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Kraken had been on Inkmic and other comic sites around the time I started posting in high school. He'd won countless awards, published whole series through crowdfunding, and created a cult following that could rival some of the greatest artists working in the mainstream industry today. With all that clout, he'd never made a public appearance, had never worked with a publishing company. No one knew what he looked like, and considering he was one of the best artists out there, the hype surrounding anything he did was massive.
He was good. Great, even. I could admit that much. The thing about hype was it was almost always impossible for one to beat. Kraken was going to overtake me in the charts. Now that I had two opponents to look out for, that grand prize was looking more like the mirage it was.
"You're…worried? Sage Montgomery is worried."
I blinked and tore my gaze from Noah's screen. She studied me with her chin resting on her hand. My deep frown doesn't scare her off like it used to, and I had to be the one to look away first, although not before my stomach got all twisted in confusing knots.
Being this close to Noah had become a frequent occurrence. When we got confused about our work, we looked over one another's shoulders to make sure we were on the same page. Her smell was starting to become associated with comfort, since whenever she was close, we were fixing things. Lilac meant solving a problem together.
“Never,” I lied as I gave her a smile. “I’ve beat kraken in the charts before.”
“Not like this. You beat his old comics, ones he hadn’t updated in years.” Her voice wasn’t taunting, even though this would have been the perfect opportunity. “You don’t stand a chance against his new material.”
“Speak for yourself, Pastel.” There wasn’t any backbone in my words, though, as my gaze found the charts again. I knew good and well kraken would be number one by tomorrow. That kind of momentum was the nail in everyone’s coffin. I took a frustrated inhale as I tried to come up with a strategy that’d help boost my ranking.
“Oh, I still have a chance.” Her head slightly tilted up, looking like she knew something I didn’t.
I laughed. “What makes you think that? If I’m screwed, you’re screwed ten times over.”
“I planned for this,” she explained, and Noah’s haughty grin got me bothered in the wrong kind of way.
“What’s your plan?” I made sure my voice dropped an octave because I know it would trip her up. That cute look of dismay was too perfect to pass up. I wanted my words to get her as flustered as she’d gotten me.
“Why in the world would I tell you?” She dropped her voice too, her tone more effective on me than mine was on her. Noah flipped her twists over her shoulder, making the lilac stronger for a second.
I was starting to wonder if one kiss would fix whatever was going on right now. We’d known each other for too long not to have kissed, right? Maybe our past combined with working together so much now had made me confused. My body thought something was there, telling me that under the snarky remarks and judgmental critiques, Noah would be a great partner outside of art.
A kiss would prove me wrong.
“Because I could help you refine whatever idea you think is going to help you take him down. Remember, if you’d gone with your original idea, you would have still been in the thousands. Have you seen how many big ensembles have been cut this past week? When you think about it,” I leaned closer to say the last part, “I saved you.”
Noah huffed, voice stuttering. “Saved me? I-I would have been fine without your help.”
“Fine’s not great. Fine doesn’t get you into the top five,” I said. “And it definitely won’t get you to number one."
She opened her mouth and closed it again, her struggle to come up with a logical retort interrupted by Tyson.
“Quick question.” He stopped outside of our cubicle. "The murder subplot in issue seven—how are we tying that into the rest of the story? I thought you two figured out how to make it feel less out of place, but there hasn’t been any changes to the draft."
"I thought we were cutting it all together. I couldn't figure out how to keep it without it being awkward." I leaned back in my chair. When someone else was around, the physical distance between Noah and me seemed more intimate than it should be for co-workers.
"No, remember what you said last night? About making it feel more camp?" Noah said absentmindedly. She was still staring at kraken's rise to the top.
I frowned, trying to recall what she was talking about. "What did I say?"
"It was a joke, but I wrote it down." She rolled her eyes when I smiled. "Only because it made some sense when I edited out all your sarcastic BS."
Tyson chuckled. "Well, this sounds promising. Let's hear it."
"I tied it into Leisah's family story. I added some dialogue and a character who kind of acts like a sidekick, used some of Sage's passable jokes," Noah said.
"Must have been more than passable if you wrote them down, Pastel," I teased.
She didn't even spare me a glance, which somehow made me even more amused.
Noah opened our shared digital whiteboard. "See? If we keep the subplot around, it's going to help further flesh out Leisah's issues with her family while making her sympathetic. Plus, having her solve a mystery is a nod to her detective era in the sixties. I think older readers will get a kick out of that. I even designed some new suits inspired by the outfits she wore back then."
"Woah." Tyson chuckled as he looked over her shoulder at the designs. "Alright then, one less thing for us to worry about. Nice work, Noah. See, I knew you two would make a good team. Stronger together, right?"
