CW: Mentions of violence, Implied Sexual content [nothing graphic], and mentions of Death [Temporary].
Chapter 5 - Conclusion - Finale Fantasy
Sarah spent some time chatting with the dead, literally. The people who had died during today’s front-line conflict, and who were freshly revived from 1 inch fantasy corpses into full grown living humans. The space outside the Venn Machine was abuzz with conversation. People going over their regrets, what went wrong, planning new characters, and some talking about calling it here and heading to the hotel to take advantage of the free room and board.
Sarah and Mark entered the Venn Machine, ready to get back into the game. A staff member waited outside with a palm sized silver tray, ready to transport the tiny people to an ornate box and take them back to the event. They had to wait a bit, as some people had designed their new characters already and had gotten in the line first. Those tiny new characters now sat waiting in the ornate boxes, sat around the built-in tables and chairs - ready to be transported to the enclosure.
“Awrite lassie, use the history function. Just say it, and ah…ignore what you see beside mah Gregorius persona.” said Mark in his Scottish accent from one side of the booth.
“So I just say history?” As soon as Sarah said it, Mark’s recent Venn history appeared on the display separating both sides of the booth. “Wow…some of this is-”
“Naw! Do not look!” Called Mark desperately, blushing a delightful shade of red, he tapped something on his side of the interface and prepared to press the Green button.
“Oh, uh, sorry.” Sarah tapped something on her side of the interface, ignoring the sex doll and catgirl icons in Mark’s history, and placed her hand over her Green button. “Ready?”
“A-aye! On, 3… 2… 1!”
Both pressed the green button at the same time, transforming each other into their Larp forms. Mark became his usual copper skinned, white haired, red eyed, angel of a man. And Sarah became her tan skinned, green haired, demi-human self. Her Fox ears and tail, equally green, flicked around as she adjusted to having them again. Both were shrunk down to 1 inch height.
Sarah, now Sara, stretched out her left arm. It was nice to have it back on her character. ‘Magic ritual indeed’, she chuckled to herself. After the doors to the machine reappeared, a staff member bent down to collect the tiny fantasy people. Sara, and Gregorius were carefully placed in one of the ornate boxes along with some other characters. A few of them recognized Sara, now that she was in character. One of them, a woman, approached her. An elf with dual-blades, and maroon hair.
“Hey there! You were the brave fox that avenged me!” the elven woman said with a smile.
“Uh…sorry, I don't…” Sara said, a little confused.
“Oh I was the blonde human who got impaled, by Skork.” she clarified.
“Ohhh, you seemed afraid of suffocation.” noted Sara.
“That’s right, huge phobia. The dying I can handle. The drowning in my own blood? Nope!” She laughed softly.
“Haha, I figured it was a mercy kill from Skork, still brutal to see though. Glad to see you bounce back with a new character, have fun in Ingrassia.”
“Thanks, I will. And yeah, everyone is good about that. If you panic after a wound, the enemy will always mercy kill you. Kind of an unspoken etiquette here.”
“Makes sense, I imagine some people have a phobia of losing a limb or worse…” Sara shuddered at the idea of being cut at the waist. She had seen a horror flick once, with a ship where the dancing guests had been dismembered by a loose cable. Losing a limb she could handle, as she had demonstrated by losing her arm. However, losing half her body and crawling along the floor trailing blood and intestines while groaning in delirium? That image haunted her.
“Right. So don’t be afraid to show your panic and beg for it if you need to.” said the elven woman, snapping Sara out of her reverie.
“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.” Sara nodded gratefully.
Just then the box rumbled to a stop and opened above them. A staff member carefully took them out using a small silver tray, transferring everyone inside the box to the roofless black room. A female priest was on duty behind the desk. “Alright everyone! If you’re a new character, come to me and I’ll issue your housing cards, and also give you your starter money.” she chirped over the loud din. A queue formed. The female priestess waved and smiled to Gregorius, who smiled and waved back.
“Someone you know?” asked Sara.
“Aye. That’s mah wife.” Greg chuckled.
“Oh, her character is beautiful.”
“Eh, the wan behind it is better.” he proclaimed proudly. “Dunno what ah did tae deserve a lassie like ‘er.”
