Chapter Text
"So, is everyone ready?" Nika called out to her table. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at her, the idle conversations fading away as everyone turned their attention to her and placed their character sheets on the table. She could see apprehension, excitement and feverishness in their gazes, and she felt a pang of happiness in her heart.
Yeah, she had missed that feeling. Sitting behind a screen, dice strewn about the table, gazes focused on her, breaths bated as she described scenes, characters, spoke as a queen, a dragon or a thief. Fists clenched over a handful of dice, praying for that one roll that would save an adventurer from certain death, cries of agony as another fell into a trap, desperately looking through a character sheet to find the one item, the one ability that would lead to salvation, the looks of determination as the players faced their final foe in an epic battle...
Yeah, it was good to be the dungeon master.
Nika's eyes roamed over her assembled players, starting with Suletta, who was almost shaking in her seat with either excitement or terrified realization that she was about to roleplay, the driving force behind the game they were about to begin.
The idea had come all of a sudden while Nika and Chuchu were talking about their youth on Earth. Nika had offhandedly mentioned that she used to often play tabletop RPGs and had even ended up being a fairly popular DM at school, when Suletta suddenly rushed in from nowhere to insert herself in the conversation and asking (almost begging, really) if Nika was going to run a game, declaring that it was on her list of things to do. Almost strong-armed into it, Nika answered that she wouldn't mind trying it out, but she wasn't sure where to find players.
Nika then looked at Chuchu sitting on the other end of the table from her, who had volunteered at that point, remarking that she had herself played some tabletops in the past and kind of missed it, and Suletta excitedly rushed off, claiming that she knew just who to invite. Nika had expected at that point that Suletta would either come back with Earth House people or she would return with her head held low and depressingly admitting that she couldn't find anyone in the end.
But as Nika looked at Miorine, who coolly looked back at her without much emotion showing on her face, she remembered how shocked she had been at first that Suletta had somehow managed to convince the princess herself to play with them. Any question to Suletta of how she had managed that feat was answered with a confused tilt of her head as she simply replied that she had asked Miorine if she wanted to play, and Miorine had said yes. Nika had then asked the same question to Miorine, who frustratingly responded the same thing (except with the knowing smile of someone fucking with her). Now the two of them sat on the same side of the table, within easy embracing distance. Miorine insisted it was to be able to help out Suletta with her character and the rules and whatnot, but no one was fooled by that excuse.
In retrospect, Nika had to admit that it wasn't actually that surprising. After all, Suletta and Miorine's relationship had turned far closer since their return from Plant Quetta. She wasn't entirely privy to how it happened, having heard rumors of a chase through the station and a heart-to-heart conversation, but once she saw that Suletta's ugly matching key-chain had been accepted by Miorine, she understood that the two of them had passed a threshold in their relationship. Everyone could observe afterwards that they spent much more time with each other and were more openly affectionate in their interactions (to the chagrin of Chuchu and the delight of Lilique). It was a good thing that nothing traumatizing happened during that visit.
Nika still wondered how Miorine possibly had the time for this game when she had to manage Gund-ARM Inc. as her primary job in addition to school work.
The fourth player though, Nika still had no idea how it happened, and she couldn't keep the slight confusion from her eyes as she turned them to Guel. The Jeturk heir had disappeared from school for a while but for some reason she couldn't fathom, ended up coming with the Earth House group back to Asticassia from Plant Quetta in the overalls of a transport ship worker. No one except Miorine seemed to know how this even happened and she refused to say a word about it (and obviously Guel himself remained silent). Nika hadn't really seen Miorine and Guel together since then, but Suletta seemed pretty cheerful to talk to him on the return trip, and Guel himself had seemed... Rather receptive to the conversation. Even more shocking, Miorine did not appear bothered in the least by his presence. Even Chuchu appeared chill about him being in the same room as her.
