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For everyone at Valorant, It was a little odd in the beginning. Killjoy was full of bubbly energy while Cypher was much more reserved. Yes, he sassed his colleagues whenever they deserved it, but compared to the German engineer, he was certainly quiet. Which made it all the more surprising how well they got on. They never expected the 35 y/o and the 27 y/o to hit it off so well.
Soon enough, the two began spending hours in one of their respective labs just tinkering with their tech, talking about random things, etc. Occasionally, Raze would join them, but she could never sit still for more than an hour before needing to do something else. They’d show up to dinner together, sometimes falling asleep in the labs together, though it was often just Killjoy dozing off and Cypher shaking her awake to tell her to ‘GO TO BED’.
Sometimes, Sage would catch a glimpse of Cypher begrudgingly piggybacking Killjoy back to her room after she refused to go to bed and just passed out.
It was cute.
Unfortunately, neither of them were very self-aware.
They were both also the most stubborn people when they wanted to be.
“Cypher! I know you took my condenser cables again. I need them back today, k?” Killjoy chirped into her comms with a cheery smile, directing the voice message straight to Cypher.
At their lunch table, Raze and Jett just eyed her with smirks on their faces.
“I swear, all my stuff keeps going missing because he keeps taking the-” Killjoy stopped talking when she noticed her two friends staring at her, “What? Is there something on my face?”
“No, no. It’s noth-” Jett began, only to be cut off by Raze’s booming voice and her slamming her hands on the table as she stood up.
“Look at the sappy grin on your face, amigo ! Is there something you wanna tell us?’ Raze leaned forward and waggled her eyebrows at Killjoy.
“What? Wait, what are you talking about?” The young engineer was sincerely confused.
Jett and Raze shared a look.
“Uh, you and Cypher? The two of you have been flirting nonstop for the past 3 weeks. At the very least .” Jett spoke as if this was common knowledge.
Well, it was, just not to the two people in question.
"W-what? Me and Cypher? Come on, even that’s a bit too much for a joke." Killjoy awkwardly laughed and waved her hand at them dismissively, averting her gaze. She knew she felt something for the Moroccan man, but to have her friends ask her about it when she herself wasn't sure?
The two duelists shared another look.
"So… you mean that you're not dating?" Jett stared at Killjoy with wide eyes.
"D-dati-?!"
"Wait, then what on earth was that at last Friday’s party then?" Raze cut her off incredulously.
The engineer whipped her head to face her two friends, face flushed red and stuttering. "T- that was just our regular banter!"
Cue two raised eyebrows from the duelists.
"… Our… regular banter that… got out of hand… OK! OK! Fine! But it was just that one time, and honestly, it was just because we got too excited and accidentally ripped one of Breach’s fingers off but I’m the one that fixes his arms anyway! And-”
“We’re talking about what happened after that, Killjoy. If Cypher didn’t pry Sova’s Vodka out of your hands, Sage would have absolutely banned you from drinking for the rest of your life.” Jett deadpanned.
“Yeah! You two were so flirty the whole time after that that we all thought you were dating!”
“Not to mention that you actually managed to convince him to come with his mask off. I think the only other time he was at a gathering without his mask was during a debrief, and that was because Phoenix accidentally set it on fire and it was either exposing his face or burning it.” Jett leaned back in her chair, recalling the incident a few months back.
“But we just acted like we normally do! And he does take it off in the labs once in a while...” Killjoy muttered abashedly.
“If by ‘normal’, you mean throwing sass and pickup lines at each other, you clinging to him every 5 minutes, him calling you sweetheart in that sickly sweet voice, both of you staring at each other the whole time, plus him carrying you back to your room after you passed out on him, then yeah, totally normal.”
Killjoy opened her mouth to respond but the words died in her mouth. It looked like she froze and her brain was lagging trying to process what Jett just said.
“Uh… earth to Killjoy?”
“I think you broke her, Jett. Should we get Cyph-”
“ Mein Gott, don't you dare!” Killjoy’s demeanor did a 180 and she basically screeched, leaping out of her seat to clamp her hand over Raze’s mouth, her face burned even more as she was forced to confront the fact that they were flirting and holy shit so this was what she felt? She liked Cypher?
Silence washed over the room.
Jett stared in disbelief. It was rare to see Killjoy scream like... that.
Raze physically could not talk.
Killjoy recomposed herself with a few deep breaths and let Raze go. The latter gasped for air dramatically, supporting herself on her chair.
