Tizek was staring perplexed at the leather glove currently on his left hand. It was a thick blacksmith's glove which had a tight, sloppy weave of leather straps hastily sewn between the four fingers. The thumb and forefinger were spread apart and had a leather net, equally sloppy, set between them. He flexed it a few times and looked at me. "What is the purpose of this, my lord?"

I had a matching glove on my left hand and a leather ball in my right. I tossed the ball into my own glove a couple of times to test the flex. It was a little stiff but it would do in a pinch. "It's called playing catch. It's a great way guys to get some exercise and have a chat." That's right, I decided to introduce baseball, at least the catch part, to Vialina.

The quality of the construction was, to say the least, rather shoddy. I decided to whip them up real quick from materials I found at a crafting supply shop. I had a hard time convincing the shopkeep to sell me only two left-handed gloves, so I ended up with two pairs along with a length of leather strapping. Maybe if this catches on, there will be a couple of lefties out there who would like to play with us.

I then purchased a simple leather ball at a toy store. It didn't have the stitching, but it would do in a pinch. After I hand-tied the webbing to the gloves using my dagger to poke holes, we had our dumpy little gloves. We were now standing in an open area in one of Leoren's park spaces.

"Here, catch the ball when I throw it to you." I gently lobbed the ball across the 10 meter distance I set for our game. When it reached Tizek, he snatched it out of the air with his bare hand. "Not like that, throw it back and I'll show you."

"Yes, my lord!" Tizek's form wasn't great. He tossed it to me in a manner you'd expect a toddler to throw the ball. It arced high in the air slightly off target. I tracked it as it came down and snagged it in my glove.

"See? Just like that. Here, try again." I gave him another easy lob. He tried to track it in the air and closed his glove a touch too soon. It glanced off his glove, then his chest and landed in the grass.

Tizek picked it up and wiped some of the moisture away. "I will do better."

"Don't worry about it, this is just for fun."

Tizek tossed the ball back in my direction and I had to go running. He was going to run me ragged with his terrible form. I realized I needed it since I was still not in great shape. I then threw it back.

He, once again, had his timing off when the ball came his direction. His glove closed too early and the ball slipped out onto the ground. "Is this all there is to the game?" He picked it up and threw it in my general direction.

I ran one more time and snapped the ball just short of hitting the ground. I still had it. "There is more to it. Someone throws the ball over a small white plate set in the ground and a different player tries to hit it with a stick." I wasn't going to go too deep into the complex rabbit hole of the rules of baseball. I barely remembered half of them as it is.

We threw the ball back and forth a few times. Tizek was a natural athlete and slowly got a handle on how to catch the ball, though his throwing form needed a lot of work. I wasn't going to bother with teaching him the fineries of tossing a ball since that wasn't the point of the day.

I caught the ball he threw back on another run. "Buddy, is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"I don't know."

I threw the ball back to him. "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"I am not. We will emerge victorious." He caught the ball and ran it over his hand. "I lied. I am concerned."

"About what?" The ball thudded soft in my mitt.

"I am afraid. I have only felt like this once before."

We continued gently throwing the ball back and forth while he told his story about the spider caverns when he was a child. The context behind why he told it was different. Before, he told me the story to inform me of how he thought his clan leadership dishonorable. It was his expression of how much he respected me as a leader.

Now, his story was tinged differently. He placed greater emphasis on his time in the cave itself. Every time he moved, every time he had to decide to slow to check a shadow or increase his pace to avoid pursuit and every time he had to evade an attack. His words were far more harrowing and tense than his last telling.

Tizek ceased throwing the ball when he caught it. "That was the only time I feared for my life. Until now. I feel ashamed. Did I fear before? My other selves?"

I removed my glove and held it under my arm. "They didn't."

He lowered his head and his crest fluttered. "Then I am the worst. I have failed."

I crossed the distance between us and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Buddy, you're not a failure. You're mortal. Your past selves? The threat was so unthinkable it didn't make sense. It even took me a while to understand it. It felt fake, like a story. Tomorrow? The threat is real and something you understand."

I could see his crest flutter faster and his shoulder droop. I decided to do something I've never done for him on any loop before. I pulled him into an embrace. He didn't weep. Instead, his muscles relaxed like an infant in his mother's arms. "Buddy, it's alright to be afraid. Don't think you're dishonoring yourself or me."

"You show no fear, my lord," Tizek whispered into my shoulder.

I gave him a pat on his back. "That's because I'm a little broken inside. I've seen you, Lia and Void die many times. Mostly by my hand because I don't know how the loop works. I've gone so far past scared I look positively normal."

Tizek pulled away and wiped away a tear on his leather armor sleeve. "I feel better. Thank you."

