The dining hall late at night. Tammy sits between Catala and Kizhan as they watch Avi, Jozou, and the others set up on the circular stage. The sun has disappeared beyond the horizon, but the moon and stars are obscured behind a dense layer of clouds. Catala has her usual perfect posture, while Kizhan is leaning back in her chair, with her full-leg cast propped up on another seat.

Sir Kracken gets up from his table, occupied by his many acquaintances, and comes over. Catala shifts over, allowing her master to sit next to Tammy. “Bit of a mess your sister got you in. Or, is it wife?”

Tammy smiles uncomfortably, and shifts in his seat. “Wife, sir. And… yes, none of that was supposed to happen.”

“What was supposed to happen, exactly? With all the assassins I’ve interacted with, they usually try to blend in, not stand on stage and draw all eyes to themselves.”

Avi calls out, “that’s what I said!” But everyone ignores her.

“I just, uh, really wanted to play in front of an audience, sir.”

Sir Kracken exhales sharply out of his nostrils. “Fair enough. Perhaps the life of an assassin just isn’t for you? I’d be more than happy to hire you as a full-time musician.”

The boy smiles warmly but shakes his head. “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t. I owe a lot to the Barabba Tribe. I was an orphan, you see, but Avi brought me back to her tribe and they accepted me with open arms. I need to do everything I can to repay them.”

Catala cocks her head, “the part about you being an orphan was true?”

“Most of the things I said were true, just through the lense of me pretending to not be an assassin. I have seen people killed by the gurant, and the violin was a gift from my parents, it’s just that they were my parents through marriage. Avi’s parents.”

Catala narrows her brow for only a flicker. “When did you start playing the violin? You’re incredible, which made sense under the context of you being a traveling musician.”

He looks at her for a second. “Two or… three months? I think?”

Catala recoils slightly from shock and Sir Kracken jostles his shoulder. Kizhan whistles with her arms crossed, “wow, so you’re like some kind of genius.”

“Hey!” Avi’s calls out, her voice deeper than normal. The four look over, with Tammy narrowing his brow. Reading the warning on Tammy’s face, Avi puts on a kinder tone. “We’re about to get started, so I ever-do-so hope that you enjoy.” Gripping the fabric of her puffy white pants, she gives a small curtsey.

Tammy disregards her and smiles warmly, “I just got kind of obsessed with it and practiced a lot.” He bushes slightly, “a little too into it, I guess.”

Catala nods. “But the question is: will I see you at the orchestra?” She raises a fiery red eyebrow.

“Count on it!” He smiles.

“Are you planning to kill the Planetary Governor?” Sir Kracken asks with narrow eyes, studying his reaction.

The answer is yes, but Tammy acts quickly to make his reaction as genuine as possible, “pfft, us?” He shakes his hand, “no, no. The Planetary Governor is an existence far beyond us. You’d need the Master Assassin of our tribe to spend years planning something like that. We typically aren’t even sent to kill normal gurant, let alone regional lords, and especially not the ruler of a whole planet.”

They’re satisfied with this answer.

Sir Kracken leans in, “and what tribe do you belong to? I only vaguely recognize your wife’s race, it was years ago I heard about the traveling guilds of tailed assassins.” The bone-tails are some of the most despised enemies of the gurant, and the empire puts in a lot of effort to suppress news of their activities. The gurant are smart enough to understand how hated they are. If it was common knowledge that there’s a large network of assassins who hunt them for sport, those assassins would become very popular and very rich overnight.

Tammy leans in too, a shrewd raise of an eyebrow, “looking to hire?”

“From time to time.”

“Well! You’re gonna want to ask around about a guy named Kashier Kengrov Barabba, he’s the Prime Emissary of our-“

The beautiful waitress, Alice, stands on stage. “Gentlemen, gentlemen, settle down! Or, perhaps, let’s kick it up a notch and put it together for the next performance, the Heart of Loyal Servants!” She backs off the stage as everyone, Tammy included, begins clapping.

Tammy whispers, “I’ll tell you later. Gotta watch my wife.”