“*GASP* I almost died .”
“I really don’t think it was that dramatic...” Jett glanced at Raze with a deadpan face.
“Well, it was for me! But for real, Anna, are you telling me you didn't notice this… thing between you and Cypher for weeks now?”
Killjoy groaned silently at Raze’s words and slumped back into her chair. “Are you sure you’re not overthinking things? Look, maybe it was just last week an-”
“Killjoy, I hate to say this, but only you and Cypher are blind as a bat,” a fourth voice suddenly chimed in from the doorway.
The little engineer let out a squeak.
Three heads turned to the doorway and saw Yoru standing there, almost poised to attack.
“How long have you been standing there?!” Killjoy almost yelled.
“Long enough to learn that both of you are idiots. I heard a scream and ran over to see if something was wrong.” The Japanese man relaxed and took a few steps forward, confirming that there was no threat in the room.
“Wait, what do you mean by both of u-”
Killjoy’s question was abruptly cut off by the man himself appearing at the worst possible timing, albeit looking ever so slightly out of breath.
“I heard you scream. Killjoy, are you alright?” Cypher stood at the doorway, looking mildly panicked.
“I- Uh- No- wait I mean yes-”
She was so unprepared for Cypher’s arrival that nothing but incoherent strings of words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Wow. Smooth.” Raze whistled.
“Izzie! Halt die Klappe! ” Killjoy whipped her head to hiss at her best friend to stfu.
“She’s fine! She just saw a cockroach and screamed.” Jett blurted out a little too quickly.
“What? Since when were you afraid of cockroache-” Cypher began, immediately catching on that there was something sus going on, but Yoru, bless that man, intercepted him. Killjoy silently thanked him and vowed to treat him to anything he wanted. The girls she could handle. But Cypher? She would die of embarrassment at this point in time.
“All is fine, Cypher. Come, the area is safe. Let’s not bother the girls' talk.”
The man raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Yoru, before glancing at the girls and looking straight at Killjoy. It took every ounce of willpower for her to not turn away but instead give him a sheepish smile.
“... alright. I’ll see you later in your lab then, Killjoy.” Cypher chose to let it go; he understood that some secrets were just not meant to be pried into.
With that the two men turned and walked off, the metallic door shutting behind them.
A beat of silence passed before the three ladies slumped on the spot, all their energy drained from a 5 min interaction. Killjoy let out a small whimper and buried her head into her hands, face flushed again from the thought of their flirting.
Anna was not someone that knew much about romantic love. Her love for her work and her inventions was unrivaled, but dedicating most of your life to your passion meant sacrificing other things.
Hence, romantic emotions were relatively new to her.
Of course, with her sunny disposition, many people have confessed to her, but she always felt like something was missing with them; the spark wasn’t there. She would turn them down regardless since her work still drew most of her attention. The saltier ones would call her a killjoy behind her back for not giving them a chance. It was then that Anna embraced the nickname Killjoy out of pettiness.
Killjoy didn’t think she’d find anyone that could match up to her, and when she turned 25, she simply came to accept that her tech would be her life; she was relatively happy, after all. Especially after the whole fiasco with Kingdom causing things to go to shit and her joining the Protocol, she decided that she was content with this life.
All that came crashing down a few months later when Cypher joined the Protocol.
He was an enigma. A closed-off box of intelligence. A mystery that was on par with her mind and her tech, although she would never admit it to him. He was fascinating .
Killjoy found herself drawn to him. Whenever they were assigned on missions together, she would always try to start a conversation or tease him, and he would respond with sass and the same lighthearted banter she started. Soon enough, Cypher would initiate conversations with her as well, and she revelled in it.
Though they could talk endlessly about their work and dumb pickup lines, he was still hiding a lot of things behind his sass. She was curious about his life and who he really was, but every time she asked, it would be deflected.
Only a few months ago did Cypher give in late one night as they slumped on the couch in Cypher’s lab after working tirelessly on their destroyed equipment from a previous mission. It was 5am, and Killjoy was unsure if he told her because he wanted to, or if he was too tired to hide it anymore.
“Will you ever show me your face?” She yawned and grinned at him. “Or even your name would be nice.”
He chuckled tiredly. “Well, you can’t keep asking for something without offering an equal trade in return, can you?”
“I can offer you my name, but you’ve already seen my face from the moment we met.” Killjoy snickered.
“Hmn…” Cypher hummed softly but made no response.
