A group of friends streams their gaming on Wednesday nights. But not all the action is on the dining room table.

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Chapter 34: Closing Remarks

The roar of the crowd was only slightly muffled by the curtains as they drew closed.

I'd survived.

I was down a leg for the moment, but in a fantasy world that could be fixed.

We were battered, and at the end of our ropes, but we had gotten out. Our goal wasn't completed, but we would live to try another day, and really, after how things had gone, that was all we could ask.

At least, most of us had survived.

Once again I found myself sinking to the floor, the dress and propriety being damned as the energy drained out of me. My makeup I had been so worried about earlier in the session was, I was sure, ruined by the sweat pouring off me, as much from stress as from the hot lights of the stage.

Dahlia had used her last prepared healing spell to get Lunea back up, and I'd taken a cue from the fire giants themselves, and used my own final prepared spell to blast open one of the walls of the fortress. We had fled, Burg carrying Lunea and Adrian carrying John's body. Peppered by arrows and stones, our last resources being chipped away, we'd somehow managed to lose the fire giants in a nearby forest thanks to Burg's druidic powers.

And that was where we were, and would be in another week and a half when we played again.

The crowd, of course, had loved it. There were people shouting in concern, people screaming in support, and almost too much noise to bear as we'd concentrated on getting away without taking more casualties. Sunny had pulled her phone out even before the curtain had closed completely, and I was sure she was eagerly studying viewer engagement metrics and all of that stuff.

All I wanted to do was let my heart calm down, and get a good hug.

"Hey."

"Hey," I said back, taking Brian's offered hand and letting him pull me back to my feet. Almost immediately I was in that hug I'd needed so much, the relief and comfort almost too much for me to bear as I fought to not give into the tears.

Not here. Not yet.

When we finally let each other go Maria and the rest of the gang were standing nearby, waiting for us. The moment I was free Maria stepped forward and gave me a hug of her own, followed by Sunny, then Deidre, and lastly Aaron.

"You feel up to an after game review?" Maria asked me, sounding nervous and as tired as I felt.

"I don't... no. I mean, yeah," I grumbled. "But can we do it somewhere else? I don't...."

"Yeah," Sunny chipped in. "I kinda wanna get away from, ah, this. And I could use something to eat."

We started walking off the stage, discussing where we could go for food and whether to change first or not, when we all stopped silent in our tracks as soon as we'd stepped backstage.

There, leaning against a trunk, was Jonah, vaping and staring off into space.

He stood up and started walking over to us, and I felt my entire body tighten like a spring. I didn't want to be yelled at. I didn't want the screaming, and the arguing, and--

"That's it then."

What?

I looked at Jonah's face.

There was no sneer. No anger. No disgust.

There was only exhaustion.

"Jonah--" I started, but he waved me off.

"Look, Leigh. I... I'm an asshole," he said, taking another puff of his vape and looking away. "I know I'm an asshole. All o' y'all take the game so casual most of the time, and it pisses me off, and... sigh." He rolled his shoulders, and looked right at me again. "Just... if you'd fucked something up tonight, then whatever. But ya didn't. Ya got fucked." He gave my faux baby bump a look when he said that, and almost grinned.

Almost.

Stepping back, he eyed the rest of the group. "Y'all've been thinking about dumping me from the group," he said, giving everyone a moment to respond. When nobody did, he continued. "I get it. Camera crew's got the tech locked down, I'm not needed for that. I'm not popular with the viewers, and I don't fit with the group any more. Never really did."

I tried to say something again, but this time it was Brian who stopped me, gently squeezing my shoulder.

Instead, it was Aaron who stepped up. "I've got your character's body. We can get him revived at a temple if--"

"Nope," Jonah said, cutting him off. "No fuckin' way. Not... I can't."

I glanced up at Brian, who shook his head, but I stepped away from him anyway. "Jonah...."

To my surprise, Jonah didn't try to cut me off.

I forced my shoulders to relax, and surprised myself by actually laughing a little. "You have been an asshole, you know that?" I was relieved when he chuckled and took another hit of his vape. "And yeah, we've been talking about things. But you don't have to leave the group. We don't want you out."

Jonah looked up at me again, a touch of surprise in his eyes, then over at the others. The surprise faded. "Y'know? I actually think you believe that," he said, sounding far more tired than I felt. "Maria?"

"Yeah?" Maria said, in almost a whisper.

Jonah stepped forward and extended his hand, his crumpled character sheet looking as ragged as the rest of us. "Here's John's sheet. Don't revive him, but I dunno. Y'all can put him up for folks to have or whatever."

"O-okay."

Jonah turned around, and was starting to walk away, but I couldn't let that happen.

"Jonah!" I called out, stepping toward him. I was a little surprised when he turned around to face me, but I didn't let that stop me.

He was stiff as a board when I reached out to hug him, but didn't try to pull away. I kept it short, but we had been friendly -- no, friends -- for too long to part like this.

"When we start planning the next campaign I'll give you a call, okay?"

"I don't think--" he started, but stopped, looked over my shoulder, then slowly nodded. "I... yeah, okay."

"Okay," I agreed, stepping back from him.

He gave the smallest, just the tiniest, of smiles, before rolling his eyes, hitting his vape again, and walking away from us for one last time.

We all stood there, watching him, until he'd disappeared around the corner.

I let out a tense breath as I felt Brian's arms wrap around my shoulders from behind.

Maria stepped next to me. "Y'know," she said quietly. "Things change. People change." She looked down at the character sheet in her hand. "When we get to town, you're reviving John," she said, a certainty, not a suggestion. "He can go away for a while, maybe for the rest of the campaign. But if Jonah wants to come back...."

