WHEN THEY HAVE A CRUSH…
GACHIAKUTA—enjin, gris rubion, arkha corvus, tamsy caines, zodyl typhon, bro santa, semiu grier, chtoni andoor, hyo, kyouka nijiku, noerde amozo, mildretta, mymo, fu orostor, too lily, gountess knock, goka nijiku, follo tunito, eishia stilza, tomme mima, amo empool, august stilza, zanka nijiku, rudo surebrec, riyo reaper, momoa rukel, jabber wonger x gn!reader
⊹ ࣪ ˖ CONTENT. so much fluff! manga spoilers in a few parts, oblivious reader, mutual crushing? kinda, awkward flirting, blushing, some characters are terrible at hiding their feelings, others are surprisingly good at it, pre-established crushes, maybe ooc but who cares, around 0.2k words per character, not proofread.
AUTHOR’S NOTE. i wanted to put THAT name instead of enjin for fuck but the spoiler is not free. also why tf is almost the whole gachiakuta cast in this (bro didn’t want to exclude anyone). at some point i lost the plot lol sorry about that
𑣲 IF YOU DON’T KNOW, YOU ARE TOO CLUELESS…
ENJIN wouldn't be too direct or honest about his feelings toward you, at least not right away. It's not that he's necessarily hiding them, but he'll keep acting just as laid-back as always, at first. After that phase, you'll clearly notice that he's behaving a little differently around you. Remember how he used to go into town to chase after girls? Yeah, that mysteriously stopped. Right now, his attention is focused on a certain person. Sometimes he seems too close, invading your personal space, always sitting next to you whenever he gets the chance, and making sure you ‘coincidentally’ end up in the passenger seat every time he drives the Jeep. It’s weird, yes. However, rest assured that once he falls in love with you, he won’t leave your side all day. He hates being alone, and what could be better than spending time with you instead of being surrounded by kids for a little while? It’s the perfect excuse!
“No, Enjin. We’ve got missions to do. Get your butt to work.”
AUGUST is way too loud in general, not to mention when he started developing feelings for you. No one will ever hear the end of this. It was already common knowledge throughout HQ that August has romantic feelings for you. Eishia has had a pretty rough time because of her brother’s behavior, he’s been so brazen with you! Every so often, she has to remind him to give you some space since, as far as he’s concerned, that concept doesn’t exist in the slightest. He’ll be in your personal space ALL THE TIME. Hugs and any other kind of physical contact will become constant with him, even before you’re a couple. You’d also be one of the few people he’d constantly invite to his workshop, or whom he’d let in while he’s working. Since you’re one of the people he considers most important to him, August would be happy to share that part of his hobby with you and include you in it. For example, he’d show you a design he made and wait for your opinion on it, no matter how honest it was! In fact, he’d prefer it that way so he could improve. Honestly, you’d have to be pretty oblivious not to notice how much he loves you, wouldn’t you? Especially after seeing yourself represented in so many places around his workshop.
“LOOOK!! What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful. Is there supposed to be something wrong with it?”
AMO is pretty open about her love for you, and she wouldn't even try to hide it. She loves you so much and wants you to know it—that's all. She’d clearly show favoritism toward you, treating you with much more affection and never stopping talking about you! Her infatuation would be even more obvious when she could go from yelling at someone to being surprisingly calm with you in less than ten seconds if that's what you want. You’d better get used to her being with you at all times, because ever since Amo started liking you, you’ll see her every day, everywhere. After a while, physical contact between the two of you would also increase unconsciously—mostly on her part, since she tends to be a bit impulsive. She might tug on your sleeve, lean on your shoulder, or always stand close to you while you’re talking, simply because that’s normal for her. Finally, she’s very jealous, a little more so at this stage. Her possessiveness isn’t malicious, her jealousy stems from the feeling that she’s being ‘replaced’ or that she’s competing with that person for your attention.
“…Are you asking because I just spent time with Riyo?”
TOMME realized immediately that she was in love, but she’d try to handle it as maturely as possible. Because of her job, which requires her to pay attention to details, she’d notice various habits you have without really meaning to, surprising even herself. Since when has she known exactly how you like your drink or your favorite food, what expressions you make when you’re tired or focused, the things you don’t like, how you usually talk? Unexpectedly, she wouldn’t be so shy about taking the initiative to invite you to spend time with her during simple moments or to cheer you up if you’re feeling down—she’s very good with words, so Tomme wouldn’t mind helping you. As for her notes, she’s had to start crossing out some observations she made about you that often had nothing to do with the missions at all. It would be inevitable for you to notice, given how much attention she pays to you.
