Stood Up (tags Danny)

[Julia Warner]

Julia had expected Connor and Kian to show up hours ago. That was what they had agreed upon; she'd even very specifically made Connor promise not to get distracted making out with his new boyfriend, and he'd sworn that he wanted to keep hanging out with her, but apparently that was all a lie. She never saw him anymore, and she never saw Jeremy anymore, and she wasn't sure if Wynn was going to still be friends with her now that she was dating Danny.

"I guess they're not coming." She sighed, sliding away from the window. She had walked Danny through the character creation process as they'd decided upon complimentary characters -- he'd immediately jumped at the minstrel class, so she rolled a champion -- but she wouldn't let him start the tutorial without the other two. After all, they were supposed to have a fellowship! And since she was the only one with any MMO experience, she needed to be there to help the boys out. But they hadn't even tried to contact her to tell her why they were late.

"Ugh. I hate this." She complained, throwing herself onto the couch sulkily. "Why do people totally stop hanging out with their friends when they start dating?" Maybe they didn't really want to be friends anymore and didn't want to tell her. But then, even Jeremy had been too busy with Jade to spend time with her, and they'd been thick as thieves at one point.

"I feel like I don't have any friends anymore." She sighed. She'd always spent more time with her brother than anyone else; Connor had been a first. But apparently he didn't care about her anymore, too busy with his new boyfriend. She was jealous of Kian, not for Connor's romantic affections, but for the time they'd once spent goofing off together. It'd only been about two months, but it'd been nice having friends. She shouldn't have gotten so used to that.

"Unless something happened to them. Do you think something happened?" She didn't exactly want anything bad to happen to Connor, but she would be more forgiving if he'd had a wreck and couldn't call her than if he'd just forgotten. Unfortunately, the fact that she'd hardly seen him since he got with Kian meant that he'd probably just blown her off.

[Connor Pearce]

Julia was going to kill him. Or at least punch at least one of his arms so much he wouldn’t be able to feel it for days. Connor just hoped that having Danny and Kian also present saved him from the worst of the beating. Or better yet, convince her to postpone the beating for another time, and hopefully then forget about it entirely, with thanks to the bribes / gifts Connor made sure they stopped to pick up along the way. Best to be prepared after all.

He couldn’t believe he forgot. It wasn’t like him, and to say he felt like the worst friend ever for doing so would be quite an understatement. In fact, he knew well he probably deserved losing feeling in his arm for a while. He had to make this up to her, he knew, starting with spending much more time with his friend who was sure to be feeling neglected. That was far from his intention, though he now had a very cute boyfriend, Julia was his best friend, and he didn’t want to do anything to risk that.

Pulling up outside her house, he and Kian rushed up to the front door, a plastic bag of treats in Kian’s hands. Banging on the door, he expected the look of sheer annoyance that was on Julia’s face when she opened it. So, trying to salvage what he could, Connor quickly gathered his friend into an enthusiastic hug. “I’m so, so sorry we’re late.” he murmured in her ear. “I’m a bad friend. I’ll make it up to you. We’ve so gotta do a best friend date night tomorrow. My treat.” he offered as he pulled away.

Walking inside, he grinned at Danny. “Hey Danny. You remember Kian, right?” he introduced, before grabbing the bag filled with chocolate and muffins off Kian to thrust into Julia’s arms. “So I’ve been thinking. I want a hobbit. One that fights and stuff. I have no idea how to describe it beyond that.” he admitted with a wry grin. “So, still up to teaching me Jules?”

[Danny Alegressi]

Danny understood. Since meeting Julia, he had not wanted to be with anyone else either. His former interests lacked color and life since he had first stared into her beautiful eyes. Since then all he wanted to do was be with her or think of her, write about her and spin wonderful fantasies involving her in his semi-tormented mind. "When you fall in love, your focus changes," he explained, sad that she didn't understand that which meant she really didn't love him even if she had agreed to date him. He moved over to the stack of Snapple cases he had brought with him and pulled out a Mango Madness, remembering it was time to take his medicine. "You want one?"he asked, looking over at her as she focused on the screen and the characters they had just made up. "Do you think your friends might have forgotten? Maybe you should give them a call or a text?" He didn't like seeing Julia upset and as much as he didn't want to share her, he wished they would show up so she could be happy again.

Danny was dressed normally again today still on the assumption that Julia didn't like his Tolkien fetish. He had on plain jeans and a white button down shirt. His hair was pulled back into a tail and he looked normal enough to introduce to parents if necessary. He smiled at Connor and Kian when they rushed in. "Hi Connor and Kian," he said with a complete lack of menace. "I have an elven Minstrel."

[Julia Warner]

Julia was immensely relieved when Connor and Kian finally showed up. They hadn't ditched her after all! Perhaps what Danny said about shifting focuses was true, but she didn't think that was a good excuse for entirely neglecting all other relationships, so she was pleased that her best friend was still willing to hang out instead of making out with his new boyfriend.

"So you pretty much have one choice, then. You get to be our Guardian. The Guardian is the tank class," She explained, grinning at the two new arrivals. "I rolled a Champion, so what about you, Kian? Tell me what race you want and I'll tell you what classes are available."

She led them into the living room, where laptops were set up for the boys to join her in gaming. "It's such a good thing you brought food, I'm starving! So I guess I'll forgive you for being late. Just don't let it happen again!" She scolded.

Once they were all situated she hurriedly ran Kian and Connor through the character creation process, helpfully explaining such minutiae as naming practices and the different cultures they could choose from. "It's really important that you get it right! Otherwise it detracts from my gaming experience, and that is seriously the most important issue at stake here." She informed them sternly. "Don't worry if you run into doors and stuff at first, you'll pick the controls right up."

[Kian O'Connor]

Connor advised me to do what you want me to do, so I will be whatever kind of character you want me to be, Madame Expert," Kian said with a twist of his lips liking Julia, she understood that personal satisfaction was important. "So as long as you are happy, we can just suffer in silence, right?" It was much better a deal than he got from his twin sisters. They expected you to enjoy whatever torture they had thought up and they were total sadists. As long as it doesn't include a total body wax, I am okay with it." he assured her and set his limits a t the same time. He wasn't that hairy, but he was a wimp when it came to pain. He took Connor's hand and huddle close to him in case things turned dangerous