#i miss you cin i hope youre doing well out there in the big wide world

[hakuryuu]

now vs maybe a year and a half ago...wah

[greyfongschemmenti]

Could you write a angst turned fluff for Lin x female or gender neutral reader?

Bonus points if the reader is a firebender. You don’t have to tho :)))

okay, so I’m gonna have to split this into parts because weeee boi 

do I write a lot.

Fun Fact: This story was a piece I was thinking of adding to my Book 4 of See You At The Station Series. Idk If I will still use it, but I did change the Reader to a fire bender per your request. ;)

Reunion (Lin x Reader)

This is set after the whole Zaheer (within the three year gap)

“Thanks for agreeing to accompany me tonight, Cin” you gave your date a gentle smile

“If I didn’t, you would make some excuse to leave early. What of our potential investors and buyers?”

You laugh as you fix your collar while looking at the rearview mirror “It’s always about business with you.”

“Here let me help” Cinder offers and reaches over to fix the collar laying it out then flattens out the suit jacket. Your cheeks slightly blush of the close proximity. Cinder slowly looks up and meets your eyes.

You clear your throat as you straighten up “thanks”

She gives you a warm smile as she sits back into her seat and puts on her seatbelt “don’t mention it. Let’s go”

Asami was invited to attend a state dinner in Republic City as she has been coming up with plans on modernizing Republic City's Central City Station. Asami had a stroke of inspiration on the tram designs and wanted to work on the ramifications. So she couldn’t attend so you offered to go as a representative for Future Industries. Rather than attend this dinner by yourself, you decide to take Cinder.  The Head of Automotive Interiors for the Satomobile. You and Cinder, a firebender, have become friends in the past six months after going through a bad breakup. You decided it would be a good idea to bring a fellow designer to talk up the next line of Satomobiles while you talked about the business.

Walking up the steps into the government building where the state dinner was being held. You smoothed down your suit jacket and let out a deep exhale. “You good?” Cinder looped her arm around yours giving your hand a gentle tap. Looking over you nodded your head “yeah, all good.” you reassured her and gave her a smile before walking the both of you toward the doors giving the guard your invitation.

“There’s president Raiko, we should introduce ourselves” Cinder looks at you and she starts walking both of you towards his direction. “Mr. President” Cinder approached and Raiko’s brows raised as he saw you giving you a big smile, “Captain y/n! So nice to see you here!” he extended his arms.

You smiled politely before gently correcting him “that’s former Captain, Sir. I no longer hold that position, remember? I’m now working along with Ms. Sato at Future Industries as partner and Head Designer.”

You and Raiko grab each other’s forearms in greeting as you give a firm shake “Right, sorry Ms. y/n, but is it okay if I call you Captain still? Despite the trouble in the city you held that position well. Wonder what happened.” He spoke as his security team covered him, keeping him safe while the perimeter was protected with RCPD’s finest. He took out his metal cigar canister taking one out.

“Uh...sure I guess although I’m not sure how the current Captain will take it” you looked around before looking back at Raiko as he is looking for a lighter “oh allow me Sir. If I may of course”

Raiko looks back at you and gives you a nod and you flick your finger, a flame coming out. An officer approaches to stop you but Raiko puts his hand up to prevent him as you continue lighting the cigar for him. “Thank you, Cap”

“Anytime, President Raiko.”

Cinder nudges you and fakes a cough giving you a cue “oh right so sorry” you apologized and turned dropping your arm down as you direct the attention to your date. “Mr. President, I would like to introduce you to Cinder, our brilliant Head of Automotive Interior of our successful satomobiles. She has been working diligently with our creative team on creating a beautiful car in the next season.”

Raiko gently shakes Cinder’s hand as she gives him a smile and respectfully bows “Mr. President, pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh no the pleasure is all mine. Are you two?” he eyes and points at the two of you. Your cheeks slightly blush “no no, sir. Purely business associates. We’re friends of course but just colleagues.” you clear your throat trying to bring down the head to your face.

