[F01-PP] Tension

[NIGHT 0]

ChaseR: Hey, I'm outside. I've news. Open up.

It was too early for the woman to be awake. Bundled up in blankets, NIGHT was soundly asleep. It was the second and third messages that came through to her that bothered to wake her up, the incessant buzzing on her peripherals basically begging to be put to rest with action. With a grumble and an aggravated shifting, she pulled open her inbox, still too tired to be awake.

One was from ChaseR. One was from Bistro. And the last...

She opened it, the tell from her housemate. Then her eyes widened, before navigating over to the novice's text, groaning in agony as she realized what she had to do.

NIGHT got up. Stepped into the washroom. Sent out two quick instructions.

NIGHT: waking up
NIGHT: wait 4 me in the house

 

Seconds later after her aide had read it, the front door was quickly unlocked. The figure that greeted him was tall, masculine, with a short orange ponytail tied back. Garbed in a butler's suit, they peered through the gap between the door frame, brown eyes watching the taller man's every move.

A yellow shard hung above their head.

"I presume you are ChaseR?"

@ChaseR

	NIGHT   | HP: 1410/1410 | EN: 153/153   | ACC: 3 | DMG: 20 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 72 | BH: 70   | BRN: 36 | BLGT: 72 | BLD: 36 | LD: 4   | Stealth Detection: 4 | Stealth Rating: 7   | Dungeon Search: 2
- - -
[Examine] [Equipment] Jack's Executioner -- [ Burn I | Natural critical attack rolls of 9-10 deal 36 unmitigated burn damage each enemy turn for 2 turns. This effect does not stack, but can be refreshed. ] -- [ Blight II | Natural critical attack rolls of 9-10 deal 72 unmitigated blight damage each enemy turn for 2 turns. This effect does not stack, but can be refreshed. ] -- [ Bleed I | Natural critical attack rolls of 9-10 deal 36 unmitigated bleed damage each enemy turn for 2 turns. This effect does not stack, but can be refreshed. ] Reinforced Black Tracksuit -- [ Mitigation I | +54 MIT. ] -- [ Evasion I | +1 EVA. ] Silver Crescent Necklace -- [ Accuracy II | +2 ACC ] -- [ Evasion II | +2 EVA ] [Battle-Ready Inventory] - - - - - - - - - Skills Skills Mod Count: 8/8 Two-Handed Straight Sword | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Ferocity, Precision, Finesse Light Armor | Passive | RANK 4/5  > Athletics Searching | Passive | RANK 4/5 > Reveal Hiding | Passive | RANK 4+1/5 > Blindside, Vanish, Surprise Attack: Trickster Extended Mod Limit | Passive | RANK 3/3  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 5/5 Energist | Passive [Extra] Survival | Passive  Concentration | Active -- CD: 3 Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 3/3 Consumed Buffs Spoiler Kumatetsu Statue | +1 DMG - - - - - - Misc. Buffs Spoiler Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Hiding | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests.

[ChaseR 0]

Ready to walk on inside, Chase noticed the unfamiliar figure and furrowed his eyebrows, stopping right in his tracks and crossing his arms as he gave a confused look. "I thought she... lived alone..? Who the hell?", he gave a slow nod at the question, scratching the back of his head and missing the shard over the NPCs head. He should start paying more attention, but... Bleh. "That's me, yeah... I didn't know NIGHT had a housemate.", he commented rather suspiciously, although he was sure the chances of a third player messing with the good were now slim.

"Is she there?", he inquired, having just received a message from her after all. He just wanted to deliver the news and let her know that her copy was somewhere out there, exploring the world the same way that she was, too. "I've something I want to talk about. It's important.", Chase kept on going rather impatiently, feeling somewhat bugged by the seemingly too wary look that they were giving him. "Her housemate got their eyes on me alright..."

Spoiler

Name: ChaseR
Level: 39
HP: 780/780
EN: 78/78

Stats:
Damage: 14
Mitigation: 18
Evasion: 3
Accuracy: 3
REC:2

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: <<Gust Raiser>> (T2/Perfect/2HSS): DMG II, ACC I
Armor: <<Wind Dweller>> (T2/Perfect/Light Armor): EVA I, REC II
Misc: <<Chained Bracelet>> (T2/Perfect/Trinket): EVA II, ACC I

Skills:
Two-Handed Straight Sword [Rank 5]
Light Armor [Rank 4]
Battle Healing [Rank 1]
Fighting Spirit [Obtained]

