ChaseR

It was hard to keep up with his partner, heaving heavily as soon as they came to a stop and holding a hand up, as if asking for help. When she passed him the weapon, he looked up at her to accept it and then promptly plopped on to the ground, leaving the practice blade next to him and trying to pace his breathing.

"One... One moment...", he huffed and wiped some sweat from his forehead, feeling his legs almost burn up from the inside. He hadn't done this in a while and his body was still tired as ever, even though he felt like he was making for a pretty swift recovery so far. "It's... Hoo.", he exhaled and tried to pull himself back up with the blade in his hand, leaning down on it a bit to keep himself standing. Once a minute or so had passed, he seemed good enough to hold his own, taking a few steps back and practicing some slashes on the air in front of himself. The sword was light and weak as ever, but it felt almost as heavy as his own in his hand. Good god... "Sword's good... The run was a lot...", he looked at NIGHT with a small grin, although it was more so of embarrassment at his lack of stamina than anything else. "Okay... Let's head on back."

Chase was somewhat amused upon seeing NIGHT go through the whole process of putting her shoes on properly, rather than just equipping them through her inventory, but... he shrugged and thought to give it a try. He took his shoes out of his inventory and after two, at least, years, he tried putting them on normally. Something so casual, so mundane felt almost new to him, which shocked him more than one would imagine. 

"Good god.", he grumbled almost out of embarrassment, looking up at NIGHT as he stood up himself and nodding. "We won't take too long DAY.", the vanguard tried to reassure the gemini living with the two, with a small smile on his face. "Let's get started.", he gave his training buddy the green light, and she started to jog. At what looked like a dissapointingly slow speed, too. Chase huffed and shrugged, starting to run behind her- but when he did, he begun to realise how out of shape he was. Even going at that controlled speed, his body felt heavy and his movements sluggish, getting more tired than he feels he would have running at full speed on a good day. He remained quiet however, only squinting his eyes occasionally and letting out some discomforted grunts. "... How many days have I been like this? Hell, has it been more than a week actually? Since I got sick, maybe...", the bluehead tried to find some explanation, but he could not.

Chase was resting his elbows on his knees, hacking to clear his throat and turning to DAY to give a smile and a small thumbs up. "Thank you... blegh.", he expressed gratitude with a slight chuckle, before turning to look at NIGHT with furrowed eyebrows. Maybe combat would be a bit too intensive for now, even if it was just with sticks... It's not like beating boars around would be much exercise to him anyway. "N-No no, it's alright, let's go for a run. It'd do me good to... move a bit, you know. I haven't uh... gotten the chance to in a while...", he mumbled and fumbled, looking up at her and pushing himself off the couch, with a deep sigh.

"Yeah.", he exclaimed with a nod, his arms resting on his waist as he stood there, awkwardly waiting for a response. He wasn't really sure if he could run either, but now that he'd already gotten out of the literal comfort zone of the right side of her couch, it was clear he wanted to go outside. He looked around him out the window quietly, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck and thinking about it. After he pondered for a short while, he let out a huff and looked behind at NIGHT, with an uncertain look on his face. "Er... I don't... Wh-What should we do? I'm kinda lost.", the bluehead blurted, dropping his arms and letting out a long, deep and probably disappointed exhale. "Let's go with sticks, yeah..."

Chase had gone through all of it by now. He'd gotten sick, gotten better, gotten worse, gone through a fever and some incredible downtime, and it wasn't anywhere close to ending by the looks of it. He quietly sat at the couch, playing with Blizz and petting the little rascal who was trying to reach up to his knees and cuddle him. And around then, he heard DAY speak up and looked up, grinning at the offer and accepting the bowl. "There's some for you and Nyanko over there, go go.", he chuckled and watched the pangolin scuttle over, before they both started to dig in.

