Work Text:
September 2022
Jeff and Annie are the last to arrive at Troy and Abed’s apartment, and Jeff rolls his eyes when Britta harasses him about it as she opens the door, but he’s not as annoyed as he normally would be.
The reason for it is the same one that causes Annie to flush and trip over herself to apologize. Jeff loses the battle against a smirk. It’s her fault they’re late, after all. A toddler-free hotel room far from home and Annie’s renewed sex drive now that she’s in her second trimester? Honestly, everyone should be grateful they’re here at all.
“Hey, Annie. Jeff,” Abed says as he walks into the room with Frankie and Troy trailing behind him. “Do you guys want a tour? Frankie insisted.”
Jeff’s distracted by the way Troy frowns at them. “What’s up with you? You should be happy tonight.”
“Where’s Xander? I thought he was coming—I even bought him special fruit snacks!”
“He’s with Jeff’s mother,” Annie says as she curls up next to Britta on the sectional that occupies the majority of the space in the living room. Well, that and a TV nearly the size of the wall it's hung on. “Jeff and I wanted to have some time to ourselves before we have two little ones underfoot.”
Troy sighs and drops onto the couch. “Fine. I guess Abed and I’ll have to eat all the fruit snacks.” The two of them trade thumbs-up as everyone else grabs a seat.
“So, guys!” Britta bounces in place. “Are you excited? Nervous?”
“I mean, kind of,” Troy says with a shaky laugh. “The reviews so far have been mostly positive, but… we’ll see.”
“I keep trying to tell Troy that the opinions of the masses don’t really mean anything in the long run.” Abed shrugs.
“You’re still putting part of yourself out there,” Annie says, patting Troy’s leg fondly. “And that’s always scary. But rewarding, too. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“Explain the premise to me again.” Frankie furrows her brow. “The main character is the host of a children’s television program or something, right? And he gets accused of a crime? And it’s a comedy?” She sends a bewildered glance Jeff’s way. “Is this average for television series? Does nothing make sense?”
Jeff smiles. “I think if there’s one thing you can count on with these two, it’s that it’ll be anything but average.”
“Thanks, man,” Troy says, nudging Jeff. “And yeah. The main character—Ken Meng—is like a local-access Mr. Rogers kind of star. His show is going off the air after a few decades due to budget cuts, and then it comes out that one of the original cast members was kidnapped.”
“The kids from the original seasons circle up to help solve the mystery,” Abed picks up, “only they keep learning weird details about Ken’s life. Wait until you see Randall Park’s work as Ken.” He shakes his head in wonder. “He doesn’t want to be seen as Louis Huang anymore, and he really goes for it. It’s… it’s genius.”
Something niggles at the back of Jeff’s brain and the character name repeats on a loop: Ken Meng, Ken Meng, Ken Meng. When it clicks, he looks to Annie in dawning horror only to find her already staring at him. “Ben Chang!” they mouth to each other over Troy’s head.
The door buzzes and Troy jumps off the couch and is out of the apartment like a shot, without calling down first to see who it is.
Jeff takes advantage of his absence and slides closer to Annie, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Did you suspect anything?” he murmurs in her ear. “What are the odds that they based all their characters off us?”
She sighs. “I didn’t put it together before now, but they told me a while ago the kids in the original cast grew up to be a detective, a lawyer, a school counselor, and so on. I should’ve known.” She goes still. “Troy’s stories. The ones he wrote while he was sailing around the world. Didn’t Chang go on trial for kidnapping in them?”
He glances away. “I don’t know. I didn’t read them.”
“ Jeff, ” she says, poking his chest with a pointy little finger. “Don’t lie to your wife.”
He grins dopily at that, still not over it after seven months. “Maybe I skimmed some of them. But I was just looking for the sexy parts.”
She laughs against his shoulder. “Did you find any?” she teases, but when he cocks a brow at her, she gapes. “ Really? Between us?”
He smirks. “I guess you’ll have to watch the show and find out.”
The door opens behind them and almost everyone turns and gasps at the same time.
Britta’s the first on her feet. “Shirley!” She rushes over and wraps her arms around Shirley. Troy joins in as he walks up behind Shirley and soon they’re all clustered around her.
All except Frankie, who watches with a smile, but Jeff feels a prick of remorse and is the first to extricate himself from the group hug. Everyone follows his lead.
Abed takes it upon himself to make introductions, probably so he can monitor the dynamic between Frankie and Shirley, but soon enough, they’re all sitting around as the ads before the show play.
And, honestly, the show is good. Based on some of the things he’s seen from Abed and Troy in the past, Jeff wasn’t really expecting to be impressed, but… By the time the first commercial break comes, he’s invested. It only has a little to do with the vain, smug lawyer character who’s obviously still nursing an unrequited crush on his former costar, who’s now a detective.
It’s not difficult to figure out the inspiration behind each character: Emily—the detective—is obviously Annie; the lawyer is Jeff; Betty the preacher is Shirley; the racist, sexist station owner is Pierce. But he’s surprised to see that there’s no character for Troy, until he remembers the series’ origin—Troy’s stories while he was away. He glances over and the wistful smile on Troy’s face tugs at his heart.
“It’s really great, Troy,” Jeff says, and Troy beams. “But it’s missing something.”
“What's that?”
Jeff pretends to think about it. “ I don't know. Someone to balance the group out. A lovable goofball who holds all these people together, who brings in the light when they all get too dark.”
“Jeff, spoilers” Abed warns with a knowing look in his eye. “That’s not until episode four.”
Jeff and Troy trade grins, and Abed shushes everyone as the show returns.
September 2023
Jeff and Annie watch from the comfort of their own home as Randall Park gives his acceptance speech for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
”Abed was right,” Jeff says with a shake of his head. “His performance was genius.”
Annie nods. “I know! I didn’t think anyone could out-Chang Chang, but somehow he pulled it off. I can’t wait until season two premieres.” She pouts. “In mid-season.”
“Network TV,” he says with a sigh, wrapping his arm around her, enjoying the few minutes of peace until one or both of their kids needs something. “They just don’t appreciate art.”