Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was hard to say no to Jade. Of all the things that Levi had learned about his little temptress, that had been the first.

After weeks cooped up in Chase’s home, pushing his luck and begging for every ounce of freedom he could drag out of his worrisome General, it felt almost a dream to be finally be walking into his home office and sitting down behind his computer. It had only been minutes after the desktop flared to life before his phone had displayed Jade’s name (and a rather cute picture he’d nabbed) across the lock screen.

Despite knowing nothing would come of her but distractions, Levi had answered it. Now he sat, slumped back into his office chair, with one hand pressed to the bridge of his nose while the other held his phone to his ear. The dark, mossy hair was a bit tussled from the way his head rolled back but despite the protests he had been attempting there was a weak smile at his lips that she couldn’t see. He wanted to see Jade and wanted to blow off work - an alarming fact that he had not failed to note. This was the sort of slippery slope that led great men to fall prey to the women that undid their careers and Levi was under no assumption that he was better than Mr. Lennon.

She did know how to appeal to him, though.

“You’re right, this game is so damn popular it would do wonders for your little cult.” The word was spoken with affection - especially since Levi himself had been an avid follower even before he’d had the resources to recruit her. “I could probably stream you on Twitch, manage the chat, you could make donations while you’re walking..”

He was up and moving even before he’d finished his train of thought, speaking with that intent in his voice he always carried when he was thinking about a business venture. That tone was all she’d have needed to know she had triumphed - all the people closest to Levi had already learned they had only to appeal to his business tactics to win him over in any debate. He was already wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of his favorite ripped skinnies so slipping on a pair of sunglasses and laceless chucks was easy.

“Alright, what do I need to bring? I probably need some exercise anyway.” There was a jingle of keys from his end of the line as he shoved them into his pocket.

As she listed off the things he would need, Levi came to a halt in the middle of his apartment, mentally trying decide how much room he would need. Both phones meant things to carry them in and likely a portable charger if they really wanted to play for more than an hour. Knowing Jade, this was going to be more like a suburban hike.

Deciding that he just had to suck it up, he finally opened his hall closet and shoved things around in the overhead shelf until he pulled down an old, somewhat worn black backpack covered in a variety of nerdy pins. There were pokemon pins among them, as well as other video games, popular movies, comic books. It was a testament to his teenage obsession and despite the bit of weight he’d loss, as he slung it over his shoulder it still settled as comfortably as it ever had. He had just turned back to his kitchen as she asked him to meet her at the university, and he shook his head at her in mock irritation before he realized she couldn’t even see him.

“Are we going to be stormed by freshman girls? I will never understand this obsession, I’m gonna be honest.”

Locally, she might as well have been Taylor Swift for all that her college followers and teeny boppers were concerned. He wouldn’t have even believed that anyone knew who he was if he hadn’t seen the girls that always posted on her videos continuously asking where he was with a series of playful emojis attached to the comments.

There was a smirk on his face as he tossed a couple of bottles of water into his bag, followed by what appeared to be trailmix and a few wires and gadgets that could only have been an assortment of chargers and external batteries. There was a loud zip of the bag before he flung it on his shoulder and headed for his front door, then the soft ‘thud’ as it closed and he turned the key in the lock.

“I’ll see you there in fifteen, Argent.”

The tone of his voice was affectionate, even as he opted to playfully use her last name. He hit the ‘end’ and was down to his parking garage in no time, then out onto the streets of Destiny City. He had picked a location fairly close to campus - the life of the city seemed to have sprung up around the blocks and blocks that the educational institution had claimed over the years. There were malls and clubs encircling the parameter and the business district wasn’t a far walk either. Once he’d parked and fed his meter, he leaned on the hood of his car to wait.

A quick glance at the app, after he’d finally gotten it to load, told him she was undoubtedly right - pokestops in every direction for blocks. He’d known better than to doubt her.

The phone in Levi’s hand buzzed and, assuming that was his siren singing her song, he closed the app and stepped into a walk even before he’d opened the text. The library - that made sense. At a quick glance it seemed like most of the major buildings on campus were pokestops or gyms, probably because of the avid college-age Ingress fans that had been a part of that short-lived craze. He’d dabbled in the game himself though quickly lost interest once he invested in his own car.

Somehow, impossibly, PokemonGo had taken the same concept and magnified its popularity to nearly astounding levels. Was that just a consequence of his own age group, the one with the most influence on media at the moment, having grown up with the original games? The business and marketing parts of his mind were whirring as he strolled down the sidewalks of the university, noting that nearly four out of the five people he passed had their eyes glued to the screen. At least on campus the car traffic was minimal.

As he neared the library, he pulled out his own phone again and let his eyes scan the crowd gathered around it. It took no time at all to see her, white head bowed over her phone and several people side-eyeing her as if they were trying to decide if it was really Miss Argent out and about with the rest of the world. A smile tugged at his lips as he approached, quiet, until he could stand behind her and lean calmly over her shoulder to look down at the screen in her hands. A quick, gentle brush of his lips against the space where her ear connected to her jawline was his first greeting.

“Destroying the peasants already?”

There was true amused affection written across his face as she squeaked and twirled to bat at him. Her scolding earned her a gentle laugh, though his arm settled loosely around her back as she leaned into him and finished her battle. He wasn’t absolutely up to par on the mechanics of the game but he had listened patiently to her jabber about it through the last week of his ‘containment’ and had even gone so far as to start up his own account.

“I bought the XP boost, someone on Reddit said it was the most beneficial for beginners. I’m nearly level five already.” Which was saying something, considering it had only been a couple of days that Chase had even let him out of his sight. Luckily for him, his apartment complex had a fountain in the courtyard and he could lazily toss down incense from his couch when he felt like it. It was a lazy man’s way to play - or, rather, a recovering patient’s way.