“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself so hard.”
“Don’t worry, Tomme! I’m fine.”
FOLLO would be greatly affected by you. While he’s usually helpful to everyone, with you he’d be ten times more so. If you need anything, he’ll always be there to try to help you, and he’d expect you to know that, too. He’s very thoughtful; he’ll often try to strike up conversations about some of your personal interests you’ve mentioned before, and—to spare himself a bit of embarrassment—discreetly ask if you’ve eaten or rested yet, just to check in, of course. Gris might want to help Follo out from time to time, but he wouldn’t be able to do much to help the two of you understand each other, so he’d probably just leave the two of you alone whenever you’re together. Please don’t compliment him or make physical contact without warning. A simple ‘good job’ from you would make him very nervous, and he’d stumble over his words a bit when thanking you. The situation would get worse if you were to even accidentally or on purpose brush against his hand a little. He blushes so easily that you’d notice it immediately. Why might that be?
“Thanks for helping me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
“I-it wasn’t that big of a deal… don’t hesitate to let me know if you need help again.”
𑣲 IF YOU LOOK SOO CLOSELY…
CTHONI would almost never let on how she feels in general, especially now that she likes you. She’d be very subtle about revealing her true intentions. You’d have to pay attention to certain changes so you can learn to read between the lines and understand what they really mean. Obviously, it wouldn’t be a coincidence if she suddenly started appearing behind you without you even hearing her (she’s already startled you several times) and then just stood there for no apparent reason without saying a single word, not even when she didn’t mind giving you a sandwich she had on hand in the middle of a mission after accidentally finding out you hadn’t eaten. Still, she wouldn’t explain much about why she’s acting that way. For someone as reserved as she usually is, the fact that Cthoni would initiate a conversation with you—and let you into her personal space after you’ve spent a considerable amount of time interacting—might be enough for you to draw your own conclusions about what’s really going on.
“You need to drink water.”
“It’s been hours since you last did.”
ZANKA is proud and will treat his crush as a BIG secret. He isn’t embarrassed that he’s in love with you, but what he does find embarrassing is the whole idea of having a crush, which isn’t really appropriate for someone like him, or so he thinks. One of the weirdest things that’s come up is that you have certain privileges that others don’t have, like him letting you invade his personal space or touch him physically for as long as you want without him asking you to back off, or even letting you touch his Lovely Assistaf for a moment, which speaks for itself about what that means. On the other hand, he’d start giving you little gifts with excuses to make it seem like no big deal. Oh, man. It doesn’t matter if he’s on a mission or not; if he sees you, he’ll work twice as hard to be stronger. It’s up to you whether you notice these signs or not, because some might go unnoticed if you don’t know him well enough. His exclusivity toward you would be his way of subtly letting you know he likes you.
“You’ve gotten stronger, Zanka!”
“Really?” He definitely wasn’t killing himself during all that training just to look cooler for you.
GOKA is quite reluctant to let something like this take over his mind, but he can’t help it no matter how hard he tries. He likes you and doesn’t know what to do. He’s one of the least obvious ones, precisely because he’d like to hide it as much as possible. Goka himself isn’t the romantic or expressive type. Although he may seem uninterested on the surface, he actually cares about you quite a bit, but you just wouldn’t notice it because, in a way, he’d be more curt with you, and stricter, too. However, his words rarely match his actions. He contradicts himself when he tells you directly that your technique needs to improve, only to then help you correct your form himself with more gentleness than you’d expect from Goka. He says you need to be more responsible with your tasks, yet he’ll end up doing them himself without asking for anything in return. Months, perhaps much longer, could go by without him making any direct progress. You wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. He’s still a demanding superior, right?
“Did you really help me with this?”
“You should have done it sooner. In the future, make sure you do it on your own. On time.”
