Despite everything you did, all of your hard work, Rosalis crashes back into the earth with a deafening roar. Dust and debris fill the air almost instantaneously, followed only by the screams and shouts of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of wounded civilians. You hear the sounds of others rushing past you, a stampede of those trying to help or escape. But you can’t focus on that.

For you stand in front of the woman who caused all of this: Marie Forceth, the noblewoman who just a day ago was helping you to evacuate the city. In her hands glows the soft pink gemstone all of you now recognize as auracite, the same resource that caused a third of Rosalis to float into the air in the first place.

“I must say, thank you all for your aid. If it hadn’t been for all of your help, I might never have found this brilliant little rock before it ran out of power. You played your roles wonderfully, and for that you have my endless gratitude.” She looks down at you all like a conqueror triumphantly walking through a defeated city. She knows she’s w—” 

Dan: Fuck. 

Amy: What’s up?

Dan: Dad wants me back now, now. I’ve — I’ve got to go, I’m sorry. Just keep playing, and catch me up later. I’ll see you all at school.

 

*****

 

“Hey, everyone. I’m sorry to cut it short tonight, but family is as family does. We’ll be back next week for sure. And hey, Maisie and I’ve got a fun stream we’re doing next Wednesday, so hopefully we’ll see some of you there. Have a good night, folks!” 

Amy did her best to hide her disappointment right up until Sean confirmed that he’d ended the stream. The moment he did, she let out an exhausted sigh, and slumped into her chair. It was getting to be too much for her. This was the third session in a row that Dan had to leave early for, once again without any real warning. Ever since Dan’s parents found his weed or whatever it was they found, they were hounding him basically every second he wasn’t at school.

On some level, Amy knew it wasn’t her fault, but between this and the more constant flirting between Maisie and Jace, she felt like she was losing the attention of her friends. Was she making a mistake as a DM? Were her sessions getting to be too long and boring? Was there too much exposition? Too much railroading? She didn’t know if it was any of that, or if it was just a culmination of real life events all getting in the way at once.

A growing part of Amy just wanted to throw in the towel. The story was far from over, but herding everyone was getting more difficult with each passing day. It would have been disappointing to just end the weekly streams, sure, but if the last few weeks were any indicator it wasn’t like anything was currently happening, anyway. 

But then, if this all ended, would she still get to see her friends? Sean would still come around, of course, but Dan especially only really became a friend of theirs because of D&D. If it ended, would he quit hanging out with them? 

“Boop,” Sean said, as he poked her nose with his finger. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Amy shook her head to clear her thoughts, and quickly realized that it was just the two of them. Where had Jace and Maisie gone? “Hm? What’s up? Where’re the others?” 

“Just wondering what was up with you. You were staring into space kind of aggressively. Jace and Maisie went ahead and took the snacks upstairs, so you don’t have to worry about that.” With a wink, Sean continued, “If you ask me, I think they just wanted some privacy. I’m pretty sure Jace is going to confess, tonight.”

That surprise announcement would have, on a normal day, stolen Amy’s attention. She’d been wondering when those two would finally talk about things, especially since their flirting seemed to have intensified of late. However, all it did in the moment was cause Amy’s mood to further deteriorate. Was their flirting, their lack of attention to the game, only going to get worse after they got together? Was it selfish to hope that it didn’t?

Was she a bad person for worrying more about what a rejected confession would do to the group? 

“Ames.” Sean’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts yet again, sounding increasingly concerned.

“Hm? What’s up?” Did she miss something, again? Wow, what a hypocrite she was, feeling anxious and annoyed over others not paying attention to a game, when she couldn’t focus on her own boyfriend for five seconds.

“Are you alright? You don’t have to be, it’s okay if you aren’t. I just want to know, and be there for you, y’know?” 

“I… I don’t know if I’m okay,” Amy admitted. “I’m worried. About the campaign, and the group, and my DMing.”

With a nod, Sean took a seat beside her, and took the opportunity to cuddle, the monster. It didn’t exactly make Amy’s anxieties vanish, but his head leaning against her did plenty to at least push them back. Sure, there were problems, but Sean was right there, ready to help or support her in a moment’s notice.

Not for the first time, Amy recognized how lucky she was to have such an amazing boyfriend.

“I’m here if you need to talk, at all, okay? And if not, we could just cuddle until your moms get mad and throw me out.” 

