Page 34 of Lucky Shot
PrettyInLace:I literally had an ex who was obsessed with what our children would look like. OUR. CHILDREN. As if we were able to create a child together. As two men! Like, this guy never stopped. It was… creepy after a while.
DemiDefenseKip:Jesus. It’s like he lived in a bubble.
PrettyInLace:I’m not even mid-twenties yet and fuck, the creeps I’ve met. I was naïve enough to think that they’d get less as I got older, but I think they just multiply.
DemiDefenseKip:lol. Don’t I know it!
DemiDefenseKip:How about your ideal partner and future? What does that look like?
PrettyInLace:Realistically? Or are we talking if I could pick it out of a magazine?
DemiDefenseKip:lol. Both.
PrettyInLace:Well, ideally, I just really want someone to love me for me. I honestly don’t know that I care outside that. I think I could compromise on just about everything if my partner was completely in love with *ME* and not something that I have to offer.
DemiDefenseKip:What does he look like?
PrettyInLace:Well, gorgeous, obviously! I’m not sure I really have a preference as far as tall or short; blond or brown. That kind of thing. I also think that if I’m completely in love with this guy, he’ll be more attractive, you know?
DemiDefenseKip:You have no idea how much I understand that.
For the next twenty minutes, we wander through the world looking for a pixie hoard and put the little things into cages. It takes twice as long as it should have with the two of us, but we are playing with them too. The pixies in this game range from ten inches in height to ten feet and they are known for their games.
They also don’t care that we are basically abducting members of their hoard to sell. There are some regions of Second World where the inhabitants eat pixies. Others sell them for some unethical reasons. We are doing it just for the quest. What becomes of them after that isn’t our concern.
I’ve also found out that you can choose to be a pixie within the game and when other players get to this quest, they can abduct you. There’s a player that boasted about doing this and while the entire practice was kind of a shit thing to do, the pixie in question was a fucking troll that did nothing but shit talk and try to kill other players just for fun.
I’m not sure what became of them. I kind of hope they died and lost all their shit. Not that I usually wish that on other players, but when you come into these games just to troll… it’s difficult to have sympathy.
I’ve also met a pixie player who was sold for one of those unethical reasons. Her character was made into a sex slave for the orc kingdom. She still played the game, and it took her months to get out. She had the help of another character who was on a quest in the orc kingdom, and he helped her escape.
When they say you can do anything in this game, they really mean it.
We finish the pixie quest, and I accompany Pretty to sell his gains. The finished quest allows him to level up his bag. I know—woo, big deal. But it is kind of a big deal. The more advanced your bag is, the more stuff you can bring with you, which helps to simplify quests.
PrettyInLace:You going to sleep now?
DemiDefenseKip:Not yet. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten a second wind, but I’m not quite as tired as I was. You have another quest you need to do?
PrettyInLace:Uh… lemme look.
I wait while he does, staring at his mage still wearing the dress and crown I put him in last night. He’s so fucking pretty. I tap his character and run my character’s fingers through his hair. My own, real fingers tingle.
Sometimes, not often but sometimes, I wish I could pull a character from the game. Just to see what they feel like for real.
PrettyInLace:I don’t have much that doesn’t require some real commitment. There are stupid ones, but I get frustrated with those. You can just pet me if you want to.
I snort. Actually… I kind of do.
Pulling up the map, I scroll around until I find what I’m looking for.
DemiDefenseKip:Come with me?
PrettyInLace:I think you have to work a little harder if you want it to happen at the same time. :P
This time I laugh out loud. I have my character grab Pretty’s hand and pull him along. There’s an inn close by and we can check in. For real. Pay a fee and we get a room. The fee keeps being deducted if we stay there without checking out for 24-hour periods. There are some rooms that stay locked down until the character runs out of money.
This inn in particular that we’re heading to isn’t anything special, but it’s somewhere I’d feel safe if I fell asleep for real. My eyelids are getting heavy, but I don’t want to sign off yet. I also don’t want to just stand stationary in the woods because the real me fell asleep. That would leave me open for someone to kill.
