Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

“Sure, how do you think all the wannabe mages find us? Gotta advertise, am I right?”

Sometimes, being around Cassie made their brain cramp. “But isn’t that handing out info to the Jaeggi?”

“Naw, I’m careful what I post. It’s always silly stuff like this. And they know our location, anyway. Not like I’m divulging a secret there.”

“Okay, good point.” Nikki eyed the many, many games in progress and didn’t even know where to start. Or where they’d be comfortable sitting, honestly. They sucked in a deep breath to settle their nerves. They didn’t want to run. They wanted to at least try and stick this out, see if the fear of the thing was worse than it actually was. “Cassie, swear to me—”

“Fuck you,” she said promptly.

Nikki eyed her sideways, exasperated. “I meant like a promise.”

“Oh. My bad.”

“Don’t throw me into this, okay? Like…which game is even safe for me to join?”

“Feeling overwhelmed? I getcha. Okay, first, don’t play Twister. Seriously, the dragons are not to be trusted. The DnD game has been going on for ages; it’ll be hard to join in on the fly, although if you want to, you can. You just need to create a character first and get caught up to speed. Hmm, for tonight…how about Funkenschlag?”

“The power company game?”

“Yeah, that one. Never understood why they didn’t call the electricians power rangers in that game, but still fun. Yes, no?”

Tori and Baldewin were already playing the game in question, and that more than anything convinced Nikki to join in. Those two Nikki was more than comfortable with. The board game wasn’t something Nikki was super familiar with, but they could always read the rules and figure it out.

“Yeah, that one’s good.”

“Cool beans.” Cassie towed them straight to the table, which was fortunately in a corner, not in the open room. Nikki smiled at the other two. Okay, this wouldn’t be too bad, if Nikki could just camp out here for the rest of the evening. Or however long this lasted.

“Hi, can I join?”

“Sure,” Baldewin encouraged, waving them into a seat. “We’re actually setting up for a round. Your timing is good. Is Gunter joining us?”

“I think so, yeah. He said he wanted snacks first.”

“He usually does. You familiar with the game?”

“I played it a few times years ago, when it first came out. I’m a little shaky on the rules.”

Baldewin obligingly found the rule book and handed it over. “Read it first, we’ll answer questions.”

“Sure, thanks.” Nikki accepted it and started reading from the beginning. As they read, they were aware of another person coming to sit down next to them. But it was the intense stare that finally brought their head up.

The man looked much older, with salt-and-pepper hair, more toward grey. A dragon for sure, dressed in a comfortable black track suit, with a can of beer in one hand. His white brows were furrowed together in confusion. The dragon listed obviously to the right, and it was clear that was not the first can of beer. Far from it. It was a sort of an adorable look.

“Who are you?” he asked finally.

It wasn’t nice of Nikki to mess with a drunk person. But Nikki never claimed to be nice, either. “I’m me! Who are you?”

“I’m also me!” Drunk dragon blinked in astonishment. “How can this be?”

“We’re both me.”

“If we’re both me, we must be kin!” He looked very happy at this conclusion.

“Must be,” Nikki confirmed with a firm nod.

“Want some beer?”

“Of course!”

Gunter put a plate of food down in front of Nikki and sighed. “Lir, for the love of god, stop trying to corrupt the young mages. Your beer fells mountains, it’s so toxic. Nikki, this is Lir. Do not trust their beer. Lir, this is Nikki. Nikki’s pronouns are like yours, they/them.”

“Non-binary or genderfluid?” Lir inquired, intrigued by this.

“Uh…NB. You?” It was the first time Nikki had ever met someone who used they/them pronouns.

“Genderfluid. Hey, I’d heard we had a mage in here who was using they/them pronouns. Good to meet you. But truly, my beer is great.”

“Do not trust the beer,” Tori reinforced, shaking a finger at Lir. “I got sucked into this once, and half a beer got me not only drunk but horny. Not that Baldewin minded the last part.”

Baldewin’s grin was nostalgic and perfectly filthy. “Not one bit.”

“But the beer is not to be trusted.”

Lir pouted openly, then pointedly sipped their beer in a noisy slurp.

“Gunter, you playing?” Baldewin asked.

“Sure.”

“Settle in, then, I think we’re about ready to start. Nikki, you got your head around the rules?”

“I think so, more or less.”

“Ask questions as we go,” Tori encouraged. “Alright, I think I’ll start us off.”

Nikki was honestly paying attention, and during the first few moves of the game felt like they half-understood what to do. Gunter stayed close and pointed out hints, which Nikki appreciated. They hadn’t played a board game in many, many years. It was fun to do it again, especially with this group.