#but it’s SO FUNNY. predictable king who builds the same way I do: panic and dig a hole.

[theminecraftbee]

incidentally for the people who aren’t zedaph watchers I have to express just HOW MUCH the crevasse is a step forward for zedaph building. season six he. didn’t have a base really if I recall correctly. in season seven he had an undecorated cave he put silly machines in. season eight he at least DECORATED but it was sure still a hole in a mountain. season nine it was a base he did a BUILD with! still a hole in a mountain. season ten is a STEP UP it’s a hole with NO MOUNTAIN REQUIRED,

[tsvitok]

Emily.

Emily meets Tracer. Hope you all enjoy it in some small way.

Everybody had somebody.

Her best friends, her parents, her sister, her pet cat. Everybody except Emily. It was her own fault, she had been the matchmaker. It hadn’t bothered her before, she was happy being alone until she one day just wasn’t.

Her friends, grateful to her for bringing them their own matrimonial bliss, all tried to help her out. The first one had been… conventional. Smart, funny, sensible.

“So boring?” Emily snarked.

“Just your type.”

Her friends were probably right, Emily wasn’t particularly adventurous. In fact she was so unadventurous she’d never been outside the city of King’s Row.

“Alright…”

The next day she dragged herself down to the cafe on the corner of her street to meet him. It was cold, the winter chill cut through her jacket and mussed up her hair. Sitting inside the air-conditioned cafe was no better, but she could at least unwrap her scarf.

“Emily?”

A man approached her, tall, dark, chiselled. A strong jawline and a thick head of hair, a slight gold amongst the brown. His thin frame straightened, he smiled with sheepish confidence. The tan of his skin was natural, a sparkle of something met her from his green eyes.

“Allen?”

He grinned wider, “Yeah, mind if I join you?”

“Sure,” she sighed, “that’s why we’re here right?”

Emily smiled awkwardly, and straightened herself out as he sat down. He was well dressed, clean shaven, there was a reassuring charm to his grin and sat with a straight back. They spoke for a while about how his friends knew her friends, then a waitress came to take their order. The pretty young girl didn’t even draw his attention, but Emily struggled to look away from the lip-ring as she ordered her coffee.

“So, I heard you’re an architect.”

The hair on the back of her neck bristled and she looked back at Allen, “Yeah, I am. What do you do?”

“Ah, I’m a professor at Exeter.”

“Oh, really?” Emily watched his hands as the waitress returned with their coffee, “What do you teach?”

“Economics.”

She looked down at her own coffee, “So, you teach kids to become bankers and that sort of thing?”

“Yes, sure. Bankers, investors, economists, that sort of thing.”

“That’s… nice.”

He laughed a sweet, deep-chested laugh, “That’s pretty much the reaction I was expecting.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. My job isn’t that exciting.”

It wasn’t that it was dull, “I wouldn’t say mine is too exciting.”

“Are you kidding? It must be so fulfilling to create something, to design buildings.”

She shrugged, and sipped her coffee, “I don’t know about that, it’d be fun as a hobby. I don’t get to do much of the actual designing.”

“Oh, really?”

She nodded, “I sit at a desk for most of the day and check other people’s work.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“No, I love it. I get to see how other people think, what they want to make the world.”

“I guess we’ve got a lot in common then.”

She pondered that, “How so?”

“I’m a teacher, all I do is watch other people go out into the world to make it different.”

“I guess so.”

She was curious about how he taught his students, and he spent a good half an hour talking about that before one of them brought up sports. They didn’t have much in common but it didn’t stop them trying to convince each other who was better. In the end he conceded when his phone rang and he had to go back to work. She got his number before they both left.

Emily arrived home, their was already a dozen messages on her computer asking how it went. She watched television, ate dinner, had a glass of wine and fell asleep on the lounge.

A week passed before she even thought about Allen, and by then her friends had harassed her into another blind date. She sat in the same chair in the same cafe waiting for him, he was twenty minutes late and profusely sorry.

“I’m so sorry, one of my patients had an emergency.”

“Anything serious?”

