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Many months passed from the first interaction when Orion and Stro met. They had gotten very close over time. Currently, the bird vigilante was sitting on top of a roof building peering into the city with his sniper's scope, and nothing was going on at the moment as the long night was still upon them. He listened and observed to see if there was any crime in action..to be honest, Orion was getting insanely bored right now. With a big huff, he sat up, releasing his grip from the sniper.His sharp yellow eyes narrowed into the black abyss above him with stars littering the sky. Man, he needs something to do- maybe a distraction. Who is he kidding? Everyone else was busy, so he was pretty much alone for the night patrol, which was okay with Orion. But this boredom was getting overwhelming…without a thought, the male pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He took one out, placing it in his mouth before lighting it up, consuming that intoxicating smoke into his body and breathing it out into the cold air. Everything was silent for a while- only sounds of talking, cars, and other city things that came from Rhamnousia. Tiny steps piqued his interest when it drew closer. Smirking, Orion didn’t look back at the so-called intruder before speaking. “I didn’t think anyone would be coming out tonight, especially you, darling. Didn't you say you had some plans earlier?” Orion questioned the figure behind him. A voice grunted at him, “it got canceled. Nothing new, they were busy, so I decided to come and give your lonely butt some company.” he chuckled at their unseen reaction. “Alright, alright, no need to get defensive, I understand…you wanted to come because you're afraid you'd be stuck alone in that apartment of yours, weren’t you?” “hmph, fuck you and your little jokes-” Orion rolls his eyes, taking another shot from the cigarette; he patted a spot next to him.“Don't worry; I'm done with the jokes for now. You probably should’ve stayed at home. It's pretty boring tonight.” The two chatted the night away, with Orion constantly throwing in flirty remarks or compliments and Stro getting too flustered for their well-being. “Can you please just let me insult you? Stop making it sexual (not actually sexual haha), god damn it.” “I’ll stop making it sexual when you come up with something better than ‘fuck you.’” Stro’s exasperating face started to get more flushed while Orion did nothing but smile ever so brightly. A loud bang came from the west side of them, with vast clouds of smoke pilling into the air. It caught their eye immediately, knowing what they had to do. Nodding to each other, both quickly got up and ran towards the trouble.Many apartment buildings were blown to pieces when they arrived at the scene. “Well, that doesn’t look good-” Orion slipped on his familiar foxed mask to cover his identity and protect him from the thick smoke. Looking back at his partner, he placed a hand on Stro’s tense shoulder. “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do, considering the heroes will arrive soon, and villains are already on the scene. You look for any strapped civilians while I distract the villain for as long as I can until you get a single to the heroes that there are trapped people inside. If you can, grab as many people and get them out of here.” Stro looked into his masked eyes of his “are you sure that's a good decision just to attack them head-on while the heroes are out?” Sighing, Orion looked back to the disaster ahead of them. “Probably not, but hey? You only live once.” their grave expression shot at Orion. “You, of all people, should realize that’s not the case here, but ok.” The black & blonde-haired male grinned. “Don't worry, sweetheart, I’ll be just fine” without wasting any more time, he rushed ahead, shouting back, “just don't go getting caught for me!” the battle between them had still accrued for hours even though when a few heroes arrived and “helped” to defeat the villain.Was this villain much more brutal than the others? Yes. Did Stro thankfully come to help? Totally. Did it still do anything? Nope, not even close. Orion got roughly knocked into one of the buildings, breaking some ribs from the impact. His lungs burned at this point. Stro was also in critical condition like him, panting while holding on to a pillar for support. Out of nowhere, the villain came rushing towards them when knocking one of the heroes out of the way. In a hurry, Orion spread his wings and flew fast to get to Stro just before the villain did and blocked the harsh attack. He didn’t hold out for long as he got smacked down into the broken concrete coughing up blood. The battle was vicious. Hours continued by, and yet the fight was still on. “Orion! Are you…alright? You took a harsh blow!” they kept frantically glancing back at the downed vigilante and the villain that stalked their way to the pair. “You shouldn’t get up. You are badly injured. You have broken ribs and an arm!” Orion sat up slowly, coughing, “I promised…” he gasped for breath. “That I would protect you. And I intend to keep that dam promise. You are worse than me, Stro” Orion finally stood up, taking out one of the handguns he had. Stro looked at him as if he was crazy “you are just asking to get killed, Orion” Orion’s body turned around to face their figure. He got very close to them, faces inches away from each other.Stro could feel his warm breath hitting their neck. He took his blooded hand and held their cheek as Stro tried to move their flustered face away. “honey…that's my job. Have faith in me before you start crying for my potential death, will you?” “bitch-” Orion chuckled at the insult before pulling away. “Listen to me. I have a plan that will seem ridiculous, but I need you to help me out for it to succeed. It will bring down the villain, though, I'm sure of it” “what are you implying, Orion?” silence was between the two for what seemed like a long time. He looked at his partner. His hair was still a mess, and in the bright shine of the sunrise, he looked even more admiring and human than they’d ever seen him. “I guess I’m asking you to trust me.”