Mount Justice

July 23rd , 06:12 EDT

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was green arms around my waist, and my hands cupping those hands, some of our fingers intertwined, and a growing heat at the bottom of my stomach. It took a moment for my brain to understand who they belonged to. And another moment for me to sense a rather emphatic manifestation of the natural phenomenon that all men experienced in the morning.

Once I did, all the events of yesterday came crashing down on me.

I couldn't have gotten off the bed faster if I had warped. Megan, thankfully, was still asleep, but that didn't—that couldn't make a dent on what I was feeling. I turned my back on her sleeping form, refusing to point—that!—at her. With deep breaths, I forced myself to calm down.

What the hell was this? What the hell was this? Why had we slept together?

New memories popped up as well. Memories of a sweet dream. Of Suguru and I playing basketball. Of Megan watching us, and getting to know Suguru. A beautiful fantasy.

A part of me wanted to rebel at it all, but… this was Megan's best efforts to make me feel better.

And in the end, the undeniable truth was that I didn't feel good… in general. If at all. The despair immediately drenched my other feelings, granting me a welcome relief from all that cloying and uncomfortable warmness. I fixated on the despair further, on my crying session—ugh. Shame cocooned me, and I dove headfirst into that, too. Megan wanted me to feel, right? Alright then, I would feel.

Feeling was a bummer.

Megan was a Martian. Going through peoples' brains and dreaming with them was probably normal for her, even if it made my heart do flops for some reason. And I trusted that she had no bad motives either. She was a hero, after all.

I guess all that was left was to say… that it couldn't be helped. And… perhaps, telling her thank you at some point?

Maybe with cookies?

Maybe she'd like a tray of sugar cookies in the morning? It wasn't like she could get fat, given that she could shapeshift. Maybe that extra weight would be good for her powers?

It was worth a try at least.

…I hadn't even taken a shower or changed since the mission yesterday, and Megan had slept next to me in that stink.

I wanted to die, I wanted to kill myself. Oh God.

I didn't waste any time hitting the showers, scrubbing myself vigorously of all possible smell, and then getting changed to a neat slacks and long-sleeved white shirt combo. Since I had already resolved myself to feeling gratitude, I went ahead with the cookie-making plan, and while the cookies were baking, I opened up my phone to read Batman's after-report, written in Japanese for my benefit.

I fixated on the top line.

Don't use the NATO alphabet to curse. It's distracting to your teammates, and tarnishes your image as a reliable hero to the public. Heroes should be decent in action and in words.

Goddammit.

After all the effort I went through to learn the NATO alphabet in the first place.

The rest of it was standard stuff. Points for suggesting an easy plan, for supporting my allies, for disabling the villains—wait, what the hell was this? Where was the vitriol and rage? Wasn't Batman supposed to hate me after yesterday? But this after-report was so… tame.

There were some good points made about my willingness to throw myself into fights and my reliance on my teammates power to avoid the devastation caused by my power. And finally, the major sticking point was my lacking solemnity in the face of hero work.

I should be taking this more seriously.

Tights and capes aside, this work was still very serious. And my strength shouldn't afford me the ability to trivialize things.

There is always a time and place for levity, even in the most serious circumstances, but that levity should never distract you from the bottom line. Your pride as a powerful being should always come second to your duty to your team and to humanity.

What a drag.

But ultimately… sure. Important stuff. I should keep it in mind.

My timer ran out just as I finished learning my report, and I used my Cursed Technique to pull the baking tray out from the oven, letting the cookies cool on the counter while I considered how the rest of my day would look.

Then I saw Aqualad walking in. Kaldur, actually. Kal-durrr. Kal-der. Ugh, even in my brain, it was hard to pronounce. I needed to practice on those Rs.

He saw the tray, "Did you make these?"

"Yeah," I said, "They are for Megan." Then I looked at the tray. There were like fifty cookies there. I relented a little, "You can have some. Five only."

Aqualad gave me a knowing grin as he went over to take one of the cookies, "You and Megan."

I looked at him in slight confusion, "What about us?"

"Nothing," Aqualad said, "I just meant to say that you've grown close. That is good." He reached for my shoulder to try and put a hand on it. Ugh, whatever. I released Infinity on my shoulder, letting him make contact. "I'm glad that you've grown close to us. I had my doubts about our ability to work as a team at the start, but yesterday's mission was… good, disaster notwithstanding."