Killjoy looked at him before lulling her head on the sofa’s headrest, letting out a breath.
“It’s Anna.”
“Hm?”
“My name. It’s Anna.”
It was Cypher’s turn to turn his head to look at her. He simply stared at her for a few moments, making it hard for her to ignore it. She stared back at him.
“What?” Anna giggled. “Don’t look so surprised.”
“...”
Wordlessly, Cypher took off his hat and reached for his mask, slowly pulling it off. The action alarmed Killjoy so much she was going to sputter out a ‘i was joking!’, but the words died on her lips upon seeing his face for the first time. She saw an actual smile on his face for the first time.
It was breathtaking.
“It's nice to finally meet you properly, Anna… My name is Aamir.”
“… Heilige Scheiße, am I dreaming?”
Cypher laughed. Killjoy couldn’t look away.
“No, little engineer. This is me.”
That night marked the beginning of everything.
"Izzieeee, are you sure you can't join us in the lab today?" Killjoy almost begged, "He already said he’d be waiting but I don’t want to face him alone right now!"
After lunch, the trio had to part to go their separate ways, but Killjoy wasn’t ready to be thrust into a position where she either had to quash her feelings in front of the Moroccan man or straight up confess; she wanted time to somewhat process all these new emotions. Not to mention that Cypher was already sus of what happened earlier.
"Sorry Anna, I have to go see Sage today for a checkup. I'm not risking her wrath by skipping..."
Killjoy wanted an Operator to take her out there and then.
"I mean… it can't be that bad." Jett spoke up, "just act as you always have.”
"But how do I do that knowing that 80% of our interactions are flirtatious in nature?! I’m just going to end up sounding creepy or awkward!"
“It’s not creepy or awkward… for you two at least” Jett mumbled the last part under her breath.
“Honestly, just kinda ew because it's too sappy for us to watch.” Raze barked out a laugh, saying what Jett tried to not say.
“Izzie!” Killjoy gasped, mortified.
“I don’t think anything will change, you’ll both soon revert to your regular flirting habits anyway,” Raze waved her hand dismissively. “It’s kinda ew but also kinda cute.”
Killjoy was very close to stealing Reyna’s hairdryer so that she’ll kill her.
“Ok, ok! Stop! Scheiße , this is worse than getting lectured by Brimstone…” she groaned and buried her face in her hands before looking back up at the two duelists upon remembering what Yoru said earlier. “Wait. Just how many people know about this??”
“Uh, probably everyone? The way two of you have been pining for each other like a bunch of lovesick fools, it's hard to miss.”
“O-kay, that’s it, I’m going to steal Reyna’s hairdryer and maybe put some yellow dye in her shampoo.”
“Please don’t.” Jett winced. The aftermath wouldn’t be pretty.
Raze quickly checked the time.
“Hoo-boy, I need to get over to Sage’s lab before I get hunted down. Adios !” With that, she took off like a rocket.
“Good luck, don’t think too much about it, kay? I’ll see you later.” Jett took off shortly after.
Left standing alone outside the mess hall, Killjoy cursed under her breath. There wasn’t much she could really do though. Avoiding Cypher wasn’t an option; she didn’t want to avoid him forever. Still, confronting him about this was overwhelming. The engineer started walking, taking the long route to her lab, scratching her head in frustration while trying to sort out her thoughts.
‘What would I even say? What do I even expect out of this? If he says no, doesn’t it get awkward? But if he says yes, then what?’
A thought stopped her.
‘What am I saying…? I can tell he still hurts over his late wife. Why would he feel anything for me? If anything, everyone else is exaggerating it and he just sees me as a child. So what if he teases me? He teases everyone!’
A painful sigh escaped her lips. She hated this.
“This is going to go nowhere... Might as well just get it over with and we can carry on with our lives.”
‘At least, I'll try.’
With a bit more resolve, she stomped to her lab, hoping that Cypher would make things easy and just shoot her down.
Aamir had nothing much else to live for after Nora’s death. He shut himself off, planning various ways to take Kingdom down in the name of revenge. Cypher agreed to join the Protocol once realised that the Triad wasn’t of much use to him anymore; my enemy’s enemy is my friend after all.
He came to realise that everyone was… oddly warm. With the exception of a few people of course. Cypher wanted to remain as unattached as possible, he couldn’t escape the pain and guilt he felt from surviving while everyone else in his family died.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans for him.