"Good," I replied. I looked up at the sky and saw the sun moving toward tops of the nearby buildings. "Let's get back to the Teeth. I think I'll buy you the special today. You've earned it."

I stowed the gloves and ball in my pack and we started on our way. We passed a few curious locals wondering what we were doing. I gave them a friendly wave and they decided there was something better to look at. The dud hero chucking a child's ball around wasn't exactly going to win them rumor mill brownie points.

We made it back to The Gnashing Teeth around 630Af to a boisterous evening. Inside, Doun was rushing around trying to deliver meals all by his lonesome. Lia was sitting at the bar eating her stew while Void was nowhere to be seen.

"Oliver!" Doun grumbled. "I need you to go up and check on Void. She rushed upstairs after getting back and hasn't come down. Juliette is out sick and we need help."

"I'll see what's going on," I yelled back. I turned to Tizek. "Go join Lia at the bar and have a chat with your friend."

Tizek gave me a contented sigh. "Thank you, my lord. Friend Lia will make me feel better, too." I gave him a pat on the back and pivoted toward the stairs.

As I moved, I spied Willem, Sari and their kids in their usual booth. I made a quick detour to say hi. "Heya. I have some good news, Sari."

Her eyes lit up. "What is it?"

"I not only got the letter to Amis, we escorted him back. I left him at Jummi's place. I have a good feeling about this," I said.

All four of them looked really excited to hear the news. Willem reached out and gripped my hand. "Thanks for doing this. All of us appreciate it." He squeezed a touch too hard. I keep forgetting the unassuming man was Advancement 12 and had quite the grip on him.

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I took my hand back and gave it a little shake. "You're welcome. Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta run upstairs."

I waved goodbye and stopped by Lia before heading up. "She been up there long?"

Lia set her spoon down and looked up at the clock over the bar. "About ten minutes. She mentioned she wasn't feeling well when we were coming back from an ice cream place."

"Thanks. I'll ask about how good the ice cream was later," I said before turning and heading up the stairs.

I stopped at the second floor and paused. In all my loops, I had never been in that part of the tavern because I saw Mira, Doun and Void as my family. I wasn't about to intrude on their personal space, even out of curiosity.

The hallway looked exactly like the one above, except there were a few indoor plants and some paintings on the walls. The paintings were of the three of them during different parts of their lives. There was one with a very pregnant Mira in a wedding dress next to Doun in a fine tuxedo. He didn't have that "I'm seeing a crossbow pointed at me" look I would have thought from his story. He had a genuine smile I'd never seen on him before.

The other images were of Mira holding infant Void, family paintings during different stages of Void's childhood and a pair of images of her as an older teen. One looked like a sort of school graduation ceremony and the other was a painting of Void in a Guard cadet uniform. I briefly imagined a painting of Void and me hanging on those walls one day.

My daydreaming was interrupted by a moan of pain coming from a partially open door. I rushed over and entered. "Void! Are you alright?"

When I entered, I was greeted by a bathroom. Void was sitting on the floor still in her armor with her head down on the rim of a smooth granite toilet while the rest of her was leaning against a polished pinewood tub. I knelt next to her and adjusted the hair dangling down her back so it wasn't dragging into the john. "Do you need me to go to an apothecary?"

Void rocked her head in to indicate a negative along the rim. "I just need a little rest. I made the mistake of eating ice cream with Lia. I'm also nervous about tomorrow night. Was I always like this?"

I rubbed her back gently in a circular motion to help calm her. "No. Tizek's nervous, too. Fighting people is a bit more real than trying to imagine a big tentacle beast busting into reality. In a way, tomorrow is scarier because you can picture it."

Void let out a little groan and dry heaved into the toilet. After she finished, she spoke. "That makes sense. I just need a moment. Can you get my uniform? It's in the wardrobe in my room directly across the hall."

"On it." I got up and went to the room she indicated.

I opened the door and saw her room for the first time. It had more paintings of her and her family on the wall. I smiled at one where Void, roughly aged 10, was sitting in a grass field with a live rabbit in her lap. She had a look of wonder on her face as she stared at the animal eating a clover in her hand.

On a dresser next to the door, I spied a few books lined up on top. One of them was a copy of the trashy romance novel about the deer-clan warrior and the badger-clan milk maid I had suffered through multiple times during my stakeout of the cistern. I guess there were other people who read that sort of thing besides a very bored me.

My eyes scanned the room and passed over a brand-new queen size bed against the wall to the right. To the left on the wall adjoining what I surmised was Mira and Doun's room was a thick tangle of freshly grown vines. The vines continued up along the ceiling. I recognized them as sound-proofing plants. It looked like the future in-laws had already prepped the place for cohabitation.

