[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/255163108/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] Pinch me I’m dreaming. Romy said yes. I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet, like I’m still processing. Everything’s kinda been a blur. Like, a really confused blur. Now I find myself in my first round of Crimson Doubles, with Romy right next to me. We haven’t said or done anything special or different; we’re still the same (except I’m blushing like crazy under my helmet). Are we supposed to act different now? Should I start calling her nicknames and stuff like honey or sugar or sweetie pie? Why the heck are all those nicknames food-related? Who comes up with this crap? Someone who loves food, I bet. I love food. I’m, like, 92% sure I love Romy more than food. Can’t say 100% because nothing is certain and food is really great. Ugh, that sounds like something a Warlock would say. Romy’s Warlock floofiness is infecting me. Speaking of getting infected by Warlock floofiness, I’m still dealing with the taboo of dating our space-wizard rivals. And now red lights are flashing in my head because [i]I AM OUT IN PUBLIC WITH MY WARLOCK GIRLFRIEND. I AM GOING TO DIE.[/i] If we run into anyone who recognizes me my reputation will be ruined. I’d be excommunicated, ridiculed, mocked. They’d probably call me Warlock-hugger or some other unoriginal insult. Every Hunter in the City would hate me, all the Warlocks would laugh at me (and I know one of those little freaks who would definitely write some kind of fictional romance story about me), and the Titans…I don’t know, it’d probably take a month for the gossip to drill through those thick skulls and get processed, but then I’m definitely getting punched. I’m still considering the possibility that Romy doesn’t actually like me and is just playing with me and is planning on ripping out my heart later just for fun. Warlocks hate Hunters and Hunters hate Warlocks, after all. And now I’m starting to feel a little paranoid because I’m worried that she might literally rip out my heart. Knowing Warlocks, it’s a possibility. They can be really scary sometimes. But I know I don’t have it in me to leave Romy’s side now. My crippling anxieties are secondary next to spending a whole day on a date with the perfect girl, Warlock or not. “C’mon!” Romy urges, taking my hand and pulling me forward. I’m sure it would be romantic to say my heartbeat fluttered like a cloak in the wind when she touched my hand, but a more accurate image would be my heartbeat spazzing out like a child’s wild scribbles on a piece of paper. [i]Very poetic.[/i] Romy, of course, knows the Crucible arena by heart. She quickly leads me to the position she deems best, then picks a spot where she can keep an eye on our surroundings while I settle to a crouch and hard-scope the direction I believe our opponents will be coming from. “Caaaaaamper,” Romy taunts playfully behind me. “Shaxx-worshiper,” I reply coldly. I’ve caught her gaze lingering a little too long on the Crucible Handler on more than one occasion. Then again, I think everyone’s guilty of giving Shaxx lascivious looks. That man is…something else. He stokes the flames of more than the Crucible, if you get me. Last year -when he offered his hand in marriage to everyone who earned that bow- I don’t think there’s ever been a united Guardian effort of that scale before, not even in our greatest battles. Romy and I both got the bow… And of course the enemy picks the perfect moment to appear, when I’m distracted by thoughts of Shaxx and imagining those rippling muscles. Bright color flashes through the lens of my scope as a slender figure clad in Hunter gear dives into sight and disappears again behind cover. I curse under my breath. I’d recognize that edgy cloak and terrible mix of yellow and pink anywhere. Isabelle, the Huntress: a Crucible rival of mine with an irritating habit of jumping all over the place and shooting me in the head. She’s like an evil paracausal rabbit. But not a cute evil rabbit. An [i]ugly[/i] evil rabbit. And she definitely cheats. Definitely. I‘m pretty sure that disgusting combination of color would actually make me go blind if I looked directly at it for too long. Honestly, how did we Hunters become famous for style when we wear the ugliest gear? [i](You didn’t hear that from me)[/i] Isabelle’s is probably the second-most hideous outfit I’ve ever seen. Number one goes to this one huge Exo Titan I saw who looked like he’d thrown his armor into the washer with the FWC’s laundry. That guy looked like a freaking rainbow of cultist stupidity. And now that this train of thought has completely derailed, back to my dilemma. I snap my sights after Isabelle, but realize my mistake too late. Movement at the edge of my view gives me a moment’s notice before a bullet from a high-caliber marksman rifle pierces my skull. What a beautiful shot. Whoever killed me, I hate you.