Breakdown of screen time for season 2, episode 8 “Bad Call”
season 1 data here | season 2 data here
no thoughts just 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
look at our son!!! he OWNED this episode and i couldn't be more proud
i honestly don't even want to talk about anything else. just that our boy officer carlos reyes got more screen time than ANYONE else, including THE owen strand. it's time to celebrate lads.
needless to say, this is by far the most screen time carlos has ever gotten
this is also the least amount of screen time that judd, paul, and mateo have gotten, and marjan tied her previous lowest record.
but i don't want to talk about that
carlos!!!!!!!!!!!!!
also recurring characters for season 2 will be out sometime this week...
i will also post the totals for 2A (episodes 1-8) either today or tomorrow
Averages - significant changes bolded, and colored red or green for - or + respectively
Season 2
Owen 8.25 (-0.108), Tommy 4.688 (-0.062), TK 4.688 (+0.188), Marjan 3.094 (-0.37), Paul 2.969 (-0.317), Judd 2.875 (-0.232), Carlos 2.094 (+0.952), Mateo 2.063 (-0.223), Grace 2.063 (-0.008)
Series
Owen 9.403 (-0.112), TK 5.083 (+0.054), Tommy 4.688 (-0.062, Judd 4.083 (-0.167), Paul 3 (-0.132), Marjan 2.986 (-0.146), Grace 2.222 (-0.013), Mateo 2.194 (-0.1), Carlos 1.972 (+0.398)
One of the ways TK shows love is through tchotchkes, Carlos learns.
A bit of cute softness for the lovely and wonderful @justaswampdemon on her birthday. Happy birthday my dear, thanks for being someone I can yell about everything from these characters to tea to life in general with. I hope you enjoy this little story from your headcanon 💗
-----------
“TK?”
“Yeah, babe?” He hears his boyfriend call from the other room.
“What is this?”
“What’s…” TK asks with a frown as he turns to the kitchen, confusion fleeing his face as he sees what Carlos is holding, “oh.”
Carlos simply raises an eyebrow and places the blue-green ladle on the counter as TK approaches, looking at his boyfriend expectantly.
“It’s a ladle,” TK provides helpfully as he approaches.
“I can see that,” Carlos deadpans. “Why does it have a face and why is it in my kitchen?”
“It’s Nessie!” TK declares as if it should be obvious, “See?”
He picks up the ladle and sets it upright so it stands on its own. “When it’s in a pot, the face and neck stick out,” he explains, “like the Loch Ness Monster.”
Carlos nods slowly, looking from the ladle in question to his boyfriend. TK’s face falls.
“You don’t like it,” he says, reaching for the ladle, “I’ll get rid of it. I’m sorry, I should have asked first.”
Carlos reaches out a hand to stop him, covering the hand now clutching the ladle with his own, “I didn’t say that.”
TK looks at him hopefully and Carlos smiles, “I think it’s cute, and I love the fact that you got it for me. Plus, it is pretty practical. You can never have too many ladles.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to. I can get rid of it.”
“Don’t you talk about Nessie that way,” Carlos interrupts, leaning forward to pull TK into a kiss. “She’s not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
--------
It’s small things here and there, after that. One of those little figurines from the tea boxes on the window sill, small figurines and vases. He doesn’t question it much until one day he walks in the door and goes to dump his keys into the dish beside the door only to find what looks like a pinecone with eyes glued on staring back at him.
“Hey babe,” TK calls out from the kitchen, where he is already in the process of plating up the takeout he had picked up on his way, “food’s almost ready to go.”
Carlos nods and is about to thank him for picking it up, or maybe ask him how his day was, but all that comes out when he opens his mouth is a question, “Why is there a pinecone looking at me from the table?”
TK freezes, brow furrowing in confusion before realization dawns. “Well first off, it’s not a pinecone Carlos, it’s a hedgehog.”
“Uh huh,” Carlos agrees skeptically, peering back down at the item in question. “And why is there a hedgehog on the table?”
