Roll Call: A Blogsary Graphic (1/2)

Team Roles: Squad A

Support Group: A Blogsary Short

The Cage

Atlanta, GA

United States of America

August 2017

“Apparently, I was doing it the wrong way. I might have missed a step or two,” Mack explained. He took a long sip from his drink, “I was supposed to dip my fingers in and then slowly trace them around the rim.”

“For it to work?”

“Mhm. And apparently, if there was a vibration coming from the rim, then it was working. You could work at different speeds but the most efficient one came at a certain speed.” Peters snickered at that, only to be joined eventually by Tadashi and Aether who bore drinks of their own.

“What were you guys talking about?”

“The art of wine glass music,” Mack replied, to which Peters replied at the same time with a much more vulgar suggestion. The curly-haired man barked out a laugh, with Aether’s ears turning red and Tadashi clearing his throat with a raised brow. “Wine glass music—it was a college thing,” he explained with the hint of a smile.

“It sounded like something else for a moment,” Aether muttered. Peters could only waggle his eyebrows at her while the two settled into the booth. “Something we can’t really talk about.”

Team Profile: Squad A

Assistance: A Blogsary Short

i.

When Aether first hears of Peters’ accident a first year into their being a squad, the last thing she expects herself to do was to promptly lose her shit in front of a large portion of headquarters’ various other employees. Tadashi physically restrains her from marching up to the agent spreading the news; he finds himself with his arms locked around her and holding her tightly, teeth grit as she demands and yells.

Aether loses control in that moment and lets go of her careful, calculated self. Tadashi doesn’t quite realize how harrowing this reality is until they’re back in a spare office, Aether pacing back and forth, muttering until realizing what had happened and breaking while swearing.

The situation: it was a robbery incident, something at one of the city’s larger and well-known banks. Peters had been recruited to join the team, and without much thought about it, agreed. After all, Squad A wasn’t as busy as they were, and he was craving to go out there and do something.

Peters going out without alerting them wasn’t the problem, no. Tadashi could scold him about that another time with Aether staring him down with her cold gaze. The problem was that he had gotten shot—Peters had gotten in the way when one of the gunmen had gone awry with a gun, and the blue-eyed American was the one shot instead of a child or someone younger.

Home: A Blogsary Short

Headquarters

December 2009

The first time Tadashi receives their files, he opens them after Eri’s left. The first thing he reads are their surnames: black and in bold, spelled out in caps, with the first reading MAXWELL and the second reading PETERS. He opens the one on top first, flips to the first or second page, and then sees the 2x2 picture of a female staring at the camera with a completely neutral expression.

Her picture haunts him slightly. She couldn’t be older than seventeen, eighteen. Dark hair, a slim face, piercing green eyes. No trace of a smile on her face, instead just a face staring into the camera with a blank, calm expression. Tadashi found himself wondering if she knew what she had gotten herself into and secretly willed for this young lady to stay back in England, find another job where she could keep herself safe.

Looking at the next file wasn’t any better. It bore the picture of a male this time, a few years younger than the female but still young nonetheless. He was remarkably handsome, the slightest trace of a smirk catching his attention. Brown hair, blue eyes. He looked strong, confident, like he could conquer the world on his own. He wished the same for him; wanted him to stay in New York and work alongside his father. It was much safer there—

But for some reason, they were both coming there—to HQ, to Atlanta—with in the span of a few months. He swallowed nervously, flipped through their files and read through the information presented. Two completely different people. Two completely different pasts. His heart ached for the female and felt a certain flutter of pride for the male.

Teaser #01: Blogsary '16

intuition | determination | stamina | introspection

Intervention: A Coalesce Short

Aether’s Apartment

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

January 2016

“I know that shit hurts,” Peters told her, “But I can at least promise you that getting fucked up is going to be so worth it. Because in the morning, you’ll have a hangover worse than heartache.” Aether merely raised a middle finger in his direction, which Peters promptly ignored. He continued, “Jake and I used to get shitfaced about girls all the time. We can’t do it now because he’s a doctor and he has a wife, so.”

He expected her to give a snarky reaction, because that’s just what Aether did. She was snark mixed with smile; her words were supposed to hurt but they didn’t because they were laced with playful intention. That was how Peters knew that they were still good and that she was still okay.

But she didn’t say anything. She just stayed there, with her head leaned against the car window and her hands limp in her lap.

“…okay, I’ll try to drive faster.” He muttered. Stepping on the gas, Peters did his best to drive a little faster without risking being arrested by whoever was on patrol on that night.

Value: A Russie Features Short

Atlanta, GA

United States of America

March 2017

Flashing lights, blinding lights. A microphone was pushed into his hand, the other gripping the plaque tightly. “Congratulations,” someone – Sol? – whispered, pushing him a little more to the front. Tadashi froze and stared, wide-eyed and still in shock upon what had just happened within the past two, three minutes.

He wasn’t sure what had happened, honestly. He and the rest of Squad A were busy drinking, and he was laughing at a joke Peters had told, when all of a sudden his name was announced and Aether was pulling up with the brightest smile on her face. Peters was whooping and Mack was laughing too, and before he knew it, he was stumbling to the stage with Sol beaming up at him. There was someone with her too, probably a higher-up, who most likely congratulated him as well, he didn’t know.

“I—I honestly don’t know what just happened,” he admitted into the mic, the entire room laughing warmly at that. He wasn’t trying to be humble nor was he trying to play off his win, not at all—it was the truth. He hadn’t been expecting any of that to happen, not at all. “Honestly. I never really expecting any of this,” he told the rest of HQ, his eyes falling to Squad A’s table.

He caught Aether’s gaze momentarily. She smiled even wider, if that was possible, and was holding a handkerchief that Mack had most likely lent to her. You can do it, she mouthed, and he swallowed, nodding before looking at the rest of them.

Tadashi inhaled for a second before putting on a smile, loosening his grip slightly and starting to speak.

Inconsolable: A Coalesce Short

Tadashi’s Apartment

Tokyo, Japan

January 2016

Sato, Tadashi

It’s been…a while since Aether discovered that Mathieu had left her.

The note she had discovered only had a few words on it; barely even reaching three sentences. It seemed like it had been scrawled in a rush judging by the handwriting. I had returned with her to her own apartment and looked at it myself. 

I love you I’m sorry I had no choice

She had managed to get through the first line before crumpling the paper in her hands and breaking down in tears once again. 

“We should get back,” I managed. She could only bolt out of the apartment after hearing me say that, leaving me alone in apartment with nothing much left. Once the heaviness of the situation set in, I found myself realizing why she wanted to spend time away from what had been her ‘home’ with Mathieu. 

We were the only ones who knew. Aether couldn’t contact Kenichi due to the latter being busy in the States, and he was the only one who had close ties to Mathieu. Aside from him, there was no one else we could ask help from. I had offered her the option of perhaps tracking him down and using HQ’s contacts, but she had declined and instead told me that she wanted to move on by herself. 

Aether ‘moved’ into my apartment a few days after the Incident. 

She arrived with a packed duffel bag or two, a blotchy face, and teary eyes. As soon as I opened the door, she had quietly asked if she could stay over with me for the next week for two. Aether didn’t really explain why even though I accepted the request. Before I knew it, she was already inside and seated on my couch, curling into a ball and starting to cry. 

And I didn’t know why. Not at all.