The Gamer Chapter 1328 – The Country Gal Decisions (Patreon)

John waited nervously on his bench. There were ways for him to know whether or not Hailey was currently climbing out of the bathroom window. He could have tracked her with an enchantment on his contact lenses, positioned a double by the back of the building, or used his elemental senses to check for movements in the restroom. Much like Observe, he skipped on these possibilities out of respect for her agency. The Gamer had not gathered his harem through stalking and deceit. To start now would have been unbecoming of who he was.

Either Hailey gave him a shot or she did not.

‘Not that I’d have a hard time finding her even if she fled.’ The Gamer ran the thought experiment. Hailey had been careful not to tell him more about herself than her first name. Finding her with the name ‘Hailey’ alone would be difficult, albeit not impossible. It was fairly common. Observe had given him her full name, however, and with that it became exceptionally easy. John could bribe his way into every birth and property register out there. Either with her or her parents’ names, he would be able to find out where she lived. He already had a hunch that she was somewhere around where he put up his vacation home. The neighbours had mentioned ‘the Brooks’. Brook was also a common last name. All of this had been such a streak of lucky coincidences (lucky for him) that he was willing to hedge his bets there.

The minutes passed by. Five minutes did not worry John, he knew how long bathroom breaks could take. Ten minutes did not worry John, he lived with enough women to not ask questions. Fifteen minutes started to worry John, this was not outside the realm of reasonability, he told himself. Twenty minutes worried John, time passed indicated he had been ditched. Twenty five minutes later, John was about to resign to his fate when the door behind him suddenly opened.

Hailey walked out. The oil stains on her face were notably diminished. “Did not realize I still looked like a grease monkey,” she stated and plopped down on the opposite bench again. Unlike the wrinkle, John wished for the hundredth time he could be a seat. To use Possession would have been, sadly, inappropriate. “Sorry for the wait.”

‘I don’t think you spent all that time washing your face,’ the Gamer thought. Hailey sat differently than before. One elbow rested on the back of the bench. Her shoulders were pulled back confidently, emphasizing her previously diminished chest. Showing off the goods was more a side-effect of her being visibly more comfortable. ‘Can’t fault her for taking a break somewhere quiet to sort her thoughts.’ “Glad you decided to stay.”

“I wanna understand what I’m dealin’ with,” she drawled. “Couple of lines though, purddy boy: there ain’t gonna be any flirtin’ until I understand entirely what’s going on. No touchin’, no showin’ up by my house unannounced, we clear on that? That’s for all y’all...” she made a swirling gesture with her hand, “…you and women and all. We understand?”

The Gamer nodded strongly. Instincts would have preferred if she was so thankful she spread her legs immediately. More sophisticated parts of him understood he did not want a woman that acted that way. A woman with her looks that was still a virgin at 20 understood her own value and/or was surrounded by unworthy guys.

‘And I am definitely a worthy guy,’ the Gamer thought, sitting with his own shoulders back. A harem was often seen as a sleazebag action. He had the certainty that anyone interacting with his girls could not come away with anything else than the knowledge that John could commit to a relationship. INTENSELY commit to a relationship. ‘Really, the biggest two questions for women I meet being harem compatible is whether they are low in jealousy and whether they’re bisexual.’

Asking about that directly would be awkward as hell.

John would leave it to Rave to find out that detail. His girlfriend was a master at seducing her fellow females. There was a reason why she maintained her position as first of the harem. All the Gamer needed to do now was stay course, help her out, and let his exceptional qualities do the talking. The flirting could come later.

“I may have set out to find a country gal to-“

“If ya gonna say it like that, I’ll start givin’ ya stupid nicknames, coastal.”

“I’m actually from a ‘flyover state’,” John corrected her.

“Really? Which one?”

Before John could answer, they were approached by the waiter. “Hate to be a bother,” he drawled, “but we’ve some other guests waiting for a table, could you…”

“Of course,” John said with a nod and a twenty-dollar bill down. “Keep the change.”

“Mighty generous of you,” the waiter said with a thankful smile.

John and Hailey left the Domino’s and hit the street. They moved to a quiet corner. “You usually throw money around like that?”

“Oh, I’m a billionaire,” the Gamer casually informed her.

