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It's not that Pit didn't enjoy the peace he fought so hard for, but he would be lying if he said he didn't miss the excitement. Sure, getting to do whatever and not having that many duties was nice, but every day, he hoped his goddess would task him with a new mission.
And Palutena, aware of Pit's wishes for some thrills (as he frequently asks for them, more or less subtly), would seek out things for her angel to do. That's when she heard of an anomalous object being discovered, which she made Pit check out.
Sure, it wasn't exactly high stakes, but Pit would take any good reason to go out and fly. Feeling the air brush against his wings, even if he isn't the one to move them, felt amazing.
And so he set out, straight in the direction the goddess of light guided him to. But as he got closer to the object's location, Pit spotted a familiar figure in the air.
"Hey, isn't that...? Pittoo!"
The angel in question whipped their head around upon hearing the voice they found so annoying. "Ugh. What are you doing here?"
"I suppose you were sent to check that anomaly out as well," Palutena's voice echoed.
"Well, I won't let the Forces of Nature have it!" Pit declared.
The goddess of nature chimed in, "Oh, relax, we don't even know what it is. It might as well be absolutely nothing. So no need to get your feathers in a twist."
"Let's just see what it even is first. But if it turns out to be anything that can be used for harm, we will be confiscating it," Palutena announced, her tone peaceful, but she increased Pit's flying pace. Viridi responded by boosting her angel as well, the two racing ahead.
As the Pits were closing in on their destination, a clearing in a forest far off from any civilization, the goddesses were able to have a better look at what it was they were after. It was about the size of a fist, but hard to make out any details of, as it emitted an almost blinding light.
"Somehow, I'm sensing a familiar energy coming from it... What could it be...?" Palutena pondered, more to herself than anyone.
The image only got clearer when the two landed near it - pretty much simultaneously. It looked like a glass shard of some kind.
Palutena left out a small gasp. "It looks like... a small shard of the Mirror of Truth."
Laughing, Pit ran up to it and picked it up. "Really? Then, Pittoo should have it! As a souvenir of their birth!"
Dark Pit scoffed. "A souvenir? Really?" Despite their words, having a piece of the thing that created them would be at least a little neat, even if they held no sentimentality towards it. So they simply took it when Pit handed them the broken piece.
"Hold on, Pit, it might be a tiny, broken shard, but who knows if it still has any of its powers! You shouldn't just hand that over to the Forces of Nature like that."
As Pit realized his mistake and tried to reclaim the object, Dark Pit pulled their hands away. "Too late."
"Hey! Give that back!" Pit protested, trying to rip it from his counterpart's hands.
Voices overlapped as they argued, the angels yanking the shard back and forth, like siblings fighting over a video game controller, not minding how its sharp edges made their fingers bleed over it.
"Finders keepers!"
"But we both found it at the same time! And I had it in my hands first, so if anything, I'm the finder!"
"We'd gladly give it to you as a keepsake after confirming that it isn't dangerous and doesn't hold any powers."
"I don't need a damn keepsake!"
With one big pull from Pit, both of them fell to the ground, dropping the shard in the process. Upon impact, it exploded and engulfed the two in a ball of white light.
In shock, both goddesses called out their names, but received no answer.
Finally, the light dissipated, leaving a lone angel lying on the ground motionless - but his dark-winged counterpart was nowhere in sight.
Palutena shouted, "Pit! Pit, can you hear me?" Worry only grew as her servant wouldn't react the tiniest bit.
"Hello? Dark Pit? Where have they gone? Dark Pit!"
"I'm afraid I have no idea, I can't find them either," Palutena admitted, "but I'm extracting Pit right now."
"Dark Pit! Ugh, just where on earth could they have disappeared to! This is impossible!" Viridi's rants became background noise as light shone down on Pit, his unconscious body being lifted into the air seconds later.
───꒰ʚ ɞ꒱───
Palutena hadn't left the infirmary ever since bringing her angel here, going between sitting next to his bed and restlessly pacing around the room. Everything about the whole situation was just so strange that she couldn't help but worry.
Pit seemed to be in stable condition. He was breathing, his heart was beating, and, weirdly, other than the small cuts on his fingers from fighting over the shard and old scars from wars long won, there weren't any wounds on his body suggesting he was in the middle of an explosion.