The only one watching as intently her as Tammy is Kizhan, but she has a frown plastered on her face and her arms are crossed.

Pandin, Helger, and Ghzan begin playing their flutes, and it’s like a light switch goes off in Avi’s brain. She’s all smiles, her body twists and turns to accommodate the energetic feel of the dance. Every click of their shoes hits hard and perfectly complements the flutes, adding to the spectacle.

Kizhan frowns and mumbles just loud enough for Tammy to hear. “Foot out of place. That was delayed. What was that hand motion? She should have tied her tail since that thing is just distracting. No, no, she’s way too short compliment Jo with that move.” A constant source of nitpicking.

Avi’s mess made such an impression on the nobles that they can’t resist halting their conversations to watch. The girl is undeniably cute and her radiant presence on stage demands attention, but Kizhan is naturally hotter than they girl they assume to be just 12 years old.

Their performance lasts around 20 minutes, with most of the nobles returning to their chats and letting the music fade into a background accompaniment. But once the energy picks up to a feverish pace for the last few minutes, everyone turns back and get to watch Avi perform the assisted backflip that lands perfectly with a satisfying click. Everyone applauds, none more than Tammy, and even Kizhan has to show support for her band. The waitresses go around to collect donations while the enjoyment is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

All the money will go towards the band, of course. After taking a bow to the audience, Avi leaps off stage and rushes to her husband.

“Avi! You did great-!”

Avi, frowning and with her left eye twitching, grabs the back of Tammy’s chair and pulls him around to the other side of the table. He’s facing away from the stage, and Avi scoots her chair right next to his, wrapping her arms around the boy and resting her chin on his head.

Kizhan watches this with a tightened brow and clenched fists.

“Haha!” Tammy giggles, “did you miss me that much?”

“Hmph.” She grunts.

The patrons on the other side of the room watch the display and find it to be the cutest thing in the world. Many of these nobles, like Sir Kracken, married their bodyguards, and Avi’s just such a protective little cutie pie, not wanting to leave her husband’s side. If they didn’t have the context of these two belonging to some sort of assassin guild, they’d be wondering how they managed to avoid enslavement. As thanks for the display of heartwarming goodness, the patrons tip the band a little more than they otherwise would have.

Sir Kracken smiles, “that was an excellent performance, Mrs. Barabba. Have you been practicing long?”

Avi frowns and squeezes Tammy tighter, “that’s MISS Barabba.”

Tammy taps her arm, “miss is a woman who isn’t married, Mrs. refers to a woman that has a husband.”

“…”

Catala brings a hand up to cover her smile. It’s always fun to see Avi get embarrassed. Kizhan, similarly, smiles.

Avi takes a deep breath. “I started practicing last night… sir.” Sir Kracken gave her the respect of acknowledging her marriage to Tammy, and she’s capable of basic reciprocation.

Jozou comes down from the stage, “hey, Ki. How you feeling?”

Kizhan extends her arms out, prompting Jozou to bend down and give her a hug. “Good enough. My knee still kind of hurts, you know, because someone broke it for no reason. But oh well.”

Tammy frowns a little and starts tapping his fingers against Avi’s thigh in a unique language similar to morse code. If they’re in a low-light environment Tammy won’t be able to notice subtle facial expressions, so they made this language to subtly communicate thoughts. “[Don’t you have a bone-mending serum for her?]”

“[Nope.]”

“[Can you make one?]”

“[Nada.]”

“[Why?]”

“[Because I suck at making serums. Did we just meet today, or did you have so much fun with redhead that you already forgot about me?]”

Tammy genuinely frowns, which is so rare that, for a moment, Avi doesn’t know what it’s supposed to convey. “[Yes, I had fun with Catala. Can you get over it already? As far as I’m concerned, you’re not allowed to complain about my conduct until you’ve paid of your debt to those guys.]”

Avi scowls, “[as far as I’m concerned, you’re a dirty cheater.]”

“[Cheater!? What do you mean!? What does marriage mean to you? I can never interact with anyone else?]”

