Takeshi/Cunningham
#01 - Motion
Motion had always been the center of his life and it surprised him when he finally met someone who had the ability to make everything stand still.
#02 - Cool
Whenever Cunningham felt the soft cooling breeze, on the empty track, he was reminded of the first time that he’d gotten to surprise Takeshi Jin.
#03 - Young
He was still so young and that would have bothered him a little but for the fact that Takeshi still wasn’t very impressed with his own age.
#04 - Last
He couldn’t remember the last time an obsession had taken a hold of him like the way this one did.
#05 - Wrong
Takeshi nearly fell out of his chair when it finally registered, in his brain, that The Rocket and The Ghost were awfully alike in more than just one way; it made him slightly uncomfortable.
#06 - Gentle
For someone who would ruthlessly slam him over and over on the track, Cunningham had been surprisingly gentle when he confessed in the older man’s ear that maybe he was a little nervous about this.
#07 - One
The taller pilot kept saying his name, over and over, while roughly panting against his mouth and it was then that Takeshi decided that making someone scream was one game that never got old.
#08 - Thousand
Speed was always an important thing to keep track of, but whenever he engaged in a furious whirlwind of pure skill, with him, the thought, that there were some things that no device could measure, was always running through his head.
#09 - King
Cunningham had found himself unexpectedly happy to lose his unrivaled championship since it now meant that there was now a new goal for him to work for.
#10 - Learn
Sex was something that Takeshi was still experimenting with and he found that no one seemed as eager as Cunningham to learn about the state of his progress.
#11 - Blur
Takeshi was inwardly fascinated with the way Cunningham’s foil just seemed to be a blur as he slowly drove Jan back, with short swift thrusts, on the practice mat.
#12 - Wait
Waiting in the dimly lit hallway was usually a time where he had to fight for calm and decorum, in himself, rather than just jumping around like he wanted to.
#13 - Change
Liz had always wondered about the change that came over Takeshi whenever he exchanged blows with the Velshtein forward.
#14 - Command
Team sports weren’t all they were cracked up to be and it especially seemed the case when he just knew every command given to Jan and Dew to let him handle Takeshi, by himself, was being followed by rolling eyes and gleeful remarks about his new boyfriend.
#15 - Hold
Cunningham decided that losing round after round of this ridiculous game was definitely worth the warmth of Takeshi’s hand on his, trying to teach him that button mashing wasn’t the best way to get ahead in WatchWorld.
#16 - Need
Andrei would sometimes tell him that he needed to keep his goal in mind to win races and then mention that races weren’t the only important things to win, in life.
#17 - Vision
Cunningham liked the way that he could always keep Takeshi in the corner of his vision.
#18 - Attention
The hotdogs looked delicious, as usual, but even they failed to capture his attention with the way Cunningham was licking his way up a large triple-scoop cone.
#19 - Soul
Amy had always considered Luca her heart and soul and was confused at the way that Takeshi had stammered at her question, as to who his important person was, because it should have been simple.
#20 - Picture
The appeal of the large mirror in the room had confused him until he found that the images in his head of the two of their bodies rocking and tangling together were just fantastic, even weeks after.
#21 - Fool
Fantine smiled, from Cunningham’s side, at the way that Takeshi’s suit always seemed to be a little too large for him and then whispered to the taller man that, yes, it was possible to make herself scarce for while so he could go and catch up with the young champion.
#22 - Mad
Michiru Satomi hadn’t been happy with what she saw between her forward and Velshtein’s but she had to admit that it definitely made Takeshi work harder and that was always a good thing.
#23 - Child
Sir Hamgra had always seen him as a child and only raised an eyebrow when Cunningham confessed, to the man, that he was in love.
#24 - Now
“Now?” he asked, in bewilderment, while the other nodded curtly and dragged him off towards the coat closet.
#25 - Shadow
Takeshi sometimes felt like a shadow compared to The Ghost, but whenever Cunningham seemed to just light up around him, he decided that no other shadow got this much attention.
#26 - Goodbye
He carefully quashed the disappointment, felt inside, as he took one final glance at him and then told him that he’d see him next season.
