“Erica! Over here!”

The blonde looked up in confusion as she heard her name called across the bar. A few other people looked up at the call, watching with amusement as a very attractive blonde was beckoned over by a slender brunette.

Cynthia grinned at John before she waved excitedly at the woman that she’d once called her girlfriend. Erica made her way over ot the two of them, looking absolutely out of place in the club. But… it kinda suited her.

As she approached, John and Erica’s eyes locked. They had seen each other at school a few times, but they’d never really talked; they both existed in the same general place and time. He knew almost nothing about her, save that she’d once managed to trick Vanessa into fighting with her boytoy, but that was it. Neither of them had expected to run into the other thanks to Cynthia, of all people.

“How the hell did you wind up in a club?” Cynthia asked with a wink. “All those times I asked you to come with me, every time you declined. But when I am out and about with my new partner, you show up? That’s totally unfair.” Cynthia giggled with a small wink. “Meet John, by the way, John Newman. John, meet Erica, Erica Carpenter. Berserker and pussywhisperer.”

Erica raised an eyebrow at that before laughing and shaking John’s hand. She had a painfully strong grip. “Well, I’m… kinda… moving to Canada tomorrow. I wanted to steel my nerves. You know, get a last local taste before I trade the concrete jungle for snowy mountains.” The girl’s grin faltered slightly at her own words.

Cynthia dragged them all over to a booth that just got vacated. “Let's sit down. Now my night is actually complete: a nice date, a nice guy, and the ability to see you again before you apparently leave without telling me.” Cynthia looked slightly hurt that Erica dropped that bombshell here and now. However, when she saw the pained expression on Erica’s face, she decided to drop the topic.

“So, ehm, hi, Erica,” John started. “When you walked in Cynthia said that you are her ex? How did you two meet? I mean, I don’t judge, promise.” He raised his hands in his own defense right away which caused both girls to smile.

“Relax, dude. John, was it? I like girls, no big deal,” Erica reassured him. “Believe it or not, but we met through one of Cyn’s least favorite people, Moira.”

“I only started disliking her after, you know,” Cynthia huffed as she stared at Erica, apparently this was a bit of a point of contention.

“That’s fair. Anyway, I work on a contract for the Order, help them out with their monster problems, crack a few rattlebones, you know? Well, one day Moira and I had to track this hellhound that some idiot Cabalist let loose, and Moira wanted to bring in an expert in the field. Fortunately, both of her first picks were busy, so we got Cynthia instead.”

Cynthia rolled her eyes after which she winked at John. She then took over. “Well, yeah, both Mom and Dad were busy hunting down the beast’s mother, so I got tasked to help our ‘good old allies’ out.”

“We managed to track it down into the sewers, Moira jumped down, we didn’t. Hunting stuff in a sewer is… really not a great experience, let me tell you. They don’t pay me enough to slog through that crap. So, after a while, Moira comes back out, dragging the beast up and grumbling something about her ‘untrustworthy helpers’,” Erica spoke with a small smile, though it never seemed to reach her eyes.

“She looked so pissed, it was hilarious. After that, Moira went back to her fancy mansion to change her clothes, and this beauty surprised me by asking if I wanted to grab a drink. She said she’d be staying in town for a while and needed to get a few friends in unnatural places. One thing led to another, and well, I introduced her to Mom and Dad two days later,” Cynthia finished the story, looking at Erica’s hands on the table, raising her own but putting it down again without reaching over. She then snuggled into John’s shoulder; John could spot a look of regret on Erica’s face when she did that.

Erica ran a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath, then placed her hands back on the table and looking at the pair snuggled up together. “John, now you basically know how I met Cyn. Time to spill the beans on yourself, dude.”

John nodded with a bit of a silly look on his face. “Well…. We met last monday. You see, my powers awoke, I’m known as ‘The Gamer’ got game like powers, and apparently Gaia wanted me to become a ranger or beastmaster, I think? Because when I entered the forest for school, you know, the art and biology thing? Almost seemed to be too easy, but hey. So, I walk into this trap barrier, get attacked and an item that dropped from some boar I bludgeoned to **** with my backpack turns out to be able to call ‘a hunt’, still don’t know what that is, don’t want to know either to be honest. So, some Cabalist showed up, tried to kill me, I blow the horn, and before you know it, Cynthia is there to save me,” John rambled off the story of how they met.

Then Cyn cut in, “And well, John’s powers were interesting; he completed his first solo hunt yesterday, with some trouble. He’s a bit of a goofball, but he’s nice.” Cynthia smiled sweetly at him, then with a sad look she turned to Erica. “I’m sorry things- you know, I kinda wanted to... But you know.” She took a deep breath as Erica nodded.

“Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most,” Erica mumbled. John felt like quite the third wheel here, but Cynthia’s hands kept him in place.

Just when John wanted to clear his throat, Cynthia started wriggling past him. “I’m sorry, I need to pee. I’ll be back in a bit. Why don’t you two get to know each other a bit better while I’m gone, hm?” She tried to sound cheerful.

