Jacob would’ve preferred to do this subtly. It was how he operated, both through rigorous training and just general disposition. But this was Doctor Damien.

He needed as much pomp and circumstance that could fit into a fleet of circus show ponies. So he called in another favor from Kay. This one costed him a very unique kind of potato snack that was only manufactured in Japan.

Now he found himself standing on top of the largest screen display in the city’s central square. The skyscrapers stretched well past him, otherwise he wouldn’t have the full use of the advertising screens.

He had left a note for Damien on his front door early that morning. Jacob still found it a little disturbing that Kay couldn’t figure out how he was getting into the building undetected. Still, he didn’t have another way of contacting him. And their note passing had proven effective so far. Jacob had full confidence that he would receive the message.

It was barely five minutes past the allotted meeting time when Kay’s voice came through his earpiece, “Incoming!”

A helicopter, much the same that had interrupted his morning coffee months (God, had it only been months?) ago, slowly descended from the sky. People on the streets began to take notice of the very low flying aircraft. Phones were already out of pockets.

This was already shaping up to be a mistake, but Jacob needed to get the point across.

“Finally, Agent 200! You have seen the error of your ways! I look forward to besting you for the foreseeable future.”

Jacob pressed a button on his cufflink, and a holographic keyboard hovered above his wrist. He typed feverishly and hit enter.

The typed words appeared on every screen display within the central square. Those that hadn’t registered the suddenly unbelievably close helicopter now looked around in confusion at the absence of colorful advertisements.

[STOP. CAUSING. SCENES]

The vibrating hum of electricity, the deafening whir of helicopter blades, and the rumbling murmurs of the crowd below kept deathly silence from falling over. Jacob could still feel it under his skin, the poised tension before something snapped.

“Oh you're one to talk!” Damien shouted down, “What do you call all this then?”

[THE ONLY WAY. TO GET MY POINT ACROSS]

He hated that he had to break up each phrase like a telegram, but he felt that this lost its impact a bit if Kay was forced to scroll any of the phrases.

Damien made some kind of spluttering noise into his megaphone. “Agent 200! I know you, I know you’re too vivacious and extraordinary to settle for—for—for oatmeal and the morning news! You need this, you need me!”

A part of Jacob was actually flattered at Damien’s descriptors. The rest was rather infuriated.

[I. NEED. REST.]

[I. NEED. QUIET.]

[NOT. TOLERATING. AND. SUBVERTING. MORE. OF YOUR. RIDICULOUSNESS.]

“Could you please stick to monosyllabic words?” Kay begged him through the earpiece, “This is hard enough as it is.”

“Well then how else am I supposed to talk to you alone?!” Damien’s words rang out across the square.

A couple dozen people gasped from down below. As if they were watching a riveting drama and not two well-past-grown men having a squabble with the aid of a helicopter and several twenty-foot screens emphatically telling a man to get over himself.

From the distance, it was hard for Jacob to pick up Damien’s expression, but judging by the awkward silence that emanated in thick roiling waves, he had to guess that he felt embarrassed.

Normally Jacob would have written the words off as Damien throwing another fit. That this was just him trying to get his favorite….toy, or playdate, or enemy, or whatever you could label it, back into the only business he knew how to successfully accomplish.

But there had been sincerity in those words. The way neither of them had broken the odd stalemate of quiet only added to that seriousness. Plus, Kay hadn’t piped up with some witty quip. She was apparently just as invested as everyone down on the pavement below.

Then Jacob remembered a lovely evening surrounded by unsavory characters, the way Damien had sounded lonely and desperate with his requests for Jacob to return instead of petulant, and the gifts that had been oddly personal.

He couldn’t even blame age on missing something this obvious.

Jacob quickly typed something, and went he sent the message, he could’ve sworn he heard Kay breathe a sigh of relief.

[ASK ME.]

Before he had a chance to regret his decision, Jacob turned off the program, and the advertisements and news feeds went back to normal. He quickly ducked out of sight through a maintenance door. He pressed his back against the cool metal and began to hear people shouting in confusion and protest. Apparently, Jacob’s response hadn’t been very satisfactory.

Or perhaps they had wanted to know how Damien would respond. But Jacob couldn’t handle that right now. His request had been a decision, but his heart was hammering like it had been spur of the moment.

It wasn’t until he was back at his apartment, with his back pressed against the door, that the implications of what he’d done sunk in. In front of a square of hundreds.

What had he been thinking? He’d wanted the man out of his life, and instead he’d told him to just---proceed with less flair.

At least….he thought he wanted Damien gone. The image of no more small packages in front of his door, no more grandiose voices echoing from recordings, rooftops, or warehouses, and no more roguish grins left a peculiar feeling of vacancy in his heart. As though if he didn’t have those bizarre little constants in his life, there would be an emptiness instead of a placidity.

When on earth had he started to grow from tolerance, to acceptance, to anticipation when it came to Damien’s presence?

He desperately wanted to groan, but could only manage to thunk his head back against the door.

Then two more thunks resounded from the other side.

Jacob’s earpiece crackled with noise, “Guess who it is~.”

Jacob wasn’t sure what sort of enjoyment she got from this, but finely-honed instincts told him he didn’t want to know. He peered through the door, and Damien was looking anywhere but forward.

Well, that had been quick. Although Jacob should’ve expected that.

He took a moment to close his eyes and gather his very shaky stability. Then he opened the door.