Chapter 7
Rohan
Sitting here waiting for a man to get online should fire off alarms in my mind, but it doesn’t.
In fact, my body is restless with excitement, especially after my epic fucking failure.
Losing to Tyson. I don’t even want to think about the competition or him, for that matter, anymore.
This is the only thing I have to look forward to at this point.
Oh, what my life has become. I laugh to myself, staring up at the ceiling.
The sound of a message coming in pings through my headset, and I instantly snap toward the screen. I feel breathless, biting my lip.
Zero: miss me?
Starryeyes: i would’ve … had you not kept me waiting so long
Zero: you’re so dramatic
Starryeyes: :(
Zero: no sad face i’m here now
Starryeyes: true, besides i also just logged in lol
Zero: oh really lmao
Starryeyes: uh yeah you’re not the only with a life
Zero: oh yea? speaking of how was your day?
Starryeyes: kinda bad :(
Zero: aww why?
I swallow and lean away from my desk. I can’t, or I don’t want to, tell him exactly why because then I would be talking about Tyson and I don’t want to taint our conversation with that asshole. Or waste precious time with Zero talking about him.
Starryeyes: its not that bad, just … i worked really hard for something and it didn’t work out again but its ok
Zero: oh? :( you’ll get it, don’t give up on it
Starryeyes: yeah, i don’t plan on it, just sucks you know
Zero: of course … but as long as you keep trying I know you’ll get it
Starryeyes: :) thanksss
Zero: i’ll stay on late and lvl you to cheer you up
Starryeyes: oh really? ;)
Zero: lol yea
Starryeyes: there’s something else i was wondering….
Zero: whats up
Starryeyes: can we … chat on headset?
I chew on my bottom lip, waiting for his answer.
I’ve been wanting to ask for so long, but I can obviously tell he’s being super cautious with me.
I mean, we don’t really know each other.
But I feel like we’ve been playing together long enough to at least voice chat.
It’s not really all that odd. It’s weirder that we haven’t, to be honest. Maybe this will help prove he’s not some creeper.
He’s taking a while to answer, and it’s freaking me out a little.
I gasp when the voice chat request pops up in my friends list. I’ve never accepted a request so fast in my life.
“Hey,” I say, breathless.
“Hey.”
My heart is thrashing in my chest at his voice. It’s so deep and exactly how I fantasized about him sounding. It has a comfortingly familiar ring to it, but my mind is racing with too many nerves to think about it.
“Are you still there?” he asks.
“Oh yeah, sorry … I just…”
“You like my voice?”
“It’s okay.” I grin.
“Right. Sure. Wanna go to the map?” He laughs a little.
“Aww, aren’t you sweet? You really gonna level me all night?”
“I mean, for as long as I can. Are you tired?” he asks, his voice so alluring I feel like my body is being pulled into the screen, hanging on his every word.
“Not really. Not right now.”
“Alright, let’s go to the fields and then do a quest really quick.”
“Sounds good.” I nod even though he can’t see me.
Our characters run in the direction of a map known for these dragonfly-like monsters, again much higher level than me, but fine for Zero.
We reach the map, and he pulls his sword out, black and heavy, swinging it in one swift motion, taking out five of the monsters.
My experience bar jumps as he kills a few more while I keep a distance behind him.
“How long have you been playing to get to such a high level already?” I ask.
“Since they opened beta.”
“Me too. But I’m nowhere near your level.” I laugh.
“Hmm, maybe somebody needs to focus on the game instead of chasing boys with big swords,” he teases, slashing a path for me to follow him deeper into the map.
“Hey, the boys with big swords are the ones coming after me if I remember correctly.”
“Ah, not sure I remember it that way.”
“I think somebody just has too much time on his hands playing games all night,” I say, making my character sit down on a ledge while he’s still grinding for us both.
“That’s rich coming from you, seeing as you literally throw a fit every time I have to get off.” Zero laughs, and it sounds so nice to hear for the first time. My cheeks hurt from smiling.
“What’s your real name?” I ask cautiously, and a beat goes by before I blurt out, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“Nah, it’s not that I don’t want to…” he says, his voice low.
“But…”
“Maybe I’ll tell you another time.”
“One thing at a time, I guess,” I tease.
“Yeah…” He chuckles.
I know he was hesitant about voice chatting tonight, and he probably only did it because he wanted to cheer me up.
Which is so sweet. So I shouldn’t push it with the name thing.
