"- Yeah, you are.  Uh.  It's fine, though.  I mean..."

"Did you already tell our spy thriller kidnapper friend or anybody what my powers are gonna be or might that just as well stay a surprise in case it matters end of week?"

"Oh, you have - invisibility and flying and imperceptibility and intangibility and stuff."

"Whoa that's actually really good."

"Yeah."  He presses his head into Haru's shoulder.

Lean. "So I can't read so I have no idea how long I was even in here so I don't know how much I should be reading into that information, how is being kidnapped going for you."

"Oh, I mean... I really like the part where I haven't been tortured, I guess.  And now there's a you, so.  Yeah."

"I tried very hard to wake you up," Svetka fawns - they're coming out of the parking garage now and weaving in and out of traffic - "And to be quick once it was clear I should leave you.  We last spoke less than two hours ago."

"I have no idea why I passed out, I'm not like tied up to the point of having trouble breathing or anything. I have maybe been tied up for long enough that I have to pee though of course it would be understandable if in the spy thriller universe no one ever has to do that at inconvenient times and you did not plan for it."

"I suspect there was some sort of drug which your previous supervisor had in defense.  The timing indicates that there may have been some residue on my glove.  I am very relieved it does not seem to have done you harm.  ...Can you wait until we are not in a high-speed car chase."

"If it's high-speed enough probably! I think in a movie I expect fewer than ten minutes to be devoted to a single chase scene. Who's after us?"

"My employers."

"Aha. I have given them the working title the Shadow Hands because the 'spy thriller universe' model keeps paying off and she hasn't said what they actually call themselves," he explains to Julien. "She told me my codename though, apparently I'm 'Midsummer."

"Okay."  ...He pulls enough of the blanket off of Haru to get some proper skin contact, at least if they also get his shirt collar out of the way.

"They're actually just S.H.A.D.O.W.  As an acronym," Svetka admits.

OH fuck yes skin contact please and thank you. "Oh my god I don't have enough language puzzle ability right now to figure out what that probably stands for but I bet it's incredibly stupid."

"How old are you?"

"Uhhh it might or might not be my birthday because interdimensional transit is confusing. I am somewhere near my eighteenth birthday and haven't had cake about it yet. Why?"

"I just didn't know!  Uh.  Uh, happy birthday..."

"Wait, were we - no I think I can successfully think better of asking that question actually so how about I don't. Uhhhh how old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Huh so you're a relatively late awakening, I bet that was a surprise. More than it already is every time anyway. ...you're holding it together really fucking well for an awakener, I don't even have a guess."

"IIIIIII am scared of things.  Which has kind of just been, the appropriate emotional reaction here."

"Yeah I guess that makes sense what with the being kidnapped business. Though like appropriate emotional reactions can only take you so far, I was in fact left alone in this car for some amount of time but did not wind up on the appropriate emotional reaction to that."