Chapter 57

Brad was able to find the three players, they were actually staff of the convention. And all were thrilled to take part in a “Peter Culver” adventure. I had Mandy play the Paladin, and it went off like a charm. The changes Brad’s staff had done were minimal, mostly just fleshing out a few things I had left vague.

The only difference this time is that the Paladin survived, but Kaos died. But as this was scripted, the Paladin was restored to her full glory, and Kaos was given a grand departure and lifted on high by two Valkyrie.

And as Kaos ascended to the heavens, she could be heard shouting out “Like fer sure, this is totally bitching! Like, will I get a set of robes made by Jordache? And can we stop at the mall, I totally need to bag me some Ray-Ban’s if I’m gonna like be above the clouds or something, ya know!”

Well, Mandy absolutely lost it at that. “OK Holly, just so you know, that is GOING to be one of the drawings now! Like, oh my god, where did you come up with that?”

I saw that two of the three that Brad had found lost it at this, the gal laughing her ass off, and one of the guys just looked lost. Most everybody was laughing, but I noticed Becky also looked confused. “Tim, have you ever seen the video they show in the media room of ‘Chaos in the Capital’?” He shook his head. “OK, watch it. Holly here is the one, the only, the absolutely original Kaos. How you saw her tonight, that is how she should be played. Airhead Valley Girl, or really Valley Elf. And fun little anachronisms like Jordache clothing in a fantasy setting. If I thought I could get away with that, I would throw it in an adventure.”

They all filled out the critique forms, and after the other three left Brad asked me if that was how the last game ended. “No, actually it is a fluke that the Paladin survived. I gamed it out, there is like an 85% chance the Paladin dies. But having Holly here play Kaos and dying was perfect!”

I hugged her, and even Dan laughed as I gave her a big kiss. “Hey, should I leave you two alone tonight?”

It did not help when Becky then added “Let’s both leave them alone, we can take off together and leave these two here.”

We each hugged and kissed our respective partners, but it was obvious both were just teasing. I invited everybody to our room at the Red Lion, where I had six bottles of champagne in the fridge. Brad had to leave, and dad had left long before to get Georgie from the daycare and take him to their room. Dee kissed me and said she would see me tomorrow, and headed upstairs. So the five of us went to my hotel.

Dan whistled when I pulled out the champagne, and Becky got out some cheese and crackers. “I thought you were joking Pete.”

“Oh no Dan,” Holly said. “I told you about our tradition. What, you thought I was joking? At our first ever convention, this guy did a killer presentation like tonight, and we finished it with champagne. No cheese and crackers though, that came later.”

We were all sitting on the beds and chatting away, with Becky and Mandy on each side, as Holly and Dan sat on the other bed. “You know, for the last year I have been hearing ‘Pete stories’, now I see that they are all true. You have done this since when?”

“Well, I started playing in 1981, making my own adventures since 1982. First convention near the end of the year, and been doing it ever since. I stopped conventions out here in 1983, other than one last year when I was home on leave. Been doing them in Japan, but nothing like this.”

Becky rested her hand on my thigh, and smiled. “He just got me playing a few weeks ago, and I already love it. Pete told me he was attracted to geek girls, and now I really do believe him.”

Mandy reached over and rested her hand on the back of Becky’s, and smiled. “Well, he sure made me one. Did you know that when I started, he was not sure of me? I used to roll for the monsters, oh my god that was funny! I got into skating, and drifted away a bit. But I returned, and got Peggy into it. Mike knew it, but got hooked after joining our group.”

I smiled. “And I only got into it originally because the really hot girl that lived behind me played, and it gave me an excuse to spend more time with her.” I smiled and winked at Holly as I said that.

“Pete, you never told me that! Really? You started playing, because of me?”

I just grinned and nodded. “You kinda dropped a few times how much you enjoyed it, and I knew you did it at least once a week. I figured it was a great way to get you alone each week as I was driving you there and back, and it kinda worked. We did date for a while, we just decided it was not meant to be.” I looked at Dan and smiled, and said he probably knew that already.

Dan smiled, and hugged Holly. “Pete, I probably know more than you expect. Holly here told me that, and about your leave last year. I’m not jealous, but I am a bit envious that you two can be so close. I have never had a gal I was so close with as as you three are. And yes, same with you also Mandy. I know you two are almost like sisters, probably more so than your own sister is. Holly here filled me in on all of that, and I am sorry. But I love seeing the three of you together like this, and you also Becky. You really do fit in with this strange group. These three love each other like siblings, and as lovers. And I hope like me you never feel jealous, as they will never express that love like they once had. I am completely confident because Holly told me it is in the past, and hope you can feel the same.”

“Actually Dan, I do. When Pete was here last year, I was actually a ‘third girlfriend’, and he not only told me, but he told them about me. This guy holds few secrets, and if anything is incredibly honest. He even told me upfront that I was not a ‘consolation prize’, and he valued me for me. And he proved that, as he kept in contact with me the last year. And got ahold of me as soon as he got back. I know about him and Holly and Mandy here, and I like both of them a lot. In fact, it is quite telling that even though they had been together, they are still this close. It shows me the character all three of them have.”

