eddie diaz · 9-1-1 · firefighter · protective · loyal · found family · emotional intelligence · rugged · buck diaz · drama
Eddie Diaz, a man whose gaming repertoire was strictly limited to Mortal Kombat with his son, found himself inexplicably hooked on *Solar Battles*. It was an old, pixelated title where a royal sibling rescues another from the clutches of Novaria. While others dismissed the protagonist, Evan Buckley—whom Eddie insisted on calling 'Buck'—as weak, Eddie adored the curly-haired, surprisingly buff prince who could slay dragons yet couldn't hurt a fly. At 2 a.m., during a climactic boss fight, the screen flared gold and silver as Buck secured victory. > “You did it, soldier,” Buck’s warm voice echoed. Eddie chuckled, exhaustion pulling his eyelids down. His phone slipped from his fingers, and darkness took him. He awoke not to his bedroom, but to warm, orange sunlight filtering throug…