I spied the wardrobe and crossed the room. Opening the door, I saw her spartan clothing choices. Everything was grey and black. The sole exception was her server uniform. It was a white apron over the top of a dark blue blouse and a black skirt. Her shoes, a pair of lace slippers, were on the wardrobe floor beneath.

Void heaved audibly again across the hall. Poor girl just wasn't feeling well and the tavern was short staffed again. Doun mentioned Juliette, whom I guess they hired when we were away, is sick. Must be something going around. I never seemed to get sick here myself, save drinking tainted water before I learned Purify.

I picked up the uniform on its hangar and looked it over. Void was a big girl. She had 5cm on me in height, not that my 174cm height was all that impressive, and her shoulders were a touch narrower than mine. As I held her uniform out in front of me, a wild Florida Man thought wormed into my mind.

My imagination rewound back to many loops where I told Lia I was going downstairs to help with the business after their previous server, Janelle, quit on them suddenly. Lia mentioned they wouldn't appreciate my help as a server because I was dressed like, well, me on my day off. I held the uniform up to me. Hmm, it would be a touch tight at the shoulders and the skirt a little long at the legs, but I had a uniform all the same.

One more pitiful moan from Void across the hall secured my decision. My loving lady wasn't feeling good and needed help.

I sloughed my clothing off then set my rapier and bag with the homemade baseball mitts against the wall. I wiggled my way into Void's clothing with a few careful grunts to get my body into the blouse. Yup, a touch tight at the shoulders. As long as I didn't decide to do impromptu jumping jacks in the tavern, I'd be fine. I was also a little loose in the chest since I didn't have a pair of girls to fill in the space. I briefly pondered stuffing a couple of hand towels in there and decided that would look ridiculous, even for me.

The skirt was somewhat loose at the hips, though it wouldn't spontaneously fall off if I tightened the little string on the waist to tie it down. I had to pull a clip off the hangar to close the tail hole behind me, leaving me with a little wooden stub tail.

The shoes were going to be a problem. The people here, due to their digitigrade gait, had longer metatarsal bones than humans. Their shoes were longer to accommodate the lengthened foot and were a little more pliable than shoes I was used to since they would still press the whole foot down on the ground now and then. If I tried to wear them, they would look like clown shoes and I'd have a hard time staying balanced. I would need to keep my pink boots.

I found a mirror on the dresser next to Void's steamy romance novels and gave myself a look. It was a little silly and didn't fit properly, but the uniform would do. I would give the locals quite the sight.

I tromped my way back across the hall and into the bathroom to find Void still against the tub. She was taking long, slow, deep breaths to calm herself. It looked like the worst was past, but she was still not feeling great.

I knelt down behind her, adjusting the skirt to keep my knees from pulling it off my ass, and rubbed her back. "Feeling better?"

She nodded without looking at me. "A little. I'm still feeling tired. It should pass. Did you get my uniform?"

"I did," I replied. I stood and backed away.

"Thank y—" Void started and then stopped when she turned her head and looked at me. Her eyebrows creased and she squinted at me. "Why are you wearing my clothes?"

"You're feeling sick and I decided to take your shift," I replied. I made sure to use my "that was a dumb question" tone.

"But you look ridiculous. Dad won't let you serve customers like that," Void complained.

"Ridiculous compared to how I normally dress or just in general?" I gestured at the skirt. "I mean, you're right, it's a touch long for me."

"My boyfriend is a lunatic. Get out of those. I need to get downstairs." Void tried to get up from the tub and the sudden movement staggered her back into a seating position.

"No can do. You're sick and need to rest," I ordered.

"But dad—" Void started to protest.

"He's going to have to cope. He can't handle it alone. Who else is going to do it? Lia is way too small to fit in these clothes and Tizek is too big. Plus, he'd probably try to sample the meals before serving them. I've seen you do it enough times to know how it works and I probably know the menu better than Mira," I replied.

"You couldn't know it better than mom," Void said with a little urp. "Alright. I give up. Can you help me to my room?"

"Your dashing princess is here to serve." I gingerly helped Void to her feet and directed her to her room. Our journey across the hall was slow going to avoid jostling her too much and adding to the misery.

When I set her down on her bed, she patted the mattress and turned. Her eyes peered over the surface of the new bed. "Looks like dad gave us his approval."

I helped pull back the covers. "Seems so. Come on, slide in."

"Help me out of my armor first," Void asked. I untied her armor and helped pull her leather leggings off. I then checked her dresser, found her usual sleep attire and helped her dress. Her old clothing was folded and set atop the dresser atop her armor and next to the novels. I also set my gear next to hers. I wasn't sure how she handled laundry since I didn't see a basket anywhere.