Perhaps that's why recovery orbs weren't doing anything either. Because physically, he appeared perfectly fine.
Then, why wasn't he waking up? And also, where did Dark Pit go? Just what happened?
Luckily, Pit didn't leave his goddess worrying for too long. Eventually, during another circle around the room, she spotted him stirring from the corner of her vision. "Pit!" she called out his name, earning a groan from the boy.
"Pit, can you hear me?"
His eyelids squeezed shut tightly, then began fluttering, ever so slowly revealing a familiar figure rushing next to him. "Lady... Palu...tena...?"
"Thank goodness, you're finally awake," Palutena breathed a sigh of relief. "You really had me worried, you know?"
Before his vision had even cleared completely, Pit already sat up, or at least, attempted to. "W-Wha..." he mumbled.
"Careful, Pit." She put a hand on his shoulder, gently but cautiously. With the other, she handed him a bottle. A Drink of the Gods. "Have a drink, alright?"
Still groggy, overwhelmed, and confused, Pit blinked at the bottle for a few beats before accepting it with a short "thanks" and taking a sip. After a gulp, he already felt a bit better, the fog in his mind beginning to cease little by little.
"How are you feeling?" Palutena asked.
Pit began. "Well... I'm not hurt anywhere..." he checked his body for any marks, just to be sure. Normally, when he wakes up in the infirmary, he's in a world of pain. But confusingly, he seemed to be unharmed. What had happened again...? "But... my head's all fuzzy, it's a bit hard for me to think..."
"I see... I'm glad you're okay, at least physically," she smiled, but that expression contorted quickly into one of concern. "You don't happen to know what happened to Pittoo, do you?"
That fucking nickname...
"Huh?" The angel scanned the room, but only he and Palutena were present. So why did he just feel like he heard his twin's voice?
Palutena takes her servant's confusion as an answer to her - after all, she didn't hear anything. And that baffled reaction seemed like he was surprised about Dark Pit's disappearance, rather than something sounding like their voice ringing in his ears.
"Well, after that fragment of the Mirror of Truth shattered and blew up, only you were to be found. We have no idea what happened to Dark Pit..." She paused. "But, don't worry, we'll figure that out," she assured him.
Pit remained silent, still processing the information. Pittoo vanished? What could that have happened? Didn't he just-
"For now, you should rest, Pit. I need my captain healthy and well if we wanna find them. Is there anything I can get you?"
Palutena laid her hand on top of Pit's head, patting him gently. This was the sort of physical affection she only ever gave him when he wasn't feeling well. Pit leaned into the touch. He'd never admit it to her, but he loved being babied by his goddess just a little bit sometimes.
Disgusting...
"H-Huh? Pittoo?" Pit instinctively whipped his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. He definitely heard it... right?
Confused, Palutena cocked her head. "What's the matter?"
"Didn't you just hear them?" She shook her head no. They were definitely alone, and if it was via telepathy, Palutena should have been tapped in as well. Unless the two finally figured out some secret twin-to-twin communication.
"Perhaps you need to sleep, Pit. Just let me know when you need something, alright?"
The angel wondered if he had just imagined Dark Pit's voice. Either way, he agreed. Rest sounded nice. "Yeah... thank you, Lady Palutena."
After she had left, Pit stared straight up at the ceiling of the infirmary. He didn't exactly feel like going to sleep, but he didn't feel like staying awake either.
Thoughts about what had happened and what might have happened to Dark Pit danced around in his mind, just like the tiling of the ceiling began dancing and blurring in his vision. A foggy feeling similar to earlier started to creep up on him again. But he didn't really mind.
───꒰ʚ ɞ꒱───
Dark Pit awoke in a place they only knew from Pit's memories from before they were made. The infirmary in Palutena's temple. How did they get here?
They vaguely remember running into Pit while on a mission to check out a weird object... They must have been knocked out. But then, why did Palutena extract them instead of Viridi? Ugh, whatever.
Aside from their head pounding, they weren't hurt. So, there's no reason to stay here any longer. They got out of the bed and walked the temple's halls, heading for the exit.
"Viridi?" They tried reaching out to their boss via their psychic link.
"Wha-!" they heard a gasp. "Dark Pit? Just where were you?"
"No clue. But I'm in Skyworld right now. Mind letting me fly back?"