“[Yes! But specifically other girls. I don’t care if you get along with boys.]”

“[That’s stupid.]”

“[You’re insensitive and don’t understand a maiden’s heart!]”

Tammy and Avi keep going back and forth, speaking primarily through taps, but it’s clear by their facial expressions that they’re talking to each other. Jozou, Kizhan, Sir Kracken, and Catala have no idea what they could be discussing.

Kizhan looks over, “so, Catala, was it?”

“Yes, Miss Kizhan?”

“You were practicing with the boy, right? And the girl got jealous? Why didn’t she break your leg?”

“Because Samuel was looking forward to performing on stage with me, and I imagine she was just barely smart enough to realize that he would be upset if she did something to ruin that.”

Jozou pulls up a chair and sits next to his girlfriend, “the little freak wanted to make the boy jealous, but it apparently didn’t work because he doesn’t care about her.”

Avi shoots Jozou a death glare. Jozou recoils slightly but smiles since she’s already in hot water and won’t disobey Tammy further.

Sir Kracken leans back and folds his arms, watching the two, “they’re still going at it.”

Catala nods, her back upright and her posture perfect. “It seems she’s picking fights with everyone.”

Tammy flashes a fierce smile, and turns towards Sir Kracken, “excuse me, sir. Are Catala and I free to play again tomorrow night?”

“After that standing ovation, I would be a fool to say no.”

“Excellent!” He turns to Catala with a cheeky smile, “I guess you’ll just have to come to our room tomorrow for more practice.”

“What?!” Avi cries.

Catala gives him a polite smile, “more practice would be prudent.”

“I-I’m not letting you back into our room!”

Jozou narrows his brow, “you’ll need to be in our room anyway. We need to practice the next dance.”

“Wh-wha?” Her face droops.

Kizhan sees the despair in Avi’s body language and starts giggling. “I’ll be there too, to make sure you don’t embarrass my part of the routine.”

Avi clenches her teeth hard.

Tammy pats her shoulder, “just in case you’ve forgotten how mad I am at you for breaking an innocent woman’s leg: if you don’t take it seriously, I’m not speaking to you for a month.” His eyes convey absolute sincerity.

Avi grips the bridge of her nose and tilts her head back, her face twisted in pain and frustration. “Fine,” she growls through clenched teeth. She takes a deep breath, then looks to the ceiling while tapping Tammy’s leg. “[Can you at least tell me who our target is? I assume you memorized the name before you made me eat that scrap of paper.]”

“[Oh, yeah… It’s Sir Kracken.]” He can’t let a single flicker of pain appear on his face.

“[Excellent! How do we find him?]”

“[He’s the guy in front of us.]”

“[I thought his name was Jo-… something.]”

“[That’s Jozou, I mean the other guy.]”

Avi glances to Sir Kracken and giggles. She hides her intentions by acting as if Tammy told a nice joke, next glancing to Catala and giggling so much her nose snorts. Such a bright smile on her face, nobody—except those who’ve had the displeasure of even briefly interacting with her—could tell she’s a deranged murderer who loves the thrill of snuffing the life of those she feels got in her way.

Kizhan narrows her brow, “something funny?”

Avi jolts in her seat, bashing her knee against the underside of the table, “ah!? You’re still here?” She says, minimizing the girl’s existence.

Kizhan scowls.

“I’ll see you two in your room tomorrow, K-… Kiiii-kuuu-“

“Kizhan,” Tammy says.

“Bye.” Avi stares at her, waiting for her to leave.

The girl frowns but takes a deep breath and opens her arms. Jozou, with a dancers physique, easily lifts her up into a princess carry and heads off. They collect the rest of their bandmates and leave the dining hall. Another band has already gone on stage and started preparing.

Avi watches the band leave, her brow narrow, then turns to the other three with a smile she’s trying hard to suppress, “so! Should we order dinner?”

Tammy tugs her shirt, “we don’t have any more money.”

She turns to Catala, “hey, redhead. Pay us back for the dinner from yesterday.”