“My apologizes”

“It’s okay, I understand with my arm around hers and our clothes slightly matching. I’m also from the Fire Nation.” Cinder tries explaining and you gently put your hand on her back and whisper in her ear “I think that’s good Cin.” you smile at President Raiko as he nods understanding “I don’t judge.” there’s an awkward silence before Raiko’s assistant comes up and whispers in his ear. Raiko speaks up, turning back to the both of you “Well I hope you enjoy the state dinner.”

You and Cinder bowed to the president before Cinder rubs her eyes “I blew it didn’t I?” she whispered. “Noooooo not at all.” you tried to assure her when she glares up at you and you laugh softly “it’s okay. He’s going to forget about it by the end of the night.”

A waiter with a tray of drinks comes by and you grab two glasses handing one to Cinder “Here this should take the edge off” you pass her a glass and watch as she downs it quick then grabs the one that you intended for yourself and downed it as well.

“Uh...that was for me…” you looked at Cinder then down at the two glasses in your hands

“Crap, I’m sorry”

“No worries, this isn’t my kind of drink anyways. Feeling better?” another waiter comes by and you set the two empty glasses on the passing tray. Cinder gives you a wide smile and nods “loads better. We should be meeting with these important officials on transporting vehicles for sales.” Cinder grabs your hand and tugs you along, but you stop. “Woah, how about you speak with Ambassador Zeng from the Earth Kingdom while I grab myself a drink from the bar.”

“Seeing as I took your glass back there. Fine. See you soon” Cinder gives you a smile before she heads over and approaches Ambassador Zeng.

You sigh as you near the outdoor bar unbuttoning your suit jacket as you wave a hand at the bartender, “a Pegu Club please” you order and the bartender nods as she starts pouring some gin, curaçao, lime juice, and bitters into the shaker with crushed iced. She starts giving it a good shake before pulling out a chilled cocktail glass and pouring the drink in it, finishing it off with a twisted lime and hands it to you. You gave her a nod and raised the drink in appreciation before taking a sip. Once you savored the alcohol you felt your shoulders relax.

“New haircut? Surprised to see you here”, it’s been a while since you heard that voice. It still gave you an effect as you felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You inhaled before turning around and placing a smile on your face, “Chief Beifong, I’m sorry I can’t say the same. Figured I��d run into you sometime throughout the night, but it seems like you ran into me.” you calmly spoke as you took another sip from your drink.  

“Pegu Club?” she eyes the glass then up at you as a little bit of your facade escapes but you try regaining it and look away. “Yes, it is” you tap on the glass.

“At least some things never change...” She looks away at the surrounding scene, before her eyes look back at you. Noticing your physical changes, for once you’re dressed in a fire nation suit and your hair once long in length has been cut short. It looks nice on you, Lin thinks. Though the thing she couldn’t stop looking at were those eyes she missed. The bright amber eyes that seem to look like glowing embers from a fire. Sometimes it brought a shiver down her spine in the way you looked at her at night.

“It’s a favorite-” your voice brings her back from her thoughts and she looks back at you.

“I know….” a sudden softness slips from her voice, causes you to look up and meet those jade eyes. It causes you to lose your breath for a second that you need to take another sip to regain some control. Pegu Club was one of your go to drinks and Lin would often order it for you at restaurants and even tried to prepare it for you at home. Home.

“It’s good to see you Lin-I mean- Chief Beifong. I should get going. I left my partner alone long enough.” you stepped forward and started walking when Lin grabbed your arm to stop you “that Fire Nation girl you gallivanted in with? You sure have a sweet spot for fire nation don’t you?” she looked at you talking under her breath.

“What are you insinuating?” you looked down at her then darted your eyes around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Lin doing the same. “Say it”

“Don’t act daft. First Iris and now her.” Lin put an extra emphasis on the word and you arch your brow up. Lin thinks you and Cinder are together. Is she jealous?

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lin. Please let go.” you mutter back and Lin’s grip loosens as you smooth the sleeve and button it up. “Now, if you excuse me, Chief. I have business to attend to” you bowed your head and walked away. Lin watched you go and pinched the bridge of her nose as she cursed herself for acting like this.

-/-

After talking to various ambassadors and important officials at the dinner making influences and possible deals with the neighboring cities and nations. Cinder and you decided to leave a couple of hours early before the festivities were to end.

