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The sun was setting, letting off its last rays before dipping below the horizon. Somsnosa walked along the road, the faint sound of sea water hitting the yellow sand mixing with her thoughts. Why was Wayne so vague with what he sent in that card? He was moving back home, but why just send a card that says only four words? She shook her head. Even if it was an intervention or some kind of goodbye party, her oldest friend wasn’t the type to make a huge deal of changes in his life. Never mind that, she was so close to the house.
Pongorma knocked on the door in slight annoyance. He dragged himself out of some place (he couldn’t remember where) out to this house. And for what?
“You can’t be mad,” he reminded himself, “these are your friends after all. Just because you’re frustrated with nothing to do shouldn’t make you mad.”
The door swiftly opened, making Pongorma jump. Instead of being greeted with Wayne’s signature greeting of an unenthusiastic hello and exhausted face, he was confronted with Somsnosa. She leaned against the door frame,
“You’re a little late Gorma,” she said, tapping a boot against the grey floor, “Don’t worry, the ‘Muln is late too. Heard they went on another dig with some colleagues of theirs.”
“Where’s Wayne?” Pongorma asked, stepping a bit closer.
“Boxing up more stuff in his house. He just let me in and scurried off.” She replied, shrugging with indifference. The duo stepped into the house. Only a TV, which only emitted static, and an old pastel blue couch remained. All the walls were bare, the only real remains of what used to cover them being holes and nails in the walls where posters and pictures hung. The closet door hung ajar, and a faint rustling noise was heard. Pongorma sat down on the couch with a sigh, which squeaked from the slightest weight.
“Is the ranch coming along well? I haven’t seen one of those in years.” He questioned, patting his knee.
“Decent I guess. I just got some old land near where Wayne’s moving to. Haven’t told him yet.” Somsnosa answered, sitting down on the floor, putting her knees up to her chest.
The rustling noise stopped. Wayne’s head popped out of the doorway, “You’re moving near New Muldul?!”
Somsnosa looked slightly shocked by the sudden question, “Yeah, I was gonna tell, you but-“
“Oh you should meet my twin sister. You two would get along great. She’s also kinda oddly calm like you, no offense” He said, finally emerging out of the closet and rubbing dust off his jacket.
The front door burst open. Dedusmuln ran in, panting. Their sweater was covered in dirt and debris, and their pants were scuffed and caked with mud. They held a small, dirty box in their hands.
“Oh golly I’m so late!” they exclaimed, dusting their horns of any grime left over, “we got uh…carried away at the site. I didn’t have enough time to change!”
The three stared together at Dedusmuln as they desperately tried to clean themselves.
“It’s really fine Dedus, I can just get my extra pants from my suitcase…if you want of course.” Wayne said, already walking inside the closet again. Somsnosa started to get up.
“No no, it’s fine, really!” Dedusmuln exclaimed.
“Here, just take my poncho.” Somsnosa insisted, taking off her bright red poncho and tossing it to them. They held it for a second.
“….I can have it? Is that fine?” Dedusmuln asked, cocking their head.
Somsnosa nodded. Wayne emerged from the closet again with a pair of old, tattered khakis.
“Just take these, I won’t mind.” He said, placing them into their hands, “Just change in the bathroom and do not touch my toothbrush.”
Dedusmuln nodded, set down the box on the floor, and walked off to the bathroom.
After much small talk and Dedusmuln’s return with their mismatched outfit, the group lay in the room, bored. All was silent and still except for the sun becoming a mere glisten in the horizon, the stars already peeking out almost with excitement.
“You all want to do something? I’m awfully bored.” Dedusmuln commented, lying back on the couch.
“Get your goddamn legs off of me.” Pongorma snapped. Wayne snickered slightly. Somsnosa just played with her hair absentmindedly.
“You know, I did bring an old artifact from long ago.” Dedusmuln commented, pulling back their feet off Pomgorma’s lap.
“…you mean when old man Gorma was young?” Wayne said. All was silent until everyone but Pongorma burst out laughing. Even with his scarlet helmet on, they could all tell he was offended. After their laughing fit, the three settled down and continued their conversation.
“So how does this game work?” Wayne asked, leaning over.
“Well, it’s called Dungeons and Dragons. The ancient civilization before the Sages were obsessed with it! The instructions are simple and easy to understand if you read them.” They said, reaching over and opening the box.
“You see, all you need to do is make a character, a setting, and some monsters to fight. And to attack, all you need to do is roll a dice.” Dedusmuln explained, opening the box carefully.
Inside the box was nothing.
“…Golly I should’ve looked before bringing this here…” they muttered.
“I know what we could do,” Pomgorma said thoughtfully, “Talk about our plans for the future. By the way… I got an apartment in New Muldul. I don’t have to live in that hole anymore.”
Dedusmuln added, “I also got a request to go investigate a site there. Apparently there’s a fully preserved cabinet potentially there!”
“So, we’re all living in the same area suddenly?” Wayne questioned, “Oh god, my family is gonna lose it. Oh and by the way Dedus, I think there is a dice in the box that you didn’t notice.”
They reopened the box, “Maybe we should roll it to see if we get good luck?” They asked.
The four watched as the dice landed on four.
“So…bad roll?” Somsnosa questioned.
“Yep.” Wayne answered.