor who apparently decided to take his sweet time but it's his birthday after all, are you ready to start this party ?" Everyone said hello to Tora, who just mumbled and sat next to Goliath.

"Quincey, I'm just going to call my friends. They shouldn't be far" said Goliath before looking at his phone " Oh she's calling, I'll be right back." He walked out of the section, phone to his ear " Erdene, can you hear me ? are you outside with Pops ?" 

Quincey waved at a waiter and ordered something Tora couldn't hear. A few minutes later, the waiter came back and gave Tora what seemed to be a strawberry juice. He looked at his brother who gave him a nod before going back to his convo with his "Sugarplum". While sipping his juice, Tora looked around the less crowded space, and spotted his brother with his two girlfriends, actually he could barely see the shorty, but because her friend had a hand behind her, he figured they were holding hands.

Goliath came first out of the crowd, then the purple-haired girl and finally the shorty. She was wearing a long trench and heels, "Ok everyone now we are all here Cordelia, Quincey I assume you haven't met them yet. This is Erdene and Poppylan, my friends and girls, this is my brother from another mother and his girlfriend." 

They quickly introduced themselves and greeted everyone. Goliath had them seated : the section had a bench seat where they all fitted, Brian was at the end, Louis was next to him, then there was Quincey and Cordelia, Gyu, Goliath, Damien, Erdene, Poppylan and Tora who was seating at the other end.

Everyone was talking to each other, Pinky was already in awe with Erdene and talking to her like nobody else was there. Quincey suddently stood up and clapped his hands " Guys it is time !! It is officially midnight ! Happy birthday to the boys !!" 

"Happy birthday Big bro ! " Everyone wished him and Goliath a happy birthday, Cordelia also, but more cheerily to Goliath than him.

Poppylan stood up and hugged Goliath, wishing him a happy birthday, then she sat back and turned to look at Tora, "Happy birthday to you too I guess". Tora turned his head in surprise "Ain't nobody told you to pretend ya know "

 She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I would like to inform you that me disliking you doesn't mean that I have to throw away years of good raising, I was well raised, and it is your birthday, that's all."

" You really have a problem with me shorty". He sipped his drink and looked at her. She was kinda cute when she was angry. 

"Of course I have a problem with you, the first time we met you called me names, and you never apologized for it. You know what, I'm in a good mood today. I received great news, I don't want to ruin Goliath's night, so I'm just going to switch places with someone and leave you alone before we argue again". She began to look for her bag and started to stand up.

He grabbed her by her wrist. 

"Wait" 

Chapter Text

"Wait"

Tora was holding her wrist, she frowned and tried to free her hand but he just held it tighter.

" What are you doing ? Let me go !"

"You're right, maybe I shouldn't have assumed that ya were one of G's hookups, I just thought that he was using my gym to hide from his groupies and that ya were going to be one of them" She could see that he was struggling, but it meant a lot to her that he was trying : a few days earlier Goliath called her and talked to her about his brother, that he was not a bad guy, just someone who didn't always took people's feelings into consideration.

He explained to her that there was a time when he would use Tora to get rid of his numerous conquests, and that it was probably why Tora assumed that in the first place. 

" Are you trying to apologize, Tora ?" She looked at him with a little smirk, seeing that big man struggling to apologize was a bit comic, but he was cute.

"Yeah, that's what I'm doin' " he rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I'm trying' here, I don't know what to say more than that."

"How about you let go of my hand first ?", he looked between their hands and her face. He then smirked " So ya not gonna sit elsewhere ?" 

"I'm not, listen, why don't we start again ?" she sat back and handed her hand to him" I'm Poppylan, but you can call me Poppy. "

He shook her hand, or should she say made her hand disappear, his hands were so much bigger than hers. Tora smirked and held his ear as if he didn't understand" What's that, Puppy ?"

She furiously removed her hand from his and smacked his arm, "It's Poppylan you heard me !" 

" So it is Poopy right ?" she glared at him." POPPY ! "And he held his hands in the air. " My bad Bobby, must have gone deaf, how bout I call ya sweetheart instead ?"

"You really are insufferable, you know that ? Because you decided not to get my name right on purpose, I'll do the same for you. In fact, I'm not even going to name you or acknowledge your presence until you get it right" She got back up and sat next to Quincey and Cordelia, eager to meet them properly. Tora smiled and took a sip of his drink. She definitely was something else. Quincey put his drink on the table and started chatting with her : he was what who could call an extravagant man, the complete opposite of his brothers, but somehow they seemed to complete each other very well. Cordelia was a law student , you wouldn't guess by seeing her : she was a tall woman with a masculine figure and a beauty of her own. Her looks screamed biker, her hairstyle was unique as well as her hair color, bright orange, she was stunning. 

Quincey couldn't seem to shut up about how he met his sugarplum : she was riding at night when she saw him dragging his drunk ass in his neighborhood. He claimed to Tora that he was perfectly fine going home by himself. She couldn't let this fool struggle on the streets. So she helped him go back to his apartment and he gave her his number, saying that he wanted to properly thank her around a coffee. They kept seeing each other and feelings were caught.

Poppy thought that they were adorable. You wouldn't think that they were together, but opposites attract, right ? They kept talking until Erdene screamed" Pops we have to go to the dance floor. This is our song ! "

She quickly got up and grabbed Poppy by her wrist, taking her coat off. While Erdene chose to wear a magnificent sparkling black dress, with high heels, Poppy opted for something more comfortable. She was wearing a navy playsuit with a pair of boots. She wasn't comfortable enough to wear it without tights underneath them, but the fact that she finally wore it after several months in her closet was an improvement for her. She went to the dance floor with Erdene, and they danced like it was their last day on earth. Something about that song just made them go off limits. They danced to a few more songs, and she noticed Damien trying to make a move to dance with Erdene. She grabbed his wrist and pushed him towards her, smiling at him when he blushed.

She went back to the vip section and started a conversation with the boys that worked with Tora. From what she learned, they all grew up in the same neighborhood and decided to be like Tora, so they just followed him around and even though he looked annoyed when they were telling the story, she could see that he cared about them just as much. The story was adorable, they've known one another for at least 10 years now, and they were supporting Tora just like the first day. A drunk Goliath came in asking the boys to come dance with him as a gift. Soon enough, the Vip section emptied with everyone on the dance floor except Tora and Poppy. Ironically, Goliath's outburst pushed Poppy to sit closer to Tora. 

A few moments of silence past between the two of them until Tora decided to speak : to his own surprise.

......................

The little minx decided not to talk with him until he got her name right. He didn't know why, but messing with her was extremely satisfying. She was even cuter when she was angry, sexy, he might add. She talked to the princess and his "sugarplum", then went to the dance floor with her friend. He had noticed at the gym that she always wore larger clothes, so seeing her in that playsuit surprised him a lot. She seemed comfortable, but it was obvious that it was out of her character. She was without a doubt a woman full of curves but didn't want to show them for some reason.

When everyone went to the dance floor, he stayed with her. After moments of silence, he decided to speak to her. He didn't hear himself at first. 

"So, Poppylan, how do you know my brother ? He made sure to add extra pronunciation to her name so that she would stop pouting. 

She looked around as if she thought he was talking to someone else. He rolled his eyes but let it slide.

"Did you actually get my name right ? She smiled and added "See it wasn't that difficult-"

"I think I prefer Bobby, I'm gonna stick with it" , she glared at him for a moment while he was smirking. She sighed in defeat.

"I guess this is the best I'm going to get from you, huh ?" he nodded, and she sat closer to him, "I moved to Narin about two years ago, I was new to town and Dene was the only person I knew there. I have wanted to become a firefighter for a long time, so I decided to pursue my training here. That's how I met Goliath. 

I was going to the gym for a while now and one day all of a sudden a tall blue-haired guy came and started to hit on me with the worst pick-up lines I've ever heard. I was this close to punch him" Tora actually laughed a bit at the thought of his brother getting what he deserved for being annoying. " Anyway, I finished my session and headed to the exit, and it was pouring outside like really hard, and I didn't have my car yet at that time, so I was taking the bus to go around the city, he saw me, apologized and proposed to take me back home. I didn't know him, so I took the offer, but I made him drop me two bus stops from where I lived, just to be safe" Good thinking, even though he knew his brother wasn't a creep, he thought that it was a clever move.

And from then, we started to talk to each other every time we went to the gym. I was working at a coffee shop at that time also, so he often came in. That's the day Erdene met him. We've been friends ever since."

Tora nodded" Cute story" 

" You don't talk a lot. Do you ?" Poppy sat towards him and held her head, "Nope" 

" Well, you asked something and I answered, that means you owe me an answer too." Tora looked at her suspiciously, then took a sip of his drink and gave her a small smile." Guess you're right"

"Alright Bobby what do you want to know bout me ?"

"How about why you chose to open a gym ?" Tora went silent and for a moment Poppy felt like she might have crossed a line. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, you know, sorry I brought it up" Tora looked at her and shook his head" It's okay, I just didn't expect it to be your first question," He hollered at one of the waiters and asked her "What do you drink Bob ?" She smacked the shit out of his shoulder and exclaimed" I am drawing the line at Bob okay! My name is Poppy, I can get along with Bobby but it's a no for Bob !"

He smiled again and added "My bad Bobby, I just don't want you to be thirsty while I count my story to you", she sighed and pointed to his drink. "Yours doesn't seem that bad" he nodded and asked for a refill and a drink for Poppy.

While they waited for their drinks, he leaned back on the couch and started.

" There was a time when my brothers and I went through some trouble. Actually, our fathers were too, so we dealt with a few bad people in order to survive on our own and not be a burden to our parents. I didn't even want to go to school, but as the mature one, I had to show the right example. So I took on the responsibility for doing the dangerous jobs, or the uncomfortable ones like bouncer or bodyguard," He didn't even know why he was telling her all that stuff, but she was easy to talk to, and she didn't seem to judge him, she didn't want to go further than the vague explanations he was giving her like how angry were their fathers when they learned what they were doing on the streets and with whom, she was simply listening.

" And there was this gym on the block, equipment was missing, and it was in a rough shape, but I enjoyed working out, it put myself in a bubble where I let myself out of reality, our messed up reality." He sipped his drink, "My messed up reality. I don't know, I thought that there might be other people like me who enjoyed working out but Ares street wasn't a good place to stay or live at that time. So I thought to myself : Fuck it. I might as well do it" He shrugged his shoulders, "I know this might sound cheesy to you, especially since ya want to be a firefighter and shit, but the gym was and still is a safe place for me and for everybody else that might come in." He finished his story and waited for Poppylan's reaction, she seemed ... moved a little. " Tora, this is not cheesy at all, it's beautiful, you built that place from ground to roof, you can be proud of you, and you are surrounded by people that love and support you, I never thought that we could actually have a deep conversation like that, but I am glad you shared that part of your life with me" Now he was impressed, this was the first time he gave a damn to someone's opinion, it was weird, having someone who cared about him that wasn't his family or friends.

"Thank you, Bobby" she held her drink to him" How about we drink at this new start of ours ?" He held his drink to and they toasted.

From afar, Goliath watched the interaction and smiled to himself while dancing with the boys. It wasn't every day that his brother smiled that much. What he thought would be a truce might turn into something else. Let's see how this takes us.

