Your Guardian Angel
(Hello again, everyone. Today I've chosen a song by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I feel like it suits the dynamic between Monika and Leyon, lyrically. This will be kind of a short memo, because I'm just jumping right into it, after uploading Shine.)
Monika's tone of voice and worried eyes tell a story, all on their own. She's scared. I hold her as close to me as our body's will allow us and give her as much time as she needs to speak her mind. Monika gives me the saddest smile I've ever seen, for about five or ten seconds, before her lip begins to quiver. Soon after, her face is buried into my shoulder, and she begins crying quietly. "Will you I be, okay? Can we carry on, like this, knowing it could all change the next morning?"
How am I supposed to answer that? I won't deny her, I've been thinking about this relationship that's been building between us, in the short time we've been together. I care about Monika. A lot., as a matter of fact. Seeing her puts a smile on her face, every single day. But now she's asked a very important question, about us, I must weigh up the options. Can I really give her my word that I'll still be here tomorrow? Would I be lying and hurting her if I told her yes? And if I said no, would that hurt her more? Is lack of surety really the best answer I can give Monika? Honestly, yes.
"Hey…" I whisper to her. "Everything will be okay, Monika." I add, while gently pulling her away from her shoulder, so I can look into her shining emerald green eyes. No matter how sad her expression may be, she needs to see how serious I am about this. About us. "I can't give you a definite yes or no answer to that question. Even if I don't have the answer to that. The only thing I can safely say is that I don't plan on going anywhere. If I had to choose between living in a video game with you, or going back to reality, I'd choose to stay here…" As I tell Monika this, I move one my left hand, intertwining my fingers with the fingers on her right hand. "With you."
Monika looks at me with a slightly less sad expression before her head lowers again. I'm not sure if what I said is any help, to her. She always wanted out of this game, after all. Maybe she still wants out? Maybe I should have promised her that, instead. I'd get my answer, soon, as she looks up at me again. "I would be lying if I said I didn't want to leave this game with you, Leyon. It's like a prison, in here. But I must admit, being here with you makes it more bearable. Enjoyable, even." Monika tells me, with more of her smile coming back. Her eyes meet mine and it's easy to see there's still a well of sadness hiding behind them. "But Leyon… can you, honestly, guarantee you'll come back to me, if someone does pull you out, after your recovery?"
The answer to that question is easy to answer. I smile, confidently, at Monika and nod once. "Yup. The lads managed to get in here, of their own accord, after all." I remind Monika. That thought popped into my brain, while Monika was talking about being in here with me.I remembered that Kain, Mickey and Alisteir entered the game of their own volition. "If they can get in here because they want to be in here, then I can come back in here to be with you."
Monika's smile returns, albeit slowly. "Thank you, Leyon." She says, under her breath, wiping her tears away. "I hope we get to have a long, happy time together." She adds, cuddling into me some more. Then she kisses my cheek. Which I didn't expect, for one reason or another. I'm not sure why, we did wake up next each other, this morning. Normal couples would have gone for the kiss first and sharing a bed later. Anyway, I should spend less time in my head, and more time on the couch with Monika.
"We will, Monika. Because even if someone pulls me out of this world, I'm coming back to you, whether they like it or not." I tell Monika, which makes her giggle, rather cutely. I kiss her cheek and that stops her little chuckle. She looks at me with a smirk and then closes her eyes, pressing her lips to mine. I hug her, tightly, as we lock our lips together, in a loving fashion. Her left hand comes up to meet my cheek, caressing it. Finally, our lip's part from each other.
My eyes open, slowly, and Monika rests her head against my chest. She needed this. And, if I'm being honest with myself, I needed this, too. From the moment I got here, both of us have played Cat and Mouse to get close to each other, since the moment we met. Only to stop ourselves, and each other in an indirect way, out of fear of losing each other. Now, that fear is gone. I take Monika's hand and can feel just how relaxed she is. "This is nice…" She murmured, happily into my shoulder.
"Yeah…" I reply, kissing her forehead, following that up with a very content sigh. I take a quick look around the room, specifically the table where we were playing Dungeons and Dragons yesterday, and then let out a very different sigh soon after. "… We should get the room ready for gaming, sweetheart. No telling when the rest of the gang will get back."
