Vibe Check

“Yeah we have two pet birds at home! Wanna see pictures?” Emma asks enthusiastically. We all nod, so Emma takes out her phone and taps away quickly at the screen. After a few seconds, she holds out her phone for us to see. “This one is Link, he’s an Indian ringneck parrot.” She says, a picture of an adorable small blue bird on the screen.

Mia and I swoon. “He’s so cute oh my - god!” Mia says, pausing for a moment, clearly about to say ‘Oh my Gaia!’, and correcting herself at the last second. Paige holds her hands up to her face and lets out an adorable squeak. Emma grins, sharing in the joy of cute animals. She swipes to a different picture, this one showing a green bird with a silver belly and front.

“And this one is Zelda! She’s a Quaker parrot. I really like the Legend Of Zelda games if you can’t tell.” Emma giggles. I know the characters but haven’t played any of the games, never having been much of a Nintendo fan myself. Mia perks up immediately on hearing that though. “It’s such a great series! Ocarina Of Time is my favourite!” She says.

“I’m a Majora’s Mask girlie, obviously.” Emma echoes, and the two of them launch into a discussion about the lore of the games, completely forgetting about Emma’s adorable birds. I sit back and let them talk for a while, enjoying listening to them talk. I catch Lena’s eye, and she smiles at me. She’s enjoying herself. I smile back, sipping my drink and taking a bite of my food.

I let the others talk for a while, while I eat and drink, happy to let my girlfriends continue the conversation. Even Paige gets involved after getting past her initial shyness, although Emma still takes every opportunity to tease her. The teasing domme and easily flustered submissive bond rapidly, over their tattoos, their mutual attraction to one another and complementary approaches to conversation.

The conversation turns to music very quickly, with Emma insisting on showing us an artist she found out about recently. She’s sure the artist is going to blow up soon, apparently having toured with Olivia Rodrigo once before, and with rumours going around about another tour announcement together. Chappell Roan is her name, and while I can’t say I’ve heard of her before, her music is cool.

We talk and yap for hours, leading into the afternoon as the birds are chirping and the sun is slowly moving across the sky. A thought strikes me about something I want to ask Emma. It’s a good idea to ask her anyway before I try to find a way to circumvent the usual abyssal-mundane separation but I’m also just interested to hear her answer.

I wait for a break in the conversation before asking. “Emma, I’ve got a question for you.” I say, getting the attention of the table. Lena looks at me, particularly interested in what I’m going to ask. Emma raises her eyebrow slightly, taking a sip of her glass of water. “Okay. Shoot.” She says.

“If there was something being kept from you about our reality…forbidden knowledge about the world, a secret so dangerous it would change everything about your life…would you risk what you have now to know the truth? Do you think it’d be worth it to you? Hypothetically of course.” I lay out.

Emma puts her drink down, grabbing the little spoon and absently stirring her second cup of coffee that she ordered. “What prompted that question?” She asks, interested. I shrug nonchalantly, taking advantage of my high charisma stat. “It’s a question I find really interesting, and it helps to gauge how different people approach life.” I tell her. None of that is a lie, but it’s not the full truth either.

She thinks for a few more seconds before answering. “Your girl loves conspiracies. It’s definitely worth it, I’d be way too curious. You said it’d change things, and change can be a good thing.” She answers. Lena nods at her girlfriend’s answer, smiling coyly at me, knowing exactly what I’m doing.

“Exactly! New stuff is cool, I’d be the same. I’m all about dat exploration of life. Bring on the danger!” She says jokingly. Emma smiles at the water mage. “What about you?” She asks me, sipping on her coffee. I already know my answer to the question, and the words come easily.

“I tend to be quite optimistic about things. I like the idea that any new knowledge of the world can at worst, expand our understanding of how things work, and at best, make things better in general. I feel like knowing a hidden secret of the world, even if it puts me in danger, could only make things better for me in the long run.” I say. I look to Mia for her answer.

“Same as Emma, I’d be too curious honestly. Couldn’t stop myself from knowing, and I don’t mind a bit of danger either.” She chuckles. Emma and Lena chuckle along with her, and we all look to Paige, wondering what her answer will be. She stares down at the table for a long moment, then opens her mouth.

“I…I think I’m happy with what I have. I don’t need my world to change and I…I kinda think I’d rather not take the chance that it would. I like my life the way it is…I’m happy…heck…” She says, blushing again. I massage her on the back as she gets embarrassed from talking about her happiness in front of new people. She buries her face in my shoulder and I giggle at her cuteness, kissing the top of her head.

Emma nods. “I get that too sweetie. Life is just nice. I’d never want to put my princess and what I have with her in danger.” She says, shooting a grin at Lena, who sticks her tongue out in response. Paige manages to look up from my shoulder and nod. “Yeah…” She trails off, unsure how to respond. I kiss the top of her head again, and she hides her face in my shoulder once more.

By the end of the afternoon, I’m convinced that Emma and Lena are both great fits personality wise for our guild. Emma made it clear herself (indirectly) that she’d be interested in knowing more about the abyss, even though it’s dangerous. I love their dynamic with each other and I love their energy. Something about them both is just super uplifting and fun to be around.

I have no idea what things would be like on a romantic level, but that’s a little at the back of my head at the moment. If it happens, it happens. There does seem to be interest on all sides, and as we say our goodbyes, Emma lets us know definitively that she’s interested in us, and asks to keep in contact.

“Especially you cutie.” She says, glancing at Paige who looks at the ground, blushing and giggling. Emma smirks at the sight, winking at Mia and I. Seems like she just enjoys teasing Paige, and that she’s very much interested in all three of us. We exchange hugs and numbers, before going our separate ways, with Paige, Mia and I heading back to the safety of the Fateweaver barrier to re-enter the Kingdom barrier.

I tell the others my thoughts, and Mia nods emphatically. “Absolutely, I think we need them both in our guild. Even if nothing happens romantically or whatever, their energy is so great to be around!” The aeromancer exclaims. Paige makes a small sound in agreement. “I like them.” She says simply, smiling to herself. I pat her on the head. “I guess it’s settled then. We’ll see if we can find a way to introduce Emma to the abyss.”