Chapter 61: Outside Perspective

Arlyle made a sour face at his Navigator, then turned to Hugh and primly said, "As a matter of fact, I did have a point. Different people like different things, darling. What you see as flaws, others might see as attributes. So don't judge yourself so harshly. When you look in the mirror, don't cry about how you're not a classic beauty—which, by the way, is merely a nice way of saying a person is completely without any defining character. You need to look in the mirror and say, 'hey, I'm just fine how I am because someone out there is going to see me as the sexiest beast alive and anyone who doesn't appreciate me can fuck off'. And if that still doesn't work, then just remember you have two men right here who will be happy to ogle your goods whenever you feel like taking another evening run."

Hugh blushed and nodded, silently admitting it felt nice to know someone was interested in seeing his body on display. While he and Frankie had continued to flirt with each other, it wasn't like the man had thrown himself at Hugh. And why should he? He was rich, successful, handsome, smart, and had to be far more experienced with men. If either of them should be throwing themselves at the other, it should be Hugh throwing himself at the Doc.

"I know that face," Arlyle said knowingly. "Spill it, darling. Who's the man?"

Although it wasn't planned, the words spilled out and he told Arlyle everything he knew about Frankie. It took nearly half an hour to run through everything, by which time he'd moved their conversation to the tavern table on his deck and Dex had surreptitiously served them tea from the Wonderland tea cart.

"Is it really such a bad thing to be cautious?" Arlyle asked when he finished. "This isn't a movie where the heroes meet and fall in love in under two hours. If you think about it, you barely know the man. But—! That's the entire point of dating. You take him out to dinner, get to know each other, and have a little side dish of romance. I think the full-on dessert course is off limits for you right now, baby bear, so don't stress about it. Take things nice and slow and things will work out the way they're meant to."

"And he might have the same concerns," Sanders pointed out. "From what you said about your interactions, he probably thinks you're some daredevil with an adventurous lifestyle he can't hope to compete with. He might be stressing, wondering why a virile man like you would want him and his boring nine-to-five routine."

"You know, that's not what's really bothering me about this entire situation," Arlyle said, leaning forward over the table to emphasis his point. "Baby bear, where's the passion in all this? I get the doctor is a catch—rich, handsome, steady, and all that. But is that enough? Somehow, I'm getting the feeling you're going after him more because you think you should than because there's a real spark."

"I—" Hugh stopped himself from blurting out a defensive retort and thought about it. Was that what he'd been doing? Sure, he liked Frankie, but how much? Did he actually want to build a relationship with the man or would he be happy remaining friends?

"You think about that, baby bear," Arlyle said with a nod of approval. "Now that we have your brain actively addressing the issue instead of simply reacting, I'm going to throw one more thing at you. You should still take him out to the dinner you promised. Nothing will make it more clear whether there's the potential for passion than sitting across from a man for a three course meal with no other distractions. You'll either be completely fascinated by every word coming out of his mouth or you'll be dying to get out of there."

"If it's just okay and you don't find yourself dying to kiss him at least once, don't try to spare his feelings," Sanders advised. "Give it to him straight. You're both adults and you have a hundred years to search for Mr. Right. According to all the references I have, he'll respect you more and it'll increase your chances of remaining friends."

"Hugh," Dex said gently as he finally stopped working and joined them at the table. "You have nothing to fear. No matter how things progress with Doctor Jones, I will be here."

His breath caught in his throat at the Navigator's solemn promise. He didn't know why, but it made all his worries disappear. Muscles throughout his body uncoiled from where they'd been tensed for days without him noticing and the twisting in his gut eased.

"Oh my," Arlyle said softly. "That certainly puts a different spin on things."

Hugh didn't know what he meant. "What?"

"It's time, Hugh," Dex interjected before Arlyle could explain. "The moon just rose fully above the horizon and I've cleared as much space in the front yard as I can. You should do the summoning as soon as possible if you aren't going to take a nap. The longer you wait, the more tired you'll be and the more likely you'll make a mistake from exhaustion."

He searched for the moon and found the pale ball hovering in the evening gloom just above the ocean horizon. He automatically turned in search of the sun next, but it was hidden on the far side of the instance, beyond the rocky cliff separating the two sides of the housing instance. He didn't think it'd gone down completely, though. It was still too bright out and the street lamps lining the road hadn't turned on.

