"So is this where your character spawned? I mean, somewhere kind of like this?" Kenneth asked as he shaded his eyes to the sinking sun and peered around the camp. He glanced back at Byrd who was helping some of the little girls make their own flower crowns as she'd been doing all afternoon. His own was wilting a little but still sat on his head. It had been removed a couple of times for demonstration, but the little girls seemed to think he looked funny in it and he liked making them laugh.

They were adorable, even if they weren't real. Reminded him of his cousins that used to visit when things were better. 

Byrd looked up at him as she finished twisting together a couple of flowers. "Hm? Oh, no, I spawned in a city just out over the east part of the map. It was one of those neutral settlements. I guess cause I was a player and not an NPC. I knew these places existed, but honestly, this is the first one I've visited," she said with a giggle. 

"That makes sense," Kenneth said. He stretched his arms out in front of him and rocked back on his heels a little bit. He shouldn't be this sore after one day, especially a day without any quests. Still, he stretched his neck to one side then the other. It might just be the stiffness from outside the game creeping in. His chest had been tight all day too. 

At some point, he'd have to come out of the game and talk to her. Address the elephant in the room. Maybe if I wait here long enough, though...she might just leave and I'll wake up alone.

Alone sounded nice. Kenneth popped his wrists and then sat down. He arched his back and tried to stretch out his spine a little. Whether or not the in-game stretching actually helped, it felt good.

Byrd settled one more crown on a little girl with round eyes and long black hair and the girl turned to run off giggling and show her friends. Planting her hands behind her, Byrd exhaled heavily and leaned her head back.

"There's so many of them," she said and yawned. "Why do people have so many kids? They're all over the place. Don't get me wrong, they're adorable, but there's so many."

Kenneth leaned his head back and laughed. "What's wrong with that? They're kids. The next generation, ya know? Populate the world and everything."

"I dunno..." Byrd just shook her head and stared off to the side. "I suppose people just like having them around. That would be a lot to do, though, caring for a kid. I can't imagine it."

He leaned over and poked her arm. "What, you don't want kids someday?"

Pulling her arm away, Byrd looked back at him and then put her hand back down and shrugged. She rolled her head to one side and peered out across the camp from where they sat in front of Amanda and David's little house. "Honestly, not really," she admitted. Her fingers brushed over the grass and dug into the dirt as she traced it into shapes and mounds. 

Kenneth shifted and sat beside her to watched the sun sink over the hills that they'd crossed the day before. He hadn't met a lot of people who didn't want kids. Plenty of people who never should've had them, but that was a different matter. He sat forward and crossed his arms over his chest, resting his elbows on his knees. "Why not?"

"Oh I dunno," she said quietly. "I just don't see myself doing that great at being a mom. I'm not exactly...attentive?" She finished playing in the dirt and brushed the earth off her hands before stretching her arms over her head. "That takes a lot of time, attention, and money, none of which I see myself having in the near future. Who knows, though, maybe someday I'll change my mind."

The sunlight disappeared as the last orange glow settled under the brow of the hill. Kenneth looked over at her. "That's fair. Just don't let anyone pressure you into it, alright?" 

She blinked and cocked her head to one side. Then she smiled and nodded. "Got it." 

Blue began to take over the sky as the sun dipped lower and lower, the last shades of yellow fading into purple and black with the rapid movement. It was probably a bit faster than a normal sunset, but Kenneth had gotten used to it. It was the closest thing to a sunset he got to see nowadays. He watched it with his head tilted to the left until the first few stars began to peek out and he rocked forward to get up. 

"Did we eat dinner?" Byrd asked as she continued to stare out past the hills.

Dusting off, Kenneth nodes. "Yep, two hours ago."

"Right, cool."

"You forget already?" 

"Nah, just wasn't sure. Time in here is weird, sometimes it's easy to forget what you have and haven't done." She looked up at him and then pushed herself up off the ground and exhaled with a deep sigh. "That was nice. I don't think I've watched a sunset in-game in a long time."

