In a large, open courtyard, rustic buildings on all sides... A sudden blast of flame struck a white-and-red-ringed target. The accuracy was not perfect, but even with just that the caster cheered.

Evie was... training, it seemed. A fireball here, a water jet there, along with other spells. Her accuracy definitely still needed work, but she had already made progress in leaps and bounds. 

That wasn’t all, either... The small girl was also taking time here and there to spar against an opponent made entirely of cloth and straw, a puppet which seemed to move by magic.

It wasn’t just her accuracy that needed work. All of her movements did. However, comparing any of this to how she’d been when she’d first started playing was like comparing night and day. She had seen drastic improvement in all categories, and, for the first time, she actually seemed to be gaining confidence.

Just outside the courtyard, though... peeking through the door at Evie... were two familiar faces.

May and Lily were watching her, smiling, and cheering her on, even if in secret.

* * *

In a cramped, dirty, dark corridor, with disturbing sounds in every direction — sounds of creaking, of crackling; popping, bubbling; the wind howling; groaning...  May’s boot connected with the torso of a strange, goopy figure, slamming it backwards where it then quickly disintegrated.

She turned around to call out to the other two, the pressure written all over her features. The other two were hurrying, as they tried and tried to unlock the door, but it didn’t seem to matter much. In fact, the pressure was likely making it harder for them.

And contrary to her normal appearance, Lily seemed the most shaken up of all the girls. While May looked pressured, and Evie looked frazzled... Lily looked... afraid. Apparently, she and horror did not mix.

May then backed up into them. Maybe a third set of eyes would help solve the puzzle faster? Maybe then they wouldn’t run out of time?

Evie switched spots with her, deciding to take her place fighting off the monster. Monsters? The mass of goopy black tentacles that kept reaching towards them, sometimes forming strange, awkward, ambling figures that had to be beaten back.

And the girls had run out of ammo, as well, so they couldn’t use guns or flamethrowers anymore either. What is it with horror games and so heavily restricting your ammo, anyway?

Suddenly Lily cried out. She’d solved it! There was a problem, though — it would take a bit of time to actually implement the solution. Time that they didn’t have.

Because by that moment, the entire end of the hallway had turned as black as night, and numerous tentacles were already reaching out for them.

Evie did what she could, she fought back the creepy goop for as long as she could... but then her expression hardened. She glanced back towards the other girls... then at the monster. Then she stopped fighting back and stood there, chin raised, ready to be consumed by the darkness.

Her death would buy them the time they needed.

The tentacles reached closer...

Then Evie was suddenly grabbed on both sides, and pulled towards the still unopened exit. Her confusion was evident. Why would they stop her? They weren't going to have enough time!

But Evie had not yet realised just how important she was to May and Lily. Even in a game, the girls obviously wouldn’t watch her die for them.

As the darkness engulfed the girls, and they met their demise... The three were hugging so very tightly. 

* * *

“Okay, okay,” Evie said, pacing back and forth in front of the couch in the VR cabin that Lily had set up. “Wh-why are you two treating me like this? Like? I thought I was your friend, not... I’m not... You two have girlfriends! Each other! Why do you keep... treating me like I’m... part of this? Why do you both keep smirking at me and patting me and hugging me and...” she trailed off. 

Honestly, Evie had no idea what was happening. And the worst part was that the entire time she still felt out of place, she still felt like she was butting into something that she didn’t belong in, and the signals they were giving her were just confusing her even more. It made her want things, things which she could never have. For a whole multitude of reasons.

May and Lily, both sitting on the couch, stared at each other for a moment. May shook her head, and Lily sighed. 

Lily spoke first. “Evie... I thought you would have figured it out. I’m sorry we weren’t clear about it. May and I are... poly.”

Evie blinked. Another word she didn’t have the definition for. Apparently this one would make their actions... understandable? Even if it was embarrassing to ask for the definition... “Poly?” she asked.

“Oh my gosh, she’s clueless,” May said, facepalming.

“Don’t be rude, May,” Lily scolded. “Evie, why don’t you sit down with us? It’s okay, I promise.” She patted the couch between her and May.

Evie was a bit hesitant, but finally sighed and sat down where Lily suggested. 

“Poly is short for ‘polyamorous,’” Lily explained. “It means that both of us are perfectly capable of loving and dedicating our time to more than one partner. We’re currently only in a relationship with each other, but if one of us ever wants to have another partner, we’re allowed to.”

May nodded along.

“I don’t... I don’t understand,” Evie said quietly.

“What don’t you understand?”

“Aren’t you... aren’t you scared that your partner could just go off and find a new partner and never come back?”

May shrugged. “Not really? We talk about like... everything with each other. Including crushes and stuff. And besides! That kind of stuff happens for mono couples too! Except there it’s cheating, and it’s usually done in secret, which means lying, then eventually, fighting, and usually an explosive breakup. That’s not to say that being poly is inherently better, though!”

Lily nodded. “It’s just a different way to handle relationships. And the same stuff is important. Just like all relationships, communication is key.”

