Guess it's time to leave the floor

5 minutes. They've been sitting there for 5 minutes, not a word spoken. Youngwoo held Hilda, her head on his shoulder as some tears escaped her eyes. Her breathing was rather stable, and sounds of her sobbing were gone. Now, both of them were watching the stars, silence in between them. In that time, Youngwoo was thinking deeply.

It didn't make sense for Hilda to be so upset. Wasn't Calm Mind supposed to set off her anger? He frowned. He knew that it had a chance to amplify the feelings instead of negating them, but she seemed way too mad before. Even if she was not content with whatever Donnie said, he could imagine that she'd be reasonable enough to not escalate the issue. Then why did this happen?

'She's always so collected... was the argument that serious? I mean, it surely must've been the issue. Now, what to do? Will she calm down on her own?' Well, to be honest, he didn't want to leave it up to a chance.

"Hey, Hilda-"

"Don't." She cut him off harshly. However, he could feel that she wasn't directing that word with the same anger anymore; it seemed like she was slowly calming down.

"Don't what?" He rose an eyebrow (well, not like she could see that).

"Don't comfort me. Don't tell me everything's going to be alright. We both know it won't."

"...I didn't want to do that anyway."

"..."

"...so..."

"What?" She asked.

"What happened back there?"

"..." She stayed silent for a long moment. "...nothing important."

"...alright." He said, deciding not to push the issue. Never stick a stick into hornet's nest, they say. Especially if they're mad already.

They kept on watching the stars again, not speaking a word more for some long minutes. Youngwoo had his arm wrapped around Hilda, feeling her heartbeat reverberate through his fingers. His own heartbeat was spiking, but he started taking a little deeper breaths to calm himself down.

Hilda held onto him firmly, not wanting him to go. She didn't understand what she felt. The feeling in her mind and body was... eerie. She wanted him gone. She wanted Donnie gone, too. For a brief moment, she wanted to push him away, so why... why didn't she? Why did she embrace him? She could only imagine that inside of her head looked like someone's spaghetti. This made little sense, even to her. How could it be? She wanted him here and not here... what was that?

After she had her argument with Donnie, she started thinking. Before Youngwoo came around, she was pondering on her past. What happened a long time ago. How the war orphaned her and Ieva. How they were living in poverty for a few years, before she decided that Tower would be better. How she got her S-rank skill while Ieva got B-rank one (which later evolved into A-rank). How exhilarated they felt. How their lives turned around. How happy they felt, for first time in years.

But that didn't mean the Tower was easy place for them to live in. They had to hunt, over and over again. Sometimes, their lives were put in danger. There were times when Hilda regretted coming to this place. But now? She couldn't explain why, but... she felt complacent. For once, while sitting with that man, she felt like she could just let her issues go. There was something about him that made her feel... safe.

No, snap out of it, girl. Think about this calmly. Just because you like the man doesn't mean everything's gonna work out, now. No, for now, Hilda knew what she had to do.

"...I need to go." She said, her voice now calm. She wiped the remnants of tears from her cheeks, and got up slowly.

"Huh?" He tilted his head, looking up at her, but decided against asking.

"I need to see Ieva."

"...I see." He nodded lightly. "Are you going this instant?"

"I'll go and wash up, and then I'll take my things and go." She replied.

Without a word more spoken, the two of them made their way downstairs, and then into the guest room. Looking at Donnie, they both noticed that he was already sleeping. It seemed that even a heated argument wouldn't be enough to prevent him from getting some sleep. Good for him.

Youngwoo sat on his bed while Hilda took some clothes from her bags. After she ensured she had everything, Hilda took her steps outside. Lee decided to simply fire up a round of Saper (or a dozen, depending on how long she'd take).

Well, but in all sincerity, just playing a round wasn't really going to cut it. He felt it was... simply mundane. A little frustrated, Youngwoo groaned and put his phone away. No, for now, he needed to get his priorities straight. There were a few problems he had to figure out.

Firstly, there was the issue of his own quest. 13th floor was about to be unlocked, so if he played his cards right, in within next few days he could be holding Iris' Wardstone. In the unlikely scenario that somebody got it before him, he could regress and get it faster (although he didn't really want to go about it that way). All in all, his quest would be pretty secure.

Normally, that'd be the end of the line, but not this time. Youngwoo grew somewhat attached to Hilda (hell, they even shared a nice dance and kissed), so he was getting worried about her argument with Donnie. Whatever was the subject of the argument, it escalated quickly, since it transpired during 5 minutes of his absence. To bring her out of emotional stability, it was no small task. It meant that whatever was brought up was serious. Youngwoo had already thought a bit about it, and decided that there were a total of 3 things they could be. It could be Ieva (her sister who she cared for), Hilda (likely something about her past what she didn't like), or the raid that happened (which basically meant himself).