And then he was addressed, immediately fixing his eyes on the wall and giving it a blank stare. "Ah, just when I'd started getting comfortable. I probably should though... If I stay inactive for too long, it'll be too sudden to transition back into combat...", he huffed and looked back at NIGHT, giving her a hesitant nod. "Uuuhm... Sure? I'm not sure how much I can do but.", the vanguard warned her ahead of time, knowing his body was half there and half somewhere in the depths of space disintegrating. His coughing fits had gotten more manageable, but that didn't mean they didn't occur any less. Fevers came and went, but it had been a while, so maybe... "What do you want to do anyway?", he asked with a raised eyebrow, continuing his breakfast and resting back on the couch for however long he could before he had to get up and put those muscles to good work. This did get him thinking about his sword though. "It's way lighter than a stone sword should be, but can I even lift it right now..? I'll have to use something more crappy for now.", and he made for a good point. "If it's anything to do with swords, I don't know if I can raise my actual one and use it right now. Just letting you know.", Chase spoke, and then threw a berry into his mouth only to choke on it. Hooray to the first coughing fit not caused by him being sick in a while, but to sheer stupidity. Once he'd struggled to get the berry out of his throat and won, he leaned forward and took a deep breath, coughing once more. "D-Don't mind me."

Chase grinned slightly at NIGHT thanking him, happy that he wasn't being a thorn in her side. Right now, he could probably rest, and a bit easier at that. His vision, his hearing all started to blur out again before he got snapped back to reality by the feeling of Nyanko landing near him. He gave him a small smile when he began to purr, still wincing from the occasional pain but trying his best not to be too loud about it.

He realised that the two were leaving the room and tried to put on a grin, nodding to NIGHT's offer and accepting it without putting up much resist or anything. "Aye.", and so, the two left. Chase couldn't really be bothered to open his eyes again after that. With the relaxing purring from Nyanko, his exhaustion just growing more and more and Blizz quietly shuffling closer to snuggle his owner, his smile slowly faded into a tired frown, and he was promptly asleep. Throughout his rest though, the pain didn't seem to go away any. Although he didn't wake up, he continued to shuffle around and struggle in his bed, having trouble putting up with the amount of strain on his abdomen.Things wouldn't get too much better as time went on either, at least not immediately, with him waking up the next day just to eat, drink water and move his body around a tiny bit so he wouldn't get any cramps. The pain persisted though, and prevented him from catching any real rest. The day after, the pain was starting to subside although the fever still seemed to be weighing him down a fair bit. With him sweating throughout and having a minor headache, he still felt his body heavy and weak, hardly able to get up and pace around the bed's side for a while, as well as occasionally head for the living room with the help of DAY or NIGHT to break up the monotony of his stay so far. It seemed though, like they had to take it easy and just simmer down for a short while, until whatever this was had run its course.

Blizz quietly looked at the snack and grabbed it with his little hands, clawing at it while keeping his eyes right on Chase throughout. Once he'd chipped a part of it off, he grabbed it with his tongue and took it to his mouth, continuing to watch. He turned around to look at DAY and NIGHT almost argue, before turning his attention to Nyanko. He seemed a bit calmer, but still somewhat put off.

Blue's grunts and groans continued alongside his uncomfortable shifting around, but he tried his best to not be too loud about it, knowing everybody was on edge because of him. With everything blurring together, all he could tell was that they were talking and his hand was being held. What felt like being stabbed kept on going, and he'd seemingly lost focus on his environment until his hand was squeezed by DAY. He slowly turned his eyes to her, giving a small shake of his head and putting on a faint smile. "N-No. Just don't fight. Please."

With his plea came a squeeze back at her hand, before he coughed and winced again, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore it. Chase would love to know what the hell was happening to him himself, but he was rather preoccupied with trying to hang in there for now. "Sorry about this.", he filled in after a short while with his eyes getting watery.

