As Lotus Shen clambered up one of the ‘petals’ of the Great Orchid Hotel, she was discomfited by a sudden realization: this was to be the first time in her life—Isekai or otherwise—that she went out for dinner with a man. Alone.

Indeed, the thought was discomfiting enough to halt her mid-ascent. Presently, she stood on a part of the restaurant a hostess had assured her was called ‘the Lip’, which to her uneducated eyes just looked to be the lowest of the six curvilinear platforms that made up a giant facsimile of an orchid flower. The locals here in Orchid City, a desert settlement whose only claims to fame were its gambling dens and a pro-grade racetrack, had certainly committed to a theme.

Lotus scanned the other five petals of the open-air restaurant, inspecting the multitudes of guests already seated and enjoying their meals. Whether they were families, couples, or groups of friends, they all seemed to be dressed for a fancy dinner party, the kind the GCC pilot herself had experienced at various venues across the country. As she took the sight in, she began to wonder: what’s the worst that could happen if I just turn around and leave?

It wasn’t that she was opposed to the idea of a ‘dinner date’ itself, if this could even be called one. But framing the meeting as such in her mind had suddenly weighed it down with a set of expectations—made only heavier by the venue itself, which clearly posed its own set of expectations on its clientele. As Lotus imagined herself slogging through dinner at a place like this, the word that came to mind was tedium. Why couldn’t you pick a more casual restaurant? Or just a less tedious way for us to meet?

The Lotus of several months ago might actually have done it. Turned around and stood up her date, consequences be damned. But alas, one of the unexpected side effects of her regular counselling sessions was a little something called standards, namely standards of behaviour and social propriety. And as it turned out, a promise to a friend was just one of the many tedious things a functional adult expected herself to make good on.

Lotus gritted her teeth and made the rest of her trek through too many stairs and excessively glossy floors. Eventually, after burning as many calories as she might’ve done on a slower PT session, she made it to the topmost petal: a VIP area called ‘the Sepal’.

“Lotus Shen! Over here!”

She groaned under her breath. Her date’s loud exclamation had roused the attention of the other VIP guests, many of whom now openly gawked at her as she sped through the final leg of her journey.

Luna Drake sat at a large circular booth at the very tip of the Sepal, the VIP-est among VIPs. His multi-braceleted hand drew wide arcs across the night sky as he waved enthusiastically, rattling nearly as loudly as his greeting. He wore a black satin changshan, featuring green-and-gold embroidery over one shoulder that depicted a flying dragon while somehow managing to remain tasteful.

As Lotus approached the table, which was already laden with drinks and cold appetizers, she became self-conscious about her own much less expensive attire: a slack tunic-and-pants combo that she’d chosen for comfort rather than style. Luna, to his credit, at least made an attempt to compliment it.

“You look… uh… healthy.”

She nodded wordlessly, blushing for reasons that were unclear to herself. In an attempt to settle herself, she grabbed the nearest cup and downed its contents in one gulp… then regretted it immediately when said contents turned out to be far more appropriate for sipping rather than chugging.

“By Sattva, are you alright? You’re not… nervous, are you?”

“No! Why would I be nervous?”

In truth, she was nervous, or at least starting to be. Ever since her arrival at the restaurant, and especially having now seen Luna’s person, all the brouhaha her teammates had whipped up prior to the evening had come back to her… and was starting to make sense.

There’d of course been Marly who, along with her new engineer partner, a young man called Kepa Ximista, had smirked and giggled incessantly as they offered to help Lotus pick out an outfit. Then there’d been Eunice the grey-bunned administrative assistant who, completely unbidden, had coached Lotus on the dinner etiquette expected of a proper Stormvaster woman. (“At least as was expected back in my days… back when people actually cared about manners.”)

Perhaps the most disconcerting reaction, however, had belonged to GCC’s team principal. Iver, when informed that his flagship pilot had a prior engagement tonight with a young man from an opposing team, had offered several words of encouragement in an oddly high-pitched voice before running off, muttering something about a fishing spot he’d been meaning to check out. Only Lotus’s perplexed stare—and Marly's and Kepa’s giggling—had followed him on his way out of the hotel lobby.

