TinaxZeke - Blog Posts

Thank you so much! I did not expect you to actually do that suggestion. especially since it was just a fake story cover. I wish it was a real fanfic, but no one has offered up their services yet. XD That being said, here are the links to the fics I suggested earlier but was too lazy to space out three links because Tumblr only lets you link stuff in specific areas. XD

I know the last one is just a profile, but I would literally take any Zekina fanfic from this person's account as a suggestion. My favorite is "I Didn't Need a 'Moment'" though.

A rough sketch scene from this hypothetical fanfic by @dreamboundedstar

Zekina Week 2023: Day 6 Beach Part 2

Zekina week may be over but I still wanted to get this colored. It's not as detailed as my other beach-related Zekina art but I still find it cute. I don't really have a set song that I picture Zeke singing in this image but so far what's floating around in my head atm is either David Choi's "By My Side" or " Darling I Love You". I'll probably change my mind on it later so feel free to have your own interpretation of whatever Zeke is singing. In the meantime, I will try to work on a character sheet for my BB oc, Willow.

Zekina Week 2023: Day 6 Beach

I have been waiting two days to post this! This is my favorite of the bunch and hope to color it one of these days. I've been waiting for more Zeke playing a guitar content but fanfics usually have him as a drummer. So I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world. XD

I'll leave it to your interpretation of what Zeke is singing to Tina. I definitely have some ideas for what the song could be, but I'm personally having trouble choosing myself. Anyway, I know I'm late with the other two prompts. I'm going to do my best to finish the rest though so I can complete the set. I really wanted to do the prompts I missed as drabbles so I can practice my writing.

Enough about future plans though. I hope you enjoy the sketch as much as I do. X3

Zekina Week 2023 - Day 5: Project

Quick coloured art I did for these two :D

They're practicing on a school project which'd proooobably be less of a disaster this time i think ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Zekina Week 2023: Day 3 Shell

Those kids better hurry. Gene can only fend off the seagulls from Saucy for so long! (Louise is probably looking for shells too maybe XD) I like think I'm getting faster or maybe my standards for trying to be on model is decreasing. You decide! XD

Zekina Week 2023: Day 2 School

Why yes, I did choose not to give them a bottom half. No, I'm not sorry for it! XD Zeke is giving a quick glance at Tina daydreaming before going back to his schoolwork. Tina is a very creative person with a deep, rich, inner world, but sometimes she just wants to picture clouds as butts. XD

Zekina Week 2023: Day 1 Dystopia

Woo first day of Zekina week! Here's 16 year old Zeke and Tina fighting off zombies in the apocalypse. The reason Tina has a water gun instead of a real gun is because it's filled with salt water and it's funny. Here's the context of why it being salt water matters. https://youtu.be/L6gPkMsmEdI?list=PLtADktUah7yz059OofgVV2bk-WYeVPMnU&t=168 I kind of went lazy on the zombies but I hope you enjoy the concept regardless.

Are you all ready for this event?! 

Welcome to #ZekinaWeek23

7th May 2023 - 13th May 2023

Day 1: Dystopia Day 2: School Day 3: Shell Day 4: Puzzle  Day 5: Project  Day 6: Beach Day 7: Utopia

How do I participate?

Create something related to the prompts and our OTP, upload it and enjoy that you created something.  

But I can’t draw…

Don’t worry! There is so much more you can do! 

All forms of media/art are allowed! Editing a video, writing a fanfiction, formulating a headcanon or an analysis. Editing a graphic or a creating a moodboard. Recording an audio or a musical composition, creating a playlist of songs, get out your cosplay or do a photo shooting with some merch you own, maybe give a recommendation to a fanart or fanfiction!  Let’s get creative! Everything is welcome!

Don’t be shy with liking and reblogging each other’s work.

Will you reblog my work?

Heck yeah! Please use the hashtag #ZekinaWeek22 as the first tag or mention this blog in your description @TacosAndTouchtanks

Why Zekina and not Zina?

Glad you asked, phantom person that I use as a stand-in!

Zināʾ (زِنَاء) or zinah (زِنًى or زِنًا) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. (Wikipedia)

I think it would be disrespectful towards islamic peoples believes to use it as a ship name as well as considering the meaning “unlawful sex” of all kinds… I don’t think it would be a good ship name.

Meanwhile Zekina is only a name and surname in a couple of countries, so basically free for grabs! Let’s go with that!

Rules:

1. Everyone is welcome to participate.

2. This is an event to celebrate the romantic involvement of Tina and Zeke from the show Bob’s Burgers, but portrayals of them as friends are welcome too! (But no other ships with either of them.)

3. No reposting of other peoples work! (Sharing a link is fine, using graphics and scenes from the show is also fine.)

4. You do not need to have a tumblr blog to participate. However, if you are not blogging on tumblr and would like to see your work featured on this blog, I need you to submit it. (You can stay anonymous if you want to)

5. Sharing links to your works from other social media sites (Ao3, twitter, instagram) as a submission is absolutely fine

6. Don’t worry if you’re no native speaker. Use the language you feel most comfortable with!

7. (I don’t feel like it should have to be said but…) No bashing on other artists’ works or harassing others. Zeke and Tina would never approve of bullying, and neither will I.

8. Please help to spread the word with spreading this post.

9. Have fun! <3

Questions?

https://www.tacosandtouchtanks.tumblr.com/ask

This is why I made the poll for the pen name. https://www.tumblr.com/dreamboundedstar/714892108056674304/which-sounds-like-the-best-pen-name-for-tina?source=share I'm aware that I chose 2nd place but the poll was never about picking the winner but to help me realize what I really wanted. Shout out to the people that commented on the Reddit post I made that helped me figure out what I really wanted for Tina's pen name as well. https://www.reddit.com/r/BobsBurgers/comments/12p8xdk/imagine_this_tina_has_grown_to_be_a_successful/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Tori Ryder as Tina's pen name is my backup plan in case the show makes its own pen name for Tina or uses her real name. That way I can say it's a completely different person and Tina's just projecting onto the cover as usual. Now that I got credits out of the way onto the piece at hand. Anyway, I've been wanting to do this for a while because I love Greek mythology, Tina loves horses, immediately wanted to do Tina as a centaur. I thought it would be funny to have one of older Tina's published stories be centaur people and a minotaur. I was hesitant to do it for a while though because drawing horse and cow anatomy is intimidating as all get out. Any other option would be expensive though so I eventually put on my big girl pants and did this. I think this piece made me develop carpal tunnel but it was worth it. Serves me right for not remembering to use my whole arm when drawing anyway. XD Originally the idea had Tina as the alicorn centaur and Jimmy Jr. as the sea centaur because Tina would want to be the alpha horse person while it was easy to pun JJ's name as a sea centaur (Swimmy Jr. XD). I switched it when I realized that Tina also had a love for marine life and her being a sea centaur became more fitting. So now onto the name of the characters for this fake story Zeke - Iezekial the minotaur Tina - Princess Tritina the ichthyocentaur

