Deirdre has found more people to hang out with, people with whom she had something in common, gaming. She goes to her first meeting a little nervous and gets home after a little scare. A Splintered Life Chapter 5 - Let the dice fall where they may! by poetheather Copyright © 2009 by poetheather

Deirdre was a little nervous as she grabbed up her dice and her gaming notebook. The old spiral bound notebook had a collection of the characters she had created and played over the years. She had started playing Dungeons and Dragons when she was thirteen. She had been in middle school then and it was practically her only social outlet. Now it was almost the case. She did not want to know how sad her social life would be without the GLBT group and the Gaming group.

She loved gaming. It was a lot of fun and she enjoyed making the characters. She had characters for all kinds of systems in her notebook. It was almost full. If she died fairly quickly she might need to get another one fairly soon.

She grabbed her coat and headed out of the apartment. The group was meeting on campus and today was one of her days without classes. She would simply walk to the school and meet them in the meeting room in the Student Center. It wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to get over there, and it was a nice walk, through the sports fields.

David was sitting on the couch watching the baseball game. He didn’t really look up as Deirdre exited the house. Things were getting worse instead of better. David was really starting to make her nervous. She figured she would talk to her shrink about that. It couldn’t hurt.

The air was clearer than it had been due to the breeze that was blowing the smog elsewhere. She was sure it wasn’t that good for whoever had to deal with it, but it was fine by her. Clean air was a good thing as far as she was concerned.

There was little traffic as she made her way across the street and over onto the campus. The fields were filled with light as various sports teams held their practices where they were running, throwing, and practicing all the things that made athletes better at their chosen game. She could see both the soccer teams and the football team working out. The tennis courts were filled as well. This school had a good sports program and had helped a number of athletes raise their grades enough to transfer into a good school.

She passed the library and into the quad where she sat when she had classes. There were some nice trees and benches. It had an almost park like atmosphere to it. She really appreciated that. Being able to sit against a tree and relax helped with her classes. It certainly helped her to keep from stressing on the tests.

The Student Center building was on the right hand side of the quad. She walked purposefully there.

The building was two stories high, of red brick and glass. It was a nice mix of old and new and blended in with the rest of the buildings here. The cafeteria was here as well as a small food court, where several fast food chains had vied to have places. There was even a small coffee bar. All in all not a bad place. There was a game room in the basement with arcade games, a pool table, and air hockey. The upper floor held the ballroom. All in all it was a nice building.

The room she was heading towards was on the first floor, in one of the other corridors. It was a room used for club meetings. She had the number and headed there. She should be on time, according to the clock by the food court. She didn’t want to be late at the first meeting.

The door was already open and she could hear several voices inside. She entered the room and saw about fifteen people near the front of the room. There were three girls there as well. That would be good. Hopefully the gamer hordes would not descend on her like fresh meat. She had seen that sort of behavior drive girls away from game. But at least she knew the reason. She really wasn’t going into this blind, just wearing a skirt.

She headed towards the front of the class. She could see Dean, the clubs president standing up there. Of course, it was difficult to miss someone six foot four inches, with bright blue hair. He was easily one of the tallest gamers she had ever known. She wondered how he had managed to avoid basketball in high school.

Dean spotted her and waved her over. “Deirdre, hey. Thanks for coming. Everyone, this is Deirdre. She’s a freshman.”

Everyone turned and looked at her. She shifted nervously under the scrutiny. One of the girls spoke up, a heavyset girl with long black hair in braids. “Welcome to the group. What do you usually play?”

“Uh...I used to play Dungeons and Dragons, 2nd ed. I haven’t played since a little while after 3rd ed came out. Haven’t even looked at the books for 3.5. Fantasy I really like. I played a little Exalted and Vampire, some GURPS and that’s about it. I’m willing to play anything however.” Deirdre rattled off the litany of things she had done, leaving out only a few games.

This thin boy with a potbelly, greasy short hair, and glasses piped up. “Fantasy, huh? Want to join the Hackmaster campaign?”

“The what?” Deirdre had never heard of the game.

