[center][img]https://media2.giphy.com/media/3oriNPdeu2W1aelciY/giphy.gif[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/S6mDoor.png[/img][/center]

[right][sub][@Fabricant451] and [@Universorum]
Introducing: [color=d87529][b]Cedric “Why Try?” Styles[/b][/color] and [color=f0e68c][b]Paul “What if he’s not gay?” Soriano-Duke[/b][/color]
Guest Starring: [color=7fc19e][b]Kit “I CAN BE A PIRATE!?” Thomas[/b][/color] and [color=ffefd5][b]Min “This is Too Much For Parker” Seo[/b][/color]
Location: A science room
Time: After school[/sub][/right][hr][hr]
It was that time of year again. After Christmas break, clubs typically saw a resurgence of new members, as people wanted to try new things and get out there and meet new people. This, however, was not the case for the tabletop club. Once again, the members were sitting alone in the meeting place: an empty science classroom.

On one end of the table, Cedric Styles, founder and president of the tabletop RPG club, surrounded by different books relating to different tabletop games that he’d spent his entire high school career trying to share with the other students. But, to his annoyance, no one had ever shown up.

[color=d87529][b]“This is stupid, Paul. Zach didn’t even show up because he doesn’t think we’ll get anyone. What’s the point? I can’t believe he didn’t show up, that dick… I’m gonna tell Ray, I swear to god.”[/b][/color] Cedric grumbled, putting a hand through his admittedly shaggy hair and shaking his head. Zachary Webb, the third member of their little entourage, had decided to go to the 365 Combat Club in an attempt to get some girl to love him. [color=d87529][b]“I put a lot of work into this, you know!”[/b][/color]

The tabletop club was a bit of a wash and Paul Soriano-Duke was constantly surprised that it hadn’t been dissolved to make way for something with a bit more interest. He was glad for the space away from home to work on his model kits, though today in a shocking twist he wasn’t absorbed in putting together a Gundam but rather his phone and the Instagram  account where he posted his in progress model pics and the end results. It could not have been a more niche page and yet…

[color=f0e68c][b]“Someone liked every single one of my pictures.”[/b][/color] Paul hadn’t even been listening to what Cedric was saying, but knowing Cedric as Paul did it was probably about the fact that the mandatory third person to keep a club going wasn’t even there today. [color=f0e68c][b]“I barely get likes but someone liked every single picture. Do you think it was a mistake?”[/b][/color] 

[color=d87529][b]“...no, why would someone do that on mistake? Wait, every picture? Hey, you’re trying to distract me from the problem at hand!”[/b][/color] Cedric protested, picking up a particularly thick rulebook and waving it around. [color=d87529][b]“It’s like you don’t even care. Maybe my marketing just sucks, I dunno. I guess I could just give u—”[/b][/color] Cedric stopped talking as the door swung open, and two people he had never seen before in his life walked in.

The smaller girl, with the multicolored hair, walked up to the table and slapped down a piece of paper on it, looking between the two boys as she spoke. [color=7fc19e][b]“We’re here for the club! This… is the right place, right?”[/b][/color] She asked, and Cedric looked down at the paper, noticing that it was one of the flyers he’d hung up on the boards. [color=7fc19e][b]“Where do we sign up?”[/b][/color]

[color=d87529][b]“Well, yeah. Really? You guys are here to join the club?”[/b][/color] To be honest, Cedric hardly even knew how they signed up — this had never happened before.

[color=f0e68c][b]“You’re not wrong, I don’t care that Zach isn’t here. I do care that someone I don’t even know liked all my pictures. What if it’s, like, a sign? I have to follow them back, right? Like, that’s what to do in this situation?”[/b][/color] This was uncharted territory for Paul whose biggest fan was one of his moms - and even she didn’t like his posts on Instagram. This was going to stay with him. He had thought it was weird when the first like came in last night, but this morning he was thoroughly shocked by the amount of notifications. Was this what the popular kids had to deal with on a daily basis? 