“Aww, you two seem cute.”
“Heh, so did yeh an that catboy.” Greg grinned, teasing Sara.
“W-what?! Oh please…you’ve been hanging around Essie too much…” Sara blushed her embarrassment.
“Relax, lassie.” Greg laughed. “C’mon, ye dun need tae wait in line. Yer no new. Let’s go.”
Gregorius and Sara made the long trek back to the kingdom of Elador. Being so small makes walking across a double football field sized enclosure take forever, and they made time in around 40 minutes, following the gravel road. They both chatted along the way, Greg allowing some out of character chats about work and life outside, but prompting Sara to “return tae character” once they reached the gates of Elador. By now the sun had begun to set, and the markets had just finished closing for the day, much to Sara’s chagrin.
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Both of them entered Greg’s tavern, and the man himself took his place behind the bar counter, preparing for the evening rush. Sara flipped the ‘closed’ sign to display ‘open’, at his request, and got a free honey wine for her trouble. Soon patrons began filtering in, ordering wine or the special ‘honey’ wine (just high alcohol content beer), and among them were two familiar faces.
“Sara! You’re in one piece!” exclaimed Enna happily.
“Hey Sara, Greg. Cut the opening kinda close.” said Esmerelda, taking her usual spot at the bar counter.
“Aye. Well Sara ‘ere had been through a bit.” Greg chimed in, sliding a mug of Essie’s usual across the counter, which she caught.
“I was, lets see…communing with the dead?” Sara smirked at Greg, who raised a bottle of wine in approval of the in-game term for it.
“Ohh, sounds exciting.” said Enna, slipping into a stool between Sara and Essie.
“Enna! Glad yer feelin’ better, lassie. Free honey wine?” asked Greg with a big smile.
“O-oh, no…I shouldn’t drink…” Enna said, embarrassed.
“She gets really silly when she’s tipsy, plus she’s a total lightweight!” Essie laughed.
“Essie!” pouted Enna.
Sara’s ears twitched and she sniffed. “Don’t look now Enna but i think your ‘hero’ just entered…”
“Elrick? He’s here?” she asked, flustered.
Enna turned briefly and caught him, no longer in his red robes, but wearing a more casual number. Seemingly off duty. Wearing a loose pirate style shirt and skin tight leather hosen. She blushed deeply upon seeing him, and turned back to Greg.
“Two honey wines.” She said desperately.
“Enna? I thought yo-” started Essie who was promptly cut off by a fierce look from Enna.
“Two. Honey. Wines.” Enna reiterated firmly.
Greg chuckled and slid two mugs across the counter to Enna. “Go get ‘em, lassie.”
Enna swiftly grabbed the mugs and marched off wordlessly. Determined to have her date. She sat down and began a conversation with Elrick - the elven doctor who rescued her (fantasy) life.
Sara smirked knowingly, her ear picking something up as it twitched.
“Oh Enna…you silly girl…”
“What? What can you hear?” asked Essie desperately.
“Oh…you’ll see.” Sara chuckled, taking a swig of her wine.
“God damn it…oh! Look, it's Fernando!” Exclaimed Essie, causing Sara to spit-take.
“Oi! Ah ‘ave tae clean that!” Greg frowned, grabbing a cloth from under the counter to clean up Sara’s mess.
Sara blushed and turned around wiping her mouth, and sure enough, there was Fernando in a booth by the wall, alone. Sipping wine and reading a book.
“Go on Sara…you know you want to.” Essie encouraged.
“No. Absolutely not. Too much excitement for one day.” Sara said vehemently.
“The lady doth protest too much methinks.” Chided Essie. “C'mon, doesn’t he... ‘smell great’ as you put it?”
“Essie! I swear to all of the gods in the pantheon of Faelis…” warned Sara, sipping her honey wine to hide her embarrassment.
“Aww, fine. There’s always next time…” shrugged Essie.
As the evening wore on, Sara continued to share her side of recent events. The battle she had spoken about already, so she decided to flex her in-game roleplaying by finding a creative way to talk about “a dream about a box that regrew her arm” and “talking with the dead spirits”. She had to spill Zera and Tia’s real names though, since she hadn’t learned their character names. Greg pretended he couldn’t hear that, since he thought Sara was doing a good job with her roleplay and didn’t have the heart to spoil it with rules.