I grinned at him, "Thanks, captain. I thought it was fun, too," I walked over to the fridge to look for the coffee jelly that I still hadn't eaten yet. After unboxing it, I got a spoon from one of the drawers and started digging in. Ah, nothing beat that sweetness mixed in with that bold coffee flavor.

Though this particular brand could use more sweetness. Unfortunately, the places I knew in Tokyo just… didn't exist. And the food didn't taste quite the same as a result. All that meant was that I had a lot of exploring ahead of me.

As Aqualad began to walk away, carrying a tray of five cookies, I spoke up, "Kaldur."

He paused and turned to look at me.

I gathered my resolve and spoke, "Thank you for standing up for me," I said, "And sorry for… everything."

"You're forgiven," Kaldur said. That sentence was just... mildly infuriating to me. Whatever. He gave me a nod, and then went on his way.

I opened up my phone and started surfing through this fun new thing called 'social media' when I heard footsteps, and my Six Eyes picked up on Megan approaching.

I turned around and saw her walk into the kitchen with a warm, contented smile, "Mmm, I love the smell of cookies in the morning. Did you bake these?"

My heart thundered as I saw her. Red hair, full lips, green skin. And insides utterly different from anything I had seen before.

No. Stop it. Stop it, Satoru. You don't like her. You shouldn't like her. She's an alien! She's got green skin, for god's sakes! And she's way too good for you.

I put an end to those thoughts of attraction—we slept on the same bed, she provided me with emotional care, maybe my brain mistook her for my mom or something? Yeah, made sense, probably. Just… abort thoughts. Abort all thoughts. She wasn't my type anyway, I was just going through momentary confusion, that was all.

Then I saw the questing tendril of her telepathic waves trying to read my aborted thoughts. I instantly set up Infinity to filter those waves and gave her a wave, "Good morning," I said with a grin.

Her grin fell slightly, "Oh… I, uh, just assumed—"

Oh no. "I'm sorry," I said to her. "It's just… yesterday was yesterday, and today is today. Thank you, Megan. A lot." I couldn't meet her eyes, instead looking at the floor as I smiled fondly, remembering my stupid basketball matches with Suguru. I set up Infinity around us to block out sound, "You made that dream for me, right?"

I looked up at her and saw her smile, "I'm… sorry if that was an intrusion."

"No, I liked it," I told her, "I liked it a lot. Thank you. I… really missed him."

"It's the least I could do," Megan said, "Sa-chan, if you ever need someone to talk to, or if you ever feel like opening yourself up again, I'll always be here. You can take your time if you want."

I nodded. "Thank you for understanding, Megan. You're… a good friend."

She brightened up at that. Her expression was so bright that I couldn't even look at it—it was like staring into the sun.

This needed to stop. I had to make sure this stopped.

I went over to pick up a cookie. They had cooled enough by now. Then I asked her, "Have you seen Batman's report of you, yet?"

"No, not yet," she said.

I laughed and showed her mine. Batman taking note of my NATO alphabet cursing was… honestly quite hilarious, all things considered.

It made a part of me wonder, was all that drama yesterday set up by him for my benefit?

Remember this kindness.

It would be hard not to.

Mount Justice

23rd July, 12:15 EDT

"I have to say, Gojo—excellent work on yesterday's mission."

I grinned, waving my hand in front of my face to cut down on the sappiness of Black Canary's proud expression, "It was nothing, I was just letting the kids stretch their little legs. What sort of big brother would I be if I took all the fun out of things."

"Be that as it may," she said with a bemused grin, "You comported yourself in a heroic manner. And you've gained the favor of your team."

"It is Aqualad's team," I said with a raised finger, "He is the captain and I am just a sailor under his command. See? I can be humble when I want."

"How do you feel about their support?" Canary asked.

Didn't need it, I wanted to say reflexively.

But that didn't appeal to me as much as the truth, "To be honest, it is uncomfortable."

"Why do you think so?" Canary asked, and I could see her grin widen a little bit. She liked this vulnerability, didn't she? Were all girls like that? What was it about seeing me exposed that made people like Megan and Canary bark like dogs fighting for a piece of meat? Perverts, the lot of them.

"Why do I think so?" I repeated, wondering, "They're too nice. Too soft. Too weak."

"And yet they came through for you," she said. "Yet, you needed them when it counted. And they didn't turn their backs on you. Despite your best efforts."

I clicked my tongue, "Get out of my head. Are you secretly a Martian or something?" I remembered when I had genuinely believed that to be the case, too, but no matter how hard I looked, there were no telepathic waves connecting our brains. She was just… good at her job.