His attention was taken from his phone when a louder voice was added to the mix - a voice he was not at all familiar with. Now he knew there was something strange going around. Not one member but two and they didn’t exactly look like what Paul figured a tabletop enthusiast would look like. [color=f0e68c][b]“There’s a ledger, Zach knows where it is.”[/b][/color] 

The other girl was a bit quieter in both appearance and volume and she looked somewhat confused. It was clear she was brought along rather than being the one who had a great interest, but at least she didn’t look like she hated being there. [color=ffefd5][b]“Is this...a science room?”[/b][/color] 

The attention of Kit was taken away from the person sitting with all the books, and brought to the other boy, as he mentioned a ledger and a Zach. Kit had little to no idea what either of those things were, but she did have ideas about something that the boy had mentioned! [color=7fc19e][b]“You [i]have[/i] to follow them back! What if they’re a secret admirer?! Does it say who liked them? Let’s figure out who it is and [i]confront them.[/i]”[/b][/color] Kit held her finger up as if that was the only answer to the situation.

Unfortunately for her, the guy with the books shook his head. [color=d87529][b]“Whoa, whoa. We’re not really of the confrontational types… Anyway, yeah.”[/b][/color] He said, looking at the quieter girl. She was dragged along, but that was okay. He could make things open to everyone. [color=d87529][b]“This is a science room. We use it because it’s got the biggest tables, which are kind of important for this. I’m Cedric, and this is Paul. There’s one other guy that’s usually here, but he had to skip today. Business.”[/b][/color] ‘Business’ seemed easier to say than ‘he bailed because he didn’t think anyone would be interested in what we’re selling.’

[color=7fc19e][b]“Cool. Hey, listen. Me and my friend here — I’m Kit, this is Min — we’re looking to join this here club you guys got going on. I’ve never played a tabletop RPG before, but I’ve read about ‘em some on the internet, and I really wanna try it. What’s it like?”[/b][/color] She asked, and Cedric suddenly got much taller. Finally, finally. Finally he was able to give the spiel.

[color=d87529][b]“Tabletop RPGs are awesome! It’s pretty cool, to play them. You get to build a character that can be almost anything you’d like, and then you get to do whatever you want. I’ll be the Dungeon Master, which means that I control the narrative, though you guys drive it. Basically, I play the monsters, and you’ll play the heroes — but don’t think of it was me vs you. Because that’s not what it’s about, it’s a collaborative effort. They’re one of the best ways to be creative and have fun! They’re driven by dice, and you have to do just a bit of math… but it’s really fun.”[/b][/color]

He had lost Kit a little ways into that, but she’d picked up on one important part: they could be anything they wanted!? [color=7fc19e][b]“I wanna be a pirate! Can we be pirates!?”[/b][/color]

Paul didn’t know if this Kit girl had genuine enthusiasm or was on some sort of drugs but he was leaning towards the latter if only because he hadn’t ever seen someone so excited to join this club. It definitely got Cedric talking which meant there was a good five minutes or so where he wouldn’t [i]stop[/i] talking. The first trick Paul learned in being friends with Cedric was knowing when to tune out and what to tune back in for. [color=f0e68c][b]“Pirate is a class, yes, and there are pirate themed campaigns and do you really think it could be a secret admirer? What if he also likes model kits? Wait, what if he’s not into guys?”[/b][/color] Paul was much more interested in the part that pertained specifically to him. Let Cedric handle the business aspect. 

 [color=ffefd5][b]“Why not just...send message? On the account?”[/b][/color] Min-seo, too, was more interested in the potential secret admirer than the tabletop RPG. She was something of an authority on admiration and romance, at least compared to the rest of the room. 

[color=7fc19e][b]“Look, don’t take this the wrong way… but any guy who builds Gundam models for fun, and [i]especially[/i] any guy who looks at pictures of Gundam models other boys built on Instagram… [i]definitely[/i] likes guys. Min’s right though! You could just send a message. Hey, I wanna talk more about the pirates. Can we make that happen?”[/b][/color] Kit looked eagerly between the two boys, before Cedric looked at the pile of books on the counter, and shrugged. 

