[28] Possession and Self-Worth

Yoru was a 'gimmick' Operator.

That wasn't unusual in CWO. Every region had something the developers wanted players to build around, and once the game moved on, the next set of bosses and enemies usually made it very obvious which mechanic they wanted you using now. Halcyon had been straightforward about it. It was the first region, so most of its content was built around teaching the basics: type matchups, positioning, resource management, knowing when to spend something and when to hold it.

Once the meta was established, they shook things up for the first time in Version 2.

The region Helix Dominion was built around the idea of people being altered, combined and rebuilt into something supposedly better. A whole civilisation chasing the creation of a superior race, with most of the story revolving around what happened to the people who were forced into that process.

So naturally, the gameplay gimmick for the region was Transformation.

Operators released during that year tended to have some way of changing how they functioned. Sometimes it was the Operator. Sometimes the weapon. A lot of them ended up being useful both in combat and while travelling through the overworld, which was probably the draw of this mechanic. The idea technically existed before then with Nyra, one of the two six-stars in the Standard Recruitment pool, but her Weapon Transformation felt more like the developers testing the concept before committing an entire region to it.

What made the Version 2 Operators more interesting was that their transformations usually weren't just another button in the kit. The developers tied them directly into the same kind of flaws CWO characters had always carried.

That was something the game had been doing from the beginning. If you only played the main story, CWO could almost pass for a straightforward hero's journey. You travelled from region to region, met new allies, dealt with whatever disaster was waiting there and kept moving towards the larger threat hanging over the setting.

The actual world was much uglier than that. Most Operators had painful backstories; torture, conditioning, obsession, guilt, memory damage, physical alterations, dependencies. Sometimes it was obvious, but there were others that needed effort to comb through archive entries, side quests or a handful of strange voice lines before you realised how bad it actually was. That was why CWO had so many lore channels, character breakdowns and hour-long discussions arguing over details most players would never notice. The main story gave you the adventure. A lot of the grimdark stuff was buried underneath it.

In Version 2, these played into how Operators fought, moved or changed state.

Yoru's 'transformation' revolved around Sanity and how dependent she'd become on the player. In other words, the introductory character for the new Stronghold system doubled as a very elaborate yandere management simulator.

Her second passive didn't make it obvious.

Players figured it out themselves only after spending enough time in the Stronghold with her. Yoru's behaviour could change depending on how you were using her, sometimes enough that people started comparing recordings because they weren't getting the same dialogue or reactions.

Then the dataminers got involved.

Buried underneath Household Fairy were two values the game never showed normally: feral_overflow & domestic_pt.

Keeping other Operators around Yoru caused feral_overflow to build over time while her Sanity dropped with it. Keeping Yoru as the only active Operator suppressed most of that buildup and increased domestic_pt instead, which also made her gain Affinity faster.

It turned what looked like a beginner-friendly passive with no drawbacks into something you actually had to manage. You could leave Yoru alone to handle practically everything around the base, but the game was also quietly keeping track of what kind of relationship you were creating with her.

People eventually found unused flags tied to the same system for dating, romance and marriage mechanics that wouldn't appear until later versions. Yoru had basically been the test case.

Her final Personal Episode was where all of it mattered. Depending on how you'd handled those hidden values, Yoru could end up as either Blue Hound or Red Stalker. Blue Hound was the route where she learned to coexist with the rest of the roster and allowed for better team play. Red Stalker leaned into her isolation instead. Her offensive performance as an individual was absurd for a 5-star, but putting her in a party with other Operators became impossible because of the friendly fire she'd cause.

Back then, it was just another system to optimise for in a game, where you could reliably control the transformation result once you understood how it worked. For the past three weeks however, I'd been living with it. There wasn't a hidden counter I could check anymore, but I already knew what pushed Yoru in either direction. Keeping her fed. Giving her work without letting the Stronghold become the only thing she had. Teaching her English. Bringing her outside. Letting her get used to people. Most importantly, making sure she could eventually stand on her own without me.

I was trying to keep Yoru from becoming the Red Stalker.

And so far, I was doing everything I could to push her towards Blue.

Her memories, as expected, could be adjusted to a certain extent, much like Lunallu's had been. I couldn't rewrite Yoru into somebody else, but there was enough room around the edges that I could sit her down, explain things in ways that matched what I remembered from the Blue Hound route, and give her something close to the progression she should've had in CWO.

Three weeks of that had gotten us somewhere.

