“My name is Archon and I am one of the leaders of the House of Yethra within the Guild of Mars.” “Tor, I replied.” “That was once a name of a publishing house a long time ago, they did mainly Sci Fi and Fantasy.” Archon spoke in an easy tone I could tell he was not a kid playing Ingame but rather a mature individual. I had the feeling he was someone who commanded respect both in the game and in RL. “I had heard that” I replied as we made our way up to an Inn near the Mars Guild house.

“If you don’t mind eating here, the guild has a special relationship with this Inn. This entitles us to some perks, the use of private rooms being one of them.” “It suits me as long as the food is good and the place is clean.” I considered both of these facts; they were something I also thought of as important and politely nodded.

Entering the Inn I took in the crowd of players all eating and drinking and smoking pipes. It was loud and boisterous and everyone seemed happy. There were few Npc seen as all the tables had players sitting around them. The Innkeeper seeing my companion hurried over and giving a small bow asked “sir shall I prepare your room?” “Yes thank you Jera, while we wait we will have a drink at the bar.”

Making our way over to the bar we found two stools tucked around the corner. As we sat down a curvaceous female player joined us. She did not have the diaphanous gear all female players started with. She had on expensive looking cloth that shone with eldritch light to my Dragon Eyes. Looking at her level, I was surprised to see that she was a level 55. Clearly, I was hanging with the power players. The question I needed to know was why.

“Hello Archon, who is your pet?” Even her voice sounded dangerous, attractive but deadly. “This is Tor, a new player and someone who caught my attention.” Archon sounded amused. “Tor this is Kaie, the co-leader of the house of Yethra.” Looking at Kaie I saw a woman who radiated a competence and maturity far beyond the young appearance her avatar represented. Nodding my head at her, I politely greeted her and then took a drink from the huge tankard that had appeared in front of me.

Kaie looked over at Archon and smiled, she then stated “he is a smart one” then smiling at me she rested her hand on my shoulder and leaned into my arm. I became very conscious of her heavy breast resting against my arm. I tried not to notice her physicality but I could tell she was aware that I was responding. In an attempt to try to salvage the situation, I ignored my reddening face. Taking a deep breath, I could smell her scent of coconut oil and spice.

Speaking before I lost my ability for rational thought, I asked her if she was single and would like to go for dinner tonight. If silence changed to gold, I would have become very rich at that moment. The silence disappeared with Archons laughter and a softly muttered “OMG” “he asked you out.” Abruptly pulling away from me Kaie looked at me and then suddenly her face began to redden. Turning she began to walk away from us at the same time telling Archon to “keep me informed.”

Looking at Archon I asked, “What was that about?” Archon just looked at me and then shaking his head, he nodded at Kaie as she left the Inn. “You of course would not realize this but Kaie is a very important person in RL and in the game.” “To be blunt, she is used to manipulating men and getting her own way.” “I believe you caught her by surprise. In fact, you are probably the first man to ask her out without having an ulterior motive. I think you caught her off guard and that is something that rarely happens.”

"I have to tell you I am impressed more by what just happened then by when you were tossing the Jackass around." Not sure how to respond to this I just nodded and had another sip. The Innkeeper made an appearance at that point and gestured to the corner where a private booth was waiting. As we began to walk over, I started to think about this rather strange situation, I had lots of questions, hopefully Archon had some answers.