Evie didn’t say anything for a minute, rolling the new information around in her brain. “So... do you mean that... are you two” — she got very quiet and mumbly — “with me?”

“Are we what? Flirting with you?” May asked.

Evie blushed and nodded.

The two looked at each other, and the small girl shrunk down even more. 

“Yes,” Lily said, and “Yep!” May said, at the same time.

“But you’re... you’re lesbians!”

May burst out laughing. “Have you... have you looked at yourself recently, Evie?”

Evie blushed even harder.

Okay, yes, Evie was a girl, but... that was only in VR. Did that mean that they were attracted to her avatar? And then as soon as they left VR it would be over because she wasn’t really a girl? 

Why would they play with her emotions like that?

* * *

In a bright, flashing, cyberpunk city... hoverjets rocketed past, the loud growl of their engines echoing thrice before fading away.

Twelve racers. A ten-kilometre course with twists and turns through a sparkling, chaotic cityscape. A finish line.

A shot at glory... and money, too.

May was currently in the lead, her bright pink hoverjet decorated with a tacky mix of skulls and flowers and flashing green flames along the sides. On the back of the jet was “<3 girls” written in a typographical font which canonically was illegal.

Granted, it’s not as if law enforcement could stand to stare at her hoverjet for long enough to notice she’d used an illegal font. No one could.

With one bad turn, the girl in the existentially horrifying jet was overtaken by Lily, whose hoverjet was much less existentially horrifying. Instead, hers was decorated to look like an old rocket ship from the 70s. It probably drove a bit better than one of those, though.

May yelled expletives over the radio, and Lily promptly turned her down. After a moment, she made a snarky comment about how May would never get to kiss Evie with that kind of performance.

Back in 5th place, in her white hoverjet decorated only with a couple of tastefully-placed blue stripes... Evie pouted, a blush on her cheeks.

It seemed that one of those two were going to win, and since they were competing for which of them would get to kiss Evie... 

It truly made one wonder how such a situation had been approved by the girl, or whether she’d approved it at all. Given how the other two were the type to move quickly, sometimes faster than Evie seemed comfortable... there was a good chance that this entire fiasco had not been something she’d wanted.

It was at that moment that Evie’s hoverjet got bumped by another racer’s, and she spiralled off the side of the track, down and down, over and over... eventually landing roughly on a lower road. She was a bit dizzy after that, and it took her a moment to get her bearings before she was able to start going again, now marked as 12th. And then she was really pouting.

But she soon seemed to realise that this lower road was set up for a reason. As she travelled the road... It seemed a bit less windy than the upper road. It also led straight through a couple buildings, and even went underground for a brief period, before shooting her back out onto the original track.

It was nearly the end of the second, and final lap, and what she had just travelled on was a shortcut.

Evie was in first place.

May, who had just a moment before won first place back from Lily, exploded over the radio, completely bewildered as to how Evie had managed to surpass both of them. 

But... they had time to catch up, if Evie messed up the last turn. It was a really tight hairpin turn, one that gave the racers tons of room to drift. But Evie was new at racing, so it was likely that she would mess it up and in that time May or Lily could surpass her...

And then, the girl’s hoverjet hit the curve. Evie began to turn, swinging a wide left and playing with the brake just enough that the hoverjet began to drift. 

Somehow, against all odds...

Somehow... Evie executed a beautiful, professional-level turn, her hoverjet drifting in a smooth 180°, one that barely ate at her speed and left her pointing straight towards the finish. 

Even her exit from the drift was flawless. 

More shocked expletives over the radio. Then another moment of pure acceleration, and finally...

Victory!

Evie... had won. She’d gotten first place! Against everyone’s expectations — likely also her own.

As the hoverjets all came to a stop, the other two quickly clambered out and to the ground, running over to Evie’s jet as she slid down the ladder. The small girl was wearing her form-fitting racing suit, which emphasised the heck out of her curves, and then as she took her helmet off, tossing her long hair back...

Both May and Lily froze completely solid.

Evie asked what was wrong, but it was quite clear. She was just far too pretty. She’d stopped both of their hearts. Just by being herself!

But... maybe one of them would still get to kiss her? Which of them had crossed the finish line first, after Evie?

No, no no no, Evie shook her head.

If they had won the race, it was up to them. They had not. No, she had won, which meant it was up to her. And she said...

Neither of them would get the honour! 

May fell to her knees and wailed dramatically.

Lily rolled her eyes.

* * *

In a massive arena made of stone... an imposing, hulking golem stood tall, stretching hundreds of metres over their heads. The golem wielded a massive wooden club, one which it was currently swinging around in the air above them.

But... they had prepared for this. The three had grinded through quest after quest, practiced their abilities and teamwork time and time again... even such a massive, terrifying boss was something they could handle.

May went in first, smashing her mace into the golem with a loud yell and doing exactly zero damage. Dealing damage wasn’t her intent, however — by doing that, she’d gained aggro. Now the boss was swinging at her with its club, and the other two were free to do whatever they pleased.

