“Their relationship is weird Ursula, stop trying to comprehend it,” Sharp said with a sigh.

“But! He’s an angel, Sharp. The scriptures say that if they lay with our kind then demons will be born and from the union and…!” Ursula spoke quickly and with a whisper, as if afraid I could hear her, and then went quiet as if afraid to say more. She glanced at me and flinched, then looked back down at the game-board.

Her hesitation was funny since the three of us were sitting so close, and had been talking to each other for hours. And several topics had been just as sensitive, and she’d not seemed to hesitant or ashamed of talking until now.

“If he’s an angel then we’re doomed anyway, so there’s no need to worry about that,” Sharp said as she went to move one of the pieces on the board.

Her bandaged hands had to grab the tiny wooden pieces carefully. Not because they’d break or shatter upon touching her skin, but because they were so smooth that they kept slipping from her tiny fingertips thanks to her bandages. She carefully lifted the small piece, and took one of Ursula’s horses.

Ursula sighed, but not because she had just been placed in check. “Just be careful Renn. Vim’s bound by his rules, and so too our realm, but he’s still a piece of divinity. Don’t allow yourself to be led astray,” Ursula warned me.

“I uh… I’ll do my best,” I said, unsure of what else to say to her.

For some reason she was genuinely worried for me.

You’d think her belief that Vim was a servant of her religious divine figures would make him trustworthy and worthy of affection. Yet it seemed it was the opposite.

Ursula nodded gravely at me, and then went to move one of her pieces. Sharp clicked her tongue in annoyance as Ursula not only protected her Queen, but returned the favor and put Sharp in check.

Smiling, I watched as Sharp crossed her arms and went to glaring at the board. Her robes made odd sounds as it got pushed and squished by her arms. It wanted to slide along the smooth bandages, yet her bandages on her arms weren’t fully encompassing. Tiny patches of her skin snuck through, which caught on the robe.

When no one was talking, the sounds of her bandages and robes were rather loud. At least to me. And it wasn’t helped much by the fact that the room we were in was a little… strangely sound-proof. I couldn’t hear much at all outside of the room, so everything in the room sounded louder.

We were in Ursula’s little library. Her board and its pieces were many times bigger than my own, but it made sense. Mine was one made for carrying. For traveling. Hers was a large board, able to be opened not too unlike a book as to put the pieces away into specially made holes for every piece.

It was honestly very beautiful. It was made out of a reddish wood, and the way it had been sanded and crafted made the game board and its pieces glossy and detailed. Which was one of the reasons Sharp struggled to keep hold of the little things.

I wasn’t sure if Vim had made it for her or not, but I’d not be shocked to hear it had been. It had his… strangely too perfect appearance to it. It looked like it was without flaw at all and yet somewhat simple all the same. A boring perfection, basically.

“I can’t say I don’t understand why you and so many others think he’s some kind of god… especially after seeing what he had done yesterday… But Vim? A god? He’s failed too many times. Made too many mistakes. And he lets those failures weigh him down. A god would not be so bothered by their own failures as he,” Sharp said as she studied the board.

I nodded, agreeing with her.

“That’s because you’re looking at it from the wrong perspective. I’m not saying Vim’s a god, I’m saying he’s a piece of one. A servant. A child. A tool. He was put on this planet to guide us, to fulfill his creator’s desire. He can only operate within those boundaries set upon him,” Ursula said as she went to take a drink of tea.

As she grabbed her cup, I pondered her words and viewpoint… while also studying the way she was about to win the game.

When had she set on this path to victory? I had genuinely thought her defeated a few moves ago… yet here she was, certain to win. Unless she made a mistake. Sharp had allowed Ursula to box in her Queen, while all of Sharp’s more potent pieces were on the wrong side of the board, in another corner. She had no way to get them back into position in time. She had a few moves she could do to prolong her fate, but none that I could see that would save her from it.

