"What'd Kiriko call you again? Wonderman?" Cassidy asks.

"Wonderboy," Hirota says. "It's actually closer to Miracle Man, but that's semantics."

Cassidy sits down beside him. He settles his metal arm on the countertop of their little bar in Gibraltar. "Sounds almost sweet."

He shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not." Hirota could never tell with Kiriko.

Cassidy lights a cigar, presses it to his lips. Smoke billows out. "What's keeping you up here, then? Not down at the lounge with the others, that is."

"Never was one for parties."

"Heh. Don't feel so bad, kid. Some of us ain't got the spirit for certain things."

"You're not a party-person either?"

Cassidy nods. "Much prefer the long quiet of a roadtrip in the desert night."

"Sounds very serene."

"It damn-well is." Cassidy adjusts his cigar by shifting his mouth around. It looks rather silly, Hirota thinks. "That celebration is for you, y'know? Orientation party, or something like that. They always throw one for every new member since the recall."

"If they really need me there, they are free to find me," says Hirota. "Athena knows where I am."

A smooth female voice echoes sourcelessly within the bar. "Good evening, Cassidy and Hirota."

Cassidy laughs. "Right on queue, Athena."

"Yes. It was. Hirota," she says. "I believe Kiriko is outside, looking for you."

Hirota focuses. Sounds and sensations expand.

"He's not going to show, is he…"

"Battle-brothers and sisters of Overwatch, let us drink…"

"Reinhardt, you really shouldn't be drinking so much…"

Ah-ha.

"Where is he?" Kiriko mumbles.

A single flash of black lightning.

Hirota clears his throat. "Right here."

The girl stops in her tracks. She stands on the second floor rooftop of one building. It overlooks the southern sea. A quiet place— not as quiet as where he and Cassidy were— but still near enough to the party that Hirota still hears them all, laughing and yelling at each other.

The sun has just about set. It hangs just above the horizon. Water turns into a liquid gold band, wrapping around the curved surface of the earth before them.

It reminds them both of home.

Kiriko crosses her arms. Her dark green hair has turned to jade in the setting sunlight. She points back to the lounge. "You should be in there."

"Not really a party person."

Kiriko doesn't buy it. She crosses her arms deeper. "Last time we talked, you said you loved parties."

Hirota looks away. "People change."

"They also lie."

"I didn't. Not to you," Hirota murmurs.

Kiriko presses her lips together. She bites back a retort. Instead, she says, "How kind."

"It made one of us."

Kiriko motions with her head to the lounge. Jade hair bobs along with the movement. "Head inside. It's rude not to join."

"I'm sorry." Hirota looks back to the water. The sun has set, taking the light along with it. Darkness fills the sky; the constellations shimmer. Stars sail on an onyx sea.

Kiriko scoffs. "Your apologies won't reach the lives you abandoned.