Page 72 of Their Knotty Pack
"Does this…please the dragon?" Damien asks hesitantly.
"What's your persuasion modifier, Plier?"
Huffing, he checks his character sheet. "Plus two."
"Alright, roll a d20 for me."
Damien grabs the dice, and Bethany, Kieran, and Brody gather around him to watch the roll. When the dice stops, all their shoulders drop. "What did you get?"
"A two." He groans, his head falling back.
Welp, time to bring this game to a close.
"The song was so poorly received by the dragon," I start, tenting my fingers, "that he decided you'd all be better off barbecued in his stomach. So he lets out a stream of fire, and since you're all clustered together," I motion to the little plastic tokens we've been using as character minis, "he gets you in one blast, and you're all dead. The dragon gobbles you up, and goes to bed with his stomach pleasantly full."
"What the hell!" Bethany shoots to her feet, her jaw dropped. "I die because Damien couldn't come up with a good song?"
"Nope, little nymph," I lean back, stretching my arms over my head, "you died because you followed the barbarian when he said, 'Oh, a cave we aren't supposed to go into? Let's check it out!' Why did you listen to the barbarian again?"
"Well, I thought you might be hiding some good loot from us," Bethany mutters, and Hunter barks out a laugh, surprising all of us.
He flushes slightly with attention, and not for the first time I notice just how attractive he is. Hair even darker than Bethany's lies loose on his forehead instead of gelled back like normal, and he's in a t-shirt and sweatpants. It's so easy to forget how big he is when he's in his work uniform, but now that he's relaxing at home, tight SCPD t-shirt pulling across his chest? The man puts Thor to shame.
Brody stretches his arms above his head, his music note tattoo bulging on his bicep. Bethany must lock in on the same thing, because she's suddenly touching it. "I meant to ask about this. Do you play an instrument?"
"Oh," Brody looks surprised at the attention, "yeah, I've been playing piano since I was seven. Though I haven't played since I moved out of my old pack house."
Bethany frowns as her fingers trace the lines of the music. "Why not?"
"Well, the piano there was owned by Harry's grandfather, so I couldn't take it with me, and I just…haven't gotten my own."
"Well, we'd love to hear you play some time." I smile at him, but Bethany just glares at me despite her mild amusement I can feel through the bond.
"Dead people can't play piano, Miles."
Hunter's head falls back on a loud, boisterous laugh, and when he looks at Bethany, there's something that wasn't there a few days ago.
We settle down, talking about what to do for dinner when a text pops in from Bethany.
Nymph
My parents have an old piano they've been trying to figure out what to do with…should we have them bring it here?
Me
Thats a great idea. I love you and your beautiful brain
Nymph
?? *winking blow kiss emoji *
Chapter 30
Bethany
"Are you sure about this?" Miles asks, even though I can feel excitement through the bond.
Swallowing roughly, I nod. "I am. It's time to stop pretending we weren't already courting them. That I'm not already bonded to one of them." Yesterday had finally made me see a real future, not with just any individual, but with all of us, even Hunter. And I'm ready to grab that future by the damn balls.