“If you wanted to stay, I could have left you the car and I could’ve called a cap” you smiled as you walked Cinder down the steps to the valet. “Nonsense, what fun would I have with you gone.” she nudges you and you laugh nudging her back.

“I’m glad you came. I needed a friend tonight and glad you helped with the pitches. Hopefully we’ll hear from the assistants tomorrow morning on scheduling test runs and meetings.” you talked as the valet driver handed you the keys and you opened the door for Cinder. Cinder smiles and gives you a kiss on the cheek before squeezing it “look at you opening doors for me. So cute, but I could’ve done that myself” you laugh as you rub your cheek “I know, but let me do something nice.”

Cinder rolls her eyes and gets in the car as you close the door for her and starts walking around to the driver’s side. You open the door before looking up and see Lin talking to one of her officers and she turns her head and looks at you.

You sigh and tilt your head down on the roof of the car before you run your hand through your hair, “I’ll be right back, I forgot something” you told Cinder before you stepped back and walked over toward the Chief of Police as she orders the officer back to their post, “leaving so soon?” she folds her arms as you exhale “uh.. Yeah busy morning at work” you slide your hands in your slack pockets. Lin looks over your shoulder then back at you “is that what you’re calling it?”

You roll your eyes and look away “you can just say it Lin”

“Say what?”

“That you’re jealous for starters.” you smirk a bit as Lin rolls her eyes and shrugs “I’m not.”

“Sure, so you insinuating falsely over the relationship between my colleague and I twice in one night has nothing to do with you being jealous.” you pulled your arms out and folded your arms looking at the chief of police. The night late and a sudden chill with a couple party goers starting to leave and head to the valet.

“I have work to do” Lin snarls as she drops her arms and starts to turn. You step forward and touch her arm but quickly retract it “If you want to talk, really talk. I’m going to head back to my office after dropping Cinder off”

“Cinder?” Lin pursed her lips and you sighed getting the car keys from your pocket “office”. You sternly looked at her before you turned and walked back to the car. Getting in the car and starting it up “everything okay with the Chief?” Cinder looks at you as you slowly let go of the clutch and apply equal pressure to the gas, driving out of the area “yeah, just wanted to check up on former bosses. It was nice to see the chief” you look straight down the road as you drive away from downtown. “That lady scares me. She’s so intimidating.” Cinder taps on the window then decides to roll down the window as you let out a chuckle “yeah, she can be, but once you get to know her she isn’t all that bad” you turn a street and drive down the bridge until you reached Shassa Village. “You had to live in one of the fire nation neighborhoods.” a light chuckle as you looked at the street signs. “Well do I need to remind you that I am a fire nation lady” she ends in a sing-song tone.

“Yeah, but just because you’re from the fire nation doesn’t mean you have to stay in a fire nation borough.”

Cinder shrugs and smiles “it reminds me of home. Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not” you smile back as you pull up to Cinder’s townhome “alright, here we are.” you shift the gear stick in park, “thanks for the ride and for tonight”. Cinder gets out of the car and closes the door “See you bright and early tomorrow morning” she taps your car roof then walks up the steps and opens her door to give you a wave and you wave back, driving off.

-/-

Rubbing the back of your neck as you stare at your drafting table looking over the sketches you drew in the past two hours. Drinking the glass of whiskey you’re holding then rubs your eyes. It’s been the third straight night that you’ve snuck back to your office to work. Stifling a yawn then quickly blink as you set your glass down and grab your brush and softly brush off the eraser shavings from your drafting papers and get your pencil and compass to work on the new satomobile’s curves. You were planning on presenting a new line of satomobile, a luxury line. This new car would be sleeker with curves, integration of phones into the cars into the Public Switched Telephone Network of Republic City, and a better radio system.

-/-

Lin was able to secure and made sure everyone left the area safe and sound while her men checked surrounding areas. Saikhan approached the chief “I saw the state dinner was a success.”

“It seems it had” Lin gruffed back as she watched her men work

“Were my eyes deceiving me or did I catch Cap in the night? Did you request them to help us with the security intel?” He looked at the metalbending officers packing up the squad cars before looking at the chief.

