"Hello, Mr. Nessan." Cassandra greeted Jake's dad when he opened the door. He hadn't even changed out of his work clothes yet. Blinking he looked down at the girl. She was dressed in a dark top and a matching skirt. Her hair was a shiny black cascade down past her shoulders and she wore just a hint of makeup. In her hands was a box containing what he recognized as the same type of game console his wife had owned.
"Um, You are the McCillen girl, right? Is there something I can do for you?" He wasn't sure what to make of the girl showing up at his doorstep so early on a Saturday morning.
"I'm here to see Jake." She blushed slightly unable to look Jake's father in the eyes.
"Jake?" He said.
"I'm here!" Jake came around the corner in a hurry. His hair was brushed and his face washed despite the early hour.
"I'm here." He repeated while trying to get his father away from the door. Practically pushing his dad towards his room. "You worked last night right dad? You look tired."
"What?" Jake's dad dug his heels in stopping his son's attempt to herd him into his room.
"Merc!" Cassandra blushed furiously. "I mean Jake. Don't be rude. Sorry, Mr. Nessan. I came over to play with Jake." She lifted the box some, seemed to think better of her words, and added. "A video game!"
Jake's dad looked between the two teens, both turning red. 'I really should probably do something as his father to make sure they don't make any mistakes.' He glanced at his son who he had noticed was finally out of his depression after his mother's death. 'But, I'm sure it will be alright. Probably.'
"Oh, you play the game as well. What was it you called it son?" Jake had moved to shut the door behind Cass once his father stopped letting him push him away.
He mumbled the name of the game but was already shuffling towards his own room. "Come on Cass you can set up your console in here."
"You two have fun… playing together." Jake's dad couldn't resist calling out to them. Getting an angry look from his son that just made him chuckle. 'Jake's a good kid. Besides if I try and stop them they will probably meet up somewhere where I can't conveniently check on them.'
In his room, Jake shut the door and let out a huge breath. "Sorry for my dad."
Cass just smiled. "He seemed nice. I thought he was going to make a bigger deal out of things there for a moment." She blushed. "I think he thinks we were going to… you know do other stuff."
Jake's heart had just started claming down but now it started pounding again. The realization a girl was in his room finally came home. Not only that she looked somehow prettier than at school though she wasn't dressed any different. "Uh, we can set up your console here." He darted to the table he had cleared off. When Cass came over he couldn't help but notice she smelt nice… really nice. His heart was pounding as he watched her set up the console slowly working up the nerve to make a move.
Just as he did, his bedroom door opened up. "Hey, do you two need some snacks or something?" His dad had waited to surprise them. Jake practically jumped three feet in the air while Cass just turned to thank him but decline.
Jake shooed his dad out of his room hoping neither his father nor Cass noticed how much he was sweating. Jake's dad chuckled as the door closed again. 'That should keep them on guard.' He yawned as he left for bed.
Jake flopped back on his bed while adjusting the straps for the visor needed for him to log in. When the bed shifted and Cass laid next to him he let out a squeak.
"What?" Cass managed to look him in the eyes for only a moment before blushing. "Where did you expect me to lay? On the floor?"
"No!" Jake just stared at her until she couldn't take it.
"Come on. Let's log in." She pulled her own visor into place and laid back. Jake did the same trying to keep his heart in his chest. Just before the world blanked out he felt soft warm fingers slide into his hand and lace with his.
Sitting up in the log in room Jake had to spend a while getting his heart under control. "This is crazy. Does this mean… are we… Is she my…" He slapped his own face with both hands. "Man up. It was just a beautiful girl laying next to you… in your bedroom… on your bed… holding your hand. It wasn't like she kissed you… again."
Eventually, he emerged from the log out room and Cass frowned at him. "What took so long? I started to think you logged out to mess with my body while I was lying next to you." Her face was flushed.
Jake's own face turned beet red. "Then why didn't you log out to stop me?"
Cass just gave him an intense look that he couldn't read. It was as if she was telling him something but he didn't know what. She let out a little exasperated sigh and turned towards the exit. "I need more ammunition. You should check the trade boards to see if there are any good skills for you. I got the elemental ammunition skill, so it is your turn to get something."
