Super long A/N: I'm writing this fic on Google Docs on my phone, and my short-term memory isn't the best; if my writing comes off repetitive, that's probably why. Also, I am trying to get his characterization as close to canon as possible! To that end, I've spent hours watching each episode he's in and clipping together all the bits that involve him, so I have one relatively short and easy reference video! Side note - I really, really hope his spotlight episode in season 3 didn't imply that he ate the pet lizard he mentioned in season 1 :(

Friendly reminder, again, that I don't hate Rebecca as a character and that any negativity towards her is Watsonian, not Doylist! If you ship them, I'd be happy to read what you've got!

Also, I realize I'm describing events way more than feelings and that my focus should be more on what's going on in Trent's mind rather than just dryly describing everything going on round him. I'll try to do better going forward, and I am keeping the drafts in the doc editor so I can go back and add more inner thoughts and emotions if/when it occurs to me to do so! What I don't want to do is spend literal years going back and editing so much that I never even put out a draft, you know? Perfectionism is the enemy of productivity. Cheers!

When they went on dates, they liked to archive their favorite aspects on Instagram (which Clarence wasn't on, as he hated social media). They took pictures of their food, outside buildings after entertainment, and sometimes just of themselves cuddled up together, blissed out on their relationship energy. Cygnet had explained privately to her friends that she and Clarence were still together, and she was also with Trent now, but she hadn't stated anything like that publicly, as it wasn't the public's concern. They had both largely moved on from their problematic past relationships, and the last thing either of them expected was to be contacted by an ex.

Even more so, Cygnet hadn't expected to be contacted by Rebecca. Trent was filled with dread and that familiar gnawing pain as he read the DM over Cygnet's shoulder:

Be careful with Trent. He's dangerous and a stalker. Are you really dating him, or is he blackmailing you too?

His heart hammered in his chest. Cygnet knew this already, he'd told her everything, but what if hearing it from someone else gave her pause?

Cygnet scoffed lightly. "Wow," she deadpanned. "The nerve of this chick. Like, I get looking out for your fellow woman or whatever, but I don't know. From what you told me, she seemed kind of…." Cygnet trailed off, but Trent knew what she was going to say. Bitchy and dramatic. She'd said similar things about her own ex-girlfriend, Yamazaki, and she'd even said the same about herself on occasion. He'd agreed with her about Yamazaki and disagreed with her about herself; he wasn't sure how he would have reacted if she'd said that about Rebecca, but it was all over her face.

She wrote back:

Rude, but ok. Cool story, I guess. Yes, we're really together & no, he's not blackmailing me. He's a total sweetheart, actually.

Her phone pinged again almost immediately.

Are you sure?

Cygnet gave another disbelieving scoff. "Okay. Yeah. No, I'm not putting up with this."

Rebecca, stop. I know all about you. Trent told me everything. It sounds to me like you roped him into pretending to be your boyfriend, then when he wanted to get together for real, you used him for all you could get, asked him to sleep with you & took his virginity, slept with him AGAIN after he told you that, broke into his storage facility, dumped him in the most verbally abusive way possible short of actually cussing him out, & SHOVED HIM OFF A ROOF? If you didn't want to be with him, that's whatever, you have the right to decide you're not compatible. But insulting and assaulting him was out of line, and so is interfering in our relationship. Btw I know what he did also & I'm not justifying it or whatever, but I don't personally have a problem with him. He's trying to heal; stop bringing up old shit.

She put her phone away again and took a breath. "Whew! Okay, that felt good. No doubt she's going to come back with some kind of TL;DR message outlining your alleged crimes or whatever, but that literally has nothing to do with me or with us." She took Trent's hand and leaned into him.

His heart was still hammering in his chest. "You're not weirded out by this?" he asked, checking.

"I mean, it's a little weird that she's still looking at your Instagram? I thought she wanted nothing to do with you, but hey. If she wants to stir up drama, that's on her. In fact—"

"There's something I have to show you," he blurted out. He had to be honest. Cygnet was so good to him, even defending him from his first love without being threatened. He wasn't sure yet if it was entirely safe to let his guard down, but maybe this time….

She looked a little puzzled, but didn't withdraw her hand or pull away. "Okay," she said.

He took her to his new storage unit and showed her how he'd built a very similar vision board about her, complete with some stolen underthings pinned to the wall under her name, which was spray-painted in large black letters. Victoire Cygnet Dryderin. Candids he had taken of her, as well as printouts from her various social media platforms and articles about her band, littered the wall. She took it all in, unflinching. When she turned to face him, she was smiling.

"Okay, I have an idea, and it's totally going to work."

He blinked. "You're not creeped out by this? At all?" Relief was so close to washing over him, but he barely dared to allow it.

She giggled. "Sweetie, you already told me you had a Senpai Shrine for her back in SoCal. Then you told me about how you feel about me, so I figured you probably had something like this. It wasn't in your apartment, so…. Yeah, no, I'm not that surprised. Anyway, so, let me tell you about my plan."

He nodded, letting the relief wash over him after all. She didn't mind! She wasn't pulling away from him, and it even sounded like she thought she could work with this! She was good: she was trusting and sweet; she loved him unconditionally. He hadn't even been sure that was possible, not since his... accident.

"You've got, like, everything on here," Cygnet was burbling excitedly, "including the court stuff for when I changed my name and that one time I was arrested for disorderly conduct. Which means you looked into my record. So, when you did that, what didn't you find?" She gazed up at him eagerly.

After a moment, he caught on. "No marriage records," he breathed. He'd been thinking of Clarence as Cygnet's husband because it was a convenient shorthand for their situation, but he hadn't ever seen evidence that they'd gotten legally married. Even on their taxes, she had filed as head of household and claimed Clarence and Elior both as dependents, when she was still working. California didn't recognize common-law marriage, so that meant that legally, Cygnet was actually single.

"Exactly. Your ex wants to start drama, let's give her something to really talk about."

Did she mean—? "Stage a wedding?"

She paused before answering. "I mean…. I know it's not the most romantic proposal, pun intended, but either way, we'd have to check in with Clarence about it."

Trent decided to go all-in. "She has a very nosy friend who's almost as good at looking into things as I am. If we're going to do this, we're going to have to actually do this." His heart was pounding in his chest, but he stood outwardly calm and resolute. Maybe he could compromise on this, but they'd come this far. Why not let his wishes be known?

"First things first: we have to discuss it with Clarence," she repeated. "But that's also what I was thinking." She smiled impishly at him. "Do you want to make love on your cot? Also, could you please wash my undies and give them back a week after you borrow them from now on? It's kind of annoying to have to buy new ones."

He agreed, grinning ear to ear. "Anything for you," he purred.