“I get how you see it. I’m saying even with that excuse it still doesn’t work. Even if he’s bound by some strange rules and laws… how do you explain his failures? What god allows failure?” Sharp asked as she reached over and grabbed a piece finally.

She didn’t lift or move it though. She instead held it as she frowned and studied the board closer.

“His failures are only such in our eyes and perspectives. From the eyes of a higher power, they’re not failures but simple steps to an end. Destiny and fate leading the world where it should go,” Ursula said, then took a drink from her small cup.

Sharp sighed and moved her piece. “I’m defeated. I don’t see a way out of this,” she complained as she put the piece into the only spot that prolonged her defeat.

“Funny. There is a way out, but it’s fitting you don’t see it since you can’t see the obvious in life either,” Ursula teased her as she went to move her own piece.

I raised an eyebrow as I heavily studied the board again.

There had been a way out of it? Really?

Sharp sighed in defeat, and pushed over the tall skinny piece. Her Queen fell with a light tap against the wooden board, and rolled a bit.

“Hmph,” Ursula smiled in victory as she went to take another drink from her cup. Or well, for her it was barely more than a sip.

I was glad I had brought my own cup. The one that matched Vim's, that we carried while we traveled. Although it still wasn’t that big, it was at least big enough to hold a few real gulps and not just a few sips.

“So Renn?” Sharp then asked me.

“No… I don’t see how you would have won. I’m assuming it’s something to do with these castle pieces, but…” I said as I pointed at the one I thought possibly led to the solution, but I still couldn’t make heads or tails of how to accomplish it. It was likely a pattern of moves, a dozen moves deep. If I had time to ponder it, I’d probably eventually see it, but… no one would willingly wait hours for me to ponder something as simple as a singular move of a silly little game.

No one other than Vim at least.

“Huh…? No… I meant…” Sharp went quiet as she studied the board. “Oh.”

“Did you figure it out?” I asked as I noticed the bandages wrapped around her head shift thanks to her hair moving in excitement.

She nodded. “I could have taken her horses after a few moves, and then fought back. Oh well,” Sharp said with a sigh.

Oh…? Oh…! I nodded as I saw what she had pointed out.

“We can resume if you’d like,” Ursula offered.

“I lost. Defeat is defeat,” Sharp said.

Was it…? I kind of wanted to watch the rest. Ursula seemed to have a plan to counter it, so it would have been interesting.

Though maybe Sharp knew that, and decided it was pointless anyway.

“And no. I do agree that Vim is special… that he’s likely not what we think he is, but I don’t believe Vim is a god or related to them,” I said as I went to helping them putting the pieces back into their proper starting positions.

“Special? How are you thinking?” Sharp asked, interested.

“I’m not sure. But he’s definitely got secrets. Plus although he’s strong and seems to heal from practically any injury… I’ve known others who were unique like that too. I knew a witch once able to heal someone from even death. So although he’s strange, it’s not in a way that is as unique as we think it is. But even that witch, with all her power, hadn’t lived as long as him or knows the things he does. So… there’s definitely something strange about him, beyond his mere bloodline or abilities,” I told the two women.

“You knew a saint Renn? A witch on top of it?” Ursula asked, her hands pausing above the board. She held one of the queen pieces, and thanks to the angle of her arm and hand I wasn’t able to put back the piece currently in my hand. Not without bumping into her.

Ursula didn’t seem to mind the touch, or presence, of women… but I wasn’t going to risk it. For all I knew she’d get panicky over my touch too, and all that would do is ruin the moment.

“Vim’s said she had likely been a saint, yes. She hadn’t called herself one though. She had simply intruded herself as a witch. She had hunted me, but we became friends… for a short while, until I killed her,” I told her.

“Good for you,” Sharp praised me.

Ursula though frowned at me, and clenched the Queen piece in her hand tighter. “You killed her…?” she asked worriedly.

I nodded. “I had to. Yes.”

“I see…” Ursula looked away from me, and I noted the depressed resignation in her gaze.