25 Sanity still wasn't exactly comforting, but considering she'd started somewhere in the single digits, it was progress. Affinity was another matter entirely. If anything, I was having more trouble keeping her Sanity from being completely outpaced by her Affinity.

"Ehehe..."

Yoru's eyes squeezed shut as my hand passed through her hair.

It had that same strange softness I'd noticed before. Not quite fur, but thicker and more plush than normal hair, with a faint spring to it beneath my fingers that always reminded me of running a hand over my old mauzer's coat.

One of her ears folded beneath my palm.

"Ehehehe..."

She pushed her head harder into my hand.

We'd ended up sharing the couch while Celeste showered on the other side of the partition. Yoru had started sitting beside me. At some point that had turned into her leaning against my shoulder, and now most of her weight was resting against me with her head tucked beneath my chin.

I kept stroking her hair.

It was strange how easy it was to forget what was outside.

There were dead people walking through the streets. Entire districts had gone dark. Somewhere out there, people were probably still killing each other over food, medicine or whatever else they could get their hands on.

And here I was, sitting on an old couch with a beautiful girl practically curled into my lap, feeling warm in more ways than one.

I'd been in relationships before. Enough to know what the beginning of one felt like, when everything about the other person still carried that stupid little rush. You wanted to be around them for no real reason. Touching them felt better than it should. Even doing absolutely nothing together somehow felt worth remembering.

...Yoru had that feeling all the time.

Maybe because, to her, every day with me still seemed like the first few weeks of a relationship. There was no boredom in it. No distance to it. Every time I touched her, she reacted like I'd just made her entire day.

It was hard not to enjoy that, harder not to notice how good she felt pressed against me. Heat had already started gathering lower in my body, forcing me to shift slightly beneath her before she noticed exactly how comfortable I'd gotten.

There was a reason Yoru had been my first main.

Back when all I knew of Yoru came from being a 2D character on a screen, I'd always liked how completely she gave herself to the person she cared about. Her innocent-looking eyes, the little endearing movements she made whenever she greeted you by the Stronghold entrance, and how happy she always seemed just to see you.

Now those same eyes opened and looked up at me.

"Master..."

"Mm?"

She smiled.

Nothing else.

Then she caught my free hand and pulled it against herself, holding it between both of hers while her cheek went back against my chest.

I hoped I could keep her blue forever.

"...Good?"

"Mhm."

Her answer vibrated faintly against me.

A few seconds later, she shifted closer.

There really wasn't much closer left to go.

Her arm slipped around my waist. Her knee worked its way between mine as she curled into me.

She's really gotten bolder lately... have I been indulging her too much?

Her hand, which had been resting against my stomach, started drifting lower.

I caught her wrist before it reached my waistband.

"...Yoru! What did I say about this?"

She smiled up at me. Far too innocently.

Her fingers kept moving.

"Yoru... listen to me...! You can't—"

I tried pulling her hand away. It didn't move an inch.

Seriously?

I put more strength into it. Her arm still wouldn't budge.

She only pressed herself closer, cheek against my chest while the arm around my waist tightened.

"Yoru, stop... this... ughh...!"

"...Master..."

Soft, heated breaths brushed against my chest as she pressed closer.

I looked down. For a second, I could've sworn there was a faint red tint bleeding into the cyan of her visible eye.

My stomach tightened.

...Don't tell me.

The corner of her mouth lifted. Her visible eye had gone strangely unfocused.

Okay. That's enough.

"Yoru, seriously—"

"...Sir?"

Celeste's voice came faintly through the partition.

Yoru's attention flicked towards it.

I reached into the Inventory immediately.

★★★★ Vector-Impulse Gauntlets

Grey plating unfolded over my hands and forearms, thin yellow-green lines flashing alive between the joints as they locked into place.

Twenty-four-hour cooldown, I hated wasting it. Yoru was one of the few reasons I would.

I planted both hands against her shoulders, and the gauntlets discharged immediately.

"Hnn-yah!"

Yoru was shoved back across the couch hard enough for her grip around me to break, her eyes widening as space finally opened between us.

I backed away from the couch. Yoru sat there dazed for a second, rubbing both shoulders where the gauntlets had hit her.

Yoru's ears twitched towards the partition.

"...Sir, are you there?"

"Yeah!" I answered, still trying to get my breathing under control. "What's wrong?"

Yoru's expression soured immediately.