I nodded.

If Jonah wanted to come back... his place would be there.

###

Chapter 35: Post Partum

I picked at my breakfast plate with my fork, shuffling things around a bit but not really interested in eating any of it.

My shoulders were slumped, and I knew that my eyes betrayed how tired I felt, or would have if not for the makeup Maria had insisted I put on before leaving the room that morning, among other things.

I laid my hand that wasn't busy Not Eating across my belly, taking note of the one big thing they hadn't had me put back on, and feeling weirdly uncomfortable not having it.

I jumped a little when another fork struck at my plate, spearing a piece of cantaloupe.

"Hey!"

"What?" Brian asked, only slightly muffled by the stolen fruit. "You weren't actually eating any of it."

"Yeah, but...." I trailed off, too tired to even work up a good head of steam about the theft.

It had been after three AM before we'd gotten back to our rooms. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that even with a late checkout already approved, we had to be out of our rooms by one in the afternoon, and we had a lot -- a lot -- of stuff that needed packing.

We'd been too tired on getting back to the room to do more than change out of our costumes and kiss a bit before zonking out, and there was a part of me that was disappointed by that. If the way we had woken up that morning was any indication, there was an even bigger part of Brian that was.

I smiled, just a little, at my private joke. Privates joke, I couldn't help thinking, and that made me smile even more.

"Pervert," Brian said, stealing a piece of melon off my plate that time.

"I'm not-- stop reading my mind!"

"No can do. Been roomies for like eight years: it's a permanent thing now," he said, this time taking a grape.

I rolled my eyes and decided that if I was going to get a chance to eat anything, I should get started. With one last glare at Brian, I nabbed a chunk of pineapple off my plate and stuck it in my mouth, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him when I did.

"Good. I'm gonna go grab some more," he said happily. "Back in a sec."

I watched him walk off, chewing my pineapple and surprising myself with the realization I already wanted more. Maria caught my gaze and waved from her table but didn't try to come over: she was in the middle of her third or fourth phone call since we'd gotten up with the ATG folks, who were trying to convince her to agree to us doing another con here in a month or two.

Normally arranging that kind of thing would be my job, but Maria had told me the night before that I wasn't allowed to think about work for at least two days, until the team meetup on Wednesday we were doing in place of a game this week.

Who was I to argue with that? Especially after she threatened to make me wear a skirt to the next game session if I tried.

What I'm wearing NOW is bad enough, I thought as I nabbed another chunk of something, maybe mango, off my plate and munched on it.

I had never agreed to wear women's clothes home, but apparently, I was, courtesy of a first-thing-in-the-morning ambush by Maria, Sydney, Deidre, and Aunt Cici. At least I'd won the fight over a skirt, but I was still wearing a pair of girly-looking capris and a flowery lightweight tank with some frou-frou around the neck.

I hadn't fought them on the sports bra, though, and was already planning on ordering some more of them when I got home.

I shivered just a little bit. The tank was light, as were the capris, and the AC in the hotel was still set on Nuclear Winter despite the fact that we were some of the last people leaving.

Yet another reason to be happy for the sports bra, I guess, I mentally grumbled, wondering how I'd gone for years without thinking about my chest, only to now be acutely aware of it almost constantly.

Thankfully Brian got back to the table then, another plate piled high with fresh(ish) fruit and pastries from the remnants of the hotel's continental breakfast table.

"We eating all of this?" I asked him, eyeing the plate dubiously.

He grinned and kissed me on the tip of the nose. "Most of it. Calorie load before the drive home."

"Mmf."

"Although...."

I put down the strawberry I'd been picking up and gave Brian a wary look. "Brian...."

"Hey!" He raised his hands defensively, his eyes gleaming in mischief. "I'm just sayin', it's about a six-hour drive from here home, and we don't have anywhere to be until Wednesday, right?

"Right?" he prompted again when I didn't immediately answer.

"Yeah," I agreed, curious where he was going with things.

His grin grew wider. "Well, we don't have any company materials in the rental car, we've got the cars 'til Wednesday too. I'm thinkin' we make a detour or two on the way home."

"That... could be fun," I said, taking a cautious bite of my strawberry. "Where were you thinking?"

Brian actually looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, your folks are living in--"

"Woodcock," I reminded him.

He nodded. "And my folks still have the old family place outside Bayonet."

"What are you getting at, Venable?" I asked him, giving him the side-eye and feeling a shiver pass through me that had nothing to do with the cold air.

"Well." He grinned. "Now that we're, y'know, officially a Thing. Maybe we should tell our parents?"

!

"Leigh?! Leigh, are you okay?!"

I coughed, keeping my breakfast down, but just barely. "Ack! Ah, yeah, ah. Ahem. You've met my parents!" I croaked. "I've met yours!"

"Well, yeah," Brian said. "But that was as friends. Not as, y'know... ummm."

I sighed. We still hadn't figured out exactly what our relationship was. "Partners?"

"Lovers?" He suggested, quirking an eyebrow and grinning smarmily.

"Not yet," I teased back, feeling a little tingle rush through me at the 'yet' part of that statement. Brian seemed to notice it too, the smarm in his grin increasing.

"Partners works," Brian agreed, sliding over and reaching under the table to take my hand that was still resting on my baby bump-less belly. "For now."

"For now?"

"For now," he said again, lifting my hand and kissing it. "Though I've got bad news for you."

"And what's that?"

"My mom's always wanted to see you in a dress."

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Annoyed? Upset? Tired?

I settled instead on laughter.

And it felt right.

###

Notes:

Anyway, that's it for now! As per usual, comments and kudos are welcome.