Tristan took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of flowers and cotton candy. He walked along the grass enjoying the dogs barking and children laughing.

"Such a good girl," a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Dahlia?"

The brunette was kneeling on the ground, petting Taffy. She stood up upon hearing her subordinate's voice.

"Tristan!" she extended a hand and Tristan shook it, "Didn't expect to see you here." She was donning a yellow shirt with short butterfly sleeves and a pattern of oranges along with some jeans. It was very unusual to see his manager dressed so casually.

"I thought I should celebrate the coming of spring with a walk."

"You really dislike winter, don't you?"

"Does anyone actually like winter?"

Dahlia let out a chuckle but chose to ignore his question, "Come join me if you'd like," she gestured at a nearby bench.

"You're not walking Taffy?" he wasn't sure if he wanted company right now. At the mention of its name, the dog gave a soft bark before laying in the grass.

"No, she's quite tired right now and she very much adores sleeping in the grass," she pointed at a nearby tree.

He pondered for a while, there was no reason he could give to not joining with her, "Well, in that case, I suppose there's no harm in sitting with you."

"I think this is the first time I see you without that briefcase," as usual, a sharp eye for little details.

"Well, I wouldn't bring it on a walk," he laughed. That was a lie. Tristan did indeed bring his most important asset on the walk. He did, however, keep it in his car.

"Of course," they sat in silence for a while, watching a group of 6-year-olds playing tag.

"They're adorable, aren't they?"

"Children?"

"Mhmm," the older woman looked at them with a softness in her eyes. There was something deep in them. Longing perhaps... or was it sorrow? Tristan remembered the flash of despair that crossed her irises when Ann had shared news of her pregnancy.

"What are you thinking about, Dahlia Garcia?" his mind wondered.

Tristan watched her for a moment, "They're little monsters," he finally said with a chuckle, "I once babysat a 9-year-old and he sat down for half an hour explaining casually how and why if an astronaut took off his helmet in space, his head would explode then he handed me his half-chewed gum and ran away giggling like a mad man."

Dahlia laughed at that. It was different than her usual laughs, deeper, more carefree, truer than normal. A genuine laugh. Tristan caught himself wishing he could make her laugh that way again. "What the hell?" he instantly thought.

"That's the perfect example of why they're so precious," she looked at him, the sunlight seemed to dance in the blue of her eyes. "So, you don't want 'little monsters'?" she put the words in air quotes.

The man thought for a while. Did he want children? He never thought about it. Sometimes he wished he could marry the woman of his dreams and settle down with her, but his hope ended there. He never wondered what would happen afterward.

"I'm not sure. I never thought about it."

She looked at him thoughtfully giving him a chance to continue talking, "Of course to have children you'd need a stable household first. A strong relationship between the parents so maybe I'm just waiting for that." Tristan realized that he was saying what he always wished his father would've thought of before having him.

"I suppose that's a good point. I didn't know you were such a family expert," she was teasing him.

"I'm just sharing my thoughts, Ms. Garcia."

Taffy's ears suddenly perked up when music started playing. She jumped up and wagged her tail wildly.

"Of course, you heard the ice cream truck," Dahlia gave her dog a scratch before standing, "Care for some ice cream, Antonov?"

"Yes, please."

While Dahlia was ordering their ice cream when children swarmed the truck. Tristan snatched the little dog off the ground before it got trampled over. He felt like a giant all standing above all these little humans.

"Careful-"

He suddenly felt a child ram into him.

"Oof," he almost toppled over but Dahlia quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, "Thanks."

"It's a good thing you were holding Taffy," she smiled, "They really are little monsters aren't they."

She handed him his ice cream then her eyes landed on Tristan's legs and she held in a laugh.

"Wha- oh," he groaned. The child that bumped into him got ice cream all over his trousers. "That's just wonderful."

"It's no big deal, you can always wash it off." Taffy, whom Tristan had put safely on the ground, jumped up and started licking the ice cream. "Or Taffy can just do that," his manager laughed, "Taffy, stop."

"Plain vanilla," Dahlia said once they were seated back on the bench, "Staying on the safe side?"

"Would you prefer if I dipped it in blueberry sauce like you?" he gave her a mocking look.

"You've never tasted vanilla ice cream with blueberry sauce, have you?"

"Yes and I don't think I'll taste it anytime soon."

"Well, we have to change that."

"No-" Dahlia was already holding a spoonful of ice cream to his face. Tristan took the spoon into his mouth. His eyes widened in realization at what he had just done. Dahlia was still holding the end of the spoon. Her facial expression matched his own.

Slowly unwrapping his lips from the spoon, Tristan gave her an apologetic look. It didn't show on her face, but Dahlia was too flustered to reply. She shook her head slightly ignoring the blood pounding in her ears.

"You're right," he finally said, "It's not that bad."

"I'm always right, Antonov."

Tristan chuckled his blunder temporarily forgotten. They enjoyed the rest of their ice cream with lighthearted conversations.

"Dahlia! Dahlia!"

"Look who's finally here," Dahlia extended her hand allowing her parrot to stand on it before connecting the leash to his harness. He squawked loudly, nipping at her fingers. "You're hungry, aren't you?" she looked at Tristan, "I've got to head home."

"That's ok, wouldn't want Cano here to be hangry," he extended a hand to pet the bird but it nipped at the air, "He still hates me."

"I'm sure he'll accept you eventually," she got up taking hold of Taffy's leash, "See you at work, Tristan."

"See you."

After she left, Tristan wondered why he didn't offer to walk her to her car. It was, after all, the polite thing to do. So why didn't he do it? 

Perhaps because she didn't ask. 

Most likely because he didn't want to overstep, especially after that ice cream incident. Tristan didn't know it, but the reason why he didn't accompany Dahlia to her car was for an entirely different reason.

"Don't get attached, 801," Leon had warned him before each and every mission, ever since he was 16, "These people are not your friends."

"Of course," he'd always answered, "The mission comes first."

"The mission comes first," Tristan whispered.