Catala keeps her tone firm, “you wouldn’t have run out of money had you not bribed the waitress.”

Sir Kracken reaches into his jacket pocket, “an after-dinner snack isn’t expensive.” He locks eyes with one of the waitresses and pulls his fingers back, prompting her to approach.

Tammy straightens his posture, “o-oh, sir! We can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I offered.”

Avi elbows her husband in the gut, “yeah, the rich guy offered, and you’d be rude to refuse him.” She turns to Sir Kracken and nods, “thank you so much Mr…” She elbows Tammy.

“Sir Kracken.”

“Thank you so much, Sir Kracken!”

“You’re quite the rude little girl,” Sir Kracken says. “Odd that you’ve been able to survive in the world of assassins.”

She cocks her head, “what do you mean?”

“I’m amazed nobody has killed you for your insolence.”

“Pfft, even my family has tried that, but it just proves how good we are as a team!” She wraps an arm around Tammy’s waist and pulls him close.

Catala smiles softly, “even though you’re on the wrong boat.”

Tammy looks down sheepishly and groans. Even though it’s all a lie, he’s still embarrassed about having all these people thinking he’s responsible for such a blunder. As for Avi, she scowls and covers Tammy’s ears. “Rude.”

Catala doesn’t respond.

Alice the waitress comes over and gives Tammy and Avi a great smile. Everyone orders a bowl of seafood chowder. Sir Kracken orders wine with the rest having water.

Shortly after Alice disappears behind the door to the kitchen, Avi starts snickering. “Umm, sorry everyone I have to… go pee.” She jumps up, “I’ll be back!”

“Wait, Avi..!”

“Nah, it’ll be fine!”

Tammy, Catala, and Sir Kracken watch her head straight to the kitchen door and disappear inside.

Tammy gulps and turns to Catala, bowing his head. “Sorry, I’ll switch meals with you.”

“And the drink,” Catala says sternly.

“And the drink,” Tammy confirms.

“Some sort of inside joke?” Sir Kracken says.

“Hardly, master,” she raises her chin. “Last night, she ordered the waitress to spit in my food. Today, I imagine she’ll do the same.”

“M-most likely, yes.”

“I see. I imagine her surviving this long has less to do with teamwork and is more due to your intervention.”

Tammy scratches the back of his neck. “That’s not… entirely incorrect, sir.”

Meanwhile, Avi slips into the kitchen and waits by the door with her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth.

As befitting their noble clientele, the kitchen is spotless. Reflective, stainless-steel surfaces on every kitchen appliance such as ovens, grills, stoves, and large industrial vats for stews. There are only a few chefs left after the dinner rush, and they’re focused on crafting three types of soup. Alice is taking the seafood chowder out of one large cooker and pouring it into four bowls. She sets the bowls on a tray, pours three glasses of water with ice, then finally pours Sir Kracken’s wine.

Avi approaches from behind with a mischievous smile, her stolen tapdancing shoes clicking.

Alice turns her head, “ah, hello, little lady! What are you doing back here?”

“Something I’m not supposed to, hehheh.” She stands next to the stainless-steel counter, getting on her toes to look over. “Which soup belongs to that redhead?”

“Oh my. You really hate her, don’t you?”

“She started it.”

“Of course. Well, young lady, it’s this one on the top right. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” she also eyes Sir Kracken’s wine, which is next to the bowl on the top left of the tray. Corresponding to their seats, Tammy’s is on the bottom left, and Avi’s bowl at the bottom right. “Hey, can you turn around for a second?”

Alice gives off a radiant, playful smile. “Why?”

“Because I need to distract you so I can mess with her food.”

“You probably shouldn’t say that so openly, no? If I’m going to ignore you saying that, I might as well watch and pretend I don’t see it.”

“…” Avi points behind her, “oh my gosh, what’s that?”

The waitress giggles and turns around, “what?”

Avi looks left and right, seeing the remaining chefs off to the side, playing cards with some of the other waitresses. Music suddenly leaks in through the door, so the next band must be playing.