“Because I saw it when I was out with Marjan today and thought it was cute. Why?” he asks, voice shifting, “Do you not like it? I can get rid of it if you don’t, I should’ve asked first, I’m…”
But Carlos shook his head, dropping his bag by the door and crossing to the kitchen, coming up beside TK. He reached out and put a hand on his face, gently turning it so he was meeting Carlos’s gaze.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it TK,” he assures him softly, “and you don’t need to get rid of it. Take a breath, it’s okay.”
He waits for TK to do so, watching as the panic leaves his expression. “Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?” he asks gently, moving his hand from TK’s face to his waist.
“Nothing,” he says at first but at Carlos’s raised eyebrows he rolls his eyes. “Fine, something, but it’s stupid.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” Carlos offers and TK sighs.
“I don’t want you to think I’m overstepping,” TK admits. “I know I bring little things in from time to time and you don’t seem to mind but every once in a while I start to wonder again. It’s just something my mom and I always had in common. She used to love picking up little funny or cute things, and it became something we did together. My dad never liked clutter - well, he still doesn’t, actually - but he used to always complain about my mom and her tchotchkes and so I would always just keep them in my room instead and I just don’t want you to ever feel like I’m taking advantage, or cluttering your house or…”
“Hey,” Carlos interjects, interrupting the spiral he could see starting. “I don’t think that, any of it. I love that you bring little things here, that you are adding little bits of yourself. It makes it feel a little bit more like our home, doesn’t it?”
He pauses, giving TK a chance to process his choice of words, and is rewarded by his eyes widening. He smiles and leans forward, pressing a kiss to TK’s cheek. “This is your home too TK,” he tells him, “in whatever capacity you want it to be. And yeah, if it starts to look like a roadside gift shop in here, we may have to have a talk about the...what was that word you used?”
“Tchotchkes,” TK provides, “it means trinket, or knick-knack.”
“Right,” Carlos agrees, “but a few of them? I kind of love them because it brings a little more life, and shows me that you feel at home here. Not to mention the fact that they make you happy, and I can put up with a few pinecones looking at me if it makes you happy.”
“It’s a hedgehog, Carlos,” TK tries to gripe, but the light in his eyes betrays him, “it’s cute and it’s seasonal.”
“And it makes you happy, which is all I ever want,” Carlos agrees, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Besides, I never said I didn’t like it. It’s cute, actually.”
--------
Carlos has a theory.
He’s read about love languages and he knows that TK’s is physical touch, without a doubt. Not even in a sexual way; he just likes being close to Carlos, having a physical reminder that he is there, that he is real. It reveals itself in hand holding and hugs and small touches as they pass each other whether it's in the field or at home. He’s just very tactile, and Carlos loves that about him (it’s one of about roughly 230 things, but still).
But the more and more he has watched him and spent time with him, he decides that TK has more than one. He’s not sure if it qualifies as gift giving or if it is a category all of its own but there is no denying that TK loves to give small gifts to his friends. The first time he notices is when they are out, strolling through a flea market on Saturday morning. They’re walking hand in hand when their progress is abruptly halted by TK, who stops and turns to a table to their right. He picks up a small figurine (Carlos would be lying if he said he had the faintest idea what it was actually supposed to be) with a grin and politely asks the vendor for a price. He hands over the few dollars requested with a smile and a thanks before pocketing the figurine and moving on.
Carlos can only watch, catching up to him a few moments later, giving him a questioning look when TK meets his eyes. “For Marjan,” he explains, smiling as he reaches out to take Carlos’s hand in his again, “she’ll think it’s funny.”
And so she does, as Carlos finds out when she shows up at the condo later that evening. Her bright laugh draws the attention of the others and she beams at them as she shows them the small figurine - a crocodile for the native Floridian, Carlos and the others are informed - squeezing TK’s arm in thanks as she flashes a smile at him.
It doesn’t stop there. From time to time small and strange objects filter through the condo on their way to their intended owners. A book on cryptids for Paul, a set of exaggerated cartoonish Texas-themed salt and pepper shakers for Judd, a disgruntled cat figurine for Nancy; an inexplicable purple pig for Mateo that TK refuses to explain. They become a part of their everyday and Carlos stops noticing them, after a while. They are a part of who TK is and a testament to the love and care he has for others and the joy he takes from making them happy.
