The night was dragging on.

Moonbeams poked through the trees as crickets chirped through the tall grass. Woodland creatures nestled themselves into hollowed-out logs and dug out holes under the bases of trees. Murmuring and faint rustling could be heard from the treetop animals shifting through the branches. Few creatures were still stirring, their night-seeing eyes glowing in the darkest depths of the woods, cooing to one another like a secret code between late-night strangers. The area was quiet. Not still, but still enough. Fireflies whirred through the air on occasion, their lonely torch shining against the bark of trees that passed by. If one were lucky enough to catch a few, they would find themselves in possession of some quality magic ingredients, as well as a handy light source.

The eerie softness of the night was not lost on the travelers strolling by. The day’s end was calling to them, tempting them to set up camp and rest. The day had been long, and the night still had much to go before it was over. It would have been best for the adventurers to join the sleeping creatures around them in evening bliss, resting their eyes along with the rest of the forest and waiting for sunrise. However, the exhausting toll of the day’s events had left the travelers with a need for relaxing indulgence, one that mere sleep could not satisfy. One traveler in particular was in need of a drink, and did not want to rest until they procured one.

“This tavern better be worth it,” Riva huffed, barely keeping herself awake. “Those terram boys said it was only what, about an hour? If it’s not here, or they got the direction wrong, or it’s even just closed? I am not going to be happy.”

“It’s… it’s alright,” Leone yawned. “I’m sure it’ll be worth it. Otherwise, those guys wouldn’t have been told about it so many times.”

“Iman, do you know anything about the tavern, Big Bart’s?” Azim asked the young woman.

“I think a couple people I helped a while back might have mentioned it, but I’ve never been,” she replied.

“But you live in these woods,” pointed out Leone. “You’re like fifteen minutes away. Supposedly.”

The nør elf shrugged at the comment, admitting she didn’t have much need for a tavern as she was not the biggest drinker. Leone brought up the idea that a tavern might have live music, and Iman could play, which made her eyes light up. “You can play for people at a tavern?”

“I mean, I don’t know about all of ‘em, but yeah, you can at a lot of them,” admitted Leone. “I obviously wouldn’t know about Big Bart’s specifically. Have you never been to one?”

“I’m only 25. Elves and nør elves don’t fully develop their brains until about 33. In human terms, I’m the equivalent of about 19.”

“So? I’m 20 and I had my first drink at… shit, wait… 17? Yeah, 17.”

Iman explained that Nør elves, as well as elves, strayed toward a path of purity in their lives, forbidding inebriation of any kind until the age of 34. This rule applied to intimate romantic relationships and marriage as well. Nør elves needed to remain pure for the entirety of their mental development so that they were not considered “tainted” by their people, and even after reaching the age at which they were fully developed, they still had to live a year with their fully developed brain before they could try anything. The only somewhat tabooed excuse was excessive violence, which was allowed at 20. However, even then, nør elves were expected to use sharp judgment to determine if the moment deserved it, such as if their own lives were in danger. This exception was not the same for elves, who did not have any restrictions beyond the basic moralities of violence.

Riva asked the young nør elf if this was why she was a musician, because her species didn’t allow professions or classes in violence. She clarified that many nør elves still participated in adventuring roles that partook in violence, they just weren’t as connected to the roots of their culture. While not exactly shunned by the rest of their species, they were still seen as those who did not respect the customs of their culture. Depending on which nor elf you talked to, some might have a bigger issue with that than others.

“Sounds complex,” Leone sighed.

“It is, especially when mixed with the stigmas or assumptions of us versus elves. People often think that nør elves are the more violent ones on average, but honestly, I think it’s the opposite. Though I chose music, not to be a part of or separate myself from any of that junk, but just because I was definitely not smart enough to be any kind of fighter, ha ha ha. I knew that if I went into battles relying on my wits or something, I wouldn’t be relying on them for long.”

The adventurers appreciated hearing about the young woman’s story, for it made them feel closer to her already. While she wasn’t the brightest, she had a warmth to her that made all of them smile, except for Azim, who physically could not. With the conversation dying down, however, Riva was thinking back to her need for a drink and was getting impatient. Leone and Iman weren’t as thirsty, but they were ready to settle down for the night.

After what felt like hours too long, despite it only being another few minutes, the group finally arrived at a lone building in the woods. There was a large wood-carved sign that hung above its double doors painted white that read, “Big Bart’s Tavern + Inn”. The structure was oddly shaped, looking like a small wooden dome built off a circular-rimmed base. There were only two windows, one on either side of the double doors. From inside the windows, the travelers could see warm lights floating about the room. All things considered, given the fact the place was in the middle of the woods, the tavern looked quite homey.

Riding up to the front of the establishment, the travelers tied the horses’ reigns down and walked inside. They were greeted by a dimly lit room and surprisingly empty floors. There were a few tables and booths here and there, mostly at the ends of the room, but a majority of the space was just open floor. There were a decent amount of patrons present; human, elf, feliome, lizardfolk, gnome. They all smiled and chatted with one another, clinking their drinks together or dancing in the center of the floor. The adventurers made a mental note of how, for such a shabby place, the ambiance was rather lively.

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They were greeted by a tough-looking human woman with short red hair. She wore a brown and white outfit that was sleeveless, revealing her decent muscles. She looked like she did not want to be working tonight. Before speaking, she took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke in the general direction of the newcomers.