He wanted to propose heading over to NIGHT's as a joke initially, then she offered to take care of him and he took her up on it. He didn't want to burden her this much though, especially off the bat. Maybe if he hadn't even texted her today though, he'd be in a much worse spot right now, on his own with nothing to do but power through it. Despite tears welling up in his eyes, he lifted his gaze to NIGHT and while still pained, his expression was that of gratefullness. He'd spent most of his time with DAY, and past their conversation at first, hadn't really spoken much to the rogue. Not that he could now, but... hopefully this would do. "Thank you."

Everything was blurry, blending together and Chase was starting to have trouble telling what was going on, as though he was on a different speed from his surroundings. Slower, much slower. The next thing he knew was that he was on the bed, and his entire body felt heavier, be it from exhaustion or the blanket.

Blizz had ended up next to him, looking at the vanguard quietly and plopping down next to him, with his two claws in front of himself, watching his master patiently. "Where's..?", he tried asking for NIGHT, but in what seemed like a blink, DAY was next to him. The towel on his forehead almost felt like it was pinning him down, and his eyelids grew heavier. He felt the wet towelet placed in his hand, slowly putting whatever strength he could into his arm to pull it under the blanket, pressing it on his right side under his jacket and shirt. A discomforted groan followed as he shifted under the sheets a bit, but he tried to compose himself. 

"NIGHT, where is sh-... She?", he clenched his eyes again and went quiet for a moment, coughing a bit. "It hurts. It's not-", he paused himself to inhale shakily, trying to hold back any other grunts to help be more understandable. "It's physical. Not SAO.", he did his best to explain with an uncomfortable frown on his face, his entire form stiffening. "My right side.", he finished and looked at DAY, before trying his best to scan the room for the rogue. Chase already knew that he was functioning too poorly due to his condition, but he didn't expect something like this to completely throw him out of orbit.

Although not much was visible, he shifted his hands a bit under the sheets and took his right arm out of the blanket, opening his inventory and taking out the jar he'd shown to NIGHT earlier. Thankfully, it plopped next to him on the bed, and Blizz immediately eyed it before losing interest and looking back at him. "For if he's worrying.", he finished and gave the pangolin a small smile before wincing and jumped slightly in pain, before he slowly laid himself back down and tried to keep his breathing steady.

Blizz seemed absolutely ecstatic at the fact he was being babied, considering he'd spent all this time with Chase, plus the boy never went to such lenghts. Just went to prove though, the pangolin could grow a liking, hell, love even to anyone that did him justice.

Blueberry on the other hand, did his best to get up and gave a small, tired smile to DAY. Maybe too tired out of nowhere, for how he seemed upon entering. "Thank you.", and with that they started making way for the guest room. With a few small beads of sweat starting to form on Chase's face, his breathing got a bit heavier and his grip seemingly weaker as they approached the guest room. And just through the doorway for it, he stopped in place and squeezed DAY's hand a bit tightly, wincing as if he was getting hurt. "F-Fuck...", he muttered quietly and looked to the side at the blonde construct with a worn and pained expression. "Lay me dow-", he stopped with a louder groan, shutting both his eyes tightly.

Chase flinched with NIGHT's truthful statement, remaining quiet for a bit. Although her gemini was quick to go right to the bright side of things, it still was somewhat worrysome when put that way. Even more so if he took a moment to process that the rogue too, had been hoarding information the same way Bistro and partially he had been.

There was little he could add with how he'd been since getting sick, so he just quietly watched the two interact and gave a nod at the end. His familiar on the other hand wasn't anywhere near as quiet, enjoying DAY's petting and doing his best to cuddle her, but it wasn't really distracting, at least for the blueberry. "Aye... Thank you again.", he quietly said after a while and gave a small smile, with one of his eyes getting a bit watery before he wiped it quickly with his hand. 

"So it'd be just like that time...", Chase reminisced back to the two-day volcano expedition when he had used NIGHT's- no DAY's help to kill the Cerberus, although completely unbeknownst to him until after the fact. Her company was nice and endearing, plus she was a bit more talkative than the 'real one'. He took another sip of his drink and let out a heavy sigh, looking down at the pangolin. "NIGHT's pretty strong too. DAY keeps poking her but she's just rolling her eyes and moving on.", his inner ramblings continued, and they did enough to distract him from the fact he was losing focus and getting a bit shaky.