Extra Skills:
Familiar Mastery: Fighter
Survival
Disguise

Mods:
2HSS Finesse [R3]
Precision

Battle Ready Inventory:
Starter Healing Potions(heal 50HP)*3
Spyglass (2/3)*1
T1 Rare Health Potions (heal 40HP)*2
Woodland Armor (T2/Perfect) MIT III (2/3)*1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 1
Requires Extended Weight Limit 2
Requires Extended Weight Limit 3
Obtained via Item Stash (Housing)
Obtained via Dimensional Backpack

Housing Buffs:
Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot.
Relaxed: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
Skylight (-): +1 Rank to the - skill.
Advanced Training: +2 SP to a thread. Limit one use per month [0/1]
Multipurpose: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild:

Wedding Ring:

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by ChaseR

[NIGHT 0]

No unnecessary remarks. They'd stepped aside the moment ChaseR confirmed his identity, pulling open the door by their movements. A white gloved hand gestured for the player to enter NIGHT's residency. "Right this way."

The front door closed behind the two of them with a quiet click. With another extend of their arm, they signaled for the man towards the living room, a plush conversation pit cluttered with a number of monochromatic pillows. "The young master will tend to you shortly. Is there anything I can get for you in the meantime?" With two hands that clasped around each other in remembrance, they added with a moment of realization. "There is a stash of deep-fried ice cream in the freezer, if you're keen. I'm sure the young master would appreciate it if you try some -- a courtesy of her friends, of course."

They began to pace away behind a row of wooden pillars that divided the dining room from the main discussion space, leaving ChaseR alone to his own devices. It was only shortly after that there were footsteps down the stairs by the opposite end of the room, NIGHT finally presentable for their meeting. "What is it?"

[ChaseR 0]

Chase was completely taken aback- the outfit, the wording, the mannerisms... It felt quite off. It was probably not a player, but then again, there were those that took playing a role too far... As NIGHT showed up, he smiled slightly out of relief and let out a deep sigh, walking towards her with a small smile. "It's about yesterday. I found out who it was- or at least I think so. But I need you to answer something for me first. But er... I didn't know you hired someone. I thought you said you-", he cut off, realising that it was still from the conversation with the Gemini, if his hunch was correct.

"Anyways... I was over by Bistro and asked her a few questions to try and understand what could be to blame for yesterday. Who it was and how they did it. I don't know who or how exactly, but I've a theory...", he went on, looking around. "Should we head over to the living room..? Your uh... 'butler' pointed me its way.", he awkwardly added off in the end, trying not to let it stick out too much and trying to laugh it off. "A butler though... Talk about posh, damn."

[NIGHT 0]

"I do live alone." Her gaze flittered over to the wooden pillars, watching their silhouette from the corner of her eye. "Help around the house is easily hired though; speeds up training if you're able to put cleaning your home at the back of your mind. Their cost is cheap once you get to a higher level; just a few mobs and you've got yourself a month's salary for them."

She shuffled over to the conversation pit at his suggestion, the woolen rug underneath her bare feet cool to the touch. The woman took a seat by the corner, watching her companion as ChaseR took his own. "That explains why she'd messaged me this morning," the player revealed, pulling over her interface and running through the intel. A simple query to make sure she'd understood her companion's wonton questioning, but no details were attached within the text. "So, what is it? Your theory."

[ChaseR 0]

"This is definitely going to sound ridiculous, but...", he started up, furrowing his eyebrows and taking a seat cross-legged as he weaved his fingers together and held his hands in front of him, resting on his ankles. "Me and Bistro concluded that NPCs must still be active when we're not looking. If something gets generated for a quest, it doesn't just disappear whether we fail the quest or not. That's our conclusion. So...", his voice drowned out as he raised a hand and began scratching the back of his head once more, gulping nervously.

"Don't get riled up, but I knew it was you. You looked and acted the same- maybe a bit more talkative and caring. Either way, look.", he finished off, hoping that just explaining his position wouldn't be enough to get on her nerves. "I asked Bistro and she said that nobody had gone looking for information on you. So there's only one person that could know enough about you and take your place.", Chase then lifted his head, looking at her dead in the eyes with a serious expression as the tension only grew higher. "So did you kill your Gemini? All I know is you've taken the quest."

[NIGHT 0]

Her eyes narrowed at his revelation. She didn't like how close they were getting to the crux of the matter -- the idea that someone else would come to figure out her own secret was cause enough for the player to balk at having her own Aincradian way unfurl in front of them. Out of a novice's investigation no less. Her privacy slipping away from her was a worrisome quality to deal with.

