Kira couldn’t stop herself from giggling when she watched her new massive dog stumble over itself, trying to get to the stick. The dog was bigger than a horse and had a bright blue coat, with massive teeth and massive paws. Despite this, the dog was obedient, playful and adorable. Best of all, it was clumsy as could be. “And there are more pets like this?” she asked, reaching out to rub behind the dog’s ears when it brought the stick back. “Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy. Yes you are, yes you are!” she said with another soft giggle, leaning forward to rest her nose against the dog’s. It felt cold and wet.

“Woof!” the dog said in response.

“Yes,” Orion said. “You really named him Doof?”

“Yup! Because he’s a big doofy dog, isn’t he? Aren’t you? Yes you are, yes you are,” Kira said before throwing the stick again from her sitting position. The massive beast turned, its tail wagging, before bounding after the stick. He ran into a tree and stumbled back, before shaking his head and racing off again. “He is the best dog a girl could have.”

“He’s definitely something else,” Orion said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. “I had a feeling you were a dog person. Have any in reality?”

“No. I’m allergic. I break out in hives,” Kira said, pushing her own thoughts on that aside. She couldn’t help giving a sigh when she remembered how close she’d come to having one, picking up a dog and then her body just breaking out a few minutes later. It had been a terrible memory for so many reasons, but at least here she could have one.

“Oh. But you still like them?” Orion asked.

“Not their fault I’m allergic,” Kira said before taking the stick again, tossing it once more and watching her great blue dog bound off after it, only for it to trip and roll a few times, before picking itself back up and racing after the stick. “Besides, how could anyone dislike a dog? It’s a dog. Disliking a dog would be like disliking... I don’t know. Just being evil.”

“Fair enough. Feeling better?” Orion asked.

The dog bounded back and she took the stick, staring at it for a few moments. Had she really been that obvious about being upset? She felt another surge of guilt before she tossed the stick again, the dog quickly racing after it. “Yeah. Kinda. Sorry. Its been pretty noticeable, huh?”

“After what you did to that lizardman monster earlier? Yeah,” Orion said with a shudder.

“It stabbed me. It was asking for it,” Kira said with a light snort.

“Oh, gosh no. NOBODY asks for that,” Orion said firmly. “That was just cruel and unusual. I cringed just watching it. If the monsters could feel pain that’d likely make you end up on a list somewhere.”

“But they can’t, so it doesn’t matter,” Kira said. “But yeah. I feel a bit better. It was stupid, anyway.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Orion asked.

Kira gave a sigh, before shaking her head. As much as she wanted to talk with him about it, bothering him with her problems wouldn’t be fair. He’d probably start to hate her if she did, the last thing she wanted was to be someone who only brought negative energy where ever she went. “Not really. It’s just stupid.” Doof returned with the stick once more and she tossed it as hard as she could, grinning when it landed in a tree this time. She knew the dog would get it, somehow. She could feel Orion’s eyes on her, though. “I’m just being selfish, you know?”

“Selfish?” Orion asked.

“Yeah. I don’t have a right to be. I mean. I just...” kira sighed and put her hand to her forehead. The words just wouldn’t come out right, no matter how she tried. “It doesn’t matter. Sorry.”

Orion sighed and glanced over to the dog trying to knock the branch out of the tree. “You know. I don’t mind if you tell me. We don’t know each other in reality, either, so it’s not like I could tell anyone, if you’re worried about it getting out. So if you want someone to speak to about it, I’m here.”

Kira glanced away from Doof to look at her guild leader. She wondered if he really wanted to know or if he was just being nice. Was it really okay for her to unload on him? Still, what he said made sense. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes,” Orion said.

“It’s my boyfriend. He… well…” Kira tried to finish the thought and words, but couldn’t.

“Yes?” Orion said again, encouraging her.

