Tsu'na was happy with the hat I made for her...or, more specifically, she was happy about being able to enjoy literature while working. Gotta figure out how to do that economically, though...audio books are a lot more expensive than kindle editions. Back in the Day there was a service called Books on Tape where you paid a monthly and could borrow a box of cassettes at a time; maybe there's some membership plan like that out there today.

With Tsu'na planning a day of consuming corn and Tolkein, I headed to Tulsa for what I hope was my last day at Flying Tigers.

Tony was probably looking forward to it, counting the minutes until the window was in and I was out. But I at least partially disappointed him by strongly suggesting he head out for breakfast while I worked.

"You got a problem with me watching you?" he asked.

A. Yeah, I don't particularly want you breathing down my neck while I work.

B. Yeah, I don't really want to pull a storefront-sized sheet of plexiglass out of my inventory in front of you.

I went with C. "Well, no, it's just that between the plywood coming down and the window going up there'll be nothing between you and the street. But I mean, it's up to you."

He gave me that long, grim stare of his. "How long do you need?"

"Half an hour should do. Truck's supposed to get here soon."

"Fine. Back in half an hour."

"Blueberry muffin if they have any?"

He didn't answer, just went out the back.

I gave him five minutes to get clear, then took out Tsu'na's plexiglass sheet. Swapping the plywood for the window was quick; it just took time to undo and redo all the brackets. The whole thing was finished in fifteen.

The window wasn't crystal clear. It wasn't foggy or anything, but there was a different quality to the light coming through it. Not quite polarized, not quite shaded, but different. Very distinct sense of stuff outside being outside. Not that familiar with plexiglass in quantity; maybe it all looks like that.

Tony exceeded expectations by in fact bringing back a blueberry muffin, even if it was a little dinky hard thing the likes of which I think I last saw at a Shoney's. He inspected the new window, nodded in satisfaction, and got out his phone to let people know he was fully back in business. I polished mirrors.

A busload of tots came in an hour or so later...I guess he'd been sweet-talking the daycare centers all week. They swarmed in, bounced off walls and padded things and each other and me. Tony led them in follow-the-leader-over-the-obstacle-course, got them to play Sisyphus with a big medicine ball, and generally kept them frenetically active while the staffers that came with them ran damage control. It looked a lot more fun than any kindergarten I remember.

Juice boxes came out at the end of it all, giving me something to clean off the mats when the swarm swarmed out the door. Tony was looking more relaxed than I'd ever seen him; he seemed to pretty much forget I was there.

The power lunchers powered in and out and the yoga ladies turned up in force. The day was starting to look normal. Which of course meant it was time for the Longshots to make an appearance.

It was still Lookout and New Guy, and this time Lookout was taking point. I'd been in the back when they came in; when I went out, Tony was saying, "She still hasn't shown. Haven't seen her all week."

"Yeah, we know. We been watching. What about..." Lookout stopped when he saw me. "You. You work here?"

"Uh...yeah...started this week. Why?"

"What do you know about the knight guy?"

Switch to puzzled look, turn to Tony. "You've got someone working nights?"

"No, knight guy!" said Lookout. "Guy in armor like a knight! Waves a sword and shield around!"

Switch to incredulous look, turn to Tony. "Is he for real?"

Tony demonstrated his acting ability with a shrug.

Lookout growled. "Yeah, I'm for real! Knocked me into a wall! Stabbed our guy in the arm! Now what do you know about him?"

Stare, switch to pissed look, turn to Tony. "Was that the blood you had me clean up? You said that was a broken nose!"

Tony reprised his role with another shrug.

"You didn't tell me about the shootings and stabbings when you hired me! What's next? Am I going to be dumping bodies for you or something?"

Tony tried to expand into voice acting. "Hey, I..."

I threw the cleaning rag I was holding to the floor. "Forget it! I'm outta here! You're not paying me enough for this!" I stormed into the back out of sight, kicked the back door open, switched to Ninja and Stealthed. After the door slammed shut I went back to the front room to see what the fallout would be.

I was surprised to find all three of them standing there, looking vaguely embarrassed, like a domestic dispute had blown up right in front of them...which I suppose technically happened. The Longshots looked at Tony, who fell back on his strengths with another shrug. Lookout sighed and gave New Guy a nudge, then the two of them wandered out.

