"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to reply to my message so soon, and in person no less."
"How could I not? Your message on the back of the wedding invitation was quite clear."
Akira Winters of Venindale sat in a comfortable chair with one of her long slender legs crossed over the other. Her black silk dress rode up her supple thighs slightly and the slit along the side threatened to reveal a little too much of her bottom with one wrong move. The provocative vixen smiled at her guest as she gently swirled the glass of wine in her hand in small, gentle circles. Despite having been essentially locked in her office by her subordinates the past few days, Akira still managed to find the time to make sure she still looked stunning for her guest before they arrived. After all, it wasn't always often she got the chance to see the Rose Thorn herself anymore.
Herelda Steele, or the Rose Thorn as she was often called, sat across from Akira in an equally comfortable chair while sipping on her own glass of wine. The High Elven woman was dressed white silk blouse and black leather pants that accented her figure rather nicely. Her pale smooth skin seemed almost flawless except for the single scar over the woman's left eye. The scar however did little to mar her beauty and it even made her look slightly more attractive in some ways. Herelda's beauty was almost unmatched except for by Akira herself, and like the Kitsune Matriarch, she too had a dangerous air about her.
"Well I'm glad you decided to come either way. I know how busy it can be in the capital. Especially with running the Proctors and all. How… is that going by the way?" Akira asked before she took a sip of her wine.
The other woman sighed a little and Akira noticed her shoulders slump slightly before she collected herself a little and replied, "It's… a venture every day for sure. Recruiting is still at an all time low and those numbers we still retain are… less than desirable."
"But I hear you have a new Vice Commander." Akira said, trying to pick the other woman's fallen spirit up a little.
"That's right. Hopefully now maybe our numbers will begin to grow once more. At least now that people might see her face instead of mine." Herelda replied.
"You're too hard on yourself. There's always going to be someone who doesn't like you no matter who you are or what it is you stand for. You had no choice in which race you were born or what family you were born into. What matters is that you didn't let that define you and instead, you sought out your path and excelled in your life choices and career. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd say say fuck you to anyone who refuses to see all the accomplishments you've made on your own without the use of your family name. They can all go take a very long walk off a very short pier." said Akira.
"Hah, if only it were as easy as that. But I feel as if the beings of Tytaura will only ever see me as the wretched princess of the High Elven Royalty. Sometimes I wish I had been born to my mothers likeness instead." Herelda sighed
"Again, we can't change what family we were born into. Though it also probably doesn't help that you still bare your fathers name" Akira noted
"I refuse to disown my ancestors' legacy that my father has so ruthlessly marred. It is my job, no… my duty to re-establish the trust of both the council and the people of Tytaura in Steele name. I refuse to let my father be the death of our family's legacy" Herelda replied.
"Yes. Yes. We've had this conversation many times before. I just… worry about you is all. I hope this new Vice Commander of yours can help you turn things around soon, for your sake." Akira sighed
"She's… unique, unlike anyone I've ever met before. It's honestly hard to explain but… I feel if there's anyone who can save the Proctors and help me restore my family honor, then it might just be her." answered Herelda.
"Oh? You speak such high praises of this woman. I do hope I get to meet the being that stole your heart away soon enough." Akira replied as a mischievous smile spread across her lips.
The other woman paused for a moment, staring at Akira with a wide eyed shocked expression as her cheeks began to turn a slight shade of pink. Her delicate lips parted and her mouth open and closed several times as if she was trying to find the words to say but she seemed to be able to find none.
"Oh come now. You don't think I know you well enough by now to know when you're smitten with somebody? You hardly ever sing anyones praises. Hardly ever even mine or Hika's and we are like sisters are we not? Yet you say you believe that she'd perhaps be the only one that can help you reach your goals. So, it stands to reason that you have fallen in love with this individual. That, and your reaction just now was a dead give away I'm afraid." Akira said with a soft laugh.
