Martin opened his mouth, but nothing useful came to mind, so he decided not to answer. Rias's small, satisfied smile only made him more determined to keep quiet.
They continued deeper into the hall, squeezing between servers, players, and floating system windows. Although the interfaces themselves were visible to everyone, their contents remained private. Anyone looking over another player's shoulder saw only blurred shapes and patches of light unless the user chose to share the screen with their party.
A waitress squeezed past them with a tray of glowing drinks. Martin leaned aside to make room, and his shoulder brushed against Rias's.
Another group approached from the opposite direction and forced her even closer. She stayed beside him until they reached a less crowded section of the floor.
"There isn't a single free table," she said near his ear.
Martin searched the room. "Let's try upstairs."