Evidently, Suletta had somehow convinced him to play with them, which further indicated that he had buried the hatchet with Miorine. Again, Miorine herself gave no hints to indicate how and why they were on speaking terms once more and Nika couldn't sense any animosity between them as they sat on opposite sides of the table. But even beyond that, Nika had never thought that Guel was the type to play tabletops (and even less to role play), being something of an obvious jock, and the man himself had admitted that he never had any interest in it before, but he wanted to give it a try since he was invited though she could tell he didn't look entirely comfortable sitting on his own side of the table.
At the end of the day though, Nika was just happy to DM again. Sadly, she had no time to really prepare a campaign from scratch with how busy school life at Asticassia was, but thankfully pre-made games were a handy solution for her problem. A quick look through the Internet gave her access to a glut of campaigns from years long past, and she decided to look into a tabletop with a deep and extensive lore, eventually stopping on Pathfinder. The company behind it had been a campaign-publishing company at first, and over decades had developed the lore of their setting with multitudes of campaign paths and lore books and supplementary mechanic books... Really, there was enough material in there to last for centuries.
The decision made, she presented the first adventure path to her new group and got them to create characters, with help from a player guide meant to introduce the game world's lore and the premise of the campaign. Another thing that Nika was happy for, an easy guide to relay all the background information without having to repeat it for anyone who might forget about it (Suletta came to mind, naturally). The gist of it was that the players' characters lived on the world of Golarion, in the region of Varisia, a wild province of a few city-states strewn about an immense rugged wilderness. They were visitors or residents of a coastal town called Sandpoint, on the eve of a festival to celebrate the holy day of one of the setting's primary goddesses and the consecration of a brand new cathedral.
There was a little bit of drama when the players proceeded to roll stats together (to make sure that no one cheated) and Suletta and Miorine's rolls ended up being god-like, to which Chuchu reacted rather poorly, complaining about "bullshit beginner's rolls" for the entire day. Nika allowed the players to build their characters on their own afterwards, keeping herself open for advice. Most of them made their characters on their own, save for Suletta who was given assistance by Miorine. And now it all led to today, in a lounge in Earth House, the five of them sitting around a table, character sheets ready, snacks placed in various strategic places for ease of reach, everyone with their own set of dice... They were ready to play.
Nika suddenly realized that Chuchu was talking to her. "Hey, you going to say something yet, Nika? You just been staring at us."
Nika gave an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, sorry. I just got lost in the moment. I haven't felt like this in a long time! Ahem, so as I was saying, everyone ready to present their character?"
"Yes! Yes! Me first!" Suletta exclaimed, proudly waving her character sheet in the air, her trademark goofy smile plastered on her face. "I'm going to be playing a paladin. I will be a local of Sandpoint, and I chose this, um, trait in your guide that says I'm a favored daughter of the town that just about everyone likes! I live with my parents and siblings whom I love and I work very hard to provide for everyone!"
Nika couldn't help but feel like Suletta was projecting the kind of idyllic youth she wished she had on her character, a thought she kept to herself (though a quick look to the others revealed from their expressions that the same thought had crossed their minds). "Sounds good. That trait says you'll have an ally NPC in town, someone who is willing to make you favors."
"Yeah, but the suggested NPCs don't really appeal to me..." Suletta pondered.
"Hmm.." Nika looked over the town's list of NPCs and quickly found something interesting. "Ah, I think I have someone here for you. The headmaster and teacher of the academy where all the children of Sandpoint learn basic school subjects. It also serves as an orphanage. Your character is likely to have studied under him, and knowing you, I bet you'd be happy to have taken work as his assistant."
Suletta's eyes lit up immediately (causing Miorine to get lost in them for a moment) and she energetically nodded her head. "Yes! Yes, that sounds perfect!"
"Good. That's pretty much all I needed to know." Nika responded as she typed notes on her laptop. "Oh, actually, what's your character's name?"
Somehow, this question made Suletta blush as brightly as her hair, as though she had just been caught doing something indecent. She stammered over her answer. "Oh, um... I-i-i-i-is it okay if I... Um... G-g-g-give her m-m-m-my name?" She hesitantly said, looking away from Nika as though she had just asked for a dance at prom. "I'm.. Uh, n-n-not sure I c-c-can manage to p-p-play someone who isn't... D-d-doesn't have my name... It's, uh, m-m-my first time!"