A little worried at how sad she suddenly seemed to be, I glanced at Sharp… who only shook her head at me.

Thanks to her bandages, I couldn’t really tell what Sharp meant by the shake of her head… but I figured it wasn’t her saying she didn’t know why Ursula hadn’t enjoyed hearing about my friend… but rather that I shouldn’t press on it.

Thanks to Ursula growing bothered, I was able to easily put the piece I had been holding back into its proper spot. I didn’t need to grab another, the board had been reset. Only one piece was waiting to be put into place, and it was the one in Ursula’s hand… which was now on her lap.

“Shall we end it here today? It’s almost dinner time,” Sharp then said.

Oh…? I glanced at Sharp, and noticed the soft smile hidden under her bandages.

She really could be gentle and kind when she wished to be.

I nodded. “Sounds okay to me. I’d like to find Elisabell before it gets too late anyway,” I said.

“Elis… Ah, that human you brought,” Sharp said as she remembered her.

“You spoke to her this morning, Sharp…” I said gently, to remind her. We had all ran into each other as Vim and I returned to the church, after putting the tombstone we had made for my family next to his parent’s one in the mountain nearby. We had finished making it last night, and went early in the morning to place it next to his parent's. He had offered to let me put it here, in the cemetery of the Crypt... but I kind of liked the idea of us having a secretive little grave site to share, just for us.

“Yeah… but I hadn’t heard her name then,” Sharp defended herself as she crossed her arms again.

I smiled at her and nodded. “That is true,” I said.

Sharp nodded, glad to hear I understood.

“That’s right… you plan to leave soon, don’t you?” Ursula finally snapped out of her strange depression.

I nodded, and smiled gently at her. “In a few days, so Vim says. Yes.”

She sighed and reached over to put the Queen in its proper place. She placed it down, and then gently turned it a little… spinning it until it was in perfect placement. Facing boldly the enemy army on the other side.

“Typical Vim. Shows up, makes a ruckus, then tootles along,” Sharp said.

Ursula giggled. “The privilege of the divine,” she said.

“Of the mighty, maybe,” Sharp corrected.

“Thank you two for inviting me to your little game,” I said to the two, not caring for either of their perspectives. They did have a ground to stand on, I admitted... but I believed they were both too far down the branch of truth. Or well, more so Ursula's opinion. Sharp didn't seem to think Vim was a god, or anything like it, but she also didn't seem to think he was a normal man either.

“Hm. It was fun. You’re still newer at it, and it shows, but you play in a unique way. I look forward to playing you again next time you visit,” Ursula said happily.

“Next time we’ll play for keeps. It’ll be fun,” Sharp added.

“Keeps…?” I asked.

Ursula gestured lightly at me, with a tiny point. “Favors. Just little things, like cooking meals or doing each other’s laundry. It helps add a little spice to our little games,” she told me.

“Oh…?” I sat up a little straighter, and found myself very interested.

“So in this case I owe Ursula two favors,” Sharp said. She had won once but lost three times to Ursula.

“Then I’d owe both of you several favors,” I said.

Sharp sighed and Ursula giggled at me. “You sounded far too excited over that,” Ursula teased me.

Well… I shifted, and my tail bumped a nearby bookshelf.

“You’re fine, Renn. You’re leaving soon. We can play for favors next time,” Sharp said as she got off her chair.

“You sure…? I’d not mind,” I said.

“Definitely. Even if you’d enjoy it. It’s rude to force one to such rules without first telling them of it. Rather sacrilegious really,” Ursula said.

Sharp sighed, but nodded. “To a point, yes,” she said.

Although a little disappointed, I decided to let it be. “Okay. Next time then,” I said.

Sharp headed for the door as she nodded, and I hesitated as I stood. Were we just… going to leave? Without helping Ursula clean up? We had cups, and we had pulled chairs over to the table and…

“It’s fine Renn. I plan to read anyway, before dinner,” Ursula said to me, likely noticing my concern over us leaving her alone.

