The Five Evolution

『"Hotdog to the rescue."』

The driver was already opening the car door when they stepped outside. Ethan stopped beside it with Amara as neither of them moved.

The city stretched below them, lights glittering in the distance. Finally, Amara looked at him. "How about we walk instead?"

Ethan glanced toward the waiting vehicle, then back to her. "Yeah."

The driver looked mildly confused as Ethan dismissed him for the evening. He nodded, and the car pulled away moments later, leaving them alone on the hillside road.

The night breeze tugged gently at Amara’s hair. Ethan watched her for a moment, then slipped off his jacket and draped it across her shoulders.

Amara smiled, pulling the jacket tighter around her as they continued walking in silence. But it wasn’t awkward, just thoughtful.

After a minute, Ethan muttered. "I’m sorry."

Amara glanced sideways. "For what? The robbery wasn’t your fault."

"Not that." He shoved his hands into his pockets.

Amara understood. She’d figured Awakeners weren’t the most liked or accepted by the public, but she never expected it was that bad.

Ethan’s jaw tightened. "I should’ve said something."

Amara shook her head. "No."

"I should have," Ethan insisted.

"No, Ethan."

He looked at her and her expression softened.

"People like that don’t change because someone argues with them." She looked ahead again. "And honestly?" A small smile appeared. "I’ve had worse."

The fact that she could say that so casually bothered him more than it should have. Amara noticed and immediately nudged his shoulder. "We were about to leave anyway right?"

Ethan looked unconvinced. "Says the woman who wanted to get her money’s worth."

Amara grinned. "Damn right."

Several blocks later, they stumbled upon a food cart parked near a busy intersection. The scent hit them immediately. Grilled onions. Fresh bread. Spices.

Amara’s eyes lit up. "There."

Ethan followed her gaze to the food cart with a slightly crooked sign and plastic stools.

He laughed. "Of course."

Ten minutes later, Amara was holding a hotdog loaded with toppings while Ethan carried a toasted bagel stuffed with roast beef.

Neither cared that they were eating street food while dressed like they belonged at a gala.

They sat on a low concrete wall overlooking the city as Amara took several bites. "This." She pointed dramatically with the hotdog. "This is a date."

Ethan looked down at his food. "So I got outperformed by a food cart."

"Massively." She grinned.

"Good to know."

"You know, back at the restaurant, you said I do this thing where I talk to strangers?" she said quietly, "I don’t get why people always act surprised when I do that."

Ethan leaned back. "Because most people don’t."

Amara shook her head. "I never understood that."

"You never understood personal space?" Ethan asked, and she laughed.

She looked up, her smile softening. "My grandmother used to do it."

Ethan looked up with her.

"Talk to everybody. Everywhere." A small nostalgic smile appeared as she spoke. "Markets. Bus stops. Churches. Didn’t matter."

Ethan exhaled. "Sounds exhausting."

"It was." Amara laughed. "She’d disappear for twenty minutes and come back knowing someone’s life story."

"And you inherited that?" Ethan asked.

"Maybe." Amara looked at him. "You pretend to be an extrovert, but you’re really just a huge introvert aren’t you?"

"Really?" Ethan turned to meet her eyes. "What gave that away?"

She smiled and took another bite from her hotdog as they watched the city together.

Then Ethan spoke. "What did you want to be?"

Amara was caught off-guard with that question. "What?"

"When you were little," Ethan said. "Or did you always want to be a lawyer?"

Amara thought about it for a second. "Actually no." She swung her legs back and forth. "I wanted to be a teacher."

Ethan looked genuinely surprised. "A teacher?"

She nodded. "I liked helping people understand things." She grinned. "Plus I liked being right."

He scoffed. "That sounds more accurate."

She pointed at him. "Your turn."

Ethan groaned immediately. "No."

"You asked first," she insisted.

"That isn’t how this works." Ethan sighed. After a moment he said, "Architect."

Amara blinked. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "Well I liked building things." He took a bite from his bagel. "But I also liked the very idea of creating it on paper first."

"Buildings." Amara tucked a hair behind her ear. "You wanted to build buildings."

"I still do."

She stared. "Wait." A smile tugged at her lips. "Is that why you keep redesigning our R.C furniture?"

"It could always be optimized," Ethan said flatly.

