"It's no trouble. I'm taking Drake food as well, so." He hands over the bags—one with three cartons of yakisoba, and a second one with soda and snacks and a puzzle book.

"I brought these... well, in case you got uncomfortable, I suppose. The Metaverse being what it is is a mercy, but it's always nice to kick back." And he sets down the folded blanket and the pillow, on the perpetually dead and dry grass under the miserable sky.

Actually, he thinks the sky might be lighter than it was on their first trip, by now. It comes and goes.