Since the challenge started, this is one of the topics I had been wondering what to write under. What is “OTP” surely? I am still a little in the dark. But before writing this, I decided for the first time to read what someone else had written on the topic first. So I read One True Pairing by Amayayi Andanje & I decided to set my own rules. I think I got confused even more. The challenge with this challenge is that I donāt have those things to refer to for this. Uncle Google confused me even more. Like, all the movies I watch have married or engaged couples. ššā¦ Weird right? Let me seeā¦ Unless I start cross hooking up The Unitās couples to their colleagues partners š¤. Naaah, canāt work. I love The Big Bang Theoryā¦ Those clowns are just okay the way they are.
However, there was a provision that one can come up with their own topic, I will try and act as if I didnāt understand this topic and hope the reviewers will understand that I decided to have my own unique one true pairing of my own. That paragraph felt repetitiveā¦ Just like a false relationship ā One False Pairing, Right?
Now do I say? āI know of a coupleā¦āš āI once knew of a coupleā¦ā āThere is a couple I would wish to knowā¦ā š¤¦āThere are these two people who I wish were a coupleā¦ā ā Clearly these are the assignments that led to us having those big āSEE MEs!ā at the top right corner of your papers or books, right under your 13% – Inclusive of 5 of the best ā where it mattered most.š Especially because you never asked for a deeper definition of OTP even after the teacher asked severally if there was any one with a questionā¦
Mike had been on various assignments, in and out of the country and due to the professionalism and years of service under his belt, he had been awarded various coveted privileges, like choosing his assignments and choosing his partners on these assignments. As is normal with these high risk/ high stress assignments, he had grown fond of his partner and he could not imagine how life would be on his assignments without his partner. This is one of those relationships spoken of in low tonesš¤. Because nobody would understand it, others were jealous. There is no gossip in uniform. Everyone could see it but they could not understand how it was possible that they would be in such a skin-tight relationship and yet work together without any stoppages. Sometimes you ought to be grateful for some bit of animal instinct because, I was sure had it not been this; there would not be any productivity when they worked together. Night shifts wouldnāt really have been night shifts.
Bravo and Mike had a tight relationship. The advantage that Bravo had in this relationship was that as the superior one, Mike was the one who chose all his assignments and he always chose to go with him and not anyone else. Due to the nature of their operations, they could only work together on night shifts. Not day shifts. Nights only. It was only in emergency cases that Bravo would be raised for his expertise. But since his retirement, there was no much use for him at the frontline. This was strategic for them because unlike during the day when there would be a lot of movement at the clientās place, they would only need to stay in one position during the night, and maybe make only one or two patrols before they got back to their warm abode and calm down. Bravo being the sharper one in this relationship, would be keen and on the lookout for anything weird taking place under the cover of the darkness. Mike was mostly the deployment guy, the trigger man. There was always drama when picking companions and Mike had to literally fight off Bravo from anyone else who had taken him. No superior ever disputed this because history had it that Bravo would always be trouble to any other partner besides Mike whenever they went together. It was so dramatic to the point that they would not travel in the same car all the time, except in emergencies, Bravo had to stay at the front and Mike at the back so that they would feel each otherās presence even when the cabins were different.
Their assignments were always on the fresh-aired outskirts of the city where you would feel your heart beat lower a few beats because it was no longer struggling to get oxygen to the muscles. There was so much freshness in the air that even their morale was better than their colleaguesā were, and they loved their jobs better. A typical work night involved a briefing and then movement to the duty site. Try to imagine having to spend over 12 hours together where you undergo the same stress together, you serve the same master together, rather you protect the same client together, and you even get to have nights on end together to talk about nothing in particular and in most of these cases, having to talk to someone who you donāt even expect a response from. Like the illegal relationships of a teacher & the student, a nurse and a patient, a gatekeeper & the housieā¦ This was another.
Bravo was one of those specialists trained in various countries around the hot zones of the world in bomb detection, weapon detection and a master at tracking ā you can imagine the kind of stories he would bring back home to his kind. He was calm enough to be as cuddly and huggable like any other human being and the fact that he seemed to have emotional intelligence nearing Mikeās made him a perfect partner for Mike to rant nights on end under the stars on various issues about their life. Mike was just that, a Mike, an ordinary man, hands, limbs, a brain and some feelings ā or the lack of them. He was a lonely fellow this oneš. Mike however knew that he would never have to draw his rifle to anyone as long as Bravo was around ā He was the physical one & the muscle in this relationshipšŖ. Mike would tell everyone who cared to listen about his imperfect relationship with Bravo and he hoped that he too shared about their relationship to those that mattered.
There was a lot of sweet nothings in their relationship though. It was not going to end up in anything though because of their different situations. On one of those nights when they got to work earlier than usual, Mike decided they take a walk on the cabro-paved streets of the silent estate tucked away north of the city. They would have sat down on the grass on the side of the pavement ā had it been for that purpose. They walked
around the clientās compound meeting other couples, real couples having their romantic evening walks as they passed time and deposited memories for their retirement. They both knew theirs would never get to that point. They got back to the clientās house and settled at their usual secluded spot. Bravo did not seem to be in a good mood but Mike continued talking to him. He had a lot on his mind and that day he spilled as he would have spilled to a normal partner. A standard issue partner.
As long as they would be going forward with their relationship, it would not be anything more than āwe need to be alertā. They were there to protect each other & the client. Probably one more than the other. What more would there be between a soldier and a Belgian Malinois? One false pairing maybe.