“It’s a game based on the rules for 1st and 2nd ed D&D, with a lot of the flaws removed. If you liked old D&D you’d love Hackmaster.” He really seemed excited. Some of the other people only rolled their eyes. Deirdre took it to mean he was a bit excitable.

“I’d be willing to give it a try.” She replied noncommittally.

The dark haired girl with braids spoke up. “There is also a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game going. I think Dean is running a d20 Modern game and a d20 X-Crawl. Rashem, who isn’t here so far, is running a Nyambe game. That one’s cool. Set in a mystical Africa. So that’s what’s being run. On meeting nights, we talk, brag, recruit, do club business, and play card games like Chez Geek and Ninja Burger. So you can game six nights a week. That’s one day for study, so no worries.”

Deirdre smiled at that. She loved gaming but knew if she wasn’t careful she could ruin her life gaming the days away. Not that she would mind. “Who has openings?”

“Rashem has one opening and there is an opening in Hackmaster. Both games are fun. I’m in both, not to sway you that way. Dean may have some openings soon for X-Crawl. Oh...my name’s Liz.”

This cool looking African American boy with dreads and sunglasses walked in. Deirdre thought he was hot and blushed a little at the thought. She had never found boys attractive before. She felt her face warming. His voice was warm and very masculine, the kind of voice she had always wanted and had never gotten as John. “Hey, am I late?”

“Not yet. Sven is the only one not here yet. Say hi to Deirdre, new girl.” Dean gestured towards her.

Rashem turned to her and smiled broadly. His teeth were dazzlingly white. “Ire. Welcome to Geeks Anonymous! My name's Rashem and I’m a geek.”

A couple of people laughed. Deirdre giggled at this. “Hi.”

“Rashem, she was thinking of joining the Nyambe game.” This from Liz, who was prodding her forward.

“Really? Cool. The game is really interesting. Fantasy Africa. Monsters, lions, elephants, pygmies, cannibals, lost cities and buried treasure. Actually, the stuff of almost every game, but less armor. We meet on Thursday nights at my house.”

“I think I’d like that. Liz, when is Hackmaster?”

“Tuesday night in here. I can help you make a character this week and then you can join next week. We're between adventures right now so it’s a good time.”

“Great.” She sat near Liz. Liz seemed comfortable and safe to her right now. Hopefully this could turn into friendship.

“Sven!!” Everyone turned and joined in on the yell. In walked in this short, dark haired boy who looked fourteen, except for the goatee. He wore round glasses, like some mod Harry Potter. He waved briefly.

Dean chuckled and stood up. “Great, since we are all here let’s get started. So far, we only have one new member, Deirdre, but the semester is still young. So go out and recruit. Same games as last semester and Sven mentioned to me that he is running a Halloween game. Like last years only more so. Live Action Call of Cthulu. Remember last years? He says he has a better place and about fifteen or so non-players working for him. Besides us, he expects another twenty people. So tickets will go fast. Fifteen dollars.”

“Spirit week is like last one, so we need to get started on the karaoke bit. Still waiting on the theme, but if we want to win again we have to have everyone ready to go once we know.” Dean casually read of the sheet of paper in his hand. “Dues are ten dollars payable as soon as possible. Liz brought snacks and let’s have some fun. Meeting adjourned.”

There was scattered applause and people getting out of their chairs to get snacks. Deirdre joined them. There seemed to be both freshly baked cookies and brownies on the table, as well as several two-liters of generic soda. There was a line and nobody was shoving. Soon enough she had two Macadamia and white chocolate cookies and a brownie. They were good.

Liz, Rashem, and several others were talking about the Hackmaster game. She sat there listening, trying to get a feel for the game. It sounded fun to her based on the descriptions. One of the players, of something called a pixie faerie, was talking about a near suicidal charge against an ogre. The story was funny, as well as the story about a half ogre who pulled a groin muscle trying to get coconuts and ended up with them falling on his face.