Their conversation was interrupted by a voice Dark Pit couldn't stand, even more so than that of their twin. "Pit? Are you feeling better?"
They turned and saw the goddess of light, looking at... them, weirdly. "Umm, I think you need a divine optometrist if you're confusing me for that Pitstain."
Palutena looked taken aback by their response. Perplexed, she scrutinized them from top to bottom. Dark Pit scoffed. If she needed to look that closely to differentiate black from white, not even glasses would help her.
Palutena inspected every detail of the angel in front of her. Their stance, their facial expression, their voice. There was no doubt about it. It was...
"Pittoo?"
"Close enough. I still can't stand that stupid nickname, but it's at least better than confusing me with that other guy, I'll give you that. Anyway, I'll be off."
Dark Pit turned to continue their way outside, but halted in their tracks when Palutena asked.
"Dark Pit, what are you doing in Pit's body?"
"What do you-?"
They looked down at their clothes, only to be met with a white chiffon as opposed to their usual black attire. Turning their head around, they saw white feathers adorning their wigs. And the hair of their fringe hanging in front of their eyes definitely wasn't black either...
As if they needed more proof, Dark Pit ran to where they remembered the nearest mirror being. There, they were met with the reflection of their light counterpart, bright blue eyes staring back at them in horror, rather than their usual crimson ones. They definitely were in Pit's body.
"What the fuck happened? Why am I in his body?" Dark Pit demanded to know.
In the mirror, they saw Palutena approaching them from behind, seeming lost in thought. "No clue... It must have something to do with that mirror shard..."
They turned to look at the goddess, shock and anger over the situation hitting them in waves. "Where is Pit? Is he in my body, then?"
"Well, no..." she thought it was wisest not to mention their body seemed to have disappeared. Yet. "I had spoken to Pit, in... his body, earlier... I have no idea what's up with him now, though..." Where did Pit go? This was bad...
Out of seemingly nowhere, Dark Pit's expression softened. For a few moments, his eyes gazed ahead emptily, seemingly right through Palutena. Before-
"I'm still here, Lady Palutena!"
"Pit?" both Palutena and Dark Pit (within Pit's body) called out.
A facial expression more typical of that angel's face looked up at the goddess, and that voice was definitely Pit's. But in the next moment, he shifted again.
"Hey Pitstain, why am I in your body?" Dark Pit yelled.
"I should be asking, what are YOU doing in MY body?"
Almost like an actor switching through different roles within a blink, the two argued, taking control of the body to bicker consecutively.
"Well, I'm not here on purpose. Why would I want to be stuck in a body like that, WITH the idiot it belongs to, out of my own free will?"
"Insulting my appearance is rich coming from someone who looks identical to me!"
"Nuh-uh. I'm way more handsome."
"You can't just 'nuh-uh' me, Pittoo!"
"Yes, I can. What are you gonna do? Punch me in our face?"
By now, the situation was obvious. "So... looks like both of you are inside of Pit's body..." Palutena summarized, trying to de-escalate the childish fight between the angels.
"Yeah, Miss Obvious. How do I get back into my body?"
Dark Pit did not like the silence they were met with. Well, neither did Pit, as having to share his body wasn't exactly ideal for him, either.
"Well," Palutena began. "I'm not sure. The thing is, it appears like your body disappeared when you two fused, so I don't even know... But I will be talking to Viridi about it, and we'll find a solution. After all, we both want our respective Pit back."
Dark Pit let out a loud grunt, to which Palutena answered with an apologetic smile.
"You know, Dark Pit, right now I'm just glad you're here. When you disappeared, I feared the mirror might have... undone your creation, or something."
Don't act like you give a damn about me.
"Lady Palutena does 'give a damn' about you, Pittoo!" Pit answered his twin's thoughts out loud.
Their shared face went red. With anger, of course. No way it would've been embarrassment. "H-Hey, Pitstain, don't just read my thoughts!"
"Well, it's not like I did it on purpose!" Pit defended himself, "You were just thinking so loudly I heard it."
Palutena made a mental note to talk to Dark Pit privately at some point. But for now, she ended the conversation. "I'll discuss this with Viridi as soon as possible. Until then... You two are free to do as you please. I'll let you know when we have a plan."
