Paige And Skylar

“Well that was easy.” I say. On the walk home, I spot a familiar face, somebody that I saw the last time we came to the auction. I nudge at Mia and point her out as subtly as I can. “She’s really pretty.” Mia says in response. “She’s gorgeous. Kind of like you.” I say. She elbows me gently in the ribs and I laugh. “I’m guessing you used observe on her, is she in a guild? What are her powers?” She asks.

“Yes I did, no she isn’t in a guild. She’s an earth elemental mage.” I reply, confirming her guess and curious as to why Mia is asking me about that. Simultaneously, I note that Paige hasn’t reacted at all to my use of the skill. Maybe the skill’s high level plus our relative power levels means that it becomes more undetectable? Theories for another time. “Good enough for me. Excuse me!” Mia calls out the last sentence, much to my shock.

I note with a small bit of happiness that it says she finds me kind of pretty. “I really like your tattoos!” Mia compliments. I can’t fathom how Mia is so brazen in her approach to this woman who she’s never talked to before. The three emotions I saw in the emotion box on her character sheet, are all reflected in different amounts on her face, and her tone of response. “Um, thanks?” Paige says, slightly uncertain, sounding like she’s sure that Mia is going to attack her.

Mia picks up on this easily. “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Mia, and this is my girlfriend, Gemma.” She says. I wave slightly awkwardly as Paige’s gaze flickers to me for a second before returning to the woman in front of her. “I’m Paige.” She replies, slightly less afraid, but still cautious. “Lovely to meet you Paige. Gemma and I have our own guild, it’s the two of us plus one other person. Would you like to join?” She asks.

I have to fight a facepalm as I finally realise what Mia’s trying to do. I probably should have realised sooner, given that she asked if this woman was already in a guild. “Um…well I don’t know who you are, sooo….” The terramancer responds, dragging out the last part of her sentence. Mia’s charming smile never falters. “That’s alright. Your tattoos tell me that you’re a woman of culture at least.” She says, raising her sleeve to reveal her own tattoos, albeit, they’re a lot less colourful and much smaller than Paige’s nearly full sleeve.

“Thank you. I like your tattoos too.” She says, giving Mia a small smile. “Thank you! Well listen, my girlfriend and I need to go, but can we swap numbers and maybe hang out sometime?” Mia asks. “Sure, I guess.” Paige shrugs and they exchange numbers. “Great! Talk to you some other time!” Mia waves goodbye cheerfully, and Paige waves back, still likely uncertain as to what just happened.

“.….what?” I ask Mia, as she grabs my hand and we start walking. Mia snorts at my response to the whole thing. “We can always use more guild members dummy. Plus, she was pretty.” She says. “Look...yes, she was pretty, but….why?” I ask. “Dude, I just told you.” “I suppose I’m just slightly shocked. I’ve never been able to talk to people that way.” I say. “I’m not surprised, missus ‘I’m so socially awkward that I shut down if a random person starts talking to me.’” Mia teases, giggling.

“Okay first of all, shut the fuck up. Second of all, can you really blame me? You’re pretty, and I had no idea what you wanted!” She takes a moment to get her giggling under control for one word. “Simp.” I purse my lips and Mia loses all control, going into a giggling fit. I shake my head, unable to hold back a grin. “I swear, if we were at home right now…” I say.

“Aww what? Am I being a bad girl? Gonna punish me mommy?” She asks, laughing again. I burst out laughing too, because of how cheesy that sounds when neither one of us have any experience at sex. “I’m not sure how I feel about being called mommy.” I reply.

“Well get used to it, cause I have mommy issues and I like using the word.” She shoots back. “Oi! I have mommy issues. And daddy issues, but ya know, I don’t like men.” I reply. “Samesies!” Mia puts on the most basic white girl voice that she can manage, and cackles again.

We arrive home with Skylar texting us, saying that she’s 10 minutes away. “What do you want for lunch?” Mia asks me. “Uhhhh fuck….I’m feeling basic, how about we order KFC?” I ask. “Sounds good to me.” She says and opens Uber Eats. “Can’t I order? I feel bad letting you pay for it.” I say. She waggles a finger at me disapprovingly. “Shush! I know the address, and you need to save your money.” She replies. “But I have $21,000 now!” I protest. “Yeah and I have more than that. Shush and let your rich girlfriend pay for your food honey.” “Fiiiiine.” I sigh in an exaggerated way.

20 minutes later, and both the food and Skylar have arrived. We all dig in happily, Mia having consulted Skylar on what she wanted before she ordered. “This food is really good. Thank you Mia.” Skylar says, giving her a small smile. Mia smiles back at her. “You’re welcome. How was class?” Mia asks the umbramancer. “It was alright. Same old same old.” Skylar responds, a neutral expression on her face. I know her well enough to know that she has a good poker face, and that her resting **** face doesn’t necessarily reflect her emotions.

