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***
“Oh come on Shiro, give it a try! It’s just a one-shot!”
It’s Sunday evening when Matt bursts into her room with a million volt smile. As always, her roommate only uses it when he tries to convince her to do something. Like, going grocery shopping for both of them. Or doing his laundry.
Today is no different.
Shiro knows Sunday is Matt’s Monsters and Mana evening. Since they started living together, Matt’s Sundays have always been blocked, turning their kitchen table into a mess of notebooks, adventure logs, pencils, character sheets, and mountains of snacks.
Shiro’s long stopped crooking an eyebrow atthe mess of information a single player could need. But, being the good friend that she is, she’s never mentioned anything about it. Not when Matt helped her get back on track after her past breakup.
She will forever be grateful to Matt for pulling her out of her room and making her eat her vegetables on her darkest days. And providing tissues when Shiro lays in bed watching Legally Blonde and gorging on chocolate while crying her eyes out.
Still, she has boundaries.
“Sunday is my gym day and you know it,” Shiro sighs, folding her gym clothes to fit perfectly into her gym bag. If anything helped her get over the heartache (after the embarrassing “Legally Blonde and Chocolate Phase” they don’t dare to speak about), it’s been working out and having a routine.
“The Chocolate Phase” (as Matt liked to call it) was followed by ”The Excessive Workout Phase” and it lasted a month - until Shiro realized she forgot everything around her. She’s been living on free samples at the gym for two weeks before Matt cornered, complaining why the only cookies they had at home were the disgusting ones with protein powder.
Now that ”The Excessive Workout Phase” is over, Shiro shudders whenever she so much as smells protein powder. And she’s proud she manages to ignore the free samples offered in her gym.
Still, working out regularly stuck with her.
“Shiro, every day is gym day for you.” Matt is leaning in the doorway to her room, arms crossed. Shiro can nearly hear the raised eyebrow as he speaks. “Give it a try, the group is nice!”
Shiro chuckles. “You just say that because your one-shot starts in two hours and you can’t find anyone else who wants to join you on a Sunday evening.” She emphasizes her words with a wave of her hand.
Matt groans, ruffling his hair with his hands.
“Come on Shiro, please. I will order pizza for us and do my own laundry for a month,” Matt offers, his voice desperate. There’s a pout on his lips that makes Shiro chuckle.
“A month?” Matt’s offer sounded.. not that bad. Less laundry meant more time for working out. She could probably make up for the missed session on Tuesday.
“Well, if you insist..:”
It’s a miracle how fast Matt’s face changes from pouting to beaming at her, his smile so bright it nearly blinds her. “You won’t regret it, I swear!”
Let’s see about that, Shiro thinks, her eyes wandering to her bag with gym clothes.
How bad can skipping leg day one time be?
*
Creating a character for the one-shot is easy, but only because Shiro has her comfort character sheet close at hand.
She may not have played in a bit, but her human paladin, Takako, will always be her favorite.
On her quest to fight evil spirits and help people in need, Takako fought in countless wars. Ater fighting in one too many battles, the well-traveled woman has decided to leave senseless fighting behind her, embarking on a quest to find inner peace.
Takako’s body is littered with scars and her backstory is tragic. And it might be inspired by Shiro’s accident which cost her her right arm.
But Shiro likes her.
A lot.
So much she used her for every one-shot and campaign. One time for a sci-fi adventure, she created an alien character who worked for a secret Paladin order trying to overrun the evil ruler of the galaxy. Her character had cat-like features and purple fur and a tragic backstory. After being brainwashed to fight for the evil forces, Shiro's character had sworn to protect the universe from evil so nobody had to suffer like her.
For another campaign, her Paladin was cloned early in the game – and when Takako died in a tragic battle, Shiro bribed the DM into replacing her with one of the clones, Tamako.
This time, though, she doesn’t have to bribe the Dungeon Master. Or fear Takako could get killed.
It’s a cute detective mystery they play with a DM named Coran who wants to try out something new this evening. He doesn’t give them maps or pictures. They don’t even use a webcam. “Theater of mind,” he calls it.
