A pen rapidly tap-tap-tapping against a wooden desktop was the only sound in the cluttered, cramped office. In a normal office, a clock might tick - but this was not a normal office.

Such was the nature of the Backstage.

The Backstage was the space between reality and unreality. Between life and death. It was where beings like the Fates, Cupids, and Tooth Fairies kept their base of operations, and where they lived when they weren’t on the clock.

And that brings us to our story. 

Friendly Fire Matchmaking was the official name of the company that employed Cupids from around the world, sending them out to make sure that soulmates didn’t miss the loves of their life. It would have been a lucrative business, if the Backstage had any need for conventional money. The Backstage had no need for currency, so most who worked did their job for the love of the thing.

That was the case of Eona Quillan.

It was her pen who was tap-tap-tapping at her desk, in that small space full of clutter and various knick-knacks, primarily feline-themed. Every inch of space was coated in a fine layer of cat fur - fitting, given that although she was technically a Cupid, she had traded in her bow and wings for cat ears and a tail, as fiery orange as the wild Irish curls atop her head.

After all, she worked in a subsidiary of Friendly Fire Matchmaking: WhiskerWorks Distribution. Playfully coined the “Cat Distribution System” by the humans who had an inkling that it actually existed. How humans managed to figure out these things Eona certainly didn’t know, but she figured that there were probably Backstagers messing up and not covering their tracks well enough.

There were always screw ups in any community.

A soft, digital tune drifted its way into the room, interrupting the tapping and derailing Eona’s train of thought. “Hm?” She leaned away from her desk, where she’d been hunched over, staring at the same piece of paper for the past who-knows-how-long. 

It was her wrist communicator - easily mistaken for a smartwatch on the Frontstage - which meant it was her partner, Ailura Marlowe. Every WWD field agent had a partner back at HQ to accept new cases - just like the Cupids at the parent company.

Eona tapped the accept call button, and a little projection of Ailura’s face fizzled into life above the watch. The hologram tech only worked in the Backstage, for now, because human tech hadn’t advanced quite that far yet. Which was super duper inconvenient for Eona, but she could deal with it.

“Eo! There you are. This is my third call, where were you? Mars?” Ailura huffed from the projection, looking every bit as put out as she sounded, her dark ears in full airplane mode.

Blinking, Eona thought back, trying to remember if she’d heard the communicator jingle earlier. “Sorry. I was…” she glanced at the paper in front of her, entirely full of doodles. Her cheeks tinged pink, and she quickly turned the paper over, as though it would keep Ailura from realizing what had kept her so distracted. “... working. You know, I have that one case that I’ve had literally since I transferred here. I was trying to think of new ways to get Casimir to a home that will accept him.”

“Don’t lie to me, Ms. Quillan, I know you were doodling, I see the smudge on your hand,” Ailura pointed at her through the hologram, then lowered her hand and sighed. “But I’ve been thinking about that poor guy, too. How old is he now?”

“Eight. And that’s six years on his own after his people abandoned him,” Eona’s voice cracked, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to hold herself together. “I still can’t believe humans can be that cruel to someone who loves them so dearly.”

“Don’t think about it too much, Eo, you don’t want to understand humans. They’re selfish creatures by nature, just like everything else in the Frontstage. But, I have some potentially very good news, and that is why I was calling.”

The possibility of good news had Eona perking up, and she raised her eyebrows towards the image of Ailura, who looked like the cat who caught the canary. “And what is this news?”

“I found someone who has incredible compatibility with Casimir. Their scores are actually identical. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She shook her head, then the image of her disappeared and in its place popped up two numbers that were actually glowing green: 16 and 16. A soft gasp forced its way out of Eona’s mouth, and she slapped her hand over it as if trying to keep the gasp from escaping. “Right? That was my reaction too.”

“They’re perfect for each other! I’ve never made a match like that, not even when I was matchmaking people. Please, please tell me this human is in the same city as Cas?”

“That’s the problem, but I have a solution for that.” Ailura popped back into view, her warm brown eyes practically glowing from excitement. “See, he’s in town for a wedding. His ex-wife’s wedding. To his ex best friend. Who she cheated on him with. He’s going to be an absolutely emotional train wreck. He didn’t actually want to go to the wedding, and was about to RSVP a no, but I used a little of my matchmaker magic to make him say yes. He’s still not sure why he agreed to go.” 

“You’re so evil,” Eona giggled as she shuffled through her current case files. Most of the other Cupids thought she needed to clean her office, but she had everything in its own place, and it was how she liked it. She was a mess, and she worked best in a messy atmosphere, too. “Okay, I found Casimir’s file. I forgot how thick it is… this poor boy. I hope your human accepts him and all of his faults.”

She pulled out the most recent picture she had of Casimir, and felt herself getting emotional at seeing it. He was a handsome cat. Mixed breed silver tabby, with white tuxedo markings, and a curl of white rising up his nose, looking like he’d splashed some cream on it. Unfortunately, his fur was often rumpled and scraggly, he was skin and bones, and he was distrustful of humans. Understandably.

“Me too. Okay, I’ll get your transport ready so you can make a proper plan on how to have these two cross paths.”

“Thank you, Ailura. Fingers crossed it works this time.”