“You sure?” I asked.

She nodded gently at me. “Yes. Thank you for playing with us.”

“Hm…” I hesitated all the same as Sharp opened the door.

“Coming Renn?” Sharp asked, and I begrudgingly obliged. Leaving Ursula and her quiet library, I shut the door behind me and followed Sharp down the hall.

“We should have at least helped clean up, Sharp,” I said to her.

“Hm…? It’s fine Renn. Really… you’re strangely upright. Must be because of Vim. He’s weird like that too, always tidying up and never leaving a mess or anything,” she said to me.

Well… although glad to be compared to Vim in such a way, I hadn’t meant it that way.

Deciding to just let it be, I changed focus. “Has Ursula read the fourth installment yet?” I asked.

“Yes. There’s only one person left who wants to read it. I’ll give it to her after I read it one more time,” Sharp said.

Oh…? So everyone’s read it already? So quickly?

I guess we’d been here for a few weeks now but…

“Ursula was right though. You play like someone who just recently learned how. Who’ve you been playing with?” Sharp asked, changing topics again.

“Vim,” I said.

Sharp sighed. “That’s tough,” she said.

It was. But he let me win sometimes, so it was okay.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“He doesn’t like it much… so I don’t bug him to play too often,” I said.

Sharp nodded with a frown as we rounded a corner. “Some people just don’t like playing. Ursula and Prasta are the only ones who play with me… I used to play with Rapti a lot. Rapti loved it. Or… loves it, I guess,” Sharp said softly.

I frowned and slowed. “She does. She’s the one who originally taught me how to play it,” I said. So Sharp knows Rapti?

Really…?

Rapti was… very religious. Sharp and her were friends? Such an odd pair.

Sharp slowed to a stop as well, and glanced up at me. “You met Rapti…?” she asked.

I nodded. “In Nevi. Not long after I joined. We had only stayed there a few days… Vim had been in a hurry to get back to the Cathedral. I enjoyed spending time with her,” I said.

“Hm… she is fun to be with, yes,” Sharp agreed.

Oh…? That had been an odd tone. Had she been smirking in a playful manner, or had that been a sad smile? It was so hard to tell thanks to her bandages…

It really was too bad she seemed to always wear them. Especially since she really didn’t need to.

She only did it as to make sure no one accidentally hurt themselves by bumping into her on mistake. She herself didn’t really need to wear the bandages to protect herself.

Sharp was far kinder than people thought.

“I’m… likely to see her again. Rather soon, maybe. Vim told me we’ll be heading back north that way. Would you like to write her a letter?” I asked Sharp.

The small woman tilted her head, and I felt her hard gaze from behind the bandages. I tried to hold it, though wasn’t sure if I was actually looking at her eyes or not. She had wrapped herself in several layers this time, so it was harder than usual to tell.

“No… not this time, I think,” she then said.

I blinked at the very sad voice, and did my best not to worry… as I nodded gently. “Okay… maybe next time,” I said.

“Mhm…” Sharp nodded back and I heard the tiny cry in the noise she had made.

Feeling horrible, I realized I had likely just… hurt her somehow. Or put her in an awkward position.

“I’m going to go to my room. To read the book one last time before you two leave,” Sharp then said, and I did my best to not let her see that I could hear her heartbreak in her voice.

“Okay… I’ll see you later, Sharp,” I said gently.

“Mhm,” she made the same sound again, but this time a little more surely. She turned, and stepped away… walking slowly.

She didn’t look like she was walking stiffly… but I could tell I had just bothered her. I knew she likely… hadn’t taken offense or anything but…

Feeling horrible, I turned around and stepped away as well. So that just in case Sharp started to cry, I’d not be around to hear it. The poor woman deserved that much at least.

Now I didn’t want to find Elisabell. Now I wanted to find Vim. To ask him what I had just done.