Avi moves her tail up and hovers the needle over Sir Kracken’s glass of wine. At the same time, she grabs Tammy’s soup. She sloshes her tongue back and forth to accumulate saliva.

“Heh, dummies, all of you. Tammy is gonna switch meals with her, but little does he know I’m actually spitting in his food, so the switch will actually be him poisoning her! Brilliance!”

Once enough saliva is ready, she spits into Tammy’s seafood soup. Because bone-tails biology breaks down everything organic, her saliva works like a flavorless sanitizer. Personally, Avi doesn’t find what she’s doing to be revolting at all, but Tammy does and she’s long since adopted Tammy’s sensibilities. At the same time, she releases a drop of serum from her tail into Sir Kracken’s wine. She places the bowl back onto the tray and starts snickering, prompting Alice to turn around.

“Finished?”

Avi swoops her arms behind her back and walks out, sweeping her legs with long, exaggerated strides “finished? Finished what? I haven’t done anything.”

“Of course.”

Avi hurries back to her seat and pulls Tammy closer. “Whew! Sorry, it just kept coming out.”

Tammy and Sir Kracken grimace, while Catala keeps her same polite smile.

“Did you wash your hands?” Tammy asks.

“Hm? Why would I?” Avi puts a hand on his face and slides it down. It’s her way of conveying that she didn’t actually use the bathroom, which everyone already knows. She’s flaunting that she can get away with it.

Alice soon leaves the kitchen and balances the trey on one hand while she sets down everyone’s soups and drinks. Sir Kracken receives the poisoned wine, and Tammy receives the saliva soup. “Enjoy the meal,” the waitress says as she bows low, then backs away.

Avi covers her mouth as she watches Catala. The redhead takes her spoon and swishes it through her soup. She casts a few warry glances to her water.

Tammy thinks for a second. “Thank you again, Sir Kracken.” He grabs his spoon, scoops from the center of his bowl, and brings it up.

Avi grabs his wrist. “What are you doing?”

“Eating.” He doesn’t avert his eyes from his spoon.

“You can eat so calmly while knowing I messed with redhead’s food?”

Tammy looks up and places a hand against his cheek, “oh my, you did what?”

Sir Kracken smiles and brings his wine glass up close to his mouth, but pauses when Catala mumbles.

“Is… this okay to eat then?”

Sir Kracken puts his wine glass down, “I believe the implication is that Samuel knows she spat in his food, thinking he would switch it with you.”

Tammy nods, “yes sir, that’s what happened.”

Avi rolls her eyes and releases his wrist, “tch.” She grabs Tammy’s bowl with one hand, her bowl with the other, and switches them. Then she grabs Tammy’s spoon and starts eating. “I’m sick of you being so competent. Can’t we go back to the good old days where every little thing terrified you, and you believed everything I said without a second thought?”

“Nope,” Tammy says with a radiant smile as he starts eating.

Sir Kracken narrows his brow and raises his glass slightly, “how long have you two been married?”

“Always!” Avi says with her mouth full.

Tammy swallows first, “technically we’re just engaged, since Avi has to become an adult first. That comes at age 12, but she’s only 10.”

“You’re a bit big for a 10-year-old.”

Avi’s face lights up and she giddily wags her tail, “heehee, you’re not such a bad guy after all, Sir… Kracken?”

“Caken,” Tammy corrects.

“Sir Cake-“

“Wait,” Tammy says, blushing, “actually, no, you had it right. Sorry.”

Avi narrows her brow, “is your opinion of me really that low?”

He points to Catala, who is patiently waiting for her master to take his first bite before she starts eating. “What’s her name?”

“…Well, I hardly think that’s fair.”

Sir Kracken smirks, “Samuel, have you ever had wine before?”

“Hm? No, sir. It’s alcohol, yes? I’m far too young for that.”

Sir Kracken sets his glass on the table and slides it forward. “Come now, surely one sip can’t hurt.” Sir Kracken doesn’t know it consciously, but the back of his brain is compelling him to perform a test. The two people in front of him are assassins, Avi was alone with his food, and he’s a high-status member of society. He studies their every expression and movement as a form of habit.