Still, the dungeon master manages to convey a lot of feelings and atmosphere. The world-building is perfect, and the imagery he creates in Shiro’s mind is very entertaining. It’s not long before the whole group literally burns to solve the murder mystery presented to them. Shiro doesn’t even notice how time flies by.
Matt was right. The other members of the group are nice. Next to Matt, who plays a female elf, they are joined by his sister, Pidge, and three of her friends, Lance, Hunk, and Keith. It’s surprisingly fast how they fall into a rhythm together - no awkward silences, no weird introductions. Shiro quickly forgets about their classes and races, because Coran rushes over them to get into the story.
What Shiro does not forget, however, is the way a particular voice comes through the speakers whenever Shiro makes a serious decision or tries to keep Lance from running straight into an obvious ambush.
It’s a beautiful, gravelly voice, firm but warm.
It belongs to Keith.
Shiro finds herself getting lost in the melodic rhythm of her words more than once, earning her a kick to the shin from Matt when he notices Shiro spacing out too much. With burning cheeks, she has to watch Matt grinning at her from the other side of the table. And oh, how convenient it would be for Coran to open a pit of eternal darkness right underneath her right now, to swallow her whole.
“Sooo…” Matt grins at her once the mystery is solved and they say their good-byes for the evening. The sparkle in Matt’s eyes doesn’t bode well.
“We are still a Paladin short for the campaign we’ll start next week. You want to join?” There’s something dark and smug about Matt’s expression.
Before Shiro can answer, he adds, “Keith will be there.”
And who is Shiro to say no?
*
Shiro has a week to prepare herself to hear Keith’s beautiful voice again.
Still, she melts a bit into her chair when Keith joins their Monsters and Mana session exactly seven days later.
It’s the start of a new campaign and everyone is hyped for it. Lance only stops talking about his character’s tragic backstory when Coran shuts him up. Pidge analyses their chances to win battles just from the constellation of the classes they chose. Hunk has baked cupcakes that remind him of his cleric, and he proudly holds them into his webcam to show off. Shiro makes a note to ask Hunk for the recipe. Matt even suggested wearing costumes to their first session, but Shiro’s firm, “No,” was enough to stop him from mentioning it ever again.
And Keith? Keith is nervous because she’s never played a Barbarian before, asking Coran to be easy on her. Shiro tries hard not to be enamoured by the tiny insecure laugh that comes over the headphones when Keith finishes describing her character.
This time, Coran allows cameras and maps, telling them something about a great adventure coming their way and being a bit overly dramatic in his exposé about dragons and tyrants.
But Shiro doesn’t really listen.
She’s more concerned with an attempt to smooth her hair into something representable while not being too obvious about it.
It’s a shame Keith’s webcam doesn’t work this time. But when Coran opens the character picture of Keith’s female Barbarian, Shiro spills water all over her laptop. Causing Matt to laugh hysterically for two minutes straight. Shiro has to mute herself to mop up the water while cursing at Matt.
Lucky for Shiro, the others don’t seem to note her slip – or maybe they’re just too nice to mention it. Even more likely, they’re simply too invested in listening to Lance describing his character with wide gestures.
*
The light in the tavern is dim, the room is only lit by flames dancing on the ceiling and on the faces of all the travelers in the room. There’s music coming from a distant corner, a bard plucking cords on his Lyre. It’s the usual scene on any evening in The Dancing Weblum . Travelers telling their tales, musicians trying to earn some coin, heroes looking for hunting jobs. Takako is part of the latter group, sitting with one of her hands propped up on the counter.
The evening is slow and there are no new faces or hushed whispers running through the air. No beast to slay, no man to rescue. Takako would nearly describe it as boring. The barkeeper throws a knowing glance at her before he places a glass in front of her.
She’s just about to lift the glass to her lips, the strong stench of alcohol already filling her nostrils, when the door of the inn opens with a loud rumble. It’s enough of a disturbance to make any chatter in the tavern die in an instant – and make Takako look up and see who this intruder is.
