After everything that had happened, it was nice to have some time to just... relax. Eliza was the last to finish up eating dinner, both Archius and Kaz chowed down almost instantly... Must be the eating habits of Contractors, Eliza supposed. It was something from Archius' homeplanet, a delicious meal...

But... Eliza preferred if he used... less spices. She hid the fact that her tongue was on fire, especially from Archius... He'd probably tease her to high hell, in front of Kaz no less...

Archius and Kaz were playing videogames together, some Lowguard. Eliza watched on the monitor as the two were playing in Virtual-Augment Reality. "Can you support me?" asked Archius. "Like... holy fuck... Dude... DUDE!"

Kazuki sighed and grumbled. "Nah, you got that," he said. Kazuki had his arms crossed, sitting opposite Archius. Eliza tried to understand what was going on the monitor, but it seemed more like watching a movie than a game...

"Should I join and try to help?" Eliza asked.

Archius angrily shrugged, Eliza watched as someone on the monitor was knocked unconscious. "NO! YOU'RE A LITERAL FRESH SPAWN! KAZ! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Geniuine anger from Archius? Eliza was taken aback.

"Hey... Just wanted to help..."

Arcihus nodded. Kazuki was whistling to himself, as a figure appearched on the monitor, and all enemies were just... killed. It must have been Kazuki. "Sorry... Sorry... Kaz... You really need to work on your timing, man."

"I show up whenever I am needed, not before or after," he remarked. After a bit, the two took off the headsets attached to their uplinks by hover lifts, placing them down on the table. "Ugh. Their parry timings aren't that hard to memorise."

A vein bulged on Archius' forehead. "You only say that because you have no problems memorising things, don't you?" he jived. Kazuki merely stared forward, with no expression, before Archius cleared his throat. "Eliza, you finished?"

Eliza nodded when Archius turned to her, a few of the drones took the plates and started to wash them, beeping and blooping on their way. She didn't speak, not whilst Archius was looking at her... didn't want to expose that she couldn't handle spices. Archius merely raised an eyebrow, before chuckling under his breath... Oh no... How did he even find out?!

Archius jumped up from his seat, walking over to Eliza. "Icecream helps," Archius jested, before turning back to Kazuki. "I'm bored, let's go to the arcade! Just like the good old days."

Eliza slowly got up, walking to the fridge and sneaking out a small icecream whilst Archius distracted Kaz.

Kaz grumbled. "Hmm. Arcade games are all the same," he said.

Eliza chomped down on a scoop of icecream, feeling a rush of cold fight against the heat in her mouth... Eliza hurridly threw everything together and back into the fridge, before peaking her head out from the kitchen. "I wouldn't mind going!" Eliza said.

"Alright," Kazuki said. He kept his face still, standing up. "Let's go."

Archius rolled his eyes. Muttering to himself before shaking the annoyance off his face. "Sure, sure, just don't get into any trouble, m'kay? I want to relax."

Kazuki nodded. Eliza looked to Kaz, and he slowly turned to her... He narrowed his gaze, blinking several times. Archius twisted his head to her, before snickering beneath his breath. Kazuki slowly raised a finger, placing it against the acid burns beside his lips.

"Oh?" Eliza tilted her head. "Are... Your burns? Is it irritating?" Eliza inquired with a hint of worry in her voice... Was Kazuki's wounds getting worse?!

Clearing his throat, Kazuki slowly pointed to her. Eliza was confused, but... mimicked Kazuki. She placed her finger to the side of her lips, feeling something... weird. Cold? Eliza instantly realised: it was the ice cream! She rubbed it off her face with her sleeve, her face turning boiling red.

"Uh..."

Eliza twisted around, wiping her face clean before turning back to Kaz. "Just... don't..."

Kazuki nodded. Archius merely chuckled. "Took you long enough."

"There is no shame in being bad with spices," Kazuki remarked. Oh... No... Archius burst out laughing, causing Eliza's face to turn ten degrees redder...

"Oh... shut up, you two..." Eliza murmured, turning her head to the side. "Let's just... go? Alright?"

Hopefully that will convince the two of them to... let this be forgotten and burried - but... Eliza knows that Kaz will hold this memory true, as even a small smirk crept onto his dead, cold lips.

∗ ∗ ∗

The same dead cold lips were the ones calmly drinking some coffee, merely staring at the arcade game that Eliza was playing. Archius was sitting beside her, the two of them playing one of those co-op games... Holographic fissures ignited all around them, with Kaz having to move behind Eliza or Archius' seat everytime they moved to look around.

