Carl stopped sleeping to the smell of coffee.

It was an awesome day.

He drank the coffee and came instantly awow that was strong!

He blinked a few times while he stared down into his empty mug. Vol's coffee is something else. Is it even possible to make real coffee this strong? Gotta be some kinda game magic crafting thing. Maybe she's some famous in-game chef?

The forty nine year-old man pondered his latest thought. Would explain why she was eating so much the other day. Tasting new stuff is probably important for chefs. Not entirely sure she was doing much tasting though with how fast she was eating.

A quick search of the workshop revealed that he was alone. Alone save for the doll, who was still just sitting there motionless against the freaking wall. Getting creepier by the day. Maybe I should just power her down and put her away. Ugh, really makes me uncomfortable to think about though. Wish she didn't look so much like Annie. I guess I could take out that earring that Mina made…

I should check on Mina.

Carl set the mug back on the slab of stone next to his chair that he was loosely calling a table since it was serving that role. He then got up and stumbled towards the stairs before detouring to the bathroom as he did every single time he woke up. It was while he stood in front of the toilet with the power of the Super Coffee flowing through his game-veins that he realized something crucial. I only have to pee when I expect to have to pee.

The thought made his mind feel like it was melting.

Is that even… I guess the thing's reading my thoughts, so it's definitely possible, but that's… Wow. The more I think about it, the more that's gotta be it. I'd have to go more than twice in a thirty two hour period otherwise, and I'd definitely have to do more than just pee occasionally with how much I've been eating.

Maybe hunger works the same way. I usually eat before I get hungry, so I don't usually get hungry. But if I did, then maybe I'd be wanting to eat a lot more like Mina does. Feels like I'm onto something there. Ir'alith didn't eat when we hung out for a while that time—though I guess it wasn't for super long—and Vol barely ate anything yesterday.

He started up the stairs. That's pretty crazy. Also genius. The more I think about game stuff the smarter it all seems. Engineering really has some smart people.

He took a few more steps. But back to Mina, whatever's bugging her seems pretty serious. Has to be more than just her car blowing up the other day and seeing her sister again. She looked like she was gonna talk to me for a minute yesterday, but then she just started crying again. Maybe I'll give her one more day before I give her a push since it seems like she's making some kind of progress. All those books I read agreed that it was always better if kids could work through problems themselves. Tough to wait though. Just wanna run in and smash all her problems for her.

When he reached the second floor landing, he immediately experienced a Dad Moment.

Mina was fast asleep with most of her torso leaning off the side of the chair and her arm dangling down far enough to allow her fingers to brush the floor. Her head was pitched back, and her mouth was open slightly. The sheet was covering her legs, and her scarf was wrapped around her other hand.

So cute. Carl shook his head as he activated his Dad Stealth to steal across the distance. Better get her a little more comfortable so she doesn't wake up with a stiff neck. Stupid game's annoyingly realistic about all that. He nudged her more firmly back into the chair despite her sleepy murmur of protest, but then he became stuck when she latched onto his arm and hugged it tightly to herself—a tried and true Sammy maneuver that he'd fallen prey to again and again. After suffering infinity points of cuteness overload damage, weathered only due to his extremely high level in the Dad class and the passive skills it provided, he managed to extricate himself, but he began to panic when her brows drew together in concern, following which she started shivering, and he really freaking needed to figure out what to—He had to—He needed…

When he wasn't able to come up with something quickly enough for his liking, he gave her his arm back, and she again clutched it and settled down. He again took infinity points of cuteness overload damage, leaving him tottering on his feet, barely able to continue standing.

He took a few deep breaths, waiting while his auto-regeneration kicked in and hoping that she wouldn't—

Mina made a contented sound and rubbed her nose against his arm.

Then she wrinkled her nose.

She itched her nose.

And continued to sleep.

Carl respawned a short while later. It was after nine in the morning, which meant he'd again gotten a lot of really great sleep, but now he was stuck being a dad-pillow. It wasn't the first time this had happened, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but he imagined that the longer he remained here, the greater the chance was that Mina would wake up and get embarrassed—like Sammy always did—potentially impeding her recovery from whatever was bothering her.

He had nothing in his inventory that could…

He still had a sheet in his inventory from when they'd bought the doll. He could roll it up and…

Except that he would have to speak in order to open his inventory.

He glanced down at Mina's cute sleeping face and powered up to Dad Mode Five, activating his improved Dad Sense.

It was no good.

The slightest sound would wake her at this moment, he judged.

Even thinking too loudly might be too much, which was why he'd dropped down to this more subtle method of permitting his thoughts to flow without specifically thinking about them.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He was in trouble, and he needed someone to rescue him from this insidious trap of cuteness.

He had a realization and his worry intensified.

The core was still sitting on his shoulder.

At any second it could decide to start talking to him, which would undoubtedly be…

No, he couldn't even let those thoughts exist.

He couldn't chance that the stupid programming would read his mind.

He needed help, and he needed it now.

Or now.

Or even right now.

He was practically a damsel in distress at this point, except he was in distress because of a damsel.

Another second passed, followed by a second second.

Mina wrinkled her nose again.

A bead of sweat dripped down Carl's forehead.

Okay, maybe it didn't.

But he really was in a pickle now, and—

Vol's head poked up over the top of the landing.

It was a miracle.

