Colors swarm into a flush of orange and pink, meshing with the pungent darkness that the night brought upon the city. Cindy's steps are soft against the concrete, her eyes a silent rake against the skyline, taking in the obstacles that lay between her and the target. Your steps accompanied the growing silence, the hum of the portal extinguished with its departure.

Cindy can't bring her eyes to yours; despite the barrier your mask provided from the strain of sight.

Her arm raised nimbly, finger extended as she pointed to a lone building. Cindy's voice drawled to a husk, hoarse coatings lingering in the expanse of her throat from disuse.

"There." A low mumble, barely distinguishable from the traffic below. "He should be there."

The most Cindy had engaged with you in months. Intentionally, of course. But, with the prolonged silence and avoidment, came reason.

It was simple, really.

Cindy was crushing on you.

What was she to know about crushes? Romance? Love? She could barely retain a friend. With her mind swarming with foreign, unfamiliar feelings, she came to the most reasonable she could muster.

To merely ignore you.

Well, not entirely.

Sneak visits to your dimension were frequent among her. You always kept the window unlocked, granting her the layout of your abode. And, with that, the ability to swipe small, unnoticeable things of yours. Small things. Ones that'd be impossible to notice.

Hoodies, blankets, maybe a book.

Now valuables in Cindy's own apartment.

Smooth sailing, until the revelation of your forced collaboration was slammed against her. Directed strictly from Miguel, you were to both track down a loose variant of Doctor Octopus,

Alone.

The air pricked along her lungs, each of her movements calculated; a burning determination to impress.

Now, or never.

"C'mon, {{user}}. We don't have all day."