Two hours later, Poppy had made several round trips between the dance floor and sitting next to Tora. He didn't mind. He hated dancing, so he was glad to watch over her drink and talk to her when she was back. They were still talking when everyone except Damien and Erdene came back to the section. The boys were in different states : Gyu seemed to be the one who drank the least while Louis and Brian were laughing at everything together and stumbling on their own feet.

He supposed he should be happy that they were having such a good time on that "special" day. He didn't usually drink, but it would be a lie to say that he didn't enjoy seeing his friends happy and careless, just for this time. He looked at his brother and he knew he was in the worst state, his blue hair was disheveled, his shirt open, his eyes were red, and somehow he had lipstick on his lips. He sat next to Poppy and launched to hug him, meaning he was lying on her to reach him.

"G you're crushing me !" said Poppy while laughing. He still gave Tora a bear hug which he tried to deflect. Goliath fake cried and put an arm around Poppy's shoulders, "So what do ya think ? My brother isn't that bad, huh ?"

She smiled at him she then looked at Tora, "Not that bad indeed". Tora looked right back at her and gave her a little smile.

To a new start, they said, let's see where this leads us.

Chapter Text

Around 3am in the morning, Poppy decided that it was her cue to leave. She wasn't much of a party lover, and she was starting a new job in two days, so she needed to be well rested. She actually enjoyed this party a lot, getting to know the guys better, meeting Quincey and Cordelia, teasing Erdene about Damien and, of course, the birthday boys. She had a chance to start things over with Tora. Actually getting to know him was surprising and Goliath ... well, he stayed true to himself. But she couldn't leave without telling her friends the good news. 

Earlier in the evening, she caught Damien and Erdene in a very passionate make-out session. She never thought she'd be here to see Erdene blush one day. She wanted to go to the bathroom and Tora escorted her something about her tiny self getting swollen by the crowd in the dance floor, that's when they run into the hair colored couple. Actually, Tora yelled at them about getting a hotel room. 

Here we are. They were still sitting very close but still a bit embarrassed, Poppylan got up and went to the middle of the section. And in front of everyone. "Guys I think I'm going to leave. I'm feeling exhausted and I need to get out of those shoes", Erdene turned her head in her direction and got up fast" Yeah she's right. I'm feeling tired too. Why don't you drive me home, Damien ? " Poppy laughed at her friend's attempt to look discreet, while Damien was more than happy to go with her. Poppy spoke again. " But before leaving I wanted to give my gift to Goliath." 

The man in question looked at her. He was very intoxicated, but he seemed to have the basic faculties "I'm all ears Pops". She took a quick breath before saying " I passed my ability test this morning and I got in ! You are now looking at Firefighter Wilkes, I start Monday !" Erdene who was still next to her, gasped and gave her a hug before holding her hands in hers and jumping with excitement. " I knew it ! You were the only person that ever doubted you. I am so happy for you, you're gonna run around and saving people's lives. You cannot imagine how proud I am right now. You did it Poppylan".

She gave her another hug, then someone else joined in : it was Goliath, he was more holding onto them than hugging, but it was the attention that mattered. "I never doubted you. You worked so hard for this, you deserve every bit of it" Poppy was starting to tear up. She thought of her dad, and the pride in her friends' eyes, that was enough to start crying. Erdene whipped out her tears and kissed her cheek affectionately, Goliath kissed her on her forehead. 

Everyone at the table congratulated her and said goodbyes, a few minutes later, she was outside with Tora, who insisted on waiting for a cab with her. She preferred not to take her car in case of her drinking something. It was safer.

"You know you don't have to do this, you can go back inside. I'm sure I'll get a cab in no time."

"Bobby, it is 3 in the morning, now tell me what man in his right mind is gonna leave a woman by herself outside ? I would have driven you home myself, but my brothers just had to get drunk, now I have to drag their asses out of here" Poppy giggled and took her phone to get a cab. Tora rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat," So firefighter huh ? That's some badass job you just got there, how are ya feeling ?"

"Pretty excited, you know. I couldn't believe it when they said my name. I was so sure that I would fail. I guess I gained the strength to go through for my family and friends. They always supported me I couldn't let them down."

"You're gonna do just fine Bobby, ya gonna kick ass at this job "

Poppy laughed a little "You know that I have to save them, right ?" 

"Knowing ya, I wouldn't be surprised if ya did both", she laughed again, and they kept talking until her cab arrived. "This is me, thank you again for escorting me, I can finally say that it is a pleasure to meet you Tora". She smiled at him and got inside the cab. " Nice meeting ya too Bobby, be careful on your way home". She nodded "Have a good night Tora". Her cab then took off.

"Where to Maa'm ?" She gave the diver her address and thought back on her evening. Who would've thought that her and Tora would link up that well ? Getting to know him was definitely the highlight of her night. She felt the car slowing down, she was in her parking lot. She thanked the driver and got home, she went straight to the bathroom after removing her shoes, she cleaned her face , brushed her teeth and sent both Goliath and Erdene a text saying that she had got home safely, even though she knew that Erdene would be quite occupied at the moment. She quickly got to her bed, thinking about her first day, Monday.

............................

Tora watched the cab turn around the corner. He stayed outside a little bit, enjoying the silence. He didn't want to go back inside. That would mean taking care of his brothers. He just wanted a moment alone. After a few minutes, he went back inside and told everyone to go home. He talked with Cordelia, and she told him that she would get Quincey home, meaning he had to deal with his twin, who seemed to have tasted every single liquor in the club. The said twin was mingling with some woman at another Vip section.

Tora sighed and went to the section "Goliath get ya ass up we're leaving". Goliath looked at his brother and gave him a look."Tora, can't you see that I'm busy talking to this beautiful female creature here ?" He stroked the lady's hair to the side so that he could have access to her neck. Tora rolled his eyes and reached out to grab him by the arm but was stopped by a manicured hand that wrapped around his forearm.

Apparently, Goliath's lover didn't came here by herself, her friend seemed really interested in Tora. " Hi there handsome, aren't we lucky tonight ? Two beautiful and smoking hot brothers, my name is Amber. What's yours sugar ?" Tora removed his arm from her grip and grabbed Goliath by the back of his neck " My name ain't nothing. of your business lady ", She smiled suggestively at him. "Oh I love a man who thinks he can resist me", meanwhile her friend was in shock of Goliath being snatched off her.

"Listen sugar , look at me, you really aren't interested in all this". She shaped her body with her hands while looking at him. Tora ignored her and got Goliath to walk, leaving Amber in shock. He really couldn't stand starving women like this one. He tapped Goliath's pockets looking for his phone and car keys. Once he got it they stumbled outside the club together. "Toora I know you ain't serious right now. What if this was your future sister-in-law ? And why did you take my keys ?"

He put him in his car " You'll get your keys back tomorrow G, ya can't drive like this". He started the car when he felt his pocket vibrating. He looked at his phone and saw that the screen was black, weird. He took Goliath's phone out of his other pocket and saw a picture of him and Poppylan next to a text " Hey G, I know you're probably busy right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I got home safely, could you tell Tora when you have time ? xoxo"

He smiled " Poppylan sent you a text, she got home safely" , Goliath groaned and held his temples. "Thank God I hate when she is alone" Tora scoffed and exited the parking lot, " If you hadn't got that drunk you would have been able to drive her yaself" 

Goliath laughed "Ya sure you're not the one who wanted to take her back home ? You spent the whole night talking to each other. I never saw you smile like that brother" Tora kept driving, ignoring his brother who kept talking " She's like a little sister to me, ya know ? I can sleep well now that I know she's safe."

"Ya always flirt with your sister ?. She told me how you two met" Goliath smiled. " I didn't win a girlfriend, but I made myself one hell of a friend, but I bet you know that, right ?" Tora kept driving but answered with honesty. "She is in fact just like ya described her, it's easy to talk with her, I can see why you and the purple haired girl like her that much" Goliath kept smiling while looking at the city landscape " Yeah she is exceptional, I am so proud of her for the job, I knew she could do it , she is going to do more than great".

They kept talking until reaching Tora's apartment. Goliath quickly fell asleep on the couch while Tora took a shower. He then went to bed as well.

The next morning, he got up around 10am. He exceptionally closed the gym for the weekend in order to rest from last night and to do the equipment revision that happened every three months with a company. The appointment was set for 12:30. He put on a sweatshirt and gym shorts. His brother was still sleeping. He figured he would probably be knocked out for another few hours. After all, he had the keys double so he wasn't worried. 

He got in his car and headed to the gym, another day as a gym owner was awaiting him.

Chapter Text

Monday morning arrived and Poppylan woke up at 6:00, she spent Sunday sleeping and doing a little cleaning. She showered and got dressed, she was out of her apartment by 6:45, heading to the fire academy where she passed her ability test. Today she was getting her uniform and house assignment, if everything went well, she was officially starting as soon as she is assigned.

She parked her car to the parking lot and entered the building, with much less stress than she did the first time, she recognised some faces as the ones that were also chosen on Friday. They were led to a different room this time and they waited for about 15 minutes before the firefighters came in with different large boxes in their arms. One of them stated talking : " Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good rest during this weekend because you are not going to have that kind of rest for a long time starting today". He walked to the center of the room " As we told you Friday you are going to have your houses assigned today as well as your uniforms and paramedic patches".

Another one took the lead " Even if you passed the test, that doesn't mean that is it going to be easy : once in your houses you'll have to meet the captain of it and the head paramedic of the team, you will be under their wings for at least the first two months, we are going to give each of you 5 NFD t-shirts, four complete uniforms two with long sleeves and two with short ones, you will also receive a bag and two sweatshirts and a pair of work shoes" one of the other firefighters gave him a notepad " I am going to call your name and you will get here to get your stuff then we will tell you the number of your house". In addition, they also gave them tactical outerwear gears : one water-repellent and a turnout one as well as two pairs of intervention boots.

This is as the next hour went by , once every one had their uniforms, the firefighters pulled out cards with the assigned houses and the name of the candidates, Poppy was handed her own card : house 107 xxx Street Narin City, Captain Kolton, be there at 11:30. Once everything was assigned the firefighters bid them good luck and welcomed them again in the district.

Poppylan could barely hold her excitement, but she managed to keep composure until she was inside her car, she officially did it ,in a matter of hours she was going to be part of a team and do what she was meant to do, her dream job finally completed. With a big smile on her face she drove back home, it was now 9 am and she wanted to take a little nap before actually going to her firehouse, she put the address on her phone and the house was like a 25 minutes drive from her apartment which wasn't that bad, she could have had worse assignment.

Once in her apartment, she loaded up the bag with her water bottle, one of the t-shirts, one of the sweatshirts, a pair of leggings, a pair of shoes that she used for workouts, and the emergency pouch every women had in their purses. She then took a nap and woke up around 10:15. She tried on her uniforms and it fitted her perfectly, if she had the choice she would've probably chosen a larger size but she was surprised to see that she liked what she was seeing in the mirror. 

She still was self-conscious about her body but she was learning to love it a little bit more every day, she put the final touch on the uniform : the paramedic patch. She put the shoes as well and ate the overnight oats she did on Sunday, by 10: 50, she decided to go she took her bag and her keys and went to her car. She put the address on her phone and drove.

