who: riel and siren (eeshika) @waywardlegacies
where: brooklyn, nkc
when: may 22nd, 2022
they're aware that a wide-rimmed baseball hat and sunglasses are weak attempts at disguising themselves, but a part of them hopes that it will make a difference, especially given how long they've been out of the spotlight for. sure, their work as a first responder doesn't exempt them from being in the public eye, but this feels vastly different from what they'd experienced with valerian. sometimes, riel wonders if people — especially those who are quick to label them as a traitor — really understand what it's like to be on the other side. to have to watch what you say, what you do; to have your best moments and the worst picked apart by the public.
all of that to say — they don't regret it. but it does feel lonely at times, toeing the line of wanting to be seen and pretending not to care at all. nova, their cat, does her very best to keep them company, they think, which is really more than they can hope for.
walks like these help, too, of course. while they're actively meeting strangers at the park, it does help to be back in their hometown, somewhat surrounded by people, just to gain some sense of normalcy again. it also helps that they've got their big headphones on, their favorite AxiaL track accompanying them.
it's a lesser known fact, they're fairly sure, that they're actually a bit of a fan. they'd always liked watching them on astronomical boys & girls, but more than that, it's probably because they were often on repeat during their rather terrible, rather public breakup a few years back, and they hold them with a different sense of fondness ever since then.
riel is quite content to continue their walk to the beat of the song, when their eyes land on someone strangely familiar. it's not someone they know – not really, and they squint their eyes to try to figure out where they might've seen the other before. then, it hits them like a ton of bricks.
there's no way. it would be such an odd coincidence, but they suppose stranger things have happened. and though normally, riel wouldn't ever be the one to first strike up a conversation with a possible stranger, it's like their feet move on their accord until they stop right in front of the said stranger.
"i'm so sorry, i swear i usually never do this, but you're not...?"
who: riel and joaquin @mincedoathswhere: SOMA headquarters, training facilities
when: june 22, 2022
riel would've been lying if they said they weren't a little surprised when they were initially asked to train joaquin — largely because it didn't seem like long ago when they were watching over them in an ambulance, one hand against joaquin's arm, trying their best to drown out the noise around them so they could focus on healing them as quickly as possible, as best as they could. it never seemed to matter how long they'd been doing this work for, the rush and the pressure of moments like those never seemed to ease.
but this also meant that there was a sense of relief and glee, even (not that riel would let anyone see that), when they were assigned to go to the zoo with joaquin, despite the fact that they were all congregated to take down a villain. it'd also given them a little more confidence in wanting to check in with joaquin on a slightly more — thought still professional — personal level, outside of their scheduled training time.
which is exactly how riel finds themselves at one of the training facilities after having checked joaquin's schedule, two coffees in their hands. they attempt to peek through the tinted windows at first, trying to make sure that they're not disturbing anything important, though the tinted-ness of it all makes it a bit difficult. when they decide that they're not hearing anything much coming from the space, they head inside, offering joaquin a small, hopefully unassuming wave.
"hey, i thought i might find you here," riel smiles, making their way up to joaquin and extending a hand to offer one of the iced coffees. "i don't know if you're a coffee person, but you've been having really long days, so..."
