The Knot That Binds

Thirty-One: Peculiar Absence

He shakes his head, rivulets of sweat flying every which way as a result.

"It's fine, man. This isn't about them, it's about me."

He sounds egotistical, but he's not exactly wrong either.

"Yeah, but I can still try to see if they want to-"

"No-"

Gambit uttered back, eyes locked on the red-tinted curved sword in his gloved hands.

"-if they wanted to show up, then they would. Plus it's not like they can win this for me, only I can do that. Well, me and whatever random partner I get."

Respecting his wishes, I nod and then give him a gentle slap on the shoulder. Gambit's not one to let his nerves get to him, but I think by being out of PvP for so long, he's gotten in his own head. This was a second shock, along with that some of the people he's closest to won't be showing up: Thena and Montes.

Thena hasn't interacted with any of us a whole lot for a while now. Originally I assumed that she would go quiet for a few days, maybe a week or so, but she's had minimal contact to this day- the twenty-fifth, not much past Thanksgiving. Considering she first stopped talking to us back in October, it's been quiet for a while.

She did send me a message to meet her in the parlor when she knew Gambit was out of the house a long time ago. Expecting to be asked for advice or something pertaining to her situation, I was sorely mistaken. All she did was tell me that there was a rift between her and Gambit, explaining she no longer felt comfortable talking to him. Trying to understand, I asked why it was so bad. Hell, he'd been after her hard for some time and they even went on a date at one point, so why was the close call of 'relations' such a disastrous possibility? Well, according to her, she always saw him as a brother. The date only happened because of a brief moment of weakness, at least that's what she told me. As things stand now, she's making plans to move out and take some time to herself. No one else knows, just me. I was told to keep it a secret and she'd tell everyone when it felt right.

Gambit was only able to keep his mind off of her because of this affair Sammie and I came up with. We didn't organize the tournament by any means, but we did pitch it to the big guilds. Both Troy and Coatl liked the idea and agreed to make it happen, but only because their frontline numbers have plummeted lately. This is their way of scouting out new potential guild members. Both of them took the reins and I haven't had to do much, besides sign my ass away. Purposely avoiding those two, I've managed to avoid duties pertaining to boss fights and organizing raids. It was never my job, nor was it Nox's, but that doesn't mean he still didn't participate. I'm convinced the dude thought we were playing an RTS game or some shit with the number of times he was coming up with plans and strategies to submit for guild use. But, because of his long-winded absence, Coatl and Troy have been unsure of what to do as they now have to actually do their job instead of standing there and looking cool.

I think that's one of the primary reasons why the floor progress has been a bit slow lately. With finite numbers dwindling and strategy becoming a troubled area, we're not keeping the same pace we once did.

Of course, I didn't offer to help strategize, that's not my thing. I did, however, say that I would participate in more boss meetings. Having not shown my face for a good few floors, they weren't too happy with me. Fortunately, they aren't entirely unreasonable and I explained the situation that I'm faced with at home. Thanks to Gambit almost entirely focused on PvP, Montes attempting to get back into smithing, and no one else able-bodied to fight bosses, I'm out of options. Still, in return for them setting all this up for me, I have to resume frontline duties. Hopefully, Gambit appreciates what I do for him. Not risking my neck was starting to get pretty cozy.