𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 .

        IT DOESN’T GO UNNOTICED that bash notices how much hazel is answering his questions about the past, telling him stories he’s never heard before, and he knows that his past is not his favorite subject. after the entire school finding out about him and his parents’ pasts, it’s comforting for the roles to be reversed, and consensual. he takes a seat beside hazel, leaning his back against the arm rest, trying to stop himself from asking a million of questions out of sheer curiosity.   “ i’ve never seen you two together, ”   he shrugs once, although he’s never really paid attention to it, either. eyebrows raise in surprise when he hears how young he had been when he robbed a bank.   “ how old was tigs ? ”   he doesn’t underestimate spy students, not even younger ones, but robbing a bank without any proper training… well, it’s impressive. scary, but impressive. glancing down at their hands, bash focuses on the feel of hazel’s finger on his palm, almost missing his question.   “ uh— i don’t know, actually, ”   he admits.   “ i just have a picture of it. ”   it’s in his wallet, but to get it now would mean to let go of hazel’s hand, which he doesn’t have much interest doing right now.

        “ VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES ? ”   he jokes, only to try to lighten the heaviness. that seems to be a lot of what bash is doing lately, despite how heavy his life has gotten. he’s quiet as he listens to hazel talk about his past, giving small nods to show that he’s listening. it’s hard to imagine being adopted at sixteen — mostly wondering what hazel had done for those sixteen years before.   “ i didn’t know you two knew each other, ”   he admits, thinking back to when tigs had tried to sell him weed. who knew that guy would be friends with hazel, and they’d rob a bank together ?   “ how old were you when that happened ? ”

        “ YOU MEAN STORIES ABOUT SPIES ? ”   he says with a small laugh, shaking his head. maybe to some if sounds like a cool bedtime story, but for bash it’s been his reality for as long as he could remember.   “ how old were you when you were adopted ? ”   bash asks, realizing he doesn’t actually know. mention of tigs and what was in the burn book for him makes him frown slightly, not because of what was written, but because he feels like he’s being nosy.   “ yeah, or… just anything. ”

“But didn’t you say you were going to put your full name on the flyer?”

“oh...did i? well i’m changing my mind. i don’t want a weirdo knowing my full name.”

“There’s enough truths in there to make people believe the bulk of it.” Ria shrugged. “Was yours true?” Had to ask! 

        BASH GLANCES UP TO SMILE BACK AT HIM, fingers running through his hair a little awkwardly. his parents probably wouldn’t like to hear that, but they probably wouldn’t like a lot of who their son has become ;   maybe keeping bash as a name is a nice way to keep this life separate from theirs. nodding a little, he wraps his arms around his body.   “ ah, yeah. they were independent spies, so they worked for a lot of different people. like the ones who… well, you know. ”   he’s referring to all the shit that has to do with julian’s sister, though really, he’s not being very clear. bash casts a sideways glance towards him.   “ you know, if you ever want to talk about your stuff… ”   doesn’t elaborate, because he’s sure hazel has a lot of stuff.

“ not exactly best mates with him either, mate, ” he shrugs. “ didn’t realise you cared about this bash bloke this much. ”

        HE GLANCES AT HAZEL FOR A MOMENT, not sure why he feels so surprised about all of this. it’s not like he wasn’t expecting conversations like this after reading the book, but it’s all still so new to him.   “ let’s stick with bash, ”   he says after a moment, a soft smile on his lips. he’s grown fond of the name, despite everything.   “ you pretty much know everything, honestly. except the name. ”   which now he does know.   “ um, one of my sisters is actually my cousin — summer, although she was raised alongside me since i was like ten. other than that… i haven’t lied about anything. but you can ask me anything, if you want. ”   there’s a lot being thrown out publicly, but bash wants hazel to know exactly who he is, before anyone else.

Hazel had more allies than Ria, in her mind. People loved watching an empire fall… Maybe empire was dramatic, but she didn’t think she’d have many people there to help her pick up the pieces. “I’d rather have known that was what I was being raised to do instead of being blindsided.” Instead of chasing after a love it turns out she never would have gotten. “Should I be offended?”

        BASH BITES HIS LIP FOR A MOMENT, the question more awkward and uncomfortable than hazel realizes. he doesn’t blame him for it – many others will probably ask him the same thing – but it’s the first time he’s really recognizing how bash and james are two different people.   “ ah, yeah, you can. if you want. either works. ”   it’d be awfully weird to hear hazel call him james, though. the last person to call him that had been jack.   “ do you want to— let’s go for a walk, maybe ? ”   it’d be easier to tell him everything then, if hazel wants to hear it.

“ and i thought you wanted to hurt him. ” death is too easy. “ could always break his other leg but i really don’t think he’ll give a fuck. ” turn juju into an #acl guy.

“Your last name is scarf?”

“no, but i don’t want them knowing my real last name. that feels invasive.”

        BASH RUNS HIS FINGERS THROUGH HIS HAIR, uncomfortable at the mere suggestions of people knowing, even if he knows that’s the case.   “ i mean… it sucks, honestly. it’s more embarrassing than anything. ”   he mostly means about the julian stuff, though everyone now knowing he’s been lying about his identity isn’t exactly fun either. bash glances at hazel hesitantly, wondering how he feels about it.   “ did you read… everything ? ”   he glances at the other a little anxiously, not sure how to really bring up the witness protection elephant in the room.

“Typically with a yes or no.” Rei’s black and white like that, is or it isn’t. “You don’t want it to seem fake or sketchy. I would do a variation of your name and an initial, a few random numbers.” 

“[email protected]? does that sound good?”

“Because people don’t like me and now they know I’m made to be that way, a robot.” A bit of an exaggeration, but she was in a mood! “They’d think you were getting rid of a threat.”