“Oh, no everything’s fine they were just having a panic attack.”

Sandur, the man sitting down across from her, was a psychiatrist. He too was predictably attractive, dark-skinned, muscular, a warm and charming smile. She kept waiting for a spark that didn’t come up. They spent several hours talking about art. He was a collector while Emily was just an admirer. She had dabbled in art, but found architecture far more enjoyable. And Sandur was fond of architecture as art as well. They were discussing the local Cathedral when the topic of Omnics came up. He shut up fairly quickly when he realised she wasn’t on the same page and they sat in silence, finishing their drinks before leaving.

A dozen more messages waited for her on her computer. She watched an old movie, ate dinner and fell asleep. She woke up to a sharp pain, and saw her cat pawing at her leg.

“Lilly?” Emily tried to shake off the sleep, “what’s wrong with you?”

Lilly, the tiny puffball that she was, bounded across the room and clawed at the balcony door. Emily struggled to her feet and followed them over.

“Oh, I’m sorry girl,” she spotted the food bowl which she could have sworn she had brought in, through the glass door.

She slid open the door and all the warmth of her apartment was sucked out with it, the violent cold made her bones shake and Lilly sprang outside and hopped up onto the railing of the balcony.

“Lilly!” the air left her lungs too quickly to form a scream, “get down from there!”

The young cat mewled and sprang over onto her neighbour’s balcony, perfectly safe.

“Lilly! Don’t you dare move!”

Lilly sat down and Emily rushed into her apartment to grab her keys and go fetch her cat, when as soon as she opened the door a streak of white fluff zipped past her and out the door.

“Lilly!” she clutched at her chest, and rushed off after her cat.

“Come back here!”

Lilly darted down the stairwell, cat-calling and taunting her all the way down three storeys and into the foyer. Emily ended up nearly collapsing at the bottom step as Lilly stood in the middle of the foyer looking out into the street. The front door was open, the winter snow had started to pile up in the street.

“No,” Emily wheezed, “don’t go outside.”

Lilly turned to sit and watch her catch her breath, then stood as Emily approached.

“Come on Lil’,” Emily tried to reason, “let’s go back upstairs and I’ll get you something nice to eat. Okay?”

Lilly mewled and ran outside into the cold.

“No, Lilly!”

She rushed off into the street after Lilly, the cold immediately slowed her, her bones chattered as she went off looking for her cat. Lilly seemed to slow just to taunt her.

“Stupid cat…” Emily shivered, “I never should have bought you.”

Then, she realised, she had left her door open.

“Hey love, you look a bit cold.”

She looked up from her freezing wet socks to the woman in front of her. They smiled, a spark in their bright hazel eyes, dressed in thick winter gear with goggles pulled up onto their forehead making their spiky brown hair stick up like a peacock’s plumage. Lilly stopped to paw at the woman’s snow-boots.

“I-I’m s-sorry, I d-don’t know w-what’s-“

The woman crouched down to pat Lilly and pick her up, “You’re freezing, we better get you two home.”

“I-I-“

The woman handed her Lilly, then took off their jacket and wrapped it around her, “Come on then, let’s get you two home.”

They walked a little down the street, before the woman spoke, “I’m Lena by the way.”

“Emi-i-ly.”

They reached her apartment block, Lena raced ahead to get the elevator. The chill icing up her body started to thaw, the wool-lined brown jacket was surprisingly warm. It became even warmer when Lena wrapped an arm around her and helped her along.

She stared at their reflections in the shiny elevator doors as they rode it up to their floor. Emily hadn’t even noticed the bright blue glow hidden beneath Lena’s shirt, they noticed her staring and crossed her arms over her chest. The door dinged open before she could ask and Lena helped her into her apartment. Door still open, her other cat James sat watching them indignantly as they entered. She put Lilly down and the two cats ran off together. Lena stood at the door.

“Come in, please. Let me um, make you a cup of tea or something.”

They checked their watch, Emily likewise glanced at her clock - it was half-past one. She didn’t feel particularly tired though, and Lena stepped inside and shut the door gently behind her.

