---------LEGEND---------
PLAYER/USERNAME
Grace/Lasair
Xia/Genevieve
-------------------------------

As mentioned, the opportunity presented itself very soon. Xia waited for Grace as usual to go back home for the usual study session, but instead of immediately going to the car, she invited her to go together to a nearby coffee shop.

The coffee shop was located at a low-traffic intersection, on the first floor of a four-story building; already from the large windows you could see that at least half of the tables inside were occupied by students who in turn came from Eastern Passage Community College. Grace went through first, opening the door and trying not to show too much that she was holding it open for Xia otherwise she would have had to push it with her shoulder.

“Thanks,” Xia muttered softly.

Grace didn't answer her, she simply gave her a shy smile before hastily turning her gaze elsewhere in search of a quiet and fairly secluded table. They found it in a small corner at the back of the room, close to the window and the little pedestrian walking that was on the sidewalk outside the cafeteria. The tables were separated by high plastic panels that covered well above the head once seated and the seating consisted of two leather sofas large enough for two customers each.

They sat opposite to each other and stared at each other for about twenty seconds, it was clear that both of them wanted to talk and that they were both waiting for one of the two to start.

“…And here we are,” Grace tentatively began to say.

“Yeah,” Xia nodded a few times, damn her. “I mean: I'm happy that we have this moment outside of the studies” and LotA “to discuss face to face.”

Grace was about to open her mouth when a waitress with short brown hair and dressed in a green and black uniform approached them, "good afternoon girls, how can I serve you?"

After all, if you sit down in a shop to chat, the least you can do is 'pay for the rental' of a comfortable and sheltered seat, "could I have a cooked ham sandwich with salad, tomato and mozzarella? Peach juice is fine to drink,” Xia said, looking at the waitress, “thank you very much.”

“I-I'd like a cheeseburger, and a CotaSoda, p-please…” Grace held the waitress's gaze just long enough to speak.

“Of course, they're coming right away! Thank you for your order!” The waitress exclaimed enthusiastically, leaving them alone again. Personally, Xia envied her, if she had been the one having to work closely with people the only thing that would have stopped her from starting a fight with some customer was that she couldn't stand on her own two feet. Being a waitress is a work that requires patience.

Xia quickly raised a hand towards her and shook her head slightly, “no, wait, I start first.” Xia took a deep breath, concentrated on the air entering her lungs and inflating them. There was a line she was about to cross, a fake one since she was quite sure they both knew the truth, but it was a line that helped her in keeping a distance between the emotions she felt in the game and the emotions she felt in the real world. “I'm Genevieve.”

Grace tilted her head toward one shoulder and smiled sweetly, “and I'm Lasair.”

That introduction didn't go as Xia expected, she expected anxiety and fear to collapse on her and lead her to defend herself against potentially dangerous relationships again, but no, Xia was just worried that the way Grace saw Genevieve was now been permanently changed into the image of a crippled girl that will never be able to old a sword and fight like in the game. "What are you thinking?" Xia asked hesitantly.

"What I think? I think y-you're cute,” Grace said as she began to fidget nervously with a lock of her hair. "And me? What do you think of me?"

“I think you're exactly the Grace I like,” Xia said trying to maintain a poker face.

"R-really?"

Xia hesitated, "the best kendo master, no matter if blonde or redhead."

“J-just the best kendo master?” Grace hesitated a few times to ask.

Xia knew what it meant, she hadn't forgotten that... connection that had existed between them after they had been defeated in Davina's friendly mini-tournament; the problem was that Xia didn't have an answer to that question, there was a lot of confusion in her heart and in her head at that moment... did Xia feel attracted to Grace? Not that she had ever felt anything particular towards anyone at that point, and even what she felt for Grace she didn't know what it was.

“Grace, I…” Xia sighed, “I don't know. Until now I've tried to avoid asking myself those questions because I know I wouldn't find the answers.”

“I understand, I feel that way too… and-and-and I even had a boyfriend!” Grace admitted, turning red in the face.

Their conversation was interrupted by the waitress, who placed the dishes and drinks they had ordered in front of them. Xia gave the waitress a nod of thanks and waited until she was gone before starting to talk again, "so would you be okay if... for now we remain as we are?" Xia reached across the table, holding the hand open to offer it to Grace. “We continue to play together and study to get through college. Let's be friends."

"Yes! That's fine with me!" Grace exclaimed, taking Xia's hand as if they had made a business deal, but with clear relief on her face, “I just want our paths to never diverge.”

Xia had a bad flashback about her cousin, a promise they had made to each other, which fate had not allowed them to keep. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, trying to think only of the scent of the food on the table.

Just start eating, Xia, everything but don't think of the past, don't remember.

“c-can I ask you something?” Grace asked as Xia took the first bite of her order.

“M-mh,” Xia replied, nodding with her mouth full.

“How…how did this happen?”

Xia tried to keep the past away from the present, but it wouldn't stop haunting her, it wouldn't let her live. She swallowed the mouthful forcefully. “A car accident,” Xia said vaguely and shrugged, too focused on keeping the memories at bay.

Xia sensed from Grace's expression that her answer wasn't what she expected, but luckily for Xia, Grace didn't try to investigate further.

“Now I will have to tell Davina that she is free to talk to you about matters that concern me!” Xia exclaimed after swallowing the last bite of her sandwich, “I told her to keep gaming and real life separate as a condition to play together.”

“Um…” Grace blushed, “I already know Amber.”

Xia started staring at Grace insistently, knowing her Xia was certain that it wasn't Grace who broke the ice with Amber but rather the opposite. Damn Amber, traitorous hairdresser.

“W-we met at my ke-kendo gym! She came to learn how to fight to be more independent in the video game and she recognized my voice!” Grace said hastily waving her hands with open palms between her and Xia. Secondly, Grace added in a lower voice, “and then her in-game avatar is so similar to her in real life that it was impossible not to recognize her.”

That was true.

“I bet she did very little to pretend she didn't know you though!” Xia grumbled, "in any case, then the only person we don't know is AlexFae, who knows if she is also in our circle and maybe she has also changed her voice and so we don't know…"

“She definitely lives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island,” Grace murmured contemplating her glass of CotaSoda, “who knows what she's like in person.”

Xia pursed her lips, “all we know is a little information we got by inference. I can understand if she wants to keep her distance and I don't think you, me, or Amber should be investigating something she doesn't want us to know.”

“You're right…” Grace replied in a low voice, taking the glass and starting to drink, “a-anyway! I'm… I'm…” she blushed, “glad that you decided to be my friend.”

Xia lowered her head, was she happy? She had taken a step in the direction of leaving Cooper in favor of Tilly, was this something that was making her happy? Xia wished she could have talked to her cousin, reassured her that she wasn't trying to forget her... the truth was though that Grace had become more than an acquaintance to Xia even without her formally accepting it, "I'm glad we made things clear between us. Now, do we want to get back on the road? We still have some studying to do today before we can log into LotA.”

“R-right! If we don't hurry, Amber and AlexFae will start playing without us!”

Xia drank her peach juice and took her crutches, they had work to do for both the real and virtual world, especially the virtual one since the start of the tournament was just around the corner.

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