“Would they ever? They love you, babe.” 

“B-babe?” Sean stiffened and sat up, “Isn’t that usually, y’know, the other way around?”

“Hm?” Amy furrowed her brow, trying to understand exactly what had her boyfriend so on edge. It was just a pet name. A common one, at that.

“You know, I’m supposed to call you babe.” 

“Seriously, Sean? Half of Dan’s girlfriends have called him babe, in the past. Heck, Maisie called Jace babe not once, but twice during the session. It’s not some gendered thing.”

“T-that’s different! It’s in character!” Sean stuttered, his face getting redder and redder in that adorable way Amy loved. Teasing him was too much fun.

“Oh, I didn’t know Dan and his myriad of girlfriends were all just getting into character.” 

Sean could only blush more, his meagre resistance entirely routed. Amy took the opportunity at hand and planted a kiss on his nose, if only to further revel in his blushing and adorable noises. Was she being too mean? Probably. Was it worth it? Most definitely. 

Eventually, once Amy noticed her blushing boyfriend had calmed down, she leaned her head onto his shoulder and let out a content sigh. “Thank you for this, Sean. I don’t think words could describe how amazing you are.”

“Feeling better, then?” 

“A little. I’m still concerned about everything. DMing is hard enough without three fourths of the players either absent or distracted, and lately it’s just been… exhausting. I love doing this, of course, but I've been wondering if I’m even all that good at it.”

Sean almost seemed offended at what she said, when he offered his response. “You, not good at it? Amy, you’re the best dungeon master I’ve ever met! You make sure everyone has as much fun as they can, and you tell such a captivating story. You even do it all on camera! Like, how cool is that? There’s no way we’d have as many people watching us as we do if it weren’t for you.” 

Amy nodded, but a part of her still couldn’t believe that. Maybe, maybe, he was right, but recent evidence felt like it begged to differ. 

“Just give everyone some time, okay? I’ll talk to all three of them, and especially see if there’s something we can do for Dan. I’m positive that, given a little time, it’s all going to work out.” 

“Thank you, Sean.” Amy managed, once again overwhelmed by how wonderful he was. “You’re the best.”

 

> shrimpbizkit: that was um

> AnonymousReptile: o_o Yeah

> shrimpbizkit: abrupt

> AnonymousReptile: o_____o yeah

> BrookeingAndEntering: I hope everything’s okay. Strict parents are scary.

> AnonymousReptile: >w<

> Gifraff: I’m sure we’ll all be back next week. It’s been a taxing few months for everyone.

> mynameisneo: maisie and jace hella cute tho

> BiggerLuuke: jace is a -good- boy

> mynameisneo: not for much longer ¬‿¬

> PrinceDamien: don’t. Not cool.

> mynameisneo: cmon

> mynameisneo: i’m not imagining it, right?

> Gifraff: Don’t speculate about people’s gender identity, please.

> psychedelicTrans: yeah that’s not cool >8c

> mynameisneo: jace can be a girl if he wants to!

> mynameisneo: heck, he’d be cute as hell!

> mynameisneo has been muted for 1 minute (reason: cool off)

> Gifraff: I’m going to reiterate that we don’t do that here. It either forces someone to deny their identity to remain close

> Gifraff: ted or to out themselves. So consider this a warning for everyone. Next person to break that rule gets a whole day to cool off. 

> Gifraff has pinned a message: (Gifraff: Don’t speculate about people’s gender identity, please.)

> BiggerLuuke: yessir o7

> PrinceDamien: bottom

> BiggerLuuke: hey >:o

> BiggerLuuke: it’s true but like

> BiggerLuuke: you shouldn’t say it

> PrinceDamien: love u <3

> BrookeingAndEntering: y’all are cute

> shrimpbizkit: i’m still worried

> AnonymousReptile: Yeah

> shrimpbizkit: i think imma head out

> shrimpbizkit: night y’all

> AnonymousReptile: night! o/

> psychedelicTrans: i’mma stay here if people are staying in

> psychedelicTrans: need some company TwT

> AnonymousReptile: well i’m not going anywhere

> BiggerLuuke: same here. 

> BiggerLuuke: hugs offered

> psychedelicTrans: thank :3

> mynameisneo: i am also here

> mynameisneo: i’ll be good

> mynameisneo: promise

> PrinceDamien: bottom

> BrookeingAndEntering: lmao