“So, we had a date night set for tonight,” Kira finally said, crossing her arms. She wondered if he’d call her selfish for this? She knew it was unfair to be this upset. “And I was really, really excited. We had reservations, plans, all of that. I got all dressed up and I was super excited. And he flaked on me. No. No. That’s not fair. He didn’t flake on me. He just… ugh. One of his friends from out of town came by. He almost never sees the guy, they just talk sometimes. So he came to town and it all got canceled. I’m furious, okay? I was super excited and William just ditched me. Now he’s not coming home and I’m angry and frustrated! On top of that, I know it’s not fair to be mad, though. He had a good reason. I just don’t like the reason so I’m not in the best mood. I mean, am I wrong?”

Orion shook his head. “Well I hate to be this guy. But it makes sense. If he almost never gets a chance to see this guy, I can understand why he’d value seeing him so much. I’d probably do the same thing if it came down to it.”

Kira sighed, taking the stick from Doof when the dog returned, only to toss it out again. She did smile when she saw all the bark and leaves falling off her dog now. No tree could stop the mighty Doof. “I know. But can’t you just side with me and tell me he’s a big jerk?”

“Sorry, I don’t think you should lie to your friends if you can avoid it,” Orion said with a chuckle.

“Yeah and yeah. I know,” Kira said. “It’s a rare event, it still just hurts. You know? I’m supposed to be the most important thing in the world to him.”

“Do you want him to not be around his friends?” Orion asked.

“What? No, of course not,” Kira said.

“But you still feel mad and upset and disappointed, right?” Orion asked.

“Yeah. And I know it’s not fair. I just--” Kira said.

“That’s okay,” Orion said firmly, shaking his head. “Do you want my full, honest opinion?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a terrible person, I know,” Kira said with a roll of her eyes.

“Not even close. You’re a completely normal person. You got excited and you were let down. Of course you’re upset and sad. ANYONE would be, I know I certainly would be. And I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be. Would you try to stop him from going if you could?” Orion asked.

“I don’t think so, at least I hope I wouldn’t. But I don’t know. Maybe? I was really looking forward to tonight. Ugh,” Kira said.

“You’re allowed to be upset and get frustrated when things don’t go your way. It doesn’t make you a bad person,” Orion said with a small smile. “People get upset and annoyed when their shoe laces get undone, and that’s pretty minor in most cases. So there’s nothing at all wrong about getting upset that your special night got ruined. It’s completely normal.”

Kira stared at him before leaning forward to pet Doof once the dog returned. The dog quickly laid down on his stomach so she could easily reach down for maximum petting and ruffling of ears. She couldn’t help but smile. “So, you’re saying I’m a completely normal person and that all this is okay, then?”

“I mean, I haven’t known you long enough to call you normal. And I DID see what you did to that lizardman earlier, so I’m not quite sure about that. All I can say is it’s normal to be upset about something like this. Anyone would be,” Orion said, his voice firm enough she couldn’t help but believe it.

Kira nodded and smiled, staring into her dogs adorable blue eyes. After a moment she gave a sigh and nodded. “You’re right, though.”

“Oh?” Orion asked.

“Yeah. I’m annoyed. And I know it’s not really fair to him. I can’t isolate him from everyone, you know? So then I feel bad for being annoyed and then I get more annoyed and it’s a vicious cycle. You sure it’s okay to just be mad, even if it’s not his fault?” Kira asked.

“Hey, a little anger and frustration is normal,” Orion said before giving her a grin. “As long as you deal with it in a healthy way and don’t ram spears up--”

“It’s a halberd!” Kira said, cutting him off.

“My point stands,” Orion said. “There’s nothing wrong with it. So don’t beat yourself up. You’re mad, let it out. If you just bottle it up, you’ll end up doing something you regret. And you care about him a lot, right?”

“William? Of course. We’ve been together forever,” Kira said.

“Then don’t mess things up by bottling everything up until you explode. Let it out. Talk with him about it, if you have to. Communication is important,” Orion said.

Kira gave a light laugh before motioning for Doof to roll over. He did and she reached out, rubbing his belly. “Who’s a good dog? You’re a good dog! Who’s my doofy little mutt?” she asked with a laugh. “He has the softest fur.”