Hmm. Phrasing , Nika thought while camouflaging a grin with her ever bright smile. "Hey, that's understandable. We all start somewhere. I'm sure everyone's fine with your character being called Suletta."
The others nodded in agreement, Miorine discretely squeezing Suletta's thigh reassuringly under the table. The nervous girl immediately relaxed, letting out a relieved sigh.
Nika then turned to Miorine. "Okay, you next, Miorine. Who will you be playing as?"
Miorine smiled confidently as she looked over her character sheet. "I am an elf wizard from the elven nation of Kyonin, far from Varisia. I left a stuffy and oppressive home life to explore the world, deciding that there was more to life than what I knew where I lived."
Chuchu snickered on her chair. "How original."
Miorine responded with a glare before continuing. "I have found the nations of humans far more interesting, with their frenetic short lives and their drive to commit themselves to greatness. More importantly, I found that contrary to the teachings of the elven schools of my nation, humans long gone have left their unmistakable mark on the world. The trait I chose indicates that there was an ancient empire that left gigantic monuments over the land of Varisia, and I am there to study them."
Nika nodded in satisfaction, finding herself a bit surprised at how thoroughly Miorine had thought about her background. She really seemed into it. "Alright! So what's your elf's name?"
Miorine fell silent.
As Nika waited, she wondered at first if Miorine hadn't heard her, but she, like Suletta, suddenly looked very embarrassed, avoiding the dungeon master's quizzical eyes. "Well... I, um..."
Another awkward silence fell at the table. Nika continued staring at Miorine. Guel grew more uncomfortable on the other side of the table. Chuchu grew more annoyed, before a look of revelation crossed her face, and her frown morphed into a wicked grin. "Did you choose your own name too~?"
The obvious flinching from Miorine answered even if no words came, causing Chuchu to cackle in delight. "Ha! I guess the Princess isn't too good at choosing names either!"
"N-no, it's not that!" Miorine protested. "I just..." She looked away, still blushing, clearly hesitating as though whatever she had to say was a grave matter the likes of which could topple governments.
So of course, Suletta decided to open her big dumb mouth. "I told Miss Miorine her name was pretty enough to be elven!"
Miorine's breath caught in her throat. Her cheeks burned scarlet and Nika swore she saw steam erupt from her ears as she covered her face with both hands. "Sulettaaaaaa!" She whined, suddenly wishing she could find a hole to crawl into and never come out.
Chuchu, naturally, erupted in a hearty belly laugh, pounding the table with a fist and trying desperately not to cough and choke on her own laughter. Nika covered her mouth with her hand, trying just as desperately not to let herself laugh as her eyes welled up with tears and choked hiccups erupted from her throat instead. Guel was shaking on his seat, having turned away so that no one could see his face.
And Suletta just smiled dumbly, clearly enjoying that she had made everyone laugh again and not bothered at all that her bride wanted to die of embarrassment.
It took a moment for the group to regain its composure, and even longer for Nika to edge in a word without Chuchu letting out a snicker or a chuckle. "W-well, it's fine. It works fine, and beside, Suletta also will be using her name. You have a good character concept, Miorine."
Miorine said nothing in response, still covering her face with one hand as Suletta gently patted her hair. Nika figured that she could move on and leave Miorine to her groom and turned to Chuchu... Just in time to see her having just scribbled something on her character sheet. Immediately, Nika frowned, sensing shenanigans. "..Chuchu, what are you doing?"
Chuchu just grinned as she leaned back in her chair, looking Nika directly in the eye. "Nuthin'."
"Don't 'nuthin' me,” Nika protested. “I just saw you write something there. What did you just do?"
Chuchu shrugged, her grin not getting any smaller. "I dunno what you're talking about."
The two of them stared each other down for a long moment before Nika suddenly realized. "Did you change your na-"
"My character's name is Chuchu, she's a gnome from-"
"Goddammit."