Would he tell me? Sometimes he just… told me everything, without hesitation… other times he held firm, and kept every ounce of secret he held from me without fail.

Although I didn’t want to pry into Sharp’s life or struggles… I now felt horrible. Plus…

Well…

I had intended to just make a nice offer. A nice gesture.

Vim had given me permission to handle the letters of our Society… so I had simply tried to get one myself. I had a new job, and I had wanted to do my best at it.

And the first person I asked a letter from got hurt because of it.

Vim is going to have to tell me who I should ask and who I shouldn’t from now on… or else something tells me I’ll be experiencing that awkward pain a lot in the coming days and years.

Rounding a corner, I picked up the pace… and ran into Frett.

Slowing, she slowed as well… and smiled at me.

Inwardly groaning at a new kind of awkwardness, I smiled back at her. “Hey Frett…!” I greeted her, and flinched at how silly I had sounded.

Come on, Renn! Don’t be so obvious about your unsure self!

Frett though only smiled more and nodded, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she had genuinely found me amusing.

“I uh… know. I know. Silence. Sorry I’m not very good at it. I uh…” I rambled as I smiled at the woman who was patiently, and silently, watching me.

Taking a small breath, I sighed… and relaxed a little thanks to it.

“Sorry. I uh… Vim and I, we plan on leaving in a few days. I know you can’t… really communicate right now, but if you need anything… just let us know okay?” I told her.

She nodded.

“Right… okay…” I shifted a little and nodded back. Then hesitated. “Wait… did that nod mean you do have something you need?” I asked, worried I had misunderstood.

Frett’s smile softened, but she didn’t nod or shake her head again.

Right… she can’t answer.

So weird. Why could she sometimes nod or acknowledge a question, but other times not? Was it the phrasing? Or was it something personal? Plus she had somewhat giggled just now, although lightly… wasn’t that a sound? Didn’t that break silence?

“I’m… not good at this… So… I’ll just have Vim make sure later, okay?” I suggested.

Frett’s smile evened and she blinked at me… then gave me a tiny bow of the head and stepped away.

Oh…? Was that a way of acknowledging me, and what I had said… or had she just dismissed me because I had brought Vim up?

Watching Frett walk away, I sighed at myself.

I wasn’t doing very well, was I?

Making members feel awkward, or upset. Not properly doing my job and fulfilling my duties. Needing Vim to cover for my lacking self…

It all made me feel useless.

Returning to walking, as to search for Elisabell, I wondered if Frett now hated Vim. She had told me very clearly, and had acted in my perspective, that she was completely unbothered or angry over Tim’s death… but…

That didn’t mean it hadn’t affected her… or that she had not simply been hiding her true feelings of the matter.

Groaning as I picked up the pace, I rounded another corner and ran into another robed woman.

“Hello Lena,” I greeted her as we passed one another.

“Heya Renn! Did you run into Frett earlier?” Lena asked as we both slowed, to speak with one another.

She had a basket in her arms. One that looked full of clothes and towels. Likely laundry.

“I did. Just now,” I said with a point down the hall I had just come from.

“Hm… what’d you think?” she asked.

“Of…?” I asked back.

“Her vow?”

Oh. “Well… I mean… not sure, really. But she seems serious about it,” I said.

Lena sighed and nodded. “Right…? It’s so weird. Our faith does have such vows, but they’re more for punishments than anything else. Which means she’s seeing it as such. A punishment. A curse. Penance. I don’t know what to say to her, but I wish I did… She should be grieving, and spending time with everyone to make her feel better… not just go all quiet and sulk,” Lena said.

I shifted and wondered if I agreed or not. A part of me definitely did… but… well…

Maybe Frett did have something to ask forgiveness for. Maybe she did deserve punishment. Who was I to say? Or know?

Though I did agree her method was a little… odd. “At least she’s not hurting herself,” I said, and decided.