She pushed herself off the couch.

I caught the fabric at the back of her neck before she made it two steps, though this time there was nothing behind my grip except my own strength. She could've pulled free whenever she wanted.

"...The water is still running," Celeste called. "I already closed the hose."

"Yoru, stay," I whispered.

"Grrr..." She strained forward anyway, glaring towards the partition.

"Yoru...!"

No reaction. But I knew what would.

"Keep growling at our guest and you don't get to wash my hair tonight."

Yoru stopped, her ears going rigid.

"...No?"

"No. And you're showering by yourself."

She slowly looked back at me.

"...Master..."

"Behave."

Her ears folded immediately.

"...Hm."

Works every time.

It probably sounded ridiculous from the outside, but things like that had actually been part of managing her route in CWO. The Blue Hound progression wasn't just about keeping feral_overflow down. You gradually introduced more ordinary skinship as her Sanity improved—headpats, holding hands, grooming, sleeping beside her, letting her help wash your hair during the Stronghold routines.

Nothing sexual. The point was getting Yoru used to affection that didn't have to escalate into possession. I'd been following roughly the same progression with her over the past three weeks, and washing my hair had become one of her favourite activities.

Yoru would never risk losing the parts of the day she treasured most with me.

"Sir? ...Are you there?"

"Ah yes, the water? That's normal."

There was a brief silence from the other side.

"It'll keep running for a little while. Just leave it alone. It'll stop by itself once the rest drains out."

"...Okay."

Another moment passed.

"Thank you, sir."

"No problem."

The warehouse went quiet again.

I kept hold of Yoru for a few more seconds before letting go.

She didn't move this time, but turned towards me with a look of wounded indignation, as if I were the one being unreasonable.

"Yoru... wifey..."

...I need to explain that one properly when we're alone.

If she started treating "wife" as permission to push boundaries, it was going to mess with the whole rehab plan.

I dismissed the gauntlets and the grey plating broke apart into light around my hands.

Yoru turned back towards me. The red I'd thought I'd seen was gone, just cyan again. She looked annoyed more than anything now. I sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Stay there."

Yoru stared at the space between us.

Then at me.

"...Master."

"Hair washing."

Her cheeks puffed slightly.

I rubbed a hand over my face. Maybe I'd pushed that threat a little too hard.

There were probably plenty of people who would've handled this very differently.

Give someone a character they'd spent years liking, make her real, and have her this willing to crawl all over them, and I doubted restraint would be the first thing on everyone's mind.

...I wasn't going to pretend I hadn't thought about it either.

But thinking about it and acting on it were two different things. Survival still came first, and I couldn't afford to be careless with how I handled the Operators around me. I'd already seen what zero Sanity looked like once outside of the game.

I wasn't letting that happen again.

Yoru gave me another reason to be careful. Intimacy had been part of her management system too. Players eventually figured out that crossing certain boundaries while her Sanity was too low could spike feral_overflow hard enough to undo hours of progress.

The rule people settled on was simple: keep her above fifty before doing anything serious.

Below that, affection didn't necessarily make her healthier.

Sometimes it just gave the obsession somewhere else to grow.

...But that wasn't the only reason anymore.

The longer I lived with them, the harder it was to think of any of this as managing characters.

Yoru's feelings for the Doctor had always been extreme, but they hadn't started from nowhere. In the game, he'd already spent a long time beside her, helping her settle into the Stronghold and giving her somewhere safe enough to slowly recover.

Now I was standing in his place.

Using the trust she'd built with him to make sexual intimacy easier for myself felt... wrong.

Having a high Affinity didn't change that. Not yet. I wanted the day to come when Yoru chose me because she wanted me, not because I happened to occupy the place labelled Doctor in her head.

...That's needlessly romantic.

I knew that. I'd always been like this. A friend once got sick of watching me stay single and talked me into using the same dating app he did. For him, it was simple: match, meet, have fun, move on.

I tried. The dates were fun. Some probably could've gone further. I just kept asking myself whether I actually wanted to see the person again.

...So I deleted the app and went back to being single.

Maybe casual relationships just weren't for me. If I was going to give someone that part of myself, I wanted it to mean something.

Yoru shifted on the other end of the couch.

"...Master."

I looked over.

She was still sulking.

But she hadn't tried crossing the gap again.

I sighed and held out my hand.

"Come here."

Her ears shot upright.

"Not like before."

They lowered slightly.

