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He runs his hands through his white hair furiously. The rabbit girl he met is being annoying but she's his best chance.
"Yo, bunny butt, back on topic. I know punishment in the HPSC is horrible. I don't wanna think about it. Hawks was a soldier like you, where would they be keeping him? How do he get him?" His tone is flat but there's something in Dabi's deep, rough voice.
He came to this seedy place because he thought this bunny had information. Both her and Hawks are part of the Humankind Planetary Space Commission. A government branch that takes gifted kids and trains them to be soldiers, to fight and hunt bounties throughout the known boundaries of space. Dabi knows all about it because he was one of those special kids, son of one of the top generals, one Enji Todoroki. He hates it with every ounce of his being.
Rumi blinks, stopping the jittery chatting halfway through a story. "Oh, whoops, yeah.. Hawks would likely be in a military port hospital but... Umm.. There's close to a hundred ports out among stars, let alone the ones on the territories.."
Dabi clenches his jaw. "It's been 3 weeks, he could be in the outer territories by now." He knows finding that stupid bird could take years but he has promises to keep and he can't fulfill any of them when his dove is locked up like a criminal.
He hears Rumi rambling on but his mind is elsewhere. He vowed to himself that he wouldn't get attached to the man when he first found him. Keigo was injured badly, left behind by his comrades after a failed bounty hunt, the man got the upper hand on the raid. When the bullets started flying some of the newbs ran and the seasoned soldiers fought back, most of them were left for dead. Dabi had arrived a few hours afterward and found Hawks hiding, bleeding out from multiple areas.
He can still vividly see the man smiling at him, he feels his chest hurting. It took weeks for the wounds to heal then he had to help the blonde to walk normally again. By that time it had been 4 months and Hawks was presumed dead just like himself. They were tied up with feelings that just got stronger, soon 4 months became 8, then a year..
He and Hawks were picking up supplies for the next few weeks at an outlaw port, and had to get ready for the long haul to the tropical planet he promised Hawks they'd visit, when everything went tits up..
"..close to General Todoroki, so I doubt that he'd be too far from the largest port base."
Rumi's words catch Dabi’s attention. "Wait. Repeat that, Miruko."
She double backs and thinks about the words that just came out. "Umm... Hawks has always been favored by, and close to General Todoroki, so I doubt the commission would have him stationed too far away from the main base. I think that's the part you wanted?"
Dabi nods. "Thank you. I have all I need right now." He starts to stand up when a hand holds his. He looks surprised at Rumi.
"Dabi, you called me here for information on Hawks. You must have known he is my best friend and that I'd know something. Please, I need to help find him. When we were writing and I only knew you as Mr. E, cute play on words by the way, you told me that Hawks was alive and to be honest I was mad at you.. But I believed you and now I know he is, I have to be there, to see him." Rumi's voice slides from commanding to pleading.
Dabi sighs as he watches Rumi get acquainted with his shop and crew. They all seem too okay with this change of plans, except for Toga. She was happy with being the only girl besides Magne who's her big sis.
Rumi's introduction was met by Toga wanting to stab the 'brainwashed pro-commission bunny lady.'
Having Rumi onboard may not be such a bad thing if it keeps Spinner and the others from bothering him every 5 minutes. He smirks at the thought of some peace and quiet with this group of misfits, them being quiet would scare him more. He gets the ship out of port and starts for the nearest fuel bank.
-.. --- .-- -. / - .... . / .-. .- -... -... .. - / .... --- .-.. . -.-.--
Rumi jumped from her thoughts when Dabi dropped his plate to the table across from her. The small mess hall, colored, like the most of the ship, gunmetal grey and sparsely decorated. A small galley along the side with the finest food preservation and preparation tech from possibly three refits ago. Small trinkets lay around the room from their various exploits with guns being a common decoration and resource throughout the ship.
“Mind sharing with the class, what has you looking so constipated?” Dabi’s rough voice pulls her back to the present. “We should be near the main system we wanted to check in a few days.”
“I do not look constipated, Dabert.” Dabi gave a look of deep regret at the name. “I was thinking that, even if we lucked out and found where they were hiding Hawks, we would be all over their radar and long-range scanners before we got close enough to see the rock they have him shitting on. We need someone who can help us in and out of there as cleanly as possible.”