“No, former captain y/n was here as a guest. It appears Ms. Sato couldn’t make it so y/n had to come as a representative for Future Industries.”

“Some snazzy date they had” he commented and Lin glared at Saikhan “apparently they’re just colleagues” she muttered and Saikhan nodded “So you two talked?”

“We ran into each other at the bar earlier in the night”

“Did y/n want their job back? As much as I hate to admit it, they were a damn good detective and leader” he gruffed as he folded his arms.

“No, let’s head back to headquarters. I don’t want to hear a word from your wife about how late I’ve kept you. All because you wanted to gossip.” Lin dropped her arms and started walking away, thinking back to her interactions with you throughout the night. Never forgetting how you looked and worked around the room.

-/-

You looked up at the clock and noticed it was nearing 2 in the morning. “I should leave now and get some sleep on an actual bed”, you muttered to yourself as you stood up from your drafting table and walked over to your desk to grab your jacket. You turned around to look out your office window as you fixed your sleeves and collar. A part of you was upset that a certain chief of police didn’t show up, although you understood. She had a job to do tonight and she most likely had better more important things to do. You sighed then finished off the whiskey left in your glass before setting it down on your counter. As you’re cleaning up your desk you hear the door open across from you “I’m sorry Jed. I know I promised to leave sooner, but-” you shuffle some papers into your portfolio.

��If you’re going to keep Jed up this late. He should get a raise or at least buy the poor boy a coffee. He was practically asleep when I saw him”

Your eyes widened as you placed your palms on the desk and slowly looked up. Lin standing across from you. Slowly stand up straight and walk around your desk “We provide our security with the amenities. I would have to check up on that later.”

For a second there was silence between the two of you and you were unsure of what to say “I wasn’t sure you would show up...”

“Neither did I...”

[decimatoroflight]

Book of Darkness: Chapter 3

Decimator of Light: Book of Darkness Chapter 3: Old Sketches

             It only took half an hour for the three of them to be sitting together on the floor in Kazuko’s bedroom. It was considerably more organized than Cin’s; the bed was made, the desk was neat, all the books were on the shelves organized alphabetically and by subject, and the walls were covered with posters of K-rock stars, papers with witty quotes, Asian weapons, and action-movie characters. There was a large stereo sitting in a corner connected to the computer, and in the other corner was a large chest filled with various metal parts, wires, and computer chips that Kazuko used to build battle-bots or fix computers.

             Cin was leaning against the wall, and Mark was beside him, flushed and still panting after jogging back from his house; he must have really booked it. Kazuko sat in front of them, her eyes narrowed at Cin. He had refused to begin talking until their blond friend was in the room with them.

             “So,” Mark finally broke the cold silence, still breathless and wiping some sweat from his forehead. His eyes shifted to the friend next to him. He had noticed Cin shaking in his car on the way there, but had known better than to press him on the matter until the three were together. “What’d we miss?”

             “Today...” Cin paused. He’d spent the last hour playing over everything that had happened that day in his head, thinking about what he’d say, how he’d phrase everything. But now that he was there with Mark and Kazuko in the same room, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words. “Today’s been really off,” he finally managed, attempting to organize all his thoughts into something more coherent. He had no idea how to explain everything without sounding utterly insane.

             “No! Really?” The one girl in the room gasped with sarcastic horror, putting a hand over her heart. “Because, you know. People get shanked all the time, especially you. Same old, same old,” the sarcasm faded into a glare that cut into Cin, demanding he get to the point.

             “More happened,” Cin continued, his eyes darting momentarily to Mark. The blond didn’t look confused in the slightest, which meant that Kazuko had already informed him of that day’s adventure at the diner. He was relieved that he didn’t have to explain that part, but it still left a lot for him to say. “After I dropped you off, Kazuko.”

             Cin finally managed to tell his friends of the rest of day’s happenings, starting with almost being hit by the truck and ending with almost cracking his skull open on his own weights. He mentioned the strange white circle he’d seen in the mirror as well, hoping one of them might have had some logical explanation for it. The two listened to him, expressions shifting between shocked and concerned, and when Cin finished, Mark locked his jaw with a look of deep suspicion.