Kazuki snidedly remarked, "Don't whiff your swings. If you do: you won't deal damage."

Eliza grumbled. "Don't you think I've been trying?!" Eliza said, swinging and moving more angrily just to make Kaz more more, as her seat rotated around. Despite her frustrations, Eliza did feel a lot more relaxed... Though whether that was because of Kaz and Archius' presence, or arcade gaming, she didn't really care or wanted to know...

The neon lights blaring down, the constant noises of arcade games all around them with stalls and rows upon columns of games... It reminded Eliza of a simpler time, before university, back when all Liz knew Kaz for was just that weird guy Archius and Chloé seemed interested in...

Though Eliza did later find out that Kaz and Chloé were... distant relatives? Wait... Eliza blinked several times, refocusing her efforts to the game. "Hey Kaz, what did you say Chloé was to you?"

Archius chuckled, rotating and muttering so only she could hear. "Jealous much?" he joked.

Eliza shoved Archius' chair away, rotating as the two cleared the floor on the dungeon, moving to the next one as a small bit of respite was given to the pair. Kazuki looked down at her, standing tall above her seat. "Second or third cousins," Kazuki said.

Archius peered back at them, staring directly up. "Really?! I thought you'd know all this stuff."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

With an air of solemnness, Kazuki shook his head. "No. I never inputted that information into my memory. My family was decimated in the war. Only two sub-branches remained," Kazuki said.

The air of depression immediately came over Eliza. "Oh... sorry... I didn't mean to—"

"—It's fine," Kazuki cut in. "The dead do not come back. I never knew them. It's fine."

Each sentence harrowed in with an air of sadness, even if it was not Kazuki's intentions. The mere fact that Kaz's family had lost so many of its members long ago found some level of connection to Eliza... It was just her, Ulysses and her dad left...

Archius, on the other hand, merely shrugged, taking back hold of the controls as the game started once more. "Stop being depressing, Kaz, I'm trying to relax! Why do you think I'm here?! To dilly dally with politics?! Hell no!"

His outburst put some life into Eliza's heart. "Yeah, Kaz! Don't be such a downer, just try and have fun, alright?"

"I... I am having fun," Kazuki said, with a cold and serious voice that did, in no way whatsoever, indicated any level of fun was present. "It's not hard to tell."

Both Eliza and Archius peered back at Kazuki, seeing his deadpan face. It seems like it's the same face he has when he's: pissed, sad, bored, happy, neutral and any other plethora of emotions that Kazuki... shows? Exhibits? Safe to say, neither were convinced by his words. But Kazuki's determined glare convinced Eliza otherwise.

"Well, if you say so," Eliza broke the silence, before going back to playing the arcade game. Archius twisted around, back to playing. "Archius... You know you can dodge, right?"

Archius sighed. "Yeah, but I stand my fucking ground, ain't no binary numbers are making me waste my energy moving around," he quipped.

Yeah... Everything seemed much better, it was like the chaos of the previous four or so months didn't happen, and for that: Eliza was happy. She smiled, as the trio went on to play a litany of games... Whenever anything competitive came up, Archius sat out - merely joking and watching Kaz and Eliza duke it out.

Kaz... won most of the time, but only by a VERY small margin! Smiles were all about, even when Eliza sourly lost to Kaz and Archius.

Archius sighed as Eliza lost another round of Holo-Pong; looking down at his phone. "Chloé and the gang are out doing some kareoke, you guys interested?" he asked.

Kazuki rolled his eyes. Eliza turned, but it seemed that both Kaz and Archius spoke to one another... without actually speaking? For a second, the two just looked at each other, before Kazuki nodded. "I'm not interested. You can go if you want."

He turned to Eliza. "You can go, if you want."

Archius chuckled, turning to Liz. "Don't feel pressured to, you should keep Kaz company, company other than his guards, that is," he said.

Well... Yeah, Eliza supposed she should do that, after all Kaz rarely seems to be interested in people, but he seems interested in a select few. Strangely enough, Eliza... wouldn't admit that she wanted to spend more time with him... No! Absolutely not! They were simply friends chilling... But... friends do that all the time, right?!

Yes! Of course! Eliza had a self satisfied smile, nodding to herself whilst her hand was on the chin. "Well, I might as well ensure Kaz doesn't get into any trouble," she said.

Kaz merely looked to her, and nodded. "Sure. Want to do the plush-prized games?" Kazuki asked. "I have it on good authority that they have plushies for the entire species of domestictated cats."