As the night progressed, Sara and Esmerelda noticed that Enna and Elrick, (his name they’d gathered from Enna’s flustering), had left at some point. They chatted with renewed excitement at what they could be up to, and where they are. Esmerelda’s speculation was far racier than Sara’s however, and Greg had to interrupt more than once to stop them making his patrons uncomfortable. Eventually the 10 o’clock bell rang out and Greg ushered a drunken Princess and her equally tipsy retainer out his Tavern.
The duo returned to the castle, barely making it up the stairs to their chambers. Esmerelda collapsed in her bed, passing out. Sara had to, very drunkenly, remove Essie’s clothes and tuck her in. She was too exhausted and dizzy to remove her own clothes, however, by the time she had gotten to the retainer room. She collapsed instantly on her bed to pass out. Not before noting that Enna’s bed was empty, however.
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Enna was in a state of pure happiness by Elrick’s side. Mostly it was her tipsiness making her lighter in the head, and uncharacteristically confident. To her, Elrick seemed to sparkle with a hazy glow, his long black hair, his smooth vocal tones, his piercing red eyes, his elven features, and his pale skin. Was he a vampire¹? Or an angel? A vampire¹ angel? Enna didn’t know. All Enna knew was that he sounded lovely, she had no idea what he was saying, something about how “pretty the stars are on a clear night like tonight” while he gazed upwards. Enna didn’t care about those stars, her perfect star was right in front of her.
At some point Enna had managed to kiss him, she didn’t recall why, but she just had to kiss him. Something he said, or maybe did, she had to do it at that moment. He was surprised, tried to escape her embrace, but found himself relaxing into it. What a night. She thought to herself. Everything else was a drunken blur, she was walking, being held by him, clothes came off, then there was a bed, oh my!
Come Sunday morning Enna was sitting up, recalling all this and looking around. Somehow she was in the infirmary again, this time with an aching headache. She was in the infirmary bed, naked besides her chest bandages. Oh god, had I really gone straight to fourth base in one sitting? She asked herself, panicking a little.
“Hey you. You’re finally awake.” came a masculine voice to her right.
“Elrick? D-d-did we-” she stuttered.
“No. But you made it very difficult to decline, troublemaker.” he said, scolding her playfully.
“My…where are my clothes?” she squeaked nervously.
“You threw them off in the street, I had to carry you here naked.” he replied, nonchalant as can be.
The sound Enna made in reply could only be described as a duck choking.
“Relax, I was the perfect gentleman.” Elrick raised his hand in honor, and with his other hand gave Enna her bundled up clothes. “Fetched them after you passed out in bed.”
“Th-thank you…” if Enna was any redder the venn machine would be blamed for turning her head into a tomato.
“You’re trouble when you’re drunk.” he smiled wryly at her teasingly. “A very good kisser though~”
“Stop!” Enna buried herself under the bed sheets, she wanted to vanish then and there.
“Cute…” Elrick chuckled. ”I’ll let you get dressed.” he stood up and left Enna with her embarrassment, before rounding the corner of the medical curtain he turned and grinned at her.
“It was a magical night, though. I’d love to do it again, when you’re sober.”
Enna smiled behind the bedsheet she held over her face. “Me too…” she whispered to herself. And began climbing out of the bed to get dressed. Elrick had even left her a glass of water on the bedside for her headache. “He really is an Angel.”
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Esmerelda’s morning did not start well at all. She was too focused on nursing her hangover to focus on the morning’s noble court. Sara fared little better. If there were anymore assassins they would be easy targets. The noble court was fairly boring, even for Esmerelda who normally enjoyed political roleplay.
“Princess, the casualties of yesterday's frontline are…”
“Princess, the baker’s shop was robbed…”
“Princess, an angry man was screaming about his cabbages…”
“Princess…blah”
“Princess. Blah blah blah”
“Princess! Blahdie blah blegh”
Esmerelda listened half-heartedly. She was too tired for this. Her head was aching and she was practically begging for another assassination attempt at this point. More so when Lady Reina, the suspected traitor, took the floor.