Dabi, having gotten past the urge to space the rabbit, thinks about what she said. Sighing impatiently, he looks Rumi in the eye. “So now you tell me that we might have to spend weeks digging for someone to spend their time and our money rooting through personnel and hopefully not reporting us off the bat for the level of anti-commission planning we are going to blatantly need to tell them for this to work?” He stabs his fork into the rehydrated borken stir-fry and rice he bought from the fuel depot a few parsecs ago violently and shoves it in his mouth to focus on not punching an ally. ‘The scientists on Gamma 29 made a fucking miracle when they discoved a way to produce meat with the texture of beef, flavor of pork, and nutritional value of chicken at very low cost.’ He’s never seen any of those creatures from Earth, but gods, this makes him wish he could visit.
Wait, what were they talking about?
“Don’t be so upset, Dabs. While I was in the commission, I heard some stories of a data analyst going rogue. He disappeared from the HPSC’s intelligence department so quickly, rumours spread that they silenced their own man.” Rumi looks smugly at him even though she just said the man she was talking up was dead.
“So…” He prodded. “Why tell me about a dead man?”
Rumi’s eyes lit up like that was the question she wanted to hear. “I put out some calls into the black network to see if they could find us a hacker. I recently got some news that the mysterious man goes by ‘Mad Hatter’ in the network. Does some top level hacking, hates the HPSC, security hacks, missing persons work, the boxes we need checked. Not cheap, but the work we need wouldn’t be anyway.”
“So you stress me out just to tell me you may have solved your problem already?”
“I hate to stress you out any more than you already are,” liar, “but I wanted you to see the dilemma I did before I put forward a possible solution.” Rumi looks concerned for once. “Problem with my solution is that Hatter doesn’t talk business over the phone and will only meet those he truly cares to hear from.”
Dabi swallows his food before letting out one long breath. He thinks for a moment before locking his cyan eyes with her red. “Call him, bunny girl. I want the best chance to get out with Hawks alive, so if he can help, we can find a way to pay him.”
Rumi doesn’t waste much time dialing the number her contacts got to her and the phone is picked up on the third ring. A young-sounding voice greets her cheerily with “thank you for calling Kuat Drive Yards! Your trusty space fleet repair and upfit technicians! This is Aki speaking. How can I help you today?”
“Oh, I was flying through an asteroid field and something must have caught in my propulsion drive. I can’t even properly enjoy my tea anymore with all the madness.”
“You called the right repair shop then. We can get you fixed up right and get you back to your tea parties.” Aki sounds interested in her plight, but is cut off before they can ask any questions.
“I’m too old for tea parties, Aki! Are you calling me childish?” Rumi feels offended by the immature notion, but she keeps acting her part.
“Nonsense, you’re never too old for a tea party. Now about the propulsion drive-”
“You’re mad!”
“Dear, we’re all mad here. Your propulsion sounds smooth over the line, but we can look at it. Are there any other issues?” Aki sounded like they were catching onto what Rumi was trying to voice.
“We’ve been missing a vital part on the ship and could use help in finding the part we need. Do you have a hatter planetside by chance?” Maybe her codework was slightly rusty, but she remembered how to pass some details without details.
“A vital part was misplaced…” Aki mentioned it as if typing. “A hatter? We do, but he’s selective of his customers. How long until you reach the system edge so I can put you in for an appointment?”
“Three days at our rate. We’re coming from the Theta-9 system for your calculations.” Sounded promising to Rumi. Hatter had to be at least interested in their situation to offer a time to meet.
A minute of silence as Aki ran the numbers through guidance software. “One week. Dock on Faltran South and tell the worker-”
“ONE WEEK?!” Rumi’s calculations to Faltran would put them at dock in five days! “We’ll be there sooner and wasting my crew’s time and my money on dock fees!”
Aki’s tone took on a more authoritative tone, her temper wearing at their customer service cheer. “Ma’am, the best I can do is one week. Float in orbit for two days and dock or pay the dock fees. Either way, tell the workers you have an appointment with KDY when you register. Thank you for choosing Kuat Drive Yards and have a safe trip.” The line disconnected with no hesitation, leaving Rumi wanting to throw the ship phone at a wall.
- . .- / .--. .- .-. - -.-- / - .. -- .