Herelda's mouth closed as she puffed out her cheeks a little in an angry yet sort of cute manner. She of course couldn't deny anything that Akira had said. Kitsune's were the best judge of characters amongst any of the other races and they could detect your true feelings no matter how hard you tried to hide them. Akira was especially good at both of these and she had been quickly able to read her friends' emotions towards this new individual. Not only was Herelda in love with this woman, but she was utterly taken with her like how Akira was to Matt. The fox woman's tail shifted slightly as she held it over her lap, clearly enjoying her friend's reaction.
"You honestly can be so frustrating sometimes" Herelda said with an exasperated sigh.
"Oh don't act like you don't love me too" Akira replied.
Both women laughed together in response and both women sat back into their chairs a little more, getting more comfortable in the other presence.
"You are such a pain in my ass" Herelda chuckled while taking a sip of her wine.
"Oh please. Don't even try to say that your life wouldn't be more interesting without me." Akira laughed as she brought her legs up under her in her seat and got comfortable.
"Touché" Herelda conceded as the two women finally settled in. "Mm. Also, fuck you for not telling me right away that you'd gotten married all of a sudden. So much for sisterly bond huh?"
"Sorry. Sorry. It sort of… just happened so fast. Honestly it took me a few days of being back home here to finally fully realize what was going on." Akira replied.
"Hmm there's a word or perhaps a phrase or two I'm thinking of. Something about maybe a pot or a kettle" Herelda joked.
"Oh hush you." Akira said, shaking her head as she took another sip of her wine and frowned a little when she realized her glass was empty.
Herelda then sat forward and grabbed the bottle of wine on the table between the two women and offered ro refill Akira's glass. The fox woman happily obliged and held out her glass as the High Elven woman filled it up.
"So, am I going to have to wait until the wedding to meet this mystery man or…?" Herelda asked as she finished pouring the glass of wine before she topped off her own glass.
"No. No. Matthew is just out on the town for his morning stroll at the moment. He should hopefully return shortly and with some snacks if he's a good boy." Akira responded.
"Good. I hope you know that in leu of Hika not being here quite yet, the responsibility of vetting this individual falls to me" Herelda smiled
"Oh if that's the case then I suppose it's only fair if I test your little Vice Commander then hmm?" Akira teased in return.
Herelda paused for a moment as she seemed to be serious considering whether that was a good idea or not for a moment before she gave a small shrug of her shoulders.
"That's fine. Fair warning though, she can be a bit….much at times."
"Fuck! Shit! Balls! Why are you so fucking slow?!"
"Shut the fuck and keep running! Take this right up here and then haul ass down the road!"
"What I wouldn't give for even a fucking Humvee at the moment"
Matt and Rem ran as fast as they could through the busy streets of Venindale. Both of whom didn't want to draw the ire of their significant others. Matt felt the wind blow through his ginger hair as he took long powerful steps forward but for some reason Rem seemed to be even faster than usual now. Instead of constantly running and burning through her energy with her shorter legs like she used to back on earth, here it was almost like she was flying. She'd put her effort into kicking off the ground instead, causing her to sail forward much faster then she would have been running with half the energy before she landed and repeated the process. She was so fast now in fact that she was not only just outpacing Matt but also starting to outlast him as well. Matt could feel the sweat running down his back as he ran at full power but Rem looked like she was barely breaking a sweat as she constantly had to pause and wait for him to catch up.
"Jesus Christ you're slow! Hurry the fuck up!" she'd call back to him as she stood waiting for him at the turn.
"Eat… my ass" He said through his heavier breathing as he ran past her in the turn.
His lead over Rem was short lived however as she dashed past him once again with even more surprising speed as she passed him in a blur.
"How the fuck… are you doing that?" Matt called out to her as she paused again to wait for him a little ways down the road that led straight to the Sakura Keep.
"Fucking new abilities duh" Rem replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Wait. Wait wait wait." Matt said as he finally caught back up with Rem and motioned for her to pause a moment as he panted "The fuck you mean… new abilities?"