“What are you going to do about the Elven kingdom? You know they blah blah blah blah blah” she ranted on and on. Esmerelda stared at her, mind buzzing to tune out her annoying rant.
“...so why is that a thing?” finished Lady Reina. Whatever she had said must’ve been shocking, going by the court's expressions. Esmerelda looked to Sara to see what she missed. Sara looked back with a sleepy expression and yawned, her ears and tail flopping tiredly as she shook her head slowly.
“Um…mind repeating that? Sorry, long night.” said Esmerelda tiredly.
“Ugh!” Reina frustratingly started. “Pay attention you stupid princess. I asked why you refuse to protect this nation from the elves! Wake up!” everyone gasped in shock, and looked at the princess, who should be giving the execution order but…
“Oh…right…it’s whatever, I'll deal with it later.” she yawned. The court was still in shock, more at the lack of care from the princess than Reina’s disrespect.
Reina sighed so hard she almost broke character, she shook her head and left the floor.
“Uh…court dismissed, I guess…” Esmerelda declared lazily.
Some of the lords and ladies couldn’t help but snicker at her expense, everyone knew Essie loved to drink, so they were used to this on a Sunday. A few of the newer ones, like Reina, didn’t know that Essie liked to play harder than she worked, and were disappointed by the display of sloth.
“Essie, can we get food now?” groaned Sara, trying to stay awake.
“Sure, maybe some water too…”
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They left for the good restaurant they went to on Saturday morning. They had missed breakfast, but it wasn’t quite lunchtime yet. So they were going for what is known as ‘Brunch’, a between breakfast and lunch meal. The sunlight and noise had Sara almost in tears from the aggravated hangover. They powered through, and managed to get seats inside the quieter restaurant. Enna was actually already there having a nice chat and brunch with Elrick, who was eating before going on duty as a red robe medic.
“Hey Essie! Sara!” Enna waved them over to her table.
“Not so loud…” whispered Sara.
“And you called me a lightweight…” chuckled Enna.
“To be fair, we had maybe ten to twenty times what you did…where did you go last night, anyway?” asked Essie, sipping some water she had gotten. “First or Second base?”
“Fourth.” joked Elrick nonchalantly.
“WHAT?!” yelled Essie, almost dropping her water. And causing Sara to wince and cover her ears.
“Kidding! But she, well…” Elrick looked at Enna, whose mouth was agape at Elrick’s joke. “She certainly tried, the little troublemaker.”
“I-I-I-I, oh my gosh…” Enna stuttered harder than an old car engine. “P-p-please don’t tease me like that…”
“Sorry, Enna. But I should tell your friends…” he said, sounding more serious. “There’s more to it than teasing you here.”
“You took a serious tone. So, why shock us like that?” asked Essie.
“Because it was reckless of her. Had it been someone else, they would not have hesitated to take advantage of her state.” he scolded. “The joke was just to shock you, to make a point.”
“I mean, yeah but…these bodies aren't…I mean…” stammered Essie, trying to think of a way to say it in character, but Elrick seemed to catch her meaning regardless.
“Doesn’t change the trauma that could’ve been. The regretful memories.” Elrick countered. “Besides, what if it happened ‘elsewhere’, if you catch my drift.”
“I…you’re right, we shouldn’t have been so lax about it.” Essie lowered her head shamefully.
“Oh, Essie…” said Enna softly. “I should really control myself better. I really am a lightweight. It’s not your fault.”
“But it is, I'm your friend, and I should’ve been a better spotter for you. I’m sorry.”
Enna walked around the table and hugged her friend. “All is forgiven. Besides, Elrick was the perfect gentleman. I kissed him and he saw me naked, sure, but it didn't go beyond that.” Enna said quietly.
“Can we stop talking now?” asked Sara in a whispered tone, clutching her sensitive fox ears.
Everyone at the table softly chuckled and nodded. They all shared a quiet brunch together, to Sara’s relief. Though, the occasional high pitched screech of forks on plates made her wince each time. By the time they finished up, whispering quietly about their night, Sara had mostly recovered enough from her hangover to handle normal decibel levels.
