by Dante Steel
“I’m surprised to see you in the game,” Gary said.
Jorge gaped at him, and Gary winced. He had just completely blown off whatever topic his friend had been talking about.
“I’m worried about you,” Jorge said.
Gary rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m fine. Hey, isn’t that Nicoletta?” He waved her over.
Jorge muttered something under his breath, but Gary ignored him.
Nicoletta strolled over. “Hello, boys,” she said. “Cousin, I must say, being a mage doesn’t exactly suit you.”
“Yeah, this game is all kinds of jacked up,” Jorge muttered.
“Oh, poor baby. Just dump everything into strength. Be a bruiser mage.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jorge shook his head. “I’m already at a disadvantage being a mage in a game filled with—”
Gary cleared his throat.
Jorge sheepishly shrugged. “Sorry, man.”
“And to think I nabbed you some spellbooks.” Gary shook his head.
Jorge’s eyes lit up. “Give them to me!”
“Not so fast. What do I get?”
“Me to continue covering you at work. Now, gimme.”
“That’s low,” Nicolette protested. “Gary, hold out longer. He should give you armor or something worthwhile in exchange.”
As much as Gary would like to be compensated for the items, he did have to consider the real world and its consequences. He couldn't lose hope. As long as he could cling to the possibility of getting out of here, he had to keep his real life waiting for him so Gary could slip right back into it if he could.
So he wordlessly handed them over. Jorge eagerly scanned through the first, but the others, he couldn’t even open.
"Lame. I need more intelligence points for these," Jorge complained.
“Well, maybe if you played and weren’t level two…” Nicoletta teased.
“Hey, I have a life unlike you two,” Jorge said.
Nicoletta picked imaginary dust off her clothes. “Yeah, yeah, someone’s bitter. Come on, boys, let’s not just stand around and chat. Let’s get to it!”
She stalked over to a few NPCs, and they trailed behind her until they were given a quest that she thought might be involved in the mainline storyline.
“The Runed Ruby is said to contain a great power that is better off left alone,” the wizened woman was saying. “A shady man was seen snooping around the cave where it is reported to be buried and laid to rest for all time. You must not allow him to have it! Only those with the knowledge of the other world and a good heart can possibly gain this artifact.”
Gary jerked. Other world? Meaning the real world?
“Other world?” Nicoletta echoed, glancing at Gary, who did his best to avoid her gaze and not look like he had anything to hide. She hadn’t made things awkward, but that might be because of her cousin being here and acting as a buffer.
“The world beyond.” The crone waved her arm. “Go now, quickly. Far to the east lies the Mountain of Eternal Gloom. In the cave at the base, you will find the Runed Ruby. Hurry now! You do not have a moment to lose.”
“What do you think?” Nicoletta asked, but Gary already clicked accept.
“Let’s go,” he said grimly.
“This sounds like it’s way over my head,” Jorge complained.
“Then you better kill as many enemies as you can on your way to the far east,” Gary spat.
"What's with him?" Gary heard Jorge ask his cousin from behind him. Gary was already marching full steam ahead. If that shady man was the other human, then Gary had to stop him. And that great power? What if that was how the developers had found a way to give Gary a superpower?
Yes, this quest was the one he had been waiting for.
An hour passed, and while Jorge gained a few levels, he clearly didn’t feel comfortable in the game for whatever reason, and he logged off to spend time with May.
“Don’t mind him,” Nicoletta said. “He’s been a little strange since he’s started dating May.”
“Strange? How so?”
“He’s claiming it’s love, but I don’t know. He won’t bring her around to meet the family.”
“You haven’t met her?”
“Nope.” She shrugged and hacked off the wings of a harpy and then the head of a salamander. Although they were heading northward, to the east was a desert, where the salamander had wandered from to attack them.
He glanced at her, but she didn’t seem to mind the fiery creature. As much as he wished she would be willing to master her ability and overcome her fear, he wasn’t about to push it.
“I saw her for maybe a minute. She seemed nice enough, I guess.”
“He only makes time for her,” Nicoletta grumbled. “He has no time for his family.”
“That happens when you fall in love. Or so I’ve heard.”
“Never been in love?” Nicoletta asked.
“No. You?”
“I thought so a few times, but no. Love is overrated.” She scowled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s just play.”
Gary forced himself to stop. He had been pushing them hard, uncertain how long Nicoletta would be willing to play and not wanting to tackle this quest alone, but she seemed so angry all of a sudden.
“Please talk to me.”
“Gary, let’s just play.”
He held up a finger, darted forward, and managed to clip a harpy’s wing before she could claw Nicoletta. They had to pause their conversation to take out a nest of them, and finally, they were given a moment of relative peace in the chaotic world of Superheroes Online.
"Did someone hurt you?" he asked. When Nicoletta refused to look at him, an uncomfortable pit formed in his stomach. "Did I hurt you?"
"Of course not," she grumbled. "You're just ignoring my texts and phone calls, and I only ever see you in the game, and you kissed me, but it wasn't really me, and you keep playing with those girls, and I… I don't know."
“You’re jealous because I’m playing with other girls. I just spent how long playing with you and your cousin?”