"Apologies, Gojo," Canary said, "I know that sincerity is hard for you. It's hard for many people. It's awkward. It feels weird at times."

"It feels sticky," I said, sticking out my tongue, "Messy."

She giggled, "I know. But sincerity is a necessary evil. It means opening yourself up, sure, and making yourself vulnerable, exposed. You don't like being exposed, obviously. May I ask if your Infinity is on right now?"

"Yes," I said with a shrug.

"Don't you feel like this creates a distance between yourself and others?"

"I'm working on keeping it on at all times," I said with a frown, "It's just training, and it's good for me. Should I remind you that the reason I am here is because someone got past my Infinity?"

Unconsciously, I looked down at my chest, and saw the ghost of a katana running straight through it.

Never again.

"Of course not," she said, "I understand the need for training, and keeping oneself safe. Do you anticipate any threats in the cave?"

"No one anticipates a threat before they die by surprise," I said to her with a grin, "What I expect, and what is reality are two very different things." The wording made me think of what Batman had said to me. In a way, he was right. "But," I shrugged, "When I become stronger, my Infinity will be able to decide who or what is or is not a threat."

"That's good," she said, "It's important that you don't cut yourself off from the rest of humanity for your own security. Being an infinite distance away from others shouldn't be something to aspire to."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I thought you said I was doing perfectly."

"I never said that," she said, "But… I'm proud of how far you've come in such a short amount of time."

"Be proud of Megan," I said, rolling my eyes, "She was the one who made this possible."

"You think so?"

"She's a person who does not know how to mind her own business," I said without hesitation, "And she does not care about your walls. Maybe it's her alien brain that makes her see human issues as something easy. The way I see any fight as being easy," I grinned, "She is strong in that way."

Canary grinned, "So she can be your friend now. Right?"

My grin fell and I gave a solemn nod, "Yeah… She can be my friend now."

000

That evening, Megan and I decided to learn how to make Italian pizza for the team to celebrate our success. Then, after finding out that a good pizza required an aged dough, I had to take the Zeta Tube and run around Italy looking for an English speaking pizzeria chef who would part with a bit of dough. It took a while until I found one who very enthusiastically sold me five kilograms of aged dough—good dough, according to his judgment—and then I had to keep looking around for a pizza steel—a slab of metal that absorbed heat from an oven and made cooking pizzas much faster.

Then, since I was already in Italy, I decided to get those 'San Marzano' tomatoes that the book kept raving about. And because the book had a special fetish for all-Italian ingredients, I went and got some mozzarella from here as well. And a basil plant, because Italian basil had magical properties apparently. At that point, I realized that I was probably being jerked around by an overly enthusiastic pizza otaku who wrote the book in the first place.

The produce was cheap, relatively speaking, so I didn't quite mind. It was just annoying.

Finally, after we finished assembling the first pizza—a simple affair topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella slices and leaves of basil—and waited the customary hour to get the ripping hot oven to transfer all its heat to the pizza steel, Megan heard a ding on her phone and pulled it out of her pocket.

"Kid Flash and Robin are coming!" Megan whooped in joy.

Yes, Kid Flash, my favorite guy! I wouldn't rain on Megan's parade, though. But really, I was nearing the edge of my patience.

This would make the third time that I fed his ungrateful ass. If I heard anything out of his mouth, I'd jump over the table and throttle him.

"Be nice, Sa-chan," Megan said to me, concern etched on her brows.

I gaped at her, "I will be!"

"He'll be nice," Megan said.

"I doubt it. But let him try something, I'll—"

"Sa-chan."

I sighed. "Whatever."

I heard the Zeta Tube whir and used my Six Eyes to see through the walls of the cave—Robin and Kid Flash had arrived.

And just in time, Aqualad was approaching, while Superboy had finally left his supercave.

And the pizza was done! Fast! I guess that's why we needed the damn pizza steel in the first place. Megan used her telekinesis to get the pizza out and on a wooden cutting board before cutting it apart with a 'mezzaluna', a crescent shaped two-handled knife from Italy. Also another thing that the stupid book insisted on.

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Kid Flash appeared amidst us in an instant. "Pizza's ready? Can I have some? I'm so hungry!"

Megan giggled, "It's hot, though," but she gestured at the cutting board, "But sure, just don't burn your mouth."

He grabbed a slice and blew on it before taking a bite, "Ow, hot!" That didn't stop him from taking a second bite.

Did we even have enough dough to feed him alone, let alone the rest of us?