And if that means he finds the odd figurine on the counter from time to time, Carlos will happily take that in stride.
When TK officially moves in there is surprisingly not an influx in tchotchkes in the condo. Though Carlos supposes it had been a gradual invasion anyways; and if he had maybe purchased the matching Nessie pasta spoon and tea steeper on his own, nobody was the wiser. It’s normal now for there to be a new and unexplained small object on the edge of the counter or on the table beside the door so when Carlos sees a small object on the counter when he comes home from work on TK’s day off, he thinks nothing of it.
It’s not until TK emerges from upstairs and they exchange greetings that he gives it a second thought because TK keeps giving it furtive looks. After a few minutes of TK’s gaze drifting towards it as they spoke Carlos raises an eyebrow.
“Care to share with the class?” he asks drily and TK starts, looking at Carlos in surprise before his gaze turns sheepish. He reaches around him to the counter and picks up the newest tchotchke, placing it in Carlos’s hand.
“It’s cheesy,” he starts, covering Carlos’s palm with his hand to prevent Carlos from looking at it as he spoke, “but I saw it while I was running errands today and it made me think of you. And well...I just wanted you to have a physical reminder, in case I don’t say it enough.”
Carlos studies him, gaze curious as he looks down at their hands, TK’s still covering his own and whatever the small, metal object was. TK takes a deep breath and moves his hand, giving Carlos a look at the mysterious object.
“I know it’s stupid,” he began, “but I just wanted you to remember, you know? My heart is yours, and it always will be.”
Carlos hears the words his boyfriend is saying, but he finds that he can’t respond. The sight of the object laying on his palm - a small, gold skeleton key with a heart on the end - has stolen all the breath from his lungs and all the words from his mind. The only thing within him now is the sense of overwhelming love for the man before him, who is watching him nervously.
“You don’t have to do anything with it,” TK was saying as he fiddled with the strings of his hoodie. “You don’t even have to keep it if you don’t want to. I just saw it and...it seemed right.”
TK was looking at him again and Carlos hated that he was leaving him hanging. He didn’t want the other man to get the wrong idea, but he was too overwhelmed to speak. So he did the next best thing. He reached for TK, key still clutched in his hand, and gently tipped his face up from where he was anxiously studying his feet so that their eyes met. He hoped TK could see the depth of the emotions he was feeling in them, but just in case he pulled him into a kiss, doing his best to say what words had failed to express.
That kiss turned into another and it was several minutes before they separated long enough to breathe, and speak. And in that moment, foreheads pressed together in their kitchen and a small gold key pressed into Carlos’s palm that words finally returned to him.
“You have mine too,” he told TK softly. “You have since the day I met you, and it’s yours for as long as you want.”
Breakdown of screen time for season 2, episode 9 “Saving Grace”
season 1 data here | season 2 data here
*please do not repost without credit!*
thoughts and analysis below the cut
so so happy for how much screen time judd got!! he has beaten the record for more screen time for a one a character in an episode, previously held by owen for the pilot episode (around 21 minutes)
speaking of... this is the least amount of screen time owen has ever gotten
also the least amount for tk, marjan, and paul, as well as for carlos and mateo who tied their previous lowest record.
and it's the most grace as ever gotten!
there's really not much to say, the results kind of speak for themselves lmao
For Tarlos because I love one of them protecting the other:
94) “Get under the bed and don’t make a sound okay?” “But they’ll get you.” “Just get under the bed and no matter what you hear or what you see just stay completely quiet and completely still. Do that for me, alright?”
thank you so much for this prompt, karen, i’m so sorry that it took so long to write! i hope you enjoy it!
@911lonestarangstweek day 6: Off the job injury + “You’ve got to be more careful.”
ao3 | 1.3k | tw mentions of gun violence and home invasion
“Get under the bed and don’t make a sound, okay? I’ll be back soon.”
“But they’ll get you.”
“Just get under the bed and, no matter what you hear or what you see, just stay completely quiet and completely still. Do that for me, alright?”
