Robyn was almost certain she'd never been a drinker in the real world.

She decided to return to the Snow biome. In the week since the Goblin invasion, William had managed to both rebuild the Forest village but also construct the Snow village as well. The houses were built from boreal wood, snow brick, and lit with icy torches. Fewer citizens lived out here – only Mrunok the Goblin Tinkerer and Durim the Demolitionist, the latter who had been told that if he blew up his house again then he'd have to rebuild it himself.

She remembered when she'd showed the spot on the side of the mountain to William. His mouth had literally dropped at the vista, and he'd said, "This is perfect!"

And Robyn had been so glad she'd had her silver helmet on because she'd blushed so hard, her face had probably gone redder than the Crimson.

She walked across the snow, up to the Dungeon.

This was the fourth time she'd visited the Old Man at the Dungeon. Each time it had always been daytime, and each time he kept reminding her that "my master cannot be summoned under the light of day."

Robyn could only wonder who, or perhaps what, his master was.

"Robyn," the Old Man said.

She took off her silver helmet, and felt the brisk wind blowing through her hair. "Hello."

She still wasn't sure what to call him. She'd asked at least once what his name was, but each time he'd either avoided the question or just stood there silently, as though he couldn't remember.

Or maybe he didn't have one.

"I had a Goblin Scout come across the Dungeon yesterday," the Old Man said.

"A Scout?" Robyn murmured.

"Your village may still have eyes on it," he said. "All of them, perhaps."

Robyn wasn't sure what to make of this information. She hadn't told the Old Man much about their adventures regarding the Eye or Brain of Cthulhu, but she had once mentioned the Goblin invasion.

"Where did he go?" she asked.

"Back the way he came," the Old Man said. "Though I doubt the direction he set off matters."

Robyn frowned slightly.

"How is William?" he asked.

Last time she'd been here, she had told the Old Man all about the story when she'd shown William the snowy mountains.

"He's good," she said. "He finished building the snow village."

The Old Man nodded slightly.

She couldn't stop thinking about William. He was always so kind and sincere to her. And generous, too. And he... he made her feel happy.

When William had told her how perfect the site she'd chosen for the Snow village was, she felt that had been the happiest she'd ever felt since waking up in this strange world.

Far happier than the satisfaction of victory against the Eye or the Brain.

She thought, but found herself unable to say it out loud, I think I like him.

***

When she returned to the Snow village she found William waiting, talking with the Goblin Tinkerer. He must've upgraded his armour – he was now dressed in a red and black suit of armour that looked like it was made from Crimtane. It seemed that he was trying to reforge his Starfury, but the Goblin Tinkerer kept giving it bad modifiers.

"Oh, whatever. I'll take Deadly," William muttered after awhile.

"Pleasure doing business with you, William," the Goblin Tinkerer said, smiling widely before heading back into his house.

He turned and spotted Robyn, then smiled.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here," he said.

"I thought you were celebrating with Sid?"

"He's trying to build the Tavernkeep a bar. Just between you and me, his building skills are kind of..." He held out a hand and waved it slightly, making a "meh" sound. "But, he tried, and that's what's important."

Robyn smiled through her helmet. That was another thing. He was genuinely good-natured.

"There's something I want to show you," he said.

She straightened her posture. "What is it?"

"It's here in the Snow village."

He led her up a stone path that led higher into the mountains. Before too long they came to a conspicuously cubic formation of snow set into the mountain wall.

"What is this?" Robyn asked. She was intrigued. Curious. But nervous, too. She wasn't sure if she'd ever liked anyone in the real world, but the anticipation rising inside of her... it felt real. So real.

William got out his pickaxe, and started digging away at the snow on front. Behind, there appeared to be a house, made from boreal wood like the others.

But it appeared to be painted.

Blue.

"What is this?" Robyn asked again.

Is it... could it be...?

Before too long William had carved away the entire front of the snow block, revealing the house.

"I... ah... I built a house for you," he said, smiling. Was he blushing too? Or was her eyes just playing tricks on her?

I can't! Oh my god...

"I gave you the best view I could find," he added, then pointed out a gold-plated arm. "Take a look."

Robyn turned around and looked upon the snowy valley.

It was breathtaking – she hadn't been this high before, and somehow that made everything seem all the more impressive. The frozen lake before looked so far down, glittering in the snowfall as it spread out, leading up to the mountains on the other side of the valley. To the right was the snowy forest, and to the left was the hill that led up to the Dungeon.

Somehow, she couldn't see the Dungeon at all through all the snowfall. As though it wanted to remain hidden.

"W-What do you think?" William asked. Was that a nervous stutter? Or was it just his teeth chattering in the cold?

"I..." her breath caught.

What do I say? Aah! What do I say??

"I love it."

Oh my god, did you just say that word?

She didn't want to turn around to see how William's face reacted to that. She was too anxious.

He heard snowy footfalls that signified him walking up beside her.

"I... hoped you would," he said.

She kept staring out at the view, not sure what else to say. Silence began building up like a wall. One that was slowly layering itself with more and more blocks the longer she let the silence grow.