[color=d87529][b]“I mean, we can do a seafaring campaign, sure… but we could use more people. Like, three more in total? The seafaring ones are hard. But they’re nonetheless fun. Do you guys know anyone who can play with us…?”[/b][/color] Damn, was he shilling too hard? Maybe he was being pushy… Luckily for him, though, Kit lit up and nodded.

[color=7fc19e][b]“Yeah! Min has a boyfriend and then a girl that’s always hanging out with them! Min, can you make Henry and Parker come?”[/b][/color]

Paul had to admit, Kit had a point. Of course, the point would amount to nothing if his initial assumption of it being some kind of accident turned out to be the truth. He couldn’t just message the liker of comments, what would he even say? ‘Hi, thank you for liking my posts, what’s your favorite Gundam and also are you cute?’ That was stupid. It was probably all a mistake. That was the simple explanation. He wasn’t exactly Beverly Hills High’s most eligible bachelor. His best friends and himself essentially made up the Three Stooges, except instead of Stooges they were the Three Dudes Who Hung Out In A Science Room. 

 [color=ffefd5][b]“I can..message Henry but...I don’t think he...likes...this.”[/b][/color] Though Min was doubtful she was already sending the text message asking him to drop by the room, complete with a heart emoji. Or three.  [color=ffefd5][b]“You said...math?”[/b][/color] Min-seo was now speaking to Cedric directly.  [color=ffefd5][b]“I...am good...at math.”[/b][/color] If the game had math involved maybe it would be fun. 

[color=d87529][b]“It’s pretty basic math, but there’s a lot of addition and subtraction. Here, check this out. These are the player’s handbook. So you can look in there for rules and stuff, alright? It’s got all the character creation stuff.”[/b][/color] He slid the books across the way to the girls, and Kit caught hers and immediately turned to the table of contents, sitting down at the table.

[color=7fc19e][b]“You guys need snacks in here. There are WIZARDS? That’s so cool! What’s a half-orc!? You there, Gundam boy! Tell me what a half-orc is. They look COOL. They have huge teeth!”[/b][/color] Kit was already won over. This was totally for her, that much was for sure.

[color=d87529][b]“Well, we only ever have like three people here, and we’re not [i]that[/i] hungry. Are you seriously [i]that[/i] hungry?”[/b][/color] Cedric glanced at the other girl, almost as if he were looking for validation that Kit could be so hungry as to need snacks [i]right this second.[/i]

‘Gundam boy’? Paul wasn’t sure he liked that nickname. He built more than Gundams. He had other mobile suits, like a Zaku and a Gogg and his personal favorite: the Qubeley. That one had taken a good three months and was the pride of his collection - which was impressive in its own right. ‘Gundam boy’ was just so very reductionist.  [color=f0e68c][b]“A half-orc is the offspring of a human and an orc. They’re good at intimidation and night vision and they have the ability to survive a fatal attack with one h.p. They make good barbarians which aren’t exactly the same thing as pirates.”[/b][/color] Most of his information came from Cedric; Paul had only read the manual enough to get what he needed for his own character. 

[color=ffefd5][b]“So many…”[/b][/color] Min was not reading the manual as quickly as Kit was, and she was mostly looking at the artwork for the playable races. [color=ffefd5][b]“Is that...frog? I can...be frog? So cute!”[/b][/color] If nothing else, the imagination of the artwork had kept Min’s focus. 

[color=7fc19e][b]“Miss me with that gay shit, I ain’t bein’ no barbarian. I wanna be a half-orc and I wanna be a wizard. I wanna have huge fangs for teeth, and I wanna throw fireballs and stuff like that.”[/b][/color] Kit said, looking over at the boys once again. She had an idea in her head, and she was sold on it now. [color=7fc19e][b]“I wanna be the wizard of the ship! Because ships need wizards right? Like if I’m the wizard and we’re in the middle of the ocean and there’s no wind, or the wind is taking us the wrong way, then I wanna be able to, like… use my magic to make us go… the right way.”[/b][/color] She gestured with her hands, as if she were pushing towards sails. [color=7fc19e][b]“No wait! I wanna be a halfling, dude! Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do. I wanna be a Halfling… Bard… with a sweet lute, and my awesome riffs will pilot the ship!”[/b][/color]

[color=d87529][b]“Sure, you can be a frog. There’s all kinds of races, you can basically be whatever you want.”[/b][/color] Cedric said, giving Min-seo a smile. Her phone buzzed with a text message from her love, saying that he could be convinced, and they’d talk about it tonight.