He stayed like so, dazed for a good minute or so before snapping back to reality and giving them a grin. "I appreciate you both for looking out for me like I'm family.", he added and took another small sip from his drink before placing it down on the table next to him. "I... think I'm getting a bit tired."

Chase only tensed up more upon hearing DAY explain how shaken NIGHT was that day, quietly trying to collect himself as they both noticed the player returning. Although with a slightly uncomfortable look, he tried to not show much to the rogue, being her houseguest for the time. A more grateful smile just took over, although faintly.

"H-Hey, if something happens to the couch, I can help fix it. Although I haven't heard of a furniture breaking in SAO...", he grumbled and accepted the drink with a grin, which slowly became more awkward as they talked about how sick he was, looking to the side and chuckling lowly. "A-Are you both warming me up to something?", he asked and took a sip, feeling as though they were trying to get on his soft side to reveal some news. Not to say he didn't appreciate the treatment and care for him, but... he wasn't really used to it, honestly. It might have been the closest thing he had to his family and friendship with Lily since coming into SAO, and he cherished the both of them for it.

"We still don't know why I'm sick or how to get rid of it.", he quietly continued and looked down at the floor, while Blizz purred at the petting from DAY and had let out a small noise at NIGHT's comment about her house being a petting zoo. "The drink is good, by the way. Thank you.", he shifted his focus to NIGHT and smiled, before taking another sip. Blueberry was definitely bothered by the whole sickness ordeal, but there was little to do but hang in there and wait. "Ah, and if you need anything, please let me know. I won't push myself too much but I want to help in any which way I can. Both of you, yeah?"

Chase stiffened a bit upon being corrected by DAY, as though he was being scolded. It went without saying though that NIGHT cared for everyone. If she didn't, then neither of her 'guests' would be in her house right now, let alone staying over. "A-Aye, I mean, of course she cares about everyone. I think that's a given."

Although the conversation steered towards gossip for a moment before DAY switched the topic of the conversation to Nyanko, the blueberry didn't usually show interest in such talks. Then again, he'd been out of the loop for so long, he'd take any conversation he could. "You sound like you don't trust her girlfriend too much. She said she's a tank, how bad could the 'stories' have been anyways?", he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and a low chuckle, curiosity written all over his face and voice. And then came the ordinary Married Couple™ segment of NIGHT and DAY shouting back and forth at each other.

He couldn't really help but grin and even laugh at their interaction, although it ended in another small coughing fit. Thank god he was in a game, because in real life, he was sure his throat would have been out of it a long time now. "I appreciate you staying here to look after me instead of going to help NIGHT. P-Poor her though.", he said and lifted himself a bit, looking at the rogue in the kitchen and sighing. As he did, Blizz peered his head in from the couch's leg, purring softly and looking over at the cat with a tilted head and his little arms quietly in the front as though looking around. He climbed onto the couch's arm and looked at the blonde, giving her an empty stare, quietly.

Chase remained quiet as the gemini and the player exchanged words, quietly shifting his glances from one to another with little to add himself. "They really almost are the same in some ways...", he nodded to himself and smiled at DAY as soon as she steadied him, giving her a small laugh. "Thank you. Don't worry abo-", his words were cut short as he suddenly got picked up, his whole body tensing as he squealed. "A-Aah?!"

From that point onwards, he blanked out a bit and missed out on their exchange, until he realised they were moving. He was more surprised than anything, although it wasn't like he'd been thrown on one's shoulder multiple times in the past either. "Y-Yeah, when I'm better I'll go back home.", he nodded frantically, before being quietly placed down on the couch and having her cloak put over him. Although it felt somewhat odd to be literally handled like this, it... wasn't bad. The boy quietly huddled up a bit under the cloak and gave DAY a small smile, with eyes brimming with gratefulness. "Aye, thank you. She's probably out with her girlfriend more than not, she seems to care about her a lot.", he tried to explain the situation to DAY, although there was little he could tell her that she didn't already know probably. "I've never seen her that flustered before, at least...?", a hint of curiosity when he heard what almost sounded like a cat.

