After sunset that evening, they both concealed their faces with scarves and exited into the cloudy, moonless night. Bloth lead the way and skirted around all of the Legend housing to a home towards the back. Dark trees with wide trunks obscured a two story house a little larger than Rye's. Vines woven around the tree branches provided natural privacy. Bloodhound stepped through this miniature jungle, unlocked a quaint wooden front door with a painted "1" on it, and held it open for Rye.
She was greeted with an open floor style very similar to house nine but with a larger, more modern kitchen decked out with neatly arranged spice racks and exotic fruits and vegetables. The furniture in there was simple, but she could tell it was well-crafted with rare woods and cloths. Taxidermied heads, horns, and antlers of various creatures were mounted on the walls. Everything was a bit more luxurious than she was expecting, but it suited Bloodhound.
She set her travel case down out of the way and started examining all the mounted heads on the walls. Some of these creatures were from very distant planets and all of them deadly predators. One in particular caught her eye; it was the head of something that looked similar to an albino rhinoceros with four horns going down its face and two sharp tusks pointed upwards.
"These are from my home planet," she said, thinking about loud. Bloodhound walked over behind her.
"I didn't want to interrupt you the other day, but I have been to Gamma eight-four. It's a beautiful planet."
"Yes...it was." Her voice trailed off. She could see Bloth about to say something, but she quickly asked with a gesture around the room, "Did you hunt all of these?"
"Yes. These beasts lost, bravely and with honor. No part of them was wasted." He beamed with a little bit of pride. Rye looked up at all the heads again, it was an impressive collection.
"Let me show you around," he said. She nodded and followed him up the stairs. Upstairs there was a small landing that had a desk lined with neatly organized leather working and taxidermy tools. Beyond, there was a hallway with four doors. There was one large bathroom with a huge soaking tub, one room full of crates he used for storage, one room that just had a single bed in it, and one room that took Rye's breath away. It was like stepping back into the mushroom forests of her home planet. The room was alive with plant life and had a soothing vibrant green glow to it. Naturally bioluminescent plants dotted the ground, accenting the roots of a white tree that grew and coiled around the room. In the middle of the room was a flat round stone.
"Did you do all of this?" she asked with wonder, sitting down on the flat stone and soaking it all in.
"I did," he said, sitting down beside her.
"It's beautiful."
"It's been an empty room with plants, until now."
Bloth slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled Rye closer. He leaned back on one of the winding trunks of the large tree and softly brought her back against him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. She fluttered her eyelashes against him and he laughed. Before she could continue tickling him, he lovingly braced her face with one hand and pressed his lips against hers. Rye reciprocated, and they shared a slow, gentle kiss. She stayed in his arms for a while just enjoying the sound of his heartbeat and the warmth of his head against hers. Occasionally, Bloth would softly run his thumb across her palm. Eventually, they both fell into a comfortable sleep.
---
It was between game seasons and over the next couple months, Rye moved from house nine into Bloth's home and took over his couch. Bloodhound started inviting her to join him on his contracted hunts. Between his tracking and her predictions, they were a near unstoppable duo. She was curious how much he was paid for these contracts, but she never could bring herself to ask. Rye just enjoyed being with Bloth, be it back to back in a gunfight, stalking a target from the shadows, or just quietly sitting next to each other back at his house. At night, he'd cook some incredible dinners and she'd do all the dishes afterward.