“Thanks, love. I could really use a cuppa.”

Emily went into the kitchen, suddenly remembering she was still wrapped up in Lena’s jacket. It had a wonderful smell about it now that the air was still and she could breath deeply again. She glanced back at Lena who was hovering around her coffee table, examining the work she had left there.

Emily snuck a soft sniff of the wool, Lena’s perfume soaked into it - a sweet fragrance somewhere between floral and fruity.

“Are you an architect?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

“Wicked.”

She finished making the tea and brought it in to Lena. She gestured for Lena to have a seat and they sat down to drink tea.

“Thanks again for your help.”

“Not a problem, all part of my job.”

“What job is that?”

Lena blushed, brushed back her hair, “Law enforcement.”

“Really?”

Lena didn’t look like an officer, there was a certain firmness about their arms and legs, but… Emily caught herself staring.

“Yeah, catching crooks, stopping crime. Rescuing cats. Usually they’re stuck up trees though.”

Emily smiled, “Sounds exciting.”

“Rescuing cats is very seriously business.”

“I meant-“

Lena smirked, “Someone’s gotta keep the city safe.”

“So are you meant to be working?”

“I was, but it’s quiet tonight. They sent me to look out for a bunch of protestors but they called it off.”

“Oh, what was the protest about?”

Lena held her cup against her chest, covering up the blue glow, “Omnic rights.”

Emily really wasn’t sure she wanted to get into this.

“Can I ask what the blue glow is about?”

Lena glanced down at her own chest, “Oh that’s uh, that’s just to keep me safe if anything happens.”

“I’ve never seen that before, on a police officer I mean.”

“It’s new, I’m in a special unit…” Lena looked around the room suddenly, “we deal with the Omnics.”

The topic came up again, and Emily couldn’t help herself, “Deal with them?”

It annoyed her to think that someone who rescued cats and helped others in from the cold could then go and oppress the Omnics. Someone who seemed so nice, so pretty.

“We gotta look after them-“ Lena’s knuckles whitened against the thick mug, “I look out for ‘em. Keep ‘em safe.”

Their face flushed, body tensed, ready for something. They held themselves… softly, but a hard edge stiffened across their features. Their eyes smouldered against her, ready to burn her down. Emily was already catching on fire, sweating and burning up.

“I… That’s great,” she struggled to make herself sound as sincere as she was, “thank you for looking out for them.”

“You-you think so?”

“Yeah.”

Lena smiled then hopped up, “Thanks for the tea, I should get going.”

“Uh-“ Emily panicked, “Lena… thanks.”

“No worries.”

Lena stood looking at her for a long, long moment, “Can I get my jacket back?”

Emily was shaken from her stupor, “Oh, uh, of course.”

She stood up, and took off Lena’s jacket. She swallowed awkwardly and looked down at the jacket before offering it back. She didn’t know the words she needed to say, or wanted to say… no, she had to say to make it clear. Looking at Lena, watching them put their jacket back on, made a lot of things suddenly make sense.

“Can I, see you again?”

“Sorry?”

Emily tried to straighten herself out, but failed, “Can I see you again, sometime?”

“Uh, sure?”

“I… wait, let me give you my number.”

She scrambled around the room looking for a spare piece of paper and jotted down her number onto it before shoving it into Lena’s hand.

“Wait, you mean…” Lena looked her in the eye, then averted their gaze to the piece of paper in her hand, “Uh, I gotta go.”

Lena raced out the door, Emily shut it behind her and locked it. The pit of her stomach bottomless, until she heard a loud cheer in the hallway. She sat down on the lounge smiling, fell asleep with a grin on her face and woke up thinking about Lena.

A lot suddenly made sense, most of her life. She hadn’t been confused, far from it, she had been absent minded. She’d never bothered to pay attention enough to have noticed anything except in hindsight. It was hard not to notice Lena though.

A few times throughout the week she thought she had seen them amongst the crowds, going to work, at lunch, shopping. It started to worry her when they didn’t call. A week turned into eight days, then nine. Then suddenly sitting at her desk at work her phone rang.

