The messages kept coming.
Nathan sat at the apartment table, interface glowing in the dim morning light. Lucy had left for school an hour ago, toast unburned and backpack properly packed. The apartment was quiet except for the soft rustle of bunny fur and the occasional chime of another guild offer arriving.
He had stopped counting after fifty.
Mirko and Kuro were curled on the bed in their small forms. Mirko watched him with a quiet concern. Kuro appeared asleep, but her ears twitched every time Nathan muttered under his breath, which happened with increasing frequency.
'You are overthinking it, master' Mirko observed.
"I'm thinking the exact right amount."
'You've been staring at that screen for two hours.'
"Three actually." He scrolled past another offer of a mid-tier guild promising "unlimited growth potential" and "a family environment."
Deleted.
"And I'm almost done."