She takes another bite of her chicken and swallows, looking at the two of us. “You two are dating aren’t you?” Skylar asks, changing the subject. I exchange a glance with Mia, wondering how she knew. “Uh, yes we are.” I respond carefully. “Are you happy?” She asks. Mia and I both nod. “Good.” Skylar says. Neither of us really know how to keep the conversation going with Skylar at that point, but we keep trying throughout the meal.

We eventually manage to get her talking a little bit more. “My favourite song is The Nexus, by Amaranthe.” Skylar says. “I love that song! Elize Ryd’s voice is so pretty!” I respond immediately. She nods, the now familiar small smile forming on her face. “Wait what? Now I wanna hear, I don’t know that song!” Mia complains. I quickly find the song on youtube and show her.

“Okay but her outfit is so pretty tho-OH MY GOD her voice!” Mia exclaims in rapid succession. I giggle at her reaction. “She was an opera singer at one point.” Skylar chimes in, still smiling. “I love it, this song is so cool! Wait, is that a different singer?” Mia asks. “Yeah, this band is partially known for having 3 different vocalists.” I mention. We finish off our meal, with Skylar opening up a little more on the topic of music.

“Don’t get caught in the ice blasts!” I warn Skylar, firing off a few mana arrows at the boss. She nods, having no time for a response as she forms a fist of shadows to unleash at the Skeleton Overlord. The punch connects and the Overlord staggers backwards a little, thrown off by the impact. I fire more mana arrows, keeping my distance and checking to make sure Skylar does the same. Skylar being an addition to the party doesn’t seem to make the Overlord stronger. Maybe because I’m now a higher level than Skylar?

Her character sheet confirms what I suspected, given the way she acts and the massive hint Gaia gave me. Skylar has had some bad past experiences with people and now doesn’t like opening up to people. It’s understandable, and I’ve felt the same before. I hope I can help her with that at some point.

With a few final spells from Skylar and I, the boss keels over and disappears into dust. It’s the second time today that we’ve managed to beat him.

1000xp

The boss is giving me less XP, now that I’m level 14. Still, this kill puts me about two thirds of the way to level 15. This dungeon is amazing for grinding experience, although it does help that I’ve now gone through it 4 times today, twice with just Mia and I, and twice with the addition of Skylar. I walk around picking up the loot, addressing Skylar as I do so.

“Hey, did you want anything by the way? The boss dropped $5000 both times we fought him.” She starts to decline, then rethinks. “Can I have some of the money? I could use it.” She asks. I nod, smiling at her. “Sure thing.” I get out $5000 from my inventory and hand it to her. She smiles, thanking me.

After gathering the loot and exiting the barrier, Skylar tells Mia and I that she has to go home. We wave goodbye to her, with Mia hugging her (after asking first). I open my character sheet as we walk back, extremely happy with the progress I’ve made today. 3 levels in one day is no joke.

I’m very happy with the way my character sheet is starting to look. My mana regen has gone up significantly today, as has my Wisdom stat and money. I note the extra money I have in my inventory that isn’t accounted for by the enemy drops, and reason that some of my items on the Abyss Auction have sold. A look to my inventory confirms this. My cryomancy is getting stronger too. All in all, I’m getting more powerful by the day, and it’s an intoxicating feeling. Both in the sense that I’m getting stronger, more capable and more able to defend myself, and the simple idea of ‘number go up’.

We get inside and I shut the door behind us. Mia flops down on the couch and sighs with a smile on her face. “What is it?” I ask, sitting down next to her. “Today was a good day.” She replies, her smile as radiant as ever. “I’m happy I got to spend it with you.” I reply. “The first of many, darling.” She says, and I giggle. “What do you feel like doing now?” I ask. “Well, there’s three things.” She says, smirking.

“Do elaborate.” I reply, getting the feeling that I’m going to like her answer.

Mia holds up three fingers to count them off. “First, we’re going to have dinner. Second, we’re going to watch a movie together. Third? Well, it’s a surprise.” She says, tapping me gently on the nose and making a ‘boop’ sound. “Now I really wanna know what the third thing is!” I complain. “Too bad.” She sticks her tongue out at me.

“Now what do you want for dinner? Actually scratch that, sit your ass down, I’m making us food.” With that, she disappears into the kitchen. Slightly bewildered, I sit down. “And no peeking!” She exclaims from the other room. “Yes ma’am!” I joke, turning on the tv to watch the latest video from one of my favourite youtubers.