The goddess of nature won't be pleased hearing that her officer is bound to Pit's body... Then again, she should be glad that they were discovered, at least. She surely also feared the worst.
After Palutena left, they were left in silence. Expect, it wasn't really silent in their head.
"Soooo, what do we wanna do?" Pit asked the other. Though he didn't receive an answer, only an annoyed grunt and the feeling of his legs being moved. "Okay, okay, you decide, but can you at least tell me where you're taking us?"
"The training grounds." Dark Pit needed to blow off some steam.
Simply accepting that, Pit started fading into the background until he seamlessly disappeared back into the void, leaving Dark Pit alone in the metaphorical control room of Pit's body. The cockPIT, if you will.
They didn't pay any mind to the confused gazes of the centurions, wondering why their captain seemed so different today. Dark Pit only focused on taking out their frustration over the whole situation on the training dummies.
If anything, out of anyone who could be stuck in the body of, being in that of their mirror image might not be the worst option. After all, they were mirror images. They had the same type of body, physical abilities, and muscle memory. Unlike when Pit was in the body of a little girl, a dog, or even Magnus, whose physique and fighting style differed a lot from his. Back then, he had more important things on his mind, but even just walking around when his field of vision was twice as high off the ground as usual was already disorienting.
Still, Dark Pit's independence was what was most important to them, and you can't be all too independent when you're not in your own body and have to split control of it with your polar opposite.
By the time the dummies were visibly scuffed all over, the dark angel's irritation died down. And as their emotions faded, they began fading away into dissociation as well. Head growing dizzy and foggy, they had to hold on to one of the punching bags to support themself before...
He blinked once. Twice. Pit found himself in the training area. He remembered Dark Pit taking them here earlier. But everything after was kind of a blur. But judging by how rough the dummies looked, it looked like they felt the brunt of his doppelgänger's anger. He could still feel the vexation that wasn't exactly his in his heart.
Well, Pit wasn't exactly pleased over the situation either. Losing control over his own body wasn't exactly a nice feeling. Having to share his autonomy with his twin sure was weird. But he also understood how terrible it must be for Dark Pit. They were in the same boat, except they lost their own body.
Anyway, no point in just standing around here for much longer. He returned to his room and killed time until Palutena had a plan by playing some video games. Though he found himself dying a lot more than usual.
"Come on!" he yelled at his console, as if it were its fault instead of his. In the end, he couldn't quite get himself in the right headspace. He couldn't sense Dark Pit nearby. Seemed like he wasn't there, just like how Pit wasn't there while Dark Pit was in the training area.
Still, he felt restless. He shut his console down without bothering to save (he didn't make any progress anyway) and went on a walk around the temple.
That's where Palutena spotted him. Just seeing the little bounce in the angel's steps from afar, she instantly recognized who was piloting the body. "Pit!"
And she was right. "Lady Palutena!" He turned to face his goddess, a bright smile on his face. Did this mean she had a plan?
"Let's talk over some snacks, shall we?"
───꒰ʚ ɞ꒱───
In the temple's dining hall, Pit sat with his legs dangling back and forth, a big piece of cake on his plate. "So, what's the idea, Lady Palutena?"
"Alright, you two..."
"Actually, Pittoo's asleep right now, so it's just me."
The goddess of light put a finger towards her chin in thought. "I see. So you're not both always conscious?"
"Nope. At least it doesn't seem like it. And I don't remember much of what happened when they're in the driver's seat," he took a bite of the cake. "Meaning you might have to re-explain the plan to them later, depending on... You know?"
"Interesting. I understand. Either way, if a shard of the Mirror of Truth is what fused you, we'll use it to separate you," she began explaining. "Finding that shard randomly in the middle of nowhere was a huge coincidence, and it disappeared after it exploded. Thus, we'll go to where the mirror was."
"Pandora's labyrinth!" Pit finished the thought. "Urgh, I'm already getting a headache thinking about that place..." He held his head in his hands.
"Me too," Palutena agreed, "but Viridi and I agreed that this is our best bet."
She expected Pit to shake it off and jump up, determined to take on the mission, like he always did. Instead, Pit kept on clutching his head, remaining still.
"Pit?"
A few more moments of silence.
"...wrong," a different voice eventually responded.
"Oh, welcome back, Pittoo," she greeted the newly fronting Dark Pit. "I just explained the next mission to Pit."