At least we’re getting somewhere. Though I don’t know what I’m really expecting to get out of this.
But right now, having someone to talk to is nice lately.
The fact that he has no idea who I am, and I don’t know who he is…
It’s kind of thrilling, I’ll admit it.
Zero kills more monsters, wiping the map in one go. I level up, and I jump down from where my character sits. “Yay! Thanks, Daddy.”
“Saying that shit over headset is crazy.” He laughs.
“I think you like it.”
“Maybe. A little,” he says, his tone dipping, sending shivers through my body. I’m so fucking easy when it comes to this guy.
“I think a lot.”
“Maybe,” he chuckles.
“What’s your type?” I ask. The question is innocent enough.
“Why? You wanna know if you fit it?”
“You’re so full of it,” I chuckle, “just tell me, Mr. Mysterious.”
“Someone easy to talk to, ambitious maybe. I think it’s attractive. ”
“What about looks?”
“What do you look like?” I can practically hear the smirk on his lips.
“Can’t even tell me your name, but you’re asking what I look like?” I tease back.
“That’s fair.” He laughs, “Pretty eyes.”
My brows raise at this. “That’s oddly specific,” I laugh.
“Well, you asked, and there’s not much else to it.”
“So, you’ll follow any guy with pretty eyes?”
“I mean, it’s a good start.” He chuckles.
“You sound easy.”
“Mmm, says the one choking up over hearing my voice.”
“It’s a nice voice.”
“So is that your type? Someone with a nice voice?” I can hear his chair creak, probably from him leaning back in it.
“I mean, not really, but it’s a bonus. And in our circumstances, it’s definitely nice,” I quip back.
“So, what’s your type then?” he asks as he starts toward the town, signaling for me to follow him.
“Tall, attentive, maybe reliable,” I hum through the headset.
“I might know somebody for you.” He chuckles.
“Oh, really?” I say, just when we’re making it back to the town and to the NPC that has the quest, I guess he wants us to go on. It’s also above my level, but I know I’ll be fine with him, though I think it’s even a little above his level too.
“Yeah, maybe you can meet him someday.”
“You’re such a tease.” I laugh.
“You never know,” he says, the quest popping up in my drop-down list. I accept it, and we head towards the location where the item we need to finish it out is.
“I’m going to finish this off really quick and then we can level you again. You might level in this map though, monsters are kinda strong,” Zero says.
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll just follow along and collect the loot.”
“Perfect.”
We make it to the tomb and enter. It’s completely dark except for the light shining from our characters. He kills the first few monsters pretty easily. The lower-level ones are always at the bottom stages. I wonder how far in we have to go to get the item, though.
I don’t want to distract him too much as we get higher, so I try not to talk much till we find it. I collect all the loot the monsters are dropping and use buffs on him when they run out.
“Thanks, one more level, I think.”
“Okay, take your time,” I say, a little yawn escaping me.
“Are you tired?” he asks softly, and I bite my lip.
“No, it’s okay.”
“If you’re tired, I can finish another time.”
“No, no, I wanna stay on with you.” I hope that didn’t sound too whiny, I already wanna kick myself for pouting.
What the fuck is he doing to me?
“Alright, I’ll make it quick. How’s your exp bar?” he asks.
“It’s almost done.”
“Good,” he says, and we keep moving through the tomb.
The monsters are getting more difficult to kill, even for him.
Zero stabs his sword into a bat-like creature, and the screech of it dying out snaps me awake a little.
I’m dozing off a little, the day finally catching up to me.
I breathe in deeply. “Have you tried this tomb before?” I ask.
“Nah, this is my first try, that’s why it’s taking longer than usual. Even though I feel like the quest isn’t that high of a level quest for the monsters not to drop the metal yet.”
“Hmmm, is it the right monster?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s these ants.” He chuckles.
“Let’s keep looking, at least I’m about to level again.” I laugh.
“Yeah, I’ll go on for a little bit more if you’re okay with it.”
“Nah, I’m good still.”
“Alright,” he says before jumping back into the respawned monsters. I buff him again, and my experience bar fills for the second time tonight. The screen lights up, celebrating my new level, and I give him a heart emoji.
Some time passes, and I feel my eyes getting heavy. My breathing evens out as I rest my head on my wrist cushion. Hopefully he can’t hear me if I take a little nap while he’s completing the quest.
I’m sure his voice will wake me up.