Jimmy Jr. - Prince Iakobos II the Sky Kisser the alicorn centaur Anyway, this is a fake cover I wanted to do because I thought it would be funny to do a trashy romance novel parody. I'm not intending to make a story based on the cover ever. I already have other story ideas that are slowly dying so I don't need to add another one. XD Here's the cover I based my cover's color palette on. https://books.google.com/books/content?id=UHWJkQdCSSwC&pg=PP1&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&bul=1&sig=ACfU3U3w_r4ifjjKvLVPGpz285AX4gHYLw&w=1280 You're free to do a fanfic based on this cover if you want though. I encourage it so I don't have to do it! XD The basic idea is the story is a love triangle story and you're free to decide who wins (though it's Ancient Greece and it's Tina, you read the context clues XD). Anyway, hope you like it! I'm really proud of this piece. :3

Lol! So funny! Thank you for this cute and amusing gift! I was happy to help and I'm glad you enjoyed the gif so much. The art was definitely worth the wait. Those two silly teenagers! XD

The owl in Zeke's mind is hilarious! XD

A lil experimental piece for @dreamboundedstar as a thank you for making me the most perfect gif 🙏I hope you like it!

Just Another Cute Zekina Headcanon:

So I've been trying to mark off all the episodes that Zeke sits to the left of Tina in class ever since I really started noticing it in season 13. First I'll list what I found so far and then I'll get into the headcanon surrounding it. Disclaimer, I'm only human and I'm not aware of all the episodes that show Zeke and Tina in class together. I'm just only going by the BB wiki that lists the times Zeke appeared in a season and my own memory of whether the episode contained a classroom scene or not. In short, this post might get edited as time goes on if I find new frames by accident I can add.

So now onto screenshots. I'm not going to bother with chronological order because I don't want to. The most interesting one I found so far is "Pig Trouble in Little Tina". Before Tina enters into her nightmare we see Zeke to her left. After she wakes up from her nightmare, Zeke is gone.

What the heck is that all about? Why insert Zeke in only to make him disappear? My side headcanon is that Zeke went to the bathroom (or skipped class, either is possible) while Tina was sleeping because if Zeke was there he would have been the only one to ask if she was alright. They needed the scene to move along asap so they had to get rid of him because of it. XD

The next one isn't in Miss Jacobson's class but still shows the Zeke being to Tina's left pattern.

In "Bob and Deliver" their placement is obvious because it is to show that Tina will see Zeke as a rival in the episode. Also, it's simply easier for the audience to follow along with the conversation if they are next to each other. Next is "The Hormone-iums". The placement of Jimmy Jr., Tina, and Zeke is also for plot reasons. For some reason, Zeke isn't in the last one of the row like he usually is while Jimmy Jr. isn't in front of Zeke. The boys needed to be in those places though to show Tina's nervousness when she watches Tammy slanders her.

Still, even if the chair arrangements have changed, Zeke is still to Tina's left. Now for "Crystal Mess". While the placements of the characters are for plot relevance, it's also the closest to sticking with the current sitting arrangements of the characters. The outlier is Tammy since Jocelyn is more often than not in front of Tina from the other frames I found.

"Touch of (Eval)ulations"

"Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang"

"These Boots are Made for Stalking"

Now that I got all the scenes out of the way (as far as I know because there are a lot of episodes with Zeke in them), I can get to the point of this post. Since to Tina's left is the window, I headcanon that Tina daydreams and looks out of that window a lot. Even if Miss Jacobson is the one that assigns the seats for the students and it's not up to the students, I headcanon that Zeke specifically wants to be to Tina's left over her right because of the window. Anytime Zeke glances over at Tina for a second while she's daydreaming directly at the window, he likes to pretend for a moment that Tina is looking at him. He knows the window is getting all of Tina's attention, but it's still a nice thought that keeps him going for the rest of the time in Miss Jacobson's class. That's it for the headcanon. It's not much, but it's cute and I like it. X3

Cute story that I think really captures the humor of the show well!

Summary:

And Zeke smelled so good, like cinnamon and sweat.

𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐇𝐮𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐚. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐙𝐞𝐤𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥?

Tina stored that information for later.

Bourgour

So precious! I love it so much thank you, thank you! (I like to think Louise and Gene are doing the bare minimum and boiling the noodles offscreen XD. (Maybe I should give them more credit though, maybe Lousie would chop the vegetables because knife. Maybe Gene is helping Zeke make his 3 mother figures a song for mother's day as payment for the Bolognese help?) So if you have read the manga, "Kitchen Princess" this is basically that. Specifically, chapter 10 where the main character tries to remake the recipe of a dead person. The added difficulty for Zeke and the Belcher kids though is that the only people alive that know of the taste haven't had the dish for decades. No one can trust Gayle, Gloria is in Florida, Linda can't know because it's a mother's day surprise, and Lorraine is only semi-trustworthy. Taste buds change as you get older and what you assumed you remembered about a dish may not be the same as it used to be. So there's a lot that's stacked against them. That's not going to stop the kids from trying to get someone who has had the recipe and make them taste-test it until they get it right. I like to think as Zeke gets older, his knowledge of spices, seasonings, and even textures only gets better over time. So he's able to guess pretty well what a recipe needs based on a description. Though, that's a challenge all on its own because some of the descriptions are vague because again, they haven't had the dish in decades. The reason why they even decided to do this for mother's day in the first place is that it was originally Louise's idea. This mother's day Louise has become hyper-aware of how great her mom is and realizes she's the age Bob was when his mother died (which depending on if he's 44 or 46, it can range from 11 to 14. However, I choose 12 though because it feels right). So she decides to try again with the sauce since they have "Mr. Perfect Palette" Zeke here. Though they almost don't get him on board because Tina felt guilty asking for help on their mother's day thing when he has 3 mother figures (his bio mom, stepmom, and grandma if that wasn't obvious already) in his life he has to think about for mother's day. Zeke is literally their only hope of gettting anywhere close to correct on the sauce recipe in Louise's mind, so he still gets on board somehow.

