After a handful more Pale Perch, Kaldalis decided he had to hunt down Reno to ask about the stream payout. Myrin had guessed that it was soon because it was supposed to be monthly and it had been a while, but neither of them had a confident guess at what day it even was now, let alone how many weeks it had been since then.

The ship was becoming gradually more chaotic. Big Mike had apparently ordered for everything to be tracked and stored and accounted for now that land was in sight, and as a result, the place was crawling with busy sailors. Everyone who normally would be off-shift and resting was busily engaged in carting shit around so that everything was in its proper place. It was chaos.

The chaos was entertaining, at least. Ein still had energy, so Kaldalis let the yapping puppy follow behind him, and the corgi had a gift for being perfectly in the way of everybody in the room at the same time. The sailors, however, universally thought he was the cutest damned thing, and so engaged in comical acrobatics to avoid tripping over him without complaint.

As much as Kaldalis wanted to let Ein kick off a Three Stooges bit so that he could watch the inevitable mess, that seemed needlessly cruel towards the sailors themselves. He made an effort to get out of their way, letting the pet system’s invisible leash draw the corgi along behind him. Once he was back on the foredeck, out in the open, there was enough space that he didn’t feel like Ein was going to create an accident, though his search for Reno was complicated by the move.

Reno wasn’t out here. It was easy to tell just by looking around for anyone with the same indigo skin and curling horns that he had. It was a rare enough shade for a Vathon that it just took a second to verify. There were certainly places she could have gone - her being missing was no cause for alarm - but everywhere he could search would have involved heading below decks, where Ein would make trouble all over again.

“If we go look for Reno,” Kaldalis said, looking down at the corgi pup, “are you going to behave and stay out of everyone’s way?”

Ein gave a yapping sound, and then turned and ran towards the railing. There was a scrabble of dog nails on wood as he skidded to a stop and looked down at the water, yapping several times. Mid-yap, the dog scrambled away from the railing and sprinted towards a nearby coil of rope, yapping at it as if it had offended him somehow.

“Guess not,” Kaldalis said with a grimace. “And if I put you away now, you’re just going to be worse the next time.” He shook his head. “She’ll turn up sooner or later.”

Ein turned to look at him and gave a friendly yap before he started running in tight circles. His stubby little butt didn’t have enough of a tail for him to chase, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

With his search on a brief hiatus, Kaldalis looked around the deck to see if anyone else was around. Myrin had said that Balrim had been tracking the days, and the reddish scales were too common among Talsar for him to confirm his absence with a quick glance. He had to actually look to confirm that he wasn’t here as well. Having to pay that close attention to the faces on the deck meant that he recognized the only one of his friends who was present and accounted for out here.

Ess was leaning against the railing, staying out of the way of the working sailors. Despite the bustle of activity all around her, she was staring off into space as if she was mentally miles away. Kaldalis’s first thought was that she might know where Reno and Balrim went, but as he started towards her, he realized she looked sad. He wasn’t sure if she was depressed or just lonely, but there was definitely something wrong. A lot of Finnian communication was nonverbal, and just like Kaldalis didn’t need to actively direct his tail to help his balance, Ess didn’t need to make a mental effort to project her mood through body language. It was easy to see from the slump of her shoulders and the closed-off stance that she was feeling down. As much as he wanted to ask where the others went, it seemed like a good friend would be more concerned about her mood.

“Hey,” he said with a wave as he approached. “What’s up?”

As soon as she looked up her body language shifted, her shoulders perking up and her arms uncrossing. Instinctively, she was trying to adjust her body language to hide her sadness. He wasn’t going to draw attention to it in case it made her feel self-conscious, but he still noticed.

“I didn’t expect you back so soon, Kal,” Ess said, giving him a weak-looking smile. “Is the fishing not good?”

“I just-” Kal began.

“Ooh!” Ess interrupted immediately, eyes going wide and her wan smile turning into an excited grin.

He followed her gaze and saw that Ein had run up behind him, glaring angrily at Kal’s left boot.

“Right,” Kaldalis said, “you didn’t meet Ein yet.”

Ess made a grabby hands gesture towards the corgi. “Puppy.”

Kaldalis laughed and looked down at the energetic dog. “Ein, this is Ess. Don’t worry, she’s cool.”

The dog’s unnatural intelligence took hold again. Instead of having no reaction whatsoever, Ein stopped yapping and looked up at him quizzically before turning to look at Ess. He regarded her for a second and then let his mouth drop open in a doggy grin.

Ess made an excited squeaking noise and knelt down. Ein eagerly rushed at her to receive an ample tribute of ear scratches and cooing praise.

“I did kind of meet him,” Ess said at last when she finally looked up from the attention-seeking dog. “I was watching your stream when you got him, after all. Love the name, by the way.”

“It’s, uh,” Kaldalis said, suddenly feeling self-conscious himself. “It’s not the most original choice, and really broadcasts my weebness, but I can’t really change who I am.”

“Take some pride in it,” Ess said with a smirk. Ein rolled over and she started to scratch his belly. “At least you have some taste. You could have named him Akamaru or something.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Kaldalis said with a grin. “Though I don’t know who that is.”

“You don’t know Akamaru?” Ess gave him a look of fake disdain. “Your ignorance brings shame on all of weeb-kind.”

