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“Hey Lena,” Lucio said racing into the Gibraltar kitchen. “I need your help with something.”
“Sure love,” Lena said in the middle of her breakfast. “What are you up too?”
“Well,” Lucio said rather sheepishly. “Hana’s birthday is in a few days, and, I, . well, may have, . . still not figured out what to get her.”
“Woah. Lucio Correia dos Santos, the self-proclaimed, ‘World’s Greatest Boyfriend,’ didn’t get anything for his woman yet?”
“Hey now. With all the stuff we’ve been doing with Overwatch lately, it just sort of snuck up on us.”
“No, it snuck up on you.”
“Yeah, yeah I know I dropped the ball. And what’s worse is that she’s turning 20 this year. So I have to give her something that will knock her socks off.”
“Okay, now we have a place to start with. Something that will knock her socks off. So how long have you two dated?”
“Almost going on 3 years.”
“So what you two gotten each other before for your birthdays?”
“I wrote a new song for Hana for her past 2 birthdays. She gave me this really retro video game called DJ Hero the first time and tickets to see the World Hockey Championships.
“So do you want to keep doing the same thing or something different?”
“Oh something different definitely. I mean things are really going to be getting serious between the two of us.
“Here’s a thought, love. Has she ever been to Brazil?”
“No she hasn’t. Though one time when we were fighting, she said I come from a land of piranhas.”
“Okay then. Does she know anything at all that’s actually applicable?”
“I think just the basics. That we speak Portuguese, love soccer, have giant slums, the rainforest, all that.”
“But does she know the Brazil that you know?”
“No, I don’t think she does.”
“And when she took you to Korea for the first time, did she show you the Korea she knows?”
“I mean it was mostly video games the first time, but yeah we did see more after a few times.”
“Well there you go then. Take the girl to Brazil. I’m sure you two could use a proper holiday.”
“Yeah, that’s an amazing idea! But, how are we gonna get there? I don’t know how to fly any of these ships.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I can fly you too there.”
“Really? That doesn’t get in the way of anything?”
“Things have been kind of slow around here. I’m sure Winston won’t mind.”
“Oh, this sounds great! I love it when a plan comes together. I’ll go tell her right now!”
“Wake up sleepyheads!” Lena shouted over the ship’s intercom. Hana and Lucio were in the middle of taking a nap in the bed quarters. The ship had been flying for the past 7 hours.
“This is your love captain Lena Oxton, reporting that we will be making landfall in Rio de Janeiro in approximately 30 minutes. Please make sure you are in a full upright position will all food disposed of.”
Lucio and Hana made their way out to the loading area of the ship. Lucio said that the weather in Rio would be mild this time of year, but still very humid. She was dressed in pink short shorts and a white tank top. Lucio wore a green t-shirt and camouflage shorts. No roller blades on his feet today.
“Hana, you should put on that playlist I made from you,” Lucio said.
Hana put on the headphones of her music player on and hit play. What struck her was that this didn’t sound anything like the EDM Lucio makes. She heard the sounds of fast rapping in Portuguese, processed horns, a steady syncopated beat, and the occasional Latin drum breakdown.
“What is this music?” Hana asked in disbelief.
“It’s called favela funk. It’s what everyone dances to in the slums.”
“I like it. How come you don’t make music like this?”
“It really only talks about Brazilian issues, and it can get pretty dirty at times.”
“Oi, lovebirds,” Lena said. “We’re about to get a view of the coastline.”
Lucio took Hana to get a view out of the departure door. Through the clouds, the two could see the coastline of Copacabana beach. There were specks of people along the ocean running in an out of the waves. The beachfront properties were covered in white paint, but didn’t give off a bright shine. The foliage shown a bright green, hiding some of the brightly colored, run-down apartments.
“Oh my god, it’s beautiful,” Hana said.
“It looks beautiful from up here, but it’s a whole different story down there,” Lucio replied. “Lena, take us down.”
“Roger that,” Lena said, aiming the ship down.
The ship landed in the Santa Teresa barrio. As soon as it set on the ground, the Brazilian kids who were in the streets initially got out of the way, then came back to see who would come out. Their faces lit with delight once they saw it was Lucio.
“Lucio’s here! Can I get your autograph?” the kids said in Portuguese.
“Hey everyone,” Lucio said to them as he got out. “I want to introduce you to someone special to me.”
Hana disembarked the ship to join Lucio among the kids.
“This is Hana Song, my girlfriend. You might know her as D.va. And today’s her birthday.”
“Happy birthday!” the kids said.
“Um, thanks,” Hana said in English, hardly able to process the Portuguese being said. “It’s nice meeting you all.”
“Hey everyone, I’m going to show Hana around the city,” Lucio said urging the kids to go back to their games. “I’ll come back to you in a little bit.”
“Lena, are you okay waiting in the ship?” Hana asked.
“No worries,” Lena replied back from the ship. “Just don’t be long. I don’t want to be too lonely.”
“Okay babe,” Hana directed to Lucio. “Where do you want to go?”
“I want to take you to one of my favorite spots here,” Lucio said as they went off walking through the streets hand-in-hand.
They eventually ended up at a beach along the Calcadao Da Praia, in the Flamengo barrio. From there, they could get a view of across the strait of water to the east and of Sugarloaf Mountain in the south. The waves rolled in and out as more people were enjoying the sunshine.
“You see Hana,” Lucio started to explain. “On the other side of the bay. That’s the Icarai barrio. That’s where Vishkar wanted to start it’s development projects. Followed by ones here in Flamengo, downaways in Botafogo, and further north in Ramos. From there they wanted to completely redevelop the city. Luckily for the residents, I was there to help stop them.”
“You told me about that before,” Hana said. “What does that have to do with your favorite place?”
“I like this beach more than Copacabana because I can see more of Rio from here. More of the Rio I love. Those kids we met when we got off the ship, I fought for the likes of them. Most of them don’t grow up into getting up in the morning and having to go to fancy jobs in a shiny high-rise. Most of the time they end up wanting to lay loose and enjoy life as each moment passes by.”
“I don’t think I have a spot like this back in Korea,” Hana said.
“No? You never took the time to look at the natural world around you?”
“I’m a pro gamer. Almost all my skillset is in the digital realm.”
“I know this isn’t as high-tech as Korea and the people are just accustomed to life differently, but this is home to me. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“It’s ok, Lucio. I love this place. This is an amazing birthday present.”
“Well, cheers to the birthday girl.”
The two shared a kiss on the beach as the waves continued to roll in.