             “It can’t all just be accidents. It doesn’t make sense.”

             “What else can it be, though?” Kazuko sighed as she leaned back against her bed. She looked annoyed, but she wasn’t nearly as concerned as Mark was. “That truck driver obviously wasn’t aiming for him, the girl in the restaurant was bawling after she stabbed him-”

             “The circle,” Cin blurted out, looking between the two of them. He could tell from Mark’s expression that he and Kazuko had been on the brink of starting an argument, and he didn’t want that, not before they worked together to help him figure out that that strange, white-hot circle had been. “That’s what’s bugging me the most. I’m not the type of person that just sees things, or believes in weird things like that, but I know I saw it. I do.”

             “Probably your lamp,” Kazuko shrugged without missing a beat. “You said the lights flickered, right? It was probably a bright flash before it faded out and then back to normal. Electrical surge or something. Not a big deal – especially considering the fact that any light leaves you blind as a bat, Luna,” her tone clearly suggested that she had permanently ended that discussion. But Mark didn’t look convinced.

             “I don’t know,” the blond admitted, looking away with a guilty expression.

             “What?” She snapped at the mere idea of him contradicting her.

             “I...it just seems familiar to me,” Mark couldn’t word it properly, any better than Cin had. “I don’t know why. I just feel like something like that’s happened to me before or that I’ve seen something like that before. Something’s familiar. With the white circle.”

             “I feel like I saw it before, too!” Cin cried, glad that he wasn’t the only one feeling unsure about Kazuko’s justification. “That’s what bugged me the most, it’s like I just saw it somewhere, somewhere not long ago.”

             “Well, if it’s just some white circle, duh,” Kazuko rolled her eyes.

             “What?” Both boys turned towards their friend. She stared at them for a second in disbelief, but when their wide, awaiting expressions didn’t change, she heaved a deep sigh.

             “Are you two serious? He’s been drawing frikken circles in his sketchbook since he could hold a pencil! He’s probably drawn a thousand in there and another million on his homework! Getting a deja vu feeling because of one isn’t exactly some big movie twist.”

             “Wait...You mean the eyes?” Mark muttered, mulling the thought over. But, be quickly saw the connection as well and a look of realization came over his face. “Cin, I think she’s right. I think that may be where I remember it from.”

             “No,” Cin said firmly. “It...it was like them, but it definitely wasn’t one I’ve ever drawn before. The ones I sketch are from my dreams, and they’ve always got color to them. Half of them are pure black, and the other half of pink or green or something random. This was just white. I’ve never seen a white one before.” That wasn’t entirely true, but Cin didn’t want to go into details with his two friends, not at the moment. Instead, all the talk about his sketches made him slowly realize another possible explanation for the white circle. “Wait. Maybe...I was dreaming?” He looked between his friends, who both paused to consider the idea.

             “That makes the most sense, actually,” Kazuko agreed. “You daydream too much as it is, and you lost a good hunk of blood today. You probably passed out standing up and had a night terror. Or you hit your head on your car and don’t remember,” she frowned with more serious concern. “Shit, maybe we do need to go to the hospital...”

             The mention of the hospital had Cin tensing suddenly, though he wasn’t too sure why.

             “Hold on, hold on. That still doesn’t explain the other things, though,” Mark didn’t look convinced, and Cin was able to breathe again thanks to the change of subject.

             “And what explanation is there? There’s a group of people trying to assassinate Luna?” Kazuko lifted an eyebrow at him. “Don’t sound crazy.”

             “It’s just as crazy to pretend all that could be coincidence,” Mark cut back, glaring slightly at Kazuko.

             “I-I don’t know,” Cin said, cutting in to prevent an argument again. “I mean...I hate to say this, but maybe Kazuko’s right, maybe I’m overreacting.” He felt his face burn slightly with shame, especially when he saw the look of disbelief on the blond boy’s face. “I mean, everyone has an off day, right? That girl tripped, the guy in the truck was half-asleep-”

             “But you’ve never been hurt before!” Mark argued. “Ever, in your life!”