#27 - Hide
Takeshi liked the way that balconies provided a place for him to just breathe, while hiding a little, at these types of parties and found that he also now liked the way that a certain man always seemed to know when he was out there.
#28 - Fortune
Fortune had always been on The Ghost’s side and he found himself thankful for it when a walk through the park happened to lead him to a despondent Takeshi who was bemoaning the lack of money for another hotdog.
#29 - Safe
An image of Fantine suddenly flashed in his mind when he watched a television broadcast of the crash and tumble that the Velshtein Forward’s Mech took, over the finish line, during the race with Whitesnow.
#30 - Ghost
As the nighttime track lights once again illuminated Cunningham’s form, Takeshi sourly asked if he actually timed these things and wasn’t surprised to get a blink and then laughter in return.
#31 - Book
Cunningham was more than thrilled when he asked him for an autograph and then felt a definite slump in his mood when Takeshi added that it was for his sister.
#32 - Eye
The way that Takeshi’s amber eyes widened, whenever he knelt between the younger pilot’s legs, amused Cunningham to no end.
#33 - Never
As Yamma watched the Velshtein-Satomi race, he noted that he had never truly gotten to race against anything near the full potential of Alex Cunningham.
#34 - Sing
Even amidst the flashing blades and the sound of clashing steel, the only thing that he could focus on was the sheer fire in the other’s eyes.
#35 - Sudden
The way that Takeshi pulled his head up by his hair to crush their mouths together had delighted him more than he cared to admit.
#36 - Stop
He couldn’t help but wince when Takeshi yanked his head back down, by his hair, but the loud pleas for him to not stop were effective enough to ignore the pain.
#37 - Time
No matter how many races he had left in his career, there just wasn’t enough time to make up for all those lonely years before meeting the one person that had made him feel alive again.
#38 - Wash
The fact that the heavens usually opened up and poured during their races probably meant something but the only thing Takeshi could remember was Cunningham mentioning once, to him, that he always did enjoy racing in the rain.
#39 - Torn
During their last race with Velshtein, after Cunningham’s retirement had been announced, Takeshi found that he was gripping his controls hard enough that he couldn’t stop shaking and then he just wanted to scream because Cunningham was refusing to say a single word, the entire match, and just kept slamming him with an endless multitude of merciless blows.
#40 - History
Cunningham was bothered by the fact that Sir Hamgra could see an old friendship repeating itself, between Takeshi Jin and the Velshtein forward, and told him that it wasn’t the same; the older man replied that he damned hoped the two of them weren’t foolish enough to go down a matching path.
#41 - Power
Sometimes he wondered if he really should be worried about the amount of power that the boy actually had over him.
#42 - Bother
He had once asked if losing bothered him, that much, and was answered with a fond smile and an “I take it much better than Yamma used to, trust me.”
#43 - God
God was not someone he usually thought of, but standing alone on the open track made him think that there was definitely someone out there.
#44 - Wall
After sneaking into Satomi’s practice room, Cunningham found that leaning on a wall, watching and waiting for Takeshi’s quiet meditations to finish made him happier than he’d expected; since the original plan was to just pounce on the boy and surprise him.
#45 - Naked
Cunningham’s naked shoulders were definitely a welcome sight to wake up to, after a nightmare.
#46 - Drive
Knowing that he was slowly making himself into someone worthy of being loved and admired, by him, was something that kept his drive to win alive.
#47 - Harm
Overbalancing on the landing had sent his mech violently into a wall and while regaining his bearings, Takeshi could have sworn that Cunningham hesitated a moment before continuing his onslaught.
#48 - Precious
When Takeshi told the taller man that he was someone precious to him, Cunningham had only moaned, brokenly, and kissed him again.
#49 - Hunger
The bed felt soft underneath him as Cunningham quickly straddled his hips and informed the younger pilot that he’s been waiting the entire off-season for this and just wasn’t going to be patient one minute longer.
#50 - Believe
He smiled at the unreadable expression in his eyes and added, “You can definitely believe that I’ll make sure you’re never bored again.”