His colleague, Killjoy, would talk to him whenever she could, and he would respond out of courtesy, only to get swept along by the conversations she started and the things they would do together.
He didn’t want to admit it, but it took away some of the pain.
“...What do you fight for?” Cypher uncharacteristically asked Killjoy one afternoon as they headed back to his lab to continue on a joint project they were working on.
“What?”
The question took Killjoy by surprise. He normally didn’t initiate conversations, let alone those with more personal questions.
“I mean, why did you join the Protocol?”
Cypher wasn’t sure what possessed him to ask her that. But the truth remained that only someone with a specific motive would join the Protocol; a person of her calibre was wasted here.
Killjoy just grinned. “You really wanna know?”
Cypher chuckled in response. He could live without knowing, but it looked like the German would tell him anyway.
“Well,” she took a deep breath, her smile dropping a little. “My parents died shortly after I graduated from university. It was sudden and didn’t make sense to me. They worked for Kingdom, and I was supposed to join them. I… found out that they were silenced by Kingdom because of something they discovered.”
Killjoy’s voice nearly cracked, but the smile never left her face.
“I… won’t go into details, but long story short, Brimstone contacted me after that asking for my help because I know everything there is to know about Radianite. He was a family friend, and now acts as my ‘guardian’, which is wholly unnecessary. I’m 27.”
She rolled her eyes trying to shrug off the fact that she just bared her heart and soul to Cypher.
On the other hand, the Moroccan spy stopped in his tracks and stared at her
Killjoy stopped a few paces in front of him, tipping her head towards him and staring back with a sad smile.
“Come on, don’t worry about it,” She dismissively waved her hand at him. “We all got some baggage here… some people just have heavier and more difficult ones…”
Cypher knew she was right, and an overwhelming urge to comfort the equally wounded soul welled up in his chest.
“I… My wife, Nora, and my family were murdered by Kingdom. Their Radianite experiments killed them. They were abducted while I was away; in fact, I was supposed to be taken as well.”
The weight of everything he held in his heart tumbled out so easily in front of the German engineer that it shocked him.
It was Killjoy’s turn to gasp in horror.
“I- I’m so sorry for making you relive this. You didn't have to tell me.” She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
“No, I… I wanted to,” Cypher said, to his own surprise. “I’ve never been able to tell anyone, and it does eat me up inside.”
“The feeling that you shouldn't have survived…” Killjoy trailed off.
“... Exactly.”
“I think in a way, we can all understand that feeling.” She gave another sad smile. “I often wonder what would have happened if I was with my parents that night they died.”
“I… am certain that they’re glad you lived on.” He said, feeling like a complete hypocrite.
“Of course! I am their prodigy!” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I am sorry for reminding you of painful memories though.”
“No, no, I asked first, after all. And… Well, you're the first person I've been able to speak to about my past. I am grateful for that.” He smiled a little under his mask, knowing that she wouldn't see it.
“Aamir…”
Killjoy saying his real name in such a soft voice almost made his heart clench.
“So, thank you, Anna.”
A beat of silence passed before Killjoy responded.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything much, but remember, you’re not alone anymore. We may not be your family, but we’re as close as we can get to it.”
She moved to pat his head (hat) with a smile.
Somehow, he felt like he could allow himself to believe her words, even if the voice in his head did nothing but scream ’betrayer’ at him relentlessly.
Back in the lab, Cypher frowned for the umpteenth time since the incident earlier. He was… conflicted.
Well, firstly, hearing Killjoy scream in the distance almost gave him a heart attack. Secondly, seeing her with a beet red face made his heart do flip-flops.
‘The fuck, Aamir?’ He chastised himself.
Cypher was not stupid. He knew what these feelings were. He felt the same thing when he was with Nora. He knew that he had feelings for the young engineer. It was even more obvious after the party last week. He would normally never give in to a request to not wear his mask out, but he was weak against Killjoy’s pleas.
The man wasn’t stupid, but he sure as hell was in denial.
How could he even begin to accept it when it had been barely a year and a half since Nora’s death? How long was it acceptable to grieve before moving on? Wasn’t this betraying what they had? Could he consider anyone else but Nora? It felt incomprehensibly wrong, and Cypher was unwilling to properly deal with these emotions like a grown-ass adult.
Instead, he let out another long suffering sigh. ‘You can’t keep doing this, Aamir. You can only disguise your feelings with sass for so long. She probably sees you as a close friend anyway.’
“... Cypher?”
