Chapter 26

The next morning I ran six miles, then after a shower was sitting on the floor with Georgie as he told me about Elmo and Mr. Snuffleupagus. Dee and I talked as he and I played, and she was taking him upstairs for his nap when there was a knock on the door. And I was not surprised when it was Mandy.

“OK, let’s go,” was all she said. I kissed her cheek, and yelled up to Dee I was going out. We got in her car, and after asking what I was in the mood for asked me how the night before went. I asked her what she meant, and she laughed.

“Oh Pete, I called last night to see if I should bring anything this weekend for the game. And Dee said you were out. And when I asked when you would be back, she said you were going to be out most of the night. And I knew that meant it was more than likely a date. And I bet you $20 it was Rebecca of the sexy walk.”

“Well, no bet. And yes, I was out with Rebecca. I ran into her yesterday because I wanted to get a few games. She made a great suggestion to me, and she also plays the game and offered to give me some tips on how to play. We had dinner at her apartment, then made out for a bit.”

Mandy grinned at me, and once again asked me how it was. “Mandy, honestly all we did was kiss. Hands only on her sides and hips, other than towards the end when she moved them to her ass over clothes. And yes, I am seeing her again tomorrow night. But that is probably it, I think my last week will be so busy I will not have time to see her again. But I made a promise to keep in contact with her, and let her know when I get back.”

“Yeah, that sounds like the Pete I know. You leave us both panting for more, and also grateful that you did not try to push us. And let me guess, Wednesday night is her choice. Right?”

“You girls all know me far too well. Yes, I suggested dinner, then dancing, a movie, whatever she wanted. I figure it will probably be a movie, not much dancing on Wednesday nights. Then probably make out again for a bit then have her drop me off at home.”

“Yeah, that is what I would do. OK, if she has no idea, suggest either Club Paradise, or Maximum Overdrive. The first is a comedy with Robin Williams, the other is a horror by Steven King. Either of those should be good for a second date. They already pulled Howard, but Big Trouble in Little China and Labyrinth are playing at the Sepulveda now.”

“Thanks, will keep those in mind. But I am not expecting anything other than what happened last night.”

Mandy shook her head and sighed. “Oh Pete, you had better at least try more. She is smart, plays computer games, I bet she has not played D&D but would love it if she was to try. I bet she reads a lot also. Pete, we geek girls tend to think of ourselves as inferior. Trust me there, if you do not at least try more, she might be disappointed. As if you asked her out from pity. You had better plan on at least an hour or more making out with her. Try for some side boob, and if she likes it caress them through her clothes. If you try and she rejects it, I know you will handle it like a gentleman, and she will still know you find her desirable.”

“How in the hell am I taking dating advice from a girl I am also dating?” I sighed, shaking my head slowly.

“Pete, you are behind the times there. You were with sis far longer than was good, but I’m not jealous. Besides, it only makes sense I now realize. You are going to be gone for another year or more at least. And yeah, I might be dating then, and Holly too. I already have a guy I was planning on dating after you leave, so I do not know how involved I may be then. If nothing else, you have a little fun. And she might also be another person for when you get back. I now realize that is a long time away. And I know I am not going to be pining away my time sighing at your photograph until you return.”

I stopped and pulled her into a tight hug. “And Mandy, you should not do that. And trust me, it is times like this I curse my choice in career.”

“No, never do that. I’m proud of you, we are all proud of you. And if you had not gone away, by now you would be with sis anyways, probably popping out kids about now. So you would be forever out of reach. Dating her ex-boyfriend is one thing, if I had dated her ex-husband that would have just been ugly.”

“OK, so if Becky has no other suggestion, a movie, then some side boobie. Then full hand to boobie contact. Got it. Now you said over clothes, is removing her bra and caressing them through her shirt allowed?” I said that and gave her an evil grin.

Thankfully she grinned back. “Oh Peter Culver, I know how you try to twist what is allowed. But honestly, I would suggest not to. That might be a bit fast, but if she is the one that unfastens it and puts your hand there, let her. In fact, if she does anything that is over both of your waists and over at least some clothing, I say let her.”

“Yes, mother” I said, and she slugged my arm. By this time we were pulling into a McDonald’s. When we got back to my house she pulled her portfolio out from behind the seat of her car and we both went inside. We sat at the table in the office and she spread out her drawings.

“Mandy, these are amazing! And yes, you captured the look perfectly.”

“Well, these are kind of for background. I am going to make more after I play the game myself this weekend, my usual in-game shots since I know little of how it actually will play. Kinda like what I did with Dildo.”

Dee came in and after looking them over said the same thing. “I really like this one,” she said, which showed a weather-worn torii gate, with an old man sitting under it with a cane. I agreed, and said it captured the setting perfectly.

“In fact, I’m going to add that to the intro as the group enters the village. The villager that resembles is Tamaki Tai, an old man that gives them a lot of early backstory. I will give him a limp, and have them meet him there instead of inside the town itself.”

I went ahead and fired up Dee’s computer and quickly made the changes. “So this Tamaki is a major character?” Mandy asked.

“Well, yes and no. He is one of the elders, an old veteran who settled down. And his name is Tai, in Japan it is family name then given name. He never joins the party, but he gives a lot of information and is a kind of cheerleader for them among the other elders of the village. And that will help explain why he uses a cane. I added that just now, he came back and settled down after a war injury in his youth.”

Dee clapped. “That is great, taking inspiration from each other. You know, when you get back I really want to partner with you sometime Pete. I wrote a second module, but it was not accepted. I think with you to bounce ideas off of I could do a really good sequel. I have had enough requests for it but have just not had the right ideas.”