“No, wait, Carlos -”
*
It’s been a week since their home was broken into.
TK has spent that entire time going over the events of that night in his head, trying to work out what he could have done better. He knows it’s a stupid thing to be doing - he’s sure his therapist will have a field day with it when all this is cover - but he’s going stir crazy stuck in this room all day, waiting for a sign that his world isn’t about to collapse around him.
It’s all just so, so wrong. Carlos is the steady one, the one who doesn’t take unnecessary risks, who doesn’t end up in a hospital bed ten times a month. Yet, here they are, the heart monitor the only indication that he’s not yet gone.
TK squeezes Carlos’s hand again, praying that, this time, he’ll get one in return. But it doesn’t come, and TK still hasn’t learned to deal with the grief and disappointment he feels in that moment.
It’s his fault, he knows this. He should have held on tighter when Carlos snuck out of their room to see what was going on. He should have followed him, should have taken the bullet that might still end Carlos’s life. He should be the one lying in the hospital bed; he’s been shot before, after all, and what’s one more scar to add to the list?
Tears build in his eyes and TK does his best to blink them back, not willing to let go of Carlos to wipe them away. He’d thought he’d have run out by now; indeed, the first couple of days, he had been completely numb once the initial sobbing was over, just staring down at the love of his life and stupidly thinking about how they were going to miss their dinner reservation the next night.
How trivial all that seems now. TK’s not even sure a world exists outside this room anymore.
He clears his throat and leans forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed. “Hey, babe,” he whispers, kissing the back of Carlos’s limp hand. “So, it’s been a week, and I’m wondering if maybe you could think about waking up for me? Seven days is long enough to sleep, right? I just wanna see your eyes again, you know how much I love them.”
TK sighs, scanning Carlos’s face for non-existent movement. He swallows back the lump in his throat and sniffs loudly, shaking his head. “I’m really angry at you, you know?” he says, a little louder now. “I’m fucking furious. I’m sure you’d have a few choice words to say about hypocrisy and my own hospital stays if you were awake, but the point is that you aren’t, Carlos. You aren’t, and I’m so mad at you for doing this to me.” A small, almost hysterical, laugh rips out of him. “Isn’t that selfish? You’re the one in a coma, and I’m still thinking about myself. Not that there’s anything ground-breaking about that; I guess I’ve always been the selfish one in this relationship.
“I know you like to protect people, babe, but you’ve got to be more careful. And, yeah, I’m one to talk, yadda, yadda - but, seriously, Carlos, you weren’t even armed. You should have stayed with me - I told you to stay with me. You don’t know, maybe they wouldn’t have bothered us in the bedroom. You didn’t need to get shot, and I’m angry at you and at me and at the people who broke into our home because I can’t lose you.”
He heaves a sob, closing his eyes and folding in on himself, keeping Carlos’s hands in a death grip. He can’t - he won’t - lose him.
“You better open those eyes soon,” he chokes out, “because I’ll never forgive you if you leave. Never, you hear me? Please wake up, Carlos.”
*
It takes three more days.
TK is bent over the bed, head resting next to Carlos’s on the pillow as he desperately fights off sleep, when there’s a flicker. It’s brief, barely there at all, and TK would have missed it had it not been for the laser focus he’s had on Carlos ever since the incident.
But Carlos’s face twitches, TK is sure of it, and he shoots up instantly, heart in his mouth.
“Carlos?” he whispers, hardly daring to breathe.
There’s no movement for another agonising few seconds, then, all of a sudden, Carlos jerks, eyes flying open. He gasps, wildly looking around the room until his gaze lands on TK, who is still frozen in shock.
They just stare at each other for a while, TK drinking in the sight before him as he tries to get his brain to catch up on what just happened. He’s been hoping for this moment for well over a week, but he can hardly believe it now.
Then, “TK?” Carlos says, voice weak and confused, and TK snaps out of his fog.
He only barely manages to stop himself from falling on Carlos, instead taking his face in his hands and pressing kiss after kiss on every available inch of skin. He doesn’t even realise he’s crying until Carlos has a hand on his chest, gently pushing him away.
