“We’ll save you, fair maiden!”
“No, you won’t, not while the Death Knights of Zar-Mundus protect our prize!”
God, Sean and his buddies are such… nerds! Maggie mused inwardly, nevertheless unable to keep from smiling to herself behind the strip of cloth that served as her gag. Admittedly, that was no mystery. Sean had been quite upfront about his geekier interests from the moment they met on their blind date, and the first time she came to his apartment, she’d been greeted with a massive shelf in the living room cluttered with all manner of sourcebooks, plastic models and other paraphernalia from a variety of fantasy and science fiction franchises. Much like the man himself, it was… oddly endearing. Sean might have been shy and anxious about many matters, women included, but he knew who he was and what he liked in life, and had no shame openly displaying that to the world.
And chief amongst those interests was live-action roleplay. Six days of the week, Sean was caring, attentive and responsible, everything the twenty-five-year old assistant bank manager preferred in a man. On Sundays, though, ‘Ser Balthasar Thornberry’ took the car and his Hammer of Glory up into the woods outside of town for a day of dragon-slaying, dungeon-crawling and whatever else he and the local LARP association did with their free time. She didn’t mind it, of course. Everyone needed some time to themselves, after all, and acting out his Dungeons & Dragons fantasy killing make-believe goblins with some friends was certainly a much more wholesome hobby than endless pub crawls or wasting his money betting on sports.
After a while, though, curiosity demanded she dig into his activities further. Any fears she might have had that he didn’t want a woman intruding on his nerdy sanctuary proved wholly unfounded, for there were more than a few female LARPers in their little company, and he’d been more than happy to provide her with a character sheet, a basic costume and everything else she needed to join in on the fun. That was a step too far; she might have been interested in roleplay, but wasn’t quite ready to fully commit to it, nor did she want to muscle in and disrupt things only to bail out if she didn’t enjoy it.
Fortunately, they had just for the role for her to dip her toes into their adventures, for every quest needed an objective for their heroes to achieve.
And what more noble quest was there but to rescue a damsel in distress? Particularly when she was bound, gagged and held hostage by the worst fiends in the land?
“Mmpppgghh!” Maggie, or rather, ‘Lady Sorensen of the Twilight Marches’, cried out, struggling in vain against the bonds holding her fast against the old oak, her pleas left stifled by the gag bound over her mouth. Her usual professional business attire was gone, replaced instead with a plain white gown that nevertheless flattered her slender figure, while long blonde hair, now freed from her prim-and-proper bun, cascaded down her back, with a wreath of wildflowers decorating her brow to complete the ensemble. Of course, every damsel needed to be properly bound to keep her from escaping, and so ropes looped around the back of the tree and bound her wrists to either side, additional coils keeping her long legs secured at the wrists and ankles. For a bunch of nerds, Sean’s friends were quite good with knots, and only her commitment to the role she was playing kept her futile struggles alive. “MMMPGGGHHHH!”
“Then I challenge you, Archduke Dreadclaw, for the honour of the lady!”
“I accept your challenge, Ser Thornberry! Draw your steel!”
It was silly and stupid and so utterly unbecoming of an accomplished, professional young woman such as herself that Maggie could help but get swept up it in all, a hysterical giggle escaping past the gag as a score of costumed nerds did battle in her name. You know, this really is fun, she considered. And not just the high fantasy stuff either. I wonder if Sean will be up for some more roleplay when we get back home…