#fff252

At first, they called every day, but now it was every week or so, and every time she did, he had another story to tell. Apparently, there was something about… clones of himself? A murder mystery? A murder mystery about the clones of himself? Honestly, she stopped trying to disentangle that thing. She was happy not understanding and just hearing her husband ramble.

And then, Joel got the idea of traveling together in his brain — ‘To get some inspiration for my base, Lizzie’ — and she was more than willing to indulge him.

It was nice, getting to catch up properly, to spend some time together, before they each had to go to their respective servers. It was a much needed trip, and they got to see some very wonderful builds. She may not be pulling inspiration from it for her own creations, but she’d be lying if she said seeing all the views didn’t revitalize her a little.

It’d been less than a week since they parted ways and Lizzie was boiling a pot of tea when her phone rang. It was Joel.

“Hey babe,” she greeted, bringing the phone to her ear.

“Hey Lizzie, what are you doing right now?” He spoke very fast. “Because I want to tell you something weird and don’t want you to break something.”

“Eh, nothing special,” she said, and with her phone now supported by her shoulder, she picked up the kettle before it could whistle. “Hit me with it.”

“Remember how I told you Etho was obsessed with me?”

“Uh, duh.” She began pouring the liquid into her cup.

“Well, apparently there’s someone worse.”

“That’s possible?” She asked sarcastically. “Wow.”

“Lizzie. I came back to like seven love letters addressed to me, Lizzie. Seven anonymous love letters!”

Lizzie choked and her grip on the kettle got unsteady. It spilled a bit around the cup. “Oh, crap.” It could’ve fallen on her.

“I know, what the hell! And the worst part is, he was convinced we had something going on, because someone left a sign on his base pretending to be me!”

She openly laughed now, and set the kettle with a clank before the boiling water could drop on her. He continued his pleas.

“I’m married, Lizzie! To you! And when I told him I didn’t want anything to do with him that way, he sent me a poem. A poem, Lizzie!”

Lizzie was delighted. She picked the mug with both hands and walked to the living room with it as he spoke.

“Did he, now?” She sat back onto her favorite armchair and set the mug on the side table.

“And now!” He was quickly growing agitated. Not in a negative way. Joels needed some agitation for enrichment. An agitated Joel was a sign of a healthy husband. “The context is too complicated to explain, but now I’m stuck having to make an armor stand –”

“Oh, armor stands! Your shrine for me was adorable. And little you! Oh I could just squish his cheeks.”

“...Thank you Lizzie. Right. Now I have to make an armor stand of myself professing my love to him or whatever so he leaves me alone.”

“Ha! Oh Joel, only you.”

“Only me? Lizzie, have some compassion. I’m dying over here!”

“I don’t know…” She brought the mug to her face and checked the color. Still a couple more minutes before she could drink it. “That seems like a Joel problem to me.”

He groaned, and she could just imagine him covering his face with his hands in frustration. She loved seeing him suffer.

“Right, the worst wife. She doesn’t listen to my suffering. I’m doomed. I’m in pain and she doesn’t empathize.”

She laughed again. “Well, if I’m so horrible of a wife, I think it’s time to go, now! My tea will be ready any minute now.” And with the most cheerful of tones. “Bye Joel! Good luck with the number one fan!”

There was a little moment of silence, and when Joel spoke again, it was like he was a different person. All the acceleration left his voice and who remained was the man she’d know for most of her life, who she would take strolls along the beach with, who proposed to her, who she spent a wonderful time with on their most recent trip. 

“Bye babe. It was nice talking to you. It’s… it’s been a strange few days. I think the trip made me realize how much I missed you.”

She melted a little and didn’t try to hide it in her voice. “Oh, Joel. I can imagine. I miss you too. It’s been three months now, since you joined. Can you believe that?”

“And yet it sometimes feels like the first week. Like I’m still very new to it all. It’s so strange. How has time passed that fast but also so slow?”

“Something only the ruler of Stratos would know.”

“What- that… doesn’t make any sense. Why would I from-”

“I love you Joel.”

“Love you too, Lizzie. Right, I have some projects to be working on. Not the stupid statue. I’ll postpone that as much as possible. Maybe one day I can sneak you in so you could see how my base is coming along. See how the trip has helped me”

“I would like that. Just be careful of Xisuma noticing me!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring you in when he’s offline. Okay, bye now.”

“Bye!”

And like that, she ended the call.