An uncharacteristically meek voice came from the doorway. It was Killjoy, peeping in shyly before walking in.
“Ah, Killjoy. Are you alright? You don’t seem like yourself today.”
For all his experience with romance (yes, it was only one woman but that’s still more than zero), Cypher couldn’t (*cough*refused to*cough*) pick up on what was up with the little engineer. Nora was a dainty and sweet woman, but she was very straightforward with her feelings. Aamir never had to second guess or decipher romantic signals. Then again, he’s also been in blind denial for the past month, refusing to entertain the thought.
Hence… the conundrum at hand.
“ Ja ! I’m good!” She responded a bit too loudly.
‘What the fuck?’ They both thought simultaneously. A moment of awkward silence washed across them.
“... That’s good, that’s good.” Cypher slowly responded. “If you feel sick, do let me know. I will kick you out of the lab and into your bed.”
“Hey! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!” Killjoy pouted, throwing herself into the chair beside Cypher.
“Says the one that fell asleep in the lab at 5am a total of 23 times this month and had me carry them back to their room.” Cypher smirked under his mask.
“Why are you even keeping count?!” Killjoy gawked and lightly punched his shoulder.
“Blackmail material.”
“Mein Gott. I will revoke your rights to my soldering iron.”
Cypher gasped almost dramatically. “Woe is me. Not the soldering iron!”
That was enough to make Killjoy burst into laughter, with Cypher also laughing out loud in tandem. Her laughter was contagious, and he let himself indulge in the little joy it brought him with little resistance.
‘How selfish of you.’ Cypher internally scolded himself.
“Ah-!”
A yelp came from Killjoy. She laughed so hard that the stool she was sitting on tipped and she fell over. Without missing a beat, Cypher jumped out of his seat to catch her, causing both of them to tumble to the floor alongside a stack of blueprints and papers.
It took a few seconds for everything to settle, and even longer for Cypher to realize what he had done.
‘Oh no.’
He had caught Killjoy alright; in fact, she was wrapped tightly in his arms, one hand hugging her waist and the other cradling her head so it was nestled in his chest. He could feel her shallow breaths and coughs through the fabric of his shirt, and her hands gripped his shirt tightly.
Cypher then proceeded to short circuit for a few seconds.
He enjoyed this feeling of warmth and comfort. He hated that he did.
“Cyp-? Cyphe-! Aamir !”
“Wha-?”
Before he knew it, Killjoy’s hands had squirmed out of the weird position they were trapped in, gently pinching the sides of his face. Cypher could feel the heat through his mask.
“Earth to Cypher! You’re... holding onto me a little too tight…” Killjoy trailed off, suddenly realizing the position they were in.
Cypher blinked, although she likely couldn't see it.
"Oh. I apologize…"
Reluctantly, he loosened his hold on her and they both sat on the ground, neither even bothering to get up. Awkward silence filled the room again.
“Are you alright?” Killjoy asked Cypher softly.
“Me? You’re the one that fell, little engineer. Are you alright?” He didn’t expect her to break the silence.
“Yeah but, you took the fall for me. You landed on your shoulder right?” She looked at his shoulder and saw that it tore and had a light cut. “Let me see it, I’m not as good as Sage or Skye, but I do have some skill.”
“Killjoy, please, I’m perfectly fine.”
Ignoring his words, Killjoy quickly reached out and rummaged for the medkit in the drawer beside them, pulling it out.
“Just let me see it.” Killjoy almost pouted and leaned forward to reach his shoulder.
Cypher never reacted so fast in his life.
He backpedalled instantly and knocked his head against the table in the corner, wincing and in slight shock.
Killjoy on the other hand, blinked at him blankly for a split second before going, “Ah! Cypher, what are you doing?! Stop moving!”
“I-it’s alright, Anna. It’s really just a scratch.”
“I can see blood, dumkoph . Let me. It’s my fault you got hurt.”
She reached over again to reveal the cut, tugging at the fabric. Cornered, Cypher just sat there in resignation. Killjoy scooted over so that she was right beside him, pulling the medkit with her.
“Antiseptic… there it is…” the engineer turned temporary medic scrunched her face up as she focused on the task at hand.
Cypher stared at her almost lovingly and let out a chuckle.
“... What? Don’t laugh!” Killjoy pouted. “I’m doing my best.”
Another chuckle.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” He tugged his mask off and breathed out heavily.