             “So I was long overdue, right?” Cin tried to laugh, as though it was a joke, but he kept his eyes to the right, away from Marks’ gaze. “It’s more unnatural that things like this haven’t happened to me. Well, smaller things, anyway. I know, it’s a big deal to be stabbed and almost run over in the same day, but if I’m okay, maybe I just got you two to panic for nothing? Sorry, guys.”

             Cin finally looked at his two friends after he finished. Kazuko obviously agreed with him, but Mark looked as though he’d been struck across the face.

“Exactly,” Kazuko nodded, giving Mark a look to suggest he drop it. “And it’s getting kind of late. How about we watch a movie or something and sleep?”

             “Whatever,” Mark muttered in a defeated tone, standing up, but making sure not to look either one in the eye. “I’m going to go change; my clothes’re sweaty.”

             As Cin watched his friend head to the bathroom, he couldn’t help feeling as though he’d betrayed his best friend. Mark had always been the one who thought outside the box, the one who thought mind could defeat matter, who kept open to the possibility of things that science couldn’t explain. He was the poet, the one who wrote about the impossible becoming possible. Kazuko was a technological person who always wanted to see things logically, how they systematically got from point A to point B. And though Cin was an artist, a painter, he painted only what was in his dreams, and he recognized them to be just that – dreams and nothing more. Even worse, and though he didn’t like to admit it, he was a little lazy, and would prefer that the explanations to things be as simple as possible. Especially, for some reason, right now. Cin needed whatever the easiest explanation was, the one where this was all the smallest deal. He knew Mark couldn’t be okay with an explanation like that given everything that had happened, but Cin simply needed it to be true.

             “He’ll be okay,” Kazuko ensured him, seeing the guilt consuming Cin’s face. “Come on, you probably have to change, too.”

             “Yeah,” Cin shifted to his knees and crouched in front of his bag, fishing out some comfortable clothes. But after a moment of looking his own pajamas over, he remembered about a gift that Kazuko had gotten recently. And an idea popped into Cin’s head -- one he couldn’t resist, not with all the negative feelings that had just filled the room. They needed something light-hearted, especially for Mark. Giving Kazuko a rather wicked smirk, Cin leaned towards her and muttered, “You know what’d help him forget faster, though?”

             Kazuko’s cheeks turned pink. She knew exactly what he was talking about. “Shut up, you jerk.”

             “Ten bucks says he’ll start feeling all awkward,” Cin continued, nonetheless, knowing Kazuko couldn’t resist a dare.

             “They’re sticky and uncomfortable and the only reason my aunt gave them to me is because she heard I can’t get a boyfriend, and that I went to school in my pajamas one time. My dad would kill me if I actually ever wore them. Besides, Mark’ll just laugh.”

             “So?” Cin lifted his eyebrow in challenge.

             Kazuko crossed her arms over her chest, glaring and pouting deeply at the boy in front of her. He smiled back, very cocky, not faltering despite the distrust in her eyes. After several seconds of silent staring, the girl gave a deep nod as though accepting a risky business deal.

             “Fine! I’ll take your bet. Get your money ready,” she walked over to her closet, rummaging through her things until she found a set of silken pajamas. She stuck her tongue out at the boy before she leaving for the bathroom, giving Cin the chance to switch clothing in privacy and snicker at her reaction. When Cin was changed, Mark entered the room behind him in a pair of sweatpants and a large shirt. The blond looked around the room quickly before asking slowly,

             “And Kazuko’s...?”

             “Changing, too,” Cin answered with a small shrug. “What movie we going to watch?”

             “Anything with fighting and no mention of anything involving classes, colleges, or anything even mildly pertaining to them,” Mark sighed as he sat down.

             “So a nice, old Yazuka movie?” Cin asked, looking at the options Kazuko had available. Her father had brought back dozens of sets of subtitled movies from his father’s house, and the group had been slowly going through all of them, one at a time, in pure fascination since.

             “Oh, hell yes,” Mark grinned widely. “Nothing like mindless violence and a good bro-mance. I love watching that stuff, here.”