In the faint light of the bar, she recognizes the features of a woman, slender hips and dark hair.
And she’s carrying a boar on her shoulders.
It’s anything but elegant how Takako chokes on the sip of her drink, too loud for the silence in the tavern. She knows well how all eyes are on her – but the most important pair of eyes is piercing her from where the woman is standing in the threshold, a stern look on her face. She doesn’t say a word when she walks in, firm steps in Takako’s direction, never leaving her gaze.
She stops just a few inches in front of her, her eyes still piercing Takako. There’s barely enough time to save her glass from being crushed from the weight of the boar as the dead animal slams onto the counter.
“Hey Paladin,” the woman says with a stern voice. From up close, Takako notices how beautiful she is, with her purple eyes and her long dark hair dangling over her shoulder in an artistic braid. She must be one of the beast tamers living in the forest areas around the village. The woman’s clothing tells Takako as much when she takes a closer look.
Damn, she has really no idea how the outfit could be practical, with nothing but a shred of cloth thrown over her impossible pretty cleavage, covering the bare minimum. Torn patches of leather and fur hang from her slender hips and fall over the curve of her strong thighs.
She looks good in it.
Great, even. So much that Shiro can only focus on the lithe body of the woman. It’s hard not to, when the woman is beautiful like that, with her slim and muscular waist,her soft curves, and symbols of stark red colour a stark contrast to her light skin.
The woman is hot. And Shiro is enamoured.
She’s sure the heat on her cheeks comes from the drink the barkeeper has given her, not the revealing beast hunter outfit in front of her.
“Hey you,” the woman says again when Takako doesn’t answer. “Are you the local Paladin or not?”
“Y-yeah, I am.” She’s not proud of the way she stammers out the words. She blames it on the impressive boar in front of her.
“Somebody is killing our boars and I don’t like it. You’re coming with me, I need your help,” the woman demands.
Takako can’t say she’s not charmed by the confident stance of the woman. So she tries to stay cool as she uses her foot to slide the empty chair next to her into the woman’s direction, gesturing for her to sit down. It would have been real smooth, if it wasn’t for Takako nearly knocking over her drink in the process.
“I’m happy to be of service. How about you sit down and tell me what’s going on?”
*
It doesn't take long before the group falls back into the dynamics they had the previous week. Though most of them created new characters with new classes, their interactions feel easy and unforced. Coran gives their characters enough time to introduce themselves at their first meeting before they dive headfirst into the first encounter against a tiny dragon.
Shiro enjoys the pacing of the plot, the casual bickering in the group, the way Coran describes the setting and plays NPCs.
It’s really been a while since she had a Monsters and Mana campaign she liked so much, Shiro thinks as she tries to hold back a laugh as Pidge’s character fails a Nature check, causing her to fail to recognize the big dog accompanying Keith’s Barbarian.
“Look at this fluffy bear. Such a good bear,” Pidge says, her voice oozing with sarcasm as she lets her character pet the bear-dog.
*
As the evening progresses, Shiro finds herself once again drawn to Keith over and over again.
Keith is laid-back and quiet most of the time, often getting overshadowed by Lance’s loud voice or Hunk’s ideas. But Keith is the one to stop Lance from running into traps. She constructively questions the group’s decision and brings in a few good assumptions for their plot-progression. Her hot-head drives them into at least two precarious situations that only Shiro’s high persuasion stat can save, but she’s dedicated. In battle, she tries her best to save everyone from a dangerous situation and she puts her teammates first.
As it seems, Keith and Shiro seem to gravitate to each other over the progression of the plot. Shiro does not want to read too much into it. But when the other three go off to search for hints about a secret dragon hideout in a tavern, Keith’s and Shiro’s characters remain, guarding the door.
“Don’t split the party,” Keith whispers, and Shiro can hear her rolling her eyes over voice chat. Shiro chuckles softly, answering “It’s only a tavern, what could go wrong?”