“He should, you got the one with the most,” Orion said, thankfully letting her switch the topic. “Really though, allergic? That’s rough.”

“Yeah. Not like I could really take care of one, though. I can barely take care of myself most days,” Kira said with a laugh. “Dogs can be expensive too. Not to mention the time commitment. I couldn’t trust myself to take care of a small animal like this.”

Orion laughed, crossing his arms. “I don’t know. I’ve heard about a few of people who didn’t take care of themselves at all until they had a pet.”

Kira sighed and then slowly got to her feet. “Thanks, though. A lot. I do feel a lot better. I think I really needed to talk it out with someone. And you’re right, I do feel annoyed and angry but I guess anyone would.”

“You still feel guilty though, don’t you?” Orion asked.

“Yeah. Is that normal, too?” Kira asked.

“Yep. It can suck, sometimes,” Orion said.

“How’d you get to be such an expert on this? You a psychologist?” Kira asked.

Orion shook his head. “Gosh no. I’ve just had my fair share of feelings like that. I used to be a real jerk, you know. Really jealous all the time. Eventually saw a shrink.”

“And they fixed it?” Kira asked.

“Nope. Some of my friends did, though. Ended up really hurting someone and then had to give a long, hard look at myself and decide the kind of person I wanted to be. Fortunately, I think I made the right choice.”

“My my, aren’t you mister mature?” Kira asked in a teasing tone. “Well then, old man. I believe I’m going to take your advice. Get all of this anger and frustration out in a good, healthy manner.”

“Oof, poor lizardmen,” Orion said, moving a hand to cover his face.

Kira gave a snort and motioned for Doofy to get up and follow her. “So then, if not a psychologist what do you do?”

“Programmer,” Orion said.

Kira glanced over, giving a light snort. “Really? Program anything I’ve played?”

“I doubt it,” Orion said. “Unless you’ve been playing on a bunch of old accounting and business meeting software. Nothing game related, sadly. It can be a bit rough and I hear the conditions are usually terrible.”

“Oh? Business meeting? Mayyyybe. I do a lot of VR design work for companies. Maybe your stuff has been involved,” Kira said with a grin.

Orion gave a small shrug. “Possibly. VR meetings are becoming a lot more popular these days, even with some of the issues they entail. Most of the stuff my company makes is more for consolidation, though. You know, organize all the files, allow them to be accessed by certain people, things like that. Work is actually how I met Ervent.”

Kira stumbled, her eyes going wide. At least now she knew why someone so nervous and jumpy had joined the guild. “Wait, really? You know her in real life? Are you two dating?”

Orion shook his head and laughed. “No. Never actually met her. She lives hours away from me, but they were hired for a small project and she did a lot of the setup for us. Never met her face to face, but we chatted a bit through text while waiting for some software to run. When I found out she was starting this game, I told her to look me up. Figured if she was getting into the whole VR world thing, best she did it right.”

“Yes, because joining a guild with someone you vaguely know from work and another guy is doing it ‘right’. You know, you probably scared her a bit,” Kira said with a roll of her eyes.

Orion went still for a moment and judging by the look on his face she suspected he’d never considered that. “You don’t think I did, do you? I just figured this would be funner with friends. Besides, our guild is growing. Slowly. I got you to join, didn’t I?”

Kira nodded, quickly trying to move off that subject before she made him any more nervous. “Fair enough. Okay then. Ervent is a friend from work. How about Blueberry?”

“Old friend, met him in another online game. When this came out, he was the only one other than me planning to get it on launch,” Orion said. “A few of our other friends will likely be joining us eventually, once they have more time. He’s pretty cool.”

“Does he always play the biggest, toughest looking creature he can?” she asked with a light chuckle.

“Always. We played a lot of tabletop games together before. He’d always play some hulking guy with a giant axe or sword. He just loved cleaving through things,” Orion said before he glanced to her with an amused smile. “Actually, I think the two of you would get along really well.”

Kira frowned at that, wondering if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult. “What, you think I’m too direct?”

