Rick Grimes is an inspirational leader who can inspire the most reticent individual to take up a weapon and fire a shot or the most battle-hardened warrior to put down their weapon and focus on constructing the future.

Rick Grimes is a caring leader who feels his people's losses. A devoted father who worries about his children and basks in their triumphs.

Rick Grimes is a fighter who has time and time again made a way out of no way, valiantly trekking from King County, Georgia to Alexandria, Virginia, withstanding all manner of horrors.

Rick Grimes is a survivor, a visionary-

"Rick Grimes is a thot," Michonne deadpanned as she munched on a carrot, a hand on her hip.

"A what?" Ezekiel asked as he looked up from his speech.

He and Michonne were isolated in his office. He wanted her to hear part of the speech that he'd prepared for the bridge completion ceremonial dinner. After the Saviors had walked off, it was the Alexandrians, Kingdom subjects, and Hilltop citizens who had completed the bridge, with the Alexandrians providing most of the workforce, and the Hilltop providing the least, because they had the smallest population.

"A thot. The kids came up with it," Michonne explained. "It means that hoe over there. Henry says they just came up with it out of nowhere."

"They're reviving slang? Oh my God," Ezekiel said, rolling his eyes.

"But you know, it's pretty impressive," Michonne admitted. "Kids are wonders. I think there's also something to be said about language: that they're effortlessly evolving it the way everyone before them did, even without much exposure to what we had before."

"But Rick," Ezekiel said, frowning. "You said he's a hoe. He's cheating on you?" He couldn't fathom the notion.

"Oh, no. No, no," Michonne said, quickly shaking her head. "He's all over me. Which is absolutely not a problem. Except for when it is a problem."

"It's pretty much a problem," Rick said to Carol while she poured over the seating arrangements for the ceremony. She would be done already, but people kept coming up to her with problems regarding the food, the furniture, and the decorations.

She and Rick were sitting in a corner of the cafeteria, which was currently being transformed into something more befitting of a ceremonial dinner. Rick was balancing the chair on its two rear legs, his arms crossed.

"I don't know why he didn't just let you guys host the dinner," she griped, referring to Ezekiel as she stared at the seating chart.

"Well, my first idea was to not celebrate at all, just do a quiet acknowledgment and opening of the bridge," Rick said, sitting back on his chair with his arms crossed. "But Michonne thinks there should be a celebration. Unfortunately for you, The Kingdom is closest to the bridge. But back to my problem."

"Problem?" she asked as she looked at him sideways, amused. "You're attracted to your very pregnant wife. That's every pregnant woman's dream."

"My timing sucks, though," he said, chuckling. "Well, I mean it sucks for her. It's great for me."

"Once I started making headway on the charter, I had to start hiding from him," Michonne told Ezekiel.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit?"

"For the last time, no. I get restless when I sit. My stomach's not too heavy for my legs, I promise."

Ezekiel smiled. At six months pregnant, she wasn't big at all. She was still muscle, just a pinch softer.

"If I had this office, I would get heart palpitations every time someone opened the door," she shared as she turned back to look at the entrance.

The King's cherry desk was situated in the middle of the room and faced the door. It sat atop a plush black carpet. The rest of the office was decorated with three tall bookcases, a large oval mirror, beautiful red drapes that bled into black at the bottom, and small statues of angels.

"It's indicative of the trust I have in my people. And the knights who guard the door. You hide from Rick?"

"Not that I have many places to do it. I'm basically at the church or one of the few empty houses we have left. Or I go out into the field."

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. "Are you hiding, or are you making it interesting?"

Michonne blinked. She reached into the plastic bowl on the desk and grabbed another carrot.

"There's just somethin' about her bein' in the zone. It's always been that way, if I'm honest, even way back at the prison when she'd be creating her routes to go look for the Governor, or when she'd be killing walkers at the fence."

"Killing walkers at the fence?" Carol asked incredulously, breaking her concentration again. "God, you're cheap."

"It was the worst when we were Constables."

"Seriously?" Carol asked, laughing. "I'd never thought about Michonne being a beautiful woman until I saw her in that uniform. Because that uniform was ugly," she enunciated for Rick's benefit.

"It was better than the Stepford uniform you'd decided to wear," Rick shot back. "But seeing her in uniform, patrolin'…yeah. That did it for me."

"Weren't you after Jessie at that time?" she asked as she returned to the chart.

"Yes, but I wasn't blind."

"That's a contradiction, Sir. We're gonna need so much security for this shit. Between Oceanside and the Saviors…It's stupid that I have to miss this because I have to babysit those idiots. And where are we with Oceanside?"

"That's a question for Maggie," Rick answered dismissively. "I'm not gonna have anybody at my table who's unfoldin' the shit I'm tryin' to fold."

When Carol raised her brows, he explained, "Judith used to do that. Michonne or I would be folding laundry, and then we'd turn our backs to put some away, and she'd be shakin' out what we just folded. She's grown out of it. I expect the same from grown folks."

Oceanside was invited to the opening of the bridge. Every community was. But the ceremonial dinner was invitation only. And neither Oceanside nor the Saviors were invited. Rick had personally wanted to keep Daryl off of the list, but it would be good for the man to see what had been accomplished despite his misgivings.

And Rick couldn't complain about Alexandria supplying the most workers for the bridge, really. It gave him and Michonne a lot of leverage in the collaborative discussions.

"So are you the reason we don't have the bridge toll worked out yet?" Carol asked.

"I cannot imagine that if you put your foot down, really put your foot down, and told Rick to leave you alone, because you are very busy, that he would not listen. So I ask again," Ezekiel said, his eyes full of mirth, "Are you hiding or are you making things interesting?"

Michonne took a deep, dignified breath. "These endeavors are very stressful."

"Oh, so you just showin' off, then," Ezekiel said, breaking character. "You just wanna talk about how much you been getting' sexed."

"Listen," Michonne said, grinning. "Like the bridge toll that we're trying to come up with? I can't sleep. The council's opinions just repeat on a loop in my head. I dream about this stuff. It's a lot of pressure, and…to be honest, I don't want to come up with anything that somebody's gonna change later on."

"Change is an inherent part of progress," Ezekiel said sagely, back in character. "You literally cannot progress without change."

"I know that. Another council can change it after I'm dead," she offered graciously.

Ezekiel laughed, his rich tones filling the room. "Ego and pride. They goeth before the fall, Michonne."

"I'm not falling anywhere."

"Except on Rick's huh huh huh, apparently," he muttered, making her laugh.

"It's perfectionism, I guess, which, I know, is just as bad. But coming up with the charter was my idea. I worked on Alexandria's draft by myself, with Rick's input, before I offered it to our community. I'm leading the council for the multi-community draft. Well, Alexandria is, but, you know, me. Making people pay some kind of toll for the bridge was my idea. I put together that council. Whatever we come up with needs to be…"

"Perfect," Ezekiel finished for her.

"Nearly flawless," she edited.

"I think that I'm an essential part of her work process," Rick decided.

"Really," Carol deadpanned. "Like you're essential here? You're just sitting there."

"I don't just sit there with Michonne. Or if I am, she's sitting on top of m-"

"I am living in the Sanctuary, far away from Ezekiel. This conversation is cruel and unusual punishment, and I do not like you that much, and I do not want to hear any more."

Carol gathered her papers and promptly left, throwing a bitter look Rick's way while he laughed at her.

"Can we get back to important matters?" Ezekiel requested, shaking the papers that held his speech.

"Do I get to hear the part of the speech that you wrote about me?" Michonne asked.

"No. Your thot gets to hear that part."

Michonne smiled. "Proceed."