Maybe I should have followed them, to see where their headquarters/hangout/hideout/lair was, but I didn't have a good way to do that if they were driving. So when they were well and truly away, I went back to the back room and called out to Tony, "So, window's in...guess we're done."

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna leave my number here on your desk, just in case."

"Don't bother."

"Hey, you never know." Honestly, my hope that he doesn't use it is probably as strong as his desire not to, but if something bad enough happens to make him use it it would probably have something to do with us.

I went quietly out the back, re-Stealthed and made my way down a block's worth of alley before shifting to Earth normal and entering the sidewalk crowd.

Tsu'na had said she'd be at Player One after harvesting. I made my way there and found her at a machine. I slipped my arms around her shoulders and kissed her hair; she leaned her head back into my chest and continued with the cutscene she was watching. I recognized it as Southern Thanalan: her character Rika was learning to be a Paladin.

The scene ended and she removed her headphones. "So similar, yet so different."

"Yeah. I remember how personal it felt when I was there."

"How long did it take you to get this far in the game?"

"Paladin? I don't remember. I was Arcanist and Summoner for a lot of the MSQ. I did cap all the classes, but that came later. When I bought the game it came with one month free, and I think I got to the Sultana's party in that time. But that was with my own machine at home."

She sighed softly. "Fifteen hundred dollars, you said."

"Thereabouts."

"Perhaps after my next fight."

"Beating someone up for computer gear? That's a serious gamer."

"Yes. I am Champion of Player One. Let me send Rika to bed and I will allow you to buy me dinner."

"Gracious as ever, my love."

There are plenty of Chinese restaurants in Tulsa. Szechuan This, Hunan That, China Whatever, with a blend of buffets and fusion places mixed in. But reviews seemed to agree that if I wanted proper peking duck, I needed Tony's Duck House. Pretty sure that's no relation to "our" Tony, though for all I know Master Shen is a better cook than a martial artist.

The place certainly looked the part. It was slightly on the ratty side, with a few glass lanterns hanging here and there, one of those waving cat things behind the bar, and, most importantly, a majority Asian clientele. There were even a couple signs, handwritten in Chinese, that I'd been led to believe advertised specials for people most likely to order them.

As we were being escorted to a table, I was pleasantly surprised to pick up bits of conversation. Among the abilities of the Echo, our blessing from Hydaelyn, was translation like in Doctor Who, but I hadn't had occasion in Wyatt to see if it still worked for us. Or worked for "this" us. I might need to check out Telemundo now. And revisit anime.

I ordered peking duck and some bok choi stir fry. When the duck was ready, it was brought out on a cart by an older man who may have been the restaurant's Tony. He stood the carcass on end and made quick, efficient work of it with a knife, shaving off first the crispy skin and then the tender meat, laying it all out on platters. When he had reduced it to bones, he gave me a bow, I gave him a nod, and he carted the remains away.

Tsu'na had watched the carving with interest. After the man had left, she asked, "And that is what you threatened to do to the Longshots?"

"Yes, my love."

"I approve. Though would you have needed to cook them first?"

"Better to keep threats simple. Now, let's see if you approve of the duck."

We didn't really need utensils in Eorzea, but I'd insisted on teaching Tsu'na how to use chopsticks in Kugane because I wanted to show off. She remembered enough to be able to follow along as I spread out the pancake, applied the plum sauce, laid out the scallions, and selected a combination of skin and meat.

We rolled up our pancakes together. We took our first bites together. We dripped plum sauce on ourselves together.

I grinned and leaned forward. "Eat over the plate, my love." We didn't grin together.

She scowled as she fussed with her napkin in her lap. "Food was not as messy in Eorzea. Is this why you keep making pies?"

"That's more of a theme thing."

"Will we be making duck pies?"

"That would take a lot of duck hunting."

"Is it duck season?"

"Not sure. Might be wabbit season."

"What is a wabbit?"

"Not important."

We ate, we talked, we unwound. Normal couple doing a normal thing in a normal restaurant, before going off to do our normal Friday night thing in a normal dive bar.

Normal is nice sometimes.