Monika takes a deep breath and then hugs me tightly. "Five more minutes? Please?" She asked me, feigning a sleepy tone. I have to laugh a little bit. Partly because I toyed with the idea of doing something similar, but mostly because it was kind of unexpectedly adorable. I expect that kind of thing from-. "Did I sound like Sayori? Probably a little bit, huh?" Monika asks, reading my mind like a graphic novel…
"Just a little bit." Respond, as we laugh together. I pat her back, to gesture that we need to get up and get things ready. Monika kisses my cheek and then starts sorting out the table, making sure everyone's character sheets are clean and not mixed up with other people's. My job is to make sure there's snacks and drinks at the ready. Some glasses of water at the ready. Tea is being brewed, as is some nice cafetiere coffee. All I need to do now is go into the basement and get some carbonated drinks. Monika's setting up the side table's, making sure everyone has a cupcake, that Natsuki baked and brought over, yesterday. "I'm just heading downstairs. I'll be back in a minute." I let Monika know with a smile and a wink, making my way to grab some soda's.
The basement is pretty cold, and it's July. That's a good reason to keep some things down here, even in the summer months. The light from the basement window is all I need to see in. It's interestingly atmospheric. It would be cool to play DnD, down here, wait. "Monika, sweetheart?! Can you come down here please?!"
Monika comes down the stairs with the biggest smile on her face. Quite quickly, actually. I watch, with a little worry in my head, ready to catch her, should she fall. She doesn't. she moves down with an elegance I've come to expect from Monika, but it still something that makes my heart skip a beat, every time I see her. "Yes, Leyon? How can I help?" She asks, eagerly. I smile at her and was about to ask if she could remodel the basement into a tabletop gaming room adding the code into the game. Then I remembered she can't access the command menu. She continues to smile up at me, even kissing me on the cheek.
"Well… I was hoping you could remodel this basement into a game room, for me, in a few seconds. But that's out of the question." I say to her, kissing her forehead. "Guess we'll have to shop around for the right table and book shelves. And a good carpet." As I'm listing these things off, Monika looks like she's taking a mental note of it all. I hope I haven't upset her, by reminding her of the command menu.
"Sure!" She responds in her usual happy time. "We can work on it, together. Plan out how best to use the space we have available, maybe how to implement some mood lighting and a sound device, for music…" I can see her face begin to glow, as she's talking and looking around. It makes me happy to see her taking one of my favourite hobbies so seriously. "We can ask our friends to help us, too! I don't know about you, but I've never put a book shelf together." Monika adds, with a slight giggle.
"Hey! Are you two here?!" The familiar voice of Sayori calls out. Speak of the devils… We head upstairs together, carrying some soda's, placing them in the fridge. Sayori and company are all staring and smiling, except Natsuki, who's just staring blankly. At that point, I smirk at the group, and then kiss Monika's lips, and hold onto the moment for a little while
They all look at us with facial expressions, varying from Natsuki's feigned disgust, Yuri's and Mickey's amusement, Alisteir's 'I've got a joke about this' face. Kain shaking his head and looking away to check his Dungeon Master notes and, weirdly, Sayori's intrigue. "What?" I ask them all, taking a hold of Monika's hand. "I'm crazy about her." Monika coughs and tries to hide her face. Is she blushing? There is a little colour on her face, right enough. I'll apologize for that, when we cuddle up for the night. Assuming, of course, that she's coming to bed with me, again, tonight.
Kain nods and takes a seat at the chair, looking down the coffee table at the characters sheet. He pulls out a new Dungeon Master Screen from a shopping bag, along with a few bottles of Ramune. He sets up his screen on his side table, along with a new dice tray. "So, are we ready to play?"
One by one, we all take our seats. Natsuki takes the bean bag, this time, leaving Yuri to sit between Alisteir and Kain. Sayori and Monika take up opposite ends of the other couch, leaving me to sit between them. Kain looks at us all and then takes his notebook, to hand.
"So, after defeating two Manticore's at the top of Umbrage Hill, saving Adabra from certain doom, the seven of you return to Phandalin with a portion of healing, each. You explain to Harbin Wester that she didn't want to come back, he paid you and went back to Stonehill Inn for the night. And, out of character, you all reached Level two, and gained some new skills and powers. Which, hopefully, we'll all get to see, session." He explained, which we all listen in on, some of us with more excited energy, than others. "Anyway, it's now morning. What are you all doing?" He asks us.