‘How weak you become around her.’ Cypher knew that he should have got up and walked away, but he couldn’t bring himself to. How easy it was for them to fall in sync, to just fall into this comfortable bubble they create around each other.
Lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the way Killjoy froze for a split second due to what he said.
“Are you in pain? …I’m sorry.” She quickly finished tending to the cut and retracted her hands back onto her lap, shoulders drooping, dejected.
“No no, I’m alright. Just wanted to breathe a bit better.” He put his mask to the side. “You didn't do anything wrong. I chose to protect you, so don’t blame yourself.”
Killjoy’s head snapped up to look at Cypher’s now exposed eyes, her face slightly flushed.
“But-”
A gloved finger pressed to her lips, silencing her. Her face turned fully red now.
‘How adorable. Maybe… I’ll allow myself to tease her a bit more. This doesn’t mean anything, I'm just… teasing.”
If he said it enough times, perhaps he could convince himself too.
“No buts, little engineer. It’s alright,” the hand on her lips now moved to pat her on the head. “Besides, the face you make when you’re focused is cute.”
“?!?!”
Killjoy let out a sound akin to a strangled squawk, gawking at the Moroccan spy. A gentle yet mocking smile crept onto his face.
“I- You- Wha-'' she sputtered incoherently, trying to form coherent sentences. “S-Stop treating me like a kid! I’m not cute!”
Aamir let out a breathy laugh and gazed at her lovingly, his hand dropped to caress her cheek.
“But you are.” The words tumbled out of Cypher’s mouth so naturally that it took him a full second to realize what he just said and did.
He instantly retracted his hand and slapped it onto his mouth.
‘Ookay. That’s it. Aamir. That’s a little too much. Time to get away before you say something you’ll regret.’
Killjoy’s face burned as red as a tomato and her mouth hung open in shock.
Cypher’s brain flipped into survival mode, unprepared to deal with the consequences of what he has caused. He quickly stood up, dusted himself off and slowly started walking backwards towards the door.
“*cough* A-anyway, I’m quite alright, thank you for tending to my wound. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must ru- I mean, I have something to do.” For the first time in a long while, Cypher just felt an indescribable urge to just run away from the thing he needed to face.
And boy did he run.
The man bolted out of the lab, and Killjoy, despite not knowing what the hell was happening in Cypher’s head, instantly decided that ‘ohh no no no, you’re not running away from me after what you just did,’ and bolted after him. Of course, she was terrified at the new feelings and stuff, but she was also too stubborn to act like nothing has changed after becoming aware of it.
All of a sudden, it became a game of hide and seek between Protocol’s two smartest agents plus some screaming from Killjoy.
“Cypher! Get your Arsch back here! AAMIR!”
It started with them racing down the corridor that went past the medbay before she caught up to him near the portal to the training grounds, but he Moroccan simply glanced back, blinked in shock, and dashed away into the corridor on his right, away from the portal.
Killjoy internally sputtered at the audacity .
She turned the corner, but Cypher was gone.
“Scheiße,” she stopped, panting slightly. “So that’s how you wanna play it huh? Don’t forget who built most of the tech in this facility.”
The engineer swiftly tapped at her wristband, looking through the camera’s in the facility before remembering that Cypher had a transmitter from his camera with him. She hacked into it, and boom, she found him.
“Sneaky sneaky, so you’re running to the mess hall.” Killjoy couldn’t help but grin.
She subtly deployed an alarmbot and one of Cypher’s own tripwires near the portal just in case he snuck back into the area since his room was near the training grounds before running in his direction.
Cypher knew that she had his location. It was perfect bait. Why he was trying so hard to run away, he didn’t understand, but he was also currently acting on pure instinct and adrenaline.
Oddly enough, he found this game of hide and seek thrilling. Now if only the stakes weren’t a confrontation with the girl he had feelings for…
“Heh, it won’t be that easy to catch me, little engineer.”
He quickly latched the transmitter on his camera onto an obscure corner of the wall, before doing his best to quietly slip back to his room.
That should buy him some time to get back.
Unfortunately, Killjoy was fast, and she caught on even faster. She had made it about halfway to the transmitter signal, only to notice it had stopped moving for quite a while, and also it stopped in an odd place. She stopped running, and soon realized that she got baited.
*PING*
*Alarmbot triggered!*
*Trapwire triggered!*
“Aha! Found you!”
She dashed back to the portal, glad that she hadn’t run too far.