“That’s true! Abel flagellates himself, the poor man. That too is something in our scripture… but sheesh,” Lena shivered a little, which told me that her word had been something bad. Worse than even Frett’s vow of silence.

I nodded, but said nothing. I knew if I opened my mouth I’d ask what she meant by that word. And although I knew she’d likely tell me, and not make fun of me for it… for some reason at the same time I didn’t wish to.

“Oh well. Maybe she’ll get over it in a few months or something,” Lena then said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Yes. Hopefully,” I nodded and agreed, willing to risk my voice now.

“Hm… oh well. Back to laundry,” Lena said with a small shift of her basket.

“A form of punishment too, some think,” I said lightly as I stepped away.

Lena’s face scrunched up as she went to laughing. “So true!” she agreed as we both went our separate ways.

As I listened and enjoyed Lena’s giggling as I left her behind, I continued to try and decode the word she had used.

Flagellate. A punishment. That Abel did.

And it made him a poor man, or at least it made him seem so to Lena.

She had flinched and shook her head too… so…

Likely something painful, maybe.

Rounding a corner, I walked past the kitchens. Pausing a moment to peak my head into them, I sighed at the sight of two human members, but not Elisabell.

Seriously, I had seen her so often before the whole Tim thing… I had run into her all the time while walking around, yet now I couldn’t find her at all.

I’d think she was avoiding me if not for the fact I knew she was likely just in some room somewhere, hanging out with her new friends.

Elisabell was trying to convert. As to join this convent. Properly.

They seemed to be letting her, and believed her desire… but I couldn’t help but feel that it was still a little wrong.

She was obviously just doing it as to… fit in. To be accepted. She wanted to do it because otherwise she’d be ostracized.

That wasn’t faith, was it?

Though… I guess it didn’t matter, much.

In Vim’s perspective it was fine. In the view of those here, even those like Abel or Frett who were doubly so invested in their faiths… they too saw nothing wrong with it.

Those were both ends of the spectrum… and they both agreed. Though maybe for differing reasons… so…

What right did I have to find it at fault?

“It’s not that cold, I think.”

My ears perked up and turned, and I smiled as I hurried down the hallway I had just heard Elisabell’s voice come from.

Although now very comfortable, and not afraid in the slightest… Elisabell still had a slight tremor in her voice. A tiny crack, as if from worry. A unique trait that made it very easy to notice and recognize her voice in an instant, even amongst a choir.

Hurrying down the hallway, I slowed as I neared an open door. One half ajar.

Peering into it, I found Elisabell and three other women. Two humans and a non-human. The lizard girl, Prasta was standing across from Elisabell with her focus on the table before her.

They were standing around a table, and arranging what looked to be utensils. They were getting ready to have dinner together.

Although I wanted to talk to her, and would have enjoyed having dinner with them… I instead stepped away. Staying quiet, I headed away from the door and back down the hall where I’d came.

She needed to settle. To solidify her place here. If I kept intruding… it’d just slow that process down. Even if I was welcomed, and even if I’d enjoy it…

I’d rather they all got along and became closer friends far more than me enjoying a single dinner.

I was actually very glad that Elisabell was doing fine. Even if I didn’t entirely… understand or agree with her whole conversion thing, I was very happy she had not only found a place to call home… but seemed to be enjoying it too.

Especially since she had essentially been, and technically still was, a prisoner.

Considering how badly fate went for us sometimes… Elisabell dying, running off, or Vim deciding to end her life out of necessity… all had been very possible and maybe even the more likely outcomes of all that happened. So for it to have ended with her here, happy, and being accepted…

Yes. Very good. Very good indeed…!

“Why so happy?”

I jumped, and bumped into the small bench against the wall as I turned to glare at Vim.

“Vim!” I shouted at him as my heart thumped heavily in my chest.

He tilted his head at me in a way that made me want to pick up the bench I had hit my knee on and thunk him over the head with it.

Looking around, I groaned as I did my best to calm myself.