It truly was nice to see him having fun on his new server and making new friends. If unwanted love letters counted as a new friend. She chuckled to herself. The situations that man got himself into, sometimes…

The ship rocked in the waves.  Anne kept to the bed in the cabin, while Frederick walked back and forth, even pouring himself a cup of tea.  How he did not spill the tea, she could only wonder.

“Are you feeling well, Anne?” he asked. 

“I’m fine, but I’m amazed that you are able to do so much in this weather.”

“I’ve been through much worse waters. You’ll become accustomed to it. If you’re not feeling unwell, that is a good start.”

Anne thought for a moment. 

And so here they were in the cafe inside the Detective Alliance’s secret headquarters in Japan. A car picked him up and brought him to Kei, who had already taken his seat waiting for him while drinking his English breakfast tea and was about to spread cream and strawberry jam on his scones.

“Care to join me for an afternoon tea?” There were lemon and carrot cakes and egg, cucumber and salmon sandwiches laid out on the two-tier silver tray apart from the newly baked scones the younger man was consuming at the moment.

“Only coffee for me, Kei. I had lunch with Toto.”

“Ah… of course.” Kei said. “How is he dealing with all of this? How is your … partner?” He tried hard not to show the disappointment tending to break onto the surface.

“You mean Toto?” The question bewildered Ron. The police officer would take it as a responsibility as it was a personal matter, a task that must be solved. Like always.

Who else?

Kei sensed his Senpai’s confusion and attempted to change the topic. After all, he didn’t know anything about the Japanese police investigator other than it was his father who was the couple’s matchmaker.

“He matters to you a lot, ne Ron-senpai?”

The question might seem daunting. Toto never advertised their relationship at all but everyone knew that they were partners in every sense of the word. There were of course some misunderstandings at first but somehow it was already resolved after the situation with Kawasemi-san and then later the fire at the Plateau Auberge that cemented their relationship. If Ron were honest to himself, he was not so sure of the former. It was true that the incident at the burning hotel confirmed that they were ready to die together, but when it came to Kawasemi-san he was not at all convinced Toto wanted to give up the Aichi police investigator and his affections. Toto was consciously avoiding the possibility of crossing paths with him and it made Ron uncomfortably suspicious. In his mind he gave Toto a carte blanche of his trust. No way Toto would betray him, would he?

“Yes, he is very important to me.”

~~

As soon as Kei cut the telephone conversation, Toto began to speak. His eyes fiery and questioning.

“Spill the tea. What happened between the two of you? There must be something that you’ve done in the past that made him hate you.”

Ron looked at Toto then brought his attention to his lap, which seemed to be much more important than his partner’s concern.

“Like what he said, youthful indiscretion,” Ron said.

Toto surmised that he was avoiding the topic. So, he tried again.

“Excuse me? What did you mean by that? There are so many types of youthful indiscretions.”

“Before l headed to England to study at the BLUE Academy, Kei asked me that once we were finished, we should team up like my legendary ancestor and his companion had done.”

“And?” Toto knew that there might be more to it.

“It did not happen, of course. I told him that it would not do. I wanted to work alone.”

Ron took a bag of black sugar from the table and started to drink it then he stood up and opened the blinds. He usually never did, but something bothered him when he did not know the answer. Toto sensed his partner’s uneasiness. Kei was now a case he had to solve. A big one at that.

“That was the only reason?”

“What else should I tell you? What else is there to reveal? His immaturity will cause him his life! And the Detective Alliance is not much of a great help!” Ron hit the wall next to where he was standing that nearly gave Toto a heart attack. This show of emotion was out of character.

Toto shook his head out of frustration. Forcing Ron to be truthful was a perplexing task that Toto avoided if he could.

“After this, you must discuss whatever misunderstanding you two have. This cannot go on forever. One way or another we must continue cooperating with him, not only because of your detective license, but also knowing that he is Kiku-san’s son and a higher-up from the Detective Alliance, he could also be helpful to us.”

Ron smirked. “Somehow you begin to think like me, Toto. I like that.”

Toto went up to him and embraced him from behind, hoping that he could calm Ron down, even for a short while.

“Did you hear?”

Al’s ears pricked, and he turned to the voice stage-whispering beside him. Mia held her server book tight and close to her chest, barely containing her excitement. He took the freshly-washed cups out of the tray and began to stack them next to the soda fountain.

“Hear what?” Al didn’t lower his volume. He never understood gossiping and wouldn’t stoop so low as to talk about his coworkers behind their back. He would listen, though.