"Is there enough moonlight for it to work?" he asked. "It's not night."

"We're not in direct sunlight and the spell doesn't specify an amount of moonlight. It should work."

"Are we done with the Vault? I want to dismiss the door before I try this."

"I believe I pulled out everything useful for the moment. I put a selection of dishes and cookware in the kitchen storage drawers and your espresso maker on the counter. You had nearly two dozen shelving units available, so I collected a few shorter units and put them into the living room to serve as an entertainment center. I also took the liberty of collecting a selection of trinkets to fill the shelves until you decided what you want to go on them."

"Did you happen to find the Gyrospherical ceiling fan for the living room?"

"It's already installed. Moto-maid and Moto-sentry are charging and I found Moto-mechanic and Moto-gardener, so you have the full collection at your disposal. Oh, and you had sixteen crafting stations in your Vault. I'm not sure how usable they'd be, but I put the woodworking station and accessory workbench in the garage, and the Haxxor research terminal in the living area. I didn't think any of the others would be necessary unless you had an interest in pursuing a specific craft."

"No, but I should probably scan the entire lot for my NPCs. Remind me to do that tomorrow. Does the Haxxor terminal function as a home computer? It'll be great if I don't have to go to the Hub anymore to get on the Net."

"It does, which is why I knew you'd want it. You had two other viable home terminals, but the Haxxor unit was the only one without a dedicated chair. I set it up in your living space so you can use it as either a television or a terminal. The screen is large enough to serve both needs."

"That's incredible," Arlyle commented. "From the sound of it, you already have everything you might need except for groceries."

"I—" Hugh froze as he stared at the open Vault door on the far side of the front yard, struck by a sudden epiphany. He did have everything he needed—and more. "Dex, are the items in my Vault functional while they're in my Vault?"

"Not unless you lock them in place so they can't be removed," he said. "Why?"

"Because I just realized something huge—I already had a house. Is there any reason I can't use my Vault as a base of operations in the field?"

Dex paused as he considered it. "It's possible. There isn't a timer on how long the Vault can stay up, but you can't close the doors while you're inside and anything you add that's not a GameNet approved Legendary will be destroyed when you dismiss it. I don't advise trying unless you're in a dire situation and need to regroup. Remember, you only get two Vault summons a day. The interior of your Vault might be more comfortable than sleeping on the ground, but it counts as a new day's use if it's still open after midnight."

"That's okay. Tomorrow we're definitely going through the entire place and setting it up the main room as a field base. I know I have turrets in there somewhere and a few patrol bots. It'll be great having them watch our backs if we have to sleep in enemy territory."

"Tomorrow," Dex agreed. "For tonight, have you decided how you want to summon your ghost?"

"I think so. There's something I want to try, at least."

"Can we stay and watch?" Arlyle asked. "This is so exciting."

Hugh shrugged. "As long as you don't mind waiting while I prepare everything and you don't interfere."

Arlyle eagerly agreed to his terms, but Sanders didn't. "It's getting late, Arlyle," he said. "We should see what we can do about getting your house set up before you lose your chance to use today's spawns. And we'd only be distractions if we stayed. It'd be safer if we watched from next door anyway. No one here knows exactly what might happen. What if the spirit tries to possess one of us?"

"They can do that?" Arlyle gasped. "No way, no way am I staying to watch if the ghost can actually possess people. No offense, baby bear, but that's where I draw the line. If Sanders says it'll be safer next door, then that's where we're going. Ghosts can't cross property lines, can they?"

"No, the boundaries around the property lines are made to contain things like this," Dex soothed. "Animals might get loose and roam the public areas, and plants can spread the same way, but they can't follow you onto your land. Consider it sacred ground."

"I believe that's our cue to leave," Arlyle said as he rose from the table. "It's been a pleasure meeting you both and I look forward to seeing the outcome of this little experiment of yours, but I'm going to high-tail my sweet tush out of here. Good night and good luck, baby bear. I look forward to seeing you out running again, so do your best to keep all your bits and bobs in one piece. Okay? Okay."

Hugh smirked as the pair of twinks scurried down the driveway at a quick pace, fleeing Hugh's housing plot as if their tails were on fire. They both slowed once they were safely on the sandy plot next door and he could hear Arlyle already cooing over the possibilities of what he could do with the place.