MILDRETTA would give the opposite impression that she likes you—or maybe not. If you knew her really well, you’d know all her irritation and scolding come from the fact that, deep down, she cares about the people who matter to her. That’s how it would be with you. You’d better hide from Mildretta when you come back injured from a mission, because you’ll get the worst scolding from her, along with her help, of course. Despite all that, Meriege would still tell you that you’re one of the people Mildretta cares about most. This wouldn’t make much sense from your point of view, but it would from hers. Meriege knows her very well, and she obviously would know exactly what situation her teammate is in. Mildretta isn’t very expressive verbally, but she’d be very protective. She’d constantly make sure you didn’t get into unnecessary trouble or that no one tried to take advantage of you. She’s very trustworthy and loyal; once she falls in love with you, it would be very hard for her to walk away afterward. Even though she doesn’t express it very well, rest assured that she’d love you dearly and let you see it. In her own way.
𑣲 THERE’S SOMETHING… WEIRD?
FU gets really nervous when he's around you. He stutters more and he can't even manage to make eye contact with you for very long before excusing himself and leaving. He doesn't know how to deal with his feelings, but he genuinely likes it when you give him orders. No matter how small the task, he’ll never complain, after all, he loves helping you! Your requests are his favorites, although he’ll still be a little more anxious than usual, worried that he might mess them up. The rare times he doesn’t overthink before acting are when you’re in danger during a joint mission, quickly letting Hii take control so he can handle the situation. Speaking of the possessed doll, he won’t hear the end of it because Fu would talk about you so much to him. Hii gets a little irritated when Fu simply refuses to take his suggestions to put an end to this whole problem. Maybe he’ll have to do something about it.
“Why don’t you just tell them—”
“Hii, they’re coming! What do I do!?”
RUDO suddenly felt strangely uncomfortable around you, which was kind of weird. He didn't mean any harm, but he needed a little more time to process it since he hasn't had the best experiences with this kind of thing. However, he’d like to make you handmade gifts in his free time to clear his head and see your reaction—after spending a considerable amount of time deciding whether or not to give them to you—and also to spend quality time with you away from all the problems he’s had since arriving on Terra. He listens to absolutely EVERYTHING you say; he’d rather stay silent and listen to you talk for hours if that’s what you want, he won’t get tired or annoyed like he normally would with someone else. Rudo tends to be calmer when he’s with you, and surprisingly, he’s also much less rude and thinks a little more carefully about his words before speaking. You’d better get ready for Riyo and Enjin’s teasing, because they won’t stop once they see you with Rudo more often. Come on, it’s way too obvious! At least to them…
“Rudo! Make sure you kill that trashy beast with them… and don’t get too distracted by your partner.”
EISHIA has a hard time being around you for very long, especially because her shyness makes it difficult for her to interact with you normally. Would she seem strange from your perspective? Hopefully not. The only thing you might find odd about this (aside from her strange behavior and the blush on her cheeks when she’s with you) is that August sometimes tells you very specific things about what Eishia likes out of nowhere, and he’s been trying to get closer to you. All with the intention of helping her little sister, of course! She acts politely and seems more concerned about you, often rushing to heal you and staying focused to avoid accidents with her Jinki, or simply giving you sweets she thinks you’d like. Other than that, you’d have to make a more obvious move for something to develop between you two. Eishia hasn’t had much experience with these kinds of situations and is very inexperienced, so she doesn’t know what to do beyond her small acts of kindness, but she’ll be quite open and grateful to accept any subtle advances you might make toward her!
“Can I stay in the infirmary with you today?”
“U-um… If you want to, sure. Although I don’t really do much anyway, so if you get bored…”
MOMOA would not be so obvious about liking you. She wouldn’t deny anything, but she wouldn’t confirm it either; she’d just let it be. As long as it doesn’t get too involved in her business, she’s fine. She can live peacefully with her feelings. Momoa likes it when you sometimes keep her company while she listens to music, without feeling the need to bother her (ahem, Jabber). Overall, she’d still be herself around you. Maybe there’d be some subtle signs that would make you wonder now and then—like her normally bored gaze lingering on you a little longer than she’d normally care to, letting you pick the songs she listens to every once in a while, or responding more quickly when you talk to her. Basically, Momoa likes spending quiet moments. Since she’s taken an interest in you, she’d be at least a little curious about what you’ve been through, but don’t worry. No matter how curious she is, she’ll never use her Jinki on you unless it’s really necessary or you give her permission.
