Ethan woke early the next morning. He hadn’t slept particularly well, dreams of unseen daggers stabbing and slashing into him and his friends had soured his sleep. The conversation the night before had scared him more than a little. He’d always thought he could prepare himself for anything, but what his friends had told him wasn’t anything he could plan for. An unknown organization could be hunting them down and there was nothing they could do.

Fuck it. Worse that happens is we die painfully and respawn. He thought to himself as he got dressed. Nothing I can do about that right now. May as well get some food, then at least I can die on a full stomach.

The smell of cooked bacon greeted him as he descended the stairs. Leah was in the kitchen, trying to wash dishes as quietly as possible to not wake their newest member who was still sleeping on the couch. All the rooms were currently claimed, and even though Daniel was still missing, Ethan didn’t want to let someone sleep in his room without permission. We should probably see if we can do any expanding to get her her own room, if she even wants to live here.

He could see that Alera had stacked her armor nearly, katars on top for easy retrieval, as he passed her on the way to the kitchen.

Alera snored loudly as he passed by her. She was sleeping with one arm bent over her face, her unbound blonde hair looked tangled and matted, probably from tossing and turning on the couch. A line of drool shined on her cheek, running from chapped lips into a small semi-dry pool on the cushion. She’d apparently needed to stretch out more than the couch could provide, as her right leg hung across the back of the couch. A thin blanket was draped over her.

“Thanks.” Ethan said quietly, taking the steaming cup of coffee Leah greeted him in the kitchen with. “Looks like she made herself comfortable.” He leaned against the counter and gestured at the sleeping Rogue with his mug.

“Yeah,” Leah agreed with him, leaning next to him to watch the sleeping player. “I offered to let her sleep in my bed, it’s big enough, but she said the couch was fine. You just know she’s going to come to me or Miguel for a heal for the crick in her neck when she wakes up.” Leah took a sip of her own coffee. “How’d you sleep?”

“Bad dreams.” Ethan stared out into the living area, not wanting to remember the terrors from the night before. His eyes briefly falling on a still sleeping Alera. “You?”

“Same.” She nodded her head slightly. “Worried about Tae-Won. It’s been too long, he should have been back by now.”

“You tried messaging him?”

“Everyday.” Leah answered quietly.

“Same message about him being communication locked?”

“That‘s the thing, it’s not.” Leah shook her head and looked at him. “I’m not getting any kind of response. It’s like he’s in a city, but ignoring the message. I’m worried."

“That’s weird.” Ethan took another drink of his coffee. “I have to ask, did you guys get in a fight before he left?”

Leah frowned and stared at her coffee mug.

“He said something dumb and I got upset,” she said “He said that last time I came back from my Druid calss quest, I was too flightly and distracted. He didn’t like it. And I snapped at him, told him that if he didn’t like it that much then I’d take the leap and find a class that he liked better.”

“I mean, that doesn’t sound too bad.” Ethan furrowed his brow and shrugged. “Not any reason he would be ignoring you.”

“I was maybe paraphrasing,” Leah bowed her head, “But I thought we‘d made up before he left. We both apologized. He said that what really had him so upset was that he hated being so far away from me for so long.”

“So you’re thinking that something bad may have happened?” Ethan asked, relieved that it wasn’t marital drama keeping Tae-Won away. He really liked Leah’s husband. Tae-Won had always been reliable and easy to get along with. They didn’t have the history that Ethan and David or Miguel had, but he was always there for anything anyone in the entire guild needed.

“I’m starting to.” Leah sighed. “And with what we learned last night, I’m leaning harder towards that idea.”

“What do you want to do?” He sat his empty mug on the counter and turned to look at Leah.

“I don’t know yet,” she bit her lip in frustration, “I kind of want to go to Anvasa and see if we can find him.”

“That may not be a bad idea.” Ethan reached for the coffee pot to refill his mug. “Bring it up when everyone’s up, but I don’t see why anyone would have a problem with it.”

“Thank you Ethan.” Leah half heartedly smiled at him as he grabbed some of the bacon she'd cooked earlier along with two slices of bread.