"You can sit with me."

Yoru moved over and tucked herself against my side again, much more carefully this time. Her head settled against my shoulder while both hands wrapped around my arm.

I rested my hand on top of her hair.

"Good girl."

"...Ehehe."

Her eyes closed.

For now, that was enough.

Celeste stepped out from behind the partition with her damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders, the oversized white blouse falling over a pair of loose shorts.

The warehouse felt warmer than before.

Voss and... his wife, Yoru, were asleep on the couch.

Somehow, that was the strangest thing she'd seen all night. Yoru had curled herself against his side with both arms wrapped around one of his, her head resting against his chest. Voss's hand was still buried loosely in her blue hair, his head tilted back against the couch.

Neither of them looked particularly dangerous like this.

They looked... peaceful.

Celeste stood there for a moment with her dirty clothes bundled against her chest.

Something about the sight made her strangely sad.

Maybe because they looked so comfortable together. Like the ruined city outside didn't matter for as long as they were here, she convinced herself.

She lowered her gaze to the clothes in her arms.

...He was probably waiting for the shower too.

Celeste approached quietly.

Yoru's eyes opened.

The cyan eye narrowed slightly when she noticed her.

Yoru didn't growl this time. She leaned closer to Voss instead, bringing her mouth beside his ear.

"Master..."

Voss stirred.

"Hm...?"

His eyes opened halfway.

"...You're done?"

Celeste nodded. "Yeah."

He sat up slightly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before noticing the bundle she was holding.

"You can leave those with Yoru. She'll clean them."

Celeste looked down at her old clothes, hesitated for a moment before holding them out.

"...If that's okay."

Yoru took the bundle from her and nodded.

"Thank you."

Yoru hugged the clothes against herself and stood. Celeste watched her disappear behind one of the partitions to put them aside, before looking back at Voss.

"...Are you going to shower too, sir?"

"Yeah."

He stretched against the couch.

"I'm waiting for my wife. We shower together."

Celeste froze.

"...T-Together?"

Voss gave her a tired look.

"That's usually what that means."

Celeste's grip tightened around the hem of her blouse.

"...Oh." She quickly retreated towards the other end of the cleared space and sat down, suddenly finding the concrete floor several metres away very interesting.

Voss gave a quiet, awkward laugh.

"Don't make yourself uncomfortable. There's food over there."

Celeste glanced towards the shelves.

"Tins, noodles, biscuits. Whatever you want for dinner, just take it."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not counting them."

Celeste nodded softly.

"...Thank you."

She started looking through the food, still trying very hard not to think about what he'd just said.

A little while later, light footsteps came pattering across the warehouse. Yoru reappeared from behind the partitions with considerably more energy than she'd left with, practically skipping towards Voss.

"Master!"

Her ears were standing tall again.

Voss looked up at her. His shoulders stiffened almost immediately. For a second, he seemed to forget what he was about to say, gaze lingering before he abruptly looked away.

"...Yoru."

Most of her equipment was gone. The forearm guards, crystalline armour and heavier outer layers had disappeared, leaving her in little more than a dark bathing suit with a towel hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"Mhm?"

Voss cleared his throat.

"...Put the towel on properly."

"Always, naked? Master?"

"I know." He kept his eyes very deliberately above her shoulders. "But we have a guest."

Celeste quietly looked away.

...So he does react like a normal man.

Yoru regarded Celeste without the slightest hint that she understood the problem.

Voss sighed.

"People here don't walk around half-dressed in front of strangers. Towel."

"...Why?"

"Because it's embarrassing."

Yoru considered that for a moment before reluctantly pulling the towel around herself.

"Like this?"

"Better."

Yoru immediately brightened again.

"Master! Bath!"

"...Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

Yoru caught his hand and tugged him towards the partition with barely contained excitement. Voss let himself be dragged along, though he still made a point of keeping his eyes anywhere but directly on her.

"Slow down."

"Master!"

"I'm coming." They disappeared behind the partition together. A moment later, the sound of running water started again.

Celeste sat quietly with the packet of biscuits in her hands. The warmth from the shower should've been fading by now. Somehow, it wasn't. She shifted uncomfortably on the couch as Yoru's earlier words replayed in her head.

Always naked? Master?

She pulled the blouse a little closer around herself.

"...They're married," she murmured under her breath, as if keeping a constant reminder to herself.

Her gaze wandered up towards the broken windows and the strips of moonlight cutting through them.