From the corner of her eyes, she can see Coran twirling his mustache in the webcam before he asks Shiro to make a Perception check. Shiro raises an eyebrow as she rolls her dice – and sighs as she sees the 3. At least Keith seems to have more luck with her roll.
“As you’re distracted by your very deep conversation,” Coran sends them a meaningful gaze over his video. “You don’t notice something approaching from the dark. Too late you notice the swirling sound of knives flying through the air, heading for Takako’s throat. Doesn’t look good, Shiro. The aim is deadly,” he explains, a little too joyful.
And Shiro gulps.
“Let me make an acrobatics check, Coran!” Keith shouts before Shiro can act.
Coran squints his eyes and ponders for a moment before he nods. “Go on.”
At least Keith seems to be lucky with her roll, announcing the 18 with a little too much ambition, her voice unsettled over the speakers.
It seems to be enough to let her character knock Takako to the side. A move which sends both of them rolling gracefully out of the way of knives flying in their direction.
The knives drill into the door, leaving deep gouges in the wood while both of their characters come to a halt on the ground. Keith’s character is leaning over Tatako and their faces inches apart, a healthy glow on their cheeks that even the darkness of the night can’t hide.
“You saved me,” Shiro says, a little breathless.
She hopes nobody sees the red on her face when Keith answers, “Always,” in the softest voice.
The smug grin on Matt’s lips as he peeks over his laptop tells Shiro otherwise.
*
The following week is both the longest and the shortest Shiro has ever witnessed.
By Monday evening, she finds herself staring at the clock, wishing it was Sunday already. She decides to hit the gym to distract her thoughts from a certain beautiful voice in the back of her mind.
She’s twenty minutes into her cardio when her phone chimes, announcing that Matt has added her into a group chat. There are a lot of numbers she doesn’t recognize, but from the names and the huge amount of smileys the others use, Shiro guesses it’s their Monsters and Mana group chat.
When Keith’s name blinks up, welcoming her with lovely words, Shiro tries her best not to let her curiosity win. But her finger slips and suddenly she sees a tiny, pixelated profile picture of a girl with black hair. Half of the picture is blocked by a huge, fluffy dog which looks way too cute for Shiro’s heart.
It’s definitely not Shiro’s fault that she stumbles over her feet while on the treadmill.
*
Shiro has to suffer through six days of staring at Keith’s tiny profile picture. Neither of them are very talkative in the group chat and their conversations often get buried underneath Lance spamming them with random facts about his Ninja or Matt posting links to interesting campaigns they should try in the future.
When Sunday finally rolls around, Keith’s camera works. And Shiro is so distracted by the fall of her hair and her beautiful lips that Coran has to ask her three times to roll for persuasion. It’s only payback when Shiro rolls a Nat 1, leading them into an ambush they barely escape from.
“Well done, Shiro, slaying the orc just before it can slice through Thunderstorm Darkness’ throat. But guess you all forgot about the snake I mentioned thirty minutes ago. You just activated the snake trap, I’m sorry.”
“I’ll help her!” Keith’s voice comes over the speakers.
“You can’t help her. You’re standing too far away, young Barbarian.” Coran raises an eyebrow.
“But Kosmo still has a turn left. He’ll jump over, sinking his teeth into the snake’s neck and ripping it apart.” Keith sounds agitated, her expression stern and her face way too close at the camera. If Shiro wouldn’t know better, she would guess Keith is sitting on the edge of her seat.
“Hm, well then.” There’s a trace of disappointment in Coran’s voice as Shiro watches the snake minion on their screen disappear.
Shiro doesn’t really care. Not when Keith’s kept her character from dying yet again.
“You saved me, Keith,” Shiro whispers, “Again.”
This time, she can see how Keith averts her eyes, a beautiful smile on her lips. And even if Keith’s webcam quality is not the best, Shiro swears there is a blush on Keith’s face.
“Oh please, can you two finally get a room?” Matt sighs. It earns him a death glare from Shiro. And groan from Pidge and Lance.
Before Shiro has any chance to respond, she hears Coran clearing his throat over the headphones.
