A Simple Life: Chapter 13 (Patreon)

As I bring my bike into the garage I notice a number of extra tools and equipment now lined the walls of the bays.  The place had been dusted and swept and the old bikini babe calendar had been replaced with a new one showing a proud buck.  Once I figure out how to work it I close the bay door and latch it as I’d been told.  I leave my pack, jacket and helmet with my bike.  Taking a moment to make myself presentable I grab the paper and pencils before heading to Winona’s suite.  The door had been left open for me.

In the day and a half I’d been away the place had transformed from piles of boxes and furniture parts into a cozy home.  To my immediate right was a shoe rack and coat hanger.  Beyond that the tiny kitchen was not stocked with at least a basic level of supplies, most of which I helped to choose earlier in the day.  At the back wall past the kitchen was the tall bookshelf I’d helped carry in now packed bottom to top with game books, miniature figurines, a glass vase full of dice of every imaginable color, and other such things related to her hobby.  Goodness, she was really into this stuff!  Along the back wall was the window and beside that her computer desk.  Winona’s bed was pushed right into the southwest corner with her nightstand and lamp near the open side.  Next along that wall was her Johnny Cash poster, then her closet with her dresser inside, and finally the washroom off to my left.  Her little dining table sat in the open near the kitchen with only one matching chair, though she had rolled her computer chair over to sit across from it.  The center of the room stretching to the space to my immediate had a large rectangular rug but was otherwise left strangely empty.

“I’ll be getting a love seat and TV for there.”  Washing her hands at the kitchen sink Winona had noticed me looking at the vacant spot.  “Dad and I are taking a trip to Portland tomorrow.”

“Nice.”  I close the door behind my and slip out of my shoes, careful to place them in the shoe rack of course.  “The place looks great.”

“Yeah.”  She says, drying her hands.  “A little bare bones but it’s coming along.  You want some tea?  I’ve got the kettle on.”

“Yes please!”

“I thought you might.”  Taking an apron from off of a wall hanger she tosses it to me.  I fumble the catch and quickly scoop it up off the ground and put it on.  She grins as she watches me tie it around my slender waist.  “I do love a man in an apron.”

“Pfff.”  I titter, thinking it a joke.

“I’m serious.”  She says matter of factly.  “Very sexy.”

“Oh!”

Kneeling down she starts to take food from out of her half-sized fridge and put it on the counter.  I approach and wash my hands.  She stands up beside me, shoulder to shoulder she towered over me.  Her counter space was limited, especially with the kettle and hotplate sharing real estate with where we’d be chopping and preparing, but she sets things out as best she could.

“There’s a bowl up there.  Knives in that drawer.”  She pulls out a cutting board.  “There ya go.”

“I’m on it boss.”

“Heh.”

I get the bowl and a knife and ready the veggies I needed.

“So?”  She peers over at me from the corner of her eye.  “Get a chance to talk to Kayla?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.  I did.”

“And?”

“Um…”  I hesitate, unsure of what to say.  I didn’t want to lie but neither did I want to tell her that our mutual friend said some not very nice things about her.  I did not like stirring drama up between people I cared about and I liked hurting people’s feelings even less.

After an awkward silence she sighs. “It’s cool Avery.”

“Sh-She didn’t tell me anything.”  I choose a little white fib to smooth it all out.  “She said you were great to have as a friend and fun to be around but I told her not to tell me anything else.”

She looks at me.  “You did?”

“I-I don’t think friends should talk about each other behind their backs.”  I say truthfully, then add in very soft tone.  “Besides.  I-I’d like to get to know you…myself a-and make my own mind up.”

She looks down at me for a long moment.  Feeling nervous under her gaze I busy myself with washing and chopping the lettuce.  “That’s…that’s really cool Avery.”  She says at last.  As I continue to put the salad together she takes a moment to go to the computer and get some background music playing.

“I don’t have internet yet.”  She says as a sappy country ballad begins to play.  “We’ll have to make due with what I’ve got saved.”

“That’s okay.  This is nice.”

She returns to my side.  Unwrapping the chops she lays them out on a plate.  “And how is Kayla?”

“She’s great.  Living in the Tits now.  She’s single again.”

She laughs.  “Offered you a booty call?”

“The invite was there.”  I giggle.

“Good old Kayla.”  Reaching past me she grabs a few seasonings.  “She always had a soft spot for you.”

“She was talking about doing a movie night party tomorrow.”  I say.  “If you’re interested.”

The salt shaker in her hand pauses…then continues to shake.  “Yeah!  I’d love to go to a party with you Sprout.”

“W-W-With me!?”  I stammer.  My intention had only been to inform Winona about the gathering, not ask her to accompany me to it.  I’d barely been here fifteen minutes and I’d just asked Winona out, by accident!  And she said yes!