She arrived there by 11:15, parked her car in the reserved spots and entered the house, immediately amazed : Four firetrucks were parked with the ambulances in between them, firefighters were talking and walking around, there was a line with every gear and equipment, a floor above and one iconic fire pole. She was looking for the captain, so she asked one of the firefighters.

"Hi, excuse me, I'm new here my name is Poppylan Wilkes and I'm looking for captain Kolton ?"

"Hi there ! The name's Karl, Cap is upstairs eating with a few of the team." 

She thanked him and went upstairs where a kitchen and five tables were disposed, there was a TV in the far left of the space with three couches around. She looked around and saw that two of the tables were occupied but only one of them had several firefighters around one man in his forties probably, sitting and eating what seemed to be a homemade lunch. She took her chances and approached them.

"Cap when is your wife coming back ? We had the best meal ever last time she paid you a visit" another firefighter put his arm around the cap's shoulders " C'moooon cap just answer, you're out there eating well and letting us starving"

"So you're telling me that I can't eat a homemade meal that my lovely wife prepared for me with love and passion because you young people don't want to settle in too early and that you tasted her food once ? Son please, I'm going to eat every single crumbs of this plate, and it's not my fault if all you're eating is protein shakes and eggs, how about you learn how to cook ?". The other men started to complain and grumble, "not cool cap".

Poppylan smiled at the interaction ,thinking that she found herself a good firehouse, she cleared her throat and they turned their heads towards her "Hi, I'm looking for captain Kolton , I got my assigned house this morning here" she pulled out the card they gave her "My name is Poppylan Wilkes, nice meeting you" 

The said captain rose from his seat and looked at her he then turned his head to look at the other firefighters" Well young men, is this a way to greet a lady ?" he shook her hand " My name's Adrian Kolton, I'll be your captain, welcome the 107, kiddo" The other firefighters greeted her collectively after the captain gave them another look.

He then took his lunch and started walking, "What are you waiting Wilkes, come with me ", startled Poppylan blushed and followed him, he gave her a complete tour of the firehouse, that includes, the small gym, the "rest room" where they could take naps during heavy shifts, his office, the head paramedic's office and the women's lockeroom, introducing her to every one they crossed path with. By the end of the tour, he led her to one of the ambulances that was open, there was two women and two men inside, doing what seemed to be an inventory of the medical material.

"Hey Dj, this is our new recruit, Poppylan Wilkes" one of the women looked up and smiled at her " Poppylan, this is our head paramedic Dj Stone, you'll be under her wing today, tomorrow you'll come with me in one of the trucks. 'm leaving you in her expert hands, see you" He then walked away and Dj spoke "Finally another woman, I can't stand the testosterone these days, welcome Poppylan, this is Megan , Tyler and Christian we are the paramedics, and I'm your chief, we go everywhere with the firetruck, you never know the gravity of the case. I'm gonna check something in my office I'll be right back, you three, show her how to do the inventory and be nice okay ?"

Megan walked up to her and grabbed her arm " Don't worry about the testosterone comment, her love life is a bit chaotic lately, nice to meet you I'm so exited to work with you, you are so pretty !"

"Megan, how about you leave the poor woman alone ?" said Chistian, "So Poppylan, we are doing an inventory of our material, just to be sure that we are not missing anything and prepared for every situation, come sit with Megan"

She sat with Megan next to her and smiled " Thank you, you can call me Poppy, I'm really looking forward to work with you guys" They learned about each other while continuing the inventory, Poppy picked up fast, she was exited and determined to do well. 15 minutes after the head paramedic came back.

"I see you are doing well, here, good job Poppylan, where are you from again ?" 

When Poppylan was about to answer, a bell rang in the firehouse, everyone hurried up towards the trucks and the paramedics quickly put their stuff in the right place. "You know what ? you'll answer me on the road , every one in the ambulance !" 

Tyler smiled to her when they were buckling up " Welcome to the jungle" She smiled back and took a deep breath, here she was : her first call.

...................................

1 month later 

Tora was pissed, Goliath was having an intervention in his building so he was staying at Tora's place, that was okay it's not the first time they lived together right ? It has been a few days since he welcomed him and everything was going well, they were both going to work and Goliath would cook something for his brother since Tora usually came home late. They had found their dynamic, G told him that the intervention should take one week at last.

Tora was spending more and more time at the gym, since the last checking visit, he realised that he could add equipment so he was visioning, and trying to see what they would be, how many he could buy, how much it was gonna cost to entertain. 

He also thought about organising some events like an open door day where he could reach out to the younger population, he could often see the high school students lurk around his gym, sometimes some of the boys would tell him that they wished they could get fit but they didn't have the funds. He would also see young girls looking at the women who were taking pilates classes with his coaches with envy. He was thinking that maybe he could add a membership for students. But all of these ideas needed to be reviewed first, he needed to be sure that the customers would actually like these.

Ares gym was in entry of ares street, so people weren't very incline to come to his gym, Gyu suggested that he opened a website, Gyu had always been agile with the computer world so he trusted him. He just needed time and patience, the customers he had now weren't there 3 years ago so he knew he just had to have the shoulders for it. All good things come to those who wait after all.

Now let's get back to why he was pissed : his brother had the incredible idea to invite a woman in his apartment, he unfortunately discovered that last night when he came home earlier : he was about to enter the apartment when he heard a woman moaning. Hell if he was going to walk in a nightmare vision. That's how he found himself in his office, take-out as dinner, shower taken in his gym, sleeping on his floor.  He always kept spare clothes in his car, so that was okay, he sure as hell was firing Goliath's ass out of his apartment today whether his building is ready or not. He also needed a new bed, or at least wash it with bleach or something. His gym was open from 7am to 11pm, he usually was there in the mornings and would leave the afternoon and evening to the boys.

But lately he was doing full days here because of his projects, so he was helping the guys cleaning the gym since he didn't want to hire a cleaning company for something he could easily do, with two floors, they usually divided themselves and started by the top floor, then the first and they will finish with the ground floor.

By 6:30, Gyu came in, surprised to see him already here " Big bro ? What are you doing here you normally come around 8". Tora sighed and waved his hand " My brother brought company in my place last night and I was way too tired to deal with it" Gyu sighed as well and took in the opportunity to talk to him about his ideas regarding the website. Twenty minutes after, Damien came in with Erdene, the two seemed to have make it official, good for him, Damien was never distracted to do his job regardless.

Erdene saw him and smiled " What up Big bro ?" He rolled his eyes and took the portal keys to go open the gym. " Don't call me that" , Erdene sighed "As friendly as always I can see that Tora" she then took her phone out of her pocket and seemed to text someone, Tora opened the portal and the usual early customers came in. 

"There she is, our hero ! " exclaimed Erdene looking behind Tora, "Erdene you can't keep saying that outloud every time I'm around" someone answered behind his back. He turned around as he very much recognised that voice.

Poppylan was standing in front of him with a gym bag and a water bottle she had a low bun on and large clothes.

"Hi Tora" he smirked and answered her.

"What's up Bobby ?"

Chapter Text

What's up, Bobby?" She smiled at him, shaking her head at the ridiculous nickname; she almost forgot that he decided to rename her.

"I'm fine, Tora, thank you," he was about to say something when Erdene came to give her a hug.

"I barely see you lately; it's been ages!" Poppy rolled her eyes at the exaggeration because they spent numerous hours on the phone. "We FaceTimed each other two days ago, Dene." 

"That's what I'm saying: too long!" Poppy looked around as Tora was now missing, weird. 

She greeted the other guys and caught up with them; only Gyu, Damien, and Brian were here. She chatted with them a lot until Erdene dragged her to the first floor so that they could exercise. Erdene didn't forget to kiss Damien on their way upstairs. These two had officially started dating after the twins birthday party. What Erdene thought to be a simple hookup turned into coffee dates, shared meals in a restaurant, and having late-night calls. 

This was the happiest Poppy had ever seen her, and she was more than happy for her friend; she seemed to have found the right person, and she was truly happy for her friend. This was actually a step closer to having her nephews. She giggled a bit and followed Erdene up to the first floor. It has been a while since she came here because of her busy schedule and the fact that there was a gym at the firehouse. She didn't think she'd miss it that much, even if her old gym at Narin was done with the renovations, but she never cancelled her membership in Tora's gym. She still didn't know if they were going back to their old gym. 

But for now, they were just going to stay for the moment. Once on the first floor, she put her headphones on and started stretching. After a whole month of being a firefighter, she learned a whole lot more than she ever did while studying. She had seen people in embarrassing situations refusing help, stubborn ones, had been involved in three fires so far, and had driven the ambulance more than enough. She also learned to know her colleagues, and so far, everyone seemed cool. A new firefighter came to the house and seemed to have the hots for Megan, who she became really close to; his name was Jacob.

He was a nice guy but always seemed to have something to say about her weight, which irritated Megan a lot. The poor guy had zero game, was rude and clumsy, but was surprisingly very good at his job; he followed the rules and instructions to the point and was always eager to learn. Poppylan quickly checked him, and she felt a kind of sympathy towards him. She was also secretly rooting for him and Megan; they were cute together, and whenever he was trying to hit on her, she would often catch Megan smiling. To be continued, she guessed.

After stretching, she hopped on the treadmill and started walking as a warm-up. She started thinking back on her first day, smiling to herself. And what a day! 

After the call, she ended up in the back of the ambulance with Megan and Christian, while the head paramedic, DJ, was in the passenger's seat and Tyler was driving. 

"So where are you from, kiddo?" asked Dj. 

"I was born and raised in Moonbright; I moved to Narin three years ago now," answered Poppy. She was still overwhelmed by the environment, but she was trying to remain calm and don't let it show.

"Oh Moonbright, that's a cute countryside. I used to spend lots of weekends in there; it's good to free your mind, you know? Most people prefer to go to Felicia Bay to relax, but I prefer the calm of Moonbright," said Dj.

Tyler talked next: "I do prefer Felicia Bay; it is more charming and honestly a beautiful place; no offense, Poppylan, but I would rather spend a romantic weekend at Felicia Bay than Moonbright."

"None taken; it's the first time that people actually know what city I am talking about; usually they are surprised by Moonbright's name." They kept talking until they reached the scene. It was a beautiful and huge villa, but Poppy didn't spend time looking around; they were here for an emergency after all.

A teenager came running to them, "Thank God you're here. Hurry up; he is not breathing! "  They ran behind her while she explained the situation. "We were having a pool party with my friends, and we decided to add soap in the jacuzzi to have fun. We went in the kitchen for a bit, but then one of my friends disappeared, and we taught he was in the bathroom or something, but then I went into the jacuzzi and bumped into something, and it was him. We don't know how much time he was passed out, and none of us know CPR!"

They arrived in the backyard where the pool and jacuzzi were, as well as several teenagers around the victim. "Excuse me, move aside, please! My paramedics are going to work on him," said captain Kolton. Dj and Megan arrived next to the boy who was bleeding on the side of his head, and Meghan started CPR. "Wilkes and Tyler, check the other teenagers. I smell alcohol and weed here." They checked the other teenagers while they were working on the victims.

