Robin didn't wallow in her disappointment for long before she got up and left.
Of course, it might have also been because Sylvia had been bold enough to pat her head.
When Robin stood up with her head lowered, even her earlobes were bright red.
Even the little wings behind her ears seemed tinted with a blush of peach.
Since Robin had been leaning against her shoulder, Sylvia could only see the back of her head from above, so she hadn't noticed any of this.
Every time her hand brushed through, Robin's body would tremble slightly, and Sylvia just assumed she was still upset.
The more Robin trembled, the gentler and more earnestly Sylvia stroked.
It wasn't until Robin's pair of small wings started smacking against the back of Sylvia's hand that she finally stopped.
Before Sylvia could even speak, Robin shot up, mumbled something under her breath that Sylvia couldn't make out, and then, like a gust of wind, dashed out of the room.
"…Was she blushing?"
Sylvia stared at the now-empty doorway.
Then looked down at her own hand, which still faintly held a trace of Robin's lingering scent.
It was only then, with delayed realization, that it hit her.
Could it be… Robin had just been embarrassed?
The moment she realized this, Sylvia, who hadn't thought much of it before, suddenly felt her own face flush red.
She had genuinely thought she was comforting a somewhat disappointed Robin, but now it turns out she'd actually been teasing a shy little bird?
Oh boy.
Thank goodness Robin was kind and gentle, and didn't punch her.
She just used those little wings to smack the back of her hand a few times.
Just then, her phone buzzed.
Opening it, she saw a message from Miss Robin.
[Robin: I'm sorry for running off so suddenly just now.]
[Robin: Um, I didn't mean it in a bad way…]
[Robin: It's just… well…]
Seeing Robin's tone, like she was struggling to find the words, Sylvia could almost picture her lying on her bed, face red, staring at her phone.
[Sylvia: No, no, I should be the one apologizing.]
[Sylvia: I didn't notice how you were feeling.]
[Robin: ?!]
[Sylvia: …]
Oh no, that slipped out without thinking. Sylvia felt a bit awkward too, almost wanting to turn off her phone.
On the other end, Robin buried her face even deeper into the sofa cushion.
Her feet, now free of their shoes, pattered against the sofa.
"Mmm—!!!"
She let out a strange, muffled sound.
Ding-dong—
Her phone buzzed again. Robin only peeked one eye out from the pillow.
The small wings behind her ears folded forward, covering her eyes.
Then she secretly let a tiny gap open, glancing at the screen from the corner of her eye:
[Sylvia: …Hey, maybe we should just drop this topic here.]
[Robin: …]
[Robin: You're right. Let's drop it. This whole thing.]
"Phew…"
Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief after reading Robin's reply.
This kind of embarrassingly awkward misunderstanding was something she really didn't want to dwell on.
It seemed Robin wasn't too keen on continuing either.
Perfect. They could just silently agree to pretend it never happened.
[Robin: Sylvia, I'm planning to go see my brother. If what Mr. Micah said about Penacony's dream is true, my brother ought to know.]
[Sylvia: Going now? Want me to come with you?]
[Robin: No, not now. I'll witness everything in the Dreamflux Reef with my own eyes first, then ask him for the truth I want.]
[Robin: I need to go alone.]
[Sylvia: Got it. Same as always then—contact me before you go, and keep your comms open.]
[Robin: Alright, alright, I know. You really worry too much, Sylvia.]
If Robin ever went off-grid, at least Sylvia would know who to go to for answers.
Though, honestly, with how overprotective Sunday was, Sylvia figured Robin would probably be fine.
At worst, she might be confined or something like that.
If anyone actually tried to hurt Robin, Sunday would probably tear them apart with his bare hands.
Sylvia always got that vibe from Sunday.
Robin had probably never even considered the possibility of Sunday harming her either.
But feelings were just feelings; she still had to stay alert.
She closed the chat with Robin for now.
Sylvia collapsed back onto the sofa, trying to catch her breath.
But the moment she had nothing to do, her mind drifted back to the image of Robin blushing and running off.
Especially the part where she'd completely misread the situation—it filled her with a secondhand embarrassment so intense she wanted to bury herself.
"No can do. Can't stay by myself. Gonna go hang out with Silver Wolf for a bit. And ask her about Sparkle while I'm at it."
Sylvia glanced at the game Silver Wolf was currently playing.
She sent her a quick private message and logged in.
--+--
Inside a certain interstellar war-themed game.
Sylvia easily found Silver Wolf, who was commanding a fleet and absolutely dominating.
Sylvia played this game purely as a travel sim.
The kind of casual style where you fly your ship around, mine some ore, and just wander aimlessly.
Since she was riding on Silver Wolf's coattails, she rarely had other players trying to PvP her.
In the game, Silver Wolf was wearing a rather provocative commander's uniform.
The short skirt and leather boots gave her a rare, more mature vibe.
"Yo, what's the occasion? You actually have time to play with me today."
Silver Wolf was manually commanding her fleet while still managing to kick back, legs crossed, chatting with Sylvia.
"Gotta have some downtime, right? Besides, I've been hanging out with you pretty often lately, haven't I?"
Sylvia walked over and sat down beside Silver Wolf, eyeing her uniform.
She got a glare in return:
"Tch, you don't even play with me every day, and you have the nerve to say 'often'? And you only ever play for a few system hours at a time. Most of the time, I'm still soloing."
"Don't project your hardcore gamer standards onto me, alright? Who can play for twenty system hours straight like you? A normal person would've dropped dead from exhaustion ages ago."
"And you count as a normal person?"
Silver Wolf scoffed at Sylvia's statement.
Someone who casually stuffs things like Stellarons, the Arbor, or an Emanator of Destruction into their own body, and still has the audacity to call themselves normal.
"There's no human more normal than me in this entire world, okay."
"Ha, that's a joke."
Silver Wolf let out a merciless laugh while simultaneously bulldozing through the battlefield, pushing the enemy player back step by step.
Eventually, she handed over all operations to the AI.
She turned her full attention back, pivoted, and with a couple of clicks, propped her boot-clad legs up onto Sylvia's knees.
The shadowy view beneath her short skirt teased at the edge of Sylvia's vision.
Silver Wolf didn't seem to care, crossing her arms and asking:
"You came to ask me about the script and Firefly?"
"You knew that? Does the script cover this kind of stuff too?"
Hearing Sylvia's question, Silver Wolf made a face, clicked her tongue in annoyance:
"Tch. Originally, no. But because of you, Elio added it in temporarily for me."
"Added what?"
"That I can't tell you anything."
"Huh?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.