No way. "H-How tiny is Nyanko?!", he said as he pushed himself up a bit, watching the tiny kitten emerge and slowly lowering himself back on the couch when it moved to right on top of him. As the familiar was registering his smell, he quietly looked at him with wide, excited eyes, and a big dumb smile. Although it seemed he'd been dismissed as a threat and in general, given Nyanko averted his gaze from him back to DAY, he quietly and slowly raised a hand from under the cloak, rubbing the top of its head with his index finger. "I-It's so cute and fluffy, oh my god..."

When they'd eventually arrived at the estate, Chase smiled upon hearing DAY's voice. When the door opened, he chuckled out of excitement and walked in with a grin from ear to ear. "It's been rough, but I'm hanging in there! It's been so-", he was about to start ranting, but another few coughs threw him off. Maybe he was overdoing it for his current condition, trying to get louder than he ought to.

NIGHT seemed to have said all that needed to be said, with the boy nodding his head to her explanation, until she got to the whole reason of his cold. "W-Well, I don't know what's wrong. But I'm sick. Uh... somehow. I cough and sometimes raise a bit of a fever. And I'm a bit more tired all around.", he tried to explain his situation to the blonde in as least worrysome a way as possible, hearing her offer to check him up. Although he wasn't sure what DAY could do that NIGHT couldn't, he shrugged it off and gave her a nod and a small bow. "Thank you for having me over. I already thanked NIGHT but I'll be keeping you some company for the next few days it seems.", he said and looked around the house, getting used to the placement of everything. He'd been in his own so much, that he'd grown almost a complete stranger with NIGHT's. Although he almost stumbled and seemed to lose focus for a moment, he walked over to DAY and put a hand on a chair's back alongside hers. "Is it alright here? Or do you want me to lay down or something?", he asked with a slight laughter, an awkward one. "The last thing I expected I'd be missing in Aincrad are medical check-ups..."

It had definitely been a while since he walked a fair bit in a single day, let alone this distance at this pace. Although he found himself somewhat sort of breath, he shook his head at her and let out a low chuckle as if to settle her down however much he could. "Yeah, don't worry. I haven't gotten any dizzy spells this time.", he teased, hoping she would see through it and not start worrying about the 'this time' part too much.

Chase really did appreciate her reassuring words too though, even if he didn't comment on them right away. This definitely wasn't the first time he thanked her today, and it probably wouldn't be the last either. Not in a while at least. "Thanks for everything again. If there's anything you need help with, just let me know. Even if I can't do my best right now, I'll try whatever I can to spare you any effort I can.", the bluehead informed his friend, but it was probably unnecessary to say that. They were the equivalent of one another's sword and shield in times of need since Chase managed to catch up, and a while before then. At least before he fell behind again. It wasn't long before they had teleported over to the first, and he started with a deep inhale of the fresh, finally not humid air. On its own, it helped him feel a little bit more refreshed. "It's been a while.", he muttered under his own breath and looked over to NIGHT, grinning. "Lead the way, boss."

Chase was about to joke about stealing hot water from her with a remark around the lines of "You have a bath, don't you?", but she said it herself, and meant it too. Once again, Chase was very happy to see yet another joke turned into additional hospitality. Very well then!

"Aye, expect an empty water reserve, if there even is one then!", he warned her ahead of time and then heard her next question. He quietly looked around, unsure. Had it changed? Had he just gotten too used to the 'new' floor if it had, to the point where he couldn't tell? It felt a bit darker and rougher overall, but not really too different... "I... Don't know? I don't think it has, but... I don't remember it being this way either.". Somewhat troubled, he started scratching the back of his head as he thought about it a bit. "I guess it has. Shit.", he muttered and brushed his hair with his hand. "Well. The first hasn't changed, right? From what I remember at least."