Natsuki smiles and then says "I'm up, as the sun rises. I get myself cleaned up and head downstairs for breakfast. Is anyone else there yet? Party Members? NPC's? Anyone?" She asks, intently. Natsuki has really taken a shine, to the role-playing aspect of the game. It's cool to see. Kain nods and explains that there's two dwarves sitting in a corner. They look distraught and tired. "Okay… Can I go over and talk to them? I'm going to walk over and say 'Uhh, hey… is everything okay? Maybe I can help, I'm an adventurer." She asks.
Kain nods and picks up a bottle of Ramune. "One of the dwarves, an older man, takes a big swig of his coffee and says 'Yeah…We was digging in a canyon, near here, and found an old Dwarven Settlement, buried deep behind an avalanche. We're now here, looking for someone to delve a little deeper.' He explains, rather bluntly." Kain's voice for the dwarven man is something like Scottish/Irish.
Alisteir slips forward on the couch and looks to Kain. "DM, Trae would have come down, during that time. He won't join in, but he will sit at the bar, order breakfast and a cup of tea, and just listen, but not look in their direction. So, on that note, what would I have to roll to find out of there's something they're not telling Natushi?"
Kain's eyes turn to his DM Screen, to look for a solution. "Amazing question…. I think we'll go with insight, for this one?" I look around the table, and I'm not seeing a whole lot of disagreement. Then again, Kain and I are the most experienced Dungeons and Dragons players, here. There's a good chance everyone else is just waiting with anticipation. "Yeah, that's the one. Make an insight check, but I'll ask you to make it with disadvantage, because, by your own words, you're not looking and, therefore, are not able to read facial expressions."
Alisteir nods and rolls his dice. And then looks on in surprise. "Okay! So, I rolled a natural twenty and a fourteen. So, I take the fourteen and add my insight for… a total of… Eighteen." He expresses, happily. Sayori claps for Alisteir, who smiles and nods. The rest of the table are happy for that result. Eighteen is a good number, this early into any campaign.
"Okay… Uh, yeah, they're pretty genuine." Kain explains, having to improvise something. Clearly, he wasn't prepared for the dice to roll so well. None of us were, honestly. "You can't really pick out anything untoward, from the dwarves. They seem on the level."
Eventually, all our characters join Natsuki's and Alisteir's, eat and agree to head to the mountains, with the reward of a pair of sending stones, which are very helpful magic items. Kain looks to his notes, and then looks up to all of us, with a genuine smile on his face. "The canyon's rocky walls rise to a height of eighty feet. At the end of the canyon, a twenty-foot-high wall of black stone has a broken gate carved into it, with one stone door hanging precariously by a hinge and the other door missing. Beyond this open gate, in the shadow of a great mountain to the east, Lies a ruined settlement. All is quiet." He explains, dramatically. Painting the scene in my head is like something out of a high fantasy movie. Time for me to interact with the scene.
"Okay, I'm going to draw my sword and move to the front, turning to face them all. 'Rios, can I ask you to cover the rear of the group?' I ask, before looking back to the broken entry way." Honestly, I don't think I can paint a picture in people's minds, to the same degree that Kain can. But I'm okay with it. I'm, honestly, glad he's here to take the reins of Dungeon Master.
Moniq steps behind me, then Trae's next, followed by Yu'ilia and Natushi, Leviek is second to last and, as I requested, Rios is at the back. Kain looks to us all and then asks the question that I was dreading. "How many of you have Darkvision?" I look around the room, and it's everyone, except myself and Sayori.
"Don't worry about it." Monika says, flicking to her list of learned spells. "Moniq claps her hands together and, slowly, pulls them apart. As this happens, four globules of light form in the gap between her palms, as she casts the Dancing Lights cantrip, spreading the four globules of light across the party." She explains, as Kain reminds her of how the concentration mechanic works, before going on to describe this ruined settlement beyond the gate
"As we're walking and looking around, Leviek is going to try and listen for anything that isn't the wind, or potential rats." Mickey explains, looking down at his sheet. "My passive perception is fourteen, do I need to roll dice? Or do I need to make a roll?"