             “Maybe you should show up more, then?” Cin feigned an innocent tone, looking to the side innocently. “If you like the movies so much, I mean. You can just jog here and-”

             “Oh, yeah, sure,” Mark rolled his eyes before putting on a large, painfully-fake smile as he attempted to predict what that situation would sound like. “‘Hi, Kazuko! I know you told me never to come here without Cin, ever, but I did it anyway in spite of you!’” His gaze shifted suddenly to his own left arm. “‘Oh, look, and now my arm’s suddenly broken. What an unprecedented development!’” With the performance over, Mark dropped the smile. “I’m enough that much of a stalker. What’s wrong with you?”

             “You’re not a stalker!” Cin stared at him in disbelief. “She follows you around. She shows up at your track practices. You haven’t followed her anywhere since she stole that megaphone to tell you to leave her alone.”

             “Ah, freshman year,” Mark sighed wistfully at the memory. “What nice memories.”

             “Freshman year?” Kazuko’s voice suddenly interjected behind the two boys. “That year sucked, you’re a liar.” The two boys chuckled at her comment and the girl stepped into the room. Mark’s laughter was instantly caught in his throat when he saw her.

             Kazuko never wore anything fewer than three sizes too large, but the pajamas that Cin had dared her to wear were a little tight. The bottom part was nothing more than a pair of black, silk shorts and the shirt was a small black, high-collar shirt with a red outline that showed an inch or two of her midriff. She’d let her hair down from her usual braid and let her chin-long bangs frame her smug and giddy expression.

             “What!?” She barked at Mark, unable to hide a smirk, though she was trying to sound intimidating.

             “N-nothing!” He yelped, snapping out of his trance, and quickly turned away. He tried using a hand to cover his face in a vain attempt to hide how quickly his face was turning red. “I...I’m going to go make us something to eat,” he mumbled awkwardly and darted out of the room, allowing Cin to finally burst into laughter.

             “Ten bucks,” Cin said, holding his hand out and Kazuko instantly slapped two fives into it. The money had been in her hand the entire time.

             “Worth it,” she said simply, eyeing the door through which Mark had escaped like a scared rabbit from a cage. After a second of thought, she added, “Think he’ll freak out more if I lean on him while we’re watching the movie?”

             “If by ‘freak out more’ you mean ‘explode’, then yes,” Cin nodded wholeheartedly.

             “Nice,” with her expression still smug, she left the room to follow after Mark in the kitchen.

             Cin’s smile faded the instant Kazuko was gone. He had been trying to get the two to leave the room, at least for a few minutes, since they’d mentioned the white circle, and although he felt guilty for taking advantage of Mark’s feelings in such a way, the nagging in his stomach was bothering him considerably more. Cin had technically lied about never seeing white eyes in his dreams, but he wanted to check something before admitting anything to either of his friends. His dreams were hard to talk about – they had often felt so real when he was young that he’d embarrassed himself many times, insisting they had actually happened. To this day, Cin had difficulty even bringing up anything other than a vague, ‘Oh, yeah, I dreamed them,’ whenever Mark of Kazuko asked what he was drawing.

             Cin hurriedly dug through his bag until he found the sketchbook he’d been talking about minutes before. He flipped to the end of his sketchbook, where he had the figures of two people drawn roughly in pencil. The person on the left of the picture was a middle-aged woman who was wearing a small crown and a warm smile. Her hair was in a tight bun, and her wise, perfectly black eyes stared back at him from the paper like Cin had just done some something very endearing. But the man next to her, with his long hair tied back, stubble speckled all over his chin, white lab coat, and two scars over his left eye, had pure white eyes. There was a small, gray ring that separated what may have been the iris from the rest of the man’s eye, but where was no pupil or any other pigment to speak of. It was definitely the white circle Mark and Kazuko had thought about; it was the only white eye Cin ever drew. No one else in his dreams had eyes like that.

             But the eyes of the man in the picture had never frightened Cin before. These white eyes were kind, warm, welcoming, just like the black eyes of the woman, and it was that inherent kindness kept Cin from mentioning this picture, this person, to his friends. The two people on the paper constantly appeared in Cin’s dreams, and he knew them quite well by now. The woman loved flowers and birds, as well as sitting back and sipping tea while waiting for something to finish at its own pace. She was placid and kind, always able to calm down those around her with sweet words and a charming laugh. The man, on the other hand, was light-hearted but very impatient. He had a fascination with mushrooms and fish and was constantly hopping around, trying different experiments, postulating different hypotheses, never able to sit still. The only time Cin ever saw the man sitting without fidgeting was when he drank tea with the woman.