Cypher on the other hand cursed that he let his guard down. How could he fall for one of his own tripwires? Alas, he didn’t have the time to wallow in his own thoughts. He didn’t have his gun on him, so he had to manually disable it by prying the connecting chip out of its socket.
And that was all the time that Killjoy needed to catch up to him.
Cypher heard thundering footsteps and looked up, seeing Killjoy round the corner and charge at him.
“Shi-!”
That was the only word he managed to get out before the German engineer practically tackled him, promptly breaking the tripwire connection on his feet, but also sending them both flying… directly into the portal behind them.
They tumbled out the other end, landing flat on the brick pavement with Killjoy basically smushed into Cypher’s chest. Again.
She hoped her glasses didn’t crack.
The duo groaned in pain, eyes shut; it was by no means a soft landing. Killjoy pushed herself up into a sitting position before taking off her glasses to check for damage.
What Killjoy didn't notice was that with the way she sat up, she was essentially straddling Cypher at the waist.
Cypher on the other hand, had his breath hitch in his throat when he felt her move and get up, essentially sitting on him and pinning him to the floor. He dared not open his eyes more than a peep and saw that she was rubbing her sore nose and putting her glasses back on.
He propped himself up with his elbows, since sitting up didn't seem like much of an option, looking straight at her. He was defeated and had no choice but to face the music.
Only then did Killjoy realize where she was, or rather who she was on. She looked into his unwavering blue eyes, and for a moment, forgot how to breathe.
“Caught you.” Killjoy breathed.
Cypher sighed in resignation for the second time that day, but he couldn't deny the smile that crept across his face. “So you have. To think you caught on so quickly.”
“You forget who built most of the tech here,” a small smirk bloomed on her face as she recovered quickly from the initial shock of his gaze.
He let out one final sigh. “Alright. I surrender. I can't run from you.”
Killjoy suddenly realized where the conversation was going. She knew that there was something between them that needed to be aired out, though she didn't know exactly what. She knew very well what it meant to chase after him just now, but coming to it face to face now was more daunting than she expected.
She’d rather die before backing down though.
“... Running doesn’t solve anything,” she lowered her gaze and muttered.
“... I know.” Cypher simply stared at her drooped head.
“Then why did you run?”
“Because…” he let his gaze wander a bit, feeling mildly embarrassed. “I was scared.”
“... So am I, you know.” Killjoy glanced up at him before lifting her face. “Frankly, I think we both know that there’s stuff we need to air out. I just… didn't know how to confront it.”
Cypher chuckled dully, forcing himself to look at her. “To be honest, I wasn't planning on confronting it. Confronting you. But keeping it in just made things worse it seems.”
A pause, followed by silence.
They were both not very good with their feelings and took time to find words to say.
Killjoy didn’t know how else to say it, so she just opted to blurt out whatever came to her mind. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Cypher speaking first.
“I have feelings for you,” he stated firmly as if etching it into his mind as well. There was no point in denying anymore.
“I- what?”
“I. Like. You.” Cypher leaned in closer, sitting up and forcing Killjoy to scoot back in embarrassment, ending up on his lap instead.
“I heard you!” Killjoy flushed and averted her gaze. “But… how? I don't understand.”
“I’m not a robot, silly girl.”
"But… What about… Nora?" She whispered her name so softly that Cypher almost missed it.
"Nora… is dead, Anna." Saying it out loud was still painful, and he had to take a moment to steady his breathing. "I loved her with all my heart. But she is gone, and she can never come back to life."
"Aamir, you don’t have to say these things if they hurt. I-”
“Yes, they hurt. The fact that I survived kills me inside, but what other choice do I have but to move on?” Cypher cut her off; he had to get it off his chest. “I’ve been thinking a lot, what happens after we finish our mission? What happens after the world is safe for us to exist normally? For the longest time, the answer was that I’d end my life and reunite with her. It was the logical thing to do in my mind.”
Killjoy’s mouth snapped shut; for once she was rendered speechless. Seeing this, Cypher continued.
“But I knew that was also selfish and cowardly of me, to run away from life like that. If she could speak to me, I would be getting an earful,” he paused, unsure how to put his next thoughts into words. “Nora… would have wanted me to live, to embrace the fact that I lived, and… to move on. You gave me the courage to continue living, but I was too stubborn to admit it to myself.”
Cypher took a deep but shaky breath, unnerved from all the pent-up emotions he just let out. He leaned into Killjoy, almost burying his face into her chest.
She responded by gently embracing his trembling frame.
