by Fel Fern
“Hey, Smoke. Haven’t seen you in the guild house for a long time,” said Striker in their guild voice chat.
“I’ve been spending time with someone else.”
“Huh, we’re no longer good enough for you?”
He snorted. “This guy is different. I think he’s my mate.”
“When do you time have to go on dates, if I always see you online half the time?” Striker demanded.
Smoke was tempted to say none of his business, but he decided to be civil instead. “He plays BeastWorld, too. We haven’t seen each other face-to-face.”
Smoke really should have expected Striker to laugh into his headphones. Having sensitive hearing, he growled and lowered the volume. Seriously? Why did Striker have to be such a dick all the time? Striker probably had reasons for acting that way, but they weren’t that close.
Striker continued, “Smoke, you can’t find your mate in an online game.”
“My brother found his mate online.”
“Sure, then he hunted down his mate, right?”
He narrowed his eyes at the screen, at Striker’s cocky-looking, golden-haired and golden-winged character. In real life, Striker claimed to be a golden dragon capable of summoning lightning bolts instead of fire. Elemental dragons were near extinction, so Smoke wasn’t too sure if he was bragging. It didn’t matter. If another dragon other than his own brother entered his territory, it would rile up his silver dragon. Chaos and mayhem would ensue, because when dragons fought, they wreaked havoc, no matter where they were.
It was all documented online or in the old newspapers, stories of how two dragon shifters in battle had destroyed entire towns, burned down entire forests, and reduced them to ash. It didn’t matter who got in the way.
“Where did you hear that?” he demanded.
Striker scoffed. “We dragons might not hang around each other because of obvious dominant issues, but word gets around. You’d know the rumors if you bothered to stick around instead of spending all this time with someone who might be an overweight forty-year-old guy who lives in his mom’s basement.”
“Fuck off.” He wasn’t in the mood to deal with Striker right now or tell Striker about his brother’s love life or elaborate on his own. He planned on blocking the guy, just for kicks, but then Striker’s voice lost a little of its usual arrogance and turned serious.
“Did your brother really find his mate? As in, put his mate mark and everything?”
Knowing dragon shifters had hard time finding their mates because most of the paranormal community was terrified of them, and for good reason, he didn’t lie. “Yeah, he did.”
“Lucky bastard.” Striker blew a breath. “Who am I to judge? Go after this guy if you really think he might be the one for you, Smoke.”
He grinned. Striker did have his occasional good side. “I’ll do just that.”
Who knew Smoke would get a boost of encouragement from an unlikely source?
Chapter 3
Tobias realized he’d been staring at the same email for over an hour. Whoever said work might keep his mind off other personal matters didn’t know what he or she was talking about. He wasn’t any good like this, and he’d built a good working relationship with his hard-earned clients over the years. Last thing he needed was to hand out a sloppy product and ruin his reputation.
He shut down his client’s email, deciding to answer it another day, when his head cleared. Tobias bit his lower lip and logged in again, unsure of what he was doing. Disappointment hit him, seeing Smoke’s offline status. A message popped up from one of his guild mates, though, requesting for a voice chat.
Tobias hovered his mouse pointer over the reject button, not in the mood, but seeing it was Ron, he sighed. Ron and he used to go on plenty of quests together, had been kind of friends ever since Ron let slip one night about a couple of personal problems. Ron had sounded drunk that evening, but he shared enough to tell Tobias they were in the same boat. Both failures at life, both freaks.
“Hey, Ron,” he said to his headphones.
“Where have you been, Ace? Dealing with real life shit?”
He hesitated. His chest felt heavy, like he wanted to unload all his problems on someone, except that was the kicker. He had no one. Tobias had few friends growing up. In high school, he formed a bond with other AV club members, but after they graduated, he was back to square one. Realizing he didn’t want another repeat of high school with bullies hounding him for the rest of college, he took online courses instead.