I want this sort of "Sauce Side Story" sequel to exist so bad! Getting this awesome piece is a good alternative though. Thank you again!

Teenage Zeke & Tina commission I did for @qilin-crusader 💫

It's these two along with Louise & Gene trying to recreate that lost Bolognese recipe we saw in the "Sauce Side Story" episode. No worries, things are going jusssst fine (no they ain't)

I Decided to Analyze the Kisses From "UFO No You Didn’t" Just Because:

At first, I just wanted to see the time duration between the kisses Tina did with Jimmy Jr. and Zeke to see how long she did for both of them. I figured I might as well go further and analyze what was going on during the kisses. Since Tina kissed Jimmy Jr. first I'll start with him.

Okay, to start off the kiss overall lasts around 4 seconds which fun fact, the average time duration of a kiss nowadays is 12 seconds according to my brief research on Google. In the 1980s the time duration was 5.5 seconds which Tina was closer to. Though nobody well-adjusted wants to see 13-year-olds kissing for 12 seconds, so glad Tina didn't go fully for either average for what she thought would be her last kiss with JJu. Anyway, as the kiss goes on JJu is basically in shell shock for the duration of the kiss. Not much eye movement to try to process what is happening. Though it's clear that JJu is so shocked that his arms go limp and he loses his backpack in the process. Tina kisses JJu with so much force that they still move slightly as Tina turns her head to make sure her kiss gets every part of his mouth. When Tina first turns her head I notice that JJu's eyebrow does lift up, assumingly because he didn't expect her to deepen the kiss on top of not being expected to be kissed in the first place. His raised eyebrow only lasts for a bit though and it goes back to the normal shell-shocked position when Tina turns her head again. Lastly, and the most interesting part of the kiss in my opinion is the last turn of the head Tina does. Once she turns her head to the last side of JJu's face, he lifts his arm up. Even in his shell-shock state, he still instinctively lifts his arm up. Though, we'll never know if it's because he wanted to push her off or if he wanted to embrace her. Tina ended it before he could do anything with his arms. Though given his reaction of "Whoa" as Tina ran away, it's more likely the latter was the case.

Though even if the kiss did last longer, knowing JJu he most likely would have left his arms like that and have no idea what to do with them because he's a dumb, teenage boy who can't handle that much intimacy.

That's all I can think of to talk about for that kiss. Now onto my favorite one, to no one's surprise.

For Zeke's kiss, it lasts about 2 seconds. That's not surprising seeing as Zeke was never going to get the longer kiss of the two at this point in time. However, what's special about this kiss at the start is that the animators went out of their way to zoom in on Tina kissing Zeke. That's interesting because they didn't put in the effort to turn the medium-long shot into a medium shot for Jimmy Jr. and Tina's kiss. The camera zoom clearly symbolizes the shock Zeke is feeling and emphasizes the shock the audience is supposed to feel at this moment. Though it's also possible they didn't zoom in for JJu because they wanted the audience to notice the arm lift more when it happened.

What's interesting about the start of Tina's kiss to Zeke is that she starts her kiss with her head tilted and then moves it back to it being straight, unlike Jimmy Jr's kiss where she started straight and tilted it both ways as the kiss went on. It's safe to assume it's because she wasn't running towards Zeke for a kiss and was prepared to be more calculated in her kiss. In short, she wasn't going to break her nose for Zeke. Since Zeke only has 2 seconds, he has even less time to react to anything that is happening. He's so shocked that his arms are stiff in place as Tina pulls his backpack straps. Even with his shorter time duration, Zeke's mental reaction time is still faster than JJu's in that his eyebrows raise even higher for a second time (the first was when Tina first pulled on his backpack straps) and his pupils dart up and back in place, not believing what is happening (the pupils darting up and down is my favorite part of this moment X3). After his pupils finish moving, Tina pushes Zeke's backpack straps back with so much force that his arms swing a bit, showing how shocked Zeke was by the whole ordeal. No matter how fast his mental reaction was, it was clearly never going to translate fast enough physically.

After that Tina leaves the poor boy stiff as a board, wondering what the heck just happened.

The episode goes on and even if JJu had the clearly more intimate kiss, he never brings up the kiss even when it's revealed why she did what she did. Meanwhile, despite having the less intimate kiss, Zeke makes it clear that he's open to another kiss in the next apocalypse. Then he immediately drops the playful teasing once Jimmy Jr. gets suspicious of Zeke's wording. Knowing how jealous JJu can get and not wanting to hurt him, Zeke distracts him with wrestling.

I think that's about all I can add to this analysis of the two kisses. Hope you enjoyed reading it. I'll end this by saying, Jimmy Jr. may have got the longer kiss, but Zeke would always have Tina's last kiss that episode and that's more important in my book. XD Also here are some funny screenshots of Zeke's smile turning into a frown once he realizes he screwed up. XD

I was debating whether or not to reblog this because what I'm about to add is so small that it almost doesn't matter. Though, I feel that I should so I don't forget it. Anyway, thanks to @tacosandtouchtanks 's gif of the scene, I was able to analyze this scene even further. What I found was very interesting. I noticed that Zeke out of all the characters in the scene is writing using his pencil much faster than the others. Zeke is doing about three rows of answers while everyone (minus Tina) is only doing one row. Also, since his eyebrows are raised in this scene, he looks more concerned than pensive, especially compared to when he took a test in "Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang"

In that episode, he also wasn't circling answers as fast as he was in the gif above. So I came to two conclusions. One, this test is more important to him than usual and he is trying to answer as many as he can before time runs out. Two, my favorite one, Zeke is concerned for Tina and is trying to finish as soon as possible so he can immediately get Tina to focus on her own schoolwork because all she is doing is staring out at the window and not writing anything down. Anyway, I think I milked this scene for all it's worth and I have nothing left to analyze about it. XD

Linda: But trying to make people think you're cool is exhausting. And when you stop trying, suddenly the next person you talk to thinks you're the best person ever.

Cue the time-passing montage of Tina learning to let go of that embarrassing moment and stop trying to be cool. Most of the time it's with her family, at the restaurant, or by herself just investing herself in her favorite music again. However, there's this one frame I'm convinced has subtle symbolism!

