Page 94 of Level Up
Misfits? I’ll show you misfits. (Attack)
Helena:
I see.
Perhaps you have a point… And it might be easier to find the specimen I’m looking for with an adventuring party.
Fine. I shall join you. For now.
Cartwright
Nice to have you aboard, sweetheart.
Helena
My name isHelena.
And if you ever use such a sobriquet with me again, you will swiftly learn why your people call us Ypsilliansheartless, indeed.
— First time meeting Helena inThe Stones of Ayor 4
twenty-four
butts touching junk
“You know what I’m thinking?”Damien asks as we lie—fully dressed—in my tiny twin bed like a pair of nested spoons. Where we’ve been for the past…I don’t even know how long. Fifteen minutes? Three hours? Who’s to say?
“That my butt is touching your junk?” I say with a snort, and his laugh is a gust of air at the back of my head. This was weird at first, not gonna lie, but we’ve been chatting like usual and now it just seems like a thing we do. Butts touching junk.
“No, I’m trying not to think about that,” he says.
“Okay, then what are you thinking?”
“That we should do another collab in a couple weeks,” he says, hugging his arm tighter around my waist. “To celebrate the tenth anniversary ofStones 3.”
“Oh, wow, I forgot that was coming up soon.”
“I don’t really feel up to a main quest speedrun, but I’ve seen people do it for other things, like faction quests. We could do the Swindlers Syndicate quest line or something.”
I rest my hand over his hesitantly. “Yeah, maybe—” I stop when a thought occurs to me, and I squeeze his hand to get hisattention. “Wait, didn’t you sayStones 3came out around your birthday?”
“Yeah.”
“So is your birthday in a couple weeks?” I ask, turning my head as far as it will go to look at him.
“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal.” He shrugs with one shoulder. “My roommates are taking me out for drinks the Saturday after next, but I know you have your family dinner then?—”
“I could skip it,” I say quickly. “If you want me to come, I mean. Not that you have to—It’s okay if you don’t?—”
“Of course I want you to come.” He kisses my temple. “I just didn’t think it was your kind of thing.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not my kind of thing.”
“Then why are you even...?” I ask, right before I say, “Malcolm,” at the same time that he does. “Of course.”