I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, though. Kid Flash finished scarfing the pizza slice down heroically and sighed in relief just as Robin arrived in the kitchen. "Do we eat here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Whoa, nice. You even got a pizza steel! Awesome!"

"Why bother if you're not going all out?" I asked him with a grin, "These are all Italian ingredients."

"Italian basil and mozz isn't really that big a deal," Robin said, "But I'm guessing the tomatoes are San Marzano then. Right?"

I looked at this twerp, "How do you know so much about Italian cooking anyway?"

"Because I'm a genius?" He said with a grin. "I know everything man, don't sweat it."

I chuckled.

"Yeah!" Megan said, "The tomatoes are San Marzano actually. Isn't that awesome? The Zeta Tube is so convenient!"

"Each activation of the Zeta Tube takes about a million dollars' worth in energy," Kid Flash said.

"Yeah, but we have a pretty good power core," Robin said with a shrug, "Doesn't really matter."

"Really makes you think, though," Kid Flash said, "Why we can't just give our power cores to normal people. That would probably solve a lot of problems."

"And cause a ton of market instability," Robin said with a shudder, "Plus, it's not like we just could even if we wanted to. There's a lot of interest in keeping fossil fuel energy production methods alive, even though we've had nuclear power for almost a hundred years now."

"We used nuclear for bombs before energy production too," Kid Flash said, "Good old American priorities."

"That is a very sensitive topic," I said to Kid Flash, feigning concern and hurt. Kid Flash's eyes widened, and I broke into a grin, "Just messing with you."

He folded his arms and frowned at me. Then he broke into a grin, "Yeah, guess you got me."

Robin laughed at that, and I joined in on the laughter.

That was… unexpected. Kid Flash had suddenly grown a thicker skin overnight!

Superboy filed into the kitchen and gave a greeting grunt.

"Hi to you, too!" I said cheerfully.

"Is the pizza ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, have a slice," I said, "Your Kryptonian tongue probably won't burn."

He shrugged and took a slice, and then a bite. He chewed and swallowed without changing his expression, "It's good."

I clutched my chest dramatically, throwing my head back. "Booo! Is that all I get? A bland 'it's good'? Where's the gratitude, Superboy? The devotion? The, 'Gojo-sama, you are an unparalleled culinary genius! I am in awe!' Or at least something close to that!"

Superboy just raised an eyebrow, nonplussed. "It's… pizza. Good pizza."

Kid Flash snickered—snickered! Who was he and what had he done to the real Kid Flash?—, grabbing a slice for himself. "Give it up, Gojo. You're not getting any worship here. Maybe you just need to add, I don't know, some Kryptonian seasoning or something?"

Robin leaned in, eyeing the pizza suspiciously. "Or garlic. Do aliens even eat garlic?"

"The book specifically said to avoid garlic in most Italian dishes," I said, tapping my chin. "This is an authentic pizza, Robin. I thought that a genius like you would recognize that."

"Authenticity is overrated," Robin said with a shrug, "American pizza is where it's at. Try a New York style and you'll see."

Megan, standing beside the counter, was carefully prepping a new pizza crust. She looked up, amused. "On Mars, we have a few spices we use that would surprise you guys. Garlic is… well, it's a little intense for Martian taste buds."

I nodded sagely. "Interesting. We'll keep it garlic-free for our friendly Martian, then. But for the rest of you, expect an explosion of flavor."

Kid Flash grinned, his mouth already half-full. "Oh, come on, if this one had any more flavor, we'd need to classify it as a biohazard." He was really into this pizza. To the point that he had even forgotten to be rude to me.

Just then, Kaldur walked in, looking every bit the calm leader as he scanned the kitchen and its somewhat chaotic occupants. He offered a polite nod. "Good evening, everyone."

"Hey, Kaldur!" Megan greeted with a warm smile. "We're having a little pizza night to celebrate our first successful mission. You're just in time—Sa-chan just unveiled his masterpiece."

Kaldur raised an eyebrow as he approached the counter, studying the half-eaten pie. "You continue to surprise us with your culinary prowess, Gojo."

"Ah, well," I said with a smirk, "there's a lot about me that would blow your mind, my fishy friend. And besides, Megan is the heart of our dynamic duo. She was the one who prepared the sauce!"

Kaldur gave me a tolerant, patient smile as he took a slice and bit into it. A thoughtful look crossed his face, then he gave a slow nod. "This is… unexpectedly good."

