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“Alright, fuckers, get ready to taste my wrath!” Penelope yelled as she rolled the dice in her hand. “Shit!”
“Nat one?” Spencer asked, looking up over the top edge of his computer screen.
“Nat one,” Emily confirmed from Penelope’s side, having watched the roll herself. She placed a comforting hand on the blonde’s shoulder as play resumed, and Spencer described the consequences of Penelope’s failed roll.
Dungeons and Dragons with Reid and Garcia had started out as simply something to do on random evenings off, but had quickly become the trio’s favorite method to unwind. Reid was a natural DM, and the adventures he sent Emily and Penelope’s characters on were wonderful– full of dimension, and life. Early on, a rule of ‘no gratuitous violence’ had been established (they got too much of that at work), and so rather than spend his time inventing the next big monster for the girls to defeat, Spencer spent most of his time world building, creating fantastical realms for them to travel through, helping the defenseless and downtrodden. Penelope enjoyed having a few hours where she was forced to not look at her screens. Spencer liked that DMing flexed different parts of his brain than work. And Emily, well, Emily liked the escape. Relished the opportunity to not be herself for a little while.
It wasn’t like being Emily Prentiss was all that bad. She had plenty to be grateful for; a great job, amazing friends, a roof over head. But lately, Emily had been feeling a little… adrift. She supposed it started after Matthew died, and she saved John, and she had to confront the kid she used to be. She didn’t really know how to reconcile that girl with the woman she had become, not to mention the women she had been in between then and now. And who was next? Would she even be the same person five years from now? Ten? When she was playing DnD, exploring worlds with her friends, she didn’t have to think about that. She could be someone else for a while, someone good and pure, with firmly held morals that she did not need to compromise on, and just simply be.
“Victory is mine, victory is mine, I drink from the keg of glory, victory is mine!” Emily shouted some time later, having found the magical amulet they had spent the last several sessions looking for.
“Em, you can’t win DnD, that’s not how it works,” Penelope said.
Meanwhile, Spencer was distracted by something else, “Are you quoting The West Wing?”
“Absolutely I am,” Emily laughed.
“You, Emily Prentiss,” Penelope raised a finger at her accusingly, “are a nerd.”
“Pen, I’m gonna need you to take a look around,” Emily said back, eyebrow raised.
“Touche,” the blonde said, dropping her hand.
“That’s all I’ve got for this session,” Spencer said as his laugh died down. “We’ll pick back up here next time.”
He slowly packed away his things as they chatted about nothing. Emily helped Penelope clear away the dishes left from their snacks, and they both said goodbye to Spencer before settling down on Penelope’s couch for a movie. Eventually, JJ would be over for Girls’ Night, and the unwinding would continue in different ways. Even though the game was over for the day, the feeling of being outside herself still hung around Emily’s shoulders, and she let it relax her, sinking deeper into the couch cushions as the movie lulled her to sleep. She was safe here.