Mark and Jackson sat in their hotel room next to each other on Mark’s bed (Jackson still hadn’t cleaned his off).  Jackson had a notebook in his lap and pen in hand.

    “Alright, so strategy,” Jackson started clicking the pen dramatically.

    “Uh huh,” Mark nodded hesitantly, “Which is?”

    “Just roll with me here,” Jackson pointed the pen at Mark's face, “So, what do we know about Jaebum and Jinyoung?”

Jackson wrote the names at the top of the paper and then drew a line between them, running running down to the bottom of the page.He position his pen underneath the “Jaebum” column and proceed to narrate as he wrote, “Crazy...over...sensitive...hot...head.”

Mark snorted laughter at the statement.

Jackson moved to the “Jinyoung” column also wrote, “Ice Queen.”

Mark laughed at his boyfriend’s comments, “Alright, so how is this going to help us?”

“Please babe,” Jackson held up husband hand to silence a giggling Mark, “It’s all part of the the process.”

Mark laughed louder all Jackson’s serious expression. Jackson, displeased, then tossed the notebook onto his bed and pounced on Mark. Jackson pressed the redhead into the mattress, relentlessly tickling the older’s sides.

“Alright! Alright! Stop, please!” Mark shouted in between large burst of laughter, hands swatting at Jackson’s shoulders.

Jackson complied and rolled off the boy and lied at Mark’s side. He reached over and patted Mark’s leg briefly to get his attention.

“Really though,” Jackson sighed, “We need to focus…”

“Wow, who are you and what did you do with JAckson Wang?” Mark joked as he sat up to look at Jackson.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I can be very serious when something is important enough,” Jackson glared at the older.

“Like when?” Mark challenged.

“Like when your safety is on the line,” Jackson replied, voice heavy with implications of just how much he worried for the other.

Mark froze, blinking in surprise at Jackson’s statement. Tjhen, a heartfelt smile spread across his lips, “Well, I think that’s pretty important.”

Mark scooted off the bed to retrieve Jackson’s notebook. When he returned, he cuddled up to Jackson’s side, passing him the notebook and pen.

“So, from what I know about Jaebum and from what you’ve already said, is that he’s easily triggered.” Mark thought back to the time he had spent in the same classes with Jaebum.

“I don’t even need my quirk to see that,” Jackson scoffed but wrote it down anyways, “His quirk has a weak point though. It’s not just a Fire Body Quirk, it’s more like a human torch--or better yet-- Human Volcano. When he gets too riled up, he’ll pretty much explode which obviously is very dangerous, deadly even.”

“But he’s rated a five?” Mark asked.

“Five at the beginning of the year, or at least last I checked…” Jackson replied, eyes on his paper as he jotted down more notes.

Mark squirmed next to Jackson, pushing his head underneath the other boy’s arm to see what he was writing, “Do people change rates often?”

“Not usually, but some things can trigger peak rates for a short time I call it ‘Momma Bear Syndrome,’” Jackson stopped writing and looked down at Mark, “What are you doing?”

“Cuddling,” Mark relied and snatched the pen away from JAckson, “Jaebum is good at close combat. The teachers never let use his quirk with the other kids.”

“Alright, write that down,” Jackson tapped the top of Mark’s he with his chin.

Jackson leaned back against the headboard and thought back to Jaebum’’s rate, “Jaebum can be just as dangerous to himself as others, so getting him to that explosion point is bad all around, however, his power has a limit. If he uses too much or loses steam he won’t be able to fight back.”

“So...how do we use this to our advantage?” Mark pressed the back of his head onto Jackson’s shoulder.

Jackson shifted his body to accommodate the clingy boy, moving his notebook time his other hand and wrapping his arm around Mark's waist.

“Don't speed the process,” Jackson quipped, squeezing Mark lightly, “Onto Jinyoung.”

“He's Jaebum’s rock,” Mark offered, “He cools Jaebum off when he gets too riled up. Like that time in the cafeteria.”

“Ok. Good,” Jackson nodded and wrote down what Mark said, “He's most definitely smarter than Jaebum,  not as deadly though.”

“Jinyoung is quick and light on his feet. His fighting style is more defense oriented,” Mark added.

“I don't think he's got much of a limit. As long as weather and stage are in his favor, it will be a tough battle. He can manipulate the air temperature and pressure around him, so I wouldn't get too close.” Jackson explained.

“ Which means?” Mark drawled.

“ Jinyoung is the head man, which may work for them, but it leaves Jaebum vulnerable.  If we separate the two so that Jinyoung can't keep Jaebum in check, the whole dynamic of their team would be thrown off. Separation wouldn't be too bad as long as we stay on our feet. You would have to take out Jinyoung,” Jackson explained.

“I don’t know about that,” Mark interrupted, “That would leave you with Jaebum. I know you're strong Jackson, but you can’t expect to match his power. One wrong move and he’ll kill you.”

“Well, I don’t plan on getting killed,” Jackson tried to reassure Mark.

“No one does,” Mark glared back at the smirking blonde.

“Ok, so I’ll be extra careful. Come on, Mark. I’ll be fine,” Jackson persuaded.

“Hey, I care about your safety just as much as you do mine,” Mark sighed and rested his head on Jackson’s stomach, “I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

Jackson looked down at the forlorn boy and sighed. He rested his arm across Mark’s chest in a slight hug, dropping his notebook to the side. Jackson took his other hand and ran  it through Mark’s strawberry locks, briefly twisting the strands every now and then.

“So much pressure,” Mark murmured, eyes closed in enjoyment of Jackson’s ministrations.

“We’ll be fine,” Jackson whispered adding an ‘I hope’ in his head.

“But now we need to talk about stages,
“ Jackson changed the subject with a cheery tone, leaning over to grab his notebook once again and knocking Mark’s head from his lap.

“Ugh,” Mark groaned and rolled to the side, pressing his face into the mattress.

“Hey now, we need all the preparation we can get!” Jackson argued, poking the other in the side with displeasure.

“Noooo!” Mark whined through the blankets squirming as Jackson assaulted his sides.

Jackson laughed giddily as he scratched at Mark’s sides. The redhead tossed and turned to escape Jackson’s deft fingers, giggling along.

“Maaaark,” Jackson whined back, “Focus!”

Jackson stopped his assault for a moment, hands resting on Mark’s side.

“Alright, alright,” Mark conceded breathlessly. He jerked onto his back next to Jackson. He straightened out his clothes and ran a hand through his hair, patting it down afterwards. Snuggling down into the bed, he ignored Jackson’s crooked brow and told Jackson to continue.

“So, stages-”