He mouthed the words "I need a pillow".

He was frantic with need.

She gave him a confused look and moved her mouth in ways that didn't seem like any words he knew.

"PILLOW," he repeated, not actually saying the word aloud.

She tilted her head to the side and rubbed her forehead.

He enacted a complex series of gestures with his free arm in which he mimed a pillow, indicated his arm's position where it was being used as a pillow, then tried to convey swapping his arm for the pillow.

She gave him a look of understanding and disappeared back down the stairs.

Except he didn't want her to disappear back down the stairs, he wanted her to bring a freaking pillow over so he could…

He was down in the main floor of the workshop.

Carl looked around, then down at Vol.

"You wanted a sandwich for her, right?" she asked quietly.

"Uh…"

"Joking, obviously," Vol said as she took her recliner out of her inventory and set it down in her spot on the other side of the table she'd made the other day. "I gave her a pillow." She hopped over the arm of her chair, and there was the sound of a deep sigh when she landed in it.

Carl frowned. Feels like I should go up and double-check, but we're supposed to be friends now. If I don't even trust her with such a minor… This is a pretty minor thing…sort of…

He wrestled with his powerful Dad Instincts.

After hours and hours of consideration which passed by in an instant, he decided to trust his new friend to give Mina a pillow and took a seat in his chair. "Thanks for the save," he said.

"Don't worry about it."

She really doesn't sweat the small stuff. As weird as she is sometimes, she's pretty cool. Had a blast dungeoneering yesterday too—minus all those freaking class popups—even if she ended up getting drunk and riding around on that fur monster for like six hours. Still got a lot of laughs, and it seemed like she was enjoying it too. Game's way more fun when you're playing with someone else, that's for sure. Not that Mina isn't fun to play with, of course, but I've always gotta be in full-on dad mode with her.

He glanced to Vol, who was waving one foot over her knee, seeming to be deep in thought. She's super fun to hang out with. I forgot how great gaming friends could be. People who don't care about anything except having fun at that moment. The sort of thing you lose as you get older. Always gotta be planning ahead now and thinking about what you'll be doing later that day or the next.

Makes me wish I could get Annie to try playing sometime. We could just go camping or some… Okay, she probably wouldn't like camping. His brow furrowed. What would she like doing? She reads a lot of fantasy books, so it's the right genre at least. Probably something magic-y. Not sure this whole fighting empire thing would be what she likes.

Carl cleared his throat. "Hey, Vol, there any big magic cities?"

"Huh?" She looked over at him. "Oh. Um. Yeah?"

"They fun?"

Her eyes stared off into nothing for a moment, then she shrugged. "Sure. Why?"

"Trying to come up with something my wife might like doing." Not that she's likely to ever wanna play, but it really started hitting me yesterday how freaking long I've been in here.

An image of Annie's pleased face—the last time he'd seen her before work—came to him. Almost makes me wish I had my phone hooked up to game stuff like Bobby does. Wonder how that would even work with the time scaling. Or maybe it doesn't? Hm.

"Wife, huh," said Vol.

"Yeah, she's pretty into the whole magic thing, so I thought that might be a good starting point." He put his hands behind his head and reclined all the way so he could stare up at the ceiling. Be interesting to see what she'd make of Ir'alith. She always likes meeting strong women, and… Well, coming back with that guy's head seemed pretty strong in a lot of ways. Huh, haven't heard from her in a while now that I think about it. Wonder h—

"What's it like?" Vol asked. "Having a wife, that is."

Carl adjusted his thinking process. "Er, in what sense?"

"I don't know. You ever feel…" She fell silent for a short while. "Ever worry that she might be taken from you?"

"Taken?"

"Yeah. Or that she might disappear suddenly, and you'd never get to see her again?"

He took a deep breath as he momentarily contemplated a life without Annie.

Who would he even be without her?

Any time he'd considered giving up, or settling for less than he could achieve, or being less than he could be, she was there to inspire him to fight for that extra micrometer.

All those nights and early mornings when he'd considered skipping a workout just one time, he reminded himself that Annie was still in the best shape of her life, and at least some small part of her motivation was him.

All those days in offices when he'd considered coasting at his job, he reminded himself that Annie was doing her best to achieve her dream of bettering kids for the future. He might not particularly care whether he was a director or a technician, but he knew how proud of and happy for him his wife was each time he reached a new level and his career, and it drove him upwards.

And then there were the times he'd struggled over how to be the best dad that he could for Sammy and Bobby after they'd been born, and Annie, despite her constant state of exhaustion, had met his panicked questions with smiles, and sweet kisses, and yes, sometimes a little annoyance like when he'd run out to the store for an emergency restock of diapers and called to ask for help deciding which color to buy, but she never let him feel like he was doing the wrong thing, even when he was.

She was Annie, and she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Carl felt himself getting a little misty-eyed at all the memories that were rushing by. "I don't worry about it," he said.

"How?"

He blinked a few times. "How what?"

"How don't you worry? While you're here right now, something terrible could be happening. How aren't you constantly worrying about it?"

He turned to Vol, prepared to tell her to stop asking those kinds of questions, but he stopped when he caught sight of her expression.

The woman's hands were pressed together just in front of her mouth, her lips were pressed together, and her brows were drawn down.

She looks…a little scared?

Carl began to take the situation more seriously.

As a friend should.