“Bob,” Alburet said as he tilted his head towards the door. “Make sure he doesn't.”
Bob nodded but kept casting his own spells as Fluffball was cut down. Mary was dropped with one shot right after that. Rocksure ran for the door, but Bob got there and stood in the door all two foot of him just enough to stop Rocksure from getting by easily.
“Move, you fucking imp,” Rocksure said grabbing at Bob, who darted away just as the two handed sword hit Rocksure. “Fuck you, Alburet,” Rocksure said flipping him off as the next swing killed him, leaving just Bob and Alburet in the room with the boss at 1% health.
“Bob, kill him,” Alburet said as he backed away from the Captain who ran at him with sword raised high. As the goblin got into range Alburet rolled in and under the leading arm, feeling the wind from the swing go over his back.
“I think I can take one hit, maybe two,” Alburet said as Bob kept casting. He grunted as he was hit before he could get to his feet, knocking him flat. “Fuck,” Alburet said as the sword came down and took off most of the rest of his hit points, leaving him at 10/550.
He clenched up waiting for the final stroke, but heard a loud thud behind him. Looking back, he found the Captain dead and Bob smirking. “Who kills all the mobs?” He jerked both thumbs into his small chest, “This imp, that's who.”
Rolling over, Alburet groaned from the intense pain that washed through him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he started regaining health once he was out of combat. He was just getting to his feet when Gerald, Marysue and Fluffball came back into the room.
“Where is Rocksure?” Alburet asked.
“Kicked,” Gerald said bluntly, “he was told not to run for the door and still tried, which meant you wouldn't have been able to kill the boss like you did. Thanks for standing your ground,” Gerald said patting his shoulder. “Let's see about the loot then I have to step out and see about getting a new DPS.”
Touching the bag Gerald nodded, “Nice, a ring with Strength and Constitution, +1 to each. Captain's Band is the name of it. I need it. Fluff?”
“I would like to need it, too,” Fluffball said, “my main stat is strength after all.”
“Okay. Use the random roll function in your UI,” Marysue said.
Alburet watched as they both knelt and each rolled a die across the floor. A bright red 48 appeared above Fluffball while an 82 appeared above Gerald. “Looks like I win,” Gerald said as he took the ring and put it on.
“Damn,” Fluffball said shaking her head, “congratulations on winning.”
“Grats,” Marysue and Alburet said in near unison.
“Okay, five minute break. I'll be back with another DPS,” Gerald said as he headed for the front door.
Alburet walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair with a sigh. “Five minute power nap sounds awesome.”
Fluffball came over to the desk taking a seat on the edge of it, “I'm curious about something?”
Alburet nodded to her, “Hmm?”
“You look like a thug with the scar and short cropped hair but you know Shakespeare so well. Which one of them is the real you?” Her voice was a tad uncertain as she asked the question.
“Both, actually. I worked in law enforcement for years which is why the hair and scar, both match my real self. I thinned down the body a little, being in my thirties in real life, I've got a paunch, but who doesn't really? As for the Bard, I loved his plays when I was younger. The basic morality they talk about always drew me in.”
“Worked? You retired or something?” Fluffball asked.
“I am currently living off the government,” Alburet replied with a blank face. “Then again, all police live off the government I guess, technically, as do people with pensions from federal, state or county governments.” He chuckled and smiled at her, “What about you, why the Lunari race?”
Fluffball blushed slightly, “It deters quite a lot of men from hitting on me in game. I would probably have played as a man if I could have just to stop it, but sadly Mindblown hasn't changed their policy on that yet.”
“So, do you identify as male or just hate it when guys ogle you?”
“The second. Last game I played I had a stalker following me around in game. He was trying to find out my real address as well. Scared the hell out of me.” She gave a small shudder when she said the last few words.
“I must be okay then if you’re chatting at me like this,” Alburet chuckled.
Fluffball groomed her ear again watching him closely for any signs of disgust and not seeing any. “No, I think you might be okay. If you were a cop at some point I'm sure you won't be turning into a stalker or anything like that. Honestly, you just seem safe, like a vibe you give off of safety and security.”
Alburet let out a small laugh, “I'm sure the fact that if you nut punch me here I will fold like a cheap suit also helps.”
“Now that you mention it, that does help,” she giggled. “So why can't you say, you know about the immersion?”
Wagging a finger back and forth Alburet shook his head, “I can't say. I can't hint at, give clues, or anything like that. I would love to be able to, but my hands are tied.”
“Fine,” Fluffball said with a long sigh mingling with the words. “How long you going to be around for after we clear?”
One eyebrow raised, “That depends, did you have something in mind?”
Fluffball blinked then stood up abruptly, “I was just thinking of killing more goblins was all. You know, outside the dungeon, that's what I was asking about.” Her words came fast, tumbling over each other as she spoke.
Alburet raised both hands palms towards her, “Woah, hold up there speedy, it's okay. I'm sure that is what you meant. I was just checking was all. I will be more than happy to kick it around with you outside the dungeon and slaughter goblins. You get to tank though, as I don't want to be curled into a fetal ball half the time.”
Laughing, she nodded, “Deal.”
“You two seem to get along,” Mary said, causing both of them to blink as they looked at her, as they’d both forgotten she was there. “It's nice to see that, instead of people like Rocksure who always bitching and complaining about others.”
“Thanks,” Alburet said, “by the way, take this. You can use it when we get to the end boss.” He handed the small mana potion to her. “I don't think I'll get much use out of it and one more heal from you could make the difference.”
Marysue smiled broadly, “Wow, thanks! These are hard to get at our level. What quest did you get it from?”
“Found it in a chest, actually,” Alburet said. “It also had a health potion with it but I used that long before I met you.”
“I'm going to have to find another weapon soon,” Fluffball said after a moment of silence. “Mine is fading. It should last until we finish, unless we die again.”
Alburet pulled the rusty pitted great sword from his bag and set it on the desk, “Want to use this until it breaks for trash clearing, then?”
Fluffball looked at it, frowning, then picked it up, “If you don't mind. I can use it, it's a small DPS decrease but it will keep my weapon going longer that way.”
“Can you wear chain?”
“Yeah, why?”
Alburet looked at her leather, “Does that have better than 14 armor?”
“Fifteen,” Fluffball answered in her full leather outfit.
Placing the chain shirt on the table Alburet nodded to it. “Fourteen armor for chest, if you want to try out some chain for a bit, one armor difference won't hurt. Also, it's trash basically, barely worth a handful of copper.”
Fluffball eyed him for a minute then picked it up slowly before she stepped out into the hall. When she came back in she was wearing the rusty chain shirt. Alburet chuckled, the game didn't go stupid with female armor but it still snug chain at least.