"Yeah, I think I got the gist of it. So we gotta go back to that place, huh?"
Palutena nodded. "It's abandoned, but there's still a chance of some stray underworld creatures roaming about. So prepare yourself. Or... yourselves."
Dark Pit got up. "Not a problem. I'll be off, then." They started making their way to the armory, but Palutena spoke up.
"Can you please stay for one more moment?"
They halted, but didn't face the goddess, only turning their head toward the goddess with a look of annoyance and distrust. "What is it?"
"It's... just you right now, right?"
Dark Pit turned angrily and let out an offended snort. "I'm more than capable of doing this on my own. You should know that by now."
"No, it's not that," she said calmly. "I just wanted to speak to you privately for a moment. We never get the chance for that."
Defensively, they folded their arms in front of their chest, deadpanning the goddess. "What would you possibly want to talk to me about?"
"Look, I..." she struggled to find the right words. Perhaps she should've thought about this beforehand. Then again, she couldn't have known when she'd get to speak with just Dark Pit alone.
Palutena's face softened, giving Dark Pit a solemn smile. "I understand that you aren't too fond of me. And that's okay. I suppose it's only natural if you're the manifestation of Pit's suppressed feelings..." Saying that last part, she averted her gaze, finding it impossible to look at those bright blue eyes as she admitted that, even if right now, her loyal servant wasn't actually behind them.
Dark Pit did not like where this conversation was headed. Their legs grew restless, ready to leave the situation at any moment. "Is this about the crap Pit blurted out earlier?"
"Well, yes, I..."
"Just forget about it."
They went to speed off again, but against their better judgment, stopped when Palutena called out to them. All she saw of them were their tense wings from the back.
"Please wait, hear me out, just once. I know we didn't quite start off well, I was quick to assume you were malevolent. But you've proven yourself as an amazing, valuable ally. We could have never defeated Hades if it weren't for you. And you're like a sibling to Pit, so I see you as something like family as well. So I do care about you, Dark Pit."
With a clenched jaw, Dark Pit waited until Palutena was finished talking. The silence following her little speech almost felt like salvation to them. They opened their mouth, but nothing came out. What would they even want to say to that?
They were lucky their back was facing her. They wouldn't want her to see that tense expression on their face.
"I'm... off..." they managed with a hoarse voice, not dignifying Paltena's words with an answer, and left the room.
They didn't care about anyone but themselves. They didn't give a damn about what the gods, or anyone, thought of them. Then what's that tight feeling in their chest? Why couldn't they tell Palutena to cut the sap, that they don't give a damn?
Oh, how they hoped Pit wasn't conscious during that exchange and wouldn't remember it.
Palutena was just trying to convince Dark Pit to join her army; she would be doing a lot better with two angels instead of one. She wasn't going to manipulate them like that.
But she's being genuine, you know?
"Shut up, Pitstain!" they yelled, clutching their head and pulling their (or rather, Pit's) hair, hoping to be able to expel him from their mind. "Leave me alone!"
More thoughts starting racing through their head, but it was impossible to tell which came from them and which from Pit.
Finally, they made it to the armory. They wanted to grab their signature staff, but their hand ended up holding a blade. That must've been Pit's influence, they figured.
They gazed at the weapon in their hand. If the two are stuck together, they should work together and compromise. Dark Pit remembered their twin isn't as adept with staffs as they are. But they didn't like using blades either.
...
"Then I'll pick a bow," Pit piped up. "We're both good with them, right? It's like the most baseline weapon. Are you cool with that?"
He didn't sense an answer, although he didn't know if it was because Dark Pit was giving them the cold shoulder or because they had left front. After the storm of emotions they just went through, it made some sense to disappear for a while.
"Alright, Lady Palutena, I'm ready for take off," Pit announced, bow in hand. Palutena smiled at her servant, but took note of the fact that they switched after that conversation.
"Off you go, then." As Pit jumped out of the heavenly door, he felt the familiar sensation of his wings being surrounded by a warm glow that made him soar through the skies.
On the one hand, he enjoyed the freeing feeling of flying, the wish brushing against his feathers. On the other hand, he already dreaded where he was headed. "Out of any place to revisit, why'd it have to be the one that screws with your head?" he whined.
