Work Text:
If looks could kill, TK would be dead ten times over.
“What the hell are you doing, Strand!?”
Judd Ryder stood in the doorway of the loft, staring down at the very tangled and tied form of TK Strand on his living room floor. The paramedic had managed to almost hogtie himself with a length of rope.
If Judd was a lesser person (or, rather, he didn’t want to risk Grace’s wrath), he'd take pictures and send them to everyone. Instead, he just took one to show Grace.
“Stop wiggling around, you’re just gonna make the knots worse, TK,” he grumbled as TK did exactly what he had been instructed not to do. He finally just reached out and grabbed one of the tight wraps and gave the man a quick shake.
“This was such a bad idea,” TK muttered, trying to hold himself still. He had seen the phone, he knew his potential embarrassment was on the line.
For a moment, Judd tried to find one of the rope ends, but the knots wouldn’t let them go. It also didn’t help that any time he gently pulled on something, TK would let out a pained and wounded sound. After three such soft cries, Judd couldn’t take it anymore and reached for his pocket knife. With a few careful swipes, he finally was able to start untying all of the knots.
The moment the last piece of rope was coiled in a messy pile and he was fried, TK immediately crawled away a few feet, leaning instead against the couch. Judd sat back as well and just looked at the younger man.
“You gonna tell me what you were doing?” Judd asked when the silence started to get oppressive.
TK groaned. “It’s stupid.” He wouldn’t look at Judd, instead staring at the rope.
“TK, you called me in the middle of the afternoon in a panic, begging me to get over here and not tell anyone else. Yeah, you gotta tell me.” Judd watched as TK’s face scrunched up, before the man finally answered.
“We’re going to Carlos’ parents’ ranch this weekend,” TK said, voice just loud enough to be heard. “He asked me if I knew how to knot rope. Apparently we’re going to help repair a rope bridge there. I was trying and got tangled and frustrated and please don’t tell him.” TK finally broke away from looking at the shredded rope, and instead sent Judd a pleading look.
Judd shook his head. “You don’t know how to tie the knots he said, do you.” He managed to keep judgment out of his voice. After all, he was dealing with a city boy.
TK just shook his head. “I tried using Youtube. You can imagine how that went.”
This time, Judd couldn’t help it. He rolled his eyes. “Next time, just ask one of us.” He pushed himself to his feet before looking at the frayed rope. “Is that the only rope you have?”
“Yeah. Didn’t think I’d need more to practice,” TK said. “And I didn’t think it would be hacked to death.”
Judd reserved a medal for not smacking TK upside the head for that. “You’re welcome for that, by the way. Stay here, I’ll get some more rope. I’ll show you what you need to know.”
Three hours after his shift, Carlos slid open the door to the loft and was met with a different sight. Judd and TK were in the kitchen, cooking up what had to be a good dinner, while Grace sat on the couch and watched and teased the boys as they worked.
But what was more surprising was the few lengths of rope laying on the ground, tied with different knots. Some were neat, some were shaky, but as he let his eyes travel down the ropes, the knots got neater and more uniform.
After a moment, Grace noticed Carlos in the doorway, still staring at the odd sight. She waved him over, mouthing for him to keep it quiet.
“What did I just walk into?” Carlos whispered, sliding to kneel on the ground in front to the couch to keep out of sight of the open kitchen.
Grace gave him that sweet smile she loved so much. “TK asked Judd to come over this afternoon, though I don’t know why. They called me over for dinner a little bit ago.”
Carlos shook his head with a soft chuckle. “I think I know why. Let me go say hello to my fiance before we get what looks to be a good meal.” As he rose, he gave her a quick hug before heading into the kitchen to greet the men.
It was the beginning of a good evening for all of them.