-- On the other hand, it also bothered her a little how they'd concluded such things in the virtual world. "That's incorrect, actually," she mentioned just as her butler arrived with their refreshments; tea for NIGHT and some water for ChaseR, alongside a bowl of the fried dessert set on the coffee table for her guest to try out. "And I say this on the account that I used to study game development, before Aincrad captured us in here. Objects and entities often unload and reload depending on if they're within your general vicinity at the time. It helps save on any system's computations and memory space; too many variables, and your devices might overload."

Her butler stepped away from the room after a bow, and a hand raised dismissal from the player. "Once they step out of your vision, your radius, the NPC isn't supposed to exist anymore. They might have a regiment they follow; sure, but it's often fast-tracked to catch the entity up to wherever they need to be given the scenario they encounter a player."

NIGHT's hands fold around the cup of chamomile; it's sweet, overtly so, despite the tea's inherent bitterness. "As for your question about the Gemini... no. I... I let them go. Why?" A finger tucked away a lock of hair behind her ear as she continued to look upon her guest with apprehension. "Are you looking to take on the quest?"

[ChaseR 0]

Chase rested his head on the back of both of his hands, looking down at the floor quietly. "We don't know how Aincrad was programmed though. And granted that it's virtual reality, the memory space for a hundred floors all being used at once is intense. There's so many of us, I'd expect a player per every floor unlocked, since we're in the thousands...", he mumbled for a bit. Surely NIGHT knew better, but SAO overall was quite unorthodox in the way it ran compared to other games- starting with trapping the players, and then with the new devices.

"But I was thinking. The Gemini isn't always there to talk to you. They appear at random and challenge you, it's not a quest you pick up because you want to. It didn't happen on my first visit to the sixth floor, but the second. I've already killed mine off, but...", he raised his gaze to meet with NIGHT's once again as he revealed his theory. "I've reason to believe your Gemini is the one I quested with. That's why she felt so familiar and knew information nobody else would about you. So... she's still out there, somewhere. That explains why 'you' also stayed in the Cerberus cave when we split apart, and how you were asleep the whole time.", Chase now presented it to her, thinking it covered just about every single gap in her memory for the events that happened, as well as how he got new information too.

"Think about it. All they learned about us were Shay's name, where my house is, and how we first met. I never partied with 'you', so it would be easy to kidnap me or do whatever at the time. Yet they didn't. They learned nothing new about you, so what motive would they have then? Just pulling a prank? Even so, who could transform and fight as you did, with the same weapon type? It's too many similarities. So I believe it was your Gemini that you spared."

[NIGHT 0]

The more evidence he presented, the more NIGHT didn't want to face the facts that were laid bare. She bit her tongue as he spoke, holding back the force that wanted to object to his suggestions; the very fact of the matter put plainly was that based on his deductions, there was very little motive for anyone to come looking for her.

So it hurt. It hurt even more that at the back of her mind, the possibility that it was them held fast and true.

"Do you hear what you're saying?" She spoke in chamomile once the man had finished his conclusions, the sweetness that once graced her palette having faded away over time. "What about the other players out there who've faced such an NPC and let them walk away scott free? Are you suggesting that there're plenty of other players who're merely constructs by the system, who aren't actually as real just as you and I are?"

"This sort of thing doesn't happen," she'd nearly spat, her voice still laced with a poison that hurt her just as much as it hurt her companion to have heard them. "It just doesn't, even if it's not supposed to happen. No one's got someone that looks just like them roaming the streets of Aincrad, working on something, especially without a motive, behind their back. There's no evidence of such a thing happening, so--"

Her fingers tightened around the cup she'd been lifting up.

"--so just drop it. I don't know what else it could be, but for what it's worth, I don't think your line of thinking follows through completely."

[ChaseR 0]

The bluehead paid close attention to her movements, her reactions, everything. The way she was acting, especially with how defensive she was getting... "She knows something. She wanted to know as much as I, and now she's turning down the only theory that pieces this all together- she definitely knows something. I have to be careful with what I say. I can't lose this only lead I have.", he calmly collected his thoughts, narrowing his own eyes at her. "So because they're made of the system, they're not any more real than you or I?", he bluntly asked, letting himself getting sidetracked for a moment.

"They're just trying to live their lives out the same way we would. It makes sense that if you spare a Gemini, it's still out there! You only get Disguise if you kill them, so they could be disguised into you or some other generic looking NPC to not stick out. For all you know, they don't disappear into thin air just like that. If Disguise means we can't trust our eyes, there's bound to be one of them, if not more, among us! Somewhere in the first floor, for some the second, the third, so on so forth.", the bluenette quickly got back on track, looking at NIGHT with a highly suspicious stare.

