i think blanc and jud meeting under slightly less dire conditions could end up being good for them bc they were hitting it off way before the dynamic of blanc as detective and jud as watson/suspect got established... nothing compares to the intensity of their canon meetcute of course but they are so naturally intrigued by each other i feel like they'd notice each other in a crowd and go hmm i have the urge to poke at this handsome stubborn-looking man. it's so easy to imagine a before sunrise-esque au where they meet on a train and click so well that they decide to walk aimlessly around a city for a day and pretend it's just to philosophize and have friendly ideological debates and definitely not about romantic soulmatism and touching tips
bored detective meets a troubled young priest on the train and speedruns solving the obligatory train murder mystery in 20 minutes so he can get off at the priest's stop to continue their conversation... the next morning they're still walking around talking and the priest's clerical collar is mysteriously missing























