Neville, sitting across from Grayson, couldn’t help but lament. Even though they were wearing the same thing, Grayson still managed to look absolutely handsome in it.

It was really unfair. Neville thought bitterly.

[Host, your blood pressure is rising~! (◕‿◕✿)] Shelly’s voice chimed in his head with far too much glee.

’Shut up.’

"Here."

Neville blinked, startled as Grayson held out a wrapped sandwich that Neville had brought

"Stop thinking and just eat," Grayson said, his eyes looking at Neville intensely. "You haven’t eaten much since breakfast."

"We ate the same thing at the same time."

"I know." Grayson’s lips curved slightly. "That’s why I’m saying you should eat now, together."

The way Grayson said that felt a little ambiguous for some reason.

Neville accepted the sandwich, turkey and Swiss on rye, Grayson’s favorite that he probably didn’t know that he liked, and unwrapped it slowly.

From the food area, they could still see the massive display of the jellyfish collection. Hundreds of translucent bodies drifted past in an endless, hypnotic dance.

Moon jellies, their pale forms like ghostly umbrellas. Box jellyfish pulsing geometrically. And scattered among them, dozens of bioluminescent species that painted the dark water with soft, ethereal glows.

Purple. Blue. Pale gold.

Each one was like a tiny star floating in an artificial ocean.

Neville watched them interestingly, his sandwich momentarily forgotten in his hands.

The gentle movements, the soft light—it was peaceful in a way.

"I like the purple ones," he murmured without thinking.

Grayson glanced at him, then at the exhibit. "I thought you would like the blue ones."

"If everything were in the color blue in the ocean, how could you find anyone?" Neville asked, turning to meet Grayson’s gaze.

"When everything looks the same, nothing stands out. The purple ones..." He gestured vaguely at a cluster of violet-pulsing jellies near the glass. "Stood out this way."

Grayson said nothing for a long moment. His eyes remained fixed on Neville’s face, and his expression became completely unreadable.

Then he simply shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich.

Neville deflated slightly.

Did he say anything weird?

After thinking for a while, he didn’t reach a conclusion.

I’m probably just overthinking this again, he told himself firmly. I’ll just shut up and eat.

They ate in companionable silence, watching the jellies drift past.

A family with two young children settled nearby, the kids pressing their faces to the glass with delighted squeals. An elderly couple shared a bench across the walkway, the husband pointing out different species to his wife with gentle patience.

Normal people. Living normal lives.

Neville envied them sometimes.

"Where to next?" Grayson’s voice broke through his contemplation.

Neville turned, finding that Grayson had already finished his sandwich and was now watching him with that same unreadable expression.

"What?"

"After they clear us." Grayson nodded toward the exit, where a line was beginning to form as security officers set up scanning stations. "Where do you want to go?"

Neville’s stomach dropped.

Scanning stations.

After a robot explosion, the authorities would definitely want to verify everyone’s identities, check for injuries, and possibly even scan for residual energy signatures or chemical traces.

’Shelly,’ he thought urgently. ’The scanners—’

[Already calculating, host! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و] Shelly’s voice turned serious for once. [Depending on the scan depth, it could cost anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 reward points to mask your mermaid biology. And that’s per scan.]

’What the fck is this inflation?!’ Neville complained.

[As your favorability rises, appropriate adjustments would also be raised.]

’You mean, the ingredients also—’

[Yes, host.] Shelly then started showing digitized money confetti. [Capitalism~ Favoritism~ Inflation~ $▽$]

Neville winced internally.

He had just earned a lot of points from that hidden quest, but if there were multiple checkpoints... 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Neville?"

"Sorry, I was just..." He rubbed his temples, which weren’t actually aching but gave him an excuse to look distracted. "distracted."

Not to mention his ears were killing him.

The fishes around talking all at the same time were already killing his ears. Plus, the people gathering and talking around were also adding to his headache. Not to mention the children who were with them.

It was total chaos.

Now that the authorities and their mechas started to form around to start investigating, it just added to his ringing ears. He wished there was a way to plug his ears without Grayson knowing.

Either way, all these noises blended into a cacophony that scraped against his enhanced mermaid hearing like sandpaper.

Neville reached into his bag and pulled out his emergency snack stash: a bag of banana chips and another of potato chips from his inventory.

He ripped open the banana chips first and shoved several into his mouth, the loud crunching in his own skull providing a blessed distraction from the external noise.

Crunch crunch crunch.

Much better.

Grayson watched this process with raised eyebrows but said nothing.

Neville appreciated that about him. Grayson never asked unnecessary questions if he felt that Neville didn’t want to be asked.

○●○●

The day really had gone about as poorly as it possibly could.

He had planned everything meticulously.

But all of it was finally ruined by a cleaning robot exploding.

And now his little secretary sat beside him, wearing that absurd shirt, stress-eating banana chips filled with determination. His eyes, usually so bright and alert, carried a dull edge of exhaustion.

He had failed to give Neville a proper day off, a proper date.

The realization made Grayson feel heavy.

His light brain buzzed.

Grayson glanced down at the message notification and frowned.

[Lilianna] - from Chronos

Grayson knew exactly what this meant.

It meant that Lilianna was their first route.

His frown deepened.

Then a banana chip appeared in front of him.

Grayson blinked.

Neville had extended his hand, casually offering one of the chips in front of his lips.

The chip hovered there, slightly moving as if urging him to eat.

Grayson stared at it and unhesitatingly leaned forward.

He ate it directly from Neville’s fingers.

Neville froze, his ears turned a deeper shade of red.

He didn’t shy away from feeding him again, but he didn’t say anything either.

Progress, Grayson thought with quiet satisfaction.