"Whether it follows through completely or not, you're getting intent on me being in the wrong, even if I'm the one more victimized here. The only other choice that's left is one of your close two handed sword user buddies got carried away and decided to waste two of their days on a joke in poor taste. So which one is it? Because I refuse to believe a frontliner would pick the latter.", Chase slowly drove her to a corner more and more, having now moved both of his palms to cup his knees and looking at her silently, although intensely.

[NIGHT 0]

"So because they're made of the system, they're not any more real than you or I?"

"That's..."

--There was a fear in answering the question. She couldn't see them from where she was rested, but their silhouette had disappeared completely from her view. Even if they weren't in the room, she would still be hesitant about answering such a query.

Simply on the basis that she wasn't sure how to respond to it in the first place.

"..."

She fell silent, just as ChaseR began to continue speaking on the issue. That there were multiple Geminis running about the castle, making a mess of the place. "Don't you think there'd be other reports of these kinds of situations happening then?" The woman asked, distressed about his implication. "There's little reason why it'd be happening to me specifically, if that's the case."

"Whether it follows through completely or not, you're getting intent on me being in the wrong, even if I'm the one more victimized here."

"And I'm sorry, if that's the issue." Her fingers tapped the side of her cup, struggling to feel comfortable with her tea simmering down. "That you're the unfortunate victim of a case like this. But without an objective operandi, what's an NPC got to do with messing around with players like us?"

The subtle pain, her strained voice lodged in her throat.

"The only other choice that's left is one of your close two handed sword user buddies got carried away and decided to waste two of their days on a joke in poor taste. So which one is it? Because I refuse to believe a frontliner would pick the latter."

Frontliner.

Gods, she'd come to hate that term.

[ChaseR 0]

Both questions she'd posed were easy to answer. At least from his perspective and hearings. "When I talked to Bistro, we ended off on the note that most players finished their Gemini quest just like me- they killed their Gemini. That means there's few that didn't, and if that's true... then if you were right and this is a fault in the code, it makes sense only for you to be the only one affected like that. Don't you think?", he asked her with an eyebrow cocked up, letting out a sigh. Thankfully, the alchemist knew enough to be able to back him up on this... right?

"Every NPC has a purpose. To do their job. The Gemini's was to pretend to be us-", he said, remembering back at his own fight. His own clone kept on mocking him about whether he knew himself or not, and in the end congratulated him for knowing exactly how to take it down swiftly, in two strikes. "If it fails and you spare it, then that means they'll take on another's form or your own and keep trying to go about your life in the castle. We're both players, so if I were in your situation, it'd be the same for me. She's just trying to live out her life the same way you do yours.", Chase shared his thoughts with a somewhat softened expression, looking at NIGHT with a slight frown.

"I don't think it's a stretch by this point to say that she was probably to blame for this. Not that it's bad, it's just... You'd expect her to avoid you and people you know. That's what sits oddly with me. What do you think?", the boy finished off yet another monologue, talking much more than he'd wanted to. He did what he had to do to get his point across though.

[NIGHT 0]

"What I think?"

[♫] NIGHT took a moment to calm her nerves. The game had been afoot, and by his metric, she'd lost it all. When the reticle was pointed this firmly, this accurately over the correct answer after she'd been hiding it for so long -- there wasn't a reason to keep it from truth anymore. Even if she'd struggled, she had little doubt that the man would find out sooner or later. About the truth. About the Gemini.

About DAY. All she would be doing by then was delaying when the trigger would be pulled.

The woman leaned backwards, arms folded after she'd set down her tea. There was a quiet that lingered, the player's eyes set tiredly upon the white of her couch, NIGHT mourning the loss of one of her secrets; steeling her soul for a great fear she might have to face in the future, and the contemplation over how this was their downfall, how it came to be that she would once again have to revisit the trust between her and her house mate. Just as she'd finally picked up her gaze from the covers, her sights went to ChaseR, a shadow quickly donning over the man from behind him.

"... I think-- that you can't tell anyone else about this. At all."

The shadow quickly shortened. No real harm was about to come to the player; just another figure leaning back against the wooden dividers, their face caught in a pained expression.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion and a height that matched NIGHT's own. Their locks were cast up in a ponytail, the Gemini robed in a half cloak, large and loose and the colour of pure snow. True to his investigations, the crystal that stood atop them was in harsh yellow.