Alera snored again right as Ethan took a bite of the bacon sandwich he’d made. I wish we had some mayonnaise and tomatoes. He thought to himself as he chewed.

“You like her, don’t you?” Leah said unexpectedly as she sat down beside him at the counter.

Ethan tried to cough quietly to clear his throat, his surprise at her sudden question choking him.

“Ahem, What?” He stuttered out, his voice hoarse “why do you say that?”

“Tareth, I’ve known you a long time, and I’m not blind.” Leah called him the name he’d used on the first character he’d been playing when they met so many years ago, subtly enforcing the length of their relationship. “I was there for Ashely and Kayla, from start to end. And you’re already acting just like you did both of those times: showing off as the ‘big, bad raid leader’ and being a little overprotective.”

“No I’m not!” He said defensively, but the flush of his cheeks betrayed his embarrassment. “That’s just how I lead groups, especially when we’ve got someone new with us!”

“Sure,” she over exaggerated her nod, “just like you haven’t been watching her sleep.”

“That’s not fai-“ Ethan’s statement was interrupted by the sound of an elephant charging down the stairs.

“Please tell me there’s coffee?!” Miguel begged as soon as his feet hit the floor.

“Whozzat? What?” Alera bolted upright, confused at being awoken so suddenly and violently. She held one of her katars, ready to strike, but her eyes were only half open.

“Shit, sorry, didn’t know you were still sleeping.” Miguel apologized as he made a wide arc around the couch where Alera was still brandishing the dagger.

“Hmmm.” She grunted in response as her head hit her pillow.

“Here buddy,” Ethan passed Miguel two cups of coffee when he approached them. “Better take sleeping beauty one as an apology.”

“Thanks,” Miguel half smiled in embarrassment. “My bad.”

“So what’s the plan for the day?” He asked when he returned. Alera had fallen back to sleep, still gripping the handle of her katar, so he’d sat the cup on the table next to her. “Back to the Tower? More phat lewts?” He rubbed his hands together greedily.

“Don’t know, maybe not.” Ethan jerked his head across the room to David who had just descended the stairs and was now crossing the room. “Maybe a road trip.”

“Ooooh.” Miguel squealed, lifting his cup to his lips to drink his first sip of coffee “Where you wanting to..Hey!”

“You woke me up, you owe me coffee.” David said groggily, taking a sip of his stolen beverage.

“Morning man.” Ethan said to David, before turning around to refill another mug for Miguel. “Are you up for a road trip?”

“Depends. Where we headed?” He asked after yawning.

“Anvasa.” Leah answered. “I’m worried about Tae-Won.”

“I figured.”

“Thoughts?” Ethan asked his friend.

“Probably not a bad idea.” David said grimly. “It’ll clear up real fast if the House is after us.”

“Yeah, Alera will be able to ask about that too.” Ethan agreed.

“No, I mean, if we aren’t dead by dinner time then we’re safe.”

“You are just a ray of sunshine in the mornings,” Miguel said, taking a drink from his new cup, “has anyone ever told you that?”

“It’s what happens when someone tramples down the stairs and wakes me up.” David snapped back at him.

“So we’re just waiting for Sam and Alera to wake up, and then we can go?” Leah asked anxiously.

“I’m up.” Alera shouted from the couch. “Can’t sleep with people yelling and people falling down the stairs.”

“Awesome. We’re talking about going to Anvasa.” Ethan leaned around David to get a better view of the couch. “There’s coffee on the table next to you.”

“Yerp, on my way.” Alera called back, sitting upright. Ethan saw her fumble around between the cushions and pull her hair back in a ponytail.

“Cheers.” Alera said, holding the cup Miguel had left for her and sighing after the first sip. “I love you.”

“Ummm… thanks…?” He said awkwardly, his stomach twisting in knots at her statement. His interrupted conversation with Leah at the forefront of his mind.

“Definitely talking to the coffee there, Ethan.” She said with a teasing smile. “But you’re cute.”

Ethan’s ears immediately burned and he felt his cheeks turn red. Luckily, before he could say anything else, Leah spoke up.

