Page 182 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

“Done. Sold. Where the hell are my shoes?” Nikki was up in a flash.

Maybe not an immediate fix, but a drive together would do them both good. And maybe, maybe Gunter could quiet those dark fears in Nikki’s head for a little while.

So. Apparently in Burkhard, there was such a thing as game night.

This was news to Nikki, and while it was fun in concept…really? Dragons hundreds to thousands of years old really got together to play Twister?

Dafuq?

Anyway, not only was this a thing, but for some odd reason, their usually very introverted Gunter went right to game night like it was the most natural thing in the world. The man who literally forgot to eat three meals a day. Remembered game night.

Nikki was going to need an intelligence check on this one. Maybe an investigation check. Something. Because this did not make any sense to them whatsoever.

Maybe it was the confusion that prevented Nikki from asking more questions. Or stalling. Whatever it was, in short order they found themself in the dining room, surrounded by the entire clan and visiting clans, multiple games going on in every corner and on every table top. Being surrounded by this many mages made hives break out on Nikki’s skin. Their resolve to be on better terms with the mages notwithstanding, Nikki had planned to do it in stages. Not like this. This felt like being thrown into the deep end.

Gunter didn’t seem to realize, just waved Nikki on. “Go find a game, you can always jump in. I’m heading for snacks first.”

Nikki almost snatched him back but missed the timing. Gunter was headed toward the buffet before they could say something. Dammit. Maybe they could run for it and Gunter wouldn’t notice for a few hours.

Just as they were eyeing the doors, an arm locked in with theirs. Cassie grinned up at them, honestly delighted to see Nikki there.

“You came! Look at you being a little social butterfly.”

Okay, Cassie wasn’t bad. Nikki actually liked Cassie, a little. She was a bundle of energy and mischief, and they couldn’t find her threatening. “Yeah, hi, I had no idea what was going on. Gunter just dragged me up here like it was the most natural thing in the world. I mean, game night?”

“It is hilarious how seriously they take it, too.” Cassie waved a hand around to indicate the room in general. “They’re competitive. Like, Olympian kind of competitive. They will shift in order to win at Twister. I’ve started taking videos and posting them to the Burkhard Facebook page. And our website.”

Nikki stared at her, waiting for the punchline. “We have a social media page. And website?”

“Sure, how do you think all the wannabe mages find us? Gotta advertise, am I right?”

Sometimes, being around Cassie made their brain cramp. “But isn’t that handing out info to the Jaeggi?”

“Naw, I’m careful what I post. It’s always silly stuff like this. And they know our location, anyway. Not like I’m divulging a secret there.”

“Okay, good point.” Nikki eyed the many, many games in progress and didn’t even know where to start. Or where they’d be comfortable sitting, honestly. They sucked in a deep breath to settle their nerves. They didn’t want to run. They wanted to at least try and stick this out, see if the fear of the thing was worse than it actually was. “Cassie, swear to me⁠—”

“Fuck you,” she said promptly.

Nikki eyed her sideways, exasperated. “I meant like a promise.”

“Oh. My bad.”

“Don’t throw me into this, okay? Like…which game is even safe for me to join?”

“Feeling overwhelmed? I getcha. Okay, first, don’t play Twister. Seriously, the dragons are not to be trusted. The DnD game has been going on for ages; it’ll be hard to join in on the fly, although if you want to, you can. You just need to create a character first and get caught up to speed. Hmm, for tonight…how about Funkenschlag?”

“The power company game?”

“Yeah, that one. Never understood why they didn’t call the electricians power rangers in that game, but still fun. Yes, no?”

Tori and Baldewin were already playing the game in question, and that more than anything convinced Nikki to join in. Those two Nikki was more than comfortable with. The board game wasn’t something Nikki was super familiar with, but they could always read the rules and figure it out.

“Yeah, that one’s good.”

“Cool beans.” Cassie towed them straight to the table, which was fortunately in a corner, not in the open room. Nikki smiled at the other two. Okay, this wouldn’t be too bad, if Nikki could just camp out here for the rest of the evening. Or however long this lasted.

“Hi, can I join?”