The trip was short compared to the months of waiting to get to this point. Dabi allowed the drone shuttles to carry his cruiser into the dockyard as he tapped his fingers on the console impatiently. Soon, but too slowly, he felt the ship lock into the port and put in the code to disengage the door locks and extend the ramp. He and Rumi had an irritating tech nerd to ask for help, and the rest of the crew had orders to restock the ship. Spinner was under orders to pick up multiple bowls of borken stir fry and borken fried rice if he could find them. The addictive meat had his infatuation almost as much as the man he fell so stupidly in love with.
They made their way over to the Dock Master’s office and, to Dabi’s surprise, the Dock Master was a robotic, blue-tone worm creature on a desk, greeting them with a cut and paste welcome to the moon that happened to pull free from a planet long ago. “Welcome to the Faltran South Shipyard. I am Absolem-13, the Dock Master here. Please state your business plainly for the record.” A red light starts flashing on one of the foot-long robot’s antennae and Dabi gets the impression that the person controlling this creation is listening intently.
“We have an appointment with KDY today. Repair and hopefully a refit.”
“Your Ship Identification Code?”
“LC dash A10589”
“Dock?”
Dabi sighs at the regularity of the interrogation. “Thirteen.”
“Thank you. Dock fees will be payable before unmooring. KDY and planetary authorities have been informed of your presence as per HPSC regulations.” Absolem paused long enough for Dabi to turn for the exit before speaking again. “KDY would like to see you in their dockside office as soon as possible. Thank you for your business.” Dabi nodded before he could stop himself and walked quickly out of the office. The crew split off to do their tasks as Rumi and Dabi found their way to the office doors. The normally bustling docks of most port worlds were eerily quiet here. A robot or two cleaning the debris off the docks with another standing as security. The only people either of them saw were moving with purpose to ships or deeper into the port city.
The door opened with a chime into a large room of fine white marble floors and gold details. The receptionist looked up from a screen hidden by the stainless steel desk wrapping from a door around to an ornate staircase. A young man, no older than twenty looked over the counter, his emerald green eyes inspecting and deep forest green hair trimmed into an undercut and curled to his right front. Dabi had enough of a view to see the barcode shaved into the side, unsure what it may link to. The piece in the boy’s ear was green too and for a second, Dabi questioned if this boy was just another of the robot army. That only lasted until the boy spoke to them, too much emotion to be a robot. “Welcome to Kuat Drive Yards! I’m Aki! I’m guessing you’re our appointment today?” He quickly checks his records on the projection by his eye. “Propulsion, refit, and a vital piece missing. You want me to track down a piece for you? We’ll have to talk about this more in my office, but my crew is the best in the system so they can get started on your estimate for the other work while we find out more about your missing piece. Give me a second please.”
Dabi doesn’t get a chance to confirm or object to anything the boy says as he walks through a door near the desk. Shortly after, the dock has several workers walking past the doors followed by yet more bots. Aki returns and offers a slight bow before turning to a staircase. “I apologize for the wait. Please follow me.” Aki leads them up to a meeting room with a light pink table with several tea sets and chairs varying in style from wing chair to folding chair, rolling office chair to a beanbag in a corner all in tones of grey and pink. The brown cork flooring and green accented walls give the meeting space a vibe unbecoming of a professional of any field, but Aki walks in and sits at the office chair, pouring himself some tea while they stand in the doorway.
“Are we inspecting the room or talking in it? Yes, I designed it. No, I don’t need my eyes checked. Close the door on the way in.” Aki taps at the garish table and a screen appears before him, a few codes later and he leans back. Dabi has inched into the room and Rumi has moved in and shut the door. “Dear gods, I don’t bite. Just sit before I shut this off and kick you out.” That gets the two into seats across from the boy. Hasty choices of chairs made, Rumi sat in a tufted back dining chair of light slate grey and dabi in a modern tulip chair in the unfortunate color of barbie pink. Now that they were seated, Aki started introductions. “My full name is Akitani Mikumo, but you can call me Aki. I am the Mad Hatter, and I assure you everything you’ve heard about me is possibly true. What can I do for you?”
Dabi looked confused by the introduction. “Possibly true?”
“To be fair, I don’t know what you’ve heard of me. Now, who are you and why are you in my office?” Aki leans forward, posture imposing as his temper shortens. The smile on his face warning of pain if he was left with wasted time.