“Well done, you two. Now I need a Wisdom Saving Throw from both of you.”
There’s a mysterious spark in Coran’s eye that turns into a smug grin as soon as Shiro announces her lousy dice roll. When she hears Keith cursing, she knows they are both very doomed.
“With their last breath, the snake croaks ‘One can’t live should the other perish. Should one flame die, the other must follow.’’ Coran’s voice is dark, mysterious. There’s a stern look on his face as he continues.
“Guess you both are cursed now. If one of you dies, the other will die as well. What a bummer,” he explains with a shrug.
It leaves Shiro devastated.
“I’m sorry, Keith,” she says, resigned. “I don’t want to be a burden to you.”
What Shiro does not expect is Keith beaming at her. “Are you kidding me? Without you, I would be orc-food by now!” she explains.
Even in the dim light of her webcam, the glow in Keith’s eyes is the most beautiful thing Shiro has ever seen.
*
As it turns out, their curse is not that bad.
Because it gives Shiro the perfect opportunity to get closer to the other woman. What starts with a private message from Keith arriving one day, reading “Hey, maybe we should talk strategies now that we’re bound for life,” turns into paragraphs of texts, good morning messages and pictures of Keith’s dog.
It’s a big dog, fluffy and soft, who smiles a lot and loves to chew on Keith’s shoes. Keith has to take him on walks three times a day and sends the cutest voice messages. They usually start with “You know I hate voice messages.” Shiro sends her text after text in return, asking about her life and her favourite Monsters and Mana races and sending her pictures of pretty dice trays.
Keith’s messages always manage to put a smile on her lips. It doesn’t even take two weeks for Shiro to wake up to Keith’s good morning message and fall asleep to a picture of a sleepy dog sprawling over Keith’s bed. Turns out, Keith is a real-life beast master. Shiro tells her as much, earning her a laughing smiley and a picture of Kosmo on his back, asking for belly rubs with his tongue sticking out.
“Fear the dreadful monster!” The caption reads. Shiro snorts.
“Watch out for his special attacks. Cuddling and drooling,” she types in return. Secretly, Shiro hopes she is right to read their playful conversation as flirty banter. Still, she doesn’t want to get her hopes up.
“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Matt groans when Shiro is too busy reading Keith’s latest message instead of listening to his complaints about work.
“We’re friends, Matt,” Shiro responds, to which Matt rolls his eyes. “And I’m not even sure she likes women like that. And! I’m not ready for a relationship yet. I’m pretty un-date-able.”
Shiro huffs, her eyes falling to her right arm. She knows her prosthetic is not the most attractive feature of her body. It has scared off potential dates before.
“Shiro. You’re head over heels for this girl. And have you seen the looks she gives you on the calls?”
Maybe Matt is right. Maybe Shiro is head over heels.
*
For the final session of their campaign, Coran wants to organize a tabletop round.
“So all of you finally meet in person! And think about the setting!”
It takes two hours for Shiro to decide on something to wear. In the end, she throws a jacket over a form fitting top, the long sleeves hiding most parts of her mechanical arm.
It’s silly to be so self-conscious, she thinks, since most of her friends already know about the prosthesis. Ironically, Takako had lost her right arm during their last session, resulting in Keith’s character rushing to her side and killing the beast with a deadly blow. Afterwards, Keith was furious, shouting at Coran over their mics.
“How can you do something like this to Shiro? Just ask before you tear half her character apart!” Keith’s bad temper had been imminent till the end of their session, causing them to roll up early.
As lovely as Keith’s protectiveness was… having Takako lose an arm and confronting the harsh reality of Shiro’s prosthetic are two different things.
*
Keith is even more beautiful in real life.
She’s lean, but definitely not delicate, her hair short and loose around her face, a few strands framing her dark eyes perfectly. And Shiro has a hard time tearing her eyes away from Keith’s lovely lips when Keith pulls her in a hug the second the door opens. It’s warm and a little bit too firm, leaving Shiro breathless in the best way.