"Are you serious? You mean to tell me that we've both been in this world for roughly the same amount of time and you still haven't tested out any of your new abilities yet?" Rem shouted before she backhanded Matt in his heaving chest.
"The fuck are you talking about? What abilities?" Matt asked, sounding a bit more annoyed with his counterpart now.
"Jesus fucking Christ and you call yourself a gamer? Dumbass, have you checked your phone yet?" Rem asked, placing her hands on her hips as she leaned forward towards Matt a little.
"Yeah it's… got my banking system on it. That's about it" Matt replied looking down at Rem with a raised eyebrow.
"Fucking… give me your phone dumb fuck" Rem sighed heavily and held out her hand in his direction.
Matt hesitated only a moment or two before he pulled out his cell from his pant leg pocket and handed it over to Rem without unlocking it. She took the phone and used her own fingerprint scan to open it before she swiped through the screens and tapped the screen. The two had always had access to the others phone even when they were younger so it didn't phase Matt at all that Rem had her fingerprint I.D. on his phone.
"Check it. Under your Health app that I know you never use. See the new tabs?" Rem asked as she turned the screen around to show Matt.
Matt stared at the screen for a moment before his eyes went a slightly wider.
"Is that…?" Matt asked sounding surprised
"Yeup. It's your fucking character sheet my guy" Rem said with a wicked grin.
Matt quickly swiped his phone back from her and began looking through the tabs on the screen. Rem was right, Matt never used the Health app but he was pretty sure it hadn't looked this way before back on earth. He felt like he was now looking at a character sheet for one of those popular tabletop games of pens, paper, and oddly shaped dice that the two of them often loved to play whenever they could. The app showed him everything about Matt including a number of ability scores drawn out to show just how strong and powerful he was. There was a small red exclamation mark on each of the tabs along the top, screaming to get his attention, but for now, Matt focused his attention only on the first page.
Name: Matthew Winters
Race: Variant Human
Class: Rogue/ Fighter
Level: Inapplicable
Titles: Modern Warfighter X, Heavy Stomper I, Tavern Brawler II, Breaker V, Fortitude Stander VII
Health Points: 208/208
Armor: 17
STR: 29 DEX: 20 CON:16 INT: 16 WIS: 13 CHA: 10
Proficiencies: Light/Medium Armor, Firearms, Martial/Simple Weapons, Thieves Tools (Breaching), Vehicles (Land/Water)
Languages: Common, Elvish, Thieves' Cant, Error (Language N/A), Error (Language N/A), Error (Language N/A), Error (Language N/A)
"Eh, you got "Level Inapplicable" too huh? Man that's fucking bullshit. I was really hoping you were a lower level than me. But holy shit motherfucker look at that Strength score! Our Dex is the same. You beat me in Con. Same Intelligence and Wisdom. Hahaha! But I fucking dominate you in Charisma motherfucker! Woop Woop!"
Rem had managed to climb up Matthew's back at some point while he was looking over his phone and had been looking along with him over his shoulder. This again wasn't too uncommon for the two of them back home but Matt felt a little uneased when he thought how his wife might react to seeing a random woman she'd never even met before climbing over her man. Matt didn't say anything to Rem though as the relationship between him and Rem had always been this way before and it was more like a Brother and Sister bond than anything else.
'I'm sorry honey. We will just have to cross that bridge later' Matt thought to himself before he looked at Rem on his shoulder.
"So wait, does this mean I have like… special abilities and shit now?" Matt asked
"Yeah. There's a whole ass tab for it like any other character sheet you've seen before dumbass." Rem sighed
Matt paused for a moment and considered taking a further look into the subject but ultimately he decided against it as they were technically in a rush and had already wasted far too much time already. He sighed and turned the phone's screen off before he placed it back in his pocket.
"Come on. I'll look at it more later but we really should get going." Matt said, looking back at Rem.
"Alright then, let's go!" Rem said as she clutched onto his shoulder and pointed forward as she wrapped her legs around his chest.
"I'm not your horse" Matt sighed
"Giddy up bitch!"