“No way,” she said, her mouth full of sweet potato hash. “He’d just get in the way of my flirting with all the tavern wenches.”
“Yeah, having a loving partner around really fucks with your game,” Chloe said sarcastically, and we all laughed.
“Seriously though, what are you all thinking for the character day?” Grey asked. “I can’t even picture what I should be wearing.”
We’d agreed in the Wench Please chat that, whilst Phil would be making us some more classic Ren Faire looks for one day, we wanted to dress like our D&D characters for the other.
“I feel like I’ve always pictured Gorlag in basically a loin cloth,” I said. “Not that that should stand in your way.”
“True. I should probably add an intense workout routine into my preparations,” Grey said, flexing their biceps. Or, I could only assume that’s what they were doing, given their pose; their arms looked no more muscular for the effort.
“Good luck with that,” Chloe said, pointing her fork at Grey. “I’m definitely dressing like Calamity though, meaning lots of black leather.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“You gonna paint yourself purple, too?”
She shrugged. “Maybe I will.”
“What about you?” Fatima asked me. “What would Captain Morgana wear? A full suit of armour, I assume.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I doubt that’s practical, so we’ll see. I’ll come up with something.”
Grey’s cutlery clattered against the table as they dropped it, looking up at me. “Wait a minute, sorry, just back up a minute. Morgan, you said you always pictured Gorlag in a loin cloth?”
I shrugged. “I mean, yeah?”
They winked at me. “I’ll try not to let that get to my head.” The rest of us laughed. “What might that loin cloth look like, exactly? I’m struggling to conceptualise this costume.”
I was secretly glad they’d asked; I’d actually got to the point of feeling excited to show everyone the drawings I’d done. I pulled out my tablet, opened my gallery, and handed it over to Grey.
“Oh my god, Morgan, this is so cool!” they shrieked, spreading their fingers to zoom in.
“Thanks,” I replied, beaming.
Grey passed the tablet around to Fatima and Chloe, who were equally full of praise for the drawing, before Grey snatched it back to study the outfit.
“Can I see more?” Fatima asked, pointing to the tablet in Grey’s hand. When I nodded, Grey very reluctantly handed it over, literally growling in protest. I saw Fatima swipe several times, mentally indexing what I’d drawn in the last few weeks that she might see. It wasn’t until she stopped and cocked her head to one side that I remembered what I’d drawn just after the images I’d shown them.
“This person looks familiar,” she said, turning to show the table a drawing of a tall blonde man in a plaid shirt standing on an overlook, ridges rising up on both sides of the landscape. I felt my face go red, and I turned my attention to my plate as Fatima showed Chloe what she’d found. She wasn’t mocking me; they seemed to actually be admiring the drawing. But when I’d drawn it, I’d been thinking about how embarrassed I’d been. And where they probably saw a slightly more chiselled jawline than was realistic for Jack, I knew I’d drawn it that way because I remembered the set of his face – the tensing of his muscles – as he rejected me.
I was glad I hadn’t saved the one of us in the river to my image gallery.
“He told me it was great,” Chloe said.
“Yeah, it was really beautiful. You could see for miles.” My cheeks burned, but I forced myself to look at her as casually as possible.
“He’s done that hike at least a dozen times,” she said. “I don’t think that’s what he meant.”
Okay, so, no eye contact with Chloe then. I looked at Fatima and Grey for support, but they were too busy giving each other a conspiratorial glance.
Blissfully, Fatima changed the subject, scrolling back to the drawings I’d done.
“Hey, one of Jared’s friends is actually looking for a freelance illustrator for a project. Do you do that? Or know anyone who does?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never done any freelance work before, and no, I don’t know anyone else who does it.” But something in the back of my mind wouldn’t let me leave it at that. Showing them what I’d done had been exciting until they’d found that drawing of Jack, hadn’t it? And I could certainly do with the money. “Why? What’s the job?”
“Apparently one of his coworkers he’s quite close with is quitting to open a games shop in Manchester.”
“Oh that’s awesome!” Chloe said. “We’ll have to take a trip up when they open.”