He could keep up his life as per usual alright. It wouldn't really be a big issue to continue as per usual, he'd just have to get used to her living quarters and house layout for a bit. And that'd come with the perk of being looked after in case his condition got any worse again.

"Well, I only used it to sleep back when I kept grinding on the daily. Even for food and such, I just went around the floors and bought my lunch and dinner from stalls. I made some breakfast at home, but.", he stopped himself from derailing any further and with a shake of his head, the bluehead sighed and coughed. "Nah, I used it very scarcely. Just to sleep and... I think I never actually ended up inviting people over, too.", he finished off with a sigh of defeat, shaking his head. "Anyways, I think I'm all packed up. Whenever you're ready!", Chase excitedly proclaimed, grinning at the idea of meeting DAY again after all this time.

With how Chase could fit an entire house even in his inventory, he'd never bothered with anything like wardrobes or other decorative furniture in the past. That aside, he'd gotten into the habit of never really changing out of his jacket and shorts except for when he went somewhere especially cold, and obviously with no combat encounters. He'd been blindsided a few times early on and chose to rarely take his armor off because of it.

"Aah, um... I've a pair of pyjamas I guess in my inventory if that's what you mean? I don't have too many spare clothes, but I can mix and match a bit probably... I'm too accustomed to the whole 'you don't have to change' system.", he admitted quietly and rubbed the back of his head, chuckling before ending his laughter off into a somewhat tired sigh. "Huff... I'm a bit of a mess. I didn't really... you know, expect anybody to take care of me, so I left my house and clothes kinda messy, organisation wise.", he finished and quietly looked at his pet pangolin, before over at NIGHT with furrowed brows and a slightly troubled expression. "Do... you have many spare clothes you keep for your house? Actually, how often do you even use it? Like, go over and stay and rest and all."

NIGHT being quiet overall made the tour go by pretty quickly, and he hoped it wasn't very unpleasant too. When they reached his room, he couldn't really tell if she was uncomfortable or not, but he hoped she didn't feel too out of her element. And after inspecting the room, she eventually picked up the framed picture. Chase's expression quickly softened as he looked at the picture rather than NIGHT or the frame, letting out a small sigh, more so of nostalgia.

"Yeah. That's important alright.", he nodded to her and before he stretched his arm out to her, he asked with a tired, yet happy smile on his face. "What do you think of those two?", referring to the people in the image. Although he wasn't sure if she would have figured so far, he wasn't sure if she herself had finished that quests and had obtained a frame of her own. Given her track record though, she most probably would have. "Do you remember Lily? I'm sure I've brought her up to you before. That's us. There was... a meteor shower. We wanted to get in a good spot to watch it when we were out on holidays together. There's a quest on the floor with the lake, where you can get a single picture of your memories. This is mine."

Chase was somewhat taken aback from the request, but he didn't mind really. He had few rooms fully decorated though, seeing as he spent most time out on the field killing monsters or clearing dungeons, and now he was homestuck because of his predicament. As a whole, the rooms would seem very empty, but such is the state of his humble abode. He nodded and placed the tea on the coffee table before he decided to replace the cup with Blizz' round form. 

"Aye, come here. Leave the tea on the table.", he gestured and with a motion of his head, asked her to follow along into the kitchen. He showed her around the kitchen and placed Blizz on the counter as he picked up a jar filled with spiky, red berries. "Blizz doesn't really need them, but-", he was briefly interrupted with the pangolin standing up on his hind feet and reaching for the jar. "When he gets 'hungry', he likes them. Although they don't really need food or water to keep alive, but I'm not that cruel.", Chase elaborated and laughed, putting the jar in his inventory. Similarly, he went back to the living room and picked up his weapon and padding only to shove them into his inventory, huffing and giving NIGHT a quick run through of the rest of the house. The only places of note that didn't look like a half-ready or empty room under construction were the basement, where he had a library full of notebooks - "I document how stuff works down here. Or I did, but most of this stuff is outdated or incorrrect... And I have a few on Extra Skills and Unique Skills, but... I don't know what happened to the latter." - and the attic, which was a nice and neat little bedroom with a small window that looked over the garden. 