His parents didn’t care, as long as he didn’t ask for their money. For his entire life, they’d always been distant, always traveling. Tobias used to have once a week conversations with his mom when he started his online college courses. Those calls eventually dwindled to holidays, then to yearly calls. He dreaded those, because they didn’t have much to talk about.
She’d always ask him the same questions, if he was going out more to socialize, whether he found a boyfriend already. Coming out to them hadn’t been a big deal, but it seemed they were relieved when he told them he was moving out of their old house to his own apartment.
“Ace?”
“I—I’m being an idiot, Ron,” he blurted without thinking.
“Ace, you sound upset. I know we agreed to keep our personal lives out of here, but what can I do to help?”
He froze. Tobias had been such a dick to his guild mates, to his online buddies, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ron. So he told Ron about Smoke, eventually ending it with Smoke asking him out.
“This is that dragon warrior from that top PVP guild, DragonStuds?” Ron asked.
He grimaced. His guild didn’t do a lot of player-versus-player fights, preferred to focus on quests instead for good reason. PVP players held a kind of stigma in all online games.
“Yeah, but he’s really nice. We talk a lot, and I feel like I know him, except, I haven’t gone out on a real date in years.” Wow, admitting that felt more embarrassing than he thought.
Ron laughed. “Ace, all of us haven’t had dates in ages. Come on, we spend so many hours on BeastWorld, because the real world sucks. So now, this guy, this player wants to meet you face-to-face. I imagine he’s like us. He’s probably nervous, too.”
“Shit. That could be true. It never occurred to me,” he admitted. “But there’s still the prospect of him turning out to be some kind of jerk.”
“Want my advice, Ace? Meet him and if it doesn’t work out, or you don’t like what you see, leave.”
He sat back against his chair. Ron had a point. It sounded so simple in theory, but he only had to look at his sloppy appearance in the mirror to know he needed to work on his personal grooming. “Thanks, Ron. That’s all the pep talk I needed. Want to go kill stuff now?”
“Sure.”
They entered one high-leveled dungeon and faced off against some orcs. This took him back to what made him love BeastWorld in the first place. Emersion. Escape. They barely beat the final boss, a skeletal undead dragon.
“Whew,” he said after. “I finished all my healing items, but that was fun.”
“Hey, Ace? The others and I had been chatting. Um.” Ron paused, and he wondered what was up. “We were discussing about meeting each other in person. How long have we been guild mates?”
“Two years,” he said.
“That’s right, that’s pretty long, right? It’ll just be a casual meeting, I mean, if we’re in the same area,” Ron faltered, as if he finally lost the courage to say more. “Anyway, it’s no big deal if you can’t come or live too far.”
“I’ll think about it.” His answer surprised them both.
“Really?”
“Yeah, why not, right? We all share the same interests and spend a lot of time online together.”
“Great. I’ll go tell the others.”
Seeing Smoke’s name online, he bit his lip. “Listen, Ron. Smoke’s online.”
“I’m cheering for you, Ace. Tell me how it turns out.”
“I will,” he
promised, warping his character from the dungeon and back to the game’s main town. No message from Smoke yet. He took a deep breath and, for the first time, initiated the voice chat.
“Hey,” he said weakly when Smoke accepted his invitation to a private chat. “I thought about what you said.”
“I didn’t mean to push you so soon, Ace. If it’s too fast, I understand. I’ll back off. We can pretend this never happened.”
He knew it. Smoke was really a good guy. Could still be an act, a voice in his head said, but his talk with Ron encouraged him. Life only had a single beginning and one end, and he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life alone and miserable. Tobias needed to take a chance at this, and Ron was right. If things went south, he’d take the nearest exit.
Except it wouldn’t be that easy, would it? If Smoke ended up being a bastard and broke his heart, he wouldn’t be able to easily recover.
“I don’t want that,” he finally spoke. “I feel this connection to you, as well. It’s strange. I always worry about what I’ll say to other people, even guild mates. For guys like us, the online world is a kind of sanctuary, but even then, I can’t let my guard down knowing I’ll get hurt.”
