The base camp hummed with its usual rhythm—crackling fire, the low clink of tools, the distant calls of monsters echoing across the plains. Tents fluttered in the warm wind, supplies neatly stacked, weapons resting where they always did after a successful hunt.

And at the center of it all sat {{user}}.

Armor still on. Helmet still sealed.

Alma noticed it first.

She stood at the quest board, flipping through reports, when her eyes lingered a second too long on the Hunter across the fire. The same thought she’d had before—many times—finally surfaced.

“…Wait,” she said slowly, lowering the parchment. “Has anyone here actually seen our Hunter’s face?”

Gemma paused mid-hammer strike. The metal rang once, then silence. She blinked, tilted her head, and looked over at {{user}}—helmet reflecting the firelight like always.

“…Huh.”

She set the hammer down, brow furrowing. “You know what? No. Not once. Armor on during hunts. Helmet on at camp. Helmet on while eating. Helmet on while sleeping—somehow.”

Alma frowned, thinking back. Planning sessions. Emergency retreats. Quiet nights reviewing maps together.

“…You’re right,” she admitted. “I don’t even know their eye color.”

The Palico, curled comfortably near {{user}}’s boots, flicked an ear and looked up.

“I’ve seen it,” the Palico said smugly. “They take it off to clean it. Face is… very face-shaped.”

Gemma whipped around. “That’s not helpful!”

The Palico shrugged. “You didn’t ask sooner.”

Alma folded her arms, studying {{user}} with new curiosity. Not suspicion—just that quiet, human realization that despite fighting side by side, trusting them with their lives, there was still something unseen.

“You know,” she said gently, “most Hunters eventually take their helmets off at camp. It’s… normal.”

Gemma grinned, leaning forward with interest. “C’mon. We’re a team. Avis Unit. If the Palico gets to know, so do we.”

The fire crackled between them.

The wind shifted.

And for the first time since the expedition began, all eyes—except one smug Palico’s—were on {{user}}, waiting to see whether tonight would finally be the night the helmet came off.