As she bumped into him, his arm dropped and his hand went up to hold the strap of his bag where it was still tossed over his shoulder. His free hand held up his own phone and showed her, though he had the rest of his equipment tossed in his bag. Suddenly, something dawned on him.

“Oh, right!” He pulled the pack sideways and unzipped it, digging for a moment until he had produced a box with a little yellow ribbon around it. It was unassuming enough, but he held it out to her as he pushed his backpack into place again. “I got you something, for putting up with me the last couple of weeks and as a kind of ‘I’ll do my very best not to get another concussion’ promise.”

There was a smirk on his lips as he motioned for her to take it, brows raising as he waited for her reaction.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to ask you,” he mumbled, trying to appear annoyed by her insinuation but managing only a fake frown for his trouble, “just that I’ve spent the majority of the last month held prisoner against my will and Reddit is kind of my thing. Besides, I’ll have you know they suggest using one right at the beginning, since you get more points for new catches anyway. How else am I gonna power up enough to join your team while we’re out here?”

Except that his smile had returned by the time he finished talking, even through her playful insults. He had been insufferable, obviously, but it was more about thanking her for keeping him company and not getting bored by a.. significant friend that was bedridden for the better part of the time they’d been acquainted. Plus he just liked to see her smile, if he was being truly honest. Smiling would have been enough payback but the squeal - he couldn’t help the answering laugh that escaped him.

As she launched herself into him, he caught her, sliding both arms more firmly around her body and letting her lean into his torso while she mumbled her thank you into his shirt. Her breath was hot against the fabric and sent a crawling shiver down his neck to settle in the base of his spine - eerie and enticing all at once. It stopped whatever hesitation he might have had about locking lips in public and as she caught him by the back of his neck, he felt himself leaning down obediently and unrestrained to catch her lips. One hand settled at the curve of her hip as the other rose along her back to cup her head, mirroring her own hand on his neck, though it ended with a possessive tangle of fingers in her hair and more pressure than he would have given with a simple, playful peck.

He felt himself sinking into her lips and relished it for the span of a few heartbeats. It was the first time she’d worked his blood pressure up that hadn’t resulted in him immediately getting dizzy and damn it all, but her fans could snap whatever pictures they wanted - he was indulging himself.

By the time he drew away, he was almost breathless but smiling.

“I knew you would,” he managed in a breathy whisper against her lips before he pecked them gently once more and untangled his fingers from her hair. The hand at her hip loosened regrettably but there was business to attend to, after all.

“We should probably get that stream going, mm?”

Explaining how twitch worked when Jade was so close to him, when they were both feeling healthy and alive, was one of the last things that Levi really wanted to do. In fact, he could think of a dozen less public things that he would have preferred - but, like every good businessman, he was good at turning off his wants and needs in favor of doing his job.

His relationship with her might have suffered, but so had business.

“Twitch, right,” he mumbled, swinging one strap of his bag free and letting it drape across his chest so he could dig out the second phone they had gotten for this very reason. It was large, with a big screen and the best camera a phone had to offer. “I guess it’s kind of a silly looking process when people are soloing this - they have to use wrist straps and selfie sticks and make sure both phones are synced up properly. Luckily, you have me.”

The phone booted up in no time and he held navigated through a couple of programs, before finally settling on the twitch channel he had created for her.

“Just open the program I showed you on your phone so it will sync up the game for your fans to see and I’ll follow you with the camera on this one,” he waved the second phone a bit to draw her attention to it, “so they can watch you play in real time. It’s also got this little chat here so we can answer questions.” The screen tilted for her to look, showing that there were already a handful of people camping out in the chatroom, spamming emoticons and asking impatiently when everything would be ready.

“It’s like pokemon hunting with groupies.”

Levi’s eyes had been glued to the screen he was trying to configure, editing the bit of misplacement in the overlay that he hadn’t noticed in his field tests, when she bumped him lightly in the arm and whispered such a wonderful, promising question to him. The words pulled him right out of his “thinking zone” and brought his attention up to her face, though he really had to try his best not to let the newer, more lecherous thoughts show on his face in the interim. It ended with a dark, knowing smirk before he finally nodded. He was trying not to seem too eager.

“Of ******** course you will, Argent. Just try and stop me.”

The mossy-haired man gave her a cocky laugh at the end of his words, playing up his own ego, though his eyes lingered on her face long enough that the smirk softened to something kinder. He managed to drag his eyes back to the screen just in time to lift it up and catch her quick, playful introduction - and was watching in real time as the chat exploded into a flurry of excitement. It was one thing to know someone was a blossoming celebrity and something else entirely to not only see it from a first-hand perspective but to know that he had a direct hand in it. She had become a star without him but he knew she would be a defining moment in his career.

Among so many other things.

“Yeah, your game is up and running on the client here. We’re good to go. Why don’t you just start by explaining what you were doing before I showed up?” He panned the camera away from her a second to give her audience a slow 360 of where they were standing, an indirect answer to a few questions blossoming in the chat about where she was. “I think you were just finishing destroying a gym, right?”

He nodded at her to take over the dialogue, knowing that this was only going to be successful if she stayed talkative. It was why, really, they could only stream for so long and why, ultimately, she could expect plenty of alone time. Right now, everything was about business. As she picked up her banter like she’d been doing this job for ten years already, Levi couldn’t help realizing just how much he admired her and how lucky he was to have actually snagged her as a client. She was so much more than just a talent - she was the foundation he had built his entire career upon and, truth be told, someone he already felt incredibly attached to.

Business and pleasure didn’t always work out but, as he trailed behind her as the quiet camera man, catching all her laughs and smile, he sincerely hoped that for just this once, it would.