The studio, when they arrived together a few days later, greeted them with all the subtlety of a surprise party thrown by people who had known the surprise for months.
"FINALLY," Priyanka announced, loud enough that half the open workspace turned to look, abandoning her color palette entirely to cross the room and plant herself directly in front of them. "I have had a bet running with the animation team since the anniversary party. Do you understand how much money is about to change hands?"
"There was a bet?" Zoey asked, half-laughing, half-mortified.
"There is always a bet," said one of the animators, not even looking up from his monitor. "Leo talked about you approximately eleven times a day for two months straight. It was not subtle."
"I did not talk about her eleven times a day," Leo protested, though the color rising in his face suggested the number might not be far off.
"You named a hedgehog after her personality," Priyanka said, flatly. "We all knew. We've known since the hedgehog."
Zoey laughed, leaning slightly into Leo's side, the easy affection of the gesture feeling entirely natural now, none of the careful self-consciousness that might have accompanied it months ago. Leo's arm came around her without hesitation, and something in the simple, public nature of the gesture — no longer hidden, no longer requiring careful cover stories or fire safety pretexts — sent a warm, satisfied glow through her chest.
"Congratulations, by the way," Priyanka added, more sincerely now. "Genuinely. You two have been unbearably obvious for weeks, but also unbearably cute, so we forgive the wait."
They made their way through the studio amid a steady stream of good-natured teasing and genuine congratulations, Leo's easy confidence with his coworkers on full display in a way that made Zoey's heart swell with quiet pride — the careful, guarded man from months ago replaced, at least in this warm, familiar space, by someone visibly comfortable in his own skin.
It was near the end of their visit, while Leo was showing her a finished sequence from the wolf's redemption arc on one of the studio monitors, that Zoey caught sight of Marcus across the room — arrived, apparently, for some unrelated meeting, standing near the entrance with his usual sharp coat and sharper expression.
He'd clearly registered the scene too — Leo's arm around her, the easy affection between them, the visible happiness that had nothing to do with commercial viability or engagement metrics — and something in his face, just for a moment, flickered into an expression that looked distinctly like distaste.
Zoey felt a small, cold thread of unease work its way through the warmth of the afternoon, though she said nothing, unwilling to let Marcus's presence dampen what had otherwise been an entirely joyful visit.
"You okay?" Leo asked, noticing the slight shift in her attention.
"Marcus is here," she said, quietly, nodding toward the entrance.
Leo followed her gaze, and something in his expression tightened briefly before he consciously, visibly relaxed it. "He doesn't get to ruin today," he said, firm but calm. "Whatever he thinks about any of this — us, the show, anything — that's his problem, not ours."
"You're handling this differently than you would have a month ago," Zoey observed, quietly impressed.
"A month ago I would have spiraled about it for six hours," Leo admitted, with a small, self-aware smile. "Progress, I guess."
They didn't approach Marcus, and he didn't approach them, the tension remaining a distant, unaddressed presence rather than an active confrontation, and Zoey made a conscious effort to let it go, focusing instead on the warmth of the afternoon — Leo's easy laughter with his coworkers, the genuine delight of the team when Mochi, brought along in his carrier for the visit, was finally released to wander the studio and immediately claimed a sunny spot beneath one of the animation tables.
By evening, they'd gathered a small, impromptu celebration — takeout containers spread across a break room table, Priyanka producing a slightly warm bottle of prosecco from her desk drawer "for emergencies exactly like this," the whole team toasting with paper cups to a relationship that had, apparently, been the subject of considerable studio-wide speculation for far longer than either of them had realized.
"To Leo finally getting his act together," Priyanka said, raising her cup, grinning.
"To Zoey being brave enough to fall for someone this ridiculous," added another animator, and the whole table laughed, warm and easy, Leo's protests drowned out good-naturedly by his own delighted coworkers.
Zoey found herself laughing along, genuinely happy, surrounded by people who had clearly cared about Leo for a long time and were delighted, without reservation, to see him this settled and content.
Later that night, back in her own apartment, she pulled out the small black notebook — the one that had started, months ago, as a case file on a suspected murderer — and opened it to a blank page near the very back.
She thought for a long moment about what to write, pen hovering, before settling on something simple, something that felt like closing a chapter rather than continuing an investigation.
No suspect. No case. Just a man worth falling for, and a whole studio full of people who already knew it before I did.
She closed the notebook, set it back in her drawer, and thought, with quiet satisfaction, that whatever remained unresolved — Marcus, the show's uncertain future, the small, cold flicker of unease she'd felt earlier that day — none of it could touch the simple, complete happiness she'd found in a man she'd once, absurdly, believed capable of murder.
She fell asleep that night with a smile still lingering on her face, entirely unaware of how soon that particular happiness would be tested.