“Being sensitive is not necessarily a bad thing, Ace.”
He cleared his throat. “Actually, it’s Tobias.”
A long pause. “You’re giving me your real name?”
“Yeah.” He wanted to show Smoke he was serious, that he wasn’t a coward. “What’s yours?”
“Smoke.”
He rolled his eyes. “Seriously.”
“Seriously. My brother’s name is Dark. Ask our parents why they named us that. Pretty whacked, right? I never got the chance to ask, because they died when we were kids. Dark took care of me.”
Shit. Smoke sounded completely serious, genuine. “Your name is really Smoke?”
“Here’s my phone number,” Smoke said, typing it out.
He fumbled for his cell phone and input Smoke’s number.
“Listen, I got to log off for now, but I’ll instantly reply to your message, Toby. Ring me once, so I can get yours.”
Smoke logged off, and he stared at his phone screen. It only hit him this was real. His palms started to sweat. For as long as he remembered, he always kept his online and personal life separate. That ensured his privacy, but damn it, he broke all the rules for one guy. One man. Smoke. He hesitated, but then rang up Smoke’s number so Smoke could see his.
It took him a second to realize he’d been holding his breath. Tobias let it out slowly. Toby. Smoke called him that. No one ever did before. Not his parents, old friends, or even his ex.
He looked at his screen again and saw Ron was still online. He opened another private chat to Ron.
Ace: I did it. I got his number.
Ron instantly voice chatted him. “Oh my God. You seriously did? Damn, Ace. I’d never have the guts.”
“What are you talking about? You encouraged me to do it.”
“I wanted to be a good friend.”
“Wait, are you saying it was a bad idea?” He panicked, and Ron could probably hear it in his voice. “Ron, I change my mind. I need a friend, a real friend to talk to. I want to meet, maybe not the whole guild yet.”
A long pause. “I want to meet you, too, Ace. I feel like we could be friends in real life.”
“I live in this little town. You probably haven’t heard of it.”
“Try me, I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, too. Burrell.”
He fell silent. “Are you serious? I live in Burrell, too.”
“Wait, this isn’t funny, Ace.”
“It’s not. I attended Burrell College, although I originally came from another state. I live, like, near Basher’s Park.”
“Holy shit. I stay at Garrison Street.”
Which meant only five blocks separated them. “So,” he began awkwardly.
“So. Um. You want to meet for coffee sometime?”
“At Newt’s?”
“Where else? They serve the best lattes.”
It was, he decided, nice to hear a friend’s genuine laugh. Pretty soon, it wasn’t just a game that bound them. He’d finally meet his friend in real life, and soon enough, Smoke. He and Ron didn’t discuss it further, going on another adventure instead, but he couldn’t stop smiling. Life was truly full of unexpected surprises.
Chapter 4
“Ron, I changed my mind,” he blurted.
They were both walking toward Newt’s, where Ron and he first met two weeks ago. Tobias had been nervous that day, he remembered, but he was even more worried now. It hadn’t been hard to spot Ron, who it turned out used his real name as his online name, as well. Spotting the skinny guy with reddish brown hair and green hoodie sitting at one corner table, who looked ready to bolt, he found a kindred spirit.
Ron and he instantly clicked. It was like looking into a mirror, because Ron shared the same fears as he did, and also the same interests. Ron was a graphic designer for a small company, but planned to quit someday and try freelancing, like Toby. Even their fellow guild mates seemed to have noticed a change in their online interactions. Feeling guilty about bailing on them for weeks, he’d begun to become more active in guild activities.
However, it also felt good having a real friend to hang out with.
“You can’t back out now, Toby. Smoke came all the way here to meet you, and you mentioned he lives really far, right?” Ron asked.
“But my eyes hurt. I shouldn’t have bothered with contacts.”
Ron furrowed his brows. “Why buy and wear them in the first place?”
“I don’t want to appear geeky with my glasses.”