Now it was Guel's turn to burst out laughing, collapsing on the table as he lost all semblance of composure he had. Even stoic Miorine, still trying to hide her embarrassment, couldn't help but start laughing as well, a sight that made Suletta's heart skip a beat and probably get a new core memory that would follow her for the rest of her life (and the realization that she wasn't the one to make Miorine laugh like that would make her throw an uncharacteristically hostile glare at Chuchu for a moment that nobody noticed). Nika closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, dreading the headache that she knew Chuchu was now clearly dedicated to inflict on her. Chuchu was, naturally, still grinning wide, still staring straight at Nika, daring her to actually stop her. Nika silently motioned for Chuchu to continue explaining her character's background.
"So as I was saying, Chuchu's a gnome rogue from Riddleport, a crime-riddled pirate haven in Varisia. She pissed off one too many crime lords and decided to make her way out of town before she got made to wear cement shoes."
"Does cement even exist in that time period?" Miorine commented, earning a shrug in response.
"Shut up, nobody cares.” Chuchu silenced Miorine. “She sneaked into a ship departing from Riddleport and hid in the hold. As a stowaway, she waited for the ship to make land, which just so happens to be Sandpoint. It's a coastal town, so I imagine that ferries and transport ships occasionally make stops there."
"Yeah, makes sense." Nika responded, making mental notes to bite Chuchu's ass with her background at some point in the campaign. "She sneaks into Sandpoint just before the festival starts with the clothes on her back and the gold in her pocket. Okay, that works well. Now then..."
She paused as she glanced at Guel, her last player. She dreaded asking him the question, but... Well, better rip off the band-aid right away. "Alright, Guel. Is your character going to be called Guel too?"
He scoffed. "What? No he's not!"
Relief. Nika's shoulders immediately felt like a burden had been removed from them and her smile returned. "Oh, okay! What's his name?"
"It's..." Guel looked down at his character sheet and saw the field labeled 'name' stare back at him completely blank. A cold chill ran down his spine as he realized he had not actually chosen a name yet.
Oh dear. He had to come up with one fast. The others were staring at him, he could tell. He needed to ignore them though, so he could focus on finding a good name. It couldn't be that hard to find one, right? Something like.. Shaddiq. No, wait, don't think of names of people you know! Think medieval! Fantasy! Aragorn! No, wait, that's Lord of the Rings, it's an ancient book sure, but everyone at this table except Suletta definitely knows about it. Wait, Suletta spent her early life on Mercury reading old books and mangas, had she also read Lord of the Rings? Wait, you're getting sidetracked, go back to the name thing. Come on, find something!
He chanced a glance up at the others. Nika's smile was slowly turning into a dreadful grimace as Guel's silence drew on. Chuchu's grin had grown predatory. He could swear her teeth had sharpened into that of a shark's. Miorine's growing contempt was clear as day on her face. Suletta still had that dumb earnest look on her face, the one that everyone fell in love with because her smile was just that sincere. Oh God how long had he been thinking about this? He must have been silent for at least twenty seconds now, maybe even twice that! Come on Guel, say a name! Any name!
"..Bob."
... Oh God that was the dumbest thing he could have possibly said.
Everyone's face just fell all at once, even Suletta's. A general atmosphere of “Are you fucking serious” fell over the room. Nika looked ready to close her laptop and cancel the game on the spot. Chuchu and Miorine both had grimaces of disgust, and even sweet innocent Suletta looked embarrassed to have invited him at all. As far as fucking up goes, Guel could imagine that there were worse ways to do so, like accidentally killing your own dad in a mobile suit duel or something, but this definitely felt like one of his worse fuck-ups.
Well, sure, it was a very minor thing, all things considered, but this was one of his first social interactions since his return to Asticassia, so he should try to at least prevent the damage he caused from worsening. He summoned all of his strength, took a deep breath... "Sorry.. I... Actually haven't chosen a name yet.", he finally admitted, forcing himself to look at Nika and not avoid looking her in the eyes. “I couldn't think of anything.”