Amara laughed and took another bite. With that, a small smear of mustard appeared near the corner of her mouth.

Ethan pointed. "You’ve got something."

"Oh?" Amara immediately wiped the wrong side.

"Nope." Ethan kept staring at it.

She wiped again. But she still got it wrong.

Ethan sighed. "Other side."

She tried again, but her thumb wiped nothing and Amara frowned. "Why are you making this complicated?"

"I’m not." Ethan hopped off from where they sat and stepped closer. "Hold still." His thumb brushed gently against the corner of her mouth, wiping away the mustard.

He then grabbed her waist, helping her off the concrete. She stood in front of him, and for a second neither moved.

Then Amara smiled. "Thanks."

Ethan nodded. But immediately regretted giving her ammunition. Because now Amara slowly looked at the hotdog in her hand, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"No," Ethan said.

"Yes."

"No."

She tapped the tip of his nose with the hotdog and a tiny streak of mustard remained behind.

Ethan stared at her, at how Amara bit her lip, trying and failing not to laugh.

His eyebrow climbed up. "What?"

"Nothing."

"What did you do?" He wiped at his nose, somehow making it worse.

Amara completely lost the battle of maintaining her composure as a laugh escaped.

Ethan sighed. "Oh, that’s real mature." He pulled out his phone and switched to the front camera. "...wow."

Amara was laughing openly now. "Let me get that." She stepped closer. Close enough that she suddenly became aware of how quiet everything felt.

The city. The traffic. The people around them. All of it faded as she reached up.

His eyes met hers in that moment, then dropped briefly to her lips.

Amara noticed and smiled. She leaned forward, to the point that her breath brushed his skin.

Then—

Instead of using her hand, she rose on her tip-toes despite her heels and lightly kissed the tip of his nose, removing the mustard.

Ethan froze as Amara pulled back barely an inch. The amusement in her eyes slowly softened into something warmer. Then her gaze dropped to his lips and stayed there.

Without saying a word, the distance vanished naturally as their lips met. Amara’s fingers slipped into the front of his shirt and Ethan’s hand settled carefully against her waist.

She deepened the kiss, lingering just long enough to make the rest of the world disappear. When she finally pulled away, she caught his lower lip between her teeth, then released it with a small smile.

Ethan stood stunned for a second, then broke into a wide smile. "Wow."

Amara laughed softly. "That’s all you’ve got?"

"I had a speech prepared." He ran his thumb across his lip. "In case something like this happened."

One of her eyebrows went up as she grinned. "Oh?"

"It’s gone now." Ethan shook his head. "You know... I probably should’ve taken us to the food cart first."

Amara laughed so loud it turned a few heads.

For a while they simply sat together, sharing food, talking about absolutely nothing important.

Eventually, Ethan glanced at his watch. It was a minute to midnight. "So what now?"

Amara thought about it. Then she snapped her fingers. "Rocky Road."

"What?"

"Rocky Road ice cream," she said.

Ethan tilted his head. "That’s the plan?"

"That’s the plan," she confirmed.

"And after that?" he asked.

A grin spread across her face. "You meet me back at the R.C."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "What are you planning?"

"It’s a surprise."

***

Ethan arrived at the Relaxation Center with two containers of Rocky Road, and Amara was there waiting. She was seated on one of the couches with his suit jacket still around her.

In front of her was the massive screen which filled one wall of the room, and a game menu floated across it.

In her hands was one of the controllers, while the other rested on the coffee table beside a pair of spoons.

"Surprise." She tapped gently on the couch space beside her.

Ethan walked over and dropped the ice cream on the table, then looked at the screen. "Mario-kart?" He sat down. "How’s that fair?"

"Next time, maybe I’ll let you pick the game." She grinned at him as he grabbed a controller and settled in.

The next hour disappeared surprisingly quickly, and Amara just crushed Ethan for the third match in a row. "Again," she said.

Ethan stared at the screen in disbelief. "I’d like to see you play this good when it’s Mortal Kombat."

"Please." Amara grinned and scooped another spoonful of ice cream.

Another hour of trash-talking and gaming passed. When Ethan looked over eventually, Amara had fallen asleep against his shoulder somewhere between races.

Outside, the world kept moving toward the Convergence. But for tonight, none of that mattered.

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