“I… I’m sorry.” Killjoy whispered.
Cypher’s head snapped up as he stared at her. “What for, Anna? You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“The fact that despite all this, I too selfishly want you to live. I’m thankful that you lived. I’m thankful to have met you. But if wanting to end your life brings you peace, that means I ruined it.”
Killjoy was holding back tears. Cypher’s eyes widened in alarm as he softly cooed in an attempt to soothe her.
“Oh, no no. On the contrary, little engineer. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so alive since Nora’s passing.”
“But-”
“No buts, Anna.” Cypher hushed her by pressing a finger to her lips. “I will probably have to live with my grief for a long time, but this doesn’t mean I can’t move forward.”
A brief silence washed over them before Killjoy spoke.
“I only realised today that I liked you. That’s why I was acting weird in the mess hall during lunch,” she turned her head to the side, unable to look Cypher in the eyes.
“Ah… I knew something was… off.”
“Nothing escapes you.”
He chuckled. “That is indeed true.”
Another moment of silence.
“But… What now?” Killjoy glanced at Cypher, unsure what else to say.
“I suppose we take things one step at a time.” He said softly. “That is… if you’ll have an old man like me.”
Killjoy gawked at him in disbelief. “Aamir, you’re 35. Brim would take personal offense to that statement.”
Cypher huffed in response.
“Anna, I don’t mean it in that sense. I don’t feel like I deserve you. You’re a ray of sunshine, I'm just a bitter old man.”
Killjoy just frowned at him, completely unamused at the self-hate.
“You know that I don’t see it that way.”
“I’m just saying, if you don’t want this, we can go back to how it was before... It’s ok.” Cypher continued, trying to ignore the unamused stare from the younger girl.
“You stupid man.” She pouted, cupping his face and leaning in to kiss him.
“Wow, they’re really acting as if no one else exists huh?” Phoenix let out a low whistle.
“Shameless. I'm not staying to watch this." Yoru turned to walk out almost immediately after getting dragged over by Jett.
"But Yoru! You helped them out earlier! Aren't you interested?" Jett gawked.
"I think he's just embarrassed." Raze snickered.
In the security camera room, Phoenix, Jett, Raze, Yoru, Sage, Syke, and Breach huddled around the footage from the Training Grounds.
"I never thought I'd see the day where Cypher would run like that," Sage lightly shook her head, but a small smile was always on her face. "They almost ran right into me but barely noticed at all."
"Yeah mate! I could hear Killjoy scream from halfway across the base." Skye leaned against the wall as she recalled it.
"Oi, Raze.” Breach leaned over to squint at the screen, “can’t you do something about this? We can see them but we can’t hear them.”
“Gimmie a break! I make things that blow up, not complicated stuff like this!”
“... Do they not notice just how… misleading their positions are to other people? She’s basically straddling him.” Jett stared at the screen.
Sage glanced over and sighed. “If Brim sees this…”
“Ooh yeah, Cypher's as good as dead…” Phoenix low whistled.
“Hah, I knew she was bold, but not this bold!” Breach laughed out loud.
“Wait, what’s happening? Oh. OH WAIT I THINK- HOLY SHIT THEY KISSED.” Jett started jumping up and down excitedly.
“Hang on! Who kissed who?!” Breach pushed Raze, who was directly in front of the cams, out of the way to see.
“Get your face outta my way!” Raze had to physically shove him back. “And it was Killjoy that leaned in, SO HAND OVER THAT 50, BREACH!”
“Come on, Cypher! I had faith in you!” Breach begrudgingly handed Raze her winnings.
The door suddenly opened behind them.
“What is happening here?”
Everyone whipped around to see Brimstone stride in and make a beeline for the security cams.
“Brim?!” the 3 duelists, except Yoru, practically yelled in shock.
“Uh…”
No one could stop him as he walked over, saw what was happening on the cams, and fell silent, staring at the screen with his mouth slightly ajar. Killjoy and Cypher’s positions had moved a little as they kissed, and it now looked like Cypher was the one that started the kiss. He had his arms around her waist and was being more aggressive with the kiss, leaning forward.
“Brim… don’t do anything rash ok? Let them be.” Sage moved in front of Brimstone and gently patted his shoulder.
Unfortunately, it went in one ear and out the other.
“CYPHER!” Brim turned around a strode out with the rage of a protective father.
Everyone else scrambled to try and stop him while Cypher felt a shiver down his spine.