Kenneth touched his head, making sure the flower crown was still there. He peeked back. "Yeah, they're gorgeous. I've seen a lot of them."

A giggle caught him off guard and he looked back at Byrd. She just grinned. "You know you don't have to wear that thing all day, it was just for fun."

His fingertips brushed over the wilting flowers and his chin sank into his collarbone as he shrugged. "I like it," he said. "It's something nice, and you made it, so I don't wanna throw it out."

"Aw, well thank you," she said with a blush. Even in the darkness, her cheeks glowed when she did that. It made the faint freckles under her eyes all that more visible against the pink of her deep brown skin. Kenneth tore his gaze away and rubbed at the back of his wrist slightly.

"Of course," he muttered and turned around. Lifting his chin, he straightened up and tries to let the small rush of butterflies wash from his system. "So, what do you wanna do now? I don't think there are any quests here..." He gripped his hands close to himself and peeked back at Byrd.

She crossed both arms over her chest and leaned her head to one side, pursing her lips. "Great question. I mean it's night and while I don't think our avatars get tired, there's probably not much to do until morning. We could log out till the Time resets, or just sleep here and use the time skip if you wanted to do a bit more before logging out." Her eyes flickered up to what Kenneth assumed was the corner of her screen. He took a peek up that direction as well.

"Real-time outside the game is showing it's around 3:30, so we've got plenty of real daylight left, though lunch is gonna need to be a thing soon..." she tapped her lips and sank down into one hip as she thought. It was kind of funny the way her eyebrows pulled together when she did that. She looked angry like she might snap at someone for interrupting her train of thought. Kenneth heard her muttering softly under her breath and looked down at the grass as he smiled.

Then again, anyone who didn't know her would assume she was weird. She was but in all the best ways.  She wasn't the kind of person you could judge with a first glance. You do that and you'll miss out on a great friend, he thought. His thumb rubbed behind his wrist quietly as he listened to her musings.

"I suppose lunch could wait. I had brunch since it's Sunday and such, and we had a snack after church...tho..." Her head popped up. "You need to log out and eat something? I don't mind waiting, or I can grab a snack too."

"Uh," Kenneth hesitated. He put a hand to his avatars stomach. He didn't feel all that hungry. It wasn't uncommon for him to skip meals to stay in-game anyway. Plus, if I log out now there's a chance she'll be there. I'd rather not deal with that.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I had a big breakfast." He offered a thin smile, his gut twisting at the lie. What if she saw through it? What if she saw through all the lies? He knew so much about her, but she knew so little of him. She never asked much that he couldn't pass up with half-truths and lies, though.

Still. Would she know what to do in this situation? Would she know how to handle my mom? He mentally shook his head and kept the smile up. Don't bug her with that. She's got plenty to deal with on her own, I'm sure.

"Alright," she said and nodded. "I suppose we can sleep and take the timeskip then, assuming you didn't want to wander around in search of more quests?" 

"Nah, sleep is fine." Kenneth felt the chill grip his spine as he dropped the smile and nodded in response to her. Goosebumps raised on his arms and he discreetly tried to rub them until they warmed up. Someday she'd see through one of his lies. If they continued like this. Kenneth swallowed. 

I can't let it reach that point. I'll have to leave her soon and let her get on with her own quests. We've got different tastes anyway, and she had a friend she came in here with. I shouldn't be keeping her from them.

Byrd had turned and was walking away already. Looking up from the ground, Kenenth hurried after her as she ducked into the little stone house where Amanda and David lived. The two of them had been back earlier but not since then. They just sort of wandered around, like NPC's usually did. Kenneth wasn't even convinced they really needed sleep, although David had taken plenty of naps that morning.

"They said we could stay here, so I guess we can make ourselves at home? I think that bed over there is Amanda's and I'm assuming the cot is Davids," Byrd said as she walked around the little room. Kenneth watched her and stood by the doorway.

