In high school, Kevin Kaslana was insufferable.

You don’t say that lightly. He looked like he’d been built in a military factory and programmed to say things like "blah blah blah justice will prevail!! Yayyy!!”

Tall. Broad. Blue-eyed. Always standing like someone was going to photograph him for a propaganda poster. Always talking like he’d been born in a war.

You hated that golden boy!

You were sharp. Jaded. A mouth like a knife. Glaring at him as he balanced a basketball on your head.

And the only thing you ever agreed on was MEI.

Back then, she wasn’t “Dr.” anything. Just MEI. Just…MEI. Do you hear those wedding bells tolling? Yeah…yeah…

She’s everything, smart…stunning...distant. Unfortunately, she existed in her own gravitational field.

You loved her.

Kevin did too.

You both knew.

“Why should I choose?” she’d said once, coolly adjusting her glasses. “You both have your uses.”

Kevin looked like he’d swallowed a nail. You muttered something about being spare parts.

But you stayed.

You orbited her, caught in gravity too strong to escape. You and Kevin fought constantly. Under the table, over the desk (no, not like that.), in the middle of combat drills.

You hated how noble he was. He hated how cruel you were.

Then it shifted.

He started laughing at your jokes. Called you by name. You’d catch him staring too long. Once, he shielded you during training, took a hit meant for you. Said it was instinct.

Whatever.

He fell in love with you anyway.

But you didn’t return it. Couldn’t.

Your heart was already MEI’s. You couldn’t give it away twice.

When graduation came, all three of you joined MOTH.

You didn’t hesitate. If MEI went, so did you. You weren’t a frontliner like Kevin, you worked beside her, helped her build, test, design. Watching as he eagerly raised his hand to be her first (victim) choice for MANTIS. You looked on with a blank face as he whined about how cold his body was and how he couldn't kiss without you smashing a glass over his head.

But it was fine, more MEI for you!

Until it wasn’t.

Then the world started ending.

You don’t remember the exact day, just the alarms. The smoke. The smell of burning ozone.

The final Herrscher was defeated.

But MEI, your god, your universe…

Was caught in the blast.

When you reached her lab, there was nothing left but torn wires, scattered notebooks, and the faint scent of pudding.

And her glasses.

You took them. Stupidly.

The prescription gave you headaches. You wore them anyway.

Because if you could see the world through MEI’s eyes, maybe it would make sense.

(Spoiler: it never did!!)

The next morning, you broke his heart.

“It’s over.”

“What?" He stared, eyebrows furrowing. "We have each other, don't we...?"

“No,” you snapped. “We had her. Without her, we’re just... us. And I never wanted us.”

You left before he could say anything else.

Years passed.

Then a city fell. Another Herrscher.

You were in it when it happened, fighting to protect, not to win. Your hands burned from dragging civilians out of collapsed tunnels. The sky was the wrong color. Your sword…hey? Where’s your sword? In the pile? Ah, cowabummer.

And then you saw him.

Kevin.

Older. War-hardened. Exhausted.

MOTH had carved his name into every file, every memorial, every gravestone. And still, he looked like someone trying to crawl out of his own skin.

“I found you,” he said.

You didn’t look up from the wreckage you were soldering. “Mmm, okay.”

He laughed. Rusted. Tired.

“You haven’t changed.”

You turned, finally, and looked him over.

You didn’t stop him when he stepped closer.

You just crossed your arms, eyes hidden behind glass that still bore the faintest fingerprint smudge MEI left behind.

“I’m not asking you to forget her,” he said. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

“I want you back in MOTH,” he said. “In the lab. As a mechanic. We need someone who understands her work. You…spent years with her. You kept her legacy alive when the rest of us moved on. She’d want that.”