All this time, Lotus had assumed that her teammates were overreacting. Sure, Luna’s abrupt text after months of radio silence had caught her off guard, but there was nothing strange about two friends (were they, though? Friends?) meeting up while both were in town. More likely than not, he merely wanted to gloat about his newly upgraded Hippocampus or grandstand about how Equinox-Drakorp was going to wipe the asphalt with GCC.

But this. This did feel different. As Lotus sat down at the topmost ‘petal’ of the Great Orchid Hotel, next to a Luna Drake that was dressed to the nines and clean-shaven, she couldn’t help but wonder if this dinner was more date than she’d bargained for.

“Well, good,” he was saying now, smiling with what appeared to be genuine cheer. “I wouldn’t want you to be nervous.”

“And why does it matter to you if I’m nervous or not?” she snapped, defaulting to her defensive testy self (against Eunice’s—and her counsellor’s—advice).

“Naraka, relax,” he cajoled, still smiling. “I just want you to enjoy the evening, alright?”

Lotus’s blush deepened, and she quickly hid herself behind another glass—just water this time, thankfully. After regaining some measure of composure, she decided to go on the offensive, in an effort to stave off the pressure from herself.

“What made you think this would be my idea of an enjoyable evening? Not everyone grew up with a rich dad who can throw yacht parties for fun, you know.”

Luna’s smile did falter at this, and Lotus found herself ruing her words. But when the Drakorp heir continued, his tone remained mild, now splashed with a hint of earnestness that reminded Lotus—strangely enough—of Iver.

“My father didn’t pay for this,” he explained. “In fact, he hasn’t paid for any of my dinners, not since… you know. Part of my renegotiated terms with Equinox-Drakorp was that Quatro Drake step down from all racing-related activities. We have a new team principal, and we’re fully self-funded. All staff members are on my payroll now, or at least until the racing division itself becomes self-sufficient. Of course, I’ve had to liquidate some of my stock options to make that possible, so you might be thinking ‘so what, same difference’, but… it does make a difference to me.”

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Lotus stared, left momentarily speechless. Looking back on the offseason, she had heard talk of Equinox-Drakorp turning over a new leaf, but she hadn’t realized just how drastic those changes had been. And to think it’d all been spearheaded by Daddy’s Boy #2…

“You look a bit skeptical,” Luna observed.

“No. Why would I be skeptical?”

He sighed, cheeks reddening just a touch. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just a bit sensitive about… It’s stupid, I know. Why should I care what you think about how I pay for my dinners?”

“I can’t answer that for you,” she said as a slight smirk played on her lips, “but since you do care so much, I’ll tell you what I think. I think this is the least you could and should’ve done. Especially after that big speech you gave in my hospital room last year.”

A tad harsh, perhaps. But just because she was starting to respect Luna Drake, it didn’t mean she had to also be nice to him. Luna, to his credit, met Lotus’s smirk with a smile of genuine cheer. He then raised a thin glass, one that bubbled with a fragrant fizzy drink.

“A toast then,” he said, “to making good on the least we could and should do.”

This Lotus could happily drink to. It had the added benefit of being short and sweet, unlike most other Stormvaster toasts.

As though Luna’s lips touching glass had been a signal, attendants soon swarmed their table, filling it to the brim with all manner of delicacies both local and foreign. Dinner was well and truly underway. Liquid-stock-option Boy certainly hadn’t spared any expenses, and Lotus had every intention to take full advantage of his generosities. After about the third bite of roast squib, however, Luna turned to her again, expression suddenly serious.

“So… why did you decide to open with the Orchid City Trophy, anyway?”

Lotus rolled her eyes, much preferring the squib to Luna’s question.

“What are you, a reporter? What does it matter where I start the season? They’re all Chakram races, aren’t they?”

“But it does matter. A tier-I race like the Partridge Island GP offers 30 points for the first-place finisher, whereas the most you can earn from tier-II is 20. If your aim is to make it back to Morrowtide at the end of the year, you can’t shy away from the big stage forever.”

“And I won’t,” she said with some heat, some of her testiness returning. “God, are you sure you aren’t being paid off by the Imperial Epoch or something? You’re not recording this, are you? Everyone seems to think I dodged Partridge Island, but the truth is I specifically targeted Orchid City. Not that it mattered, anyway. Turned out to be pointless in the end.”

“You came here for Shohei Gaku.”

Lotus looked askance at her overly perceptive companion, neither confirming nor denying his speculation.

