Another morning that Troy woke up in his bed, alone. 'Must have been unsummoned in the night...' Troy told himself. He went through his similar morning routine of coffee, shower, getting dressed but with the added letting out Rosco and feeding him as well. It was a nice addition to the morning as now he'd often see Clint outside as well. Even more so that he was a massive anthropomorphic horse man. That was just a nice little bonus.
Otherwise, the day was pretty normal for Troy. Answer emails and phone calls and then make sure he would move his mouse around enough to make sure the key logger didn't say he wasn't doing enough. Other than that, he was able to play on his phone or put on a movie in the background. However, as he was doing so, he noticed the sword still on the ground. "Huh..?" he reached down and picked it up. It was just as heavy as it had been the night prior.
Troy made sure to lift it up with both hands and unsheathed it just a little bit to see the glimmer of the metal. "Why's this still here?" He looked around seeing that the armor that Lancer had been wearing wasn't there. And he knew that he fell asleep on the lion's bare chest. "Weird..." Troy muttered as he went back to work. His mind still focused on Lancer a bit more.
He loved the confidence the giant lion was able to exude. Everything about him seemed so prepared and intentional. Not to mention how hot he was. Feeling that big hand wrap around his head and lift him up the night before made him blush all over again. More because only one of his hands was working on the keyboard while the other was a bit preoccupied with something else.
A text message from Troy's phone brought him back down from reality. Though the awkward walk to the other room to pick up the phone was still evident of what he was thinking about. He looked down to see that Mark had texted him. 'Hey. Dusty, Greg and another one of my friends are going to meet us at Mido's Tavern Comics shop at like 6 tonight. They have food and snacks so you don't have to eat. Did you ever get the rolls for your friend?"
"Shit," Troy cursed as he realized he hadn't done so. He quickly pulled up Google and did what he did early. '16, 14, 12, 18.' "18!?! Fuck... is Mark going to believe me?" But continued rolling. If not, he could always just down it later. '11, and 9.' Then hit send.
Within a few seconds he received another text. 'Race and class?'
'Human wizard?'
'Does he have any of the books?'
Troy looked text. 'No... Is that a problem?'
'For a wizard... Kind of. Most of them require a lot of spells that can be changed pretty frequently. It'd probably be best for him to go with something else. I'd suggest a more martial class. Even though it's a bit unorthodox to have so many in one party, it'd be better to not waste a ton of time explaining spells.' After a few seconds another text came. 'It's not that big of a problem though.'
'How about Leonin paladin?'
Barely even able to read it, Mark sent back a, '=P' Then quickly followed up. 'He's a furry too?'
Technically no... Lancer had a human fetish not an anthropomorphic animal one. Still, Troy wasn't going to dignify that with an answer. Not that Mark cared. He already texted again. 'There's a couple of spells in there too but mostly just cures and smites. I'll make his character sheet up and give it to you guys tonight. Then we should be good.'
"Should be?" the words felt a bit awkward to read. Troy texted that back.
He could almost hear the sigh in the text. 'Yeah... Should be... We had a problem player about a month or so ago. Had to move our game to our houses. Still was fun. But we didn't have all the same stuff. And it was a bit awkward finding a basement or kitchen table to play on. Supposedly he's not going there anymore. So we should be good.' Followed by a fingers crossed emoji.
Problem player? That didn't sound good. If anything, that made everything so much more awkward. All Troy wanted to do was have fun, not deal with drama he'd not even been a part of. 'And if he is?'
'Well... It's a good thing one of us is a cop.'
Troy felt the tension inside him ease a bit as he read that text. He wondered how Mark was even friends with an officer. Though, maybe the 'nerd' had a much bigger social life than Troy had realized. He shrugged it off and let the rest of his workday fly by. Most of his thoughts were on anything but work, but he still powered through. Once it hit 4:30, Troy logged off, grabbed the book and said, "Monster."
Lancer appeared before him, not wearing his armor. It was something that still looked ancient, but not nearly as formal. It was more of a very loose-fitting long sleeve smock and some leather pants. A different sword laid attached to his around his side. "Greetings Troy," Lancer said. "Are you ready to play your game?"
"Yes. But not like that," Troy said, pointing at what Lancer was wearing. The lion looked down at his clothing.
"Is this not right?"
"Not if you don't want to stand out," Troy said. "We'll go get you something from the store. But first I've got to let Rosco out." The German Shepard was standing by the door, staring at the outside. Troy went over to open the door and the dog burst through the opening, chasing a squirrel out of the yard. One bark and an intense stare at the tree later and Rosco felt like the best security guard in the area. He searched around the yard for a moment before finding a place to go to the bathroom.
Troy stepped outside to feel the warmth of the sun hit him. Lancer naturally followed him outside. "Hey there neighbor," Clint called from over the fence. "Who's your new friend?"
'Friend?' Troy thought then looked up at Lancer. For a second his heart stopped. Somehow, he'd completely forgotten that Lancer was a giant lion. But he took a breath and thought about it. If Clint were to see something like this as strange, he wouldn't be acting so calm. "Oh? Him?" Troy awkwardly posed towards Lancer. "That's my new... Uhh... Fri-end." He really emphasized the word. "His name's... Lance. Errr..."
"Well, howdy Lance," Clint tipped his hat and held out his hoofed hand. Lancer reached out and shook it. "Good ta meetcha."
"Good to meet you too, sir," Lancer said back.
Clint looked up and down Lancer and then over at Troy with a knowing smile. "You doing some roleplaying?"
Troy felt his face go red. "No! It's not like that," he quickly interrupted. But the chuckle from the other man only made him even more uncomfortable. His hands were starting to wave wildly around as he became conscious of the placement of every part of his body. "We're just doing DnD tonight. That's all. And Lance wanted to dress the part."
"Oh? That dice game?" Clint said. "Sounds interesting. Not something I'd really take part in though." He sized up Lancer. "Wouldn't take you for one of them nerds either." Then gave a friendly tap to Lancer's arm. "Though, anything to get a bit closer to a 'friend.' Eh?"
Lancer leaned in, watching Troy spaz out a bit more. "I guess... You'd think he'd want to spend more time with just me. But I don't know," Lancer taunted, flexing his arm. Even in the baggy sleeve, it tightened a bit against the fabric showing off the sheer size of the muscle.
"Maybe he's just into group roleplays," Clint prodded. He struggled to hold back a neigh in laughter. Especially as he emphasized the word 'roleplays.'
"Anyway!" Troy interrupted the two. "We need to get going. Sorry for bothering you," he grabbed Lancer by the hand and started to pull him into the house.
"Not a bother at all," Clint smiled as he waved. "It was good meeting you Lance. Make sure you have some fun with him tonight. Just don't wake the 'neigh'bors." He continued to chuckle to himself as he went back to his own yard.
"Good meeting you too," Lancer called back.
Troy called back in Rosco and then pulled Lancer to the front door. Then stopped. His head drooped down as he held onto the doorknob. "Maybe we shouldn't go..."
"What? Why?" Lancer asked.
"I--"
Lancer leaned down, getting to eye level. "It'll be fine. Alright?" he said. The cool calmness of his voice seemed to take control over the situation. His big hand landed on Troy's head, rubbing it gently. "I was just messing with you."
"But--"
"I want to play," Lancer said. "With you."
"O--kay," Troy breathed. A piece of his anxiety was still there, but if Lancer 'wanted to play the game,' he'd play too. "But let's get you some new clothes before we go..." He gestured to the strange garments that Lancer was wearing. "This isn't going to cut it."
Lancer rolled his eyes, then pushed Troy out the door. "Lead the way."