"And this is the bedroom where I sleep. I don't like the master bedroom cause it looks too... you know, rich. But this is cozy and neat. I have a little bed for Blizz too, for when he doesn't just pile up on me.", he said and quietly crouched, looking at it and putting it in his inventory as well. The rest of the room seemed pretty comfortable to be in- an overall small space, but it was more than enough for a single person. It had a bookshelf, a desk, some drawing supplies (or sticks of wood drawn on to look like pens and markers at least) and a notebook. And on the far corner, if NIGHT was careful enough, she could see a frame of a boy with brown, messy hair and a complexion similar to Chase's, and a girl next to him at almost the same height, with long black hair and bright blue eyes. Behind them was a sprawling, starry night sky, and what seemed like a falling star had been caught in the frame just behind the two kids. "And that does it! It's big, but if it gets the job done, it gets the job done.", he mumbled as he looked at NIGHT and let her have a gander around the room if she so wished, offering a small smile of satisfaction. "What d'ya think?"

If NIGHT was making out her gemini to be some form of pet, then what would that make Chase? He didn't mind sleeping on a couch if he had to though- guest room would do it, NIGHT's own bed would probably feel a bit too intrusive, and the couch was a mighty fine place to call home as well. The answer NIGHT seemed to be waiting for though was an absolute no brainer. With a toothy grin, he gave her a nod one last time.

"Aye, gotcha. So I'll go pack some stuff like my gear and I'll come over to your home with you when it's time for you to leave.", he announced with an almost childish excitement and looked down at Blizz as he rubbed the underside of his snout with his right hand's index finger. Another sip of his tea and then he asked, just to make sure they were fully caught up even after all this while. "That can't be all, right? Or did you just skip over the little details? We'll probably have more time to talk these through later, but it's nice to feel I've not missed too much.". For all it mattered, he seemed especially talkative after all this time spent on his own in the admittedly bright cave floor of the tower.

Although initially he meant it as a joke, the more he processed it with a blank expression and his eyes fixed on her, the more appealing the idea sounded. He was always a fan of DAY and NIGHT, so it wouldn't be bad to have some more company while he was still recovering. From just mopping around a huge house all on his own, it might even help him get back on his feet mentally too.

Then again, hadn't they just mentioned NIGHT's new girlfriend? "Well, there is an issue though. You said you got a girlfriend, didn't you? If I sleep in the guest room, then where will DAY sleep? And also the issue of me being in the middle of your private life and all...", he shared his concerns with an awkward laugh, obviously wanting to take her up on her offer if she really meant it. Blizz would enjoy the extra company too, definitely. Not to say he didn't like his owner, but DAY was always a joy to be around. "I don't wanna be an inconvenience to you with how little I'm really mustering. Speaking of which, I can definitely help you if you need Col? Or as thanks for the offer too, I don't have any use for them and I can always make more when I get back on my feet."

"Yeah, definitely the same guy. I doubt there's many Kogas running around anyways...", he said with a low laughter that turned into a dry cough- maybe the only one not caused by his condition and just out of awkwardness. If NIGHT trusted him so much though, then that was good. It meant he was good people, even if he did... try to bite off more than he could chew, from what Chase had seen in their single encounter. Had there been another one, he'd forgotten about it. But then again, nobody could remember everyone they'd met with, especially in this environment.

