Avilien

Farewell for now

Back in his room, Brit had booted up his PC and was trying to log into Forest of Winter. A maintenance notification blocked the home page and covered most of the screen. You could see the tips of the snowy trees and a few hands of frost giants. For a Saturday night and the game to be down was a strange occurrence. Every MMORPG went down on Tuesdays for updates and patches, and had been that way since before Luke could remember. On a good note, Brit couldn't see Luke's login details of Awesome Biscuit. Then again, she would be far too dense to work out that he was Awesome Biscuit even if she did see the login information—she was so deluded into believing his character was a living god.

Plonking the backpack on his bed, both Nebs and Brit moved at the speed of light, Brit looking over Luke's shoulder and Nebs jumping on it, eager to see the goods. Luke unzipped his bag in a slow fashion, toying with them. Squeeks sat patiently on the computer desk, the one game guide with some manners. Either that, or he had given up hope on ever getting an actual carrot.

Luke pulled out cans of pop and biscuits from the bag and placed them on the bed. Brit snapped up the chocolate digestives quicker than a speeding car. Next, the potatoes were pulled out, just five of them. Luke tossed them on the bed and watched Nebs dive head first onto the bedding.

"Oh, lovely spuddiness. Daddy missed you." Nebs licked the first potato he grabbed and quivered in delight. He was back to monologue his eating habits.

Next out of the bag came some fresh carrots from Islington Market. The smell made Squeeks's nose perk into the air and his tail thrash against the desk. His eyes had grown so wide and adorable as he looked at Luke.

"Are they for me, Master Luke?" he asked in such a subtle adorable tone, his hands clasped, praying they were indeed for him.

"All yours, little buddy." Luke gave the brown paper bag of carrots to Squeeks. Never had he seen two loopy animals go insane for food. Nebs was confessing his undying love for a spud as he nibbled one down and Squeeks was hyperventilating in the bag of carrots.

"Ever think we have strange game guides?" asked Luke as he looked at Brit, who was stuffing her face with several biscuits at once, causing her cheeks to go wide and crumbs to fall on her lap.

With her mouth full, she gave Luke the impression she didn't understand what he meant. He figured as much and continued to produce more food items; he grabbed his favourite chicken bites and opened the bag as he sat down on his bed.

"Thanks for the food, Duke. By the way, Forest of Winter is down...and how did you score a beta class with that setup? I've seen fifteen-year-old computers look better than that. What does the game run in? Like a hundred fps? Surprised you can even play Forest of Winter," said Brit as she stuffed another biscuit into her mouth. She had devoured half the packet in less than three minutes

The PC was a relic but one Luke treasured. A gift from his dad on his fifth birthday, along with some software programing tools that he never adjusted to. He wanted Luke to start coding and learning software building at a young age. A tad ambitious, but his heart was in the right place and led Luke onto a path of gaming.

"Don't worry about the food...you saved us. Also, that relic was a gift from my dad. I can't afford a new computer, can't even afford a pair of GTs." Luke laughed at his own misery.

"Want me to buy you a pair and a new computer? I have tons of money, but don't know how to use this card." Brit produced a platinum bank card with her real name embedded in gold on it.

It didn't surprise him that Brit had one, since she had a top-of-the-line phone. Luke remembered Squeeks saying that Brit stole from shops...even though she now claimed to have vast wealth, but the inability to use a simple bank card.

"No, it's fine. I mean no offence, but I would rather not be given things without earning them or buying them. Money isn't everything to me," explained Luke. He'd love to take up the offer, but found himself being modest.

"Okay, your loss. This card is shared with my dad's account so I can buy pretty much anything I want, if only I knew how to use the blasted thing." Brit finished the last biscuit and left Luke more confused than ever.

A rich girl who had access to an overloaded bank account and stole from shops. Either she was a rebel or...an idiot. The room was quiet for a while, despite Nebs's whispers of love to his food and Squeeks's nibbling. Luke and Brit shared the food and pop amongst themselves, and once the bag was empty, Brit stood up and looked out of the window. All of the earlier commotion with Mrs. Adams's car had calmed down and the tow truck had gone.

Outside was a dark peaceful night, with sprinklers going off in people's yards. Luke noted that the fancy car in his driveway had gone, too, as he stood to see what Brit was gawping at. Brit loved to look up at the stars, leaving Luke to wonder what she thought about. As she stared in amazement, he thought she might be remembering past memories or maybe time spent with her family.

"Squeeks, if you're done, we'll get going. It's getting kind of late," said Brit as she looked across to her potbellied mouse, his little whiskers covered in specs of carrot.

"As you wish, Miss Brit. Thank you, Master Luke, for the food and your hospitality." Squeeks bowed his head and then leapt off the desk onto Brit's shoulder.

"You can stay a little longer, if you wish. I don't mind. We just met and all." Luke found Brit's sudden talk of departure a bit too soon. He wanted to learn about Avilien from her, and he was glad to be around another person.

"Don't worry; we'll catch up in the morning. I know where you live." Brit smiled and climbed out of the window onto the roof, "Catch you later, Duke."

"It's Luke, for crying out loud." Luke sighed and Nebs stroked his head.

"There goes your only chance with a real girl. Heaven knows she's dumb enough to be a match for you." Nebs laughed at his own mocking words.

"I've known you for like a day and all you do is make fun of me," said Luke as he watched Nebs jump off him and tuck into another potato.

"Then I'm doing my job right," said Nebs with a smile.

"Ishould have left you to be deleted." Luke left Nebs to it and closed hiswindow. He would have to wait until tomorrow to see Brit and Squeeks again, asthey had vanished into the woods. He did wonder why they were heading the wrongway as they headed up the hill past Anna's house.