A couple of people pulled out some card games and started playing them as well. She got dragged into a game on Ninja Burger. It wasn’t that hard of a game to learn and she had fun. She also enjoyed a game called Apples to Apples.
 
 
After about two hours, people began filtering out of the room. Liz and she made arrangements to meet during the week to get her Hackmaster character rolled up. Rashem offered to take her home.

She blushed again, a little embarrassed to be asked and agreed. He walked her to his car, a Toyota. He opened the door for her and then went around and let himself in. “So, where to?”

“The apartments across the street.”

“Ouch. And here I was trying to spend some more time with an attractive girl. A mere two or three minute drive. Can I get a little more time?” Rashem’s voice was plaintive.

“Uh... sure. What did you have in mind?” blurted out Deirdre.

“Maybe coffee, maybe food. Your call. I just wouldn’t mind spending time with someone cute like you.” He smiled broadly again.

Her face went hot again. Rashem certainly knew how to get her all flustered. “Food would be good.”

“Right-o.” He pulled out of the lot and headed away from the school, chatting casually as if they had been friends for years. It was nice. She relaxed and barely paid attention to the road. She was surprised when they pulled into a Denny’s.

“Didn’t you say food?”

Rashem blinked and then looked at the yellow sign, “You don’t like Moons over My Hammie?”

“Yep. But the usually have something edible. I guess this will work.” She sighed and he escorted her into the place. The hostess quickly escorted them to a booth. They both slid in and ordered Cokes. This made them both laugh. They stopped and stared at each awkwardly, in the same fashion. Deirdre shivered.

“Okay...that was weird.”

Rashem simply nodded.

They ordered pie, different kinds and talked gaming for an hour or so. Character histories, favorite campaigns, favorite systems they haven’t had time to play. In a way, the situation reminded Deirdre of Chris, before things fell apart.

Rashem reminded her heavily of Chris in a number of ways, with the exception of being a lot cuter. That and Rashem smiled more. He was nice to talk to and she was starting to get over her hesitant shyness. She did blink when he reached over and took her hand.

“You’re really a pretty neat lady Deirdre. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of you, if that’s okay.”

The warmth of his hand and his words surprised her again. It seemed as if this was her night for it. She nodded slightly as her thoughts were a whirl. A guy liked her? A cute guy liked her?

After that, Deirdre remembered very little of the evening. They finished their pie and drinks, headed back out to the car and they went parking.

Her mouth opened happily to accept Rashem’s kiss. Their tongues intertwined and explored each other’s mouths. Her breath kept catching in her throat and her head was spinning. She kept thinking off and on that surely this wasn’t really happening. She focused a bit more when she felt the warmth of his palm on her breast. Her nipples were tight.

Time seemed to slide as they both kissed and caressed each other. His hand traced a slow line down her belly, tickling her slightly in her belly button and traced the top of her panties. That snapped her back.

“Rashem, please stop.”

He kept nibbling her neck and letting his fingers do the walking.

“Rashem, please. Now is not a good time for that.”

He didn’t speak but instead brought his hand to her hair and ran his fingers through it. As long as her secret was safe, she was fine. There was pressure down there as her shrunken penis grew hard and confined by the tucking but with the kisses, she had little trouble ignoring it. She worked her hand through his dreads, feeling the novelty of them.

Finally, they both rose for air. Rashem grinned broadly. ‘You sure kiss well for a gamer geek.”

“So do you. It was nice but could I get home?” Deirdre kept her eyes downcast. She was enjoying herself but the fear of being discovered was rising. She didn’t want to deal with that again. She would rather pass lazily under the radar. And her genitals wouldn’t do that for at least a year or so.

“Was it something I said or did?” Rashem looked a little crestfallen.

“No...it’s just me. I...I...”

“You’re on your period?”

Deirdre blinked. A way out. “Yeah...that’s it. I just...”

He leaned over and kissed her again. “No problem D. Do you want to go home?”

“Please. Thank you. It was fun. And you really kiss good.”

“No problem there. I was glad to oblige. Let’s get you home. Maybe we can pick this up again some other time?” He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She smiled brightly. “We’ll see.”