When he saw how NIGHT's face was pulling itself inward as if in disgust upon drinking the tea, he straightened his slightly slumped back and got ready to get back up and go to the kitchen. "I can go make you something else. I've plenty of stuff stocked up in my shelves.", he offered, not wanting her to 'suffer' the same fate he did, drinking bitter medicine due to some form of cold. That brought his attention back to what NIGHT had said and he chuckled a bit to himself before jokingly saying. "House is so big, I should have bought it with someone else. I only wanted the buffs out of it, but I ended up staying in due to the whole situation. By the time I show you where it all is, I'll already be feeling better. If you're that intent on taking care of me though, take me in, I'll be spending my time resting with Blizz and DAY that way, bwahaha.", he laughed heartily at the end, and Blizz tried mimicking his owner too. It... sounded about the same as how any noise a pangolin would make did. Just squeakier.

Before NIGHT's stuttering was even over, Chase had picked up both of his hands from his grumbling pet and started clapping happily, laughing and giving her a smile. "Good job!", he congratulated her and gave her a thumbs up, alongside a toothy grin. "I'm really happy for you. You don't usually share a lot about yourself, so I was kind of taken aback from you sharing your name with me. I hope you feel safe with her.", he shared his thoughts aloud and just laughed again, only for the laughter to turn into another small fit.

He got up for a moment afterwards, heading just a bit further where there seemed to be a room with a small kitchen inside, just a few feet away. It wasn't more than a minute before he came back with two cups of bitter tea, handing NIGHT the other one and pulling a small coffee table closer to the couch so she could rest it there if she wanted to. "I hate tea, but it might as well.", he grumbled while she elaborated on the old "new" frontliner. And as she did, from clueless and curious his face soured a bit too. "K-Koga? You mean the homocidal guy with the katana...? I'd met him in the desert floor, and he wanted to kill the quest NPC for the uh... Arabian Nights? I think. Ali? He wanted to kill him because of how much he was crying. I'm uh... H-He does his job well enough, so that's good. Hmph...". Although he definitely didn't love the guy, he had some mixed feelings about Koga's self restraint. Same way he felt about his own when he got really angry, honestly.

"Things were that bad that a single person made the difference?", he asked somewhat shocked, surprised that it fell up to this 'Hirru'. However he was, he should probably be thankful that he was present at the boss fight. Otherwise, the King would be dead at best and the players would have gotten more than just vocal about their decision at worst. Closing his eyes and internally thanking Hirru, whoever or wherever he was, he let out a deep breath and kept listening to his friend's tales.

Her proposal was enough to get the boy to smile once again, giving her an energetic nod and coughing once before he chuckled. "I'll be a bit picky with the team members to make sure we don't have any hiccups but for sure! If you don't mind of course.", he joked, reaching for Blizz and imitating NIGHT's way of sitting as he placed the pangolin on his lap. "Who's that friend? And that someone?", he asked, realising how odd this might have seemed. He'd basically isolated himself to the point where any news from further out excited him, and he sounded like he'd never even left his own house at that. Though he did notice how almost ashamed NIGHT was, raising an eyebrow and laughing. "What's up? You're acting like you found a boyfriend. Or girlfriend, I don't judge."

As if the name of the guild dropped just now wasn't unsettling enough, their course of action was foreboding in more than one ways too. If they were this willing to put down a boss, who's to say what they'd do if they were to actually find out about DAY. That was definitely where NIGHT's conflict came from, if not the unsettling implications of subjugating everything in the game like some form of conquerors.

His smile had completely faded and even turned into a small, troubled frown as he looked to the side at his sword, letting out a deep sigh and remembering when he'd clashed with the guild. It still upset him and he winced at the reflection back at it, but then he turned to NIGHT with a confident look again. "Once I get better, we can find some way to stop them. But they keep recruiting people. One after the other, too.", he grumbled at the end, with his arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the couch in thought. "DAY will be safe though. I'll make sure of it just as much as you will.", the bluehead shared and grinned, giving her a determined nod. Whatever was going through his head, a storm of thoughts if you were curious, something had flared up inside of him.