Chapter 7

The rest of dinner was fun. It normally was with our little group, and though newcomers, Crys and Nina fit right in. The light shop-talk didn't last long and soon we were all talking, joking and laughing like normal, ordinary people.

You would never have guessed that we were all preparing for the end of the world.

Eventually everyone was full and complimenting the chef. To their amusement, I actually stood up and took a bow.

Taking their cue from me, everybody started helping taking the dishes to the kitchen and placing them in the sink. Only Crys was willing to stick around to help out washing them though. A part of me wondered if they were being considerate enough to give us a few minutes alone, or if they were simply ducking out from the chore.

It didn't really matter – either way, I was happy with the situation.

We'd been washing and scrubbing for a couple of minutes in companionable silence before she eventually spoke.

"So ... you're a multi-millionaire..." she stated, with an attractively arched eyebrow and a grin.

"Yup. But I sure won't be one for much longer the way we're planning on spending cash." I paused for a breath and looked at her seriously now. "I hope that that doesn't change your opinion about me?"

"And here I was looking forward to being a kept woman, exceedingly pampered with my every wish and desire fulfilled," she paused and sighed theatrically, lifting the back of her hand to her forehead.

She then shrugged and said, "Oh well. Easy come, easy go..."

I laughed with her, but I wasn't to be deterred. "No, seriously. What do you think about me having money?"

Not long after I had received my cash settlement as well as my inheritance from the death of my entire family, and started organizing my finances somewhat, I happened to notice that a couple of women were suddenly hovering around me. On my morning runs, around campus, at the coffee shop I regularly visit...

Despite the fact that they were simply gorgeous and coming onto me pretty strong, it was just too soon after my family's death for me to be in any way interested in sex. I was still walking around more or less in a numb daze. Plus, although I am admittedly ruggedly handsome, it was the very first time that any woman had ever aggressively pursued me, so I was somewhat suspicious. As it turns out, someone at my bank, my family's lawyer's office or maybe even some random employee at the courthouse had let the cat out of the bag about my newfound and considerable wealth. Exactly who, or why, I'd never found out, but I unexpectedly found myself the target of some professional gold-diggers.

Long story short, I gave them the bum's rush and, from that day forward, I was very careful about who I let get close to me.

Crys and I had met so very recently, I cared for her so much and she seemed to care for me just the same, that I was rather afraid - irrationally maybe - that there was some ulterior motive at work. If not my wealth, maybe it was simple survival.

I didn't really believe it, but the worry was there nonetheless.

The way I saw things, it was better to get this issue out of the way before we got serious.

"My brother and I talked a lot while I was in California. Over the phone, through e-mails and the occasional Skype session. I'd tell him about trying desperately to make a name for myself as an artist, but not really getting anywhere; living near the beach in the beautiful City of Angels; working my ass off as a waitress for basically tips; all the cool parties and concerts I went to; the douche bags that hit on me or the deadbeat exes that simply used me and treated me like crap." She sounded bittersweet talking about those memories. I guess that despite the good times, life in LA wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"Alex, on the other hand, would mostly talk about you guys, his friends – Lee, Dave, Missy, Maggie, Sandra and ... you." Much calmer now, she looked deeply into my eyes, smiling affectionately as she lifted her hand to caress the side of my face.

Sure, it was wet and a bit soapy, but still.

"He told me how you were a great guy – kind hearted, intelligent, funny, honorable even. He also said that there was a definite sadness to you. That you were scarred by something, but you tried desperately to hide it and not let it define who you were." That surprised me, and I guess it showed on my face.

"My brother is a pretty perceptive guy. And we both know something about being damaged." Crys said with a sad tone in her voice, despite maintaining a smile on her face. I reached out and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the fact that now my wet and soapy hands were wetting her shirt.

"I wanted to meet you for a while, long before I came to Seattle." She continued, whispering in my ear. "I was far from disappointed when I met you - not only was my brother right, but you also happened to be pretty damn good looking. Oh, and you can kick some ass if need be." We both chuckled lightly as we pulled apart some.

"Sure, the money is ... a surprise, to say the least. And to be honest, not an unhappy one, but it really doesn't change how I feel about you. I know that it's early, but I don't think that anything could."

What can a guy say to a declaration like that? I sure as hell didn't know, so I just kissed her with as much feeling as I could muster. It was slow, long, gentle, sweet and wet, leaving both of us flush and panting as we parted.

"I promise to pamper you and treat you like a princess, as well as I can, for as long as I can." I vowed to her, in all seriousness.

"You really don't have to. But I have a pretty good idea that you'll try to, no matter what I say." She sighed exasperatedly, but with a definite happy smile and twinkle in her eye. She then gave me another deep, but much shorter kiss, and we both went back to washing, and then drying the remaining dishes.

"Do you want to give me hand tomorrow?" I asked her, as a mere afterthought. "I could use some company."

"Sure. With what exactly?"

"Just some errands really. I'm heading over to my bank first thing – I have an appointment. That's bound to be boring, but I'm planning on doing some shopping afterwards. A few groceries, some clothes and whatever else is needed."

She didn't need any time to think it over. I spotted a definite sparkle of excitement flare up in her eyes. As with all the women I have ever known, all I had to do was simply speak the magic word - shopping.

It might be a stereotype, but it just happens to be a fairly accurate one.

"Sounds good." Crys answered, doing a damn good job of tamping down on her enthusiasm.

Crys and I reentered the living room to discover that Lee had brought out one of our favorite games to pass the time - Dungeons and Dragons.

Yes, we're all nerds here, get over it.

Well ... Missy and Maggie weren't really big fans, but they've learned to go with it.

