Chapter 106| A Little Snore Eats Time

Chapter 106: Chapter 106| A Little Snore Eats Time

Neither of them knew when they drifted off.

One moment the room was Thursday evening. The next it was darker. The half drawn blind no longer filtering light because there was no light left to filter. Just the quiet of the east wing at whatever hour this was and the specific warmth of two people who had fallen asleep without planning to.

Zane opened his eyes first.

The ceiling of room seven was familiar at this point.

Maren was beside him. Face relaxed in sleep. The off-shoulder top somewhere it hadn’t started the evening. The dusty rose fabric caught the faint light from under the door.

He checked his communicator carefully with his free hand.

9:47 PM.

’Almost ten,’ he thought. ’Guest room block closes common access at ten.’

He looked at her.

She was already awake. Eyes open. Looking at the ceiling with the specific expression of someone who had processed where they were and when it was and had arrived at calm.

She turned her head.

Found his face.

Neither of them said anything for a moment.

"What time is it." Maren’s voice was still slightly sleep-heavy.

"9:47." He checked the communicator again to confirm.

Her eyes went to the ceiling briefly. "We need to leave soon."

"I know."

She sat up slowly. Pushed her hair back with one hand. The specific efficient movement of someone reassembling themselves. She looked around the room with the assessment expression that apparently operated in every context including waking up in a guest room on a Thursday evening.

"You snore," she said.

He looked at her.

"I don’t snore."

"A little." She held her thumb and index finger slightly apart. "Just a small amount."

"That’s not a real measurement," he said.

The corner of her mouth pulled into the small contained smile that appeared when she’d decided something was funny but wasn’t going to fully admit it.

He looked at the ceiling.

’She’s going to hold the snoring thing over me,’ he thought. ’For an unspecified period of time.’

The system surfaced.

『 GACHA METER: 34% → 52% 』

『 Fill source: Sexual activity with bond target — significant fill rate applied 』

『 Bond depth update: 34% → 58% 』

『 System Note: The system was quiet as promised. The system is now logging the aftermath data. The system is very pleased with Thursday. 』

Zane stared at the notifications.

’58% bond depth,’ he thought. ’From 34% in one evening. And the Gacha meter at 52%. Almost past halfway.’

’Wait,’ he thought. ’What does bond depth actually do beyond tracking.’

The system surfaced.

『 Bond depth governs Gacha meter fill rate bonuses from activity with the specific bond target. 』

『 Bond depth 40-60%: Gacha meter fill rate from bond target activity +10% 』

『 Bond depth 60-80%: Gacha meter fill rate from bond target activity +20% 』

『 Bond depth 80-100%: Gacha meter fill rate from bond target activity +30% 』

『 Current bond depth with Maren Cass: 58% — approaching the 60% threshold 』

『 System Note: Two more genuine intimate interactions with the bond target should push bond depth past 60% and unlock the +20% fill rate. The system notes Thursday was efficient. 』

Zane looked at the ceiling.

’So the deeper the bond the faster the Gacha meter fills,’ he thought. ’Which means more spins. Which means more rewards.’

’Thursday was very productive,’ he thought.

The system surfaced again.

『 The system agrees entirely. 』

’I told you to be quiet,’ he thought.

『 The system was quiet during. The system is allowed to have opinions after. 』

Maren was already heading to the small bathroom to freshen up. He watched her go.

The off-shoulder top back in its correct position. The dark trousers. The hair that had been down all evening and was currently doing whatever it did when someone had slept on it unexpectedly.

’She looks different,’ he thought. ’Post Thursday different.’

The system surfaced.

『 All acquired Sigil output ceilings will be reviewed and updated based on current bond depth standing 』

’Why not now,’ Zane asked the system mentally.

『 The system is simply recalibrating new data』

Maren came back out of the bathroom and he went in after her. Three minutes. Freshen up. The mirror showing him the Thursday evening version of himself that was slightly different from the pre-Thursday version where he was more pronounced.

He looked at it for exactly two seconds.

Then went back out.

Maren had the table cleared. Empty plates stacked, the cooktop surface wiped down with the cloth she’d left, the room returned to something approaching its original state. The specific efficiency of someone who cleaned up after herself as a default rather than a decision.

He looked at the room.

Then at her.

"You didn’t have to do that," he said.

She glanced up briefly. "Someone has to." Already shouldering her bag.

He picked up his own bag. Looked around room seven one more time.

’Thursday,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host is sentimental about a guest room. 』

’I’m not sentimental,’ he thought.

『 The host looked at the room for 3.2 seconds. The system has sensors. 』

’Let’s go,’ he thought.

He looked at Maren. "Let’s head out."

She was already shouldering her bag. "Finally."

The guest room block officer looked up when they appeared at the desk.

Zane set the key down.

The officer looked at the key. Then the clock on the wall — 10:08 PM, eight minutes past the standard access window. Then at both of them with the unbothered expression of someone who had been running this desk long enough to have seen this exact situation before and had developed a policy of not asking questions about it.

He took the key. Filed it. Then looked up at both of them over the desk with the specific flat energy of someone who had something to say and had decided to say it.

"Next time," he said carefully. "Try to be out before ten." A pause. "I have a job I’d like to keep. Even from first years."

He went back to his desk without waiting for a response.

Zane and Maren walked out into the corridor.

Neither of them said anything for three seconds.

Then Maren."First years...."

"He noticed," Zane said.

"Of course he noticed." A beat. "We’re not subtle."

He looked at her sideways.

She looked forward. The small contained smile sitting on her face doing whatever it wanted.

They walked out into the corridor.

The east wing at 10:10 PM was quiet. The campus settling into its late evening frequency. Lights down in the academic block, the practical complex dark, a few students moving in the distance between buildings.

They walked toward the path junction.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Then Maren.."The snoring was so loud."

"I don’t snore," he said.

"A little." The specific warm version of the word landing exactly the way it had in the room.

He looked at the path ahead.

’She’s going to say that forever,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host has accepted this. Progress. 』

At the junction Maren stopped.

Looked at him.

The Thursday evening version of her. Hair still slightly from the sleep. The off-shoulder top. The bag over one shoulder.

"Same time tomorrow," she said.

"6:20 AM," he said.

She raised her hand.

He raised his.

The simultaneous wave. The same one from every previous parting at this junction. Except tonight it carried a different energy in it and both of them knew it and neither of them said so.

She turned toward the girls dormitory path.

He watched her go.

Then turned toward the boys dormitory.

’Friday tomorrow,’ he thought. ’6:20 AM.’

’Some things don’t change,’ he thought.

Gerald wheezed somewhere ahead of him.