The only time Zeke appears in the episode and it's to be in front of Tina while she looks out the window still sad from the event. Due to how this scene was set up it really looks like it's implying that Zeke is one of those that would think Tina is "the best person ever". However, Tina is too busy being sad to notice what's already in front of her. I mean, the window perfectly frames Zeke in (and sweet Susmita gets her moment too, even if it's just her hair and some of her skin) when they literally could have done whatever they wanted and changed the character in the seat in front of Tina. Heck, Tina could have been in the last seat and further symbolize the loneliness/self-pity Tina is feeling. It's possible they just wanted to stick with accurate continuity and have Tina, Zeke, Susmita, and the rest be in the same seating arrangements as they were in "Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang". For continuity reasons or not, I still take it as symbolism that Zeke already thinks Tina is the coolest person ever and Tina just needs to really look around her to realize it. The subtext I tell ya!

Linda: But trying to make people think you're cool is exhausting. And when you stop trying, suddenly the next person you talk to thinks you're the best person ever.

Cue the time-passing montage of Tina learning to let go of that embarrassing moment and stop trying to be cool. Most of the time it's with her family, at the restaurant, or by herself just investing herself in her favorite music again. However, there's this one frame I'm convinced has subtle symbolism!

The only time Zeke appears in the episode and it's to be in front of Tina while she looks out the window still sad from the event. Due to how this scene was set up it really looks like it's implying that Zeke is one of those that would think Tina is "the best person ever". However, Tina is too busy being sad to notice what's already in front of her. I mean, the window perfectly frames Zeke in (and sweet Susmita gets her moment too, even if it's just her hair and some of her skin) when they literally could have done whatever they wanted and changed the character in the seat in front of Tina. Heck, Tina could have been in the last seat and further symbolize the loneliness/self-pity Tina is feeling. It's possible they just wanted to stick with accurate continuity and have Tina, Zeke, Susmita, and the rest be in the same seating arrangements as they were in "Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang". For continuity reasons or not, I still take it as symbolism that Zeke already thinks Tina is the coolest person ever and Tina just needs to really look around her to realize it. The subtext I tell ya!

I pretty much agree with this. I definitely have other ships I have preferences over others in the show but this is the one ship in the show I have no compromising with. Louise and Rudy are adorable but I can live with it if they stay platonic friends. Gene, I don't care who he ends up even if I love his dynamic with Courtney and Alex. I love Bob and Linda's relationship, but I have nothing to worry about since they are already married and canon. Teddy and Kathleen, I want this pair to work out so bad for Teddy's sake. I'll be sad if he self-sabotages this relationship, but I'll manage if it comes to it. Zekina is the only ship I will ride or die on! Even if it sinks I will make like a captain and go down with this ship! I'll shoot every long shot to make them get together in my headcanons if the show goes in the opposite direction. The show set up way too many reasons why they should be end game whether directly or indirectly and I'm in too deep to quit ever man. XD

Zeke and Tina need to be endgame I will literally throw up everywhere if they do a future episode and Tina ends up with J-Ju. I know people really like Josh and Tina together but idk he just gives me this vibe, you know? Like I know he likes her for her but frankly he’s just not weird enough for her! Zeke likes her for her and is just as weird as she is. They’re literally perfect for each other. No I do not accept criticism.

zekina Valentine’s Day fic!

Since there's not going to be a Valentine's day episode this month. I wanted to fill that void by making these. So here you all go, puns and all! Happy Valentine's day!

I Decided to Do This for Zekina Even Though No One Asked Me To. I’m Gonna Answer All of Them Whether You Like It or Not!

OTP HC Questions

🌈 - What were their first impressions of each other?  Tina - She thought he was an annoying, loud, obnoxious, gross obstacle to Jimmy Jr.'s affection. Zeke - Thought she was creepy, weird, and a goody two shoes. Despite that, he still thought she was overall a nice girl and still considered her a friend. Even with her flaws, Zeke knew that Tina was a girl worth hanging around.

☀️ - Did they both want children/How many children did they want? 

Both want children but the amount of children is a whole different story. Tina initially thinks 1 or 2 will be enough, meanwhile, her eyes immediately widen when she hears Zeke say 4. He wants one child per arm between the two of them to form the ultimate group hug. A very cute dream, but Tina tries to make him see reason because she knows how much her mom and dad struggled with 3 children, even if their home was always full of love.

Zeke ends ups getting what he wants in the end because they have a VERY healthy marriage.

🐬 - Who made the first move? Technically it was Zeke since he made that declaration of marriage in "Midday Run" and the rest of the time he is just him waiting for Tina to make the next move. Though he probably tries to subtly make the first move again so Tina can get the message that he was serious the first first time.  

🌹 - Who initiated the first kiss?  Tina. Whether if the "Hormoniums" end credits are canon or not, Tina gave the first kiss regardless. Zeke is the king of consent (at least when it comes to kissing, not so much for the consent of poo being at random places in school XD) and wouldn't initiate a kiss unless he's absolutely sure Tina's okay with it.

🥀 - Do they both get jealous?  Zeke is definitely not the jealous type, even when he finally has her. He spent years longing for Tina to see him like he sees her only to be outshined by his best friend or the next long-necked, tall boy with a nice butt and endearing accent every, stinkin' time. He knew he wasn't entitled to her feelings and that he was not her type anyway. So there's no use in getting angry over Tina being happy with someone else because her happiness is more important than her being with him. Tina originally did have jealous tendencies but her morals always overcame her jealousy. That was mostly when she was pining for Jimmy Jr. because he didn't help relieve her own insecurities which bred her jealousy. Now that she's with someone, who in her mind is basically a saint for how long he waited for her, in spite of herself, she's all the more motivated to eliminate any jealousy she could have. She's with someone who she can absolutely trust, so she has no reason to get jealous. Still, anxiety is a witch and she slips back into jealous tendencies. Nothing a little conversation can't fix though. Even so, Tina still can't help but feel guilty for feeling jealous because of how much stronger Zeke is about it in comparison to her.

😒 - Do they get jealous easily?  Zeke trusts Tina too much to get jealous easily. Unless something specifically triggers her anxiety and insecurities, Tina doesn't get jealous easily. As long as she's brave enough to talk about it with Zeke she'll be fine.

😚 - When one gets sick, what does the other do?  Zeke becomes a full-blown nursing home nurse when Tina is sick. Tina finds it very sweet, but it can get a bit annoying and - WHAT THE HECK, GET THAT BED PAN AWAY FROM ME ZEKE! She appreciates it but sometimes a girl just needs her sleep. Meanwhile, Tina has considered strapping Zeke to the bed when he's ill because he refuses to let being sick stop him from going about his day. She pulls him by the ear back to bed because she refuses to carry him back to bed when he's passed out on the ground because he rather be a stubborn idiot than admit he's sick. Laying in bed and not being able to do anything is his personal hell. Even though he hates being useless, deep down he appreciates all that Tina does for him and loves all the love she is showing him. Tina knows how much Zeke hates being still and having nothing to do, so she tries to bring stuff to the bed that will help stimulate his brain but not exert too much energy. She also stays with him for a bit until he either falls asleep or is distracted enough for her to continue to do the daily tasks.