Catala has no such sense of danger, and is putting on a fake smile, watching the show between her partner and his wife, waiting for Sir Kracken to eat so she can as well.

Tammy looks at the glass, the beautiful, sparkling red liquid inside. “Well, uh, isn’t it expensive?”

“Not for me.” Sir Kracken says.

“Um, didn’t I-“

“Yes!” Avi reaches across the table and yanks Tammy’s glass cup, gulping all the water over the course of about five seconds. Then she grabs the wine glass, smells the vapors, does some quick mental calculations, and pours two sips of water into the empty glass of water. She slides the wine glass back to Sir Kracken, and hands Tammy’s glass back to him.

He looks down into the glass. “Wasn’t this a problem before?”

“Nope. Do it. Taste it. Perfect ratio.” Her eyes are so bright as she leans over Tammy. “Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!”

“Fine!” Tammy puts the glass to his lips and starts drinking. It’s delicious.

Catala speaks quietly to her master, “every second we’re together, the weirder they become.”

“That oddness comes standard for assassins. To take a life, you either need to be a professional who’s good at compartmentalization, or a freak.”

Tammy pulls the glass away, “aaah!” He gasps, “that’s really good!” A smile is plastered across his face, “how much does this cost?”

Sir Kracken smiles and, satisfied that it isn’t poisoned, takes a sip from his glass. “Like it? I can order you your own glass.” With that sip, his fate is sealed. The serum will stay in his body and, in six weeks, Sir Kracken will suffer from a sudden, fatal heart attack as all the muscles in his heart will be paralyzed. It’s not a serum of Avi’s creation as her skills are far too low to synthesize something so complicated. Avi’s aunt, Durika, injected the serum into one of her 12 pouches, and injected the antidote into another pouch since she correctly guessed it was only a matter of time before she accidentally poisoned Tammy.

Avi will give Tammy the antidote later.

Tammy’s eyes light up at Sir Kracken’s offer, but Avi puts her hands over his mouth, “nope, this is his limit. Sir Kracken.”

“His limit?”

Avi excitedly removes her hands and looks down at Tammy. His eyes are already glossy, unfocused, and he’s swaying back and forth. She pokes his cheek, “Tammy?”

Tammy slumps back in his chair with a messy, satisfied smile, then leans over to hug Avi as if she’s a big, firm pillow. “Heh. Hehheh..!” He starts giggling for no reason.

Avi’s smile can’t possibly grow wider, so she turns to Sir Kracken and gives him two thumbs up. “Thanks, pal! You’re someone whose name I’m gonna remember. What was the first one again?”

“Sir Erden kracken.”

“Erden,” she taps her head, “got it.”

Tammy squeezes her tighter, “hmmmn. Shame we won’t see you guys again after we leave the boat.”

“Are you not aiming for the orchestra?” Erden says. “I’ll be in the audience, watching Catala perform.” He’ll be dead long before he can.

Tammy shakes his head, resting the side of his head on Avi’s sternum, the undone buttons of her collar rubbing against his cheekbone. “We’ll probably be sent off to some mission when it happens, no way they’ll let me perform…” Even when drunk, Tammy lies as easily as he breathes. “It sucks!” He hugs Avi tighter, and she’s in heaven. “I’m the best musician in that tribe, but they won’t let me do anything with it! They suggested I pose as an enslaved worker on this ship. Seriously? Me? Of course I wasn’t gonna do that!”

Catala smiles, “you mean an enslaved worker on the Cocahpi.”

Avi snickers at the name again.

Tammy looks at her, giving the maid a blank stare. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Yes sir!” Avi cries as she throws the boy into a piggyback ride and grabs a bowl in each hand. Tammy buries his face into her soft black hair, and she sticks her tongue out at Catala as they leave. Alcohol makes him a cuddler, and Avi plans to take advantage of that to make up for the sharp deficiency in affection over the past few days.