The fighting wasn't a problem. With Hades defeated, there were only a few leftover underworld stragglers roaming around. Pit would be sent when they start attacking civilizations, but those were easy to deal with. And after Pandora's death, her labyrinth would probably be largely abandoned as well, but even when he first went to fight her, the enemy troops were the least of his issues as opposed to simply getting around.
"Finding your way won't be a cakewalk, but you did it before, so you can do it again. Besides, it's for the sake of getting Pittoo back their body," she encouraged him.
"You're right, Lady Palutena!" An angel shouldn't complain, so he put a bright smile on his face.
He arrived at his destination rather quickly, although he had hoped to fly through the clouds instead of the twisting halls a bit longer. He sure couldn't wait to get lost here again.
At the very least, unlike during his first venture to this place, there were little to no underworld creatures, and even the ones he encountered weren't ready to attack. They seemed more shocked to see anyone, really. That made it easier for him to focus on navigating this place.
With Palutena's guidance, he eventually found his way to the landing spot, from where he could at least take his time to go the right way on foot. He still found himself going in circles a few times. At least not as bad as standing still, as he wanted to go left, but Dark Pit suddenly chimed in for a second, made him go right, convinced that was the correct way to go. As it turned out, both were incorrect.
Finally, Pit arrived in the hall where he and his twin had battled Pandora all those years ago. In the middle still stood the broken frame of the Mirror of Truth, surrounded by shards of glass, just like how they had left it.
"Alright, here we are! Finally!"
"Great, go ahead and grab one of the broken pieces," Palutena instructed, and Pit did as he was told. He picked up one of the bigger shards he could find. It was roughly the size of an average hand mirror - minus the handle, naturally.
Gazing at it, he found Dark Pit's red eyes looking bad at him. Maybe he imagined it, but did the Dark Pit in his reflection move independently?
"Okay, what now?"
The wise, guiding tone in the goddess's voice not faltering, Palutena spoke, "We'll just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Let me try this."
The shard was enveloped by a warm glow and left Pit's hand, floating in the air under Palutena's magic.
"Sorry in advance."
With that, the shard shot back into Pit's palm, gliding across the skin and cutting him.
"Ow, fuck! At least give us a heads up!" The sudden pain was enough to make Dark Pit come out.
"I did say sorry in advance. Anyway, try letting a bit of your blood spill on it."
The cut was superficial, but blood quickly gushed out. The shard now in the unharmed hand, Dark Pit (or Pit? The line between whoever was acting right now was incredibly blurry) held the other above it and angled it to the side, letting the red liquid trickle down.
"What now?"
Palutena didn't answer, at least not with words. Her only response was sending down a small meteor storm of lights. As one of them hit the mirror shards, the angel became engulfed by a familiar ball of blindingly bright energy, an explosion similar to what happened when Pit and Dark Pit had fused.
She held her breath, hoping that this did the trick and that it didn't make anything worse. She couldn't tell yet, not until the light surrounding them dissipated. Looking right at it burnt her eyes, but she couldn't take her eyes off it, waiting for the second it would reveal if it worked or not.
And when it finally did, it revealed to winged silhouettes on the floor, one clad in white and the other in black.
"It worked!" Palutena called out in relief. Now, if they're both conscious and fine, everything will be okay again. "Pit! Pittoo! Wake up!" she called out the two's names, and Pit actually reacted by closing his fist and stirring. Moments later, he fully regained consciousness as he started getting up by propping himself up with his arms.
For a moment, he wondered what had happened, but when he saw Dark Pit lying next to them, they instantly remembered the situation - and laughed. It had worked. The realisation shook off any grogginess from being knocked out, and he hurried to shake his counterpart awake as well.
"Pittoo! Wake up, Pittoo! Hey, c'mon, wake up!"
Dark Pit's head began moving, eyelids fluttering. The first thing they became aware of was Pit's annoying voice. But then they realized. The voice wasn't coming from inside their body. And Pit was the one who was shaking them. They were separate.
They had done it. Just to make extra sure, they glanced at their clothes and wings. "Fucking finally..." they muttered, glad to be inhabiting their own body again.
Pit smiled at them. Dark Pit couldn't help but smile back. Sure, it was a feeling of relief, but weirdly... the experience made the two feel closer.
And out of anyone to be stuck in the same body with, both figured they didn't get the worst partner in the world.