Page 73 of Level Up
“You still have the final battle to do, right?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t even finished Treagan’s companion quest line,” I say before loudly slurping up some cold brew. Unintentionally loud, but I brush past it. “I want to complete all of them before I decide who to romance.”
“Wow. Thorough.”
“What? You don’t do that?”
“I fast-tracked Cartwright’s quest line,” he says with a shrug. “We’ve been engaged for weeks now. I haven’t even started Helena’s quest line yet.”
“Okay, well, hers is boring, but still.” I laugh again. “I didn’t realize you were a Carty.”
He looks embarrassed by that. “There’s a reason he’s popular among certain demographics, okay?”
“Oh my god.” I suppress a gleeful cackle. “You think he’s hot!”
He’s definitely embarrassed now. “Everyone does.”
“Not me,” I say with an unintentionally smug tone. “Then again, I don’t think anyone is hot.” I refrain from adding,except you.
He raises an eyebrow skeptically, glancing at my t-shirt. “Not even Hadley? Your husband?”
“Nope.” I hold up one hand, like Marge Simpson holding a potato. “I just think he’s neat.”
I do understand that part of Hadley’s popularity is that many people think he’s attractive; I’m pretty sure if Stone’s Throw Studios got a TV show made of the game, Henry Cavill would be cast to play him, and therefore even my momwould watch it. But I just think he’s cool and funny and it’s nice that he’s not the worst in combat situations.
Damien laughs a little, shaking his head as he lifts his coffee cup to his lips, like he’s hiding behind it. When he sets it back down, he clears his throat awkwardly. “He, uh, may have been one of the reasons that I first realized I was, um… Yeah.”
“That’s adorable.”
“Shut up.”
“How old were you when Three came out?” I ask curiously.
“I think it came out around my eighteenth birthday? I got it as a gift, anyway,” he says. “I’d played the other games in the series before that, though.”
“Ah. I was sixteen. Three was my first,” I tell him. “I can’t even play One, it’s so crusty.”
He snorts. “It’s a bit of a different experience, yeah.”
“Though I know people complain about the combat in Three being too spongy, at least at lower levels, and One didn’t have that problem. So maybe I should give it a chance.”
“I’d definitely recommend it,” he says, and I appreciate the fact that he’s not telling me it’ll be too hard for me, as so many fans of the first game seem to think. They act like anyone who likes Three is a wimp and wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“Well,” I add, stirring the remains of my beverage with the flimsy paper straw, “maybe I’ll try to finish up with Four in the next week or so and then we can consider doing that part two speedrun?” I know I shouldn’t be so keen on doing another SOA stream, given that it is so off-brand for my channel, but it was actually really fun.
It takes him a second to follow along, but then he nods. “Yeah, that sounds good.” He downs the rest of his coffee in one big gulp, and I start to panic.
This is ending. This is going to be over soon. I’m not ready.
“We could go watch the second half of a run now, if you want,” I blurt out. “Up until the final battle, anyway.”
If he notices my very obvious and limp ruse to get him back to my apartment, he doesn’t mention it. “Yeah, okay,” he says casually. “I’m curious if there’s a faster way to get to Uthport that doesn’t involve going all the way through the Gleam Woods.”
“Right. Of course.”
I think this means we’re actually going to watch a speedrun.
I can benormal about this.