Dabi finds his tongue and clears his throat under the quickly changing atmosphere. The story pours from his mouth with few details left out. Aki takes notes and listens intently to him, never asking questions.
"So the commission took your boy toy back and you want to re-free him? I can help you little lovebirds out if you do me a few favors and have some cash on hand.” Aki is all smiles as he starts the meaty part of his back office job. “If you agree and complete my requested work, you’ll be in alpha-3 living the high life with your pretty boy by the end of the month.”
Dabi wanted to blow a round through this small kid for his mouth and attitude, but took a deep breath through it. He had a bird to uncage, and to do it, he needed this little shit. “It’s according to what you want out of us, kid. I can do many things with my crew, but I allow them to choose their involvement.”
“First, I need your sweetheart’s name.”
… Dabi blinks. Is this kid serious?
“I could probably track him down by the information you gave, but a name would make it easier.” Aki types into the computer, not focusing on Dabi or Rumi.
Rumi is the one to speak up, tired of Hatter’s jarring changes of topic. “Takami Keigo. His codename is Hawks. Can you find him off that or not? Do you want his serial number too? Birth date?”
Aki smirks at his computer, his persona pulling his clients off-kilter like always. They’re always so predictable once he’s started talking to them. The commission-trained girl wanted results first and wanted a good read on the person in front of her. The man liked control over situations and over people. The boy jumped from topic to topic, tearing away before they could get everything they wanted. He kept the mood flipping and the two on their toes the entire time. Soon enough he got what he wanted out of them and they left with the same look he was happy to put on people’s faces: Reluctant acceptance. To know that he held them by the balls for the next portion of their lives made him smile, but these two would make him even happier and they didn’t even know it yet.
.--. .- .-. - .. . ... / -- .- -.- . / .... .. -- / -- .- -..
Dabi ran into the port city, gripping his hair to keep from screaming. What the fuck did he just sign up for?! He just wanted to save his Keigo, but now he had a shopping list of to do’s before he got to do that! That kid is a demon in disguise! And Dabi had willingly agreed to his demands like an idiot signing his soul away! Fuck!
He walked around, seeing the same maintenance droids floating around the city to keep it clean and security bots as well. Out of curiosity, Dabi approached a sweeper droid and looked it over. The KDY logo airbrushed on it’s chassis didn’t surprise him as much after meeting Hatter. Of course the guy would have his influence and ears all over the place.
Soon enough, the man made his way back to the docks and found his ship cleaned and repainted to remove the space debris scrapes and rust from years of neglect. He boards the ship to find tree-shaped air fresheners hung in the fashion of land traversal vehicles. Has Dabi said he hates his life right now? The kitchen holds new equipment and the bridge has updates made throughout though, so maybe he’ll return to KDY for shipwork if he survives long enough.
As soon as the crew and Rumi get back on board, Dabi sets the ship on a course for his first job for ‘Hatter’.
- --- / -- . . - / - .... . / --.- ..- . . -. / --- ..-. / .... . .- .-. - ...
It took him some time and plenty of conversation with the asshole in control of his life over a newly secure, encryptable ship phone to get to the point he was now at. Sneak into X to slip a drive into a server, plant a package on someone’s unfortunate ship, run a package to a post office of all places… The little shit had him two weeks into menial tasks when he got the call they were waiting for.
“Found your caged dove, Alice. One last task before you walk away from me with your bird in toe.”
Dabi hid the seething feeling from his voice, the child he had come to learn was only sixteen had tacked on an ice cream run to a specialty shop the last time he let his emotions get into his voice. That took him a whole day in itself. “About damn time, kid. What’s this last thing, and gods below, if I have to buy you another sundae to get the coordinates…”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. I sent the coordinates to your console and you got me access to the security systems of the place a while ago. Turns out an HVT is there alongside your sweetheart. Get him off-world and bring him to me while you rescue your damsel in distress and we’ll be even. You’ll never have to hear from me again if you don’t want to.”
“Good. I’ll take you up on that last part.”
“You might rethink that when you see who I want pulled. Agree?”
“I hate you.”
