I'm a frustrated CL fan, now, after the past few episodes. (Yumi, stop being so obstinate!) Despite my loads of work and time constraints—those being why Every Step I Willed still hasn't been updated—I can't resist the urge to write reaction pieces to some things.

So Color Wheel is now officially a drabble/one-shot series. It's likely that none of these pieces will be related directly (aside from involving color, because it's a theme I like), and they won't be exceptionally long.

Reaction piece to ep. 35 "The Chips Are Down"; messing with Odd's thoughts, because I've newly gained a soft spot for him. Poor guy.

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Silhouette

"Imagine how you would feel if something happened to Jeremie," he offers, and he knows he is utterly lost.

How else can he explain why he's so struck by the little blush that skitters across her cheeks every time he teases her? Even though it means that he has to mentally backhand the part of his mind that wishes that she was blushing because of his glance and something wrenches uncomfortably in his gut when he does so, it's worth it to see the shade of pink that crawls up her face, complementing that hair of hers.

The hair! That, too. It's pink, and unearthly in its quality. Who has pink hair? But it only makes her look more like a faerie, an untouchable sprite of the forest, something not of this mortal coil (and he considers her an angel, complete with the voice for it when she molds the landscape of the digital realm, hands clasped in front of her) as if her ears weren't enough to bring that effect about.

He doesn't deserve her, though. Jeremie, mind as quick as lightning and then some, has devoted the better part of a year to Aelita before she was more than a puzzling bundle of data and mysteries. They work well together, Pierre and Marie Curie all over again, albeit infinitely more modernized and somewhat younger. He can't take her from his friend, can't do that to him, and it's the bespectacled boy that her affections lie with, anyway.

(Another small part of him argues that it doesn't matter, that he should be able to make a move if he wishes to, but it's overridden by his mind. Dogs aren't the only loyal creatures—cats are, too.)

So he takes what he can get, caterwauling about his chemistry homework and savoring study sessions without crossing the line that borders his role. It's quite a bit easier to learn that periodic table, curse Mendeleev in his grave, when it's being explained in that deliciously soft-spoken voice.

He's never betrayed his feelings once, even when her arms snake around his waist as she holds on while they're zipping through Lyoko on his board and he bites his lip to keep himself from leaning back into the innocent embrace. He's the ever-vigilant bodyguard, the light-hearted jokester who's there to coax a smile out of that elfish face when it's creased by worry, the faithful friend who watches over her when Jeremie's not around to do so. He will be the guardian in the shadows, a cat's silhouette thrown against the wall behind her light. He's perfectly content to remain in servitude to her because that's the most he can do.

It's not for nothing that he calls her 'princess'.

But he is not her prince and he knows it, and he settles for stretching himself out on the bed beside the spot where she sits with that queasy feeling (and a pang in his chest) and when she asks why he would say such a thing, he answers honestly that he likes making her blush.

Even if it's not for him.

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.:purple was favorite but he now considers the upsides of pink:.

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Thanks for all of the reviews and the warm welcome back! I appreciate each one of them immeasurably.

I apologise if I've affronted some J/A supporters, but I couldn't ignore this idea. One-sided Odd/Aelita is so touching.

Also, I go by some of the original French name spellings, therefore Jeremie has an 'ie' at the end of his. (Though Herb's still Herb, because that's amusing.)