“Heya, Em’, feel like grabbing some lunch?”

“Uh-“ she looked around the office, everyone had already looked back down at their own work, “yeah, I do.”

“Wicked, meet me at the Fox and Bear.”

Emily quietly dismissed herself and snuck out early for lunch. She was a hard worker, so she was sure no-one’d even mind if they caught her. She had to stop herself from running down the street and to the doorstep of the pub. The Fox and Bear was almost entirely comprised of a single bar staffed by an Omnic fellow who greeted her as she stepped inside. It was full up, noisy, and the upstairs area seemed to be in a shouting match with the downstairs. Lena was already there, sitting alone in a booth in the same brown jacket and with the same goofy spiky mop of hair sticking straight up off her head.

“Em’!”

“Hey.”

Emily sat down in the chair opposite Lena, who greeted her with a bright grin.

“Hope you don’t mind, I already ordered drinks.”

“That’s alright, been busy?”

“Yeah, sorry I took so long to call. I’ve had a lot to do lately.”

“It’s alright, you remembered.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing to do today, so I’ve got as long as you do.”

“Oh. Alright.”

They drank before lunch, then after lunch, for hours.

“I used to be a pilot, then I was a soldier. Now I’m keeping the peace.” Lena told her, “I think I like this job the best.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be anything but an architect. A lot of the old buildings didn’t survive the war, and I watched them rebuild them thinking about what it’d be like to do it.”

“But you didn’t become a builder.”

“No… all the builders are Omnics.”

“I know a few that aren’t, they’re a rare breed though.”

When she looked at her watch she realised she’d spent the whole day at the pub. So she might as well keep talking.

Lena asked, “Have you ever seen the Shambali Monasteries?”

“I’ve never been out of London.”

“We should go sometime, they’re amazing.”

“Yeah,” Emily agreed, “I’d like to see them.”

“I hope their leader comes to England again someday, I’d love to meet him in person.”

“You like them?”

“Yeah, I mean, they do great things even if I don’t believe in everything they do. That’s part of life, isn’t it?”

“What don’t you believe, aren’t they about giving Omnic’s rights and spirituality?”

“I mean, I don’t think making a church out of it is the best way to handle it. Like you can’t make people think like you do and expect that to fix it - but a lot of what they say is right. I think maybe, that’s how they understand the problem and maybe I don’t because I’m not Omnic.”

Emily sipped her beer and mused on it but didn’t say anything. You could understand how others felt without being them, that was basic empathy.

“Maybe you’re just missing part of it?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean though, isn’t it. Maybe, I’m missing something because I don’t experience it.”

“It doesn’t make you wrong though.”

“It doesn’t make me right, either. But I like Mondatta, he’s an inspiration for all of us.”

Emily smiled, “I hope you get to meet him some day.”

“Cheers,” Lena finished her beer, “Anyone you want to meet one day?”

“No,” Emily managed to hold a straight face, “I’ve already met you.”

Lena tried to stifle down a laugh, but she eventually burst out laughing. Emily grinned, almost proud of how bad that was. Almost. A small part of her was groaning.

“Well,” Lena leaned in against the table, “Is there anything you want to do then?”

Emily didn’t grasp hold of the obvious, “I’ve always wanted to go skiing.”

“Oh,” Lena nearly hopped in her seat, “I’d love to take you, it’s really fun.”

“You would?”

“Yeah,” their expression was inscrutable, “what are you doing tomorrow?”

“I-I’ve got work.”

“Well,” Lena looked down at her watch, then back up into Emily’s eyes, “that sucks. If something changes, here.”

They took a serviette and wrote down a number on it, Emily wondered idly where they had gotten the pen before she realised what was happening.

“Give me a ring, yeah?”

“Oh-okay.”

Lena slipped from the chair and onto her feet, “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

Emily tucked the serviette into her pocket, she never imagined she’d get a girl’s number. It was almost too easy, like a dream.

It was hard to concentrate, impossible to sleep. Morning came and she found herself staring at her phone as she ate breakfast. Lilly and James watched her watching her phone.