Kain looks down at the notes he has and then looks back up. "Uhh… Your passive perception is pretty good, but there's nothing really resonating, sound or sight wise, other than a few Dwarf bones laying around. There's nothing else in here that's worth rolling for, in all honesty." He explains. Mickey nods and thanks him for that explanation.
As we move through this site, our party makes its way into a courtyard. "A partially collapsed, ten-foot-high separates this court yard from the settlement, west of it. Three heaps of rubble are piled, in this area. Hewn from the canyon's back wall, a thirty-foot-high temple facade features steps rising to a stone platform. Cut into this facade is a ten-foot-high, open doorway flanked by crumbling, life-sized granite statues of cloaked Dwarves. Evil grins can be seen on their weatherworn faces." Kain says, setting the scene beautifully. Everyone has a smile on their face, even Natsuki. Oh, hold on, that's more of a mischievous grin. And now Alisteir has that same expression, that won't be good…
"Trae and I are going to speed ahead and scout for any trouble!" Natsuki call out. Alisteir nods and confirms this. I guess something like this had to happen, sooner or later. Kain then asks How far the two of them want to go in, reminding them both that they have Darkvision, so they could go a fair bit in. "What's passed the piles of rubble?" Natsuki asks. That's a great question. Better to not scoot into the unknown.
"Well, there's a corridor ahead. Where it leads, you don't know. It's a little too dark." Kain explains. Well, I guess it can't be helped, now. As long as they choose to be careful, it shouldn't be an issue.
Alisteir picks up his twenty-sided die and looked to Kain. "At this point, I think we'll have to be slow and stealthy, right? So, what Trae is going to do is walk in front of the group and says, 'Why don't the five of you wait here and keep your head down, while myself and Natushi look ahead for any potential danger, yeah?' and then I walk past the rubble and head to a wall, waiting for Natushi."
Natsuki smiles and grabs her D20. "I, wordlessly, follow Trae, and then hit the opposite wall." She informs the group, while the rest of us agree to hang back. Kain then asks for Stealth checks, which they both roll, together. "Okay, my stealth check total is seventeen." She says, not looking too happy about it. Seventeen is still very good, though. So, it should be enough.
Alisteir smiles and looks up. "I got a total of Twenty-two." He says calmly, with a grin on his face. Mickey and I take the time to high five the two stealthiest people in the room. Even Yuri goes for high fives which is cool to see. It shows that a great group can really bring people out of their shell.
"Okay…" Kain starts, feeling a little defeated, again. "So, you look down the hall, sneaking on opposite walls, moving slowly and carefully to make sure you don't step on anything that could alert a predator to your position… I now need you both to make me perception checks." Kain asks. Natsuki got a total of twenty-one, while Alisteir reached a total of twenty. Kain nods and slowly clasps his hands together. "Got it. You both hear two voices, talking in a language you… Actually, do either of you speak Goblinoid?" He asks. The rogue and the monk shake their heads, in response.
Goblinoid? That's not good. That could mean Goblins or Bugbears. I know this campaign pretty well, and I don't remember that part. Kain's taking liberties and changing things up to keep it interesting. I like it, though. Kain knows I like it, too, as we both exchange knowing smirks with each other. "Okay, so are you going to try and get closer? If so, I need you to roll stealth checks."
They both roll, and Natsuki jumps up in excitement. "Natural twenty! For a total of twenty-seven!" exclaims, throwing her fist into the sky. We all yell and cheer, as this is the first of, hopefully, many natural twenties, for this session. Kain then looks over to Alisteir, who loudly, exaggeratedly, sighs into his dice tray.
"Meanwhile, Trae stubbed his toe on something and blew his cover, because I rolled a natural one! For a total of seven!" Yuri rubs his back, to try and bring him some comfort, Myself and Monika chuckle, quietly, at his description. Sayori looks over and feels bad for Alisteir. Mickey and Natsuki, however, laugh with Kain.
"Okay! You kick a stone, which rolls down the hall. The voices stop talking and reveal themselves. Three Bugbears, seemingly scavenging for something, now spot the pair of you." There's an uncomfortable pause, before Kain mimics a Bugbear roar, as loudly as he can, causing everyone to jump. As Natsuki and Alisteir describe how they run away from the three large creatures, Kain looks around the room, towards the rest of us. "Now, the rest of the party… You hear that."
