...𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋, 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 || gameknight999

CHAPTER THREE

A LITTLE IDENTITY NEVER HURT NOBODY

===

"Angel, do you remember that business proposal I accepted about a month ago?"

The family sat around the small, circular dining room table, Tom's voice breaking through the silence. Angel nodded, humming in affirmation through the mouthful of chicken flavored ramen she had. "Mhm..." she said, chewing and swallowing her food. "What's the guy's name again?"

"Richard Feynman," Tom told her. "The man that created the 3D digitizer. He's flying in from southern California to meet with me and have a discussion about how to market it. I will be using the headset that you used to enter Minecraft as an example, and to advertise it with him."

Angel raised a hand, giving him a thumbs up. "Cool beans," she said, smiling. "When's that happening?"

"Not tomorrow, but the next day," Tom said. "He's bringing his family along, a wife and two kids. You'll have the house to yourself that day - well, not entirely, now."

Angel glanced over at Erebus, who was sitting beside her, appearing unsure of whether he belonged there or not. Doubting that he would want soup due to the fact that it was mostly hot water, she had given him a loaf of bread, which he had hardly touched. He seemed to be quite lost in thought - about what, Angel was unsure.

"I can manage," she reassured Tom.

"We should have them over for dinner," Clara suggested. "I'd love to make a nice meal for them."

"Bribery," Angel muttered, before chuckling. Tom raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, you've gotta get them to advertise your stuff somehow! But that'd be pretty fun... I'll help make the dinner, if I can." There was a brief pause. "How old are the kids?"

"The oldest is twelve," Tom said. "The other is eight. They both enjoy Minecraft, maybe you could show them around your worlds."

Angel made a face at the thought of playing Minecraft with two younger kids, but didn't say anything. Erebus nudged her slightly, and she looked over at him, tilting her head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice soft and uncertain, as if he wasn't sure if he was allowed to speak.

"Oh- shit, yeah," Angel muttered. "Tom invented that virtual reality headset I used to get into Minecraft. He works at a big fancy company and discusses his invention with other inventors. This Richard guy is someone that contacted him around a month ago about an invention of his, so they're meeting sometime soon to talk about marketing it or something. I don't know too much about it, but it's interesting."

She shoved a forkful of ramen noodles into her mouth as she said this, muffling her last words a little bit. Erebus nodded in understanding, looking down at his loaf of bread like it would insult him if he touched it.

"Erebus, I'd love to get to know you a little more," Clara spoke up. "From what Angel told me, you seem like a very interesting person. Back where you came from, you were a figure of royalty, were you not?"

Erebus glanced up at her, nodding again. "King of the Endermen, yes," he said.

"And was that a particularly dangerous position to have?" Clara asked. "Or did you enjoy it?"

"Sometimes it was, yes," Erebus mumbled. "But I liked it. I was... good at it, I suppose."

Angel giggled softly to herself, and Erebus turned to face her.

"Sorry... that just reminded me of something," she clarified. "From this show I watched, about drugs. You remember drugs, right?"

Erebus's eyes widened slightly. "Of course."