Bonn, 2020
The tension in the room was palpable as Germany's golden boy shook hands with the Saviour of Lyon, so much so that Akio Hashimoto swore the air got thicker.
"Mikhail.. Rosenthal. It is a pleasure to meet you. For the first time." "Idem, Abdul Stephen. I hear you're quite strong." As they let go of each others' hands, they both immediately wiped their palms off on their clothes, and turned to leave the room. "Hey, hey! You two have barely even said anything to eachother... Just take a seat and I bet you'd both hit it off." Akio pleaded with his two closest confidants.
After all, two people who both secretly see themselves as the Earth's last line of defense, there's no possible way they wouldn't get along, right? "Sorry, Akio, but you know how my father is. I need to go and make sure he doesn't overwork himself." "My bad, Aki, but you know what my mom's like. She'll go and overwork herself if I don't.." Mikhail and Abdul gave one another a weird look, and Akio returned them a self-satisfied grin. Regardless, they both left.
Abdul stirred their coffee absentmindedly, barely registering the scraping of the wooden chair over the parquet floor as Akio sat down. "Abdul?" A bit startled, they looked up at Akio. "Oh, my apologies. My mind was wandering." "What's up between you and Mikhail? Do you know him from somewhere?" Right into it. Abdul appreciated Akio's straightforwardness, but it was a little tough to get used to at times. "..I'd rather not talk about it. Could you not try and get me and him to talk to each other, please?" Slowly, Akio nodded. He didn't quite understand why, but he wanted to respect Abdul's wishes nonetheless. "Alright. No problem! I've got plenty of friends to go around, you know. Maybe you'll like Maya Medizza!"