Hailey’s head whipped around. The intensity of her stare made her forget how to walk. The tip of her shoe slammed against the corner of pavement sticking out from the walkway. Before she could actually fall, the Gamer grabbed her by both shoulders. Some of his fingers made it under her sleeve in the process. Her skin was smooth as oiled sheet metal.

“I suppose that didn’t come up in conversation,” he stated drily. “The sums of dollars swimming around in the Abyss are hilariously inflated.”

“Interestin’.” Hailey cleared her throat and straightened back up.

John took his hands off her shoulders. “Guess that’s the last we’ll see of each other.” A confusedly raised eyebrow coaxed the continuation out of him. “Well, I just broke the no touching rule.”

“Ah,” Hailey chuckled softly. It was the first laugh he got out of her. “I’ll forgive you, just this once. I much prefer slight transgressions over my face making close contact with the concrete. Not easy avoiding scars out here.” She lifted her arm, showing a white cut-mark at the underside. “Paw-paw slipped while slaughterin’ the roosters. Just like that, ya have a line.”

“Oh, I have worse,” the Gamer assured her and scratched his right arm. The Lorylim scars were currently hidden. He usually did that in the mundane. The issue was mostly explaining them to his parents. To that end, the tattoo-like lines would have been easily explained as a set of drunken mistakes. The very pronounced human bite mark on his neck was more difficult. “The Abyss can heal and hide a lot of things, but there’s also things that cannot be healed.”

“Right, before we get to any of that.” Hailey took three steps forwards and got in front of him. Right extended in greeting, she said, “Name’s Hailey Brooklyn Brooks.”

“John Benjamin Newman,” the Gamer introduced himself with his full name. He practically never used his middle name. Felt weird to even add it and yet felt appropriate this time around. After answering the handshake, he caught her contemplating something. With a serious look on her face, she let go of his hand.

“You’re out for my protection, right, John?”

“I would say so,” the Gamer agreed. By principle and by personal interest, he was obligated to see her as safe as was liberally possible.

After a deep, resolute breath, she continued, “Then you’ll do both of us the favour of buying me a little somethin’.” Whirling around, she gave him an enthusiastic wave. “Come along, I need to get this done quick – before Paw-Paw gets worried.”

The Gamer hesitatingly caught up with her. Walking next to her robbed her of his ability to frame that ass in his memories. ‘The sacrifices I make for courtesy.’

They ended up, rather swiftly, in front of the first store John would have guessed: a gun store. Hailey did not even stop at the door, she just pushed in and shouted, “Howdy!”

And just like that, John fell a little deeper under her spell. Howdy. What a wonderful greeting. ‘Is her Innate Ability knowing what words to say to make my brain melt? Sure feels like it.’

“If that ain’t the voice of the grease monkey!” a rough voice came from the back. Out stomped a guy in his late sixties that had either been a trucker or a Hell’s Angel in his younger years. His rotund build and tattoos paired with that denim vest certainly invoked the appearance. His white hair was halfway gone, a fact he quickly hid by putting on a cap that was red, white and blue, just like the massive flag he had stretched out behind the register.

It was refreshing seeing people this uncompromisingly patriotic. John could not find it in him to go quite that balls-to-the-wall deep in pledging his loyalty to the star-spangled banner. Simply put, he had not been instilled with the necessary fanaticism from a young age. Personally, he preferred it that way. Respect for this worldview was something he could give regardless.

“The hell happened ‘ere? Where did you pick up a fellah?”

“Met him about two hours ago during a minor incident,” Hailey drawled in response. “Complicated affair with some hogs involved. You know the trouble.” The shopkeeper grumbled something agreeable.

‘Are hogs really such a scourge in this area?’ the Gamer thought. He had read a thing or two about helicopter hunts and their apparent necessity (as odd as that sounded).

“Really makes you think what’s the greater varmint: hogs or Texans.”

John could not help but giggle at the casual comment from the shopkeeper. “Sorry, not from around here,” the Gamer apologized, when he was given a direct stare.

“I can hear that. East or West Coast?”

“Neither,” the Gamer responded with an exasperated sigh. He could not complain about people getting confused. Between his upper middleclass upbringing and being a child of the internet, he had developed that lack of accent that pointed at a cosmopolitan.