“Sent the details. I’ll be in touch when you get close to the base.” Like always, Hatter disconnects before Dabi has the ability to say anything further. Dabi checks the data pack from KDY with maintenance logs detailing the fixes to his ship. The numbers of each task, a random number between zero and nine. Knowing the boy’s work, Dabi made quick work typing the coordinates into his navigator and checked thrice before blinking at the asteroid base on his screen. He sighs at the realization that he passed this base on his way into the system and calls Rumi in to see the long awaited answer to their dilemma.
Rumi was thrilled to see the coordinates in the nav finally point to her best friend, but Dabi’s words held the sour tone she came to recognize as a silent ‘but…’. “What are you holding back, Dabi? I know that tone means a caveat.” She tempers her smile, waiting for possible bad news.
“Hatter wants us to pick up another person and deliver them to him while we smuggle Kei out of the base too.” Slight relief filled her face at the lack of bad news, but she didn’t seem to like the prospect of another checkbox added in their stressful rescue. “Any idea who, or are we supposed to pick one?”
Dabi finds the data pack with information on the person Aki was looking for and opens it. He has to do a double take at the face that stared back at him.
Name: Todoroki, Shoto
Age: 17
Gender: M
Rank: -REDACTED-
Status: -REDACTED-
His own brother stared back at him. He hadn’t seen his family in ten years and didn’t plan on ever seeing them again after stealing his first Wraith-class recon ship to escape the training facility he was held at for so many years. Looks like the Hatter was quite mad and believed a family reunion was overdue. One more reason the man hates children. He swallows and looks at Rumi. “Him. I hope he knows we’re coming and he doesn’t think he’s being kidnapped.”
He knows that she made the connection between them as her eyes sparkle. Dabi suddenly regrets every decision that led him here as the next words pass Rumi’s lips. ”I didn’t know you had siblings! Let’s go save Hawks and give you a happy family reunion, Dabert!” So much regret.
-- .- -.. -. . ... ... --..-- / .. / - . .-.. .-.. / -.-- --- ..-
Dabi cracks his knuckles, the feeling of his unique power pulsing beneath his skin making him itch for action. Hatter finally gave them the go ahead to bust the glorified prison rock open like a generic fish product can and Dabi was impatient as they waited for the blackout that signified the time to breach the steel doors that the HPSC thought would keep them safe. “I should probably lead, Rumi. No need for you to get hurt before they can shoot you.” He smirks at her offended expression and holds up a hand, two fingers curled in.
“Excuse you, I can take care of myself.” Rumi whispers back.
“Obviously, bunny girl. I meant that I don’t want to hurt you. Hawks wouldn’t forgive me.” A small blue jet of flames burst from Dabi’s fingers and he adjusts the strength by curling his middle finger in. He sets to work cutting the hinges off the large door in front of him.
Rumi watches as the hinges drop off with small amounts of slag cooling onto the ground of the transportation docks. She blinks a few times as this was the first time he’s shown the power of fire that courses in his veins. The hinges give in quickly and soon the lights go out. The two set themselves by the door and a large wild smile settles over Dabi’s face. “Knock knock, motherfuckers!!”
A large fireblast singed Rumi as she watched the doors blow into the facility and the red emergency lights came on in the halls as her ears stopped ringing. That was quite the power. Dabi confidently walks into the halls, shooting jets of flame from his hand at any guard that tries to get in their way. She placed a hand to her ear, activating the comm set she was wearing. “Hatter, we’re in. Where are the boys?”
“Block A and Solitary. You’ll find the lines on the floor as a helpful guide. Blue to Block A and red to the elevator. I’ll open the cell doors for all the blocks since you told everyone you’re there. External communications are jammed, so you shouldn’t need to worry about the General”
“Thanks, Hatter. Let us know if anything changes.” The click of the line going quiet was as good as a nod from the boy. Rumi follows the blue line with Dabi, her throwing carrots and kicks taking out any guards smart enough to try attacking their back. By the time they push their way into Block A, the place is chaos. Guards and prisoners litter the ground in varying states of injury.
Hawks is found in the barricade of prisoners holding guards off with the rest when he finally notices them. Dabi laughs maniacally as blue flames pour over the guards and onto the tables making up the blockade. The smart prisoners duck behind the burning tables and any left above the edges catch on fire. Screaming fills the embattled hall as men fall to the blue flames of hell until the silence of the dead takes hold. Dabi speaks as the last guard quiets and the hall shudders at the audible malice. “I am here for Takami Keigo. Anyone who stands in my way will burn like the rest.” Dabi waits as Hawks makes his way through the minefield of burned corpses to reach his side. “Any who wish to be free may head to the transportation docks and await further instructions.”