Mickey is the first to respond. "I'm going to hide behind the back left pile of rubble and wait for the source of the roaring to reveal itself and, while I draw my shield, I'm going hold my middle and index fingers together, preparing the Guiding Bolt spell." He explains.
"I'm going to move out to the front!" Sayori explains. "And I'm going to draw my two-handed maul. As soon as I see any sign of movement, I'm going to charge at my enemy! My friends are my power. And I'll do anything to protect them!" She adds, excitedly. Sayori has been sitting on that line for a while, and it shows. I really hope we don't have to deal with character death, because I don't know how well Sayori will take it.
Monika sits forward and puts on a very serious expression. Shit, she's really getting into the role-playing side of the game. That's kind of hot, can't lie. "What I'm going to do it hide behind the front pile of rubble and draw my light crossbow, loading a bolt into it." She says, with a serious tone. And then she looks like she has an idea. "And I'll move my Dancing Lights over to Rios, to keep light over her, because she doesn't have Darkvision."
Yuri takes a deep breath and then closes her eyes. "I hide behind the back right pile of rubble and focus my mind on my love of heat and fire, and then hold out my hands and shape some fire I've created with my arcane ability into a wolf, summoning my Wildfire Spirit." As Yuri explains this, we all look on, excitedly. I nod, happily. I've played Druid before and played Circle of Wildfire. I know how good it can be. Especially when it comes to the expanded spell list.
"My turn. And I'm going to join Rios out front, with both hands gripping my sword, waiting for my comrades and our adversary." I inform Kain. I don't have Darkvision, either. So, I need that light from Monika's Cantrip. Plus, with my high HP and Armour Class, Darius should be at the front line of any fight.
Kain claps his hands and looks around. "Right, so I need stealth checks from Moniq, Leviek and Yu'ilya." He says. "Because, if you're hiding, then A good enough stealth check could give you a decent benefit. Yu'ilya, I need you to roll with disadvantage, because your Wildfire spirit emits light. On the account of it being, literally, made of fire." Kain adds, with a little chuckle.
"Ten. I have a zero-dexterity modifier, so it's a straight roll, for me." Mickey says, getting the distinct feeling he hasn't made the check. I feel that. Ten is an average roll, at an early level like ours. That said, with a flat zero in the mod, he has no positive numbers to add to the result.
Monika's next and she looks hopeful. "I got a total of sixteen." She says with a smile. I put an arm around her waist and smile. She looks so proud of herself, and who could blame her? That's a good result. Yuri, on the other hand, looks ecstatic.
"I rolled a twenty and a seventeen. I take the lowest result of the two and then add my modifier, right?" She asks me. I nod at her, with a small smile, still holding Monika close to me. "Oh!" Yuri adds, in surprise. "Well, I have plus three for stealth, so that makes twenty.
Kain looks up at everyone, after making note of the stealth checks. "It's at this point that you, Natushi and Trae, return to the group. What do you want to do?" He asks. Trae's already laughing.
Natsuki looks over at him, confused. "Okay, weirdo… I'm going to just turn around and stand with Darius and Rios, seeing they're standing right there." She describes, with a happy tone. Meanwhile, Alisteir calms down and looks to Kain.
"I'm going to try and hide behind the nearest pile of rubble. I just like the idea that I've hidden, and the Bugbear's, not knowing I've hidden, suddenly think I've both multiplied and split genders." He lays out for all of us, which set's the whole room off, really. Alisteir rolls his stealth check and then laughs even harder. "I rolled a twenty! So that's a total of twenty-six!" This only adds to our laughing fit. Because now, we're all picturing that scenario, and it's way funnier than it has any real right to be.
After we all calm down, Kain reclaims the reigns of the scene and takes a deep breath. "As Trae hides… Natushi, Darius and Rios, you now see the source of the roar. Three Bugbears come into view. Two have morning stars, while the other has a Great Axe, and slightly more armour. You can tell that one is the Chieftan of the group. He roars again and it echoes through the chamber you're in, as the three of them ready their weapons and charge forward. Everyone… Roll for Initiative!"