Chapter Text
Rue Auguste Comte
Paris, France
29 January 212
Wufei bolted down the street, gasping with exertion and laughter. His legs pumped beneath him, feet pounding the Parisian sidewalk. Behind him came the distressed shouting of his pursuer. It only made him clutch the treasure in his hands tighter as he wove a serpentine path between startled pedestrians.
The distress from behind him soon became breathless dismay and it was the shift that Wufei needed to hear to know that the lesson had been learned.
Wufei slowed his pace and came to a stop at the next corner. He took two deep breaths and turned to face his pursuer.
The paparazzi stumbled to a halt a couple meters away, clearly reluctant to get too close. His dark eyes were wide and horrified, flicking between Wufei and his hostage camera. Red in the face, he doubled over, gulping air.
“Now what have we learned from this experience?” Wufei asked in French.
“Not to take pictures of a Gundam pilot?” the man offered in response.
Wufei snorted and closed the distance between them. “As much as I’d prefer that, you’d lose business to competition, I’m sure. The lesson—” he said, handing the camera back to the owner, “—is to stay out of reach of a Gundam pilot. Invest in a zoom lens. Don’t let me catch you again.”
With a parting predatory grin, Wufei turned to continue on his way—cutting through Le Jardin du Luxembourg and leaving the stunned paparazzi in his wake.