"Pillow talk is the strongest conversation on the planet."

  No I.D., American Musician

  “There are a lot of useless choices in here, aren’t there, honey,” Calista said as she flipped through the class advancement screen projected on the ceiling. They lay naked in their bed, Calista’s head nestled comfortably on Milly’s shoulder and their legs intertwined, as they searched through their level up choices.

  They had woken up an hour ago, although concepts such as dressing and getting out of bed were the furthest thing from their thoughts. Their efforts to pick their new abilities were continually interrupted by playful kisses and pinches that quickly turned into more.

  Milly wasn’t looking at Calista’s player screen on the ceiling. She was staring down at her naked girlfriend, her mind filled with memories of the previous night. She watched Calista’s breasts rise and fall with each breath, and smiled as Calista unconsciously rubbed the spot on her thigh that Milly had playfully bitten.

  She had enjoyed that little nibble.

  “There’s a class called Debutante, Milly. Debutant, of all things. It gives the player a ten-point boost to agility and grants them expertise in fancy dances,” Calista scoffed as she dismissed it from the list of options. “The only arena we’d win with that class would be the Arena of Pretentious Nonsense.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Milly said dreamily. “I’d like to see you in a formal dress, trying to make small talk with a king or whatever.”

  “Oh, I think the king seduction would be on you, Persephone,” teased Calista, drawing out every syllable of Milly’s middle name.

  Milly pinched Calista playfully on the thigh and was rewarded with an adorable yelp.

  “Not a chance,” Milly said.

  “Perhaps the AI Director could create a special scenario for you,” Calista mused. “You’d have to wear a puffy pink dress, and we’d win if you managed to seduce the queen.”

  Milly removed her spectacles and stared into the lenses. “Don’t you dare, Luna,” she mouthed silently. A slight sparkle of reflected sunlight was the only response she received from the artificial being beyond the glass.

  “What about that one?” Milly asked, quickly changing the topic.

  “The Feng Shui Consultant? Seriously?”

  “Well, we do need to decorate our new home,” Milly laughed. “I’ve never really had to decorate a home before. Or really had a home at all. And, for all we know, decorating could matter in this game. I remember Xavier ranting about a game like that once, I think.”

  Calista opened the description out of curiosity and cackled with laughter. “Holy shit, honey. You’re not far off. It’s a class that can design rooms to provide temporary enhancements for a player. It’s a bit like how Billy’s spatula allows him to imbue attribute bonuses into the food he makes, only for this class the player needs to spend six hours in the room. Oh, that reminds me. We need to talk to Billy about those special ingredients we received from defeating Gorath and Fairy Killer.”

  “Eww. I really don’t want to eat giant wolf roast or Gorath’s… ugg… fingers,” Milly gagged. “But we should tell Elmer and Alison about this Feng Shui class. It could be powerful in the hands of the right person.”

  “Yah,” Calista sighed as she returned to the endless list of possible classes. “But that person is not me. I like shopping. I like decorating. But that class has detailed rules, which I don’t like. There’s got to be something else in here…”

  “Cally, you’re not going to find something better than that specialty class you got,” Milly nudged. “I tried to find something more powerful when I received The Scarred Witch, and none of the common classes are even close.”

  “Yah, but… the specialty it gave me… it just doesn’t feel right, you know. Plus, I don’t trust this AI Director. He’s got to be fucking around with us, right?”

  Milly gave a noncommittal shrug, and Calista brought up her specialty class with a groan.

  “See, that’s just horribly depressing,” said Calista. “That’s exactly how I felt yesterday, and at the Battle of Tower Beach. I gave the orders, and fairies died. Win or lose, I still feel like a shitty, shitty person.”

  “Maybe that’s why the AI Director gave it to you,” Milly said, stroking her fingers through Calista’s hair to comfort her. “Because you already know what it means to bear that burden.”

  “Oh, that feels good, honey,” Calista purred at Milly’s touch. “It’s just… I don’t know if I want to feel that way again. I don’t know if I should be the one leading.”

  Milly wrapped her arms across Calista’s chest and kissed her forehead. “If it wasn’t for you, there would be no fairies. There would be no Freelancers. Cally, this class is meant for you. And despite what it says, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there by your side. Always.”

  Calista gave a reluctant sigh and scrolled down to the details.

  “I’m a huntress, Milly,” protested Calista. “The assassin branch has all kinds of useful stealth skills that would be perfect for it. So does the lone wolf. I had my eyes set on a couple good ones there. Is it so bad to just want to wander the wilds, hunting for boar and elk?”

  “Lone wolf? Weren’t you mad at me for going off on my own at the Gathering?” Milly asked. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “I wasn’t mad because you went off on your own. I was mad because you lied to me. But that reminds me…” Calista smirked, and she slapped Milly’s bare butt. Milly yelped in surprise.

  “Cally…,” Milly whined in protest, as she rubbed her stinging bottom.

  “We went through too much shit yesterday for me to stay mad at you, but don’t you lie to me again,” Calista said with a serious edge.

  “Cally, I won’t…”

  “If you can’t tell me something because of this stupid contest or whatever, then tell me that. Just don’t lie to me,” Cally reiterated.

  “I won’t, Cally. I promise,” Milly said. “I just… this whole relationship thing is new to me, and I’m afraid I’m going to make another mistake and screw this all up. You’re… you’re the best thing to ever happen to me. I don’t want to lose you.”

  Calista shifted and climbed atop Milly, her hands gently resting on Milly’s shoulders.

  “Honey, you’re going to make mistakes. I’m going to make mistakes. And we’ll get through them together, okay?”

  Milly nodded slightly, and the feeling of Calista’s body on top of hers brought up memories from the previous night. In an instant, Milly’s heart was pounding in her chest, and Milly knew Calista could feel the heartbeat against her skin.

  Calista gave Milly a wicked grin and leaned down to kiss her neck. “One more time before we start the day, beautiful?” she purred in Milly’s ear.

  Calista traced a trail of kisses down Milly’s shoulders, headed for her breasts.

  “Wait… no, Cally,” Milly protested weakly. “Your class… we… we need to finish…first…”

  Milly had to force out each word past her building desire as Calista reached the top of her breasts.

  Calista glanced towards the class selection screen above them and sighed.

  “Are you already using sex to get what you want?” Calista said playfully as her fingers gently danced across Milly’s stomach. “You think that will work?”

  Milly tried to return her tease, but all that that emerged was a adorable and desperate whimper.

  Calista bit her lip at her girlfriend’s response.

  “You win. Totally worth it,” Calista said without hesitation. She mentally accepted the Battlefield Commander class as she leaned in and resumed her trail of kisses, their bodies pressed tightly together.

  The system congratulation message for selecting a class went unnoticed.