...Then a thought occurred to her.

Celeste glanced towards the partition. The shower was running again. No one was looking.

...She pinched a little of her top beneath her chin and brought it cautiously closer to her nose. There was barely any smell left on it. Still, guilt immediately crept across her face.

What am I doing...?

She let the fabric drop.

She'd assumed these were Yoru's clothes. Maybe Yoru had worn this one around here before. Slept in it. Sat beside Voss in it. Done all those ordinary couple things Celeste had just watched the two of them fall into without even thinking.

For nearly a month, there hadn't been room in her head for anything like that. Food. Water. Somewhere safe to sleep. Whether the sounds outside meant infected or people. Now she was warm, clean and sitting somewhere that felt safe enough for her mind to start wandering again.

Ethan crossed her thoughts.

...Was that why I'd been giving him so much leeway?

He'd been one of the only boys constantly around her since everything started. Maybe some of the feelings she'd been trying to sort out weren't as complicated as she'd made them.

Then Linda came to mind. Linda had always been much more comfortable around boys than she was. She'd told Celeste plenty of stories before all this happened, and during the past few weeks she'd seemed to fall into Ethan's space with an ease Celeste never had.

Celeste sighed and tore open the biscuits. One disappeared into her mouth almost immediately.

The shower continued running behind the partition.

She chewed slowly.

Maybe that was what she actually wanted.

Not whatever mess existed between her, Ethan and Linda.

Just something simple. Someone she could sit beside at the end of a day like this and still feel safe. Yoru didn't seem to need much more than that. As strange as she was, she looked genuinely happy simply being beside her husband.

In a world like this, that suddenly seemed like an incredible thing to have.

By then, Voss and Yoru had finished their shower and changed back into their clothes.

Yoru still seemed determined to stay attached to him, both arms wrapped around one of his while he tried to move around the makeshift living area. Voss eventually leaned down and whispered something into her ear.

Celeste couldn't hear a word of it, but she could see that Yoru's ears had perked.

The reluctance on her face disappeared almost immediately. She squeezed herself against him one last time, nodded, then disappeared behind the partitions to deal with Celeste's laundry.

Celeste watched her go. Whatever he'd said, it had been enough to convince a girl who seemed to value physical affection above almost everything else to leave him willingly. Her thoughts started drifting somewhere increasingly pink.

...No!

Celeste pushed the thoughts aside before they could get any worse. Besides, with Yoru gone, this was probably her best opportunity.

It still took her some time before she worked up the nerve to ask Voss if she could speak to him alone.

Voss didn't ask why. He only nodded and led her out through a narrow side door near the loading area, then up an exterior maintenance staircase fixed against the warehouse wall.

The stairs opened onto an intact flat section of the warehouse roof above the rear loading area, high enough that the slope fell away beneath them and most of Eden spread out below.

Voss stopped near the edge.

"So. What's up?"

Celeste immediately wondered what had possessed her to ask.

The old her would've never pulled an adult aside on her own just to talk about something personal. Maybe it was the strange mood from earlier. Maybe it was easier because Voss was a stranger she probably wouldn't see again after tomorrow.

Or maybe it was because he was older, married, and whatever else could be said about the two of them, he and Yoru looked happy.

That made asking him feel strangely consequence-free.

Celeste swallowed.

The night wind passed over the rooftop, cool against her still-damp hair. Below them, the city stretched away in broken layers of rooftops, apartment blocks and dark roads, with scattered orange glows still burning in the distance.

Voss waited beside her without saying anything else.

Celeste gripped the hem of the oversized blouse.

"...It's about someone."

Once she started, it became harder to stop.

Celeste told him about Ethan and Linda. About school before everything collapsed, how the three of them had ended up together when the outbreak began, and how quickly the things that used to matter had been replaced by getting through another day. She told him about Ethan's brother, the car, the tuition centre, the arguments and little moments between them that had started feeling much bigger after weeks of having nobody else.

Somewhere along the way, Ethan had become difficult for her to understand.

She didn't know whether she'd always liked him and simply never noticed, or whether being trapped together had changed something. Sometimes she wanted him close. Other times the things he did irritated her enough that she wondered what she'd ever seen in him.

Linda only made it worse.

She was Celeste's best friend. She cared about her. ...That should've made everything simple.