The woman, who introduced herself as Mya, asked the newcomers what business they were looking for here. In spite of her rough demeanor, she did not intend to come off as abrasive or unwanting of guests. Glancing between the four potential patrons… and their pet, she clocked them as the usual type of people she usually got running through their woods. She pointed out that the pet couldn’t hang in the tavern, but obliged when the older woman of the group asked if it could stay in one of the rooms where they would be spending the night.

Mya walked them all over to a door that rested behind a desk. At the desk was a scrawny man with a nameplate in front of him that read, “Garrett”. He asked the strangers if they were looking for a room tonight, to which Mya answered for them. The scrawny man appeared nervous, as if he regretted asking the question. The young, dark-skinned man of the group piped up, asking if they could actually get two rooms. Garrett sheepishly said that was fine and grabbed two keys from under his desk. He opened up the door behind him and asked the travelers to follow him down the hall. Mya humphed and returned to the tavern. Eventually, they stopped at two rooms that were directly across from one another, 9 and 10.

“How many rooms do you guys have here?” asked a chippy nør elf.

“Um,… t-that would be… 14,” Garrett stuttered. “Y-You folks actually got l-lucky, I believe t-there’s only one open room left n-n-n that you’re here. T-they t-tend to go fast.”

Opening the doors to the two rooms, Garrett left the travelers to attend to their things. Iman asked the others if it was okay to leave the horses and all the stuff unattended, to which Riva replied that Leone had taken care of it. The young man smiled at the woman’s acknowledgment of his efforts. Riva then mentioned she was ready to get the drink she had been waiting for all night, and walked back down the hall they had just come from to check out the tavern. The others looked at one another and figured the woman probably needed some alone time, so they decided to stay in the rooms, Iman in 9 and Azim and Leone in 10, with Roman staying as well.

Closing the door, Leone asked the robot how he was doing. He mentioned that they hadn’t really gotten time to themselves in a day or two, and wanted to check on him. Azim, of course, was fine. He was incapable of being anything other than fine. The only exception was if he was physically damaged and needed to address his “injuries”, but now was not one of those times. The robot never got tired, never felt exhausted or drained, and never felt mentally unwell. Other than his physical state of being, the robot was incapable of feeling anything less than satisfactory. The android informed the young man of this, saying he was as all right as he had been since first showing up in Irvana. However, given the question, Azim considered the possibility that it was meant to be used as a conversation piece, and attempted to uphold it.

“Are you doing well, Leone?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” the young man replied. “I mean I’m tired as hell. But nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix. We had a long day, buddy.”

“Today spanned over the same period of time as every other day I have been here. There was no time added to the duration of today’s length.”

Leone laughed tiredly. “No, I know. I just mean we did a lot. Like, it was a ‘long day’ because it was so full, not because the day itself was actually longer than others. I mean, just this morning, we woke up in the camp made by those borcs. That was this morning! And then we went to Lemaerk, met… him,… did all the stuff we did in that tower, including getting our asses kicked. Then we took you to Smithford to fix you up, and dealt with that lizardfolk guy. And then we set out for here, but didn’t even make it here right away. We met Iman on the way, dealt with the underslug, and then all showed up here. That’s a lot buddy! Even if you do compare it to the past few days. I don’t think we’ve done as much in one day as we did today. So… I am beat.”

When the young man finished his rant, he flopped back onto the bed in a dramatic fashion. Even though he had not yet taken off his shoes and his legs were still hanging off the foot of the bed, the young man was already extremely cozy. He couldn’t tell, however, if it was actually because of the quality of the bed or just because he was so tired that sleeping anywhere at all would feel comfy. He didn’t care either way.

Azim, standing on the opposite side of the room, stared at his companion sprawled out on the bed with his eyes closed. The robot considered everything Leone had said, relating it to his own perception of the day’s experiences, as well as the past few days. In just a short while, the robot had already made several friends, fought dozens of people, and seen truly crazy sights. And yet, whether it was his memory loss or just his algorithmic brain, the android could not appreciate the events he had lived through with the same intensity that his friends could. To him, they had just happened. The days had passed. The sights had been seen. Yet still he was not able to reflect on them in any way beyond logistically.

Azim thought about how the others must have been feeling; how Riva was feeling since discovering him back on that dirt road. He wanted to be curious. He wanted to wonder. Yet he couldn’t. The android was unable to put himself in the perspective of his companions and think about their recent experiences from their point of view. Not only that, but he was unable to have an opinion about that awareness. Azim simply had to acknowledge it, and that was it.

The android looked down at Roman, who was lying next to his feet. The mosstail was already passed out, purring softly. It was tired as well. Roman had experienced a lot recently, too. Encountering Azim, saving him from the lead borc, even fighting in Lemaerk. Had Roman had a long day, too? Azim could not even wonder. He could only assess what was empirically in front of him.

Looking back up at Leone, who was still laid out, Azim noticed that the young man had already fallen asleep. He had not even bothered to take off his shoes and get all the way into the bed. He was starting to snore, but not too loudly. Azim did not need to lay down, for he did not need to rest. He could consolidate computing power if he wanted to, which was a “rest mode” for him, but it was not absolutely necessary. And he did not need to lay down or even sit to enter rest. The robot stayed standing, turning down the brightness of his face so as to not wake his pet or companion.

While Leone had mentioned it casually, a nothing phrase that need not be worried about, Aizm fixated on the words he had said. “Long day”. As Azim entered his rest mode, he thought about the young man’s words, as well as his perspective of the day. He wanted to understand them. “Long day”…