You've reached the end of this chapter
The studio, when they arrived together a few days later, greeted them with all the subtlety of a surprise party thrown by people who had known the surprise for months.
"FINALLY," Priyanka announced, loud enough that half the open workspace turned to look, abandoning her color palette entirely to cross the room and plant herself directly in front of them. "I have had a bet running with the animation team since the anniversary party. Do you understand how much money is about to change hands?"
"There was a bet?" Zoey asked, half-laughing, half-mortified.
"There is always a bet," said one of the animators, not even looking up from his monitor. "Leo talked about you approximately eleven times a day for two months straight. It was not subtle."
"I did not talk about her eleven times a day," Leo protested, though the color rising in his face suggested the number might not be far off.
"You named a hedgehog after her personality," Priyanka said, flatly. "We all knew. We've known since the hedgehog."
Zoey laughed, leaning slightly into Leo's side, the easy affection of the gesture feeling entirely natural now, none of the careful self-consciousness that might have accompanied it months ago. Leo's arm came around her without hesitation, and something in the simple, public nature of the gesture — no longer hidden, no longer requiring careful cover stories or fire safety pretexts — sent a warm, satisfied glow through her chest.
"Congratulations, by the way," Priyanka added, more sincerely now. "Genuinely. You two have been unbearably obvious for weeks, but also unbearably cute, so we forgive the wait."
They made their way through the studio amid a steady stream of good-natured teasing and genuine congratulations, Leo's easy confidence with his coworkers on full display in a way that made Zoey's heart swell with quiet pride — the careful, guarded man from months ago replaced, at least in this warm, familiar space, by someone visibly comfortable in his own skin.
It was near the end of their visit, while Leo was showing her a finished sequence from the wolf's redemption arc on one of the studio monitors, that Zoey caught sight of Marcus across the room — arrived, apparently, for some unrelated meeting, standing near the entrance with his usual sharp coat and sharper expression.
He'd clearly registered the scene too — Leo's arm around her, the easy affection between them, the visible happiness that had nothing to do with commercial viability or engagement metrics — and something in his face, just for a moment, flickered into an expression that looked distinctly like distaste.
Zoey felt a small, cold thread of unease work its way through the warmth of the afternoon, though she said nothing, unwilling to let Marcus's presence dampen what had otherwise been an entirely joyful visit.
"You okay?" Leo asked, noticing the slight shift in her attention.
"Marcus is here," she said, quietly, nodding toward the entrance.
Leo followed her gaze, and something in his expression tightened briefly before he consciously, visibly relaxed it. "He doesn't get to ruin today," he said, firm but calm. "Whatever he thinks about any of this — us, the show, anything — that's his problem, not ours."
"You're handling this differently than you would have a month ago," Zoey observed, quietly impressed.
"A month ago I would have spiraled about it for six hours," Leo admitted, with a small, self-aware smile. "Progress, I guess."
They didn't approach Marcus, and he didn't approach them, the tension remaining a distant, unaddressed presence rather than an active confrontation, and Zoey made a conscious effort to let it go, focusing instead on the warmth of the afternoon — Leo's easy laughter with his coworkers, the genuine delight of the team when Mochi, brought along in his carrier for the visit, was finally released to wander the studio and immediately claimed a sunny spot beneath one of the animation tables.
By evening, they'd gathered a small, impromptu celebration — takeout containers spread across a break room table, Priyanka producing a slightly warm bottle of prosecco from her desk drawer "for emergencies exactly like this," the whole team toasting with paper cups to a relationship that had, apparently, been the subject of considerable studio-wide speculation for far longer than either of them had realized.
"To Leo finally getting his act together," Priyanka said, raising her cup, grinning.
"To Zoey being brave enough to fall for someone this ridiculous," added another animator, and the whole table laughed, warm and easy, Leo's protests drowned out good-naturedly by his own delighted coworkers.
Zoey found herself laughing along, genuinely happy, surrounded by people who had clearly cared about Leo for a long time and were delighted, without reservation, to see him this settled and content.
Later that night, back in her own apartment, she pulled out the small black notebook — the one that had started, months ago, as a case file on a suspected murderer — and opened it to a blank page near the very back.
She thought for a long moment about what to write, pen hovering, before settling on something simple, something that felt like closing a chapter rather than continuing an investigation.
No suspect. No case. Just a man worth falling for, and a whole studio full of people who already knew it before I did.
She closed the notebook, set it back in her drawer, and thought, with quiet satisfaction, that whatever remained unresolved — Marcus, the show's uncertain future, the small, cold flicker of unease she'd felt earlier that day — none of it could touch the simple, complete happiness she'd found in a man she'd once, absurdly, believed capable of murder.
She fell asleep that night with a smile still lingering on her face, entirely unaware of how soon that particular happiness would be tested.
You've reached the end of this chapter