Catching Up With A Friend

"Yo, Alex! About time ya showed up. I was beginnin to think ya ditched me." Brian's voice was cheery and a bit refreshing to hear for some reason.

"Hey, Bri. Sorry for the wait. I got held up after class." You were chatting with Ms. Rivera about the subtle meanings in a series she was reading. The two of you were having such a good time that you lost track of it.

"No problem, dude. We haven't talked in a while."

"We literally had a prolonged conversation at your work yesterday."

"That's different, dude. At work talk and off work talk are not the same. The old man is pretty strict on that stuff." He looked sad. It is not something you see often, or want to for that matter.

You both order a drink and get to chatting about small stuff until they arrive. It is nice to hear how his family is doing, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't stalling.

"This is great. It feels so freeing just to relax like this, bro. Thanks for inviting me out." His face takes a more serious tone. "But you have something you want to talk to me about, don't you?"

You gulp. "Yeah. So you know how Nariko and I have been hanging out a lot?" He nods. "Well we are both, kind of, sort of, working on a big project together." Just say it already! Why are you beating around the bush? "We are w-working on building me a harem."

Brian says nothing, he just stares at you for a while. Suddenly his cup slips from his hand and empties all over him. "Cold!" After cleaning up, with the help of a cute waitress who was nearby, he looks back at you. "Ya're serious. Dude, why? Ya never were interested in stuff like that before."

"I know. I know. When she asked me I had to think about it for a while. I asked myself if I really wanted that. After thinking about how much I liked Nariko and Eliza, I made my decision."

"How many?"

"Huh? I do not understand the question."

"How many gals do ya intend to be with?"

That gave you some pause. How do you answer that? The number you can get close to? The number you can handle? What would those even be? You have no idea. "Somewhere between six and ten."

Brian whistles. "That is alot. Personally, one lady is enough to handle for me." There is a smile on his face. One you remember the meaning to.

"So who is the lucky lady?"

Brian snorts as he laughs. "Still that open of a book to ya? I've been gettin to know a beauty lately. Name's Lucy. The gal with the black ponytail and looks like she could fold me in half."

"Yeah, I remember seeing her at the shop a few times." Probably best not to mention she led you to almost get your head caved in by a hellkite. "An elven guy getting swooned by an orc woman. A bit cliche, is it not?"

Brian chuckles. "Yeah yeah. All those old folktales can really get in yer head, ya know. But it ain't her race that got me interested. Love a gal who can kick my ass."

"I get you. So have you asked her out yet?"

He sighs, resting his cheek on his hand. "I tried, but every time the mood is right, something interrupts us."

"Brian, I know you want that storybook confession you talked about since middle school, but you are a casual guy. This might sound crazy, but why not ask her out casually? Play to your strengths."

He blinks a few times and his shoulders relax. "Ya're right, dude. Besides, a date might make it easier to get the mood right while alone together. Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Yer a good guy, Alex. Always know what to say to cheer me up."

"I try." You are starting to feel embarassed. Why is it so hard to take a compliment?

"Tell ya what. How bout we hang out at the arcade? Been years since we last did that together." His mood seems brighter now. It feels nice.

The arcade had a very retro feel to it. Pixelart from various old games covered the wallpaper while posters of recent ones were laid atop. Very different from the rundown one back in your old home. Various machines lined the walls a look up tells you they are organized by genre.

Brian smiles at your awestruck face. "Yeah, it's a bit bigger than the one back home, ain't it? Love the GameShack, but it has nothing on this." You both use the change machine to get some silver pieces then head over to the classic area.

There is a surprisingly large crowd gathered in the area. Well it is less the size of the crowd and more the fact that none of the ones you can see are playing any of the games. They all instead seem to be focused on a single arcade cabinet. Gently squeezing through the gaps in people, Brian and you make your way to see what is going on.

There are two people playing at the cabinet of interest. You make it just in time for most of the crowd to groan or cheer in response to one of the players winning. From the winstreak onscreen you can tell this has been going on for a while. "Better luck next time shithead. Next!"

The one declaring the statement turned around. Her face looked familiar. Long flowing hair tied back in a ponytail, pale blue skin that indicated her undead status, and piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare right through you. One of her arms appeared to be just bone at a glance, but a closer look revealed a very translucent outline of a regular arm around it. Before you could wonder where you'd seen her, your eyes couldn't help but take the rest of her in. She wore a tee shirt that was so tight it might as well have been a second skin. It had a plunging neckline and a cutesy chibi over a company name on the front. Her breasts were large and her thighs were pretty plump with a delicious peek at them between her skirt and thigh highs.

Her call snapped you out of your unintentional oggling. Those sharp, blue orbs piercing into you.