And with that, Lily began to use her high speed stat to jump from pillar to pillar, going up and up, higher and higher until she was at the same height as the golem’s crystal eye. But she couldn’t go any further, because her stamina had run out.

As May continued to dodge the swings of the golem, Evie cast a spell that restored Lily’s stamina. Then, as soon as it took effect, the tall girl leapt! This time, instead of to another pillar, the girl leapt towards the golem’s massive head, landing on it and stabbing at that crystalline eye with her rapier.

Critical hit! Critical hit! Critical hit! Critical hit!

Very quickly, the health of the boss was going down, and eventually the golem collapsed onto its knee, the vulnerable phase having been triggered.

With that, all three of them had access to its crit spot. 

Critical hit! Critical hit!

The system called out hit after hit, the boss’s HP going down and down... right up until finally, its hand came down, landing on the stone floor with a loud crack and sending them flying backwards.

Evie casted a spell to heal the three of them, but besides May none of them had taken much damage.

Unfortunately, phase two of the boss fight was not as easy as phase one. Now the boss had friends. All around the arena, stone animals formed... and then a strange sound reminiscent of a howl as stone scraped against stone. 

Stone wolves. 

And they looked hungry... whether or not they actually could digest things.

The three fell into the same strategy as before, except this time as Lily scaled the pillars, May and Evie were far busier. May could barely avoid the massive golem’s club, now, because stone wolves kept running at her on all sides. And Evie couldn’t seem to keep track of the other girls anymore because she kept having to fend off the wolves going after her.

Lily reached the top of the pillar and Evie just barely managed to get off the stamina spell, allowing her to begin chipping away at the boss’s health once more. While she did so, Evie did her best to help keep May alive, nearly exhausting her mana to heal her back up to full and to take out some of the wolves.

Finally, the boss came down, landing hard on its knee, and the wolves were knocked away. The three of them started damaging it, but this time they didn’t quite match up to their first time — Evie just didn’t have the mana reserves for her damage spells because she’d had to dump so much healing into May.

And unfortunately... that meant that the boss was still alive, alive with just one small sliver of health. May swore.

As the boss stood for phase three, more wolves formed from the loose stones, this time including stone dire wolves as well.

It was so close! They were so close to getting it! But how in the world would they manage to do that a third time?

They tried it anyway — May charged in to draw aggro, Lily began to scale the pillars, and Evie avoided most everything to conserve mana.

When Lily reached the top, she was out of stamina once more, and waited, but Evie didn’t cast the stamina spell. She seemed too distracted by May, who was already overwhelmed by wolves and the golem. 

And then suddenly Lily was on the ground, and Evie was on the pillar. Evie had cast a switch spell! What could she be thinking?

Lily didn’t argue, though, diving into the fray. Her first move? To knock May out of the way of a coming smash of the club, saving her with mere moments to spare.

As the club went upwards, with her low speed stat, Evie jumped off of the pillar and landed right on it, sliding down onto the golem’s arm. The aggro immediately switched to her, then, and she tried her best to keep from being flung off, ultimately failing.

On the way down, however... fireball!

Boom!

The fireball exploded directly on the golem’s crystal eye, eliminating the last sliver of HP and shattering the crystal. The golem immediately began to collapse, falling at the same rate as Evie.

Evie had put no points into her vitality, so there was no way she was surviving this fall. She seemed satisfied, at least... maybe just pleased that they’d managed to beat it in the end. Even if she wouldn’t reap the rewards of the clear, she probably didn’t mind.

And then she landed on something soft. She was in Lily’s arms. 

She survived after all!

May finally arrived and wrapped her arms around the both of them, squealing happily. Evie squealed back.

The small girl seemed to really enjoy that group hug.

* * *

Back in the VR hub... the small girl’s eyes blinked open, and for a moment she seemed very confused as to where she was. And it made sense — she was definitely not in her bed.

It took her a minute or two of blinking and shifting around before she suddenly seemed to freeze, realising exactly where she was and why she was so warm.

Evie was snuggled deeply in the arms of May and Lily. They had all fallen asleep on the couch together.

Her face betrayed her embarrassment and her panic. What must have been going through her mind, at that moment? It was very clear that she was cosy in their arms, and she was happy, but at the same time, she had the guiltiest expression on her face... as if the girls would do anything but hug her ever tighter if they ‘caught’ her.

And at that moment, Lily stirred, her eyes peeking open just a bit. She quickly seemed to realise that Evie was panicking, and, to Evie’s surprise, only squeezed her tighter.

It’s okay, Evie.

You’re a good girl.

Lily planted a kiss in Evie’s hair, snuggling closer and closing her eyes again.

Go back to sleep, cutie.

Evie breathed out, her heart rate finally slowing. The trust that she shared with Lily was not small. She must have then felt so safe in the taller girl’s embrace...

And with that, the small girl’s eyes closed, and her breathing slowed, and she fell right back into a deep, restful sleep.