“Do we know him?” Blackstone peeked out from behind Spiderlily, eyeing the thief who had yet to move away from the corner. Dead Rabbit kept an eye on him.

The Ice Emperor rubbed a thumb over his staff, glancing at the thief. He didn’t look familiar.

"Why did you do that?", Little Droplet asked, leaning forward to look down on the thief.

The thief, visibly confused at the question, actually answered. "Money? What? Why are you asking me that? That staff is worth tons, not to mention if I sell it to a fan."

"Fair enough", Little Droplet ended up agreeing.

Still clearly pissed at the man's behaviour, Bloody picked him up by the scruff again and dragged him to a guard. Even if the guards weren't going to help, now that the Foreigners had done the job, they'd certainly throw the man out. Under the wolfman's watchful eye, the player was dragged off.

Ice held his staff tight. It was his first time running into a thief, actually. His heart was pounding uncomfortably, like having a safe space violated.

Bloody went back to his side, lips pursed and tail lowered. "I won't let that happen again."

"I should watch my own things."

"But four eyes are better than two. I'll watch over them with you."

The solemn promise made Ice smile warmly. It was the way that Bloody just naturally kept an eye on his things as if they were his own. He hadn't expected to find a friend who would integrate into his life like that.

In the background, Blackstone suddenly held onto Dead Rabbit's pants. The assassin frowned at her. "What's up?"

"I'd say you shouldn't go over there right now", Blackstone answered in a kind tone, patting his leg. Dead Rabbit humpfed.

Once that was taken care of, the group wasted some more time before finding an inn to book a room and logging out. They all met up again the next day in the morning, and had a large breakfast first. They went outside, glancing around.

“We do have a bit more time. Let’s check out the armor sellers if there’s something there for you. There might be new equipment now that there’s a higher-level area unlocked?” Blackstone suggested it more to Spiderlily, Dead Rabbit and Little Droplet rather than Ice and Bloody, who managed their equipment regularly.

“You could buy new clothes, you know?” Dead Rabbit squinted at his older brother.

“My clothes are comfy. They’re staying.”

“Even the Ice Emperor keeps on changing his clothes!”

To be fair, that was a habit. His mother was too fond of navigating his outfits so as soon as he left the house, he always had the desire to ensure that his clothes looked alright. He rarely wore the same combination twice, even if the clothes themselves were simple.

In Haven, he felt odd once in a while, so especially if he moved to places with different temperatures, he didn’t dislike buying clothes.

“I don’t need armor, but I could look at clothes”, he agreed quietly.

“Shopping!” Little Droplet laughed.

Blackstone ran up front.

The… you could call it shopping district, was rather colourful. Dwarves were originally more interested in useful designs, but the Foreigners? They liked odd stuff, it sold well, so selling it they did!

Surprisingly, they all stopped in front of one store together. It was simply too eye-catching - white, black and red with gold, shining with jewels, intricately decorated with lace…

“They’re also selling some of the last competition’s designs.” Spiderlily looked through the window at the wedding dresses. Lusanna Corp would have competitions once in a while where people could hand in designs, with the winner being put into the game. Not as a cash item or anything, but as one created by a common NPC.

No matter how interested they all were in marrying, the outfits were nice. The last ones were designed in a more eastern fashion, flowing lines and embroidery.

“The new outfits are so pretty”, Blackstone sighed wistfully. “I’d love wearing a wedding dress like that. Ice would suit those new designs, too.”

Ice ducked his head under Blackstone’s scrutinizing gaze. So far, he had avoided taking any ads with this sort of topic out of sheer embarrassment. He had been asked quite often though. Including the last ad he had somehow avoided.

Hiccup.

Next to Ice, Bloody who had been zoning out started to hiccup.

Blackstone giggled, still thinking of it as a bit funny, while Ice was about to ask Bloody if he wanted some cold water when Dead Rabbit’s sharp intake of breath stopped him.

Confused, he looked at the assassin, who was pointing at his own brother. “Y-You! You-You-You! You’re having hiccups!”

“Sh-hiccup-ut up!”, Bloody quite literally growled.

“Is that so bad?”, Blackstone asked in confusion.

Dead Rabbit appeared to ignore or not notice her. “You, even though you said you weren’t-”

Bloodless Sunset wrapped an arm around Dead Rabbit’s face, blocking his mouth. The young man screamed, the sound muffled, while Bloody dragged him off. The beastman’s hiccups had clearly vanished again.

“Now I’m curious.” Blackstone rubbed her chin, watching the two squabble a bit farther away.

Ice tilted his head.

He was, too. Was there something weird about hiccups?

“How about it, Ice? Are you going to marry someone in the game? It gives you nice buffs.”

Ice shook his head. He didn’t want a fake marriage, even in a game.

“What about you, Little Droplet?”

The healer made a surprised sound. Dazed, they stared at the clothes, then chuckled as they shook their head. “No. I’m not going to marry.”

The last one, Spiderlily didn’t need to be asked. She had already mentioned that she would like to marry. An elven marriage, specifically.

Ice watched Bloody scuffle with his little brother from farther away, letting the others talk.

“Once they’re done, we should go see if the Machinas family responded”, Little Droplet mused, joining Ice in staring at the brawling brothers. Dead Rabbit was pouting badly while Bloodless Sunset appeared to quietly scold him for something.

It took a while until the brothers had stopped their mini fight. Together, they all made their way back to the museum, searching for the familiar guard.

“Good morning.” Little Droplet was once again the one who talked to the guard. “I hope you still remember us? We wanted to inquire if there are any news from the Machinas family.”

The guard gave a nod. He took out a piece of paper, holding it out to the healer, “Seems their youngest is willing to meet you. Here’s the meeting time and address.”

“Thank you very much!” Little Droplet bowed after taking the note, then jogged back to the party. Together, they took a look - the address was in the residential area, meaning it was a private house, and the time was on the same day at noon.

“Good thing we asked early”, Blackstone noted. “We’d have missed it otherwise.”

“Actually, they might be hoping you do”, Dead Rabbit mused, rubbing his beardless chin.

Owl

Little Theater

Bloody: "You assuming that I'm into Ice because of my hiccups is totally incorrect."
Dead Rabbit: "But you are into him."
Bloody: "That still doesn't have anything to do with my hiccups!!"
Dead Rabbit: "Yes, it does. Because you're shameless."
Bloody: "???"
Dead Rabbit: "So if you get nervous-embarrassment-hiccups, then you gotta be head over heels."
Bloody: "....Touché."