“Jorge doesn’t count. He doesn’t like the game and only came in because he’s worried about you.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m worried too. What you said—”
He had to get her to stop talking, so he did the first thing he thought of. He kissed her long. He kissed her hard. He swept her close to him. Did she feel a power surge through her? Did she feel anything at all? The headset wasn't equipped for giving off the feeling of being kissed, yet her lips were definitely moving against his, parting, giving him access to her mouth, her tongue.
Not her tongue. Her avatar’s tongue.
Hating himself for not actually being in the real world, for not actually kissing her, Gary pulled back.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said firmly.
She cupped her cheek. “Then answer.”
“I’ll answer in the game.”
“Because you’re—”
“Because I’m not ready for a real relationship,” he said gruffly, turning aside. “I don’t know what it’s supposed to be like. Dating. Love. Giving yourself. I… I haven’t dated a lot. People move away. People move on. People…”
“I’m not going to die on you,” she said softly, squeezing his shoulder.
To his horror, his eyes burned with unshed tears. He blinked them away angrily before facing Nicoletta. She cupped his cheek and then laid her head on his chest.
“A relationship through a game doesn’t exactly feel real,” she whispered after a moment.
“That kiss felt real to me,” he said, doing his best not to squirm. He desperately needed to readjust.
“I felt it too.” She pulled back, her eyes searching. Then her gaze dropped, and her eyes widened. “But not as much as you, I think. How can you… your… the developers really put in…”
“Maybe you just got me that hot and bothered that it had no choice but to translate over,” he muttered. His
cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“Hmm.” She opened her mouth to say something more, but more salamanders were slithering their way over, their reptile bodies half engulfed in flames, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and urged her to continue onward.
For the most part, they maintained a comfortable silence as they hacked and slew their way through all kinds of creatures toward the Mountain of Eternal Gloom. What kind of a name was that? Meant to ward off other gamers? Gary didn’t think that would work.
“I can’t wait until we start to face supervillains,” she said suddenly.
“Oh, yeah? Are you sure we’ll face them?”
She nodded, her eyes glittering. “Some of the other players have talked about it. Apparently, if you complete enough quests, you’ll be granted titles like hero. You have to do a ton to be elevated to superhero status. People have been arguing about how many you need. Seems like it depends on the individual quests, that some are weighed heavier than others.”
“The ones that require a hero versus just an adventurer maybe,” he guessed.
“Possibly. I’ve been trying to do more quests. Some are lame, but this one seems like it could be fun. A Runed Ruby. I wonder what the great power is.”
“Something dangerous, clearly.”
“It might turn the guy into a supervillain. We have to stop him.” She slammed a fist into her open palm.
“I love how fiery you—how passionate you are,” he corrected, wincing.
“You can use the word fire,” she said. “I… I need to face it.”
“You don’t need to,” he said.
"I do. I will. The chances of my coming up against a supervillain who can use fire are probably pretty high." She inhaled deeply. "I'll be okay."
“Nicoletta—”
“Gary. Stop. I’m not a child.”
“Definitely not,” he murmured.
She laughed. “I’m glad you weren’t worried about what Jorge would think.”
“I’m a grown man. You’re a grown woman. We can do what we want.”
“I know, but he’s scared off would-be suitors before.”
“There’s still time for him to scare me off.”
"Oh, yeah?" She shook her head and chuckled. "So it's nothing serious between us?"
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down.
Of course, lacking self-control, he glanced down at his tented pants.
She flushed. “Yeah, well, I kinda prefer dates.”
“Uh, don’t gamers date by gaming together?”
“You consider yourself a gamer now?”
“Duh.”
Nicoletta rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know, Gary.”
She was stuck on his telling her the truth, and she didn’t believe him. He could understand her reservations. He really did. If she wasn’t willing to stick by him, maybe he could spend more time with Elena. That dream had felt so real. And Olivia. Although she had ended up puking on him, watching her fly had gotten him hard. Too bad she hadn’t been wearing a dress.
What the hell. He shouldn’t be thinking of the others right now, not while he was standing with Nicoletta.
"We don't have to decide anything now," he said stiffly. He needed to change the subject, to stop thinking about the girls, to get this erection to go away. It could come out tonight, and then he could rub one out. Apparently, nothing was going to happen now between him and Nicoletta. Besides, he was torn. He wanted to be with her, not her avatar, but he was stuck here, and she was playing at home, with her headset.
They were worlds apart, and it sucked.
As they approached the Mountain of Eternal Gloom, the skies suddenly darkened, and clouds rolled in, black and foreboding.
“It certainly looks gloomy,” she remarked, glancing at him.
Gary swallowed hard. He just hoped it wouldn’t start to thunder and lightning. The developers wouldn’t be that cruel, would they?
He gulped.
“You okay?” she asked compassionately.
“Just dandy,” he muttered.
That was anything but the truth. Gary felt out of his element, and he wasn't used to feeling this much fear. Something about the place seemed too much like a tomb, and he shivered.
I do not want to die here. I’m not ready to die. I need to live. I have to get back home.
Was that going to be possible? Was this all he could hope for? To play and survive?