What now? What now??

"Come on, I'll show you inside," he said.

Oh. Yeah. The inside. Of course.

Robyn turned and followed William through the front door. She noticed him taking off his crimtane helmet as he did so, but Robyn herself still felt too... she wasn't sure... she didn't want to take her helmet off, not when she was smiling and blushing so much.

The first room inside looked... it looked cosy. A fireplace sat on one wall, casting a warm orange glow into the room. A sofa sat in front of it, facing it. Some chests rested on platforms along another wall. A painting of what looked like a snowy landscape sat on another wall.

"I painted everything myself," he said. "Your favourite colour."

"It's..." Robyn really didn't know what to say. How long had William spent on this house? For her?

He did this for you.

All of this.

Come on Robyn, you know what that means.

"Good," she said finally.

The second floor was the bedroom. The bed inside faced out an open window which showed a view of the white valley outside.

"Wow," she said.

"Yeah. Wow," William said.

More silence.

What do I say? He did this for me!

Do I say thank you? Is that it?

"Thank you."

No! You've gotta say more! Tell him how much he means to you!

She couldn't.

Tell him!

"Sid's thinking of living in the giant tree where he found his Finch Staff," William said.

You lost your chance, Robby.

The moment's passed.

"Cool," was all she could say as she turned to face him.

"I'll probably end up helping him a ton since... well, you know. He tried building the bar for the Tavernkeep, but... well, I'll just say he's got much to learn."

She found herself chuckling. The bar somehow looked uglier than the original house after Durim accidentally blew it up, but William was too kind to trash-talk Sid. "Thank you for building this for me," she said.

He smiled. "You're welcome."

"Why did you keep it a surprise?" Robyn asked.

Oh, gawd, why did you ask him that sort of question? It's so confrontational!

William seemed to smile, then hesitate, then smile again.

"I... felt like it."

Oh my god, you hurt his feelings! Say something!

"I liked the surprise."

He smiled. "Thank you."

***

When William arrived at the Desert village he walked in on a standoff between the Arms Dealer and the Painter.

"Um... what's happening?" he asked.

"Tony and Luigi got into an argument over whether or not Luigi exaggerated how many goblins he killed when they invaded the Forest village," Akbar said. "So they're having a wild-west showdown."

William glanced between the two of them. They stood at opposite ends of the road that carved between the two sets of buildings in the village, facing each other. Tony's hands were centimetres away from his pistol, while Luigi's paintball gun was strapped in a similar position to his waist.

He could feel their tension as they stared at each other. A light sandstorm had blown up, blowing an Angry Tumbler through the village, which rolled past all of them. The scene felt like any one of the western movies that William found himself knowing from the real world.

"Draw!" Akbar shouted.

Tony's gun was out in a flash and there was a bang as he fired.

But another Angry Tumbler had rolled in the bullet's path, blocking Luigi. The Angry Tumbler, now angry at Tony, rolled hazardously towards him and slammed through him.

"Musket balls!" Tony shouted.

Luigi shrugged. He hadn't even touched his paintball gun at all. "I guess I win by doing absolutely nothing. That means my numbers were real, Tony."

Tony groaned. "First the Demolitionist, now you... my rep's going to plummet real fast." He stormed off, into his house.

William was so stunned at the scene that he'd completely forgotten why he'd come here. After searching his memory, he turned to Luigi.

"I sent Sid to find a location for a village in the Jungle," he said.

The Jungle was a new biome Nissa, Hayley and Andrew had discovered on the other side of the Crimson while planting the sunflower perimeter. After Sid had built the bar for the Tavernkeep, the citizens had returned to the Forest village with the news, Nissa saying she would like to live there, and William had suggested to Sid to go check out the biome to find a good spot for a village, similar to when he'd sent Robyn to the Snow biome.

Robyn's reaction to the house he'd built for her had truthfully felt a little bit... stilted, he supposed. He hadn't really been sure why he'd built the house specifically for her, he'd built the first two for the Goblin Tinkerer and the Demolitionist, and had gotten working on the third house before even realising there was no real need at that moment since only two citizens had been interested in moving to the Snow biome. In the end, he'd decided to build it with Robyn in mind, painting it her favourite colours, largely as a thank-you for picking such a great location for the village.

While building he'd noticed some sort of large, ancient stone citadel further into the Snow biome. He had taken a quick closer look, but ultimately decided it would be best investigating with Robyn and Sid by his side.

"The Jungle?" the Painter said. "That might be a more interesting place to paint than here. The Desert seemed like it would be less boring than the Forest at first, but all there is out here are endless sandstorms, and also I'm getting a bit tired of the sound of Tony's gunshots. A man's gotta paint in peace!"

"Fair enough," William said. "Well, so far you're only the second citizen who's been interested in moving to the Jungle, so that's good to hear."

"Who's the other citizen?" Luigi asked.

"Nissa the Dryad."

Luigi nodded, then smiled. "She'll be as peaceful as the nature itself. I've been meaning to ask Nissa if I can paint her – for the pretty colours, of course!"

William instinctively raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "Well, okay then."