"You know that we have to call the police, right?" said Kolton to the girl who called them. "Why?? We did nothing wrong!" He put his hands to his hips and sighed, "Young lady, your friend here probably passed out because he was drunk and high; he must've bumped his head and passed out in the jacuzzi. What if you didn't go after? He would've been dead by now." He made a call on his radio requesting for police reinforcements after explaining the situation with codes. Dj and Meghan were still working on the boy, and suddenly he woke up, coughing up water and vomiting, "Oh my god, he is awake! Jason, are you okay?" asked his friends.

The rest of the teenagers were begging the captain not to call the cops now that "everything was ok." According to them, there was no need to call the cops, probably not wanting their parents to know that they were drinking and smoking weed. "Everything is not ok; we still need to bring him to the hospital, and the police are going to need his parents contacts as well as yours. Think better next time you want to drink," said Kolton firmly.

Megan and Christian put Jason on the gurney and headed to their ambulance parked in the front of the villa, while DJ was putting back the material used.

Poppy checked her last teenager; they were all good, apart from a quick pulse, which was normal considering the amount of alcohol that was in their system. She looked at the jacuzzi, or more like the mountain of bubbles above it; something was off; they had a weird shape, like something was at the end of it. "Zoé, right?"" she said to the girl who came to them. "Yes?"" She was sobbing, "Did you go all the way in the jacuzzi before you bumped into Jason?" She frowned but still answered Poppy, "Not really; he was not too far from the front." After hearing that, Poppy ran to the jacuzzi and started moving the bubbles away aggressively. 

"Wilkes, what are you doing?" said Kolton, she kept moving them away until she saw the body of another teenager. Without hesitation, she jumped in the jacuzzi and dragged him towards the yard. "There's another victim!" yelled Tyler, running towards Poppy, who was getting out of the jacuzzi. 

"Tyler, start compressions, Wilkes, you do mouth-to-mouth!" said Dj to them while she was running. Poppy and Tyler worked on the other boy while the teenagers were looking at the scene with fear and shock: His body was partially purple. "Do you know him?"" asked Kolton to Zoé; she was still wide-eyed. "That's my ex-boyfriend; I don't even know how he got there." The captain warned the dispatch that they'd need another ambulance since there was another victim. The police came in the backyard, and Kolton talked with the officer, explaining the situation. 

Poppy and Tyler, with the help of DJ, managed to bring back the boy in extremis. The other ambulance came, and they put him on another gurney heading to the hospital. DJ was on the passenger side, congratulating Poppy for her quick reaction. 

"On my first day,  someone vomited on me." Tyler said to her as he was checking the boy's vitals, "So I guess you win. Yours is definitely better. Good job, Poppy; without you, he would've been dead by now." Poppy blushed a little while thanking them; all of that had happened within fifteen minutes, so this was her new life. The adrenaline was still pulsing through her body. She was now thinking about what the rest of this day would look like. 

Poppylan was brought back to reality when the treadmill started beeping, noticing her that she had finished the time. She hopped off of it and stretched her body; she was going to do a full-body workout today, and then she would take the 9 a.m. Pilates class with Erdene. After finishing her workout and feeling a bit sore, she drank from her water bottle, and Erdene came to take her for their class. 

She had a lot of fun reconnecting with Erdene even if they were still calling each other. She had to admit that her schedule was busy; she had experienced her first 24-hour shift, and she didn't seem to have recovered from it yet, but she knew it would just be an habit she'll have to learn. It was still her first month; she had a lot to learn yet. After their class, Erdene gave her a hug, and they said their goodbyes: she was going on a 3-day trip with Damien, so she had to go home, take a shower, and then they would take the road. Poppy smiled and asked her to send pictures. Erdene nodded and went to see Damien. He was finishing his day early so that they could be in the car by 12 a.m. maximum. All Erdene knew was that they had a reservation that Damien didn't want to talk about, saying it was a surprise. 

Poppy went down the stairs and saw Gyu talking to a customer; she decided she'd say goodbye later. She then started looking for Tora; he had disappeared when she arrived at the gym, so she didn't get the chance to greet him properly. She looked around the first floor but didn't see him. She decided to go back upstairs and found him looking around, making sure everything was okay, she guessed, although he seemed to be slightly in distress.

"Hey Tora!" 

................................

Tora had made a quick run to his office to do the accountability; after that, he did his rounds around the floors; he even saw Bobby doing her workout with Erdene; he looked at her a little bit longer than he'll ever admit. It had been a month since his birthday party, and now that things were going well between them, he had hoped that he'd see her in his gym, but she never came. So seeing her this morning was a surprise—a good one.

He kept doing his rounds and checked everything with Gyu regarding this week's admissions; he then went back to the first floor; Poppylan wasn't there anymore; maybe she had left, he thought with disappointment. He then saw a flash of pink at the corner of his left eye: Candy. She was eyeing him, and when he unfortunately looked at her, she started walking towards him. He looked everywhere, but in her directions, considering his options, he even started thinking about escaping to his office again when he heard his name. 

"Hey Tora," he looked at his right, and there she was; her low bun was messier than it originally was, and her face was shiny, proof that she had worked out hard. "Hey Bobby, did you finish?"" 

"Yeah, I was actually heading out. I have a shift at 10:30am, but since I didn't get to greet you properly, I wanted to say hi." She smiled at him, and he smirked. "You know, if you wanted to see me, all you had to do was ask Bobby."

She rolled her eyes but smiled a bit. "Ok, mister, get down on earth, will you?"" he scoffed, and she asked, "So how's the gym going? Goliath told me that you were thinking of making a few changes around ?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while now," he explained briefly what he wanted to do. She nodded and asked questions about how he wanted to do it, actually taking interest. "How bout ya, Miss Firefighter? How is it going'?

"Honestly, it's like a dream came true; I love what I am doing; even the bad days are good ones for me," she smiled and was about to add some more when a voice came from Tora's left side. "Hi there, handsome." He had totally forgotten about Candy. She tried to hook her arm into his, but he was quicker and moved towards Poppy. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" she said while looking at Poppy up and down.

"Why should I?" He said dryly. She gasped and walked closer to him, making him walk closer to Poppy, who was also backing up. She suddenly felt like she was interrupting something and was about to make up an excuse to go. Then they heard screaming at the far end of the floor.

They, as well as the whole floor, turned their heads towards the scream: a guy was stuck on the bench with a barbell on his throat, and another guy was trying to get it off. Tora ran towards them, and he heard Poppyan yelling at him, "Tora, remove the barbell and put him gently on the floor. Somebody call 911 and put them on speaker next to me!" She was not far behind. Tora did what she told him, and she was next to the guy within seconds. 

She put her ear next to his airways; he was conscious but hardly breathing. "What's his name?" she asked the guy who tried to remove the barbell at first; he was in shock, running his hands in his hair several times. "She asked you a question, you dumbass; answer now!"" yelled Tora at him. The guy jumped scared, and he said, "Nick—his name's Nick." 

"Nick, if you can hear me squeeze my hand," she said to him. He looked at her, but she didn't feel him squeeze her hand. Tora was next to her, watching her as she bit her lips nervously. He could have neurological damages, thought Poppy, but she wasn't jumping to conclusions.

She checked his pulse and looked around. "Please step back; he needs a lot of space; don't obstruct the way! Did someone dial 911?!" She then looked at Tora and said, "Help me put him on his side; this way he'll breathe better." Tora obeyed, and a girl came in with her phone on speaker mode and put it next to Poppy. 

"911 What's your emergency?"

Poppy answered while looking at Nick's throat, who was starting to swell, "I have a patient in his 20s who sustained a traumatic injury; he's having difficulty breathing. We are at Ares Gym, xxx Street, Narin City. I need an ambulance immediately!" 

"Okay, I'm dispatching help now. Is he conscious and breathing?"

"Yes, he's conscious, but he's struggling more and more to breathe. I put him on his side; there may be damage to his airway. I'm seeing signs of laryngeal trauma. I'm monitoring his breathing closely; his airway isn't fully obstructed yet, but it is starting to swell. We'll need advanced airway management ASAP." Poppy was so involved in her work that she didn't notice that the entire floor and Tora were looking at her now. 

"Understood, how is his condition otherwise? Any severe bleeding or other external injuries?"

"No severe external bleeding, but there's swelling around the neck, likely from the crush injury. I've positioned him to keep the airway as open as possible. I've told bystanders to stay back." She was monitoring the swelling as she answered.

"Stay with him. Emergency responders are on the way."

"I'll be here. We may need oxygen and possibly intubation on arrival. Hurry, he's at risk for respiratory failure if the swelling worsens."

"Don't worry, I've submitted your diagnosis to the responders. They'll be here in a few minutes. I'm guessing you are in the medical field? You gave me the exact information and their terms."

"Yes, I'm a current paramedic."

"Well, paramedic, thanks to you, your colleagues will know exactly what to do; you might have saved his life."

"I hope," she then heard the sirens outside.

"Narin FD coming through !!" The firefighters arrived on the floor, and Poppy yelled, "In here!"

The paramedic came in and quickly checked him; her diagnosis was indeed correct, so they didn't waste much time as they stabilised him and put him on a gurney. The captain walked towards her. "He was very lucky that you were there. Thank you for your quick diagnosis." She nodded at him, and he went downstairs.

Next thing she knew, Gyu and Damien were here. "Big bro, what happened? Why are the firefighters here?" 

"There was an accident, but Poppylan here handled it," said Tora while looking at her. She blushed and handed her phone to the girl who lent it to her. "Thank you, Tora, but I just did my job."  All of a sudden, the whole floor started clapping their hands to her; if she was blushing before, she was more than red now.

"Well done, lady!" " You handled it like a pro," "OMG, you were so calm you saved him"

"Thank you all, but I didn't do that much; we'll let the doctors do their job on him; hopefully he'll be okay," she then looked at his friend. "They are going to bring him to the nearest hospital; you should go you too; he's going to need support, and just in case, call his family also." The guy started crying and hugged her; she was a bit startled, but she hugged him back. "Thank you, Miss. I'll never forget you !!" He then ran out of the floor. 

Tora caught the attention of the other members. "Ok guys, I know that this was no ordinary scene, but he's in the hands of professionals now. If you believe in a god, pray for him. You can resume your sessions, and remember to be careful. You want to push yourself, but don't kill yourself, ok?" They agreed with him, and everyone went back to their workouts.

He grabbed Poppy by her wrist, and they walked towards the stairs. "Wow, Bobby, that was one hell of a self-control back there." 

He saw her blush and smirked, "Thank you, Tora, but you helped me a lot, you know? You actually listened to me, and it went smooth."

He was about to say something when she suddenly gasped, "Omg, it's 9:50 already? I got to go; my shift starts in forty minutes, and I need to take a shower! Nice seeing you, Tora. Bye guys!"  she said to Damien and Gyu. She then went down the stairs, almost running, and got out of the gym. He watched her go and smiled; she really was something else. 

"Hey Tora!" He turned his head and saw Candy walking to his direction. Rolling his eyes, he started going down the stairs. "The girl left this!" He looked at her, and she had Poppylan's bag in her hands. "She dropped it when she ran towards the guy; with all the commotion, she must've forgotten it." Tora took the bag out of her hands and thanked her. 

"So, I was thinking that maybe we could go on a date. How about-"

"Candy, leave me the fuck alone. Why can't you understand that?" She gasped, "But we look good together; why not?"