Ron looked insulted. “I wear glasses, too, you know?”
“But you’re, like, more good-looking than I am.”
Ron rolled his eyes. “You’re just saying that to try and get yourself out of this. Listen, Toby. You reached out to me because you wanted a wingman, right? I’ll be right here in case this guy turns out to be a creep. Look.”
Ron pulled out something from his backpack, and he widened his eyes.
“Holy shit, Ron. Is that mace?”
Ron nodded. He quickly took it and put it inside his bag. It touched him Ron was worried about his meeting, too, and that Ron cared. They resumed walking, and if he slowed down his pace, Ron didn’t comment on it.
“What if it’s the opposite and he turns out to be the genuine article?” Tobias blurted.
“Why is that the bad thing?” Ron asked, frowning.
“Because nothing good ever happens to me, especially when it comes to my love life.” He told Ron about his bad experience in high school with Josh.
Ron’s gaze darkened. “I had a similar experience, and these jerks, they don’t get it, can’t seem to understand they scarred us for life.”
He let out a breath. “There was this guy I used to date in college, Brad. I thought he was in it for me, my first boyfriend.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. It’s like, one day he lost interest. He was older than me, graduated first, so after that we tried long-distance, but one day I got a text telling me it was all over.”
“Just like that?” Ron asked grimly.
He nodded, feeling worse than ever. Tobias hadn’t thought about Brad in ages. Whenever negative emotions seemed to overwhelm him, he buried himself in work or BeastWorld to forget. It worked most of the time, but for some reason, the tactic proved useless when it came to Smoke.
“Toby? We’re here.”
Ron’s comment made him jump. His mind had wandered throughout their walk.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” he admitted, halting. He hadn’t budged, simply stood outside the café and looked through the windows.
“Aren’t you going in?” Ron asked.
“Wait, let’s watch here a moment,” he said.
His phone pinged a moment later, and he swallowed as he took it out. Ron looked over his shou
lder so they both could see Smoke’s text.
Smoke: I’m here. I’m the guy with the mint-chocolate frappe and strawberry cheesecake guy.
Both Ron and he looked inside. Having the meeting after lunch seemed to be the best idea. Tobias didn’t deal well with crowds, and at this time of day, only a few people were inside. Now, he wondered if he should have stomached the lunch time crowd. That way, if things didn’t work out, he could just slip out.
“Holy shit, is that him?” Ron squeaked next to him.
“Where?” he blurted, looking at the nearest tables. In his head, he imagined Smoke to be this tall, lean, and cute guy who somehow managed to pull off looking hipster and being geek-cool, if that was possible.
“Jesus,” Ron muttered. “You didn’t mention he was ripped.”
What was with Ron’s extreme reaction? Before he could ask, he followed Ron’s gaze. It felt like someone punched him in the stomach as he sighted the titan of a man sitting at the corner, sipping a frap. For one, he looked so huge that the chair he sat on and the table looked miniature.
He had short, striking silver hair and forest green eyes. Ink peeked from the shirt he wore, and the thin fabric didn’t fail to hide the taut muscles underneath. He bet this guy could easily bench press two hundred pounds or something. To top the casual look off, Smoke wore a pair of worn-in jeans with plenty of holes and boots that looked scrubbed, well-used.
He knew this could only be Smoke, because who else had the gall to wear a shirt with the words ‘Warning: Smoking Hot’ over his broad chest? Smoke didn’t seem to notice that the woman at the other table was giving him suggestive looks or the guy at another secretly taking a photo of him with his phone.
What if the real Smoke hired an actor, and this was some kind of practical joke? His stomach clenched. Tobias was ready to bolt, except Smoke suddenly leveled that handsome face at him. Smoke didn’t take one look at him and bail. Instead, he flashed this huge-ass smile that, if possible, spiked up his sexy meter. His pants felt uncomfortable.
Smoke waved at him, as if he knew exactly who he was.
Ron gave him a little push. “Go on. What’s stopping you?”