Silence ensued as John and Erica just looked at each other. They both opened their mouths after the silence became unbearable two minutes later. “So,” both of them said.

“You first,” John quickly spoke awkwardly.

“No, you go ahead. I can wait,” Erica insisted.

“Well, ok then. You work for the Order? That any fun?”

“Contract basis, and no, it’s work. Work’s rarely ‘fun’. But, it pays the bills and someone’s gotta do it. Might as well be me,” Erica replied with a crooked smile, her eyes still trained on John’s.

“My turn. Say, dude, what’s Cyn told you about her previous relationships?” She seemed to suddenly be deadly serious, the oppressive shift of atmosphere making him feel ill at ease. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong, but please hear me out. There are some things you should know.”

John nodded as he waited for her to continue, his goofy nature and his mannerisms kept to a minimum. He looked her in the eye as she told him what she seemed to need to tell him.

“You’ve probably seen this for yourself already, but… Cynthia grew up in a place where sex is as normal as breathing, so much so that it’s lost the meaning that normal people would associate with it. When sex is meaningless, it’s not surprising that love is difficult to grasp too. No matter how many people she surrounds herself with, Cyn is a very, and I mean very, lonely girl. She doesn’t know how to properly interact with people, so she either keeps them at arm’s length with her silly antics or drags them into her bed. Not because she’s easy but just because she’s desperately looking for someone to fill the void in her life. Cyn needs someone who can be hers and hers alone. I… I couldn’t do that for her. It’d take too long to explain why, and dude, that’s none of your business.

“She needs someone who can be her anchor, and she’s chosen you. Honestly, I’m glad she did, you seem pretty chill. But, don’t even think about taking advantage of her, got it? Just because she’s open-minded doesn’t mean you can sleep with anyone you want. Remember that your heart belongs to her, no matter who you might have wrapped around your dick…. and if you run around thinking with that thing and break her heart?” She paused and looked directly at him. John recoiled at the look of absolute, terrifying sincerity in the berserker’s black tinged eyes, “I will rip it off and feed it to Marco. We good, John?”

John nodded slowly, taking the small tirade in, but he felt something click. The reason she was so quick to love and why she was so okay with him just fucking around, literally.

“Cyn’s a frail, sweet and wonderful girl. Like a cinnamon roll. Call her that, she’ll love it.” Erica cleared her throat and continued more seriously, “She needs someone to give all that love she’s got bottled up to, and you are… very lucky you’re receiving it. Just… for the both of us, please don’t fuck it up.” Her voice dropped to a nearly inaudible whisper, “Please.”

Erica’s eyes moistened up even as she clenched her jaw in anger, staring deep into John’s eyes until he nodded again, “I think I understand.

“I will do my best for her. She is my first girlfriend, and I love her, I truly do. You can call it love at first sight, if you will. Erica, I don’t know what happened between you two, but I can feel you loved her, love her still, I think. And I appreciate you telling me this. I will work every day to make her happy, okay?” John made a vow. “And I will never intentionally hurt her. You have my word.”

Now it was Erica’s turn to nod. “Good, that’s good. I know you’ll keep your word.” The berserker and the hunter shook hands, a light smile on their lips as the loaded atmosphere calmed down a bit.

When Cynthia returned, John and her were trading anecdotes about school, and John was just telling her how Cynthia had scared Vanessa into the pond when she reached the table.

“I won’t impose on your date any longer, Cyn,” Erica said as the girl just sat down. “I told a few friends I’d drop by before I catch my flight. Funny, I used to hate this place, but I just had to… see it one last time, I guess. Hang in there, okay?” the blonde berserker said with a wry smile, regret still tinging every word she spoke.

Cynthia nodded, tears in the corners of her eyes as she got up from her seat once more and walked around the table, placing a deep, passionate kiss on Erica’s lips, the girl completely caught off guard. The kiss lasted half a minute, until Cynthia pulled back and sat down on the couch once more. “Call me, if you ever need a hand, I will find a way to help you, okay, Erica?” Cynthia asked in a small voice.

“I will. Hey, John. You’re a decent dude. Try not to break your wrist jerking it to that kiss for the next week though.” She started to leave but glanced back to give a parting wave, “I hope to see you both again, someday.” Erica’s eyes betrayed a doubt that she ever would, but she gave them a vibrant smile before turning away. The last thing John noticed was that, for once, Erica’s eyes smiled along with the rest of her face.

“That was... heavier than I expected it to be,” Cynthia admitted, resting her head on John’s shoulder using his shirt to clean off her teary eyes. “But it’s good that we saw her before she went. Don’t get me wrong, John, I love you, I do, but I loved her too, one time.”

“I understand, Cyn, no harm done. Trust me.” John ran his fingers through her hair, the two just talking a bit until the heavy mood passed.

It was Cynthia, who after a few rounds of drinks and a cheeky grab at John’s groin proposed the following.

(Author’s note: Thanks so much to CalamitousIntent for working with me on giving a bit more life to the world. I may be talking out of my ass here, but I feel like the world gets more beautiful if you can tell stories of love, lost and found, with people you like.)