Months passed, this was perhaps the longest relationship Asher had to date. He was safe, well fed and lacked nothing even if all he really wanted was halfway decent partner and a good couch to sleep on.

Asher didn't really bother with whatever was going on with the syndicate. Orion didn't talk about it so he tried not to care what Orion was up to outside their relationship, or he didn't at first. He continued to find himself caring more and more.

“This might sound weird considering how long we've already been together this long. But I think… I think I’m actually, like, in love with you. I’ve liked you from the beginning but like… Is that stupid? I’m the one who’s supposed to be seducing you, right?” Asher asked, then realized he wasn’t getting a response. “Hey Orion? Are you even listening to me?...Orion?”

Orion was deeply focused on the book in front of him. His eyes were narrowed at something on the page, something Asher had come to associate with the part Orion referred to as Katz.

“Hmm let me guess, Katz?” Asher asked playfully.

“Huh?” Katz jumped in his seat. “Oh. Don't do that it makes me uncomfortable.”

“Sorry. You weren't responding so I just thought... I didn't mean to scare you.” Asher explained.

“No, it's not your fault.” He shuddered. “How did you even figure it out? Geez, You're worse than Imani.”

“You're the easiest one to figure out, you tend to squint more for some reason.” Asher said imitating his expression. “Who is Imani?”

“Huh? I... hold on let me think about this…” Katz struggled to remember, “She's someone I worked with… at Spectra.”

“Spectra, right. So, you're some kind of secret agent. Is that how you ended up here?” Asher asked.

“Something like that…” Katz thought about it carefully. “How do you know about Spectra?”

“Ah- I- I know some things.” Asher waved him off, “Is Claire also from Spectra?”

“Claire… How did you know about Claire?” Katz narrowed his eyes again.

“You talk in your sleep a lot. Like you're trying to give her updates. Thought she was your therapist or something to be honest.” Asher admitted.

“She's not she's… she is, she was the leader of our team. If they were smart they would’ve withdrawn completely when things went awry and cut off anyone who remained, like me.” He looked back at his book. “Otherwise, they're probably all dead.”

“Oh… Um… Let's change the subject to a lighter note, hopefully.” Asher paused, “How come you're the only Orion with a different name? And where did that name come from anyway?”

“I’m not, technically. But I don’t remember what the rest go by. My name came from… a cartoon actually.” He admitted.

“Oh, weird… what cartoon was it?” Asher asked.

“I can't really remember, I know it had a dog in it.” Katz rocked his head a bit as he tried to think. “I got nothing else.”

“That describes most cartoons if I’m being honest.” Asher sighed.

“Sorry, that’s all I got at the moment.” Katz laughed.

“Well aside from that, like, what's your deal anyway?” Asher asked casually.

“What?” Katz asked.

“Do you have like, a role or something?” Asher tried not to be too invasive about it.

“I never really bothered with stuff like that. I didn't find labels like that very useful. But I think the only thing really specific to me is high pain tolerance.” Katz shrugged.

“Is that why I see you more often when you're sick?” Asher questioned.

“Yeah, I guess.” Katz said.

“I am curious about that actually, why are you sick all the time?” Asher asked.

“The project I’m working on is utilizing dimensional energy to generate something to fight the distortion.” He paused realizing he might need to explain further. “I have to use my body as a conduit for the energy used in the project, so what I’m experiencing is something similar to radiation sickness.”

“Normally, I would think all of that was absolutely bullshit. But I swear to god I saw you glowing blue the other night.”

“It's not impossible.” He laughed.

“So, is this distortion stuff really that serious?”

“Yeah, it's like apocalyptic level stuff, the distortion is like, a thing that forms from the dimensional collapse or other dimensional abnormalities it’s destructive and all that…” Katz explained. “I can't really say much more about it. Not that it really matters anymore but it is technically classified information.”

“Are you sure it's not just because you can't remember?” Asher teased.

“Oh hush. Just take this and quit distracting me.” Katz tossed something over to Asher.

“What's this?” Asher asked barely managing to catch it.

“A key. You're bound to get locked out again if I don't.” Katz mused, “For the record, I don’t think it’s stupid that you took this long to fall in love with me. I struggle with that myself. While it's mutual, I do think it’s stupid that it was me specifically you fell in love with.”

“Look, I know I have bad taste, but you don't have to put yourself down like that.” Asher teased, “Say, why don’t we go out or something later?”

“We can just go now, I’m tried of looking at this anyway.” Katz sighed.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to be distracted.” Asher said.

“Well, maybe I want to be distracted now.” Katz smiled. “What day is it today, Saturday?”

“It's Tuesday.” Asher said.

“Perfect.” Katz said. “The bar down the street is decent enough.”

“A bar? It's like 3 in the afternoon. Are they even open?” Asher asked.

“I technically own the place so it would be fine even if it wasn't.” He said grabbing his coat and heading for the door. “Besides there will be live music so it'll be fun.”

“Ok sure why not.” Asher followed along.

It was hardly a block away. When they got there the place was barren save for a bartender cleaning and setting up. There was a small stage on one side with a few instruments set out and what looked like a karaoke machine on the side.

“Why is this place so empty?” Asher asked. “I thought you said it was open.”

“It's still about an hour or so until the live band shows up. No one really comes here for anything else.” Katz said.

“Are they any good?” Asher asked

“I’d like to think so.” He smirked.

“What do you mean?” Asher raised an eyebrow.