Pen and Paper

"Hey, Fiddleford! Mind if I walk with you?"

The voice came from the direction of the Humanities hallway. Fiddleford whipped his head in that direction and saw a Physics classmate waving to him.

"Sure thing, man!" Fiddleford smiled as he slowed down to allow for his peer to catch up (He was on his way to the dorm to check up on his roommate, but Ford could wait. Fiddleford wanted to speak with his classmate.). He didn't exactly know them very well, but they did share some interests in common. That common interest being coming up with as many absurd inventions possible.

"Soo... McGucket, you able to top last week's idea?"

"I wouldn't be worthy of the name 'Fiddleford Hadron McGucket' if I couldn't! Hear me out."

Once they settled into a comfortable walking pace, they fell into a conversation. Challenges spurred back and forth, ideas bounced about, and faint concepts grew into the more wholesome plan of a crazy contraption. They were conversing over building a death ray when they passed the bookshop. Fiddleford gave the display window a cursory glance, but he didn't see anything of interest. His comrade, however, stopped abruptly.

"Woah, woah! Wait a moment. Have a look at this!"

Fiddleford sharply jerked his head back to see his classmate jab a finger towards a bluish-coloured box. He took a few steps closer to inspect the object in more detail.

"Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons ?" Fiddleford read. Barely able to suppress a chuckle at the ever so subtle title, he asked, "Wh-what's so cool about it?"

Fiddleford received a warning stare before he got a response, "It's a game that definitely makes up for the title, so don't you dare. " Satisfied by Fiddleford putting up his arms as a peace gesture, they continued, "There are a lot of rules, but basically the objective is to defeat the antagonist wizard named Probabilitor. The catch is you have to defeat him using math, calculated by the stats of your main character that you create to send out on the quest!"

That actually... sounded quite interesting. Creating your own character? Battles using statistics? Fiddleford nodded, "You're right, it does make up for it's rather underwhelming title." Pausing thoughtfully, he added, "Sounds like something my roommate, Stanford, would like, too. Reckon I'll get one, then. Thanks for the recommendation!" He drew two fingers up in thanks and then whirled around into the bookshop, leaving his classmate to finish plotting the many ways to build a death ray alone.

**Pen and Paper**

"Hey, Ford! Guess what I got today!" Fiddleford's cheerful voice rang throughout their dorm.

Stanford looked up from his thesis to see his friend locking the door and holding a bag, imprinted with the familiar logo of their favourite bookstore. Ford's eyes lit up immediately, "Did the new book release already? I thought that was next week!"

"The book-? Oh! No, sorry. But this, I promise you, is even better!" he held up the bag and shook it mischievously.

Interest piqued, Stanford sat up from his desk and walked towards Fiddleford's bed as his friend gestured him to come. They settled comfortably next to each other, sitting on the edge of the bed. Ford's gaze was unwavering as he observed Fiddleford carefully remove a package from the bag. Setting the box on his lap, he slowly tore through the brown paper wrapping. Impatiently, Ford leaned in closer to get a better view of the item that was supposed to be better than the glorious first-hardcover-edition of a new book. When the packaging was unwrapped, Stanford's eyes laid upon a blue-green box, decorated with yellow swirls, that read Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons . Puzzled, Ford finally tore his eyes away from the mysterious object to questionably gaze at his roommate's face instead.