And Shiro is happy she can blame it on the hug and not on the way Keith’s skin feels underneath her touches. Or the way she smells like clean deodorant and fabric softener. Or the way Keith doesn’t even flinch at the sight of her prosthetic.
Shiro has barely enough breath to stutter a “H-hi,” before Coran nudges them to the table where the others are already waiting.
It’s hard to focus, Shiro finds out two minutes later, when Keith preses next to her, sitting just close enough so their knees bump into each other with every move. And Shiro enjoys the way Keith has to bend over Shiro each time she wants to move her character figure on the table in front of them, making her fingers brush over Shiro’s arm.
It’s definitely Coran’s amazing storytelling skills that leave her with goosebumps. Definitely not Keith’s mere presence against her.
Right?
*
“So the owlbear pounces at you, lifting a claw and throwing you to the ground. I’m sorry Keith, that’s zero hit points. You’re about to die.” Coran shrugs casually.
“Takako rushes towards her!” Shiro nearly yells. The scene is dramatic, making the blood in her ears boil. “There’s something she must be able to do!”
“She’s as good as dead, Shiro. What do you think will help? A true-love’s-kiss?” Coran raises an eyebrow as Shiro can feel the blush form on her cheeks.
“I-,” she stutters.
Coran doesn’t let her finish.
“Unfortunately, both of you are cursed. So the second you arrive by her side cradling her in her arms... you feel the life draining from you as well. In a weak attempt to save her, you hold her hand.”
“No!” Keith nearly jumps out of her chair, her shoulder bumping against Shiro. Her hands land on the table with a loud noise, sending her dice tray flying to the ground.
“You can’t let us both die!”
“Oh, well, young Paladin. Young Beast Mistress. If you would just let me explain,” Coran says, twirling his mustache.
“As you both lie on the ground, death starting to fill your limbs, both of you are illuminated by a faint glow. Pidge, can you please roll on Perception?”
“Eighteen” Pdige creaks.
“As the rest of the group rushed closer to their dying friends, you notice that the two are lying on a tombstone. It’s no other tombstone than that of Lady Melenor, the goddess of love. She has seen your unconditional love for each other and your will to die for the ones you love. Thus...”
Coran pauses dramatically, a twinkle in his eyes.
“She grants the both of you another chance, bringing you both back to life. Congratulations.”
Shiro is not exactly sure what has just happened.
But Keith’s arms around her neck leave a smile on her lips and a warmth in her heart.
*
When the group says their goodbyes for the evening – not without a teaser for the next big campaign, of course, making Matt roll his eyes when Shiro explains she’ll definitely join the group again – it’s pitch dark outside and close to midnight.
Shiro offers to walk Keith home.
It’s late in the summer, when the nights are starting to get colder again. The stars above them are bright and beautiful and the street lights illuminate Keith’s face just perfectly. It’s the perfect night, Shiro thinks.
Just like in a sappy romance movie, she’s about to offer Keith her jacket, when Keith stops in her tracks, her eyes wandering to the sky.
“It’s so pretty,” she says. Shiro agrees. She doesn’t need to see the night sky to know the view in front of her is the most beautiful.
At this moment, she really wants to be brave enough to ask her on a date.
Before she has a chance to l, Keith speaks again.
“You know, I’ll miss our characters.”
Shiro smiles.
“Yeah, they worked pretty well together, didn’t they?” She says.
Keith’s lips curl upwards as her eyes find Shiro’s. “We saved each other.”
Keith’s words leave a warmth in Shiro’s chest and make her cheeks burn. “Do you think we could.. save each other.. again?”
“I’ll save you as many times as it takes,” Keith speaks, taking two steps towards Shiro. And Shiro hopes she doesn’t imagine the pink around her nose.
Keith stops right in front of her, her head tilted up to look Shiro in the eyes. She’s so close Shiro can feel her breath against her skin.
“As in forever?” Shiro asks as her eyes widen.
Keith’s hand finds hers before she answers. Her fingers are warm, squeezing her hand firmly.
It’s perfect.
“Forever sounds nice.”
***