Work Text:
Timeline: A-Bridged
Challenge: Game (Challlenge number 8)
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I've perfected this game.
See, I know how to push Z's buttons. I know that flirting with other women makes her jelous. But she won't say anything about it, and until she's ready to admit her feelings, I'm not going to push her into a relationship. I'm not sure what the regulations at the Academy say about relations between the teams, but then again, I'm not going to stay here forever.
Regardless, I'm still playing the game that I've played since we were young. I was fifteen the first time it entered my mind, watching a girl on the cusp of womanhood walk down the street, and I watched her walk away until she turned the corner. Looking back at Z to comment, I saw the fury flash in those amazing brown eyes. I asked what her problem was, and she looked away, muttering something under her breath. I tried it a few more times, and each time the reaction was the same.
So when Diane, the 'witness' from the bank robberies showed up, it was easy to slip into my old game, to flirt and admire, to sigh excessively over her. The typical game.
It wasn't until later, after the Fernovian had been locked up, that Syd approached me and asked me what game I was trying to play. I asked what she meant, and she looked at me like I had lost my mind.
"The simple fact that you broke Z's heart. Didn't you see how devastated she was when she heard you go on and on and on about how beautiful that criminal was?" I was set aback...I had been so focused on keeping up appearances, about not letting anyone see that I wanted us to be more than 'brother and sister', that I had not seen what it was doing to her. I wanted us to be lovers, and not just in the physical sense. I already knew so much about her, and she knew more that a few of my own secrets.
Ashamed, I made an apology to Syd, and promised to avoid playing this stupid game in the future. As Syd walked away, she threw a casual comment over her shoulder.
"Why would you want to play a silly game, when you have the real thing right beside you?"