Relaxed Afternoon

“Let’s get out of here.” I groan, halfway between amused and confused. We pick up the loot and I help Mia to her feet. “Dude, what are your powers. That was amazing, I can’t believe she actually made this into a dungeon boss.” “I have no idea what her thought process is. I’m just glad he was easy to kill. I don’t know how long you and I would’ve been able to concentrate.” I remark.

“Why were you two laughing so hard?” Skylar asks, as we walk back to Mia’s place. “I am interested to know too, I don’t really understand what was so funny about that.” Ivy puts in. “I’ll explain later.” We get back inside and sit down to rest and regenerate our resources. Mia and I explain why we were laughing so hard over the boss, and once they both understand, Ivy wants to go back into the dungeon to see it for a second time. So, the final dungeon of the day ends up being another run through the ogres dungeon.

All said and done, Ivy and I are now both at level 29 by the end of our dungeon running for the day. I spend my own points on Wisdom, and Ivy’s points on agility, to finally get her up to 25 agility. The milestone window pops up as I’m considering what to work on next for her.

Well that’s that goal reached then. “Any preferences on which stat you’d like to raise next Ivy?” I ask her. “You’re pretty well equipped for your role in combat for the moment. Agility was really your only weak spot, so I’m not sure where to go from here.” “Can I have my charisma raised to 25 please?” She asks, surprising me. “Sure, we can do that. Any particular reason why?” “I don’t know. I just want even stats.” I giggle at her response. “I do too.”

“So Skylar, ever heard of Mario Kart?” Mia asks. “I’ve heard of it, never played it.” “Are you up for trying it then?” “Sure, I guess. It’s probably as a good a place as any to start.” We get inside and sit down, with Mia pulling out a Nintendo Switch from the cabinet under the tv and setting it up. “You never told me you had a Switch!” I exclaim. “You never asked.”

I shake my head. “I’ve never actually played on a Switch either. I play Xbox, Playstation, PC and VR, but not really Nintendo.” “Huh, so that means that I’m gonna be the only person here who’s actually played the game before.” Mia remarks, opening the box of Mario Kart 8 deluxe edition, taking out the cartridge and putting it into the system.

She takes out 4 switch pro controllers and hands one to each of us. She starts to teach Ivy and Skylar the controls, as the game starts. She has them both play through a few of the simple tracks on their own so they can get the hang of the controls. They both pick it up fairly quickly, which is pretty amazing since neither of them have ever played video games in their lives.

They aren’t anywhere near skilled at the game, but the basics of accelerating, braking and steering are relatively simple for them to get a hang of. It takes them around half an hour before they’ve started to be able to drive fairly fluidly, without constantly crashing into walls. Mia and I patiently give them tips to improve and help them when they get stuck.

After the half an hour of helping them practice, showing them how items work, what they do and how to use them, basic driving mechanics, the coins, helping them tweak some of the settings for them, and overall helping them learn, Mia deems them ready to play against her and I. We connect our controllers and select our characters, then load up into one of the game’s more advanced tracks.

In the ensuing hour, we have a blast together. Ivy is really enjoying herself, and even Skylar seems to be having a good time. A couple of races in, Skylar gets us some snacks, and we alternate between eating, talking and playing. Skylar seems to be more relaxed around us than she ever has been before. It’s a really lovely sight to see her playing, laughing and having fun with us.

“Mia are you ever going to stop bringing that up?” I ask her, holding back a grin. “When it stops being funny, so probably not.” She cackles in return. “How did it happen though?” Skylar asks. I groan and laugh at the same time. “Baggy shirt and open flame stove.” I summarise. “My dad did something similar a few years ago. Damn near burnt the house down.” She chuckles.

“Do you have any crazy stories?” Mia asks her. “Not really, I’ve been pretty sheltered for a lot of my life. Oh I know!” We all perk up that. “When I was about 8, my parents took me to the beach. It was the first and one of the only times they did. My dad was taking a nap under the shade of the umbrella. He had nothing on but a towel covering him. My mum was in the water swimming.”

“I hid his swimming trunks as a prank. I thought it would be pretty funny. But mum started calling for help cause she was struggling to swim. Dad heard and jumped up. He looked around for his swimmers but couldn’t find them. He went to save my mum buck ass nude. I was scared at that point because of my mum. Once he got her out though, he got out of the water and realised everybody was staring at him in shock.”

“It was at that point that I started dying laughing. He looked down and realised he was naked, and his face got SO red. It wasn’t like everybody was laughing at him, people just didn’t know what to do.” Skylar laughs, remembering the moment. “My mum was fine, my dad was so embarrassed. I don’t think his face was back to its normal colour until the next day.”

“Wow you were an evil kid.” Mia cackles, and Skylar shrugs, a smile still on her face. “You’re a nice person now though.” Ivy chimes in innocently, smiling radiantly at her. Skylar turns to her, a confused expression on her face. “W-what?” “You’re a nice person and I like spending time with you. Besides my girlfriends, you’re the only other person I’m friends with. It’s really nice to have you as my friend.” Ivy beams.

Skylar just looks at her for a few seconds, seemingly slightly shocked. She looks down for a few moments, then looks at the rest of us. “I-I’m sorry, I have to go. Thank you for your company, and for your hospitality.” Without another word or waiting for us to respond, she stands up and walks out, closing the front door behind her. I stand up and start to the door to go after her, but a shake of Mia’s head stops me. “Did I say something wrong?” Ivy asks, confused and upset. “No honey, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Mia promises, putting her arm around our girlfriend.

“Then why’d she leave like that? Why did it look like she was upset? You said that she was an evil kid and I wanted to make sure she knew that she is a nice person…” Ivy says, her shoulders dropping. I sit down beside her and put my arm around her too, comforting her. I look to Mia for an explanation. I have a guess as to what just happened, but I’m not very good with people.

“We just need to give her some space honey. I don’t think she’s experienced a lot of genuine kindness in her life, especially not in the way that you’re kind to people.” She explains. “What do you mean about the way I’m kind to people?” “You’re really innocent Ivy, and the way that you talk to people is so blunt and innocently sweet. You’re straightforward in a way that most people aren’t, because you’re still learning about the world.”

“Me calling her an evil child was a joke, most people understand that. But you have a heart of gold, you hear those words and you want to reassure people that it’s not true. It’s not your fault my love, I promise. It’s just that for people who haven’t experienced kindness and sincerity in their life, hearing it for the first time can be really shocking.”

“Will she be okay?” Ivy asks, looking into Mia’s eyes. “Just give her time, okay? She’ll talk to us when she’s ready.” Mia leaves the ‘if she wants to’ part unsaid. Ivy nods and hugs Mia tightly. “Let’s watch something to take your mind off it, okay?” Mia suggests, and Ivy nods again. “Okay.” We snuggle together on the couch with Ivy in the middle, and we turn on Iron Man 2.

Halfway during the movie, Mia gets up to go make dinner while I keep snuggling with Ivy. When she comes back, we eat and finish off the movie. We go upstairs for the night, and we focus our sex around Ivy, making her feel loved and cared for. She appreciates the treatment, even if she is slipping into more of a caregiver role than anything. We fall asleep together, with Ivy as the middle spoon.