             Cin didn’t know where these two people came from or what they meant to his subconscious, but he felt close to them. Cin had never seen the man in his dreams do anything unjust; he was always helping others and his face, his eyes told of that. The orb that had stared at Cin from his mirror had been cold and cruel; it had made him scared to even breathe. There was simply no way that the two white circles had any connection to each other, despite being the same color. Cin was sure of it.

             The teen stuffed the sketchbook back into his bag, positive that he had withheld the information for a good reason, and then walked to the clean, marble kitchen to see Mark frying some sausages alone and muttering angrily to himself, his cheeks still a little pink.

             “...only when he’s here! Making sure to show off, right after she knows she got into college, as far away from me as she can get-”

             “Hey, yo, right here,” Cin waved his hand a bit to get Mark’s attention before he heard anything more. Cin was unable to suppress a small grin when his friend jumped so violently that he almost sent the food into the air.

             “Cin!!” His whole face burned with shame. “Er, Cin, I was...and-”

             “Don’t worry about it,” Cin brushed it off and leaned against the counter beside the blond. He continued speaking before his friend could manage to stammer something more coherent. “But she didn’t dress up for me. She never dresses up around me. And I think you know by now that, although I think she’s great and all, you know she’s like a sister to me,” Cin shrugged at the thought, sighing as though it was his fault for being unable to see past the fear of physical pain. “Besides, she seems more like a poetry-loving type to me.”

             Mark’s eyes lowered in apologetically as his face darkened even further. After a moment, his green eyes lifted, and he and Cin shared a smile, both aware that there were no hard feelings.

             “I wish,” Mark finally admitted, bowing his head in defeat. He just groaned hopelessly, slamming the spatula onto the counter. “Sorry! I know you hate it when I start thinking she wants you. It’s kind of hard not to, though. I mean, she’s...her arms! She’s showing her arms! Did you know she has arms? And legs! I didn’t even remember she HAD legs, anymore! And I haven’t seen her hair down since that basketball game FOUR years ago!”

             “How very creepy of you to remember that,” Cin pointed out before continuing. “But, I’ve seen all that way less than you have. And pay attention a lot less to it. I see her arms and stuff, and I see the muscle underneath and flinch in fear. You see it, and you like it because you’re a masochist or whatever’s wrong with you. And she knows this in her tricksy little head,” Cin tapped his temple, before asking, “So, who do you think she’s dressing up for?”

             Mark was quiet for a moment, knowing in the logical part of his mind that what his friend said made perfect sense. He stayed quiet, watching Cin pick the spatula up to flip the sausages onto their uncooked sides.

             “If it’s for me, it’s to mess with my brain,” Mark finally decided on, but then he paused, his eyes widening as though having an epiphany. “But then again, do I really mind?” The blond looked up, asking his brain that question out loud. After a moment, he gave a small laugh, his jealousy obviously gone.

             Cin rolled his eyes at the comment, but then jerked in pain as a bit of oil hit his arm. He gave a sharp hiss, dropping the spatula to the ground, splattering the clean floor with several droplets of residual oil. It wasn’t the most horrible pain, but it was beyond surprising for Cin.

             Mark frowned and pushed his friend towards the kitchen door. “No offense, but I think I’ll finish up. Don’t need all the oil spilling on you or something ‘by coincidence,’” The last part was accompanied by air quotes. “Go sit with Kazuko, I’ll be there in a sec.”

             “Good idea,” Cin chuckled, but as he turned to leave, his smile vanished and eyes looked to the small, circular burn already forming on his arm. Yet another thing that had never happened to him before. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Now he was with his friends. He was safe. There was no need to think about his problems, he told himself.

             Cin walked towards the living room to spend the night watching a movie with his two best friends, taking no notice to his shadow behind him. If he had, he could have noticed a circle of light appearing on the left side of his shadow’s face, a white circle staring up at him from where there should have been nothing but darkness.