Lee had apparently slipped over to his apartment to grab a couple of his sourcebooks, some random character sheets and a set of multi-sided dice. Now he was gearing up to act as dungeon master for a quick, low-level quest based off a previously created adventure. I pulled out the large plastic storage box out from under the coffee table which held a truly impressive assortment of modular maps and miniatures, as everyone took a seat on the floor. Happily, it turned out that no one here was a beginner - yet another reason that Crys turned me on - so there was no need for explanations, and we dove right in by first choosing our pre-generated characters and suitable miniatures.

I admit to being more than a little skeptical of Nina's choice of a massive axe wielding barbarian, named Torvald of the Biting North, as her character. At least, I was at first and I certainly wasn't the only one. It didn't last long. Once we eventually entered our first combat, against a small scouting band of goblins, Nina suddenly and unexpectedly let lose a mighty battle yell, with her fists high in the air, "Torvald shall vanquish you all!" All the while sitting, snuggled up in Alex's lap, mind you.

Understandably, we all burst out laughing.

And then she rolled a twenty, and proceeded to indeed vanquish all of those poor defenseless goblins, almost single handedly.

Yup, the girl had obviously played before. I actually shuddered a bit when she declared, quite confidently, that she would DM our next session.

At any rate, the adventure started, as tradition rightly demanded, in a dimly lit and rowdy tavern. After a slight bar brawl, brought about by the unfortunate misunderstanding of how several patrons' coin purses found their way into our party's thief's possession, we found ourselves locked in the cramped and filthy jailhouse. The town's elders kindly offered to release us – along with all of our armor, weapons and money - if we quite simply agreed to perform an important task for them.

We were to head on into the marshes to the south of town (plagued by all matter of dangerous flora and fauna, of the natural and unnatural type), and somehow take care of the area's recent troubles with the growing and increasingly belligerent goblin tribes (who had somehow gotten a hold of a mysterious, dangerous and extremely powerful magical artifact).

Just about a typical first level quest.

In the end, after a few hours of fun-filled, action-packed and sometimes hilarious game play, we finished our adventure. There were no casualties amongst our party of brave adventurers, the village was safe with the area's goblin tribes now severely diminished and widely dispersed, and the magical artifact (which had been provided to the goblins by some shadowy individual/organization with unknown nefarious purpose) was safely destroyed. We even ended up with some upgraded equipment, some more gold lining our pockets, and all of our characters' upgraded to level three.

By that time it was pretty late and we were all tired, so we called it a night and started to head for bed. It was so late in fact, and Maggie had drunk so many beers, that I told her, in no uncertain terms, that she was sleeping on our couch tonight.

She didn't bother arguing.

I walked Alex, Lee, Nina and Crys to the door and we all said our goodbyes. Crys and I shared another hot, lingering kiss just before she left. A part of me really wanted to ask her to stay over as well, in my bed, but I felt that it was too early for that.

When I returned to the living room after seeing them off, I found Maggie already asleep on the couch. I tried to wake her so we could at least put out some sheets and a pillow, but it was of no use. I just gave up, sighing in a mix of amusement and exasperation. I went to the hall closet and returned with a spare blanket and pillow. I pulled off her shoes and socks – and only those! – to make sure that she was comfortable and then tucked her in, on the makeshift bed. A detour to the kitchen provided me with a full glass of water, which I placed within her arm's reach on the coffee table.

Finally, I left the room, leaving a lamp on, on its dimmest setting to make sure that she didn't run into anything if she got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

In the privacy of my own room, I stripped off my clothes and crawled into my warm, comfortable bed. In minutes, I was asleep with a smile on my face, wishing that Crys was there by my side.

Maybe sometime soon...

The smile was still there when I woke up with my alarm clock blaring music. It widened even further once I realized what the song was – R.E.M.'s, It's the end of the world as we know it.

Yes, the world was heading for one hell of an upheaval, one unprecedented in written history, and I was feeling pretty damn good. Strange considering I fully understood just how many people were going to die, while others would be left to struggle and suffer in the aftermath. Just how much mortal danger and strife we would all be inevitably facing for years to come. But, I had a goal now, an objective to keep focused on - a damn important one too. Doing my level best to save my friends and ensure that we not only survived, but prospered in order to enjoy long, happy lives.

And then there was Crys. I hated to be cliché or overly sentimental, but I was seriously falling for her. Sure, I was attracted to her. With her curvy body, I'd have to be dead not to be, but that was far from everything. She was strong and independent, intelligent and warm. Though we shared many of the same interests, we were also different enough to keep things interesting – while she had an artistic temperament and outlook on life, I was far more intellectual and pragmatic.

I didn't know if we had a future – our relationship or our lives for that matter – but I was looking forward to finding out.

I hopped out of bed to hit the bathroom. Then, while I dressed for an early morning run, I turned on my laptop to check my e-mail. I was disappointed that there was no answer from my uncle. I felt a momentary pang of worry, but I ignored it. It was still early after all and I'm sure that he was more than busy working.

Dressed in well worn sweats, running shoes and t-shirt, I left my bedroom. The door to Dave's was closed, so I knew that he and Missy were still in there. I had heard them coming back very late last night – or better, very early this morning – so they would most likely stay in bed for a while. I'd have to wait to find out how their night had gone. That they were now engaged was a foregone conclusion, but some added details would be nice to know.

I started to quickly and quietly pass through the living room, but I soon froze in shock at what I saw.

I'd completely forgotten that Maggie had fallen asleep on our couch. She was still there, snoring somewhat cutely and completely dead to the world. But, something was definitely different. She was lying on her belly, a pillow clutched tightly in her arms, under her head, with the blanket I had covered her with last night now bunched down at her feet, and her plaid skirt flipped up over her hips. That way, her round, shapely, firm, dark caramel colored bubble butt was completely exposed to me, framed by a crisp white pair of sheer thong panties.