"Finally!" I threw my arms up in triumph. "Someone who knows how to appreciate greatness!"

Superboy shrugged. "It's still just pizza."

"Superboy, I am ignoring you until you recognize my genius." I turned to Megan, who was spreading sauce on the new pizza, clearly entertained by the antics.

"Is there anything special you'd like on yours, Megan?" I asked. "Since authenticity is overrated apparently?"

She thought for a moment, tapping her chin. "Maybe some spicy seasoning? Martians don't have the same reaction to capsaicin as humans, but I've read that it's… invigorating?" She opened the spice cabinet with telekinesis and pulled out some chili flakes, seasoning liberally.

Robin nudged Kid Flash, smirking. "Looks like we're in for Martian Spicy Pizza. This should be interesting."

Megan flashed him a playful look. "Hey, it's not like I'll make it too extreme." She kept seasoning as she spoke.

"I think that's enough, Megan," Kaldur said with a grin as he took another bite of his pizza, nodding appreciatively. "This pizza night was an excellent idea. Good for team bonding."

"Team bonding over pizza!" I declared, holding up a slice like a toast. "Can't beat it."

Everyone followed suit, lifting their own slices, even Superboy, though he looked a little reluctant. The vibe was lighthearted, the usual edge of a bottomless craving missions set aside, even if just for a night. And somehow, watching everyone enjoy something I made—even Superboy with his flatline expression—felt oddly satisfying.

This felt surreal. Just the other day, I had been convinced that I didn't care for any of their presences, or that they cared for mine in turn. What had changed?

What had changed with Kid Flash, especially?

Weird. Everything was so weird.

…I kinda liked it though. It was peaceful at least.

I was last to take a slice, and enjoyed mine immensely. Not just the flavor, but the fact that I had been a part of its creation process. And that I was enjoying it with other people.

Kid Flash busted out some weird off-brand cola bottles called Peppy Cola (that turned out to be the main brand in this world), and we enjoyed that too as Megan pulled out her cooked chili pizza to replace the one we had all devoured.

Just as expected, it tasted intolerably spicy.

"It's so good!" Megan gushed, then she turned to me, "Right, Sa-chan?"

I took another bite and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, "Yes, it's so good."

Megan looked at me in shock, "You're crying!"

"They are tears of joy! Look around!" I gestured at Robin and Kid Flash, who were both crying and blushing furiously as well from the heat of the pizza.

Superboy ate normally, not touched by the spice at all.

"This does indeed taste very good," Aqualad said, with much emotion in his voice. What was he—was he serious? "Megan, could you pass me the chili flakes? I would like to season my pizza with this from now on."

"But let us keep the rest normal," I said hastily, "I liked the chilis, but I preferred the natural flavor more, you know," I said, forcing myself to finish the slice I had taken.

"Yeah, agree," Robin said, "Totally prefer au naturel."

"Yep!" Kid Flash hissed, "Yep!"

Rather than continue killing myself with spice, I challenged myself to try and make an entire pizza using Blue alone.

I got quite far, actually!

Until Kid Flash ruined it just as I was lifting up the already-assembled pizza, leading it gently towards the pizza steel without pressing it into a ball.

"Almost there," he said, "Almost there! Almost there!" he howled.

In my irritation, I ended up crumpling the pizza into a ball. Kid Flash and Robin died laughing. Aqualad chuckled, and even Superboy cracked a grin. Only Megan was on my side, wincing in sympathy. "Dammit!" I cursed in Japanese and glared at Kid Flash. I unfolded the pizza and beheld the mess. Everything had been smushed into the bread. It was a complete mess, "You are eating this one, you know."

"Just fold it in half," he said with a shrug, "Then it'll be a calzone."

Huh. I did as was suggested and plopped it into the oven. "You are responsible for its cooking time then," I said with a grin.

"Alright!" he pumped his fist.

"And you should make a new one," Aqualad suggested, "For us. Because you will have monopolized an entire pizza."

"Yeah, yeah," He said as he got to work stretching the dough while the rest of us continued chatting.

This time, Robin was talking about Batman's report, "Batman chewed me out because of you!" Robin pointed at me, "Your stupid NATO alphabet cursing made it into my report because I said Charlie, Hotel!"

"English, please," Kid Flash called over his shoulder.

Aqualad was the one to explain, "The NATO alphabet is a phonetic alphabet in which a word represents its initial letter. Alpha represents A, Bravo represents B. It is used in radio communication in order to reduce ambiguity—it is easier to make out 'Bravo' than it is 'B', which could be mistaken for the letter D in radio. In any case, Gojo went out of his way to learn this alphabet in order to construct curses," he gave me an unimpressed look.