“Dad and I ought to be back in plenty of time.”  She says.  “What’s the movie?”

“I-I-I d-d-don’t kn-kn…”

“Hey.”  She places a hand on my back and leans down to look at my face.  “What’s up?”

I snort, angry at myself for stuttering so badly, and shake my head.  “N-N-Nothing.”

“Okay.”  She looks me in the eyes…and smiles.  Soooo beautiful!  Very softly she rubs my back.  “Breathe Avery.  Just breathe.”

I gulp in a deep shuddering breath and slowly let it again.  “I’m sorry.”

“You really don’t have to be.  It’s cool.”  Just then the kettle comes to a full boil and clicks off.  Taking a mug from the cupboard she plonks a tea bag into it and pours it near full.  She places it on the table to steep then returns to my side and continues seasoning the meat with a smoky smelling mesquite rub.  “Are you worried that it will be awkward for you?  Being there with me?”

“N-No.”  I whisper.

“It will be for me.” She admits.  “That girl broke my damn heart.  I thought we had something.”

“Oh!  W-We don’t have to…g-go there.”

“Nah, it’s cool.”  She says.  “I’m over it.  I didn’t understand Kayla like I do now.  I’ve grown a lot since the last time I was here.  Or I’ve tried at least.”

“That’s…good.”

“Yeah.”

I am struck with how far her effortless warmth, her easy kindness, and her vulnerable honesty had gone in soothing my jangled nerves.  She was everything I hoped she’d be and so much more.  Here I was hanging out with the most gorgeous girl on the island.  Sharing a meal with her.  And we already had a first date planned!  By gosh I was one lucky fella.  In a comfortable lull we continue our preparation for a few minutes as the music softly plays while outside the whoosh and rattle of the approaching storm was just picking up.

With growing confidence I say.  “Hey, what song is this?”

“Mmm?”  She tilts her head.  “Feels So Right.”

“It’s nice.  Great harmony.”

“Yeah.  Alabama’s awesome.”

“Are they your favorite?”

She smirks and with her head motions back to the opposite wall.  “What do you think?”

Peeking back over my shoulder I see Johnny giving me the finger.  “Oh.  Ha!  I should have guessed.”  She was just setting the chops into the pan to sizzle when I announce with a flourish of my knife.  “Salad’s finished.”

“Already?”  She says and nudges her hip into mine.  “Damn you’re fast Sprout.”

“At making salads at least.”

“You’re all done and here I’m just getting cookin.  Typical man.”

“Pfff.”  I snicker.  “Is there anything else I can do?”

“I got this.”  She nods to the bookshelf.  “Why don’t you grab the Character Manual.  Take a look.  Try to get some ideas of what you want to play.”

I rinse and dry my hands.  After adding milk and honey to my tea and tossing the bag I go the bookshelf and peruse the spines.  “So many books!  All of these are for Fables of Fantasy?”

“Most of them.  I’ve got almost every book from all three editions of FoF there.”

“Wow.”  Focusing on the shelf with the black and blue color palette that I recognized from my half a game I scan across until I find the well worn copy of the Character Manual.  I slide it out from the rest.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Just take a browse.  See what inspires you.”  She says.  “Last time you got a premade and were thrown in right at a big moment.  Actually building a character, getting a feel for them, and starting from scratch will teach you so much more about the game.”

Sitting at the table I place the book in front of me and admire the artwork of a band of heroes sneaking toward a monster’s lair full of glittering treasure.  I was so nervous and confused on my first try that it had been a miserable experience but Winona’s enthusiasm and this evocative art did stir the spirit of fun inside of me.  I open the cover and begin to slowly leaf through one page at a time.

“So I can choose anything in this book?”

“You bet.”  She says as she shuffles the pan back and forth over the hotplate.  The mouthwatering aroma of sizzling smoky pork mingles with the spice of the chai.  Safe inside this cozy room while outside the wind howled I sip my hot tea and scan the words and pictures.  “If you’ve got ideas not in there I’m sure there are options from the other supplements that’ll work.  Or we can just improvise.”

“Improvise?”

“I am the Game Master after all.  My world, my rules.”

“Your world, your rules.”  I repeat.  “So I can just…do anything?”

“Within reason, sure!  It’s a fantasy game.  You ought to be able to play whatever your imagination can come up with.”

“Fantasy?”  I whisper as the image of a fair princess in a flowing blue gown with a delicate silver tiara upon her brow catches my eye.

“Yeah.”  She says.  “Make a fantasy YOU to live in my fantasy world.”

I run my fingers lightly across the pretty art.  “A fantasy…me?”

Chapter 14