She remained silent for a long moment, making Guel feel like he was under the gaze of a judge and about to receive a death sentence. The seconds dragged on and more sweat pearled on his forehead. Finally she just suddenly returned to her easy-going smile. "Oh, that's fine. Normally I'd suggest just going on the internet to find some kind of name generator, but might as well just have your character named Guel. Since everybody is already doing it."
That seemed to restore the vibe of the room and let the tension fall away. Guel released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I do have a background in mind though. There's this trait that says I can be part of one of the founding noble families of Sandpoint. I don't really know which one I'd fit in best, but I imagine you'd be able to advise me on that."
Nika nodded and looked over her campaign notes. "I probably can. What's your character like?"
"He's human fighter.” Guel explains. “Specializes in using a halberd."
"Did you just make your character's weapon specialization your mobile suit's?!" Chuchu interjected.
Guel just smiled and scoffed. "Sure. What of it? Suletta's gonna be using a sword and shield and I don't see you bringing that up."
Chuchu's grin just turned back into a scowl as she realized he was right, so her only response was a halfhearted middle finger. Suletta just beamed at the realization that she was using Aerial's weapons. She then gasped as though an idea suddenly struck her and Miorine bumped her with her elbow. "No, Suletta, you can't have your shield split into pieces and act independently of you." The pilot deflated into a pout.
"Anyway," Guel continued. "He's something of a hotshot mercenary type. Kind of acts like an enforcer for his family, but he's also fairly sharp and he knows how to handle business in addition to combat."
"So you're going to be playing yourself as a bully?" Miorine asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What? No! I'm not... Like that anymore!” Guel protested before quickly correcting himself. “I mean he's not like that! He's not going to be a bad guy and pick fights or anything! He might have a bit of an ego, but he's not going to hurt people for no reason."
"I'll hold you on to that.” Miorine said flatly. “If you try to pick a fight with Suletta or make a move on her in-game, I will burn you alive."
"Um.. What, in-game with your spells?" Guel asked with growing dread.
"That will be for you to discover if you try anything." Miorine answered with a dangerous edge to her voice.
Guel imagined that Miorine might very well learn real magic just to actually incinerate him from the look she gave him, almost daring him to test her.
Setting aside the thought that Guel was pining on Suletta, Nika interjected at this point to avoid another awkward moment. "So anyway! Judging by what kind of background you have, Guel, I think you'll fit in best with the Valdemar family. They're shipbuilders, they've specialized in making Magnimar's merchant navy for many generations now and are responsible for building the fleet of fishing ships in Sandpoint as well."
"Right. Wooden ships, that's what people used to build before they figured out how to make metal ships float." Guel mused. "That's basically the ancestors to spaceship and mobile suit builders. I think I'd be a good fit in that."
"Well, you and the princess sure know how to put your Spacian business to work even in a game.", Chuchu snorted. "You'd better not start boring everyone with business plans during the campaign."
Suletta spoke up in protest. "I think it's pretty interesting when Miss Miorine talks ab-"
"Shut up Suletta, no you don't." Chuchu cut her off.
"Well, I think that we just about all are ready then!" Nika suddenly announced to get everyone's attention back on the game. "Just before we do start, I'm going to lay down some ground rules so that everyone is on the same page. No cheating. No grabbing the dice before we've had a good look at it after rolling, I'm going to be very cross if someone tries to do that. No rolling until I tell you to do so. No meta-gaming. No in-fighting or stealing from other players, that's very rude. No mulligans, no take-backsies. When you roll, you commit to an action. No taking forever to make a decision or I'll assume that your character is themselves paralyzed by indecision, especially in combat."
"And if you two keep flirting over there, I'm personally throwing you out of the room." Chuchu added as she glared at Miorine and Suletta on their side of the table, whom she had observed gradually leaning into each other. Suletta immediately straightened up in her seat, stammering an apology while Miorine gave an annoyed humph.
"Well, do keep everyone else's comfort in mind when role playing, yeah?" Nika said more diplomatically.
She received nods in answer and figured that this would be enough to keep the peace. She felt herself get excited again as she finally arrived at the moment she had been waiting for.
"Then without further ado, let's begin!"