“No. But I think you really enjoy cleaving through things. Have you considered using a glaive? I know they make some real monstrosities. Ones with blades as big as the wielder, or bigger,” Orion said in a teasing tone.

Kira paused, imagining herself wielding such a weapon. Running through monsters, cutting them clean in half with a massive, over sized weapon. Finally, she shook her head. “Nope. I mean, it sounds like a ton of fun, to be honest. But I really prefer this,” she said, motioning to her halberd. “Raw power is fun, but I’d rather use the skills for that. The versatility this weapon offers is just too good to pass up. Cutting, piercing, tripping, hooking. How could I NOT use it?”

“Really? The way you charged in, I figured you’d prefer to be able to just cut through things in an instant. The extra damage would probably be worth it,” Orion said.

“Maybe. But it’d also be a lot harder to run around like that. And I couldn’t really pole vault onto things if half the weapon was just blade,” Kira said. “Even if it’s not really a useful thing to do, it’s still a lot of fun.”

“Fair enough.” Orion said before moving to walk besides her. “You’re enjoying your time here, right?”

“Huh? Of course I am. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” Kira said.

“Good,” Orion said. She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.

“Why? Are you afraid I’ll just run off and go play something else?” Kira asked.

“Kinda. You’re a lot of fun to play with. You can keep up rather well with me, not a lot of people can do that,” Orion said. “Even in the dungeons you were--”

Kira’s cheeks burned and she quickly looked away. “Yeah, I know. I kept running off on my own. Sorry. I’m just not used to playing with other people and--”

“I liked it,” Orion said, cutting her off. “You’re fun to play with. Most players tend to be more methodical and careful, at least in VR games. You run in and just stab things.”

“I’m just really used to these things,” Kira said with a small shrug. “I usually play offline games, so I’m used to going at my own pace. I’ve never really been the most patient person around, either. I just like to go go go, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. And I think it’s pretty cool. It keeps me on my toes, at least,” Orion said with a light chuckle.

“Heh. You’re easy enough to impress, then. More used to players like Ervent, then?” Kira asked.

“Not quite that bad. But yeah. Pain bursts and all,” Orion said.

“I guess they can be a bit bad. Honestly?” Kira said before lifting her left hand and squeezing it into a fist. It felt almost real, but not quite. “I can understand. A lot of people tend to make themselves in these games. You know, to avoid getting that disassociation problems. Me? I try to keep myself fairly separate from my character,” she said before glancing back to him. “I mean, I get the body type the same. But I don’t want to be ME in these games. I wanna be someone who’s strong, tough and powerful.”

“Oh? So you have a tail in real life, then?” Orion asked in a teasing tone.

“No,” Kira said before rolling her eyes. “In the real world? I’d never charge into these monsters. That’d be dumb. But here? It’s not real. None of it is. If I get hurt? Oh well. Big deal. The burst hits for a second and then it’s gone, move on with your life. I’m not going to like, try to get hurt or anything. But there’s no actual danger, so why worry? Besides, all of this is just a power fantasy anyway.” She swung her halberd, digging the bladed edge into a tree a few inches before yanking it back. “In my fantasy? I want to be the kind of person who charges in and beats things down. Even if I DON’T know what they can do. If I respawn a few times because of it? So what. I’ll just come back and do it again. I’ll figure out what I need to do and then beat them. If I spend all of my time cowering because of a few bursts of pain, why even play these games to begin with?”

Orion nodded and, though a part of her felt silly for giving such a cheesy answer, he seemed happy with it. “I see. Well, I’m really happy I found you, then.”

Kira nodded, smiling while they walked. Though she didn’t want to admit it, most of that was just excuses. While she did want to be that kind of person, that really wasn’t the entire reason she fought like that. She was just impatient. Her time in the game was limited, what with all her other responsibilities. So she wanted to get as much fun out of it as possible during the limited time she had. Besides, half the fun and excitement in the game was running into something she didn’t know or understand yet and then discovering how to beat it down. It made her feel smart.

“How about you?” Kira asked.

“Huh? What about me?” Orion asked.

“You said I can keep up with you. So, what makes you so special?” Kira asked.