Jake just nodded and still felt like he had missed something important.
Reading through the holodesk he was focused on it as he scrolled through all the different offers. So intent was he on reading that he never noticed his attacker until it was too late.
Arms wrapped around him in a death grip making him yelp in shock.
"GOT YOU!" Jake spun around trying to fling his assailant off. Instead, he spun in their grip coming face to face with Ella. She shifted her grip from around his torso to his neck in such an intimate manner it left Jake light headed.
"Ella?" Jake squeaked out.
"The one and only!" She hung from his neck and lifted both legs repeatedly as she cheered excitedly. "Did you get taller?" Jake had gained a few inches in the last month alone, finally letting him pass up Cass. Being shorter than a girl was annoying. Now he was taller than Ella as well.
"So this is the boyfriend you keep talking about?" The speaker was a tall black male in his late teens. His dark skin was offset by the white of his grinning teeth.
"The handsy one?" Snickered a woman in her early twenties who was actually the shortest of the group. Standing no more than five foot one. Her hair was pulled up to the top of her head into two large round balls. They had been shaped to look like large round ears, combined with her tiny appearance she made Jake think of a mouse.
"Oops good point!" Ella exclaimed as she let go of Jake and hopped back to cover her chest. "Can't let your guard down with this one! He gets FRISKY!"
"Is that so?" Cass was suddenly there. Her meek personality was nowhere to be found, she was in prime princess mode. She looked down her nose at Ella as she let her eyes move up and down. Blatantly stopping on her hands cupping her meager chest.
"Uh oh. Looks like someone stole your man!" The tiny woman whooped drawing even more attention to the group. "Catfight! The winner gets the cute boy!" She grinned, her nose wiggled when she did as she stared up at Jake. "Hey, maybe I can get in on the action too."
Jake felt his face flush. He wasn't used to so much attention, it was worse than being at school.
"Uh, Cass this is Ella. I told you about her. Ella this is Cass, an um friend from school." Jake tried to deflect things.
"Yes, you did." Cass wasn't looking at Jake but had her eyes set on Ella.
Before things could escalate the tall black male thrust out his hand, a big grin on his face. "Nice to meet you Mr. Handsy. I'm Aero." Jake blinked at Aero before taking a better look at him. He was wearing grey robes with embroidered borders lined with sky blue runes. His hand that wasn't held out gripped a staff of polished dark wood. Two rings of gems were set into the wood near the top, they circled the staff and crossed making an X.
Jake shook the offered hand. "Um, my name is Merc. Not Mr. Handsy." He glanced at a grinning Ella who just grinned bigger.
"And I'm Gadget." The small woman shouldered Aero out of the way and thrust out her hand. Jake further took in her appearance. She was wearing a set of overalls with a large metallic box strapped to her back.
Jake shook her tiny hand. "Nice to meet you both." Jake nodded before turning to find Ella and Cass squaring off. Even someone as dense as he was could feel the tension in the air between them.
Suddenly, Ella turned away from Cass. "So, just a friend?" Before Jake could answer the question or the annoyed look from Cass she continued. "This is perfect. We were coming to recruit some people. We found a Grim Village! You two up to join a party?"
Jake glanced at Cass who was staring right at him. Before he could think of what to say Ella stepped into his line of sight. "Don't tell me you still don't have the HUD item?"
"No, I do." He replied quickly and had his helmet close over his face.
"Perfect. Now we can add each other to our friend's list! Here go ahead and take the group invite too." Pop ups appeared in his vision and he clicked them without thinking. It merged his existing group with her larger one. Suddenly three new health indicators showed up briefly on the edge of his view before fading out. They would only pop up when someone took damage.
"Great! No time to waste." Ella grabbed Jake by the hand and dragged him out of the building. Aero followed while Gadget paused to watch Cass. Cass gave the door a death glare before seeming to square her shoulders and march out after the others.
Gadget grinned. "Man partying with Ella is the best. It is always a wild time."