“You did a great job, Momoa!”
NOERDE can be a little confusing to read. You wouldn't know if what she feels for you is respect, admiration, or something else. She has very high standards when it comes to liking someone, whether romantically or otherwise, so you went through a test without even knowing it. After passing Noerde’s assessment to see if you were worth her time, she’d start showing interest in an unusual way… she’d give you compliments, but they’re very easy to overlook since most of the time she only points out your strength, which is sometimes accompanied by a bit of criticism on her part. She’s a warrior. What else would she have to compliment? And why don’t you realize that what she just said to you is incredibly valuable? Ever since Noerde started falling for you, she’s been trying to prove that she’s strong and worthy enough for you, only for you to fail to notice, as usual. Your clueless behavior irritates her. Finally, the greatest gesture she’d make would be to let you touch her hair. But you’ve never tried because you’re afraid of how she’d react. Noerde is very particular about her hair, which is why letting you touch it would be a sign of the trust she has in you.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking you’ve been acting strange.”
“Acting strange? Work on your judgment.”
GOUNTESS already cared about you quite a lot and was fond of you in his own way before he realized he was in love with you. Now, all of that changed once he understood he felt something more than friendship for you. He would be conflicted about those feelings, knowing his presence could inevitably bring you a lot of trouble. What would he do? Obviously, keep his distance. He wouldn’t want someone like Mymo or anyone else to hurt you because of him. He would apologize to you internally and try to maintain as little contact with you as possible. Of course, this wouldn’t go unnoticed by you. How could it? He went from being the person who cared about you the most, telling you how important you were to him and being a safe haven for you, to becoming a familiar stranger you used to spend time with. How could you not wonder why you never saw him again?
“I like being with you, Gountess.”
𑣲 YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW IT.
TAMSY is self-aware and knows perfectly well how to hide a crush, which is something absurdly easy for the things he’s had to do in the past. He could be by your side and interact with you naturally like he always does, without a single red flag for you to suspect that his feelings are quite different from what they actually are. The worst part is he wouldn’t even try too hard for you to notice. He’d rather stay where he is and simply wait patiently for the fleeting feeling to pass. If it somehow doesn’t go away, that’s where he could actually start taking those feelings a little more seriously. As much as he’d like to get rid of all kinds of feelings that don’t serve his goals, he’d eventually come to live with them reluctantly, like in this case. The changes would be slight but pretty strange and exclusive to you, like paying a little more attention whenever you decide to talk about anything, and being more attentive toward you in the eyes of the other Cleaners. He’d also be very polite and respect some of your boundaries, but nothing too alarming.
“You’re surprisingly attentive.”
ZODYL is too logical and reserved. You wouldn't know it, and he wouldn't know how he feels about you either. At first, he might justify it by saying that you’re simply a valuable member of the Raiders and perform well on missions. That would explain why he’s thinking about you more than he does about other people. You’d have to learn how to read him very carefully to notice his unusual behavior, because it’s clearly not romantic in the conventional sense. He’d start including you in certain plans of personal interest and sometimes share some of his theories with you. For him, that would be ‘affection’ or a way of showing he’s interested in someone. Since Zodyl is quite analytical, that would also apply to you. He’d ask you strange questions he didn’t used to ask before, just out of sheer curiosity about how you think. This would leave you even more confused than you already are.
“What do you think of the Sphere?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
SEMIU is pretty neutral about her feelings. If she’s honest, she might say she was a little surprised to realize that she really did see you that way. She wouldn’t deny it, but she did consider those feelings a slight distraction for her. Although that doesn’t change the fact that she enjoys it when you join her at her desk if you have free time, when you help her with paperwork every now and then, or when you do little favors to help her out. The other Cleaners might notice that Semiu tends to be more patient with you, pointing things out a bit more gently when you do something she’d normally consider stupid (which, from Enjin’s point of view, is a complete injustice). You’d be surprised by how observant she tends to be. If the crush lasts longer, she won’t waste any more energy trying to avoid the inevitable, so she’ll accept it and be as direct as possible once she’s made her decision. This will take you completely by surprise because, as far as you’re concerned, there were no clear signs that she liked you.
“Your favorite food came with the rest of the meal they brought us.”
“How do you know it’s my favorite food?”
