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“I can’t believe we’re going to be holed up at this gods forsaken outpost in the middle of nowhere for three days. There’s nothing fun to do here! No dragons to slay, no treasures to steal—“ Pike complained.
“You know Block and the others will be mad if we don’t wait for them to get back from their expedition to the Caves of Chaos. Besides, I have a solution to your problem of boredom,” Meklavar began. She opened her pack, drawing forth a leather bound book, a few small sheets of parchment, an unusual map, a set of tiny colored ink pots, quills, and a set of the strangest looking multi-sided dice Pike had ever seen.
“Are we going to gamble for school supplies?” He asked, staring at the strange dice.
Meklavar rolled her eyes. “Those aren’t school supplies and the dice aren’t for gambling. This is a game.”
“A game?” asked Pike, intrigued. “What kind of game?” He moved closer to her. “I like games,” he said in almost a seductive purr. He double clicked his tongue and winked at her.
Meklavar seemed to be oblivious to his attempt at flirtation. “It’s a role-playing game,”
“Kinky. I didn’t know you were that kind of dwarf,” he said with a teasing grin.
Meklavar finally caught on to what Pike was implying, blushed adorably, and then roughly shoved him out of her personal space. “It’s not that kind of game, you idiot! It’s an imaginative tabletop game you can enjoy with family and friends for hours. You get to create an alter ego to role play in an exciting adventure in outer space—“
“Outer space?” Pike asked, pointing at the ceiling. “Like up in the sky among the stars?”
“Now you’re catching on,” Meklavar said, opening the book. She began explaining the rules of the game and the particular adventure they were going to play when the others returned, which involved controlling five metal flying cats which magically combined to create an even larger giant—a sort of armored Paladin with a shield and fiery sword. The way Meklavar explained the Monsters and Mechas game made it all sound very exciting.
“So we are going to create character sheets for the pilots of the five lions while we wait,” said Meklavar. “We have to give them names, list their strengths and weaknesses—“ She showed him the highly detailed sheet she had already made for her character, Katie “Pidge” Holt. The stats were accompanied by a colored drawing of a slim, petite human girl in green who wore round spectacles.
“She’s pretty cute,” observed Pike.
“Cute?” said Meklavar. “She’s a brilliant young scientist, warrior, and space explorer—“
“—who looks just like you, so is therefore cute,” Pike insisted while putting the finishing touches in his character illustration. “Hmm…” He stared at the stats next to the drawing of the tall human boy he had colored. “I think I’ll call my guy Lance. A lance is something like a pike, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” said the dwarf maiden cheerfully. “That’s actually a really good name for him.”
“I want to fly the red metal cat that forms the right arm and wields the flaming sword. That one is the best!”
Meklavar folded her arms and smirked at him. “Well, my character forms the left arm and holds the shield. You know, the red one and the green one have to work together as a team when our giant Paladin mecha fights all those evil space monsters.”
They chatted happily as worked for a few more hours on character sheets for the other three pilots, which they eventually named Keith, Hunk, and Allura. Pike leaned over her shoulder and admired Meklavar’s drawing of Allura the space princess.
“She’s really beautiful! Do you think Lance will end up falling in love with her?” Pike asked, studying Meklavar’s reaction.
“The Princess is going to marry the team leader,” Meklavar said, not meeting Pike’s gaze. Her face felt hot. “It’s in the lore book. We shouldn’t change the lore if we want the whole team to have a happy ending.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Pike was silent for a long moment, studying Meklavar’s profile as she filled in details of a schematic of the flying castle in which the pilots and their princess lived. “So…do you think a smart girl like Pidge could fall for a laid-back guy like Lance?”
She froze, not daring to move for a long moment as she pondered the question that had taken her so off guard. Finally she said, “I think a better question would address whether or not a flirty guy like Lance would make a long-term commitment to a nerdy girl like Pidge,” Her breathing quickened but she avoided his gaze until she felt his larger hand covering her smaller one. She looked up at him in surprise.
Pike gazed into her eyes with an earnest sincerity that filled Meklavar’s heart with hope.
“I think we should play this game and find out,” he said softly as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.