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Joe was no stranger to visitors. Bdubs often stopped by for a chat, as did xB and Cleo. Stress or Doc also showed up from time to time, and he couldn't count how many times Cub and Scar appeared out of nowhere to help or hinder him. The other hermits came by occasionally, usually just a quick greeting as they passed through the area, but suffice to say Joe was more than used to having someone else with him in his vineyard.
Still, it felt odd seeing Xisuma there, sitting between the berry bushes in his heavy yellow armor. Xisuma rarely visited, it wasn't exactly a secret how much Joe got on his nerves sometimes… or how much Joe enjoyed annoying him. And even if that weren't the case, Xisuma was always busy with several things at once, so casual chats were rare.
Joe put his pickaxe away and sat next to him. "Howdy, Xisuma!" he said, though he could tell this wasn't a normal visit. "Nice evening for a sit-down in the bushes."
"Yeah." Xisuma sighed. "It's a good place to think, this is. I should come here more often."
"Good thoughts?"
"No."
Joe stretched his legs out until his shoes pressed against the bush in front of him. "Want to talk about it?"
"I don't know yet," Xisuma said. "But maybe that's why I came here. You're the only one who was there, way back then."
Realization settled heavy in Joe's chest. He said nothing, waiting for Xisuma to speak.
Xisuma leaned back just a little, just enough to look at the stars slowly creeping over the horizon. "He left the game, did you know?" he said, too casually. He didn’t have to specify who he was talking about.
"I'm sorry," Joe said. Leaving the game was serious. It didn't guarantee that they'd never see Biffa again, but it might as well. Common areas for players of different games were always crowded, difficult to secure a spot in before they hit their player limit, and notoriously chaotic. Not to mention the disorganization of intergame mail making it nearly impossible to set up a meeting with someone. A partner leaving the game was, in Joe's unfortunate experience, the ultimate fuck off.
"Guess just leaving the server wasn't enough. He had to go even further away from-" Xisuma shook his head. "It's not his fault. I shouldn't blame him."
Joe studied Xisuma. His visor was opaque instead of its usual translucent, one hand stirring up the dirt as he curled it into a fist then relaxed it. "You don't need to blame yourself either."
"Don't I?" Xisuma laughed, a hollow sound. "I'm the one who knocked him up."
"I seem to remember someone telling me once it takes two to-"
"Shut up, Joe."
His mouth snapped shut.
"Sorry." Xisuma rubbed his visor. "I'm in a weird mood. I shouldn't have said that."
"It's alright," Joe said. "I've been in similar situations." Not the same, not quite as tragic, but close enough that he and Xisuma had bonded over it.
"Right. You have."
Silence.
"Do you think they'd be friends?" Xisuma asked. "If your ex hadn't run off and if Biffa hadn't… would our kids be friends?"
"I'd like to think so."
"Me too."
More silence. "I don't think he left because of you," Joe said. "Sometimes people move on from games. It happens."
"It doesn't feel like it."
"He stayed for eight years."
"Still." Xisuma broke a branch off the nearest berry bush and twirled it around mindlessly. "He could have at least said goodbye."
"He didn't-"
"We never really talked much after we, er, broke up, if you can call it that. Put on a show for you guys so the newcomers wouldn't realize something was up." Xisuma shrugged. "Maybe if I'd been brave enough to talk to him he'd have stayed longer."
"No way of knowing."
"No way of knowing," Xisuma repeated. An arrow whizzed past his shoulder, landing several berry bushes away. "I think that's my cue to leave." He stood, brushing dirt off his armor, and helped Joe up.
"You could stay the night."
"You know I don't do that."
"That's not what I meant," Joe said. "You look like you could use some company. I think I've got a deck of cards somewhere, or a chess board."
Another arrow, this one lodging uselessly in Xisuma's armor. "Alright, Joe. Let's go inside so you can destroy me in chess."
So they did.