“It’s easy to tell when you drool all over your chin just looking at it.”
HYO is convinced that it’s just another sensation in her brain that feels different. She’d probably be the last person to admit that she loves you. She doesn’t understand how she came to feel this way, so she’ll keep her distance and won’t make a move at first. Hyo might make you a little uncomfortable at times, since you might catch her staring at you out of the blue with a blank expression on her face, and sometimes you’ll get the feeling that she knows your habits quite well and some details about you that no one else would notice. Generally, since Hyo wouldn’t know how to be around you without giving herself away or raising suspicion, she’d start looking for excuses just to be by your side. And speaking of those, they’re terrible, since she’d never spend much time in the company of someone the way she has with you. She’s very independent and would rarely share space with anyone outside of a work setting. You’d have to pay close attention to notice a pattern, because her affection shows more in what she does than in what she says.
“Don’t you usually take a different route, Hyo?”
“No. I take this route.” She’s clearly lying.
KYOUKA simply doesn't usually give much thought to her feelings; at first, she ignored them so she could continue prioritizing her work. To her, you’re a competent person who takes the Hell Guard seriously. That’s as far as it goes. At least, that was the case for a while, until her younger brother unintentionally pointed out her strange behavior toward you compared to other soldiers. She had never considered that conclusion until she started paying closer attention to her own behavior. After she started scrutinizing herself excessively, she realized that, indeed, her brother was right. It seems she’s more concerned about your well-being than other people’s, or perhaps you’re simply the first person she’d seek out under the pretext of telling you that you have more work to do, or that she has a certain weakness she hates having when you compliment anything other than how well she does her job. Even so, she’d still keep her distance enough to prevent you from noticing it either. Kyouka won’t openly admit she has a crush on you, nor would she get suspiciously close in a way that might make you even consider there’s something more. Get used to those signs. It would take her a long time to confess.
“Good job. Go to the nurse’s office, you need it.” And she’d walk away calmly as if she hadn’t said a thing.
𑣲 YOU THINK THEY’RE JUST BEING KIND.
CORVUS is very perceptive. He wouldn't need anyone to tell him that he likes you; he'd already know it, quite calmly. It wouldn’t even cross anyone’s mind that their boss is dealing with some romantic feelings. Corvus is a gentleman in every way. No one would be treated as well by their lover as you are by him (even though you aren’t a couple yet…), but there wouldn’t be any particularly noticeable or strong favoritism. Just because he’s in love doesn’t mean he’d neglect others for your sake. It just means that extra attention would happen in private. There would be a very curious change: Corvus is quite selective about whom he trusts, so consider yourself lucky when he starts asking about your judgment and pays close attention to what you say, because that would be very important. The moments with him would be the most comfortable, especially when you’re in his office and manage to get a smile or two out of him. What a situation he found himself in without ever once considering it…
“Corvus! You’re finally here. You’ve been gone longer than usual.”
“I’m sorry. Lately, there have been several things I’ve needed to take care of. Do you have free time? We could talk if you’re up for it.”
GRIS is quite kind to everyone without exception, which is why you didn’t even think anything of it when he started treating you in a much kinder and warmer way. He really likes you, so he’ll show it, knowing full well that you don’t know exactly why he’s doing it and that you’ll mistake it for a sign of his support as a mere friend. He doesn’t care if you like him back, if you need time to think about it, or if, for your part, all you have to offer is friendship. He’d be happy just to have you by his side. His affection makes him feel more responsible, so expect Gris to wish you luck every time you go out on a mission and check to make sure you’re not injured right after you finish it. He thinks it’s the least he can do, since, unfortunately, there’s not much he’s able to do when you’re fighting Trash Beasts.
“You’re so nice, Gris. Maybe too nice…? But thank you for caring so much about me!”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
BRO SANTA would be much more transparent without even realizing it. He doesn’t know he’s being obvious until Guita herself innocently asks him when you’re coming over to spend time with them. It might have been just a casual comment, but it made him think about it for quite a while. Basically, you’d become a second adoptive parent to Dear and Guita. Speaking of the little boy, you’d have to be very patient to earn his trust at first. Bro would probably try to help you with that, he’d like the two of you to get along well in the future… He’s not assuming you’d say yes if he asked you out! But every time he’s accidentally seen you guys together, it makes him fall a little more in love with you. You’d become more and more a part of his circle, and absolutely everyone would realize that whenever he’s there, you’d be there too because he invited you. Bro often has to hide his embarrassed face and apologize to you when the Cleaners joke that you two would make a cute couple. That sort of thing. Dear is fed up with his father still deciding to play dumb after all.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Dear?”