That dark cloud above him sure was a storm cloud, and it brought with it more than just rain. Depression had rolled in, and Gary knew it wouldn’t easily be shoved aside.
“Just fucking dandy,” he muttered so low that only he could hear the words.
Chapter Seventeen
“Hey now, Gary!” a familiar voice called.
Smiling, Gary turned around to see Olivia approaching.
“Fancy running into you,” Olivia said as she approached. She winked at Gary and turned to Nicoletta. “I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m—”
“Don’t care,” Nicoletta said, turning her back.
“Mature. Gary, let me know when you prefer a real woman.”
"As opposed to a floozy?" Nicoletta asked, whirling back around.
Olivia laughed. “Girl, you don’t even know me.”
"No, but I know your type. Hanging onto every scrap of attention you can get from any and all guys."
Olivia scowled. “That’s not true at all.”
“No? Why is it that I’ve seen you around but always with male players?”
“Why haven’t you been playing much with others outside of Gary?” Olivia countered.
“Girls—” Gary said, but they were ignoring him.
“What’s wrong with wanting to train by yourself? Have you ever gamed before?” Nicoletta asked. “Because if you train alone, you would know that you get all of the goods.”
“Right now, all of the goods are pretty crappy, dear, or haven’t you realized?”
“You have to level up to fight the harder creatures and bosses to get the good stuff. You just trounce along with the big, tough guys, and get a pittance of the experience and level up slowly. Yawn.”
“It’s a game. It’s meant to be played with others. Social. You do know the meaning of the word, don’t you?”
Gary cleared his throat. “Really, I don’t think—”
“You’re just jealous,” Olivia said.
“Jealous of what? Your avatar?”
"My winning personality. That's why the guys love me. If it were just looks, I would've given myself…" Olivia held out her hands to pretend to hold enormous milk jugs.
Gary was glancing back and forth between them as they were arguing. Honestly, he hated that they were fighting, but as they were yelling, they had stepped closer and closer together. Now, they were inches from each other, and the idea of having them turn their anger into passion and him enjoying them both at the same time had him nearly ready to splurge himself right then and there.
As if she could read his thoughts, Olivia glanced over at him and down at his bulge. He flushed as she nudged Nicoletta, who also saw. Crap.
Olivia leaned over and whispered something to Nicoletta. Gary couldn’t tell if she responded when Olivia kissed her full on the lips with tongue and everything. Fuck. Gary was so hard that he couldn’t think.
The two girls pulled away, separating, laughing.
“Uh…” Gary was speechless as visions of the three of them tumbling in the grassy field they had passed through to reach here.
“I think we broke him.” Olivia giggled.
“He’s definitely broken,” Nicoletta agreed.
“So, are you two friends now?” he asked, baffled. What had just happened?
“We’re allies,” Nicoletta said.
“In what exactly?” he asked suspiciously.
“In the ‘drive Gary nuts’ game,” Olivia said with a wink.
“I think we’re winning,” Nicoletta said.
&
nbsp; “Yes, we most certainly are.”
Gary groaned. Them being friends might be worse than them being enemies.
As they marched the last little bit to the mountain, Gary's mind raced. Nicoletta was definitely not gay, so was she bi? Would she be open to a threesome? Honestly, though, Gary didn't just want a once and done. He really was enjoying getting to know Nicoletta and Elena. Of the three, Gary had spent the least amount of time with Olivia, but she was a lot of fun, too. He couldn't go wrong with any of them, and he kinda wanted them all.
No. Gary definitely wanted them all.
Maybe that was just because his life was so hectic and chaotic here in the game. Maybe it was because he knew that nothing could really happen since they weren’t here with him. Most likely, he would be way too chicken shit to even consider this in real life.
For now, this game was his life, and they were keeping him anchored, keeping him sane, and if that caused him to fall in lust with them, so be it. Because it couldn’t be love. Not so quickly. Not with all of them. No.
“Are you ready for this?” Nicoletta asked.
“I don’t know,” Gary said.
“I’m ready for anything and then some,” Olivia said with an impish grin.
Nicoletta eyed her. “Are you always so…”
“Full of life?” Olivia winked. “You betcha.”
Gary wanted to believe it wasn’t an act, but he couldn’t help wondering. He was pretty sure that he had heard or read somewhere that most people went into psychiatry because of their own personal issues. He didn’t want to judge Olivia, though, and was perfectly happy just thinking of her as being happy and carefree. The world needed more people like that. Too many were overly serious and worried about the sky falling.
Colossal fat droplets rained down on them as they struggled to find the cave. Thunder rumbled, and Gary froze, waiting for a lightning strike. If he got hit again, would he die? Would he be zapped back home? Would he be zapped somewhere random?
“Over here!” Nicoletta called. Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead, her clothing soaked and skin-tight against her body, and, fuck, he was hard again. Damn it. He was going to have a constant hard-on at this rate.
Hands over his head to shield him from the rain at least somewhat, Gary rushed over, Olivia right on his heels. She pressed against him to enter the cave, and he hung back slightly so he could adjust himself. Seriously? His pants were a little wet from pre-cum. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice. The cave was dark. Besides, it was raining, so that was another explanation for the strategic wet spot…