“Oh, I’m the opposite. I tend to study all of the monsters and learn what I can about them before I fight them. For example, about ninety percent of the monsters in the game use the same AI, which means it has only limited attack patterns. Once you figure out what they’ll do in most situations, it’s really easy to predict. So I’m usually able to just blow through the content with ease, since--”

“Oh my gosh that sounds so, so boring. How can you play games like that? Knowing what everything will do? That sounds like torture,” Kira said, giving a shudder at the thought.

Orion shook his head. “Well, it’s not like I know everything. I just know the signs to predict their attacks, which attacks can be blocked and--”

“Do you do it before you fight them?” Kira asked.

“Bosses? Usually. The attack patterns they use actually match the attack patterns used by--”

“Nope, nope nope nope!” Kira said quickly, shaking her head. “No spoilers!”

“How is that a spoiler?” Orion asked.

“Because if I’ve played that game, I might already know how to beat those monsters. So, no spoilers,” Kira said.

Orion gave a soft chuckle before nodding. “Of course, sorry. In a lot of cases, though, the monsters are designed differently here. So the tells aren’t exact or anything.”

“Good,” Kira said. “Besides, it’s not like it’s that hard to find out the tells by playing. Big monster hits hard. Small monster is fast. Monster that shoots purple acid you probably don’t wanna get hit by.”

“Yes,” Orion said. “But technically some attacks you can block, others--”

“Ugggggh,” Kira said with a mock groan. “Spoilers!”

“Fine, fine. Come on, then. Let’s just kill some monsters. There’s a boss in this zone, actually. He’s part of a quest that gives a really nice amulet. Apparently he’s a giant t-rex. We could--”

“On it!” Kira yelled, running off quickly. Fighting a t-rex? How could ANYONE pass that up? “Come on then, Orion! Let’s see if you can keep up! We can probably ride it, even!”

“Hey!” Orion yelled, trying to keep up with her.

------

“I’m home!” William yelled once he opened the door.

Teresa barely contained an excited squeal, though she hopped in place a little bit. “I’m in the kitchen! Are you hungry?” She glanced down at the stir fry she’d been cooking. She’d found a bunch of vegetables and some old meat she’d needed to cook anyway, a stir fry had been perfect.

“Yeah. It smells delicious,” he said, walking into the kitchen. He looked a bit frazzled, his hair a mess and his clothes all ruffled. “I’m gonna take a shower, okay?”

“Did you have fun with your friend?” Teresa asked.

William paused, before sighing. “Yes. Are you going to start a fight? I’m kind of tired, I’d really rather not.”

“Start a fight?” Teresa asked, staring at him, her excitement fading.

William turned around and crossed his arms. “Listen, I know we had plans. But he was only in town for a little bit.”

“I know,” Teresa said. “I wasn’t--”

“I’m sorry, okay?” William said. “But I couldn’t just ignore my friend. We can go out any night.”

“I know. It’s fine. Really,” Teresa said, gritting her teeth.

“You don’t sound fine,” William said.

“I’m just a little disappointed, that’s all,” Teresa said, feeling her stomach tightening into a knot. “But it’s not important.”

“I know. I’m sorry, okay?” William said with an exhausted sigh. “Next time I’ll just miss seeing my friend, will that make you happy?”

Teresa cringed, shaking her head. Why was she so bad at talking? “I didn’t mean that. It’s fine, really! I was disappointed, but that’s all. I’m not mad or anything. Really. You’re right, I know this was a rare thing, and there wasn’t anything wrong with you going out with your friend. Especially considering how rare it is to see him. I’m not mad, I promise.”

William eyed her for a moment before shaking his head. “Listen. I understand. I screwed up and--”

“You didn’t screw up,” Teresa said, her voice raising far harsher than she meant it to.

William shook his head and turned around, walking away. “I don’t want to fight about this. Can you just let it go? I said I’m sorry.”

Teresa watched him go, guilt gnawing at her. She slowly turned her gaze back at their dinner. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, mentally kicking herself for getting so upset.