Adrenaline still jittered through Brock's body, making his hands slightly shaky around the chilled glass of his new beverage. Ken and Mikael had agreed that another round was necessary after the unwanted intrusion of Captain Darwhick, along with more appetizers. A cleaning spell had arrived with the order, restoring the booth to its previous non-food-splattered state.

"Seriously, though," Brock asked, looking back and forth between the two older men, "what is his deal? Why does he hate me so much?"

Mikael raised an eyebrow at Ken, more than happy to let him take the lead, and the big man frowned.

"So, the thing you have to understand is, Darwhick's a tough person to like."

"That's putting it mildly," Mikael snorted, and Ken shot him a look.

"You want to tell this?"

"No, no, all you, sorry," Mikael waved his mug in apology.

"Anyways," Ken resumed, "he doesn't really have any friends, even in his own squad, and there's a reason for that. He only cares about hunting down Sekkies, literally spends every waking hour devoted to it."

"He's obsessed," Mikael added. "Unhealthily so."

"Why?" Brock asked, slightly fascinated.

"When he was a child, a Sekkie haremed his entire family, including him," Ken said quietly, his eyes going distant. "Made them... do things. Bad things. Then the bastard sacrificed them to escape the squad sent to bring him in. Darwhick was the only survivor, but it's tough to say that he survived. Whatever came out of that hell certainly wasn't the same kid who went in."

Brock swallowed uncomfortably. He didn't really want to know what 'bad things' meant.

"Did they ever catch who did it?"

Ken shook his head.

"That's another reason why he's so-"

He waved his hand as if searching for a word.

"Homicidally unhinged?" Mikael interjected sardonically. "Psychotically erratic? Violently unstable?"

Ken threw a dumpling at him, which Mikael snatched gracefully out of the air and tossed into his mouth, chewing with obvious relish.

"Stop interrupting. What I was going to say was 'single-minded.' He wants to make sure no one else ever has to go through what he did, and as long as whoever messed up his life is out there, he can't be sure it won't happen again."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"That's... sad," Brock said quietly, struck by a wave of melancholy. "I mean, he's still a dick, but having to go through that... I dunno."

"Don't feel too bad for Darwhick," Mikael said around a mouthful of dumpling. "Lot of traumas in this particular organization, but he's the only one who still lets it get to him like that. You can trust me," he popped another dumpling in, "I'm a mental health professional."

"You're a barely-reformed sociopath with a murdersword," Ken replied sardonically, and Mikael nodded.

"That too, that too. Can't kill your way out of problems. It just makes more problems. Life lesson everyone should learn, especially Darwhick."

"Anyways," Ken continued after taking a drink, "the captain also really doesn't get along with our senior-citizen friend over here, and the feeling's mutual, as I'm sure you no doubt noticed."

Brock felt some pieces come together through the pleasant fog currently hazing his brain.

"It's because," he hiccoughed, "you're a haremerer thingie, right? Like Aphrodite? That's why he doesn't like you. You're like what he's chasing, or remind him of his family, or something."

Ken's eyes widened in surprise.

"The kid's smarter than you told me," he stage-whispered accusingly at Mikael. "Said he was dumber than a bag of rocks."

"I said he asked a lot of questions-"

"Also," Ken cut Mikael off, returning his attention to Brock, "how do you know about Aphrodite? That's a bit before your time."

"Oh," Brock said happily, "she-"

"-was part of the training module he went through this morning," Mikael interrupted loudly, a slight flush reddening his face. He swayed slightly in his seat, mug weaving through the air, then went on. "Have to make sure he can recognize a wide variety of threats."

Brock stared at him, confused.

"Yeah, but-"

A familiar rectangular shape burst out of his pocket and onto the table on a trail of rainbow sparks.

"Brock! Your vitals are at suboptimal levels for excellent performance tomorrow! You should stop consuming unhealthy substances and enjoy a nutritious health shake! I have eighteen thousand, six hundred and seventy nine health shake recipes! Asparagus shake! Asparagus shake with avocado! Asparagus-"

"You know," Ken mused, watching Brock futilely attempt to smash the swiftly dodging magiphone with his mug, "you can change your-"

Brock froze him with a wild-eyed glare.

"Don't. Say it."

He returned to trying to murder Bindy with any utensil within range, and Ken leaned over to Mikael.

"Seriously, has no one showed him how to change his settings?" he whispered.

"It's been a long day," Mikael sighed, rubbing at his eyes. "Speaking of which, I should get him home so he can get some sleep." He stood up from the booth, slinging his katana over his back, then pulled out his own magiphone and swiped it towards Ken. "Thanks for the company."

Ken scowled.

"You don't have to pay, you uptight prick. I said the first two rounds were on me."

"It's fine." Mikael waved him off. "You can get the next one. C'mon, kid, time to go."

He reached down and hauled a still-swinging Brock to his feet, Bindy taking the opportunity to hip-thrust his way down into Brock's coat pocket.

"Was a pleasure to meet you, Brock," Ken called out, waving farewell with his mug. "Don't be afraid to join us again. You seem like a good kid."

"Uhhh, thanks, Ken," Brock replied, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck. "It was fun."

After saying the words, he realized with some surprise that they were true. Apart from Darwhick's unwanted interruption, he'd actually been able to relax and avoid thinking about the feelings of displacement even now creeping their way back into his mind. As he followed Mikael out of the Unsavory Unicorn, he reflected on the evening's experience.

I think I will join them again. They're not my old friends, but maybe they can be new ones?

He was still going to throw Bindy in a hydraulic press the first chance he got, though.