"Because I don't want to, and I said so several times." She was about to say something, but he didn't care. He went to his office and put Poppy's bag on his couch. He then went back downstairs looking for Pinky. "Oi Pinky!" Damien turned around at his nickname, "Yes, big bro ?" 

"I need ya to call your girl; Poppy left her bag here." Damien looked at him and dialled Erdene. 

"Yes, my man, I just arrived. I am going to take a quick shower. There was traffic because some ambulance took a shortcut, but I'll be quick, I promise!"" Damien blushed a bit because she called him "my man." He then saw Tora roll his eyes and tell him to give him his phone.

"Baby, you're on speakerphone; Big Bro wants to talk to you," he handed his phone to Tora. "To me? How about that?"

"Oi Erdene, what's Poppylan's firehouse address?"

"Who wants to know?" He rolled his eyes again but answered, "Something happened at the gym, so she didn't leave when you did, but she forgot her bag in the process. I know you and Pinky have a reservation, so I'll bring it to her myself at her firehouse."

"Wait a minute, what happened? Is she okay?" He sighed, "She is fine; she actually helped someone, but with all the commotion she forgot her bag. That's all I'm sure Pinky will tell you about it. Now can I have the fucking address?"

"I knew it was too good to be true: you being polite." 

"Erdene, I swear-"

"Ok, Ok, do you have something to take notes on?" She gave him the address, and he gave the phone back to Pinky. "House 107, right?" 

Pinky nodded. 

He went back to his office and worked a little more. Considering her schedule, he figured he would visit her at lunchtime; he could be sure that she was going to be here. He smiled to himself; he never saw her in her uniform. That's going to be the occasion to talk to her more.

Chapter Text

Poppylan was at her house by 10:05 am. She took the quickest shower of her life and got dressed. She sped up a little bit on the road and made it to the firehouse by exactly 10:29. Luckily for her, she made it to the women’s locker room by 10:30 am. She was out of breath when she got there.

“Hi there, Poppy, I thought you weren’t coming; I was getting worried,” said Megan to her. Poppy smiled at her and gave her a hug.

“Something happened at the gym this morning; I had to take care of someone,” she said as she was putting on her uniform.

“Really? Tell me, girl!” Poppylan told her the story while they were getting ready.

“What a morning! This is sensational. What were the odds of a paramedic being here when this happened?”

“That’s exactly what I thought! But legit, it happened so quickly I didn’t even realise that I was working on him.

“That makes me think. You told me that you would invite me last time. I’m still waiting, Pops.“

“Yeah, don’t worry. I took one of the gym’s flyers for you. It’s in my gym bag. When we get lunch, I’ll go grab it in my car.”

“Oh, I can’t wait. I have nothing against our esteemed colleagues, but sometimes I just want to train out of the house, you know?”

They kept chatting and went to do their job around the house.

When they weren’t in a call, firefighters usually did the inventory of their stuff: oxygen bottles, special gear, cleaning the trucks, training, putting gas in, and for the paramedics, cleaning the ambulance and doing the inventory of the medical equipment. They usually did it fast and steady because you never knew when they were going to get a call.

They got a few quick calls between 11 and 1 pm: after saving a little girl and her cat stuck in a tree, they went on a call where an old lady got her pacemaker going crazy, but it was only a malfunction; they finished their morning with a couple who got themselves an electric shock trying to figure out by themselves how to fix their generator. The diversity of this morning was the everyday life of firefighters. Poppylan enjoyed it; she preferred those days compared to the ones where serious accidents happened. She never experienced a death on a scene yet, and she was dragging that day, but eventually she knew that it would happen someday.

Everyone was hungry given the fact that it was already past 1 pm.

She was in the fire engine for the ride back, talking to her colleagues when one of them shouted:

“Hey guys, check this out! There’s one hell of a car parked right at the entry of the house.”

All of the guys went to the windows, amazed by the nice sports car parked in the firehouse.

The red Subaru was parked behind one of the other ambulances, so it wasn’t bothering them to park their fire engine and the ambulance. Most of the guys got out of the fire engine to check out the car; Poppylan also got out and joined the paramedics in the ambulance in order to help them.

Dj was out of the ambulance, sighing because even Christian and Tyler got out of there quickly to go see the car. “Men... they really are children in their hearts. What’s so special about a damn car?”

Megan laughed a little bit while she was carrying a medical bag. “You can’t tell me that you don’t see how nice that car is; they all have regular cars. Those type of vehicles are truly on a man’s dream list.”

Dj sighed again and shook her head with disappointment; Poppy smiled and helped Megan and Dj out.

Jacob suddenly came around the corner. “Hey Megan, do you need any help?”

“Why aren’t you with the other boys salivating over that car?” She asked him; he chuckled a little and took the bag out of her hands. “I’m more of a nerdy guy; I don’t know cars that well.“

She shrugged and went to go take another bag, Poppy and Dj helping too.

Captain Kolton went to see the guys that were still admiring the car. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, young men? There is a ton of shit to do right now; we need to wash the trucks and refill the oxygen bottle, and don't get me started on inventory; we didn't have time to finish them earlier. Go do your job, okay?”

They started protesting, but after one look from the captain, they immediately stopped. He looked around and asked,“And whose damn car is this? This is not a public parking lot!!"

A deep voice came out of the first floor. “That’ll be mine.” Everyone except Poppy, who was still in the ambulance, looked up and saw a tall guy with long black hair in a half bun. He was wearing deep grey sweatpants and a t-shirt. He had colourful tattoos on both his arms and was leaning on the guardrail.

“And who the hell are you? Who told you that you could go out there?” Yelled out the captain.

Dj, Megan, and the other women of the crew were looking appreciatively at the guy. “Now that’s something worth looking at,” said Dj.

“Yeah, I agree; that’s a good-looking man right there,” said Megan, earning a look from Jacob; all the women nodded accordingly, agreeing with their colleague.

“Ladies, calm down,” said Kolton. He looked up again and asked, “And you, are you going to answer my questions?”

The man started to go down the stairs and finally answered, “I’m here to see someone of your crew; I have something that belongs to her.”

“Her?“ said the captain. “What’s her name?”

Poppylan finally got out of the ambulance, and seeing everyone looking towards one direction, she made her way between her colleagues to see what they were looking at. When she saw the man, she opened her eyes widely.

"Tora! What are you doing here ??” She was surprised to see him; she didn’t recall giving him her firehouse address.

He smiled at her and walked towards her, completely ignoring the firefighters around them.

“Missed me, Bobby?”

...........................

Tora arrived at the address around 12:40 pm. He assumed there was a private parking lot for the staff, but he didn’t want to wonder around, so he just parked his car behind an ambulance. He looked around and saw different gears, the iconic firefighter pole, and a firetruck. But the firefighters were missing; he figured out that they were probably on a call. He expected them to be there, but he couldn’t predict everything. He saw that there was a floor above, so he went up the stairs and decided to wait for their return. Poppylan’s bag was in his car; he would just give it to her and go back to his apartment.

Around 1:20 pm, he heard a truck entering the firehouse; they were back. He walked towards the guardrail and looked down to see the firefighters exiting the truck and looking at his car; if there was one thing he was grateful for in his life, it would be his car, the actual first real thing he got to buy when he was doing his “side hustles” back in the day. He saw Bobby exit the ambulance not so long after her mates; she looked pretty good in that uniform. It was fitting her amazingly, and he was able to actually see her figure: a change from her large outfits at the gym. One man started shouting at the others, and he assumed that he had an important role, probably the captain.

When he asked whose car it was, Tora felt the need to answer. Making everyone look at him, he started walking down the stairs while answering the captain's questions. Bobby wasn't out of the ambulance yet, and apparently her female coworkers liked his looks. Once he reached the ground, he saw Bobby coming out between her colleagues; to say she was in shock would be a euphemism; she was wide-eyed and asked him what he was doing here.

"Missed me, Bobby?" He walked towards her, not paying attention to the firefighters watching them. She was still reeling in confusion when he put his hand on her lower back and led her to his car which he leaned on. "You forgot something at the gym; I asked Erdene for the address."

She looked up as if she was trying to remember; he smiled and handed her gym bag to her. "Omg, how could I have forgotten my bag! Thank you, Tora." She took her bag and opened it before she suddenly stopped and looked back at him. "Wait, how long have you been waiting here? We've been gone since 11 am."

"I got here around 12:40, thought you would be here given the hour, but I guess I can't really predict your busy schedule," she then gasped, "Tora, it's almost 40 minutes of wait; I'm so sorry! Why didn't you just call me? I would have taken my bag later in the evening! You have a business to run". 

"I usually do most of the work in the morning, so that the guys can handle themselves for the rest of the day and I don't have your number so..." he ran his hand to his nape avoiding her eyes.

"Let me repay you! How about a homemade dinner? Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll do it." He raised his eyebrows in surprise; he wasn't expecting this, but he certainly wasn't going to turn down the offer; this would be the perfect opportunity to get to know her better. "Really? If you wanted a date with me, you could've just asked Bobby," he said while smirking.

She rolled her eyes but still smiled. "Tora, I'm serious; you had to wait a long time. I just want to repay you; you could've been doing something else.".

He was about to say something when someone interrupted them, clearing their throat. They looked in the direction to see that the captain and most of the firehouse were watching them. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting you? Do you want me to set a table with candles and order a nice little dinner? We have work to do, Wilkes, and that applies to all of you. Back to work now!"

Poppy blushed. "Sorry, Captain, I'll get back to work immediately." She looked at Tora again. "Thank you again; I'll call you for the dinner." Tora held his hand, waiting for her to give him her phone. She seemed confused at first but understood quickly. She gave him her phone, and he entered his number in it, smiling when he gave it back to her.

She was still blushing, and he had to restrain himself from grabbing her cheeks; she was so damn cute, like a hamster or something. She thanked him and ran towards the restroom when a woman called her name; he got in his car and started it, still smiling. Well, this had turned in his advantage; he didn't expect to have a date with her right away and at her place. Wait, was it even a date? She didn't say, but you wouldn't invite someone inside your home just like that, right? Even if it wasn't a date (which he hoped would become), he was taking this opportunity to get to know her better. The thoughts rumbling in his head made him feel like a teenager again.

He brushed off these thoughts and drove to his house, hoping that Goliath had gotten rid of his female friend; he sure was about to have his ass deep clean his room, and after that he was kicking him out. He entered his parking lot and called his brother: no response. He sighed and entered his building, prepared for the worst.

He barged into his apartment. "Goliath! You better be presentable, and whoever you got in there better be gone." His brother was in the kitchen, eating.

"What's up, bro? Where did you spend the night?" 

"At my gym, I obviously didn't want to witness a horror vision in my own apartment." He removed his shoes and walked over to his brother, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and made him look in his eyes. 

"You better clean my room with bleach. I don't care if your apartment is ready or not; you are getting out of mine." 

Goliath opened his eyes wide and smiled. "Come on, bro, you're not going to kick me out just because I brought a friend in here. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn't mind. You know, we are getting old. Who knows when we'll get married?" 

Tora looked at him with confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about? What you did was disrespectful as fuck, and now your friend is going to think that she can come in here whenever she wants, just like back in the days when you would have your lady friends in our flat with Joe. How many times did I cover for you?

Like you said, we are getting old; maybe it's time for you to actually find someone and stop fucking around like a whore."