Dabi turns on his heel, trench coat billowing out as his combat boots echo his retreat into the silent room. He makes his way to the elevator, guard blockades only providing minor delay as feathers, carrots, and fire make quick work of them. Hawks gave a questioning look as they fought deeper into the facility instead of out.
One quick message to Hatter and the elevator turned on and opened for them. “Going down. Next stop: Solitary confinement.” Dabi turns to Hawks and gives him a kiss.
“Get back to the ship, Kei. I need to pick up one more passenger.” Dabi gives Hawks a kiss and nudges him back the way they came with an urgency. “Get the crew and any new passengers onto the ship. We’ll want to leave as soon as I get back.”
“I can go with you. We’ve fought together for months and I won’t leave you again!”
“Keigo! I’ll be back. I need to pick up someone to pay back Hatter’s help. Please help me with the others.” Rumi gets on the elevator and hits the button while Hawks and Dabi fight quietly.
The doors close as she snaps at them. “Both of you get to the ship! I’ll get the other guy!”
They both look at the elevator as the doors shut, silence sweeping over them. “Guess we got our answer.”
-... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / -. --- .-. -- .- .-.. ..--..
Dabi sat in the mess hall of his ship as his boyfriend and brother looked over the new equipment added by Kuat Drive Yards in the previous refit. The waiter droid buzzed around as they looked it over, following like curious pets. The mess would be closing in a few minutes as they prepared to put in at Faltran South again and, preferably, for the last time in a while. He ate his borken stir fry on rice like the food was going out of style before heading out to the bridge to oversee his landing preparations. The ship was stocked with former prisoners camping in the holds and mess while the crew and Shoto had rooms to themselves, so getting there took longer than he wanted.
The ship had an automatic landing system, but Dabi rarely trusted the systems of his ship to handle delicate procedures like landing without his override code at the ready. He sat in the captain’s chair and put in his code to override without pressing enter. He grabbed the microphone and engaged the P/A system. “Bridge to all hands: Prepare for re-entry maneuvers. Bridge crew to stations, please.” He watched the system start moving the ship from orbit to re-entry where the shuttle drones would carry his light cruiser into port. The craziest crew of assholes this side of the psych ward made their way to their seats with practiced ease. He wouldn’t trade them for anyone, but piracy requires a certain level of insanity. “Bridge to all hands: Brace for atmospheric turbulence. Re-entry in 3… 2… 1.”
Landing was smoother for Dabi if he had his crew in place for possible issues, but the jolt of landing always brought him a breath of relief. He released the door and made his way out to the hold. “Everybody ready for a breath of free air?!” The gathered crowd roared. “Kuat Drive Yards welcomes you to Faltran and will help you set up for your new lives wherever they may be. Please exit my ship in an orderly fashion and let the civil intake droids help you move into your temporary residences.” He opens the door and people start off the ship, hungry for fresh air and a new life.
“Shoto… With me please.” Dabi leads the brother he had the last week to reunite with to the KDY offices. The doors swing open with a chime and the receptionist looks up.
“Welcome to Kuat Drive Yards! I’m Aki! I’m guessing you’re our appointment today?” Dabi wonders for a minute if the greenette has a memory problem, but Shoto is all too aware of the boy’s antics. He pushes past Dabi and goes around the desk to pull Aki up into a tight hug.
“I missed you, Izuku. They told me you were dead.” Dabi took his leave soon after, a bird that he’d promised a date prompting his departure.
- .... . / . -. -..
Alpha-9 was the home of a beautiful tropical planet that Dabi and Hawks wanted to go to. The feel of the sand under their feet was new as was the water lapping at their toes while they shared heated kisses on one of its beaches, tucked away in privacy a week after the breakout. General Enji Todoroki was fuming and reportedly fired staff and punished subordinates when he got the news of the breakout. Despite his earlier resentment, Dabi stayed in contact with his brother and by extension Mad Hatter, but only on casual terms. He wouldn’t make a second deal with that devil if he could help it.
They had no plans to return to piracy in the near future, but life has funny ways of having one continue their stories.