"Don't look at me!" I said, "I was just doing what they were doing in the movies! 'Bravo team, engage, Alpha team, stand by', you know how it goes!"

"Then," Superboy frowned, "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo is—"

Kid Flash gave a laugh at that, "Wow!"

"I didn't know we couldn't curse as heroes!" I said in shock, "And besides, we don't have curses like that in Japanese and I was very eager to use them!" In Japan, our curses turned into horrible monsters.

"It's not a good habit," Megan frowned.

"Are you afraid I will start smoking and drinking too?" I asked with a grin.

"Is that what happens after you start cursing?" Megan asked, surprised.

"Only according to every mother in the world," Kid Flash said sarcastically,

Soon after, Kid Flash's misshapen calzone came out. The air bubbles inside the pie had expanded greatly, turning the thing into a crescent with a thick middle, and to Kid Flash's annoyance, he would have to wait a while to get it to cool down after taking a bite and burning his tongue rather severely.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" he rushed up to the sink to fill a glass up with water and drank it, "Ah, that's gonna take a while to heal," he whimpered.

As we made more and more pizzas, approaching everyone's collective ability to stomach more of it, our energy died down, and I prepared to separate from the rest to maybe get some training done.

Superboy was the first to leave the kitchen, "I'm going to lie down," he said, his voice deep and stomach bloated.

"Good night, Superboy!" Megan called after him.

"I guess that's my cue as well," Robin said. "I've got something I need to do, thanks for the pizza, goodbye!" He rushed off and I wondered why. Only when I heard the Zeta Tube whirring on distantly did I realize—that bastard had left us to do all the cleaning up! Both him and Superboy!

"Yeah, I also—" Kid Flash said, but I stopped him immediately.

"Oh no, you're not letting me and Megan clean all of this."

"I would have helped," Aqualad said.

"Great," I said with a grin, "Eight hands will make this very easy."

As expected, it didn't take long to clean everything up, putting the leftover pizza and ingredients in the fridge for another day, and cleaning the pizza stone, the cutting board, the counter and the floor that was somewhat stained with a few instances of pizza sauce and cheese.

"Whew, finally," I said with a contented sigh. "Alright, my cute underlings, and my captain," I said, giving a nod to Aqualad, "Jaa ne."

Then I warped over to the Mission Control room.

Kid Flash ran up to me there at incredible speeds. I blinked at him in surprise and narrowed my eyes, grinning slightly, "What, you wanted more pizza?"

"No, man," he snorted, "I just… I thought tonight was nice. Just wanted to tell you. One on one."

"Are you a clone of the annoying Kid Flash," I asked him, looking him over. He scowled at that.

"Could ask you the same thing," he told me, "You've been… tolerable. More than I expected you could be, really. I'm just paying it back, man."

Oh. I hadn't noticed my own behavior having changed.

"Awww, you're going to make me cry, Kid-chan," I said swooned, "I didn't think—"

"It's Wally," he said.

I paused for a moment. "Huh?"

"Wally West," he said, "That's my name. Don't wear it out. Got that?"

I took a moment to recompose myself, and then I gave him a stiff salute, "Yes, Mr. Wally, sir!"

He snorted, folding his arms. Then his expression morphed into slight unease, "And… I'm sorry, for sort of giving you a hard time when we first saw each other. I was disappointed. And annoyed. You didn't deserve that."

He was going to make me say it, wasn't he?

"I'm sorry, too," I groaned slowly, slumping over so deeply that my fingers almost touched my toes, "For calling you weak, for not respecting you. And all that." Then, still slumped over, I offered him my hand. "Peace."

Gingerly, he took it, and then he shook it. "Peace," he said.

Then I straightened up and gave him a sunny grin, "Let us never do that again. I will kill myself if I ever have to look at your sad-sack expression in my life. Okay?"

He frowned sharply at that, "What the heck, dude? Yeah, you know what! Sure. You're right, I hated that too."

"Glad we can agree," I said with a breath of relief. "Anyway, you want to train with me?"

"Uh," He said, "I'm, uh, actually gonna go make more of that pizza. I'll clean up after of course." Holy crap.

"You are a monster," I said.

"Hah, don't I know it," he turned around and sped off back to the kitchen.

I cracked a grin as I looked off at the hallway he had disappeared into. What a weirdo.