Feeling reenergized and more stable, Sara decided to go to the market on her own. Esmerelda was still tired so went back to the castle to take a nap in her chambers. While Elrick had to leave to resume his duties as a medic in the castle infirmary. Enna decided to join Sara for some shopping.
Sara was very happy to find more of those delicious cookies from Saturday morning, and she bought the last bag for 2 coppers. She shared some with Enna, and they both enjoyed looking at all the various homemade objects that had been shrunk for display. Enna expressed concern about them though.
“What if we buy one and it ends up not being that thing when we turn it back?” she asked.
“According to the website, all goods are checked and shrunk by staff. And you’re only allowed to sell food if it’s been tested to be safe. Besides, it's using in-game currency, so no real loss.”
Enna had to concede that point, and vowed to check out the website again when she got home. They continued looking around, and Enna bought a bunch of shrunken flowers that had been turned to plastic to protect them from the problems of being small. She vowed to gift them to Elrick when they returned to human form.
Actually Enna wanted to chat with Elrick out of character about meeting him after they change back, since they were allowed to chat out of character in the infirmary if it was one on one. That rule is in place to stop people who get stuck there on Saturday from getting bored for the rest of the weekend. Apparently they can request euthanization, and have their body taken back to the VM to be restored. It doesn’t count as a character death, and they only do it if the wound is so bad the person either can't walk, or if it would cause them to bleed out or suffocate. Being dead, they would only be aware, like when you become inanimate, which is preferable to suffocation or feeling your life slip away. Let alone trying to hop back on your own with no legs. Wheelchairs aren't a thing, too small a scale to get the mechanisms right, and don't fit the medieval fantasy setting.
Next session, usually a month later, they are let back in with their character fully healed. Roleplaying that they had been sent away to a mage who fixed them up during the time skip. Some people prefer to keep their injury though, feeling it adds to their character, and that they’d rather find a mage in character than take the cheap way out. Unlike Sara, who got a freebie because her friend Esmerelda is a Princess, it would normally cost at least 4 silvers per limb. So most people have to work up to getting their limbs back, feeling it makes for good roleplay. And still some others just enjoy not having limbs, for some reason.
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Essie had her talk with Elrick, getting his approval to meet later that night in the shopping center by the Venn Machine. Sara decided to give front-lines another try, since after thinking about it, she had decided it was fun. This time she had to fight against several tinier versions of Skork, they were fast and deadly, and the Elador shield wall collapsed quickly. It was a rough fight, but casualties were far lower this time. Sara only saw about three deaths, one of which was undone by quick medical patchwork and cpr. Sara noticed that nobody attacked the red robes, same as the priests. It seemed they were there only to play at being medics. Which Sara found interesting. After the battle, the Orcs were routed once more and everyone returned back to Elador to celebrate.
Esmerelda, and Enna met up at Greg’s Tavern to cheer and celebrate Sara as a hero. ‘Skork slayer’ was tossed around by the soldiers, and stuck. The three of them had dinner at Greg’s, he served them sausage rolls.² The joke was not lost on any of them, British as they are.
“Aw man, what a great weekend.” sighed a wistful Essie.
“I know, shame we have to go soon…” said a crestfallen Enna.
“Yeah. But no regrets, and it’s still a few minutes until 10 o’clock.” interjected Sara.
The tavern quieted down as 10 o’clock approached, booze wasn’t being served. As the last thing staff wants is some drunken idiot returning to full size on Monday, destroying their enclosure. So instead the tavern was full of chatter about the weekend events. Each person had a story to tell, each one was just as exciting as our three protagonists, and each one was full of adventure, drama, and excitement. Sara took time with her beast-kin ears, silently listening to various stories. Fascinated by how different everyone's adventure had been.
The 10 o’clock bell sounded, and Greg ushered everyone out. Everyone was rushing about the city, gathering things and packing up for the road. Most people had everything on them already and headed out of the city on the gravel road back to the black box. All the priests had priority in the queue, as staff needed the extra help transporting the 400-odd tinies to the Venn Machine. 10 at a time, per box. One priest, a familiar looking wizard type, the spitting image of Gandalf the Grey, Enceladus sat behind the counter. They were collecting housing cards, and money packets from people leaving. Writing down names and currency amounts, for next time.