They folded their arms. NIGHT couldn't bear to look at them.

"Please. Just... don't."

[ChaseR 0]

Chase felt his heart skip a bit as soon as she said that, opening his mouth as if to talk before he noticed the shadow behind him. As he turned, he quickly covered himself instinctively, expecting to be hurt right away. Yet, to his surprise, it was... He quickly shot a confused look at NIGHT, trying to recollect his composure in nothing but pure confusion. "I-I- Give me a moment... So you knew..!", he said with a gasp, falling on his back and letting out a heavy sigh. It felt like a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders, finding this out.

"F-Fucking hell... Heh... So that was it, huh?", he started to chuckle and teared up, feeling tears of pure joy stream down his cheeks. He'd worked himself to the bone with this theory crafting, and what was essentially but a few hours felt like days, weeks on end. He sat back up and wiped his eyes, opening his menu and without hesitation, sent NIGHT a trade request.

[Chase is offering Hopeful Tears (T1/Rare/LD II) Trinket.]

"I told Bistro to keep quiet about my theory. It never got far past that, either. She won't say a thing. As for me... Please, have this. It's my first craft.", he said with a melancholic smile, feeling rather sentimental about it. He didn't want to give it away, but it was the only thing that held as much value to him as her Gemini seemed to for her. "I promise. I'll take your secret to the grave.", Chase finished with a toothy grin and closed eyes, tears having formed on their corners once more. 

[NIGHT 0]

She'd eyed the man's expression, her expression dry and mulled over. Did the mystery really mean that much to him? Strange, that concern; she'd been living fine with a handful of mysteries for a while herself... but that ended up with her Gemini coming to stir things up and plunge her into the heart of a mess in Aincrad. Maybe there was some value in finding the truth to these things that irked him after all.

Her gaze then fell to the trinket he'd offered. As much as she appreciated the sentiment, her finger ended up jabbing the cancel button, a taste still heavy on her tongue, jaw clenched tight in a dull pain. "I'll take your word for it," she replied with a nod. "But I can't take your first craft away from you. I'm... sentimental about these things too. It should stay with you, where it rightfully belongs."

NIGHT's words earned her a knowing gaze from DAY. When the woman felt their eyes on them, she glanced up, deflecting their sights for the moment. A sigh, before the player proceeded on. Her fingers pushed up her fringe as she tried to relax on the couch; though, the look on her face painted her still suffering, agonizing over the truth. 

"There has to be some way I can make it up to you though. I'm really sorry... about what-- DAY's done to you."

[ChaseR 0]

The bluehead got up, and only a few steps could be heard before he was right next to her, holding her hand on his knees. He looked at her with a sympathetic frown, not wanting to see her this sad after getting to the bottom of it and realising it wasn't anything worth worrying over. "Don't. It's okay. You weren't willing to tell me, and that's fine. You didn't lie to me, so it's okay.", he tried to comfort her. Just having proven to himself that he could get behind something like this and understand exactly what happened with his little game knowledge went to show that he was capable of finding out about his own personal goals- Calrex and the rest.

"Besides, DAY, you didn't want to do any harm to me. Did you?", he asked and turned to look at her, still trying to process it. He didn't expect her to have a different appearance or name, let alone really be there with NIGHT all along, but the truth was the way it was... Nothing to do about it but suck it up, not get stuck up to the past and move along. "I wonder if she's the very same as NIGHT or not... The cheesy name contrast... heh."

[NIGHT 0]

"-- That's not the issue."

The Gemini was beginning to look like they preferred to be anywhere but here. A sullen look on both their faces, NIGHT eyed the blonde when her companion asked about the big question, putting another player in danger, just like they had done to her in the past. To that query, they were at least responsive, shaking their head in return. "I meant what I'd said about that," DAY clarified, expression relaxing even the slightest bit. "You can trust me on that, at least."

"But I can't--"

The player sucked in a breath, wincing at their comment. It was difficult to talk about things when they had a guest around them. As much as she'd trusted ChaseR with the huge revelation, NIGHT wasn't exactly ready to spill completely when it came to her and her Gemini. It felt... strange to the player; even if the man was observing two different people talk to each other, at once, to NIGHT...

It was like talking to herself. And that was a private conversation anyone was owed to have in their own time, at the very least.

She drew out a long breath when she'd recovered. "No. Nevermind. I'll see to it later, just..." Her gaze returned to ChaseR, absolute concern marked in her eyes. "You're sure they didn't harm you in any way. Absolutely certain about it?"