I returned to the bed and saw Void was against the far wall. She was already planning on leaving the open space on the mattress for me. So cute. She was curled up into a fetal position and I pulled the covers over her. She gave a combo happy/misery moan. "I'm sorry about this. I knew we had some plans for tonight."

I leaned over the bed to kiss her on the top of her head. "That's not what relationships are all about. That's just the fun part. Where I come from, our vows include 'in sickness and in health'. I'm not disappointed. There are going to be times when you get sick, we get into arguments, annoy each other and other hardships. The point of a loving relationship is to work through them because being together is worth it. After tomorrow night? We have our whole lives ahead of us for more of the good stuff. Rest for now and calm your mind."

"Will you come back tonight?" Void asked with a little yawn.

I patted the empty spot on the bed. "You'll see me right here when you wake up in the morning."

In response, she nuzzled into the pillow, pulled the covers up to her muzzle and closed her eyes. I waited a moment after she instantly fell asleep and crept out when the light snoring started. I then made my way downstairs to fill in the waitressing role.

When I arrived on the main floor, the boisterous noise in the tavern instantly stopped. If this world had records, I'm sure it would have scratched when everyone turned to look at me. Lia's mouth dropped metaphorically to the floor and Doun had to catch his empty tray before he dropped it. Tizek was the only one who wasn't bothered by my attire. He looked me over briefly to see what the commotion was about, decided he saw nothing amiss, and went back to eating his stew. I had promised him a roast but he was apparently in a hurry to eat.

"Oliver! What in the Grand Creator's name are you doing in Void's uniform?" Doun yelped in a very not badger-clanly manner.

I pulled at the sides of the skirt and gave my best ankle-crossing curtsey. My best, not a good one. "Hello everyone. My name is Oliver and I will be your server for the evening. Sadly, Void has taken ill and won't be with us tonight."

Doun set the tray down on the counter and padded over to me. "Get out of that thing, you look ridiculous." That was fair. As far as I could tell, no one in this world ever cross dressed. It wasn't because it was taboo or illegal, the concept quite literally didn't exist.

I gave him a fake frown. "Come on, I'm more modestly dressed than usual."

Doun was about to reply when I was saved by a feminine voice from the crowd. "I think it looks good. He has the legs for it."

"Jennifer!" Willem and Sari both exclaimed at the same time. I was impressed they almost harmonized it.

That got the rest of the room laughing. After it calmed a little, I pointed at Jennifer. "Thanks for the compliment, but you're too young for me. Besides, I already got a girlfriend." If Jennifer's raccoon-patterned fur could have changed red to match her mother's it would have. That comment added to the joy in the room.

Doun slapped a menu slate into my chest. "Fine, the room has spoken. Here, show them the menu and have them point to what they want."

"Void taught me to read on our latest trip," I said. "Today's special is the roast in red wine and rosemary sauce. The soup of the day is a red clam chowder and the evening's desert special is blackcurrant pie. The sour desert should pair well with a warm sweet cream milk."

"You're a fast learner," Doun commented.

"I taught in a university back home." I swished my finger over the slate to familiarize myself with the operation. It wasn't too different from other slates I've used, so I had it figured out fast. I just had to remember the table numbers ran clockwise from the door starting with the eight booths then to the eight tables in the center. Doun would handle food orders for those at the bar.

"You look like a natural. If you do well tonight, mind helping out again when we're short?" Doun asked. "Just not in that uniform again."

"Of course," I replied. "Now, who hasn't been served yet? I can handle things after that."

Doun quickly reviewed the table numbering system. I listened since I technically didn't know. "Start with 3 then get 8 and 7. The orders will have a wood number chip on the tray."

"Before that," I said. "I didn't happen to get a letter, did I?"

Doun looked at me sideways. "You've only been here three months and half of that you've been out of the city. Who would be sending you a letter?"

"I saw the post notices around town about the hero meeting at Aoto's betrothal announcement," I replied. "I was thinking I'd have a summons here."

"Nothing showed up," Doun said. "I was wondering that myself. I thought you'd agreed to something a while back."

I looked over at Lia and Tizek. Lia gave me a puzzled expression since we just had a group conversation earlier about not missing the event. Tizek, as usual, wasn't interested and was licking his bowl. I turned back to Doun. "To be safe, I think we're going to leave early that morning. I'd rather not be late in case my summons got lost in the post."

"Good idea. Now stop dawdling, we have hungry customers!" Doun snapped before heading back behind the bar.

I gave him a little salute. "On it, boss!" I then whisked over to table 3, one of the booths, to take their order. As I made my way over, I wondered how Mira would react to seeing me in her daughter's clothing. It was not the night I expected, but it was turning out to be fun.

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