Goliath looked a bit hurt at his comment, "What's that supposed to mean?" Tora knew he could be harsh sometimes, but his brother was really pushing his buttons, and it was time someone told him the truth.

They argued a bit more until Goliath spoke, "If that's how you feel, fine, I'll go clean your room." He grabbed Tora's wrist and yanked his hand off his shirt. Walking aggressively towards the said room.

Tora stood in the kitchen with his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. He knew that his brother had crossed a line, but maybe kicking him out was too much. He figured he could talk to him after the cleaning when they are both calmed down. He was a pain in his ass but still his brother; his pocket vibrated, and the text he read made him feel better, putting a small smile on his face.

Hey Tora, It's Poppy, just letting you have my number, and I also wanted to know what you wanted to eat. Let me know. xoxo

He finally got her number, he thought to himself while smiling and texting her back.

...............................

I'll eat whateva you make me Bobby

Poppylan chuckled while looking at her phone. 

That's not an answer, Tora. What if I make something you don't like? Have you been craving something lately ?

I'm sure anything you'll make is gonna be delicious to me, sweetheart,  but I did crave some seafood last week.

Sweetheart, huh ? This was new, not that she was complaining, but she shouldn't let that go over her head; this was just a friendly dinner to thank him for his kindness . 

Now that's something I can make ! Thank you, Tora. I'm going to repay you with this dinner. I'll text you later with the date and time. xo

Have a good day, Bobby; I'm looking forward to it.

She put her phone in her back pocket and intended to leave the first floor when someone grabbed her by her wrist : it was Megan she was with Dj along with most of the few women in the firehouse.

"Wait a minute, young lady, you don't think you're going back to work without telling us who this fine, tall glass of water was?" said Megan, having her sit down on the couch.

" Yeah Poppy, I didn't peg you as a bad boys type of girl, but you do you, girl," added one of the girls.

Poppy blushed and held her hands up. "Whoa, girls, slow down. We are just friends, okay? Megan, he is the owner of the gym I told you about, and after this morning's accident, I forgot my bag there. He just gave it back to me; that's all."

They all hummed suspiciously, some of them even crossing their arms over their chests.

"Wait, so that's him ? Damn girl, you never told me he was that good-looking !" She yapped about it for a few seconds before she stopped. " Wait why would the owner reach out to you in particular ?"

"I've known his twin brother first, then my gym got closed, and he hooked us up with his brother's gym. That's all." 

"But that doesn't explain why he took his time to drive here and give you your bag personally," added Dj, " and on top of that, don't act like we ain't see him put his hand on your back."

They all agreed, and one of them added, "Your lower back too, Poppy."

"Listen, maybe he's just nice, you know ?" She tried to explain why he would come so far just to give her her bag back, but in the end she just thought he wanted to act nice.

"All I'm saying is he didn't care about anybody in this house from the moment he saw you, girl." 

"Yeah, I saw that; he looked straight into your eyes. Nobody else was in there for him."

Poppylan stood up and walked over to the stairs. " Guys it's not like that. I'm not looking for any type of relationship anytime soon, and even if I was, what makes you guys think that a guy like that would be interested in a girl like me ? Now be realistic; if the captain catches us yapping up there, he's going to be mad"

Megan stood up and walked over to her. " Poppy, why do you think that of yourself ? You are a beautiful woman; I don't know why you would say such things and-"

" Megan it's okay. Can we just let go of this and go back to work ?" She went down the stairs after that, looking for something to do in order not to cry. Cursing out Julri under her breath.

"I really do hope his dick falls off".

Chapter Text

After Poppy’s outburst, Dj joined Megan, who was still close to the stairs. “Don’t take this personally, kid. You know Poppy is a genuine person. What we just witnessed is a heartbroken woman. Trust me on this: let’s just leave her alone for the next hour, and we’ll go apologize. Maybe it was just too much for her with all of us being here at the same time, and we did kind of corner her.”. Megan nodded with concern written all over her face.

This was the first time in her two years here that she felt this type of connection with someone; it was as if she and Poppylan knew each other before—not that she disliked her other female coworkers, but she felt a true bond with Poppy in particular.

So the thought of hurting her when she just wanted to tease her a little bit made her sad; she was definitely going to apologize; no man was worth losing a friend.

After an hour and a half of doing errands around the firehouse, Megan noticed that Poppy was less tense; taking this opportunity, she walked over to her and gave her a hug, almost making Poppy fall.

.................................

When she came down the stairs, Poppylan busied herself with the firefighters; her male coworkers were fortunately less intrigued by her “connections” with Tora. It had been almost two hours since she left the first floor when she felt someone hugging her; after getting her balance back, she turned around and saw Megan with concern and sadness in her eyes. 

“I’m so sorry, Pops. I didn’t mean to offend you. Dj told me to leave you alone for a bit, but I couldn’t help but notice your sad face. All I wanted was to get some info on your love life, but I didn’t consider the fact that maybe you didn’t want to share it with me or anyone else for that matter.” She released Poppylan but held onto her shoulders in order to look at her.

“If I ever invade your privacy like that again, be straightforward and tell me to piss off immediately, ok? Please forgive me, Pops!”

“Megan, it’s okay; I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have lashed out on you like this. I will eventually tell you more about myself, as you are one of my favorite people in this firehouse, but it’s still a sensitive subject for me, that’s all. But don’t worry; I’m not mad at you.” Poppylan hugged Megan, and they kept talking a little bit more and went back to their activities when the bell rang again. She hopped in the firetruck and prepared herself for the rest of her shift.

After three successful interventions, she and the rest of the team prepared the firehouse for the night team. By 8 p.m., they were done and heading to their parking lot. She was talking with Megan and took the flyer out of her gym bag in order to show it to her. “Here you go as promised; it’s enormous; it has two floors and a lot of equipment; everyone is just here to do their workouts, and nobody ever bothered me or Erdene.”

“That's your childhood friend, right?”

“Yeah, I have to introduce the two of you!”

“And since we usually have the same shifts, we are going to be able to see each other way more. Oh, I am so excited, thank you, Poppy.” Megan took the flyer and gave her a hug, saying goodbye to her and walking over to her car.

Poppy did the same and started her car; when she took a turn, her phone rang, and because it was connected to her car, she answered the call with her steering wheel.

“Hi there, my love, how’s my favorite human being doing on this lovely night?”

“Hello to you too, Goliath. What’s going on? I’m driving.”

“Well, you know my apartment building is being renovated, right?”

“And what else?”

“I was crashing at Tora’s place, but we got into a heated argument. I swear if he wasn’t my brother, I would’ve beat his ass a long time ago.”

“Come on, that’s not true. I know you said you two weren’t that close anymore, but what exactly happened for you to be leaving his place?”

“I didn’t leave; he threw me out. This is why I'm asking you: Can I crash at your place for the next four days? Pretty please?”

“I have nothing against that, G. I’m not going to let you out, but you didn’t answer my question: what happened?”

“I’ll tell you later tonight. I’m already at your place anyway; I’m in my car.” Poppylan was not surprised; sometimes he just popped out of nowhere at either her place or Erdene’s. Since he was their designated “big brother,” he wanted to make sure that everything was ok and sometimes just bother them. But it was part of his character, and she knew that most of the time he was just lonely. He could be the sweetest when he was not playing his “bad boy” role.

“Okay, I'm just fifteen minutes away; see you later!”

“See ya, Pops.” He hung up, and she kept driving. After approximately 15 minutes, she parked her car in her parking lot; she saw Goliath’s car after he flashed his headlights towards her. After she gathered her stuff, she exited her car and walked to his car as he was also exiting it. As soon as she was close enough, he embraced her in a bear hug. 

“How’s my hero doing? That uniform suits you well, “ she giggled but hugged him back. “I’m fine, thank you, G. How have you been?” He let go of her, and they walked towards her building. He opened the door for her and took her bags. “You know I can carry it, right?” he shrugged while smirking, and they went up the stairs together. Poppylan recited her day to him, and Goliath talked to her briefly about his argument with his brother.

Once at her door, she opened it, and they removed their shoes. “You can go sit on the couch; I’ll make something quick for the both of us; let me get changed first.”. He nodded and slumped his body on her couch. She smiled a little and went to her bathroom, washed her face, and took a quick shower. After that she changed into her pajamas and went back into the living room, Goliath still on her couch, with closed eyes and his arm over his forehead. She went into her kitchen and started looking for her pots and ingredients. She decided to make ramen; it was quick and easy, considering Goliath’s size; she always doubled his food quantity. 

Now that she was thinking of it, Tora was as big, if not bigger, than his brother. She wondered how much she was going to fill his plate for their dinner; he said that he wanted seafood, and she had to start thinking of how and what exactly she was going to make.

She thought of it while chopping the vegetables; after 20 minutes, she was done. She poured the food in a large bowl for her guest and a much smaller one for her.

“G, wake up, food is ready. “ She looked at him, and he didn’t budge; she sighed and brought the bowls on her table in front of the couch. She gently woke him up by moving his shoulder; he stretched his body and sat properly on the couch.

“Sorry if I dozed off; I didn’t have much sleep last night,” he said with a smirk. Poppylan rolled her eyes. “I don’t want any details, G. Come on, go wash your hands; I’ll bring water.” He stood up and went to wash his hands. “Yes, ma’am.”.

After that they sat for good and ate their food; he kept complimenting her, and she kept telling him to shut up and eat; she didn’t know how to answer compliments usually.

After they finished, he took the bowls and glasses and took them to her kitchen sink. One thing about him, whether it was at hers or Erdene’s place, was that he was always going to do the dishes and clean after himself.

“What’s with the books, Pops? “ He asked her as he noticed plenty of books on her floor; she turned her head and explained, “Oh, I ordered a new library, so I had to take apart the old one. I keep buying more books anyways, so a bigger one was necessary. I think it’s supposed to arrive in a few days.” 

“Do you need help to assemble the piece?” She shook her head and answered, “No, thank you; I’ll do it like a big girl.”

“Oh, sometimes I forget that you’re like a Miss Independent and shit,” he said with a little laugh; she giggled and went to water her plants. After he was done washing the dishes, he dried them and opened up her kitchen cupboard. “Do you still keep your tea in the same place? You want some?” 

“Yeah,” he made them tea while she was finishing watering her plants; he brought the cups and the tea to her table. She sat next to him and stared at him while he was drinking. When he noticed, he looked at her with confusion. “What? Do I have something on my face?” She shook her head. “Then why are you looking at me like that?”

She took a sip and sat comfortably on her couch. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked down in his own cup for several seconds, probably thinking about the argument again. “I can see that you are still mad about it; if you don’t want to talk, it’s ok; I’ll just choose a movie, and we can watch it together. I am not bringing this up again.” He finally looked at her and put his cup on the table.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. What’s a sibling if you don’t fight them sometimes?” She took another sip and looked at him, not making any move to reach the remote. “Hmm, of course.” When he noticed that she wasn’t buying it, he sighed and sat back on the couch.

“I just have the feeling that sometimes he just treats me like I’m still a little boy, and sometimes it hurts because we have the same age; it’s just that I feel like the youngest brother and not his twin, you know I’m the eldest? I was born first, and he’s acting all grown up.” He took a sip and pursued, “So what if I brought someone to his place? What’s the big deal? It isn’t the end of the world.” Poppy gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. “Shut the front door, G! I know you didn’t!” 