👉 - Who is better at giving directions?  As confirmed in "The Bleakening" every one of the Belcher family is bad with directions, including Tina. So Zeke is the one that saves the day on that front.

😊 - Where do they want to go on vacation?  Tina wants to go to Paris, France to fulfill that wish she made in "Comet-y of Errors". Zeke is a simple guy and would have fun wherever he goes with Tina. However, he thinks it would be cool to do a road trip across the states at least once in his life. Though if you had to twist his arm about it he probably would say either Brazil or Japan.

🍁 - How was their first kiss?  Best 2 seconds of Zeke's life and he couldn't wait for the end of the world again just so Tina would kiss him again. Or if you subscribe to the spin the bottle being their first kiss. Zeke was so excited about how smoothly their first kiss went that he opened his eyes immediately just to see how Tina would react to it.

🐕 - Who is the most affectionate?  Zeke hands down. There's not much need to explain with that one because you can see how affectionate he is with just his friends in the show. Tina is very affectionate too but sometimes she feels insecure about how Zeke is so much more so than she is. She loves the affection she gets but she doesn't want to be a selfish lover and wants to be able to give as much as she takes.

❄️ - Who worries about the other the most? Despite his low impulse control, Zeke is the one that worries more about Tina and not the other way around. With all the crazy shenanigans she and her family get herself into whether intentionally or not, it's no wonder he worries more. Though he tries to mask his worry because he doesn't want to freak people out by showing he's freaking out.

🕸 - What does one do that scares the other?  Finding out that Tina thrashed in her sleep scared the crap out of him at first. Thankfully, Tina woke up before he thought to call an ambulance and explained it. Zeke laughed it off in relief after that scare. He holds her in his arms while sleeping now and that stops her thrashing. He doesn't care if it makes his arm fall asleep, as long as he doesn't have to see or hear her flopping around like a dying fish. Other than that, the danger she somehow finds herself in scares him as well. He would want nothing more than to always be near Tina just to be able to carry her away bridal style away from the danger. His lack of impulse control combined with his tendency to sacrifice himself for the greater good is something that Tina admires but also something that pisses her off and scares her. Would it kill him to think a little and come up with a plan with her before he runs off to sacrifice himself!?

🐇 - Who wants to cuddle the other longer in the morning?  Zeke and he's an absolute baby about it if he doesn't get a little cuddle time before fully waking up. Normally Tina wouldn't mind, but sometimes you're in a hurry and you just have to deal with it like an adult.

🍀 - Who is better at comforting? I think both are equally good at comforting each other but maybe Zeke is a bit better because of how immediately affectionate he is.

🥄 - Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon?  Pretty obvious but Zeke's big spoon and Tina's little spoon.

🍭  -What are their nicknames for each other? Along with the nicknames he already has for her, Zeke also calls her sweet t, darlin', baby, hon, t cake, t cups, Tina turn on, cinny buns, and starshine (this one is probably too cute for Zeke to say but who cares Tina likes stars and I like this one the most) Tina isn't really good at coming up with good nicknames, so she just leaves them for Zeke. She likes calling him by his full first name Ezekiel every now and then when the mood is right though that's the opposite of a nickname.

🔥 - Who realized they were interested in who first?  Zeke. A part of him always felt sort of drawn to Tina but he didn't really realize he had a crush on her until after "Tina and the Real Ghost"

🥂 - How was their first date?  It started out as a cute, little picnic date at the park. Then Zeke tried to cap off the date with a nice row boat ride in the park lake. He even brought an acoustic guitar with him to play a tune on the water (choose whatever acoustic song you want but this is my placeholder song https://open.spotify.com/track/5erH5r100PHxQGTWNUrxqo?si=0ab5c826a4244187 ). Unfortunately, things go bad in the middle of his song when he feels pain in his stomach. He's been ignoring and pushing away his nerves all day and thanks to the spicy pasta salad he made for Tina and himself, it's finally biting him in the butt. The pain becomes so great that he doesn't even bother to row back to shore. He immediately out of the boat, jumps into the water, makes his good jeans soaking wet, and runs to the nearest bathroom. All of that left Tina confused and worried as she rows back to dry land by herself. She uses her intuition and detective skills to figure out that Zeke probably went to the bathroom and is pleased with herself that she got it right on the first try. As for Zeke, his butt is on fire and the fact that Tina found him so soon is making his pain so much worse. From the outside, Tina asks through the door if Zeke is okay. Knowing that Tina is coming from a place of concern, he admits that he has stress diarrhea and he's been ignoring it all day until now. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was nervous and wanted to remain confident and believe he had everything prepared. Unfortunately, his body betrayed him in the worst way possible. For once he wanted to be more than the trailer trash people think he is. Not that he cares what people think but he wanted to prove to himself that he could romance it with the best of them. He wanted so bad Tina to see him the way he sees her. No matter what he does though, he can't avoid the Zeke up looking right at him. Tina immediately reassures him that this isn't the first time she dealt with stress diarrhea and it won't be the last. She also tells him that she knew what she was getting into when she gave Zeke a shot. He may not be the kind of guy she usually goes for, but surprisingly she finds that she's okay with that. She's not sure how she'll feel in the future but she likes where things are going. More importantly, she likes him, a lot, diarrhea and all. Zeke is reminded why he loves that girl and tries to salvage what's left of their date. Once he puts on the emergency shorts he keeps in his truck, they decide to spend the rest of their time at the touch tank aquarium. Zeke is disappointed that they don't have any tiny sharks or sting rays to touch but still enjoys his time with Tina. They got tacos later after they had their fill of touching fish and kissing. Overall, it's definitely one of the better dates Tina has had over the years.

🎉 - How did they propose?  Zeke does a Frankenstein/Zombie-themed proposal in the cemetery during Halloween.

🖐 - Who can’t keep their hands to themself?  Zeke of course, his love language is physical touch. So not being able to have his arms around Tina or even simply holding her hand when he needs it (which is almost always) is torture to him. Tina isn't as touchy as Zeke is but never protests when he initiates it and loves every moment of it. When she does initiate though, it's much more intimate and surprises Zeke in a good way, such as when she gives him a good slap on the butt or has her fingers graze his muscles for example.