“Well, your first one was pirates. How about this, another trope from romances. The Highwayman. Make him a kind of Robin Hood, dispossessed Gentry class maybe. Hmm, his family picked the wrong side in a feud between nobles and lost all their possessions. He was off fighting in the war, even make it for the winning side as he split from his father. But he still suffered the fate of his family, and knows where something is that can be used to bring down the now rulers of the area. The quest is to help him recover something and bring down the evil Baron. Include male and female bandits, say a super sexy female Elf bard, and a slightly ugly but brilliant Gnome illusionist. And of course others straight from Robin Hood, with suitable changes.”

“Holy hell, hold on a moment!” She grabbed the pad that was always on her desk and started writing furiously. A few minutes later she had the ideas I had suggested. “OK, got it. And yeah, I think this has real potential. In fact, I think I will reverse it! The displaced Gentry was a lady in waiting in the household of the Baron’s sister. Hmm, make her a Ranger as that will work good in the Highwayman concept. She is indeed a bandit, but only when seen from the point of view of the Baron. She only targets his followers, and not innocents.”

“Even better! That might even make it more interesting for the guy players, somebody to flirt with and lust after. And somebody for the girls to idolize.”

I looked over at Mandy, and she had pulled a sheet of paper from the printer and was scribbling furiously. A few minutes later she handed over a sheet of paper. A female bandit, in tight leather armor which showed she was unquestionably female at the bust, but not over the top. Wide hips and narrow waist, the top of her face covered with a cloth mask, but a smile on her lips that seemed somehow friendly, even with the rapier she was holding in her hand pointed at the viewer, and the dagger still at her hip.

“Delicious!” Dee said when she saw that. “OK Mandy, you are helping me with this. Start thinking of ideas, we will get together after the convention to start to hash things out. Pete, this is why I need you to help me. You just have such a gift for coming up with things like this. I was still stuck on trying to do pirates again.”

“Dee, the first thing about a sequel, do not make it a copy if you can avoid it. You should know that, you review games for a living after all. You already said your inspiration is romance novels, just run with that. When you finish this, go and read some more and find your next setting. What I mostly do is try to follow the style of my previous adventure, not the adventure itself. And yes Kaos often appears, but now mostly as a background character and not a real playable NPC. I love her, but I can only draw from the same well a limited number of times.”

I then grinned at Mandy. “Oh, and if you want another idea, consider a drawing also of Osuushi. He is a fighter that will join them. Half-Elf, strength of 18/90, intelligence of 4, wisdom of 17. He will be dressed as a beggar when the party first meets him, but he is really a level 7 fighter. He is an itinerant monk, but when he discovers the danger will pull a full set of armor from his backpack, of scale mail. His walking staff is really an enchanted staff, and when cleaned off of the dirt is of a light wood.”

“Body type?”

“Big. Osuushi is Japanese for ‘Bull’. Think of that guy from Conan. Big, buff, Lawful Good. Friendly to everybody, prays over those he kills and says he was sorry but they deserved it.”

“OK, got it. I will have one for you on Saturday.”

I gave her the rundown of a few more characters, and she wrote several more notes. Then with a hug to both of us I walked her to her car and got a lovely kiss.

I went back in, and Dee asked me how our talk went. I told her she was still encouraging me to see Becky, and how I should act the next night. Dee laughed at that, and I confessed it was weird getting advice from one gal I was dating when it came to dating another gal.

“Pete, you both know at this time it is not serious. I get that now. As I said, we will talk more at the convention. And in a way this might be a bit of a test, even if she does not realize it consciously. You are taking it easy with Becky, right?”

“Yes Ma’am. Last night was first base, Mandy suggested basically nothing past close to second tomorrow.”

“Good advice,” she said with a giggle. “Lets her know you are interested, but not trying to move too fast or hard.”

“Yep, that is what Mandy said. I like her, and am not really looking for sex. I just like being with her.”

At that time the phone rang, and it was Brad. The thanked me for the revised notes I had sent him, and was going to fax me back a revised copy. “Oh, and those sketches from Amanda look great, tell her she has the job, I will contact her mom next week after the playtest.”

We talked a bit more, and he said he would see me next weekend if nothing else came up between now and then. I borrowed the van and decided to take a drive, just seeing what all had changed in the last few years.

One of the things I noticed is that it seemed like the last of the farms were going away. The produce stand in the Sepulveda Basin was closed now, and what had been farms around it were also gone. And even some houses I remembered along Victory and Burbank were now apartment buildings. If I did not know better, there were now over 1 million people living here! And I saw billboards by the freeway now encouraging people to move to the Santa Clarita Valley, as homes there were only $85,000.

It was almost hard to believe now that I was seeing it, how much had changed in the last years. What was when I had first moved here, it a few scattered farms and industrial areas mixed with housing. But now it was almost all housing. And on the radio I listened as they were even talking about closing up an old oil field on the Northside and turning it into housing.

I drove home right as rush hour started, and we all spent a great evening. Watching TV, and playing with Georgie until it was time for him to go to bed. I went ahead and used the computer to do a bit more writing, mostly just random story ideas that I did not want to forget. Then I crawled into bed.

After Georgie was put down for his afternoon nap the next day Dee and I sat and brainstormed her new concept. It was now really taking shape, and I suggested she throw in a brothel. “Dee, you have the right to use all of my charts, use them. Heck, you can even have the Baron own it. Maybe a side quest that would involve maybe freeing a childhood friend, or need to get some information out of there. Maybe even have a character impersonate one of the girls, or something like that. Make the quest something that the party needs to learn, with several ways to do it. Take the place of the girl, listen in as she and the Baron do it, bribe her, there are many ways that could go.”

“Hmm, that is actually kinda wicked Pete. Yeah, maybe make the default player thief a female with high charisma. That might be fun, thanks!”