“Why are you taking his side, Pops?” He asked her, feeling betrayed, “I’m not taking anyone’s side, G, but this is wrong. He welcomed you in his home, and you decided that the best way to thank him was to invite a complete stranger in his place?” He tried to talk, but she wasn’t having it. “You know it’s not about the girl, right? You said it yourself; you don’t talk like you used to. That means there are a tonne of unsaid things between you two. Goliath sat silent for a moment, letting her words sink in.

"I know you and your brother have your differences, but I think you’ve both been keeping things inside for a while. So when the smallest thing comes up, things just get boiled over. Other than our first and very bad encounter, I couldn't help but notice the way he talked to you, and you just brushed it off, acting like there was nothing wrong.” She put her cup down and took both his hands into hers. “But at the end of the day, you two are family, and nothing is stronger than that, Goliath.”. 

He was surprised that she used his name entirely, but it was proving the point that this conversation was important. “Maybe you’re right; he did bring up a few past events in the argument,” she smiled at him. “See? You just need to talk to each other more, and regarding your “friend,” he was mad because you didn’t respect his space, and you should have been more considerate about that.” He looked away as her words were making sense to him; he didn’t acknowledge his brother’s feelings.

“But again, that doesn’t mean that you have to shut yourselves out of each other’s lives, and certainly not because of something like that,” he smiled and took his phone out of his pocket. “Wow… Not you psychoanalysing us in ten minutes; I’m shooting him a text to let him know I am at your place.” He sent his brother the text and thanked Poppy again.

“Is it okay if I take a shower?” 

“Of course, go ahead; you left your shower gel here after our sleepover with Erdene.” He stood up and went to the bathroom; without knowing why, Poppy took her own phone and began typing a text; she then deleted it and pressed the “call” button.

.......................................

Just as he was about to go to bed, his phone began to ring, and it was Bobby calling him; without hesitation, he took the call.

“Good evening, Tora. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Nah Bobby, you could never bother me. Do you need anything?”

“Oh no, I was just calling to check on you. Goliath is here, and he told me a bit about your argument. Are you okay?”

Tora didn’t answer for a minute; he wasn’t fond of his brother telling their business to people, but obviously, Poppylan wasn’t just someone.

“Tora, are you still here?” 

“Yeah, I’m sorry; it’s just that I didn’t expect Goliath to tell you that.”

“I did force him a little bit; he wasn’t like his usual self, so I just asked him directly.” He didn’t answer, letting her continue, “We had a little talk, and I was calling to see if everything was ok with you as well. I know it’s none of my business, but I wanted to let you know that if you wanted to, I could be here to listen.” 

“He just sent me a text actually, thanks Bobby, for being there for him,” “I’m happy to help, so are you sure you’re ok?”

"Yeah, I just … I’m just tired of always being the one to clean up after him. He never takes anything seriously, and I feel like I’m the one who’s always stuck picking up the pieces. It’s exhausting." Again, he didn’t know why he would tell her this type of stuff; feeling embarrassed, he stopped in his tracks, leaving Poppylan expecting.

"Well…you don’t have to fix everything overnight. But you deserve to be heard. And I know that, deep down, you and Goliath will work this out. He’s lucky to have someone who cares as much as you do.” 

“Thank you again, Bobby. I’m not going to bother you further with that. Have a good night, Bobby."

"Tora, wait—" he hung up before she could say anything else; he didn't feel comfortable enough to share this with her; his brother already told her anyway. That didn't stop him from feeling like an asshole for hanging up on her. Way to act after she proposed to make him dinner.

Needing to properly clear his head, he decided to go for a late-night run; after twenty minutes, he came back to his apartment and took a shower. During this time he thought of a way to apologise to Bobby for his behaviour, it was past midnight when he reached for his phone to charge it : he then noticed a text from Poppy 

"Sorry if I crossed a line; I was just worried that you might be as affected as G is. I hope everything is okay; have a good night."

Geez, he really needs to apologise, but at the same time, he was relieved that she wasn't mad at him. The way she got the whole situation was impressive to him, knowing that they didn't know each other that much. He was going to make it up to her without a doubt.

You could buy flowers for a female friend without it being romantic, right? Nothing weird; he was just going to buy her flowers for the day she was going to invite him.

He went to bed not without answering her text first, "Thanks for understanding, sorry I was an asshole, have a good night." On this thought, he fell asleep.

Seven hours later, he woke up and did his usual routine: he went to the gym, worked on the changes he was planning to do, saw the usual customers, and talked with Ronzo about the website. He then went back to his office because the work was never done. Sadly, Poppylan didn't come this morning; he was hoping that he could see her.

Around 11am, Louis came to his office. "Big bro, Goliath is there; should I send him in?" 

"Yeah, bring him in." Tora closed his notebook and went to the other side of his office, waiting for his brother. As he heard a knock on the door, he answered, "Come on in.". Goliath came in and stood next to the door. "Hi."

"Hi," replied Tora. They stood in an awkward silence before Goliath spoke again.

“Look, I know... I know I messed up. I shouldn’t have brought her over without talking to you first. I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. It’s not like I’ve never had people over before. You’ve always been fine with it when we were still living together"

"That's cause you were bringing them in you own room and it was nothing of my business but this is my place Goliath, I ain't asking too much : You know how I feel about my space. You’ve lived with me long enough to know how I operate. You don’t just bring people into my place without asking.”

"I didn’t mean to disrespect you. I wasn’t thinking. I was just... I don’t know, I got caught up in the moment. I didn’t even think about how it might affect you.” Tora sighed and pointed to the seat next to him so Goliath could sit in it.

“Yeah, well... you should’ve. You should’ve thought about it, because it does affect me. We don’t talk about a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. It’s like you think I’m fine with everything, but I’m not. I’m not fine with you bringing people around when I’m not ready for it.”

“I guess I’ve just... never known how to talk to you about this stuff. You’re always so closed off, and I didn’t want to push you. I didn’t want to make things weird.” said Goliath now looking at his shoes. Tora looked at his own hands for a minute, it seemed that the two of them were understanding that this talk was going to be deeper than usual.

“You think I don’t care? Just because I don’t talk about things doesn’t mean I don’t notice when something’s off. But it’s not just about that. It’s about... us. We’ve never really been able to talk to each other the way we should.”

“I know. I know. I don’t know how to fix that, man. You... you’re my brother, but sometimes I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. Like we’ve been living under the same roof, but we’re still strangers.” Tora nodded, he himself didn't know why but their relationship had changed a lot since they were teenagers.

“I’ve been doing my best. I’ve been trying to keep things together, trying to keep everything going. But sometimes it’s hard. And I don’t always know how to open up to you, either. It’s not easy for me Goliath." his brother then looked at him “I didn’t know you felt that way. I thought I was the only one who felt like we were... drifting apart.”

“We’ve always been close, but we’ve never really talked about what we needed from each other. We just... assumed. And now... now I feel like everything’s changing, and I don’t know how to deal with it.” Goliath hummed in agreement and took a deep breath,“I don’t want things to be like this, man. I don’t want us to be strangers. I want us to talk. I just... I just don’t know how.”

“Me neither. But maybe... maybe it’s time we figured it out. We can’t keep pretending like we’re fine when we’re not.”

“I’m sorry, really. I didn’t mean to make things harder between us. I just... I thought I could do whatever I wanted, but I know now that I’ve been taking you for granted.” Tora's expression softened he took in his brother's words.

“Yeah. And I’ve taken you for granted too. But I can’t keep pretending that things are fine when they’re not. So... if you’re serious about fixing this, then we need to actually talk. About everything.” Goliath nodded with vitality, he was determined to fix their brotherhood “I’m in. I don’t want to lose what we have. Let’s figure this out.”

Alright. We’ll start there.” said Tora with a smile, they both stood up and Goliath opened his arms " hug it up big bro !" Tora rolled his eyes but gave it in anyway. What was suppose to be a quick hug turned into a real embrace. 

After their hug , Goliath sighed " I'm gonna have to take Poppylan to dinner, I've got to thank her for this, if she hadn't calm me down I would've never talk to you" 

"So you're staying at her place ? "

"Yeah, at least for tonight, if it doesn't bother you, I'll stay with you for the last two nights ?" Tora nodded " No problem, we can grout if you want"

 With a quiet understanding between them, they stepped out of Tora's office:  a step toward healing their fractured relationship.

Chapter Text

As they were making their way downstairs, the twins kept talking.

"So you came here alone ?" asked Tora. 

"I came with my car but Poppy was already gone when I woke up, since she got an early shift she just gave me her keys and went to do a quick errand before going to the firehouse" Tora nodded, still disappointed that he couldn't apologize to her, but he was going to find a way. 

"Why you lookin' for her ?" said Goliath wiggling his eyebrows, when Tora didn't answer, he laughed " I'm gonna take that as a yes, she got a shift at 9am, so you'll probably find her at the firehouse around lunch time if you're lucky, i'm gonna workout real quick and then i'll take a shower and go to work, nice talking to you bro, we should do that more often and tell me how it goes with Pops" Goliath dabbed Tora up and made his way to the first floor to exercise.

Meanwhile, Tora made his usual roundabouts and had a call with the different partners he works with : the maintenance company, the distributors company... Just to make sure everything was okay and to know any of the new programs they might have made, it was part of his job, after these calls he talked to the boys about today's work and briefed them as usual. He also made sure to talk with Gyu about the website development which he still didn't understand but he trusted him anyway. 

Around 12:30 pm, he got out of the gym and headed straight to Poppy's firehouse, he had to see her in person, his behaviour was not appropriate considering how kind she was to him, he just hoped that her team was getting an actual lunch like Goliath predicted so that he could talk to her. He arrived at the firehouse and parked in front of it, but without bothering the entrance in case of them needing to leave.

He saw movement inside, comforting him in his idea of Bobby being here, now he just needed to think about what he was going to tell her, he just drove here out of impulsivity, he knew she wasn't mad at him but that didn't stop him from feeling like a piece of shit, and he just realised he forgot to buy the flowers. 

Ah f*ck it i'll just do it, fast and clear " Bobby I am sorry I was rude to you over the phone, ya think you can forgive me ? " he practiced as he was making is way inside . It was good right ? He didn't even know why he was nervous and that was starting to piss him off. But whatever.

He made his way inside and only saw a couple a firefighters in the first floor but no sight of Poppylan, he decided to just ask someone. Luckily for him, a brown guy with glasses was walking his way to him so he stopped him in his tracks."Hey, I'm looking for one of your colleagues, Poppylan do you know where she is ?" 

"Oh yeah she's upstairs, with the girls I believe they're finishing their lunch right now wait... aren't you the guy with the sports car ? " Tora looked up " Okay thanks for telling me and yes that was me" and made his way upstairs.

He looked around and spotted her with her female colleagues, she had her back to him, he took a deep breath and walked up to her, one of her colleagues that was in front of her tapped her arm with excitement and told her something, leading Poppy to turn around. 

"Tora ?"

.............................................

