18+ | Contains explicit content.
Lucy and Tim are roped into going on a reality TV competition show with an unexpected and potentially career-ruining twist.
Canon compliant through S3. Post-training AU. Format for the competition is based on MTV Th...
AN: Check out the external link at the end of the chapter if you want to see a video of what the challenge looked like (also available here for those on the app):
https://rb.gy/yqlhw
Also, if you haven't caught on yet, this fic is going to be absolutely ridiculous, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
***
Having seen the show in the past and knowing this year's theme, Lucy tries to mentally prepare herself for the road to come for her and Tim. One might think a show intended to 'honor' and 'celebrate' first responders would be concerned with propriety and portraying its cast as responsible and upstanding members of their community, but, in fact, it's entirely the opposite. The show leans heavily into the idea that the experience is a chance for the cast to let loose and go wild — an escape from the restrictiveness of their daily professions at home — readily excusing wildly inappropriate behavior with the absurd idea that a 'Hometown Hero' can do no wrong.
And that's just for a regular season. She knows full well the challenges are likely to capitalize on the provocativeness of exes being paired together, but even that knowledge does little to prepare her for the first competition.
She dons the sports bra and black biker shorts with her name plastered across the ass indicated as required apparel for today's challenge underneath her teal team jersey and black running shorts, only briefly reveling in the relief that production seems to be exploiting the men's bodies for entertainment this round as the guys guffaw and run around the house snapping each other with towels in their designated uniforms for today, which appear to be little more than glorified speedos.
She glances toward Tim and is grateful, but unsurprised, that he is fully dressed, arms crossed over his chest, simply observing the idiocy of their male roommates with mild bemusement.
And something about seeing him in his matching team jersey helps to quell Lucy's jittery nerves. She offers him a tentative smile as their eyes meet amidst the chaos, and he smiles back. This may be insanity, but they're in this together, as a team, and she suddenly feels confident that they've got this competition on lock. There's no way any of these pairings — exes or not — have the partnership she and Tim have, the innate trust in one another to have each other's backs, no matter the situation.
***
The first challenge is staged on a platform over the water. A slim beam connects one side to the other.
The host explains the goal of the 'Give Me Honey' challenge, "One team member will cross the beam and immerse themselves in the bathtub full of honey; then they will carefully make their way back to their waiting partner, who will have to scrub the honey off of their partner's body into the designated bucket. Then the players will switch places and repeat. The team that fills their bucket in the shortest amount of time wins. The two teams with the least honey will automatically be entered into 'The Vote Off' and be at risk for elimination. Obviously, falling off the beam is detrimental, as you'll have to make your way back up to the platform and attempt to catch up to the other teams."
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Tim and Lucy are in the first heat. They strip down and strategize about the best way to keep balance on the beam as it inevitably becomes slick with honey. They are certain that the fact that neither has an issue with heights will absolutely give them an advantage, especially since Jake from San Fernando PD standing in front of the next beam over seems on the brink of a panic attack.
The air horn sounds and Tim watches with intense pride as Lucy fearlessly flies across the beam and dives into the bathtub without a second's hesitation, easily leaving the other teams in the dust. The path back is more treacherous and slow going as globs of honey drip from her body, but they still have a sizable lead over the competition.
Lucy presents her honey-covered body to Tim, and though he instinctively knows it makes the most sense to go for the generous amounts of honey that have accumulated around the curviest parts of her body, he freezes with his hands awkwardly hovering over her chest as the realization that he's about to grope his boot — touch parts of her body that he's never even seen — washes over him.
Lucy's eyes widen and her cheeks redden as she processes the likely source of his hesitation before finally hissing at him to "move!"
It's the wake-up call he needs and Tim shifts tactics, diving down for what he thinks will be a less awkward part of her to assault for honey. He rakes his hands down her calf and quickly realizes that due to the limited surface area and loss of honey on her trip back, it is the worst possible strategy, and so he reaches higher, acutely aware that the other teams have more than made up any ground they had initially gained, unhindered by the same uncertainty and mortification that is plaguing Tim.
Tim tries to shut off his brain and his inhibitions as he gathers the honey from Lucy's left thigh, forcing himself to not skip over what's gathered in between her legs, but freezing again as a sudden and intense desire to trace a drip of honey running down the inside of her thigh with his tongue shakes him to his core.
Fuck. He had come to this competition prepared to compete, but he was in no way prepared for this.
He can feel the awkward tension radiating off of Lucy in response to his poor performance as he settles for finishing with a weak attempt to claim the honey from her arms before he takes off down the beam himself, knowing he's let her down and knowing they have zero shot at winning this thing now.
They avoid each other's eyes as Lucy scrapes the honey off of his chest, and she is secretly grateful for the surface area his broad shoulders have provided to help them make up some ground — there's no way they are winning this thing, but it's also unlikely they'll end up in the bottom two, given the clumsiness of several other teams as they attempt to navigate the honey-slicked beams.
She tries not to think too hard about how firm and warm the muscles of his chest and arms feel under her hands as she gathers the honey — even better than she could have imagined, though, of course, she's never actually imagined the feeling of his upper body under her fingers. That would have been wildly inappropriate.