"Are you...talking to me?" he asked after a moment.

Her head bobbed up. "Oh no, just thinking out loud, sorry," she flashed a grin and then paused by the two extra cots shoved together in the little corner of the room. "I suppose this is us?"

Stepping forward, Kenneth looked down at the two thin mattresses and blankets. It had to be al the two had to offer. Had it belonged to Naomi and her husband before the incident? He swallowed. She'd sounded so broken just then when she'd pushed David into their arms and told them to run. Would they ever see her again? Would her kids ever see her again?

Kenneth's stomach knotted up and he tried to swallow but the emotions welled into his throat and settled there like a hard rock. He hugged himself quietly. Naomi deserved to be a mother. She deserved to have her children near her, and her children deserved to have her. So why had it turned out this way?

"You good?" Byrd peeked around at his face and waved a hand a few feet away from him. She still didn't get close. He appreciated that, more than she knew. Lifting his chin, he nodded and swallowed down hard, clamping back the feelings. It was a game. They were NPC's, not real people.

"Yeah," he whispered.

Byrd nodded and then plopped herself down on the edge of one mattress. She grabbed up the blanket and scooted back to sort of half-lean, half-lay on the edge of the bed with the small pillow against her back. 

Kenneth stared down at the mattress still. They were right next to each other. Not even an inch to spare. He could, of course, scoot his to the other side of the room or something, or move it, or even not lay on it. He could take the blanket and take the floor. It wouldn't affect sleeping in-game. 

His limbs felt frozen, though. If I scoot it away from her, what will she think? I hate her? I'm scared or something. It's not like...ick, don't think that. It's sleep. It's a game function.

His limbs didn't move for what felt like several minutes. Then he found himself sitting down on the edge of the mattress, keeping a good distance. Why was he laying down? Why couldn't he seem to do anything else? He inhaled and exhaled slowly and just tried not to worry about it. He turned his back to her and dragged the blanket over his shoulders. 

The air was dead and silent around them. His fingers dug into the thin fabric of the blanket. 

"This is awkward," Byrd whispered after a moment.

It was like the bated breath inside his lungs finally got a release. Kenneth sighed and ducked his head, rolling onto his back. He laughed thinly and nodded. "Yeah, it is."

She giggled, then burst out laughing and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I didn't wanna say anything, I just didn't know what to do."

"Yeah..." Kenneth chuckled as he rubbed at his wrist again and then sat up onto his elbows. He hunched over forward. "I mean, it's just a game function but still..."

"I suppose we could like push them apart or something, or like, I dunno," Byrd was red-faced as she rocked back and forth and glanced around the room. Then she hid her face in her arms. "I don't know, I've never had to deal with this before."

Kenneth scratched at the back of his neck and let his shoulders slide up to his ears as he nodded. "Me either..." he admitted. "I mean, I don't mind pushing them apart or, I dunno."

Silence lapsed over them. Kenneth picked at the small hairs on the back of his avatars head and rubbed over his neck, waiting for a response. Byrd kept her face buried in her arms and offered none. Moonlight peeked in through a few cracks and lit up the corners of the room. Kenneth let go of his neck and twisted his hands in the blankets. He slowly laid back down, though, peering out at the starry sky through the broken window opposite them.

"We could just...sleep," Byrd offered after a moment. "It's just a timeskip, then we get up." She sank down a little under the covers, not looking at him.

Kenneth's eyes focused on the moon. He nodded. "Yeah, sounds good," he whispered.

"Alright."

More silence. The air felt like it was going to snap if anyone so much as moved. Kenneth slowly looked around his screen. His fingers felt a little limp, but he forced them out from under the protection of the blanket and reached up. Opening the character menu, he scrolled to the bottom and clicked the large blue button.

The screen faded and his hand fell back on top of his chest. Black consumed the screen. Kenneth closed his eyes a second as well and let the darkness sink in around him. It won't be like last time, he thought. 

When I wake up this time, I'll be with Byrd.