The staff were working overtime to get people moved from the back box, into the ornate boxes, and then carrying the ornate boxes out of the park and into the shopping center. Then, after taking each tiny out of the box, turning them back one at a time in the Venn Machine, returning to the enclosure with the box to pick up more. There was also the hotel, where one staff member had to handle payments for the rooms that were used by people who died and decided to hang out for the remaining day. It was a lot of money, but it wasn’t a loss for them. Profits from the players were more than enough to rent hotel rooms while still making profit. And it helps their reputation to be generous and look out for their customers, bringing in more. Something corporations today don’t seem to understand or do these days.
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Sarah was the last out of the Venn Machine of her friends. She greeted her small ginger friend, Emma, and her chubby black friend, Sally. More tinies were going in behind her so she didn’t have time to stay in one place for long. They went and grabbed their things from the lockers nearby. Then they all sat on the Benches. For Sarah to wait for Zera, and Emma to wait for Elrick.
“So. Now that we can speak freely again. What did you guys think of your first Larp?” asked Sally, slightly curious and hoping her friends didn’t decline future invites.
“It was awesome! I loved every moment!” exclaimed Emma.
“What Emma said, there were some downs, but that made it all the more fun.” agreed Sarah.
Sally breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god…between the assassin and the front-lines stuff, I was worried you two wouldn’t agree to come back for more…”
“Well who said we would come back?” asked Sarah wryly. Sally’s relief turned to a crestfallen look. “No, I'm joking. I’d love to come back. Honestly.” Said Sarah quickly.
“Yeah! Don’t worry, I promise we both had a good time! Even being stabbed by a stray knife wasn’t bad either.” reinforced Emma, making Sally perk up.
“I guess Sarah has learned how to tease me now, well played.” Sally chuckled.
“I learned from the best.” Sarah did a slight bow
Emma giggled.
“Omigosh hai!” interrupted Zera, who had just gotten her stuff from the locker nearby. She wore a black summer dress, and stockings. With pure white trainers. Now, she had a bright pink backpack too. ‘Talk about clashing styles’. Thought Sarah.
“Uh, hey, and you are…?” asked Sally.
“This is Zera, one of the 'dead' I communed with.” said Sarah.
“Eyup! So like, can I have your phone a sec? I gotta give you mine and Tia’s numbers.”
“Sure. I guess. What for though?” Sarah asked, handing Zera her phone, unlocked.
Zera began excitedly adding her and Tia’s contact info to Sarah’s phonebook.
“Silly, so we can Venn together some time! Also there’s this epic escape room thing done by this same company, I'd love to have a third. Tia can be too serious.”
“Uh…sounds fun. I’ll have to see when I'm available though…” She took her phone back from Zera.
“I’ll call you later! Be sure to send Tia a text so she can get your number.” Zera waved and skipped off.
“She’s a card…” remarked Sally with a smile.
“I’m in another mess aren't I?” sighed Sarah.
“She seems fun, you totally should hear her out.”
“Her fashion sense is horrible though…” Remarked Emma, unimpressed with Zera.
Just then a young man, short black hair and green eyes sat down next to Emma. He had dark tan skin, likely of Pakistani descent. “Excuse me, you must be Enna right?” he asked, not having the usual accent, instead sounding just as English as the rest of them. “I’m ‘Elrick’.”
Emma’s eyes lit up, yes the character she met was perfect, but this kind man was just as handsome. Same facial structure, and something in the eyes she recognized. “Y-yeah, that’s right. Nice to meet you Elrick.”
‘Elrick’ grinned. “Not my real name, it’s Jaiden. Just call me Jay.” he offered her his hand.
“Okay, I’m Emma.”
“Wow, you really swapped the M’s for N’s?” he chuckled.
“I’m…not that creative, sorry.” she blushed.
“Don’t worry about it, I think it’s cute.” he waved his hand.
“O-oh. Thanks. So um…” Emma took out her phone.