It was true, of course. Shohei Gaku was the Equinox pilot that had slotted into second on their pecking order after Lynx Giallo’s retirement, having inherited her Chakram Kirin Noir in the process. It’d been Lotus’s fervent hope that he’d also fitted himself with Akashic Field, thereby giving her a chance to win it back via the bounty.

Frustratingly, that didn’t appear to be the case. No amount of scouting turned up any signs that Gaku was using Akashic Field for his Aegis. What was downright baffling, however, was that none of the other Equinox pilots seemed to be doing so either. Cien Fumador, the now flagship pilot who’d kept her own Chakram Einhorn, had opted for Rippleform over Akashic Field. And if her (rather gruesome) victory at the season opener was any indication, that choice had worked out for her just fine. What made no sense at all was that none of the three other Equinox pilots currently in the competition had wanted Akashic Field over clearly inferior options.

Which left the question… just where was Akashic Field? Was it collecting dust somewhere? Not likely, given how powerful a Conduit it was, and how meticulous the racing team that now owned it. Whatever purpose it was serving didn’t appear to be fit for a racetrack. So, just how the hell was Lotus meant to get it back?

Her expression must’ve darkened along with her mood, for Luna chose this moment to interject.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, if I were you. A Conduit that valuable… it’s bound to turn up somewhere, sometime. Maybe not this season. Who knows, maybe not even at a CRA-sanctioned race. But as long as you’re patient, one opportunity or another will roll around. I’m sure of it. You just better be ready to seize that opportunity when it does present itself… and not let someone else steal it again!”

Lotus heard the smirk in Luna’s voice toward the tail end of his spiel, and she graced him with an exasperated glare. She had half a mind to lay into him, until she remembered that she too had in her possession a Conduit that once belonged to Luna. This Chakram racing business… it’s a dog eat dog world. Overcome by the entirely unfamiliar sensation of wanting to be cordial with Luna Drake, Lotus changed tack.

“What about you?” she asked instead. “Why’d you decide to come to Orchid City?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if it were obvious.”

“I came here for Lotus Shen.”

Lotus nearly choked on her fizzy peach drink. Then she kept her face hidden behind the glass, worried it might start blushing again at any moment. But from the corner of her eye, she soon saw the absence of humour or flirtation in her companion’s expression. In their place, there was only a fervent earnestness.

“Don’t think you’re the only one racing for something personal,” Luna said. “I have something too. Something to prove. I told you, didn’t I? When I gave that ‘big speech’ in your hospital room? The next time we meet on the racetrack, you’ll see me at my best and fastest.”

So… Lotus had been right. And her friends had been wrong. This wasn’t a date. This was exactly intended for Luna Drake to gloat about his upgrades and grandstand about his chances of winning.

She finished her peach drink, the flush completely gone from her face. She had to marvel at her own sudden calmness, her relief, her… disappointment? Which was absurd, of course. She had every reason to be delighted, now that her rival had affirmed himself as such. Wasn’t this what she herself had encouraged? The least Luna could and should’ve done?

That was when Luna slid along the seat and leaned across the table, bringing his clean-shaven face and woody cologne dangerously (scandalously, if Marly could’ve witnessed it) close to Lotus’s personal space.

“I made good on my promise, Shen,” he spoke in a hushed baritone. “I haven’t been idle during the offseason. I rededicated myself to racing. To chasing and breaking my own limits. In ways I never even thought possible. I don’t know why it should matter so much for me to prove it to you, but it does. But enough about that for now. In three days, I’ll show you everything. On the racetrack.”

Lotus had been ready to blush again, and furiously at that. But as Luna (mercifully) slid back to his original position, for one briefest of moments, she caught a whiff of something other than his woody cologne. And she paled instead.

For what she’d caught hadn’t been a scent, at least not one that belonged to the physical space shared between the two dinner companions. It was more like… a memory. An amorphous aura of nostalgia, understanding, and power. One that had been channelled and called forth from the Original Void.

Lotus had every reason to be delighted, now that her rival had risen to the occasion. Was this what she herself had encouraged? Was this the least Luna could and should’ve done?

Yet, as she tried to taste her roast squib and concentrate on the inane conversation that followed, her mind filled with a memory of her own. Darkness that seeped into and fused with every inch of her being. And a voice that echoed from unseen shadows.

Embrace the pain. Blossom. Become who you were always meant to be.