“I wonder if they’ll believe I’m sick.”

James scowled.

“Yeah…”

Emily picked up her phone and dialled work. The nasal tone of her boss’ secretary answered.

“Hey, Ishani, I won’t be at work for the rest of the week.”

“Why?” Ishani whined.

“My uh…” she looked down at her cats, and their contempt, “cousin, Lilly is sick.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear. I’ll tell your manager, and if there is anything we can do to help.”

“I-I’m fine, we’ll be fine. I’d just like to be with her while she recovers. We’re very close.”

Lilly mewled, then trotted off.

“Of course, best wishes.”

Emily hung up, and proceeded to plant her face against the table.

“I’m a bad person,” she turned her head, James was still judging her.

“Don’t give me that look, I work hard. I deserve to do something fun.”

Emily straightened up, and dialled up Lena.

“Hey, Lena? It’s Emily.”

“Heya, Em’. What’s up?”

Emily stood, and made her way over to the fridge to find her half-full bottle of wine, “Oh, I don’t have to work after all.”

Lena laughed, “You’re not chucking a sickie are ya?”

She blushed, “No, I thought I might… take you up on your offer.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Wicked, I’ll be right over!”

“Wait-“

“Huh?”

Emily panicked, “I can’t leave now… I don’t have the equipment.”

“Well yeah, I’ll come over and we can go rent the stuff together.”

“Oh,” Emily eyed the bottle, “alright.”

She took a deep swig.

“I’ll be right over!”

Lena hung up, but not before Emily heard an excited squeal on the other end. She took another deep swig of her wine before pouring herself a glass. Something had to quell the butterflies in her stomach.

Then she started to panic again. She darted about unsure of what she was doing, but she was probably tidying up, getting dressed and then she finished her wine. She turned on the television and then went to answer the door as Lena nearly battered it down knocking on it.

“Emily!”

“He-ey,” Emily unceremoniously slurred.

“You ready? Let’s go!”

“Wai-it, have you had breakfast yet?”

“Yeah.”

“You want a cup of coffee?”

“I… yeah, sure, I’d love one.”

Emily led Lena in, “Make yourself at home.”

She headed into the kitchen to make them both a drink, the kettle boiled and she made them both strong white coffee. She only had instant, which she hoped was alright.

“Aww, bloody hell.”

“What’s wrong?” Emily nearly raced to the lounge-room.

“The roads are blocked… looks like we can’t go.”

“Oh,” Emily was conflicted, “that’s… maybe we can do something else?”

She went back to get the coffee and bring it in.

“Well, I don’t wanna waste your time off.”

“You could never waste my time…” she nearly dropped her coffee.

Lena smirked, trying to hide a giggle.

“I mean-“ Emily brushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear, “-maybe we could go to an art gallery.”

“I’d love to…” Lena leaned forward, “especially if it’s…” Lena’s hands interlocked nervously, “together.”

Emily understood, and, it wasn’t as awkward as she could have imagined, if she had imagined, “Together?”

“Yeah,” Lena turned monochrome, even her bright eyes trembled, “I really like you Em’.”

“You barely even know me… I barely know you.”

Lena looked away, trying to avoid it.

“But, I know you’re nice and you’re caring, and you’re really pretty. And I never really thought about anyone before, but… you’re different.”

“I am?”

Emily nodded, Lena looked her in the eyes and she struggled to hold eye contact, “I never thought I’d want to kiss someone before.”

Lena sighed ecstasy, relief, “Can I, kiss you?”

Emily’s chest swelled, her stomach shrivelled up and she felt the butterflies dissolve into her blood, “Yes.”

Lena slipped over to sit down next to Emily. Emily trembled, anticipation and terror, all the ways it could end wrongly rushed through her head as Lena delicately cupped her cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.

It numbed her mind, the sweet static of Lena’s lips lingering long after the light touch. She had closed her eyes, and her heart stopped. If was time that froze, and with it a shiver escaped down her spine.

“We… we should go to an art gallery sometime.”

Lena smirked, “I’d love to, love.”