Chapter Text
I run through the halls, the only sounds my baited breath and my erratic heartbeat- although nerve wracking,the most relaxing sound ill be hearing for a while- bearly any sound at all.
My grip on my stun stick was vice like,I couldn’t afford to drop it now. Another figure runs past me,and I shoot them down without another thought. My score goes up by a couple of points and I feel elated.
But just as im about to get moving,I feel a slight push and the unexplicable (but in this case, VERY explicable) urge to laugh.
I sit upright in bed,panting and sweating as I check my scoreboard for the morning’s class. 740 points. Still above average,but pathetically less than the desired score of a near perfect 1000.
Junior agent training before you even wake up is stressful,but they say its to test if you’re ‘awake and alert at all times’. I find that quite baffling because im pretty sure on no mission I will ever face, the threat will attack me in my rem sleep cycle.
But I don’t complain,I get my marks and make my omma proud- that’s the most important part,right?
I get out of bed and I just change out of my pajamas to start the day. Its breakfast time anyways,so not many people took that first step of changing off with me.
As several junior,and even senior agents passed me with varying degress of exhaustion or fatigue engraved in their facial stature,I nearly quite literally,run into the first and last person I want to see.
Dylan.
Look,its complicated. After the events of last summer, ive maybe developed a huge crush on arguably one of my best friends in the berau,but he’d never like me back. At least I think so. He deserves so much better than me.
Then,I suddenly remembered I was:
1. Unbathed
2. Underdressed for 10 in the morning (although most of the other agents looked worse)
3. Outside without brushing my hair OR teeth
4. Overall looking like a hermit who never came outside with my hunchback.
And to top it all off,he had the audacity to look at me with that damn amused look on his face, AND be perfectly dressed while hes at it.
He is doing tech mainstream though,so a neat stature is a must, but still, itll never stop making people like me feel inferior.
“hey dylan”
I regret even opening my mouth after those two words scramble out. Im pretty sure it sounded rushed.
“hello amari- good morning. How was your practice this morning- stun sticks right? My tech group had to make the setting for the wakeful dream, how was it?”
I could almost feel his anticipation as he waited for my answer. It was an amazing setting for training,the best ive seen in a while.Not too many hiding places,and just enough blind spots to make it challenging.
“the setting was amazing! Im guessing you were mostly involved in the eastern wing,right? I loved the dynamic spaces and the anti gravity areas there. Practice was fine,although my points weren’t up to my standard once again.”
The way his eyes lit up made the answer clear.
“I was- I was the lead designer for that part. Im reallt happy you liked it,and that you thought it was notable. Im glad your practice went well- you and your high standards for yourself.”
He shook his head in a playful chiding gesture, and I laughed
It was probably the warm lights,but I think his cheeks went a bit pink at my compliment.
And honestly? Him remembering what class I had this morning,and asking about how it went too, left me feeling warm inside as well.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥🌸
After my conversation with dylan, I somehow manage to make it to the cafetiria without publicly embarrassing myself- again.
I take the least radioactive looking food on the menu and I sit down next to elsie already going on about my day. Her patience amazes me.
I don’t know if shes listening or not,and my eggs which are so raw that they look sentinent are getting cold,but shes nodding along and that’s enough attention for me.
When I start going off about how embarrassed I was during that conversation with dylan,she perks up.
“hey, you two still take some agent classes together, right?”
Her question was sudden,but I nod in response.
She continues with a look on her face that I don’t trust. “ive heard that their pairing up junior agents to go on missions later in the summer. Supervised of course,but theres always a chance you might end up with dylan as a partner.”
My jaw drops.
First of all, IM A JUNIOR AGENT AND I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS MISSION THING WAS A- A THING. Secondly: that got my hopes stupidly high. A mission? With dylan? Just us for the most part.
That was the closest thing to heaven on earth in that moment to me.
I hope the idea of us paired was appealing to him too.