Only a Game (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Chapter 71: Under the sea (I meet my dad!) (very emotional)

Teddy

When I painfully come to, I almost immediately realize I am not on dry land anymore. I can hear the pulse of the ocean, and the dripping of water. And I'm lying on an old sofa—in crippling pain.

"Don't get up—you're safe now," it's the dude who helped me fight the monster. He's across the room, in what passes for a kitchen, it looks like sewing the wounds on his stomach closed. I can see extensive, colorful tattoos across his muscled chest.

"Eh, ish," SurferDude© is standing there as well, leaning against the stone wall, scrolling on his phone and occasionally texting. He's wearing a shirt, for this occasion, a surf-shop white one, and the same swim trunks he had on the beach.

"You're safe here, your dad and I fixed you up but you shouldn't move," the man says, nicely, finishing what he was doing and pulling down his shirt a bit awkwardly.

"Ish," SurferDude© walks behind him to wrap an arm around his neck. Oh. They're together. Oh. That's weird. Now, I know that should not at all be weirder than everything else that's happened to me just today; however my first thought when I saw the other guy (now, not on the beach) was 'oh he's kind of hot'. I mean he has short stubble and glasses held together by duct tape and enviable abdominal muscles. It's valid. However, apparently he's my step-father so I have a lot to process now. I mean, he was clearly way older than me to begin with he's probably in his thirties, however you can think 'oh, he's hot' about people that are not your step-father.

"Did you think I would forget that you took forever to help?" the man asks, shrugging SurferDude©'s arm off and going to get a bottle of water. Oh, he's bringing it to me.

"Kinda," SurferDude© mutters, "I was trying to figure out whose side we were on. It was not clear."

"You don't pick sides when breaking up fights! You see who is winning then help whoever was losing and then once everything is settled you figure out what was happening. Haven't you ever babysat your nieces and nephews?"

"No. I make you do that. Duh."

"I wasn't losing!" I protest.

"You weren't winning," the man says, very nicely, bringing me the water and a blanket.

"Yes, you were losing. That's what losing feels like," SurferDude© addresses me for the first time in my life. Wow. That's exactly how I expected it would go.

"Hi, I'm Grant," the man says, sitting down on an ottoman, "I'm---here apparently."

"Shut up, you're my husband," SurferDude© practically growls.

Grant shrugs a little bit.

"Oh don't give me that—nobody died—anyway---you, what was that monster and why was it chasing you? What did you do?" SurferDude© asks, vaguely annoyed.

"Hi, Dad, nice to actually meet you. I'm Teddy, your son. Where the fuck are we?" I ask, pushing myself up painfully. I only call him Dad to annoy him; he's not my dad.

"Under the Mediterranean," SurferDude© says, flatly, glaring at me a bit. His eyes are a shady grey green, very hazy and cutting now that he turns them on me.

"You might have noticed your dad is special," Grant says, glancing at him.

"What is that thing in my finest dungeon and why was it chasing you?" SurferDude© asks, folding his arms.

"I have no clue---look I was participating in a VR tournament, next thing I know the dude who owns the company---Minos---is cackling and sic'ing that thing on me," I say.

"Oh Minos. That guy's a dick," SurferDude© says. We both look at him.

"Why would you know that personally?" I ask.