🍥 - Who was (insert character)’s first crush?  Tina's is Jimmy Jr., which I don't even need to say but oh well. Who knows with Zeke. The most we get from his past before Wagstaff is the implication that he had no idea how to deal with girls he had a crush on, so he pushed them to the ground. I'm sure this is something he regrets constantly. He definitely would have issues talking about his behavior before Wagstaff in detail because he doesn't like to think about how much of a jerk he was. He may be a troublemaker in Wagstaff but at least he's not a bully anymore.

✈️ - How do they celebrate anniversaries?  Zeke spends a lot of time making the perfect romantic dinner. Tina sets up fun bedroom activities for later (maybe she gets inspired by some of the erotic stories she made or read idk). They either do a nice sunset walk or horse ride on the beach (I headcanon that she eventually gets her horse farm so she can make her horse-riding beach dreams a reality). Probably on some anniversaries he brushes up on his guitar skills and plays her an acoustic cover to one of the songs she loves or heck sings her some original songs if he had the time prior to compose one. Zeke is impossible to buy a gift for but she still tries to give him something thoughtful to show she cares. Some years they might keep it simple by giving each other thoughtful cards, ordering a pizza, and spending all day watching movies as well as cuddling on the couch or when they realize what's on tv sucks they just make out until commercials come on and they look for something better. Whether the gestures be big or small they'll still love each other through it all.

🐀 - Who steals the covers?  Despite Zeke being the one that takes up the most space in bed, Tina is the blanket thief. It is caused by the thrashing moving the sheets around so much. Zeke is usually a heavy sleeper so he doesn't normally notice. He keeps a spare blanket stashed under his side of the bed just in case though.

💤  - Who falls asleep first?  Zeke and Linda are both gifted with the ability to fall asleep super fast that Tina and Bob both envy.

⭐️ - Who is a morning person?  Tina mostly is by force of habit due to working at her dad's restaurant for years. Though, she sometimes fails at being a morning person when she accidentally pulls an all-nighter because inspiration struck her at the worst possible time.

🌙 - Who is a night person?  Zeke and Tina are both night people but more so Zeke. Zeke hates getting up early and needs to stay in bed snuggling with Tina for a bit before he's ready to start the day. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night to find that Tina is in the zone again. When that happens he groggily carries her to bed, embraces her to get her comfortable for slumber, and reminds her she needs her rest darn it.

🥞 - Which one makes breakfast? Tina tries to split breakfast duty with Zeke because she wakes up earlier than him. Zeke mostly does it though because even though Tina wakes up earlier than him, he is very clingy in the morning and it is nearly impossible to escape his grasp. The man needs his t cuddles before getting up. Zeke likes to get creative with breakfast while when Tina makes breakfast she keeps it basic with pancakes, eggs, and bacon or really simple with just cereal on those days they are both in a rush.

🍰 - Which one bakes/cooks?  Zeke. Tina tries to share the work but Zeke insists because he loves doing it. Tina is not a bad cook, Zeke is just better and Tina is okay with this.

💋 - Who is more rough with the kissing stuff?  Tina, she's a very intimate person when it comes to kissing. Zeke is gentle with Tina because he's hyper-aware of his strength and doesn't want to hurt her. So, especially when in the mood, Tina is rougher with kissing to communicate to Zeke that she's giving him permission to be at least as rough as she's being. She's not always rough though and enjoys gentle kisses too.

🌺 - Do they send cutesy or grossly sweet/romantic texts to each other?  Yes, absolutely. They are the kind of couple that spends hours saying goodbye when texting. Sending each other memes, videos, or cute pictures just to have an excuse to stay in the chat longer.

💐 - Is one more protective than the other? Both are equally protective of each other. Though it's more hilarious with Tina because of her being in front of Zeke, who is bigger than her as she threatens to punch the person that was mean to Zeke again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Zeke just tries to de-escalate the situation by simply carrying her away from the situation as she says her agains. With Zeke, it takes a much more serious tone. Tina simply tries to get him to not go overboard while she's behind him for protection and comfort. Tina is not used to seeing Zeke look so pissed off. It's very intimidating in a scary but sexy way, much to her surprise.

☔️ - How do they make up after a fight?  They give each other some alone time to blow off steam and think about all that was said. They come back to each other to immediately apologize, cuddle it out, and Zeke assures Tina that she means the world to him and that nothing has changed about that or something along those lines. (since her love language is words of affirmation. At least I think it is? I may be just projecting my love language onto Tina because it makes sense for her character. XD Though my love language is a tie between quality time and words of affirmation so I guess make what you want out of that. It's hard when you kin a character so much and you unintentionally project aspects of yourself onto a character and you're not sure if it's even based on canon evidence even after seeing the character for so long. XD) Finally! All done! I hope you enjoy reading the answers you never asked for! lol

Yay! Thank you so much I love it! It’s fine, I would of been happy with the one but I appreciate the extra! Poor Zeke, he’s great at the grappling part of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu but that’s about it.

Maybe Jimmy Jr. and/or Flips White Fudge can help train him to be more flexible. XD

Thank you again for doing my suggestion!

Oooh martial arts buddies

(He's trying to show her a cool training pose but poor boy's a little stiff)

OOOH BUDDIES

Thanks @qilin-crusader for suggesting these two precious kiddos. I would love to do your pun off idea but I'm not good at wordplay pffft. Have an extra though :D

I think after "Yes without my Zeke" Tina might loosen up on Zeke's troublemaking so he gets to stay at Wagstaff. Cuz ya know, maybe she doesn't mind too much having to "share" Jimmy Jr. Maybe she's grown to have a little soft spot for the smelly stocky boy

Wanted to share this before the winter season was over because it gives me heavy winter vibes (probably because it mentions winter in the song XD) Other than Winter vibes it gives me heavy Zekina vibes. I hope my sharing it inspires someone to do something involving Zeke and Tina in it. lol

So Not a Pity Kiss! Couldn't think of a better title for the image, so here it is anyway. For context, Tina claimed the "Apoca-lips" was a pity kiss because she was flattered Zeke liked her, decided to throw him a bone before they all died, and nothing more.