Poppylan woke up around 6am, she took a shower and ate a banana, she left a note to Goliath and her keys double for him. She decided to wake up early in order to go to a local store, Tora said he wanted seafood and she was considering getting good ingredients to go with it. That way she will know exactly what to buy at the end of her shift. Her next day off was Sunday, which was surprisingly great. She was waiting a little before calling him, she knew the argument with his brother affected him.

She also knew Goliath was going to talk to him this morning so she will wait until her shift ends or maybe during her break. She'll think about it eventually. After going to the store she figured out exactly what she was going to buy so her list was complete, she headed to the firehouse just after, her shift started at 9.

When she arrived, she parked her car and went inside, it was 8:45am at this point, she headed to the women's locker room and put on her uniform right after that, she went upstairs greeting her colleagues on her way to get a latte in the coffee machine. 

As she was sipping her beverage she saw Megan coming to the first floor.

"Megan !" Poppy called raising her arm, Megan saw her and joined her by the coffee machine.

"Do you want one ? " asked Poppy "Girl you know i need one, how was your evening by the way ?" said Megan while waiting for her coffee.

"Well, i had a sleepover with a friend of mine, we talked a lot and watched movies until 2am I think, not the best decision knowing that i woke up at 6 this morning but it was worth it."

"Wait why did wake up that early ? We start at 9." said Morgan while sipping her coffee, "Well I had to do some errands, or should I say look for ingredients, I'm planning a dinner with...I don't know if I can say friend but in order to thank Tora for taking time out of his day just to give me back my bag I'm making him an homemade dinner." Megan raised her eyebrows at that but quickly went back to her coffee, hoping that Poppy didn't see.

" And I just went to this store to see if they had everything i needed, because we always finish our shifts very late, so i'll go there again on Friday to actually do the groceries. It was a nice little errand you know ?"

Megan just stared at her smiling " Can i say something ? " 

Poppy sensed something was off but gave it in anyway " You ... can ? "

" So ... You are inviting That guy in your apartment for dinner ? And you are friends according to you ?"

" Yes I mean, this is the only way i can think of to thank him, and after that, i guess we'll just keep greeting each other and that's it."

"Poppy, I know you said that you weren't looking into a relationship anytime soon but don't you think this is sending the wrong message ? He might think that you're into him" Poppylan was speechless, she never thought of it that way, she knew her love life was over for now, she was still broken from her time with her ex Julri. She just thought of this dinner as an opportunity to thank Tora and maybe becoming friends with him but that was it.

" What ? No ! Megan like I said, it's just a form of thank-you, and I told you there was no way a man like that is ever going to be into me, I mean you saw that guy and you see me, we don't belong to the same ... I don't know" she finished her coffee and went to the sink to wash it, Megan not far behind her

"First of all, you are a gorgeous woman Poppylan, second of all I think you two would be very cute together and if you really think that this dinner is nothing more then so be it, I was just wondering, and I hope one day you'll tell me about that monster who made you believe that you wasn't good enough, in the meantime I'm just going to give you a big bear hug that you won't be able to refuse" after that she hugged her.

Poppylan smiled and hugged her back, just as they were about to talk some more, the bell rang. "We have work to do firefighters ! Let's go " screamed captain Kolton from downstairs, as the girls quickly made their way to the ground floor they saw  Dj, Tyler and Christian running towards the ambulance as well. "Hurry up Ladies we don't have all day !" said Dj with a smile, Poppylan put her conversation with Megan to the back of her head and got on focus mode. Ready for her day.

The shift started fast.

Poppylan grabbed her turnout gear and pulled it on as they slid into the ambulance—Christian was already in the driver's seat, Tyler checking the material in the back. DJ was going through dispatch details on her radio with captain Kolton.

“Residential—possible gas leak, third call from the same street this month,” DJ said, strapping in. Poppylan nodded, tightening her gear. She could still feel the echo of Megan's words humming in her chest, but the adrenaline of work had a way of tuning out the rest. Out here, there was no room for doubt. No space for exes, complicated dinners, or confusing feelings about tattooed gym owners with kind eyes.

This was about helping people. That’s why she was here.

They reached the scene in less than twelve minutes. The street was already thick with tension—an older couple waving frantically from their porch. The gas smell was faint but definitely present. Kolton sent one of his firefighters with Jacob, heading towards the main valve near the house, while Poppylan and Tyler went inside, masks on, sensors out. The couple had left their door wide open, and the cold morning air rushed in as they moved from room to room.

“Basement smells stronger,” Tyler said.

Poppylan nodded. “I’ll check the furnace line. Keep your radio on.”

She took the stairs quickly, her boots thudding against the wood. The basement was dim, lit only by the pale shaft of light from a dirty window. She found the line quickly—a weak hiss coming from a cracked joint. “Found it,” she said into the radio. “Small leak. Shutting the valve. Tell Christian to call the utility company for an emergency patch.”

As she tightened the valve, she couldn’t help but smile a little to herself. Not because the job was easy—it wasn’t. But because this was where she felt like herself. Strong. Useful. Not some woman haunted by a garbage ex or self-conscious about her curves.

When they cleared the scene and the gas company took over, the team headed back to the firetruck and ambulance.

After returning to the station from the gas leak call, Poppylan barely had time to refill her water bottle before the second call came through—dispatch flagged it as a “possible unconscious person, unresponsive, breathing unknown.”

This one hit a little differently. These calls always did.

She and Tyler jumped back in the rig and were on scene within minutes—an aging apartment complex in a quiet part of the city. The woman who let them in was shaking, clearly a neighbor. “He didn’t answer his door, and I could hear his TV blaring all night…”

Poppylan nodded and reassured her with a hand on the shoulder before heading in with Christian. The door was unlocked. The inside smelled like old takeout and something sweeter—chemical. She spotted him right away. Mid-twenties, slumped against the couch, breathing shallow. Pupils pinpoint.

“Opioids,” she muttered, already moving. “Christian, get the bag open. I’m starting vitals. Get the Narcan.”

As Christian drew up the dose, Poppylan slipped on gloves and checked for a pulse—weak but there. Skin was cold and clammy. They moved like muscle memory now—BP cuff, oxygen mask, syringe click.

She administered the Narcan. Within seconds, the man coughed, groaned, and blinked like he’d come back from another world.

“Hey,” Poppylan said, kneeling beside him. “You’re okay. Just breathe. You overdosed, but you’re going to be okay.”

He looked at her, dazed. Then started crying.

By the time the ambulance rolled up to transport him to the ER, Poppylan and Christian had his vitals stabilized, oxygen flowing, and had quietly slid the neighbor a slip of paper with support hotline numbers.

Back in the rig, Christian gave her a look. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just hate seeing them so young. Feels like we’re putting out a fire with a bottle of water sometimes.”

They got back to the station, emotionally drained but collected. Poppylan then wandered into the bathroom to splash her face. It was around 10:50 a.m. when they got the call—a “lift assist” request for an elderly woman who had fallen in her living room. Usually these were pretty straightforward. But when they arrived, it became clear it was more than a simple fall.

The woman, Mrs. Hannigan, lived alone. Her daughter had called it in after failing to reach her that morning. Dj knelt next to her gently, giving her that calming smile she saved for patients who looked like someone’s grandma.

“Hi, Mrs. Hannigan, my name’s  Dj. We’re gonna take care of you, okay?”

The woman’s speech was slightly slurred, her left hand weak.

“Tyler,” she said, glancing back. “I’m thinking stroke. Grab the monitor.”

While Tyler moved quickly, Poppylan and Megan did their full assessment under Dj's eye : FAST check—face droop, arm weakness, speech slurring, time to call. Time was everything here. The daughter arrived as they loaded Mrs. Hannigan into the ambulance. She looked panicked. “Is she going to be okay?”

“She’s stable,” Poppylan said gently, touching the woman’s shoulder. “You helped save her life by calling when you did. She’ll get what she needs fast.”

As they rode in, Megan continued monitoring vitals and updating the ER through radio. Poppylan held Mrs. Hannigan’s hand the whole ride, gently chatting to keep her calm, asking about her garden, her cat. It was moments like this that reminded her why she chose both paths—firefighter and paramedic. One gave her strength. The other gave her purpose.

After they passed the patient off to the ER and debriefed, Megan and Tyler grabbed burritos on the way back, laughing about one of Dj's crazy stories.

They got back just after 12:30 p.m and headed to the first floor, she sat with Megan in front of her and Dj next to her, they started eating their burritos and talking about life. Not even fifteen minutes later, she looked at Megan, confused she had just attacked her arm for no reason with a big smile on her face.

Megan leaned back in her chair “ Don't look right now but someone's here for you, golden eyes broad shoulders, probably drove here in that red loud car.” Her stomach dipped, and for a second she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement. Maybe both. 

She slowly turned around and saw Tora walking up to her " Tora ?" she said confused.

........................................

As soon as her eyes landed on him, Tora felt that tight knot in his chest get a little worse. She looked surprised—no, more like stunned. His first instinct was to turn around and walk out, but hell, he’d made it this far. No bailing now. He gave her a little nod and walked up, heart pounding harder than it had any right to. She looked so damn good in her uniform—strong, focused, hair a little messy, cheeks still faintly flushed. Even exhausted, she had that calm fire about her that made it really hard to look away.

“Hey,” he said, voice low but steady.

“Tora?” Her tone was a mix of confusion and curiosity, and okay, maybe a little warmth too. That gave him a sliver of hope.

“I, uh…” He scratched the back of his neck. He looked around and found her colleagues looking at them still eating "Can we go to somewhere more private ?" She nodded " Yes of course we can go to the far end of this floor, everyone is eating anyway" He followed her to a much quieter place.

“I know this is kinda outta nowhere, but I wanted to say I’m sorry. For the way I acted on the phone. You didn’t deserve that. I was pissed off and I took it out on you, and that’s not okay. I wanted to tell you in person”

Poppylan blinked, surprised by his directness.

“I meant to bring flowers or somethin’, but I forgot, so now I owe you two. One for the dinner… and one for bein’ an asshole.”

She opened her mouth, but he kept going before nerves could get the better of him. “And listen, if you’ll still let me make it up to you, maybe you let me take you out to dinner? Somewhere nice, just us. Not as payback—just… as thanks. Or peace offering. Or both.”

There. It was out. Honest and bare and kind of terrifying.

But then she laughed softly—a real laugh, the kind that lit up her whole face—and he felt like he could finally breathe again.

“Tora,” she said gently, "I told you it was okay, I shouldn't have mingled in your business I just wanted to make sure you were okay that's all and...I already invited you to dinner. At my place, remember?”

He grinned. And before he could stop himself, he leaned in just a little, dropping his voice to that teasing tone. “Oh, I remember,” he said with a smirk. “Guess that just means we’re havin’ a second dinner after that, then. We’ll call it even.”

Her cheeks went scarlet. Full-on, bright-red, caught-off-guard blush. And God, it was cute. He couldn’t stop the slow, satisfied smile from tugging at his mouth.

“Deal?” he asked, brow raised, voice still low, still just for her.

She looked away, trying to collect herself, and gave a tiny nod. " Also I am free... on Sunday, I was going to text you, i'll hum text you my address soon enough" she said still not looking at him.

He chuckled. “Alright then. I’ll see you on Sunday then, chef.”

And with that, he turned around and made his way down the stairs, leaving her flustered and glowing and him grinning like a damn fool the whole way back to his car.