While Paul could appreciate the enthusiasm from Kit, it was clear that she wasn’t really taking the character creation process as seriously as perhaps she should. Sure it was fun to think of race and class combinations but she was missing the best part. The crafting of a biography, personality, getting into the head of a character and finding what makes them tick. A half-orc wizard was possible but [i]why[/i]? The why was the best part! [color=f0e68c][b]“That isn’t really how bards work...and barbarians aren’t gay! They’re the frontline, in your face, warrior types. What’s gay about that?”[/b][/color] It was rhetorical, but somehow he figured he’d get an answer anyway. 

Min-seo, meanwhile, checked her phone and while it wasn’t a definitive yes, she could probably convince Henry to at least give it a chance. Even if he didn’t stick with it, that he came for a trial would mean a lot to her. [color=ffefd5][b]“This might be...too hard for..Parker.”[/b][/color] 

[color=7fc19e][b]“You kidding me? Have you even [i]seen[/i] Conan the Barbarian? The guy is nothing but bulging muscles and a banana hammock of homoeroticism! That’s [i]the[/i] quintessential barbarian, and all he is ‘look at how bulging my muscles are!’ ‘look at how oily I am!’ Come on, man. That’s gay. Why isn’t that how Bards work!? Can we change how bards work? I still wanna be a bard…”[/b][/color]

[color=d87529][b]“Oh, really? Well, that’s okay. What class are you thinking about being?”[/b][/color] He asked Min, smiling brightly. He was happy to have the chance to [i]actually[/i] play, but he was beginning to realize that they were getting close to the end of time for the day. [color=d87529][b]“Here, why don’t you guys take those books home? Here’s my number and Assistant name, IM me if you need help. Take a look over some stuff, see if you have any ideas? We’re getting close to out of time, unfortunately, but next week you can bring a friend or two if you got ‘em! We’ll do character creation.”[/b][/color]

Paul found himself laughing at Cedric’s entire exchange and he realized he was the only one doing so. He thought it would have been obvious to Cedric though the lack of understanding in Cedric’s expression said otherwise.  [color=f0e68c][b]“This is, like, the first time you’ve given your number to a girl and it’s for character creation. God we are so hopeless.”[/b][/color] It was only funny because the truth didn’t hurt so much through the mask of humor.

Man, Paul was taking unnecessary shots. It wasn’t Cedric’s fault that girls were unapproachable for him! He was an ugly nerd for most of his life, and only recently had become ‘handsome,’ and he wasn’t even sure about that. [color=d87529][b]“That’s not fair, man. Girls are hard to talk to!”[/b][/color] Ced protested, making a face. [color=d87529][b]“You got it easy. You just talk to other boys!”[/b][/color]

Kit, who was headed out the door, hand-in-hand with Min-seo, glanced over at Cedric. [color=7fc19e][b]“Dude, you wanna meet girls? I can introduce you to some girls —”[/b][/color]

[color=d87529][b]“Yeah, and I bet they’d be fourteen!”[/b][/color]

[color=7fc19e][b]“Uh, no! I’m a [i]Candy[/i], you asshat! It’d be a hot cheerleader! Good day, sir! See ya next week.”[/b][/color] With that, Kit and Min took off, leaving a flabbergasted Cedric looking at Paul.

[color=d87529][b]“[i]She’s[/i] a Candy?!”[/b][/color]

Paul was not convinced and he was only somewhat jealous that Cedric got to have someone play matchmaker for him. Why was it that there wasn’t like Man Candies, though Paul would have felt all kinds of weird being forcibly introduced to someone. It was hard to be natural when both parties had expectations and preconceived notions.  [color=f0e68c][b]“I bet she’s a [i]Sour[/i] Candy.”[/b][/color] And yet despite his reservations, he was willing to crush Cedric’s hopes at any opportunity. 

What else were friends for?