“Yes, I would love to give you my number. I work as a nurse at the hospital though. It’s busy so I might not be able to respond to calls. Texts are fine, but instant replies might have to wait.” He handed her his phone, showing his number on the screen.
“Th-that’s okay, I work as a daycare plushie most days so I also won't have my phone on me a lot of the time.” Emma responded, adding his number to her contacts. She put a heart emoji next to Jaiden’s name. She texted him a simple smiley emoji. “There.”
“Thanks. I have to head home right away, get what sleep I can before work tomorrow.” He stood up, smiling as he added Emma’s contact info from her text.
“W-wait! I got these for you!” Emma stood up, brandishing the bouquet of flowers she had bought at the market earlier. Unlike when she bought them, they were real and not plastic.
Jaiden accepted them graciously with a small blush and a smile. “Thank you so much, they’re beautiful.”
Emma just blushed sheepishly. “So…I'll see you.”
“See you around, Emma.” he smiled warmly, his gaze lingering for a bit until he turned and left, clutching the flowers to his chest.
Emma smiled back, watching him leave. Then she noticed Sarah and Sally grinning at her with knowing looks. “Wh-what?”
“Nice.” Sally said.
“Very Nice.” Sarah agreed.
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After teasing Emma about her ‘new boyfriend’, all three got to the parking lot at the park. Sally checked her car for damage, just in case. Satisfied she had escaped another paint job, she opened it up and got in with the others for the long drive home.
The car headed out, leaving the town behind, the sun had set and the road was dark. They ended up on the highway, driving through the darkness on their way back home. All three were exhausted, Sarah put on the radio, listening to a random station. Emma meanwhile was focused on catching up with news and stuff she missed over the weekend. Sally was focused on driving, but occasionally sang along with the music. For some reason the station was playing old ‘Beach Boys’ songs tonight, ‘Get around’ is iconic, so nobody in the vehicle complained about it.
“I can't wait to go back next month. I had no idea Larping was so fun.” said Emma once the song ended and the car pulled off the highway back into their city.
“Same, I thought it was some nerdy thing sweaty guys did.” Sarah remarked, looking out the window at the night skyline, the city lights sparkling.
“Nah, it’s always been full of casuals. Men and women, both. Nerdy or not, fun is fun at the end of the day.” Sally stated, turning into the roundabout leading to her first stop.
“That’s true. Maybe I should give DnD a try next?” asked Sarah thoughtfully.
“We’ll make a nerd out of you yet.” Sally chuckled.
“Speaking of, I hear the company does other stuff too.” Sarah hinted.
“Yup, says here that ‘New Worlds Incorporated’ does Escape rooms, DnD, and something called Roguelike dungeons?” Emma remarked, looking over the company website on her phone.
“Oh, you’d love the Roguelike dungeons, Sarah. It’s very combat oriented, you’d be right at home.” Sally said with a grin, pulling up to a house. “Speaking of, this is your stop Sarah.”
“I’ll read up on it. Let me know when, I'd be game.” Sarah said, getting out of the car and waving bye to her friends.
Emma switched to the passenger seat before they drove off. “My place next.”
“Nah, I think I'll kidnap you, stick you in an escape room!” Sally did a mock evil laugh.
“Tempting, but i have my own escape room tomorrow, those kids need Ms Fluffles.” Emma giggled.
“True enough, but maybe some DnD? Not the Venn stuff, just a regular game.” Sally pulled into a housing block.
“No Venn machine? Who are you? And where is Sally?”
“Har har, very funny. But seriously, It could be fun.” She pulled up in front of an apartment building.
“...I’ll consider it.”
The car came to a stop and Emma got out. “Thanks, for the ride. And for inviting me. I can’t wait to try all sorts of stuff.”
“No problem, good luck with Jay too.” Sally said, waving as she drove away, leaving Emma to return to her apartment.
“Well Sally, that’s two more converted to the cause…” Sally said to herself, smiling all the way back to her apartment. “Roguelike dungeons, eh? I think I know where to drag Sarah next week…”
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Footnotes:
Vampires are not a thing at this LARP event.
The joke is a pastry shop called Greggs in the UK that is popular and is known for their tasty Sausage rolls.
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