Personally, he suspected the raid to be the cause. From their first meeting, Donnie didn't seem to like him a lot. His sole purpose of participating in this raid supposedly was to help the citizens, but then, why did he tag along them two? Clearly, he was lying somewhere. Well, not that it mattered much. Youngwoo was fully aware of how dangerous his raid idea was. He wasn't worried because of 'I want to do better!', but nobody knew about that skill. To anyone but himself, that plan was idiotic. He honestly wasn't sure why Hilda accepted it.

And in the end of the day, there was also the issue of Ieva herself. She clearly didn't like him (not like he blamed her for that), but the issue was her abilities. He didn't even need to dig deep to find out that she was the best Tinkerer in the Tower. Her ability to create machines was unparalleled, and it was no wonder that she had some drones. Hell, she probably could create weapons just as easily. That was the reason he didn't want to make her his enemy.

No, for now, he had to get his priorities straight. He really wanted to finish his quest, but Hilda was also important to him. On top of that, Ieva. He needed to sort things out with her as well. In the very least, he didn't want her to see him as a potential enemy. He didn't need her friendship.

He massaged his temples. It was getting tiresome. 10 minutes had already passed, and he wasn't getting anywhere. It was frustrating. In the end, he had decided.

'I'll walk Hilda back, get some sleep, and then I'll go to floor 13.' It was the best silver lining he could come up with. He didn't feel particularly bad about leaving Donnie behind. For starting an argument with Hilda, he deserved that (at least, Youngwoo believed he started the argument, since Hilda didn't ever seem like a person who'd want to start one herself). After he did his quest, he'd come back and try to work things out with Ieva. Yeah, that'd work.

Youngwoo sighed. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to make this work. Still, he needed some assurance.

"TM, are you there?" He asked, silencing his voice a little so as not to wake Donnie up.

["What is it, mortal?"]

"So, you said Iris' Wardstone is on 13th floor, right?"

["That is correct. Why?"]

"How long will it take to get it?"

["I don't know where the Wardstone is exactly. At best, it could take a few minutes, at worst - a full day."]

"A day... Hmm... Yeah, that's doable." If the 13th floor opened in about 24 hours, he would be able to prepare, get the stone, and then get out within next 48 hours.

He sighed with a bit of relief. Now that he knew how he had to go about everything, he could focus. But, first things first. For now, Hilda took priority. 13th floor was locked anyway.

"Thanks, TM."

["You're welcome, mortal. I look forward to see your techniques in full."]

"So do I." He nodded lightly. "Let's hope there won't be any complications."

Youngwoo fired up his phone again. With his mind cleared, he decided to play some Solitaire. But, he didn't even manage to finish 2 rounds before the door to the room opened.

Hilda walked in, her hair made in a wet ponytail held by a large rubber band. She now wore a large, silver shirt, and black pants ending just above her ankles. With no hesitation, she got to her bag and finished packing (or rather, just stashed her used clothes and closed the zipper). She then took a swiping look on the room.

"Then I'm going." She stated shortly, her normal neutral tone back in place.

"Wait." Said Youngwoo. "I'll walk you back."

"???" She rose an eyebrow at his suggestion.

"I'm going home, too."

Without word, she turned towards sleeping Donnie. Understanding her mute question, he shrugged, to which she responded the same. Without a word more, they both set off.

30 minutes later

They both were standing in front of Hilda's apartment building. As Youngwoo looked away, she inputted the password into a panel, and the door unlocked. However, before she stepped in, she asked:

"I guess you're going to go for 13th floor once it opens?"

"Yeah. So, uh, meet you at the Gate?"

"...no. I'm going to take a break."

"I see." He responded. "So then, say hello to Ieva for me."

"I will. Youngwoo... thank you. For today." She said.

"No problem. You want to try it again some other time?" For once, he was thankful for Calm Mind. Without it, he'd be stuttering like hell right now.

"I'll think about that." She replied.

"Then... see you around." He said, nodding a little towards her. He decided to not push his luck with going for a kiss. There would be time for that in the future.

"Yes, see you around, Youngwoo. Stay safe." And then, she closed the door behind herself, going into the building and to her apartment.

"...you too." He replied, but she couldn't hear him anymore.

He stood in one spot for a few seconds. After Hilda disappeared on the stairs, he turned to his left and started walking. His destination was as simple as day: his own apartment. The time was about 3 in the morning, and he needed to sleep. Hell, he felt like he could use a break himself. However, he knew what he had to do.

'After I get the Wardstone, I'll take a break as well.' He thought with conviction, and smiled a little. He was close now. Very, very close indeed. His target would be within reach in less than 2 days. Well, at least he hoped it would. It'd be a shame if the Wardstone was well hidden.