But Linda had always been more comfortable around boys, more willing to say what she wanted and act on it. Watching that same ease carry over to Ethan had left Celeste with feelings she didn't like admitting to herself. Then guilt for feeling them when Linda had done nothing except survive beside her.

And Ethan... Celeste lowered her eyes.

She'd forgiven things she wasn't sure she would've forgiven before all this. Let things go because there were only three of them, because tomorrow was never guaranteed, because losing another person felt worse than swallowing whatever she was angry about.

Now she wasn't even sure which feelings were hers anymore and which ones had come from fear or loneliness. The words became less organised after that, but Voss never interrupted. By the time Celeste stopped, her fingers had twisted the loose sleeve of the blouse tightly around one hand.

The wind moved through her damp hair.

"...Sir..."

Her voice cracked.

She swallowed, but it didn't help.

"Do you think I'm wrong for feeling like this?"

Voss stayed quiet.

Celeste's eyes burned.

"I don't even know if I really like him anymore... or if I'm just scared of losing to my best friend."

A tear slipped down before she could wipe it away.

"I shouldn't be thinking about her like she's..." She pressed her lips together. "...Like she's someone I have to beat."

Celeste wiped at her face with the oversized sleeve, growing more embarrassed when that only made the next one come faster.

"Why did everything have to become so complicated?"

Her shoulders trembled.

"I keep thinking maybe if I'd said something earlier... or acted differently..."

She stared out over the dark city.

"...Do you think I still have a chance?"

A small, broken laugh escaped her.

"Or am I just being a stupid girl?"

Voss was quiet for a while, then he folded his arms over the ledge.

"I had a friend named Pan."

Celeste wiped at her face and looked over.

"We were around your age. He liked this girl. Badly. Thought about her all the time, talked about her all the time, convinced himself every little thing she did meant she liked him back. Then one of his closest friends started getting along with her too."

Celeste's fingers tightened around her sleeve.

"Pan couldn't stand it. Started watching both of them. Reading into every conversation. Every time they laughed together, it became proof of something. Eventually he picked a fight with his friend over it."

"...What happened?"

"The girl dated neither of them. Pan and his friend stopped talking for almost a year."

The wind passed between them.

"At the time, he thought it was the most important thing happening in his life. Years later, the part he regretted wasn't losing the girl. It was how much of himself he'd let that fear take over."

Celeste lowered her eyes, turning the story over in her head.

"I'm not telling you this because you're young and your feelings don't matter."

Voss's voice remained even.

"The way you feel now matters. It teaches you what you care about, what hurts you, what you can forgive, and what kind of person you want to become. But you're young enough that some things still feel like they take up the whole world because you haven't had enough distance from them yet."

Celeste gave a small, miserable laugh before he pointed towards one of the darker blocks below.

"See that?"

Celeste followed his finger; a school sat among the surrounding buildings, its field barely visible in the moonlight.

"Most of your life fit inside a place like that. Same classrooms, corridors, teachers and classmates every day. Stay close to someone long enough and feelings happen. Sometimes because you really like them, and sometimes because they're simply the person who's always there."

His finger moved away from the school and traced a slow circle over the rest of Eden.

"But that's one building."

Celeste looked out across the city.

"There were thousands of people beyond that little circle before all this. And if we survive this, there'll still be a world beyond your two friends afterward." He lowered his hand.

"That's what I mean by distance."

His gaze returned to her.

"That doesn't make what you feel fake. It just means you shouldn't mistake proximity for certainty. This is your whole problem right now. Ethan. Linda. Whether he likes you. Whether she likes him. Whether you've already lost something."

Celeste stared out over Eden.

"And I'm not saying that to make you sound silly."

His gaze stayed on the dark streets below.

"I'm saying look at the size of everything else. You survived nearly a month of this. You've watched people die. You've been hungry, injured, scared, and tomorrow you're still planning to go back for the people you care about."

He glanced at her.

"Don't hand one boy the job of deciding what you're worth. If Ethan chooses Linda, that doesn't make you lesser. If he chooses you, that doesn't suddenly make you better either."

Celeste lowered her head, deep in thought.

For a while, she said nothing. Then a small laugh slipped out between her sniffles.

"...You sound like my dad."

Voss went quiet.

Celeste lifted her head again.

Something had changed in his expression. It wasn't quite sadness. More like he'd been reminded of something he hadn't expected to remember.

"...Someone your age told me that before too."

He stared out over Eden for another moment.

Then his brow furrowed.

"...Do I really look that old?"