“TK,” he repeats, stronger this time. “You’re scaring me, what’s going on?”
TK slumps back into the seat next to the bed, pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes to stem the flow of tears. Stars dance in his vision when he looks back to Carlos, but he blinks them away impatiently, not wanting to let his fiancé out of his sight again.
“Do you remember the night of the break-in?”
Carlos tilts his head in a so-so motion. “Some of it,” he says. “I remember hearing the noises, telling you to hide, leaving the bedroom. Nothing after that.”
TK nods, sighing through his nose. “They shot you,” he says quietly. “You’ve been asleep for over a week. I thought… I was told that you…” He closes his eyes, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re awake now, and that’s all that counts.”
Carlos is silent for a long time, and TK is startled to see tears on his cheeks when he opens his eyes again. He stands, hands flitting anxiously over his body. “Are you okay?” he demands. “Are you in pain? Should I call the doctor - fuck I should have already done that, hang on.”
He reaches for the call button, but he’s stopped by Carlos’s hand wrapped around his wrist, grip surprisingly strong. “Look at me, Ty,” Carlos asks gently. When TK does, he smiles sadly. “I’m sorry. I -”
“No.” TK pulls out of his grip, running a hand through his hair. “No, you don’t apologise. You don’t get to apologise, not when you almost died. This isn’t… No. No.”
He grits his teeth against the sudden wave of emotion, swiping his hands furiously under his eyes. He won’t cry again; he has to be strong now. He has to be the steady one, for once, and he’ll be damned if he lets Carlos down again.
“If you’d let me finish,” Carlos says after a while, “I was going to say that I know how it feels to see someone you love like this. I know how painful it is. And, though I know it wasn’t my fault - or yours, I know you’ve been blaming yourself - I am sorry. I hate that you had to go through this.”
TK wants to argue, but he doesn’t have any more words left in him. Tears slide down his cheeks as he keeps shaking his head, finding himself unable to stop.
“I’m sorry,” he sobs. “I’m so sorry, Carlos. I was so scared that I would lose you; you’ve got to promise me something.”
Carlos frowns. “Anything.”
“Promise me that you’ll be more careful?”
There’s a beat, then, “Of course, but don’t you think that’s a little rich coming from you?”
And, for the first time in over a week, TK laughs.
Written for @immortalstrand's birthday. I hope you enjoy this and have a great day. Happy birthday!
Also for @911lonestarweek Weekend Day 1: Romance/ “You are the only one for me.”/Fluff
There was something going on with TK. Carlos had no idea what it was, but his mind was definitely somewhere else. TK was keeping secrets from him, being vague about where he went and what he did. One night, he came back smelling of alcohol, swearing that he’d just been out at the bar with Nancy after a long shift and someone spilled their beer on him. Carlos believed him, that wasn’t the problem. The issue was that TK usually always invited him to come along.
The other day, Carlos had come to surprise him at the station and saw Paul notice him and swat at TK’s arm for him to interrupt their conversation. Now that he thought about it, the entire 126 was acting weird. Just yesterday, Judd and Grace invited him to spend the day with them. Something that would’ve been perfectly normal if TK had been included too.
“Hey, Reyes,” Marjan came by during a call they were both on. The firefighters were out and putting their stuff away already, and TK was busy taking care of the couple they’d pulled out of the burning house. “Did you hear about 90s night at Honky Tonk? You’ll be there, right?”
“They’re doing a 90s themed night? I was just talking to TK a few weeks ago about how awesome it would be if they did. The fashion of the time is back, why not the music? I can’t believe it’s happening, it’s like I manifested it into existence.”
“Yeah, just like. So you’ll be there?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
She smiled the kind of knowing smile she used when she knew something the other person didn’t and Carlos felt even more confused. What was everyone at the 126 hiding from him?
Well….broke down and going to try this. Open for prompts if anyone is interested. Feel free to send an ask or message if interested! A few friends have already claimed a couple squares but happy to double up.
Will write for 911 Lone Star…mainly Tarlos but open to others.
Pink X’s are square that have been claimed. Orange are finished/posted.
(Tagging few people in case they are interested but welcome to ignore)