I had rounded a corner… and hadn’t noticed Vim leaning against the wall near an extrusion in the stones. Where a door was. It hadn’t completely hidden him from view… especially not as I walked past him, but it had obviously done more than enough to hide his presence from me all the same.

“Sorry, Renn,” Vim apologized, and I could both hear and see that he had meant it… but…

“Now that I know you do that intentionally, I’m not going to accept your apologies anymore,” I told him, and then I glanced behind me… at the bench I had hurt my knee on.

Sighing, I sat down on it. I didn’t feel like sitting, really, since my heart was now thumping wildly… but…

“Well… I don’t do it intentionally either, Renn. In fact I hadn’t even known you were going to round that corner. I knew you were nearby, I had heard your voice and smelled you, but I had thought you were a few hallways down,” Vim said as he crossed his arms and watched me relax and calm down.

“Then… why were you leaning there? Half hidden?” I asked, accusing him.

“I had been waiting for Abel. He’s in there,” Vim pointed at the door he had been leaning next to.

“Doing what…? That’s not a bathroom,” I said.

“No. It’s a prayer room. He’s uh… well… likely hurting himself,” Vim said as he frowned.

“Hurting…” I blinked as I realized what he meant, and also why Lena had spoken of it. So she must have known, or this was just… the time Abel did this. Like a daily thing. “Flagellates?” I asked him.

“Flag… well… yes. But it’s flagellation, when saying it that way. Abel uses a tiny whip with little spikes on it. It punctures and cuts the skin, but not so badly that it can kill or get infected,” Vim explained.

“But… why?” I asked as I glanced at the door. I didn’t hear anything happening behind it. Either the door led to a hallway, which then led to another room… or that door was far thicker and more soundproof than it looked.

“It’s just a thing some religious folks do. Or well… it’s also a sexual thing too, sometimes,” Vim said as he thought about it.

“Sexual…?” I asked, and leered at Vim.

“Hm…” he nodded as he frowned, likely thinking about whatever he had meant.

“I’ll not be doing that with you, sorry,” I told him.

Vim blinked, and then smirked at me. “Funny,” he said. Then he stepped forward.

I shifted away, thanks to his strange comment, as he sat down on the bench next to me.

He sighed as he sat back, and made the small bench both become crowded… and creak loudly, as if about to snap.

“If this breaks while I’m sitting on it, I’ll bury you in one of those graves outside,” I warned him.

Vim chuckled at me. “Duly noted.”

I nodded, glad he understood.

For a moment we sat in silence, and as I realized I was calm once more and my heart wasn’t beating wildly in shock… I realized we were actually sitting rather close to one another. Vim had even leaned his arm back and over the bench’s top, behind my head.

Although I knew Vim hadn’t done such a thing with any weird intention or meaning… it still made me smile a little. Not because he was doing it, or doing it to me, but rather that he was doing it here. In this church.

In a Society location.

Vim really was willing to let people know he was letting me grow close to him.

Sometimes I felt he was just… playing along, like when I called myself his wife or made comments about it. Not because he saw our relationship as a joke, but rather as a way to tepidly hide the truth from them.

He played along, lightly, to make them think he wasn’t being serious about it. Sometimes. And usually it worked.

Yet lately…

“Oh.” I remembered something important, and then reached over to grab his thigh. “Vim,” I said quickly.

“Hm?”

“Do Sharp and Rapti not get along?” I asked.

Vim frowned at me. “Well… no. There’s a reason for it, though. They used to be very close friends. Inseparable. Something… kind of like what you and Nory had been like,” he said.

“Oh…” I felt my heart thump weirdly again, for a different reason.

“Why…? What happened?” Vim asked.

“We had been playing that board game. Ursula had one, and I guess her and Sharp play often together. We all played each other, and I got to spend time with them… I told Sharp I had learned from Rapti and she got kind of weird… so I then offered to take a letter from her. To Rapti. I had misunderstood. I had thought they were friends,” I said, explaining it.