Celeste could tell he'd deliberately stepped away from whatever had crossed his mind.

So she let him.

"...Yep."

Voss looked offended, but sighed as he touched the collar around his neck.

"Old men tend to like... kinky things too. I-If I were your wife, I'd probably die of embarrassment."

The words left her mouth before she really thought about them.

If I were your wife—

Celeste stiffened.

Why did I say it like that?!

Celeste immediately buried half her face behind her sleeve as the thought painted a far too vivid image in her head.

Voss, thankfully, seemed more interested in looking insulted.

"Alright. Enough serious talk."

He folded his arms.

"Personally? As a guy?"

Celeste looked over.

"That Ethan kid sounds like he's stringing you along."

"...What?"

"He likes having both of you around, doesn't want to make a choice, and keeps doing just enough that neither of you completely gives up on him."

Celeste frowned.

"...He's not doing it on purpose... I think."

"Maybe not. Doesn't make it better."

Voss continued before she could argue.

"He's unreliable. Gets defensive when he's scared, avoids decisions until somebody else forces one, then lets everyone around him deal with the consequences. And the worst part? I think he's the kind who likes keeping two girls close without ever having to choose."

"That..." Celeste searched for something to argue with. ...He's right.

But...

"...That's a little harsh."

"Maybe. I still don't get why you're so hung up on him."

He looked back over the city.

"There are better people out there. Have a little more self-worth."

"...Like you, sir?"

Voss turned his head.

Celeste froze.

...What did I just say?

"I-I mean—someone like you!" she blurted. "Older. Strong... ...Reliable... ugh."

That somehow sounded worse.

She wished the rooftop would open up and swallow her.

Voss stared at her for a moment before sighing through his nose.

"That's a very low bar if I'm your example."

Celeste pulled one sleeve over part of her face.

"...Can we pretend I didn't say that?"

"No need. I don't date little girls."

His answer came far too quickly.

"Find someone your own age who isn't an idiot."

Celeste gave him an offended look, but the embarrassment had already broken through the last of her tears. She looked away, still hiding behind the sleeve.

"...You're mean. ...Hehe... aah-ahh. Really... what an idiot."

She wasn't even sure who she'd meant.

...Self-worth.

Somewhere during the conversation, the knot in her chest had simply come undone.

Voss pushed himself away from the ledge.

"Well. That's one pubescent crisis dealt with."

Celeste stared at him incredulously.

He started towards the stairs.

"I'm heading back. Don't stay out too long. It's getting colder."

"...Okay."

Voss gave her a small wave without turning around and disappeared down the stairs.

Celeste remained by the ledge for a while longer, looking out over Eden with swollen eyes and a faint smile still lingering on her face.

A little later, the city disappeared behind her as Celeste finally went back inside.

"Hnng..."

Several hours later, sleep still refused to come.

The warehouse had gone quiet hours ago, save for the occasional creak of metal and the soft hum of the fan. Celeste lay curled beneath a blanket on one couch, facing away from the other. She had been trying very hard not to listen.

"Aahn..."

Celeste's eyes opened with a jolt. The blanket suddenly felt unbearably warm. She shoved it down to her waist and took a quiet breath, hoping the cooler air would settle her burning face.

A few seconds passed.

"...Master..."

Yoru's voice came again from behind her, low and close enough that Celeste pulled the blanket higher over her mouth.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

They're married. They're married. They're married.

Something shifted on the other couch.

"...Master..."

Celeste lasted another minute.

Then curiosity won.

Very slowly, she turned her head.

Two cyan eyes were already shining in the darkness.

Celeste froze.

Yoru was curled against Voss beneath the blanket. He was completely passed out, but she was wide awake. Her gaze met Celeste's immediately.

For a moment, neither moved. Then Yoru's mouth curved into a small, knowing smile. Without breaking eye contact, she leaned in and dragged her tongue once along the side of Voss's neck.

"...Master. Nngh..."

Celeste snapped back around so quickly the couch springs creaked beneath her.

Celeste's toes curled beneath the blanket.

I didn't see that.

Behind her—

"...Don't try. Master is mine..."

Celeste stiffened. The words were perfectly articulated.

She buried herself deeper beneath the blanket. She did not turn around again.

The occasional murmur of "Master," the shifting of fabric, and Voss's incomprehensible sleep-talking continued long after she wished they would stop.

Eventually, Celeste forced her eyes shut and endured it until exhaustion finally won.