#lashmirage

I kissed a boy, they liked it. Got all the honeys in the club excited. I kissed a boy just to start shit. Homeboy was not about it.

Well, at first it started as more of a crackship because of the way Lash says "Careful, Mirage", but the more I've thought about the ship the more it made sense.

Bear with me, I'm going to spread the word of the secret Chinese build hidden yaoi gem.

As a wrestling fan, I see Lash as a kayfabe obsessed guy - he has to uphold a particular image of himself in public no matter what to basically make a certain impression so the audience reacts to him and, more importantly, remembers him no matter what (even outside of the ring, full on kayfabe mode). I think he's very inspired by the first ever heel (antagonist) on wrestling scene, Gorgeous George, and replicates it to a degree, but positions himself as an arrogant ego-ridden face (positive character).

The Hidden King has a voice line relating to that.

He's also smarter than people think, proven by a several conversations with Dynamo, Seven, McGinnis and Ivy, each to their own degree.

I heavily headcanon Lash being as a bisexual, because why not, and I think he'd like how Mirage looks and approach him at first because of that.

Mirage is a perceptive man, and I think he'd see right through the image Lash cultivates, and that would spark genuine interest in Lash towards him. And also make him go "Pretty boy, not in front of everyone else, I have a reputation to uphold". And things can go from there, because I genuinely think that outside of his gimmick Lash is a interesting guy, and also A YEARNER. I'M A HEAVY LASH YEARNER TRUTHER. And pairing a yearner with another yearner is GOLD.

In my opinion, Lash as a person, not the character he plays, needs a partner that can see past the charade and hold conversations in private without looking back at who he is to the world, and Mirage to me is an understanding man.

Nashala would also like the idea of these two and play her role in getting Mirage to agree to a date because I imagine her being worried about how much of his life Mirage dedicated to work and work only. She'd push him towards a person who's interested and who's not a genuine danger to society to get his mind off duty for a day or two (hopefully more). And Mirage really doesn't lose anything in giving it a chance, especially since Lash wouldn't really mind Nashala's presence. He'd wink at the vessel and tell Mirage that she'll be their witness, if anything.

There's potential for them to click when Lash drops the gimmick and simply makes conversation. Yeah, he's still incredibly confident in himself (look at him, he has reasons to be) and flirty, but with a person he genuinely likes it's honest, and not a show. Also he'd want to take the challenge of proving to Mirage that he's, in fact, a great guy and a gift to the mankind. So expect a textbook-perfect dates, nice gifts and him being a gentleman (while also making a few dirty jokes here and there to see how Mirage reacts to them).

And Mirage definitely had a long gap in dating, because trying to find a partner that wouldn't mind the fact that he works practically 24/7 and has to take Nashala with him to dates because he can't simply leave the vessel somewhere and forget about his duty. And he usually was the one doing the courting, the gifting and the planning, so receiving such attention for the first time in a while would definitely be a big reason why he'll start developing genuine feelings towards Lash.

Lash falls first, fast and deep - he's used to people perceiving him as his gimmick and not caring enough to dig deeper even when he presents them with opportunities to do so - because it's probably first serious relationship he's committed to in years, limiting himself to quick flings on the side with his fans.

They are sickly sweet. And Lash would tone down the flirting with random people because of it, so Mirage will be a positive influence on his gimmick character :')

Lash would probably boast of having a pretty and smart boyfriend, telling everyone that the greatest man on earth bagged such a baddie. Mirage will just groan in the background, but secretly he likes the praise.