What May Happen

3: Not Sure What It Is

The cake that Sohinki had picked out was really good, and Wes liked all of his presents (even though most of them were just video games that had recently came out that the guys had known that Wes had wanted and hadn't gotten yet), even Mari's lame present of comics and a couple things for cosplay she had found.

Finally it was time for them all to begin playing Ekidaka.

Mari had already came up with the scenario, which is why she had added the hazard of the Patriarch. She even had a plot twist and everything. She was so stoked for how they would turn the story into the big branching arc.

There was a lot that they could do with the story, and she knew that these guys would do something really awesome with it. She had been friends with them for so long, and they were really funny and witty people. She smirked, knowing that she was in for the ride of her life. So was Marin.

Marin, she remembered, feeling her heart flutter as she remembered her plan for Marin and Vax to get together. It was crazy to even think that Sohinki had made a character like that without even knowing what Marin was like. It was almost like their minds were connected together in a way. She shook the thought out of her mind, and tried to focus on setting up the story.

"Alright everyone. Are we ready to begin?" she asked, looking around at everyone.

Wes and FLitz, who were both sitting in relative proximity of one another, were jittery, and both nodded. Joven shrugged and said, "Sure, why not?" Lasercorn looked over to Joven and gave him a small glare, as if to tell him "shut the fuck up, Wes is excited about this, and it's his birthday party, lay off". Ian and Anthony had sly smiles across their faces as they nodded. Sohinki looked to Mari and said, "Yeah, I'm ready to start if you are."
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She set up the story, her descriptive words mesmerizing everyone in the room. (Most of the things she was saying were adjectives she had googled specifically for this night, and she was glad that the guys were impressed by her "vocabulary".) The beginning of the story was a local pub, where the regulars were celebrating a local holiday.

The group (at the time only consisting of Vax, Marin, Kaoshi, Jome, Tymea, and Crimson) entered, the doors swinging around, the force of Tymea's push a little too hard, hitting them as they walked in.

"Way to go, Ty," Kaoshi said, teeth gritted.

Ty rubbed the back of her neck, a habit she had formed while nervous. "Sorry, Kaoshi, I didn't mean to ruin the badass image we were going for." She looked over to Jome and winced. She had never really liked Kaoshi, but she had to deal with her anyway. After all, they were part of a group, and their group had vowed to stay together when they got to see the Patriarch. Jome shrugged, and Tymea let out a frustrated sigh. How the hell had she expected JOME to know why Kaoshi had been so snappy with her? Jome barely knew why HE himself did things.

"It's fine," Vax said, turning to face Ty. He smirked, hoping to reassure her. She smiled back, feeling calmer.

Vax turned back around and walked to sit down at the bar. "Hey, barkeep!" he barked. His voice, which was normally gravelly and deep, seemed to ring out like he had been singing. Marin stood in shock at the pure sound of the tone. He had always been enamored by Vax's ability to be so normal and yet so vastly different at the same time.

He admired him, and he kind of loved him.

For some reason, this love wasn't platonic, or familial. It was much different than just a brotherly love, or the love he felt for his separated twin at birth. Marin knew exactly what it was, and he hated it. He had once been repulsed by the mere thought of a romantic relationship with ANYONE.

Which is why Marin had been deemed the "player" of the group of guys.

He had never been in a romantic relationship; his modus operandi was usually to quote-hump 'em and dump 'em-unquote. He was attractive enough to pull it off, and most of the girls never saw Marin again after the one-night stand.