𑣲 YOU DON’T KNOW IF THEY ARE JOKING OR NOT (they’re not).
JABBER is still… Jabber. He constantly bugs you just to get your attention. This might be the first time he’s ever experienced a crush (albeit a twisted one), so he’ll deal with it in his own way. However, that doesn’t make him any more tolerable most of the time. Do you like your privacy? Forget about it with him. If you’re a Raider, he may or may not annoy Zodyl enough for him to send the two of you on missions together, mostly just to get Jabber off his back—and partly because, at the end of the day, the two of you somehow always manage to successfully complete your part of the mission. He loves showing you the poisons he has and the effects they cause, too! He might even beg you to try them with him when you have nothing else to do. It’s up to you whether or not to accept his offer. Jabber has grown so trusting of you in such a short time that you wouldn’t be surprised to find him right beside you when you wake up one of these days. Or maybe it’s already happened—many, many times. You just don’t take him seriously.
“Pleeease… just one! This one feels good!”
“Uhhh… Are you afraid of ’em? I didn’t know you were one of those cowards.”
MYMO would never admit that he actually has a crush on you. He’d dismiss it as mere curiosity to protect his pride. It simply wouldn’t occur to him that someone like him could fall in love with… well, you. Instead of acknowledging his feelings, he’d treat them as a game to amuse himself. He’d single you out as his main target, playing pranks on you, deliberately putting you in awkward situations just to see how you’d react, or casually dropping random comments about things he’s heard about you. Speaking of which, he’d investigate you to see how much he could find out. He’d keep that information for later, whether he intended to use it against you or simply keep it to himself. Mymo wouldn’t have a healthy crush. Even though he might seem harmless, he could become quite possessive and manipulative if you ever took a path he didn’t like. In general, he’d also idealize you, seeing you as part of his vision without caring in the least about getting to know you for who you really are. But you wouldn’t know any of that. From your perspective, he’s simply having fun and being his usual self, completely unaware that, in reality, he’s already mapped out a destiny for you.
“Guess! What do you think?”
RIYO thought it was really fun being around you, and the realization hit her not long after, when she found herself questioning her own feelings toward you. Even before she fell in love with you, you’d already gotten used to her chaotic and carefree personality, so you weren’t surprised when, over the last few months, she started seeking you out more often to joke around with you. You also didn’t pay much attention to how often she played with your hair, leaned in close whenever she got the chance, or became especially attentive during your last few missions together. She’d brush it off by saying it would be better if you didn’t die in some humiliating or silly way anytime soon. Riyo was constantly keeping an eye on you, with good intentions, according to her. Just like Zanka, she also has a thing for impressing you, showing off what she and her scissors are capable of whenever she gets the chance. She makes you wonder if there’s really something more between you, but you can’t tell whether she’s simply being her usual self or if something has actually changed.
“Hey, I just heard this joke—”
TOO LILY can be pretty oblivious sometimes without even realizing it herself, which is why she doesn't understand why the signs aren't very clear to you when they clearly are. At least to her. Her crush would be a little bit awkward. Emphasizing just how oblivious she is, she genuinely didn't realize when her songs and some of her shows had become a little connected to you if someone were to look closely. She certainly doesn't mind, of course; she'd say she feels quite the opposite! As an artist, one way she would show her affection would be through spectacle and entertainment. This translates into changing her outfit as many times as you want just to impress you, and she would even give you the privilege of occasionally choosing the outfit she wears for some of her performances, along with a ticket to see her perform! One of the things she'd enjoy the most would be doing different magic tricks and teaching them to you just to see you smile. She likes making people smile, and your smile is her favorite, so why not make you happy with whatever she has at her disposal? Unfortunately, even with all of that, since you wouldn't know her very well at first, you'd probably think it's just her being Too Lily, as always.
“Look at them! Aren’t they incredible? They are my favorite person! And of course, my assistant who has gotten me out of several predicaments.”