“Evelyn. I heard she’s getting fired!” Mia put her book in her apron and leaned across Al. She took a cup and began to fill it with ice and sweet tea.

Al raised a brow. “Oh?” As far as he knew, Evelyn was a top server. She often brought her sales to over $1,000, and she always served the busiest sections.

“Mhm!” Mia stared at Al, silently urging him to ask more.

Al rolled his eyes and picked up the cup tray to bring back to the kitchen. He was curious, despite himself. “Why is she getting fired, Mia?”

“A customer complained about her adjusting tips! Evelyn’s running home to get the receipt for his meal at the end of her shift. If it doesn’t match what she put in, she’s donezo.” Mia couldn’t contain her enthusiasm.

Al turned to face Mia and almost dropped the empty cup tray.

“Donezo isn’t a nice term, Mia.” Evelyn crossed her arms and stared into the back of Mia’s head.

Mia jumped and spun around, the full cup of tea dropping and splashing all over their feet.

Through their bond, Veral felt a wave of disgust from T'Lin, the virtual stranger who had agreed to risk her life to save his eight months ago when he burned without a mate… and tie herself to him for the rest of their lives. They had not exchanged a word before the hasty ceremony; he was far too deep into the fever to even speak his vows.

He knew what he looked like. Cosmetic surgery was for healing wounds and serious birth defects, not for modifying a healthy but unfortunate face. He had been denied when he requested it after a few years of the unsuccessful search for a replacement for his beloved Najin, who he had shockingly lost to a cancer detected too late that Vulcan medicine had been able to heal for centuries.

Wait. The disgust wasn't directed towards him, but the contents of her teacup; more specifically, the spices in her tea.

That he could do something about.

He made eye contact with the servant, a distant cousin just beginning to work her way up in his mother's conglomerate of businesses. He lifted his right index finger to signal for a new teapot, and then his left to request that it not be spiced.

Katara looked up, and he could see the flash of recognition. “Zoltan is an unusual name. You were a firebender?”

Silently, Zolt nodded.

His hands fell to his sides, his arms feeling so painfully empty.

Lin spoke up. “Rohan was given to Zoltan to take care of when Pema died.” She glanced at Tenzin, continuing, “They stopped torturing Tenzin a little bit before they gave up on me.” She dropped her hand to lace her fingers with his. “Zoltan is why all three of us are still alive.”

And then Tenzin gave him a brief hug at the shoulders.

A small, giddy, part of him felt cuddled, his shoulder fitting neatly under Tenzin’s arms.

Rohan chose that moment to whimper again and Zolt reached for the child.

Katara smiled at him as she transferred the baby to him. “Thank you for taking care of them. It can’t have been easy. No matter what you did before, you have my gratitude.”

His eyes watered for real.

Tenzin folded closer to him, his other arm reaching for Lin, who slid her free hand along Tenzin’s waist. Rohan opened his eyes and reached for his father’s beard.

It was as if there were no other people in the world.

Zolt looked up at the gentle touch on his shoulder, seeing Asami, looking as tired and drawn as she had the entire trip. Behind her, he saw Mako and Bolin helping a younger couple set out a tea service.

“Senna has some tea and snacks for us. I think she’d really like it if people tried to eat. It sounds like she has been cooking since we called to say we were coming.”

Zolt exchanged glances with Lin and Tenzin, and they pulled apart just enough to move over to the seating.

Later, Zolt would notice that only Bolin and Tonraq were able to hold little Rohan for very long. Senna looked somewhat relieved, but Asami just looked a little more forlorn. Poor Bolin felt like he had to sit very, very still, but Rohan smiled at him more than at anyone else.

Mako and Lin went for a walk out in the compound, but when they came back, Rohan fussed until she picked him up. Mako got a spooked look and went to help Senna in the kitchen. He reemerged with a tray, carrying a pot and two small blue cups. Bolin hopped up and slid the door open long enough for Mako to pass the tray to Katara.

With Rohan content with Lin and Tenzin, Zolt took a teacup and slipped out through the front door.

The nearly unrelenting white expanse was overwhelming. It was so completely different from his native environment that he knew he would be a dead man in minutes, left to his own devices. The shivers didn’t take long to start, and soon, he was shaking too badly to keep his hands on the teacup, and it spilled on the snow at his feet.

The cup itself landed in the snow with a soft sigh.

He leaned over to pick it up, but his muscles cramped and he fell against the railing. He couldn’t fill his lungs with enough air

Breath of life Life of breath

He repeated the words to himself, but they faded away.