"Hey...!"

[ChaseR 0]

The pronouns being thrown left and right were beginning to confuse Chase alongside the little tidbits of vague dialogue that the two went on about, but he assumed NIGHT must have been talking about DAY- her other self. With the frown widening, he nodded and kept hold of her hand, as genuinely as ever. "I'm certain. Actually, she uh... they..?", he stammered momentarily, only to chuckle and smile a bit in the end, looking at NIGHT until he was done talking. "DAY helped me out a lot. It felt... Nice. To talk with someone so casually and to be... You know, heard out and helped out."

He got up, letting go of NIGHT and turning over to the blonde version of her with a nod. "It feels like I'm in the way between you two, but... DAY, thank you. For the talk and everything. If you want to go out on a quest again, I'd like to as well.", the boy made sure to be extra careful with his wording and gave it his all to not fuck it up, especially now that seemed to be a sensitive moment in comparison to every other. As much as he tried, it appeared like the two would have to talk over a few things, but he hoped he'd help skip some conflict amongst themselves. "And again, rest easy. I won't be telling anybody, not even Shay.", he repeated and turned back to NIGHT, hoping that she'd seem much less distressed now.

[NIGHT 0]

"I'm certain. Actually, she uh... they..?

"They're a construct, so--"

"--Anything's fine by me, as long as I know who you're referring to."

"DAY helped me out a lot. It felt... Nice. To talk with someone so casually and to be... You know, heard out and helped out."

The Gemini seemed to brighten up at that; that dumb smile they wore that NIGHT had to shy away from, from fear of revealing just a bit too much of their relationship with her other by a single glance. "It helped me out too," they returned, "s-so, no sweat. Being seen for once is... nice."

When her friend got up to leave, ready to make his way out, the woman felt a tinge of jealousy with how her doppel was fetching the player's attention. Still, watching her counterpart relax was soothing, to say the least. "I appreciated the conversation," DAY added, hands locked behind their back with a grin. "And for what it's worth, I'd be happy to tag along in the future." With an open palm in a gesture, they put on a smug look. "Actually, I'll have you know I'm way better at NIGHT in combat--"

"Oi."

It was true. But the player didn't like to hear it.

"... Though, it's way more beneficial for you players to head out on quests of your own, usually." The look they tossed to NIGHT was forlorn, and the woman looked on with nary a twitch; it went without saying that she'd still registered their notion. "But I'm up for it. Definitely would be nice to be an accompaniment again."

ChaseR shot back a glance to his host, who'd caught his words with the same uptight expression she'd often held. "I'm holding you to it," she returned, even though she knew there wasn't a penalty she could enforce upon him for letting the secret slip through. It was all in good faith, their agreement; one that made NIGHT nervous still, but appreciative somewhat, that she didn't have to keep to herself about it anymore.

At least he understood and took kindly to her plight. Their plight.

When she rose from her seat, she took hold of the tea ware that was served to the players. "I'll... handle the dishes." That ice cream was basically soup by now; what Yuki once perfectly crafted for a sweet occasion now basically turned to mush. "DAY, you can show him the way out, can't you?"

"The same way you came in." They strode over to the estate's exit, opening the front in an incredibly graceful manner. "Thanks for being patient with us," the Gemini added sheepishly, as ChaseR passed them by. "No hard feelings about it...?"

[ChaseR 0]

Seeing the two interact like that among themselves was funny enough to get Chase back in a good mood. With a final nod, he waved at NIGHT and quietly exited the estate, facing DAY still. With a grin on his face, he seemed more than just happy that things ended the way they had. "It's... it's weird, seeing someone be at terms with their... You know. But no hard feelings. I'm not in any danger and you're safe, too. As long as me or NIGHT haven't been compromised... No hard feelings."

It truly looked like he wasn't all that bothered, and if anything, he was happier than anything that he managed to push through this mystery and make it out safe, same as everybody else. With a final dip of his head, he waved and began to walk away. "Until next time, 'NIGHT'! We'll talk!", he began to leave the premises, opening up his menu and looking through his options with a smirk still on his face. "Still, who would have thought she really has found an error of sorts... I'm glad for her. If... Tch. If Kayaba isn't trying to replace her, then that's alright by me. I think I'll head over to the fourth and check on Shay, really quickly.", Chase yawned and now that a sense of finality dawned over him, began to head over to the teleport plaza, knowing he or anybody else were at no risk and could keep going about their lives scott-free.