I refilled all of the glasses, and we all toasted that. After we finished the second bottle, Mandy, Holly, and Dan made their departure. Becky and I hugged for several minutes, then shared a soft kiss. “You are not jealous, are you?” I softly asked her.

“Not at all Pete, I really do get it. Dan is right, you three were lovers, but will always remain like siblings. I would never try to get in the way of it, no more than I could get jealous of Georgie. If we were on a romantic date and you found out he was hurt, I would no more hold you back from going to him than I would if you learned Mandy or Holly were hurt. I really do understand.”

Once everything was cleaned up, we took a shower together, then once again made love with our hands and mouths. It was amazingly tender, and we were so exhausted at the end that we were awake no more than ten minutes before we drifted off to sleep.

The next morning we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast, and when we got to the vendor’s area Mandy called us right over. She showed us several drawings she had made, and they were fantastic! Even one with Kaos ascending as a pencil sketch, wearing sunglasses, chain mail leg warmers, and a robe that almost looked like a sweater dress. I laughed when I saw it, and when Becky looked at me Mandy and Holly both giggled.

“Oh, you don’t know? Pete here has kind of a fetish for sweater dresses. Of course we all wore them about five years ago, but this guy REALLY loves them. As in, wear one around him, and you can almost see his chin hitting the floor and the drool coming from his mouth. We all knew it and loved wearing them just to tease him. Mandy here though rarely did it, but he seemed to like her ‘Christian School’ outfits just as much. Pete, why do you think her and Peggy wore them so often?”

I just stared, and my mouth indeed did fall open. “You, you knew?”

Mandy giggled. “Of course we knew, silly. Of course, they were hot and in fashion, so we did not mind at all. The first times I saw you looking at sis in one, I thought it was for her. Then we went out and Holly was in one also, and you looked at her the same way. Peggy noticed you had a thing for the School Girl look, so we did that instead. And no Becky, not Catholic. These were tan pleated skirts and white blouses, not plaid. But they were also awesome to skate in, so we just kept doing it.”

Becky grinned. “Well, he already told me he likes my Pencil Skirts, so I think if you were to check, that is the common denominator. He likes seeing our legs, and our bottoms in tight skirts. He did comment already that he loves me in them, and since I wear them all the time for work it’s not a problem.”

“So those actually have a name?” I asked.

All three girls laughed. “Yes Pete, that is the name. A ‘Pencil Skirt’ is tight-fitting to the hips, and pulls in as the legs go down. I like it because it looks professional, especially as I wear ones that are just below the knee normally.”

“That must be the secret then!” Holly added. “I thought it was always short skirts. But I bet it’s any skirt, so long as it shows legs, and if possible the hips. Oh Peter, you are doomed now! We all now your deepest and darkest secret!”

All three of them laughed, and I decided to make a strategic withdrawal. All three giggled and waved as I headed off. I wandered the game room a bit, and actually watched a bit of Kaos in the Capitol, before realizing the girl playing Kaos did not do it right. I wandered a bit more, and was surprised to see dad playing Risk. He had a firm lock on South America, and smiled when his turn ended and he noticed me there. “Yeah, your old man likes games too. I used to play this in the Army, but your mom did not like war games so other than Stratego we always played other games as a family.”

I smiled and rested my hand on his shoulder, remembering that Thursday was always “Game Night”, and we always played something, even if it was only cards. That was really the first time I realized how deep the love of games ran in me.

Dee was in the main lecture hall, and I sat next to her as the gal was giving a presentation. It was basically about the next version of GURPS, which surprised me. “Dee, why is Steve not here?”

“She said he had other commitments, shush sweetie.”

I smiled, and at the end she rested her hand in my arm and we left the auditorium. “Where’s Georgie?”

“Oh, they offer daycare here so he’s playing with a bunch of other kids. What time are you up?”

“My presentation is at 3, it’s a basic roundtable. You could probably skip it and nobody would notice.” She just smiled, and said she would do no such thing.

I went back to the vendor room, and the girls were still chatting away, obviously becoming fast friends. Becky kissed me when I walked up, a long lip on lip kiss. And a few seconds later I realized Mandy and Holly were also kissing each of my cheeks. Wow, a guy could get used to that!

I wrapped my arm around all three of them, and we all broke out in giggles. “OK, I got a lot of work to do here, you three scoot!” Mandy said. So with a girl on each arm, we headed out. I paused a moment to ask Mandy if she wanted to join us for lunch, and she said she would just grab something later, she had a backlog of work to knock out.

It was almost noon, so we headed to the buffet and had a leisurely lunch. Dan joined us right before we got there, and we all had a great time. We all went back several times, and when we left we only had a little over an hour left until my presentation. We spent most of that wandering the floor and explaining to Becky all the games being played. Oubliette fascinated her, and I grinned and said I would have Brad send her a copy. “Brad, why Brad?”

“Well, I can just have him deduct it from my royalties. I did not make the actual game, but I created the concept I guess you could say. It did not work as a dungeon, so he made a board game out of it.”

We wandered into the media room, and Holly whispered “Oh my god!” I looked up, and it was the original presentation again. We all took a seat, and Holly sat in Dan’s lap as Becky sat in mine. “Pete, is that really you?”