Zeke doesn't buy it because no one gives a kiss like that out of pity. To prove him wrong, Tina tells him to reenact the kiss on her. She's so sure that it won't affect her and that she'd be able to tell the level of passion and say once and for all it was definitely pity and nothing else. Since Zeke would take any excuse to kiss Tina, he agrees to the challenge. With Tina's consent, Zeke tries to reenact the "Apoca-lips" from memory as best as he can. Tina is in trouble when she realizes that Zeke is a better kisser than she thought. So she has a very long, painful 2 seconds as she tries to not give in to the moment, remain perfectly still, and not even close her eyes. She can't let Zeke be right. It was just a pity kiss, just pity.

I think the biggest evidence for Tina and Zeke eventually getting together is the fact Zeke's name starts with Z. Zeke Zombie They both start with Z! Wake up sheeple, the facts are staring right at us in our faces!/j XD LOL

Belcher Sibling Fankids Update:

Unfortunately, I still haven't drawn the fankids yet. I wanted to update regardless though. I added a fourth kid for my version of the Zekina family (the right amount of boys/kids is 4, forever am I right?! XD) and I almost completed the info for Louise's adopted kid. So to keep it brief, I'm going to recap the Zekina kids and give the inspiration behind their names while I provide a bit of info about Louise's adopted child. Adult Gene still doesn't have kids and I don't plan to give them any. Tina:

Daniel “Dani” Bob Belcher - 1. Daniel was the name of pilot Tina, so I thought it would be a fitting name for her first kid. 2. I also made it a headcanon that Danielle is Zeke's grandma's name so it could be more special in the lore. I'll have to find another reason if the show kills my headcanon 3. Bob is his middle name after his maternal grandfather for obvious reasons.

Jeffrey “Jeff” Griffin Belcher - 1. Jeffrey is the name of Tina's body pillow. 2. His nickname, Jeff is based on Tina's ex-ghost box boyfriend. 3. His middle name Griffin is based on Tina's favorite Boyz 4 Now band member. 4. The reason for both names is that they both had an indirect influence on leading Zeke and Tina to each other. Jeff for my headcanon "Tina and the Real Ghost" was around when Zeke realized he had a crush on Tina. Meanwhile, Griffin for the time Zeke and Leslie helped Tina and Louise get to the Boyz 4 Now concert.

Lily Cherilyn Belcher - 1. Lily is the name of Bob's late mother who Tina wanted to honor. 2. Lily is also what Louise tricked Linda into thinking they were renaming Tina (it was a horse called "Gelding the Lily" which in general I think the phrase, "gild the lily" fits Tina perfectly). 3. Cherilyn is a mix of Cheryl's and Linda's name that's not too obvious to honor both of them. 4. It's also a reference to the singer, Cher's full first name. However, that only matters because I have a story idea that Zeke tries to recreate the lost Bolognese sauce recipe from Linda's family. The pun name for Zeke's recipe recreation attempt is, "Do You Bolognese in Life After Love".

Brian “Brine” Tad Belcher - 1. Brian is an anagram for brain, stuff zombies eat. 2. Brian also almost sounds like brine which I thought it be cool to make people think of pickles. 3. The nickname "Brine" is also just me subtly roasting Tina for the time she put too much salt in the soup before Bob found out Zeke had a perfect palette. 4. Tad is a reference to the fact that he is the youngest. 5. Tad is also to honor Teddy because I see him and Zeke bonding really well (especially when he helps Zeke get his captain license in my headcanon). Also, Tina loves Teddy too so of course, she approves. 6. Tad is dated slang for "street kid" in the same way urchin is (so it helps me connect it to touch tank in an indirect way) 7. Tad is a variation of Thaddeus which in Dutch, Taco is also a variation of Thaddeus. (don't ask me, language is weird XD. I'm just happy to connect touch tank and tacos in one name). 8. I really wanted to make the initials BTB so it can also reference the abbreviation of the phrase that excites Tina, "bumper-to-bumper". Louise: Robin Susie Belcher-Stieblitz (- Fischoeder) -

Robin is two years older than Lily and the only child of Lousie through adoption. Robin is a variation of Robert which is where the name, Bob comes from. So Louise named the kid after Bob in a subtle way. However, since Robin is also the name of a bird, she sometimes calls Robin her "little chick". Her middle name, Susie which means "lily" is a way to subtly honor Bob's mother without hogging taking attention away from Lily. Susie is also a reference to "Calvin and Hobbes" as a way to foreshadow that Robin is connected to Calvin Fischoeder. Louise finds out from an old letter that Robin is the long lost grandchild (or great-grandchild, I haven't figured out the timeline yet) of Calvin Fischoeder and the woman he was only married to for a week (not sure if I want it to be Shelby Schnabel or an OC I'll have to make later but my lazy butt says Shelby atm) The greedy side of Louise is thrilled with the potential to finally get a taste of the Fischoeder wealth through Robin. However, the good person side of her throws that idea out the window once she realizes that Felix must never know that Robin is related to the late Calvin. She knows how unhinged Felix is and doesn't want to find out whether Felix would love his grand-niece with open arms (or great-grand-niece) or try to murder her on the spot to keep his spot as head of the Fischoeder wealth to himself (Calvin died at some point, not sure exactly when but definitely after Louise became an adult) Robin takes after both Lousie and Calvin in that she is a major troublemaker. Robin is often the ring leader when it comes to the daily chaos the next-generation Belcher family has to deal with.

That's all I got beyond that. I still need to figure out her family tree so I can even have an idea of what I want to do with her skin tone. I probably need to look more into the Fischoeder lore to get an idea about that. I'll love to get some help/suggestions from the Calvin Fishoeder fans on here. if you're reading, please. :3 Anyway, that's about it. Hope I'll actually draw the munchkins one of these days.

So while I was looking for good screenshots of Katie from Tina's art class in the episode (Thought she was a cool character design and might use her later, who knows), "Bad Tina" I stumbled upon these frames.

Zeke (and the two girls) appear to be the first to look at Tina announcing her "Buttloose" story. The line around Zeke's eye makes him look shocked and/or nervous (I mean, I would be too if I just heard I was featured in an erotic story XD). My point is Zeke noticed Tina talking before Jimmy Jr. and I'll take what I can get. It's the barest minimum of crumb but I still count it as Zekina. XD Don't worry, Zeke you don't even touch booty in the story. You're just the first to receive cafeteria slop. Tina stayed true to your boob man nature in her story. XD

(Still doesn't change the fact he pointed and laughed at her when she ended the story. His only saving grace for that was he immediately pointed and laughed at Tammy and helped Gene and Louise draw attention to the fact Tammy farted. Kids are so brutal lol) Anyway, just wanted to talk about this because I thought it was neat that even in this season 2 episode, Zeke still noticed Tina first before Jay Ju. XD

14. Going on a sleigh ride + Zekina please!

zekina + going on a sleigh ride!