Kaldalis wasn’t sure whether to apologize or laugh. “Maybe Iggy would have been more acceptable?”

Ess shuddered. “The less said about him, the better.”

“I think you’re right,” Kaldalis agreed. “This Ein seems to take after his namesake. He’s a little more energetic and needy, but he’s smarter than he ought to be. In case that means something, I’m glad I didn’t name him after a dog known for violently begging for treats and farting.”

“But Ein would never do that. He is such a good boy,” Ess cooed down at the dog, rubbing his belly. “Yes he is! Yes he is!”

Ein wiggled energetically, happy to receive the attention for a little while. Eventually, though, he’d had enough, and thrashed for a moment to get back to his feet. With so much energy, he went back to running around looking for things to yap at. Ess stayed knelt down for a minute, waiting for the dog to return for more attention, but he was worlds away now.

“Don’t take it personally,” Kaldalis said, stepping up next to her to lean on the ship’s railing. “After being cooped up in the pet menu for so long, he needs to be really active for a while. Once he’s burnt off a bit more, he’ll be looking for direct attention again.”

“It’s fine, I know dogs are just like that sometimes,” Ess said. Despite what she said, her smile took on the same sad quality it had when she’d first seen him. She straightened up and leaned against the railing with him.

The sounds of the sea and the working sailors was joined at last by the call of a seagull. The first one they’d seen since they’d gotten out of range of Cotanaku. These were different from the ones on the island, and their calls were a louder shrieking noise compared to the sharp yowling of the island terns.

“So,” Ess said after a few moments of comfortable silence. “How is Heluna holding up with you off on another whirlwind adventure?”

Kaldalis almost jumped off the boat in shock. He’d thought his relationship with Heluna was… Well, not a secret, but at least he thought it wasn’t common knowledge. How did she know? Did Myrin rat him out?

Ess had just mentioned that she was watching his stream before, and he tried to mentally do the math. When had they first kissed? Was that before or after Ess had joined the game?

When had that first date been?

He cleared his throat for a second, hoping in vain that he could hide his surprise. “She’s… Fine. She wasn’t happy, but...” He coughed again. “It’s not like it's real… Formal… We’re not… Like. She’s just a-”

“Hey,” Ess said, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Shut up for a second. Life comes at you fast, Kal. Sometimes the curveballs don’t stop until you miss one.” Her eyes flicked to the hand on his shoulder, where the scar would be on her flesh-and-blood body. “If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that you can’t be embarrassed about the happiness you find between the messes you have to clean up. I spent my entire esports career terrified that people would find out I like Sailor Moon. Like it was bad enough that I was a girl, but if I liked girl things I’d be kicked out of the league or something.” She shook her head. “I was terrified of what people would think about something that’s not their business. I had to hide something that makes me happy. It wasn’t right. I shouldn’t have.”

Kaldalis had to admit, he hadn’t known that the RTS legend SeventyEight was an anime nerd. Given how it was an interest both Dylan and Amy had shared, it was one of the things that had separated the two people in his mind before learning they were one and the same.

“Relationships are complicated enough,” Ess continued, “without letting other people’s problems get in the way. If you want something, grab it, and to hell with everyone else.” She smirked. “Just make sure it’s consensual before you grab anything sensitive, right?”

“I mean…” Kaldalis cleared his throat, both confused and relieved that the first lecture he’d received about Heluna was one of acceptance. “As much as an AI can consent, right?”

“The NPCs around here seem more than capable,” she said, trying to hide a shiver. “A little too capable if you ask me. Like Monsoon wanted this to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever system they made these people with became the basis of true AI in the real world. We might be speaking with the initial drafts of the first true cyborgs.”

“I’ll keep an eye on Heluna and let you know if she starts saying ‘kill all humans’ or something,” Kaldalis said. “Or any other crazy robot shit.”

“She’s a Finnian, right?” Ess asked. She tapped a finger to the slightly metallic silver skin on her forearm. “Maybe don’t be too worried if she asks you to bite her shiny metal ass.”

For a moment, he realized that he had never felt comfortable with Heluna on his mind when he was around his friends. But that little finger of worry was gone now. Well, maybe not gone, but much weaker. He had felt like he had to keep her off his mind while he was with others, but Ess’s support made him feel… Confident. Like his feelings weren’t something to be ashamed of.

Of course, he didn’t want to spend too long thinking about Heluna’s ass, and what she may or may not be inclined to ask him to do to it.

Ess had always been a good friend to him. Her mom’s cooking had been what brought him back to the restaurant the first couple of times, but the friendly supportive chats they had together whenever she was his server had been the highlight of every visit. No matter what was going on, she always knew just what to say. Whether that was suggesting a new TV show that would become an instant favorite for him, or if she was offering the gentle and logical encouragement to not let the opportunity of a lifetime slip by.

“Thanks,” Kaldalis said at last. “I think I needed this talk.”

“You always do,” she said with a smile. It had that sad quality again, and he wondered why. “Maybe, when our time is over in this game and we’re back in the real world, we can have another talk, okay?”

She leaned in close and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and before he could process what just happened, she walked away, vanishing into the chaos of the working sailors.

“Um,” Kaldalis said, his brain slowly piecing together and re-contextualizing not just years of conversations with her, but all her body language over the last few minutes. “What.”