“We ain’t got the time for ya to grill the guy. Point is, a girl needs a gun around ‘ere and mine just turned into scrap medl.”

“You got the time to work for a new one?” the shop owner grumbled. “Or is your acquaintance payin’?”

“Actually, he is,” Hailey declared and looked at John.

The Gamer had anticipated this outcome from the moment she had smiled at him. “I hear she fancies a 9 millimetre. Money won’t be an issue.” He stepped forwards and inspected the various guns and modifications covering the walls. “Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of knowledge on guns.”

“We can change that,” the shop owner offered immediately. His words and body language were a very interesting mix. Like he was equally ready to throw John out for being an outsider and offered his hospitality to make him an insider over the next three months.

“We ain’t got the time today. Just gimme something my magazine fits in,” Hailey stated, carefully putting her fully loaded spare on the counter. Two minutes later, she stood in the backroom, aiming the new gun. Three holes near the centre of a target paper later, the gun was sliding over the counter.

“Keep telling ya to join the militia,” the shop owner said.

“That’s a boys’ club and ya know it.”

“It’s a boys’ club ‘cause the girls stay out.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m covered in enough grease without adding drool to the mix.” Hailey put the safety on, removed the second magazine, and placed the gun in the holster. “Plus, when would I have the time?”

The way the shop owner stared at the counter made it seem like he had an answer. It just was not one that was spoken loudly. “Show the fellah the nice sides of town.”

“I ain’t gonna show you any parts of town,” Hailey made clear, as they walked away from the store.

“Did not expect you to,” the Gamer assured her and rolled his shoulders.

“Good. Not the time of day to visit Braum’s.”

“Is that the only limiting factor?” the Gamer asked with a suave smile on his lips.

“The rules, purddy boy,” Hailey reminded him.

“Yes, yes,” John surrendered swiftly. That one had been too easy not to take it. “Alright, what’s the plan from here? Sounds like you have things to do.”

“Need to pick up steel sheets and drive them back to the farm, then cut them, weld them, and nail them to the roof…” Hailey fell silent for a couple of seconds. “Sounds terribly… what’s the word?”

“Mundane, after what happened today?” the Gamer suggested.

“Yeah, that,” Hailey drawled. “Like going from an EF3 to an EF0 in three seconds flat.”

“The Abyss is ultimately not that different from the mundane world. We still eat, we still sleep, we still have to do paperwork, and we still go on vacations. Well, I am making it more that way, around these parts.”

“What a fantastically dull way to be a superman.” Hailey gestured at a car down the road. “That’s my dad’s dusty old clunker.”

A dusty old clunker it was indeed. The small truck looked like the engine could have been from the sixties. John would have been more confident about that statement had the chassis not been a patchwork of various materials. Bit by bit, the original parts had been replaced. “The car of Theseus,” the Gamer mumbled.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s just a common philosophical question inspired by the ship of Theseus. If you keep gradually replacing parts of a thing, is it still the same thing when the last original part has been replaced?”

“That’s exactly the kind of question I don’t care to waste thoughts on. Gut says yes and that’s the last this gal has to say about it.” Hailey opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. “I guess I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll keep truckin’ along from there?”

Awkwardly, the Gamer scratched the back of his head. “Actually, mind giving me a ride?”

“…Ain’t you faster runnin’?”

“It’s complicated and much less comfortable,” the Gamer kept it short. “Look, I’ll help you load in the steel sheets and all that. You can drop me off at my place.” He quickly gave her the address.

Hailey considered it for a bit, which already told John that he had been right to assume she lived somewhere near Braggs herself. “It’s your funeral.”

“Pardon?”

“Y’all big city folk don’t get how territorial the young men can get around these here parts. Jesus tells us to be humble and I’m being preddy humble when I say that I’m purddy.” How someone could pronounce the word ‘pretty’ in two different ways and have both ways make John desperately try not to spring an erection was fascinating. “Don’t matter what I think about that, they’ll be trying to give you a warning, outsider.”

“Sorry, it seems like you got the wrong idea. I wasn’t confused about your intent.” The Gamer gave her a calm stare. “I was wondering what made you think I was the one in danger.”

Hailey took a very long, very slow, very deep inhale. “Didn’t you mention that you… nerfed yourself?” she asked in a breathy tone.

John just smirked.