“Oh. Lily, maybe we could…not take our mittens off?”

Tina looks to Zeke for help, and he quickly scoops their baby into his arms.

“Hey, now. You gotta listen to your mama, little lady! The mittens stay on.”

Tina doesn’t usually have a problem getting her daughter to behave, but overstimulation is making it difficult to persist with her fair, patient parenting style. The cold weather grips her even through several layers of clothing, and Lily seems intent on doing everything in her power to frazzle her mom.

“Thank you.” Tina sighs. “This is fun. This’ll be fun, right?”

Zeke nods.

“Course it will be. Wasn’t this whole thing your idea, baby?”

That was true, but Tina had pictured the whole thing going a lot more smoothly. Family sleigh rides at the park! Why would that be stressful? As she’s quickly finding out, though, babies often make things more stressful than they need to be. Zeke likes to say that their daughter takes after him, but Tina just hopes Lily doesn’t grow up getting as many detentions as her dad did.

“Right. My idea.” Tina says warily. “Do you think she’ll have fun?”

As a mom, it’s hard not to worry about how well you’re doing. If your kids aren’t happy, intellectually stimulated, and well behaved at all times, you start to feel like a total failure. Miraculously, Lily chooses that moment to grin.

“Well, that answers that!” Zeke says. “See, T? She’s having a blast. So am I!”

Tina’s stress is no match for his upbeat attitude. When leans in to kiss her cheek, she starts to feel better.

“Are you really?” She asks. “Even though our sleigh ride was supposed to start at 4, and the first group isn’t back yet?”

Zeke nods.

“Are you kiddin’ me? It’s a day with my girls! Nothin’ makes me happier than that.”

Before Tina can answer, Zeke smiles at something behind her. He raises a pointer finger in that direction.

“Oh, boy. Look who’s here, T.”

Turning around, Tina gasps softly. The first group of sleigh riders has returned, and their massive sleigh is being led by three large, majestic horses.

“Ah!” Lily giggles.

“The horses!” Tina says, full of childlike wonder.

She’s only seen horses up close a handful of times, but this is a whole new kind of delight. For the first time, she’s seeing her favorite animal through the eyes of her daughter. Sure enough, Lily’s eyes are huge with elation. Zeke chuckles, squeezing his wife’s hand.

“Horses.” He agrees. “Wow. I can’t tell which one of you is more excited! You think you can handle this, Tina girl?”

As she tugs her family in the direction of the sleigh, Tina doesn’t answer. Reinvigorated, she marches through the snow, ready to give her daughter a Christmas memory she won’t forget.

17. detailed research about the perfect gift + also Zekina please because I'm greedy when it comes to this ship! LOL XD

zekina + detailed research about the perfect gift 🎄

“Hey, Mrs. B?” Zeke asks, swinging off his backpack and letting it drop it to the floor. “Can I ask ya something?”

Linda smiles, still scrubbing the restaurant counter with an old dishrag.

“Aww! Of course, sweetie! Is this about my teeny Tina?”

Her smile falls briefly, eyes nearly bulging out of her head.

“Wait, this isn’t proposal talk is it? You know I love you two together, but seventeen is just too young! I always thought you’d propose after college. On a boat, maybe, or—ooh! On horseback? That would be nice!”

Zeke chuckles. Though a proposal isn’t on his agenda just yet, it’s nice to know that he’ll have Linda’s blessing when that time comes. He thinks about marriage a lot, actually. More than most teenage boyfriends do. When he has a bad day, he envisions the way Tina will smile when he finally pops the question. Sometimes, when he kisses her, he’s secretly imagining that they’re at the alter.

“Nah, it’s nothing that serious.” He assures his girlfriend’s mom. “Not yet, anyway. I’m actually in the market for…well. Do you think Tina’d like a promise ring?”

Zeke’s eyes fall to the counter, as he finishes his sentence. He doesn’t want to see Linda’s face if it turns sour. Luckily, excitement in her voice prompts him to raise his head again.

“A promise ring?” She asks, one hand flying over her heart. “How romantic! What a little gentleman you are.”

Zeke feels a brief flash of heat in his face. Something about earning approval from adults always makes him bashful, and knowing that Linda likes him feels like a gigantic win.

“Oh, I dunno about that. Just…with Christmas comin’ up and all. I thought you might like to see the one I picked out, if that’s alright with you.”

Restaurant chores forgotten, Linda props her chin in her hands as she leans forward.

“It’s more than alright!” She says. “Let’s see what you’ve got, hon.”

Zeke’s a little nervous, as he pulls up his camera roll. He’s put a lot of thought into Tina’s Christmas gift, but it’s not like he has the kind of money to get her a really nice ring. Even all the saving he’s been doing has left him with a slightly underwhelming ring selection.

“Here’s the one I found.” Zeke says, zooming in on the picture to give Linda a better look. “I thought the blue might make her eyes pop.”

He has to actively refrain from gushing. Something about the color blue makes Tina’s dark eyes shine, and that girl’s eyes are enough to make a man go weak in the knees. He’s probably biased, though. To him, everything about Tina is uniquely beautiful.

“Wow!” Linda says, examining the small blue stone in the center of the ring. “What a beaut! You picked that out yourself, huh?”

Zeke’s eyebrows knit together, a little confused by the question. Did I pick it out myself? He’s been pouring over ring catalogues for weeks, searching for the perfect fit for his girlfriend. He’s already consulted with Gene, a self proclaimed expert on bling, and he’s learned more about ring sizes in the last month than he ever planned on learning in a lifetime.

“Course I did!” He says, taken aback. “I knew I wanted this to be perfect. Tina’s…well hell, you raised her! You know how special she is.”

Any shyness from before is gone, as Linda looks between he and the ring. He thinks the world of her daughter, and that’s not something that embarrasses him. It feels natural. He watches as a small, touched smile appears on Linda’s face.

“Tina’s gonna love it, sweetie.” She says softly. “She’ll think it’s absolutely perfect.”

Pulling the phone back with a grin on his face, Zeke admires the photo for himself. There’s still two weeks left until Christmas, and he’s going to spend each of those days daydreaming about seeing his ring on Tina’s finger.

“Thanks, Mrs. B.” He says, his girl’s pretty smile on his mind. “I sure hope you’re right.”