“Anvasa.” She said directly, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand. “I’m worried about Tae-Won, he went there weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him.”

“For sure.” Alera nodded. “I can ask around at the House and see if he’s still in training.”

“So I’m down to go, but what else are we going to do there?” Miguel asked, looking around the crowded kitchen. “Anvasa is what, five days ride? So we can ask for some information that’ll take an hour?”

“Well there’s a dungeon there, right under the giant pyramid in the middle of the city.” Alera said with a devilish smile. “The Underworld.”

“Even though that sounds ominous as hell,” Miguel shrugged, “I’m down. When’re we leaving?”

“May as well go soon.” Ethan said, standing up. “I’ll wake Sam up. Let’s get cleaned up and run any last minute errands, get some food for the trip. Alera, follow me real quick.”

David and Miguel immediately started making their own breakfasts, coffee wasn’t going to be enough to keep them going during a day of riding. Leah returned to her and Tae-Won’s room to begin preparing for the trip.

“S’going on, boss?” Alera said following Ethan through the living room to the large chest that served as the guild bank. Any member of his guild could deposit or withdraw anything that was in it. All of the gold they made from scouting missions was deposited, also for their usage.

Wordlessly, Ethan opened the chest and made several complicated gestures with his right hand. Shit, we’re getting low on funds. We’ve got to get back into the Tower as soon as we figure out what’s going on with Tae-Won, he thought to himself before closing the lid once again.

“This is for you.” Ethan held out his hand, a small, heavy looking brown sack dangled from his first.

Alera gingerly took the sack of gold from him. She didn’t need to open it to see how much it was, a notification would have flashed into her vision alerting her that he just handed her 1000g gold.

“Whoa!” She exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock. “Ethan this is way too much!”

“No it’s not,” he said, shaking his head, “you need a horse and we don’t have time to run you through the way we got ours.”

On the way back from the Tower Alera had ridden with Leah on her horse. They’d managed the ride without complaining, but everyone could tell it wasn’t the most comfortable ride for either of the women. There was no way they could do that for days, Alera needed a mount of her own.

“I’ll pay it back,” Alera said, the satchel vanishing as it entered her inventory. “It might take a little time, but I’ll pay it back.”

“Oh I know,” he said with a smirk, “I know where you sleep if you don’t. Speaking of which, sorry the couch is the only available spot right now. Couple more scouting runs and we can try to upgrade the hall for another room.”

“Ah, it’s not so bad.” She turned to look at her makeshift bed before turning back to him. “Just means I cannae sleep naked anymore.” She said with a wink before leaving for the upstairs.

Ethan stood confused for several seconds. His guilds’ teasing had gotten to him. That was flirting, right? I mean, who just announces they sleep naked unless they’re wanting you to KNOW they sleep naked? Shit.

“Hey, you good?” Miguel asked him from the kitchen. “Thought you were going to get ready?”

“Huh? Yeah.” Ethan said, shaking his head, hoping it would clear his confusion a little.

“Okay, you’re kind of just standing there with your mouth open is all.” Miguel responded, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“Yeah, just lost in thought.” Ethan said, heading towards the stairs Alera had just ascended. “I’ll wake Sam and then get ready.”

An hour later he came back down to the living area. Sam was finishing up his breakfast at the table while Miguel and David lounged on the couches. Neither Leah nor Alera were in the room.

“Leah still getting ready?” He asked, stopping by one of the couches.

“Yeah, she popped her head out a few minutes ago and said she was almost done.” David answered, swiping through invisible menus.

“Cool, cool.” Ethan nodded and looked around the room. “What about Alera? Have you seen her?”

“She left a while ago, said she needed to get a mount.” Miguel was also exploring his own menus. “She said something about you not wanting her pressed up against you for days on horseback.”

“What!? That’s… I didn’t…” Ethan stuttered out, completely embarrassed.

“Easy buddy.” Miguel said grinning. “She didn’t say that at all. I’m just giving you shit.”

“You’re an asshole Miguel.”