"Oh? I might as well get an Angcat Plushie... I am missing a few collector's plushies," Eliza said. Archius smiled, nodded, and turned to leave.

"I'll leave you two to it," he said, waving back. "Don't have too much fun, though! It'll be VERY obvious if you do."

Eliza's face slowly turned red, as she gulped and turned away. Kazuki, meanwhile, just nodded back. "I want a Kascat," Kazuki said.

Wait? A cat? Eliza turned to Kaz, hiding behind her hands. "An actual Kascat or a..."

"A plushie," Kazuki said, raising an eyebrow. "They look more like snakes than cats, though."

Well, whatever... Eliza smiled, "We'll take turns alternating shots, got it?" she asked. To which: Kazuki nodded.

∗ ∗ ∗

"Hey!" Archius shouted, entering the karaoke room as he swapped an arm around Noah. "What's up, guys?!"

Chloé waved over to him.

Archius’ face was bright, blazing with glorious positivity... whatever that was.

It felt like he perfectly assimilated in this group of friends. Of course, he didn’t see himself as such. The word was icky, filled with too many lies for any real usage to him.

Still, people ate it up, thinking he was truly their friend. In reality, Archius saw not a spark of colour in any of the people around him. Noah. Yuki. Nathan. Chloé. All assets and tools, nothing more than to be used by himself.

For some, perhaps that was the best thing they could ever offer.

He looked over at Yuki, Nate and Chloé, the two girls singing their hearts out at a song. Archius looked over at what was playing... and felt a prick against his soul.

Artist: Jasyme Hachiman-Berger... It was a song that played during the climax of a movie she starred in. His internal face turned to a snarl.

"Oh, we're singing some pop songs that were popular in the past, you know this one?" asked Noah, seating Archius down beside him. Nate was cowering in the corner. His face was blank and dull , a pale contrast to his crimson-coloured hair.

Pi was resting beside him, eating some Pharozi bright figs and dates out of a small bowl.

Noah shook Archius for a moment. “Hey, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” he shouted.

“Pfft.” Archius let off a sly shrug. “No, just don’t expect you guys to be into fucking classical music of anything!”

“Oh, come one, they’re not even like half a decade old!” Noah chuckled.

Yuki and Chloé were finishing up their song, as Archius listened intently. “Eh, I used to like this song years ago, used to listen to it all the time.”

He bit his tongue, plastering his facade with increased smiles.

Noah nodded. “Her songs just… hit different, you get that, right?” he asked.

He wasn’t wrong there, Archius thought. These songs always resonated with him.

He gave a wide smile. “Yeah, helped me through some dark times during the NATs. How about you?” Archius muttered half-lies.

“Same here, Archius…” Noah gave off a pensive smile, sighing as he sang along quietly.

Implications were created, and he saw how it was. Troubled past, linked to Kazuki somehow… and Eliza? Possibility is there, given how Noah’s a member of the Aristocracy … Still, not enough information, but Noah and Kaz seemed to be antagonistic to each other - which leaves out a lot of information.

It has to be something before Archius met Kaz… And before his information trail was created. The connection must have been made a decade ago.

“So… what was it?” Archius asked. “Must have been something, right?”

Noah shook his head. “It’s rough… I’d prefer not to talk about it, probably the same with you, right?”

Archius nodded. “Yeah, come on, let’s go sing something!” He stood up, using his body strength to pull Noah up as the song finished. He grabbed the mic off from Chloé, as Yuki under armed the uplink mic to Noah.

“You know what? Fuck it! Sure!” The two connected the mics to their uplinks, amplifying their voices.

Looking at Nathaniel, Archius thought about bringing him along… but he doesn’t seem into all this extraverted shit. He must be Yuki’s plus one. Archius has no reason to gain leverage against Yuki… For one, she’s not the brightest; and two: her family would kill him, whether it’s Kaz, the High Admiral or the Inventor Extraordinaire.

Just thinking about how fucked he’d be shook a shiver down his spine, as a drone hovered in front of him, beeping and blooping whilst enthusiastically showing him a whole list of songs, billions - all popular and from across the galaxy.

“Come on, you got a song you wanna sing?” Archius asked, readjusting his dark green waist-coat, feeling the bulletproof fibres within strike back against the tug. “We have… at least seven songs to choose from.”

He’s making short progress, but progress nonetheless. He needs to get closer to Noah… He’ll need to give some in exchange for information, some lies and some truths: but for that he’ll need opportunities.

“Nah, you have good tastes, at least from what you’ve told me…” Noah smiled. “Plus, music’s not really my thing, so I’ll leave it to you.”