“Ah… don’t feel bad Renn. Sharp… actually does still see Rapti as a friend. Rapti’s the one who right now is… being difficult. But she has a good reason for it. Just let it be, it’s fine,” Vim said.

“Easy for you to say, Vim. I feel bad all the same.”

“Hm…” Vim nodded, and then went to patting my head.

I blinked as his hand brushed between my ears, sometimes hard enough to make my whole head turn and move because of it.

Although a little annoyed, I couldn’t help but smile and giggle at him. “Is this what you always do to all the women and kids in the Society? No wonder they’re always running away and grumbling at you,” I said.

“Eh… a bad habit,” Vim said, but he didn’t stop.

“It’s not that bad really…” I admitted. Although he wasn’t as gentle as he could be, it wasn’t like it hurt or really bothered me. I even had ears on the top of my head too. So for those who didn’t, like Sharp or Merit… well…

Though…

They might not like it not because of how it felt, but rather the meaning behind it. Vim was basically teasing us when he did it. Most in the Society had known Vim since their birth, or not long after it... So it was more playful than anything else... However… some of them were kind of small. Almost like children... I could see why those like Merit took offense to it. But he did it to others too, who didn’t outright look like children either. I’d seen him do it to not only Merit and Sharp. But to Lomi… and even to Landi, Riz, and Herra. He didn’t do it just to the young… though that was likely not the right way to look at it. After all, to Vim, we were all young.

My ears fluttered as Vim brushed my hair and patted my head… and I frowned at the feeling of him doing his best to not touch my ears.

“My ears aren’t so fragile Vim, you can touch them,” I said as I glanced at him, and had to look away as his hand pushed my head a different direction.

He hadn’t done it roughly, but I did shift as to keep my neck from feeling strained.

Vim’s hand had come to a stop. His hand and his fingers felt like solid bricks above me, but they weren’t squeezing or pushing me. I lowered my head a tad, and felt his hand in my hair and against my ears. It was not moving, and was still stiff but it didn’t stop me from turning my head to look at him.

“Honestly… I do want to touch them,” he then whispered.

I paused, and then smiled at him. “Go ahead,” I offered. That was the first time he’s actually said aloud such a desire before!

Grinning happily, I did my best to not leap at him and wrap him in a hug. I did not want to spoil the moment. I would remember this moment my whole life and...

Vim stared at me for a moment as I tilted my head just enough to slide an ear under his palm… which immediately fluttered thanks to it tickling me.

“Yeah… no…” Vim said as he raised his hand a little.

I tilted my head again, as to glare at him once more.

“You really are a coward, sometimes,” I said with a sigh.

“Mhm…” Vim grumbled as he pulled his hand back, and the door opened… revealing a tired looking Abel.

As Vim stood to greet Abel and talk to him, I glared at the man who should have just indulged in my ears.

A day would come he’d not be so hesitant… but I worried he’d take too long. Or worse… one day he might learn to ignore or control those desires, and thus never act on them even when willing and able.

I mean… Vim was making progress. Quite so. I wasn’t upset with his lack of it, really. He’s made great progress in letting me into his heart… but…

For every moment he gave in and let me closer… there were a dozen more moments like this. Where he not only kept his defenses up, but seemingly enforced them as well.

One step forward... two backward.

Standing as to join their conversation, and go with them to help make dinner, I decided to start being a little more pushy. At least, just a little bit more.

I mean really. Vim could kill someone without hesitation. He could make that decision, and then act on it, in the blink of an eye… so why then did something as silly and simple as touching my ears make him so cowardly?

Although it made him adorable, it also meant it was a form of a roadblock. For me. It was a trait of his that I would need to overcome, eventually.

If Vim wouldn’t, or couldn’t… then it was up to me. I would do what he couldn’t.

Hopefully I could do it though, since sometimes I faltered as well…

But maybe if we both faltered and stumbled together…

Maybe we’d eventually meet together and accomplish it all the same.