It was dark by the time I approached Jasmine’s door. I hadn’t really had time to miss a whole lot of things from home, but at that moment I was really missing public transportation and motor vehicles. I supposed that would probably change as I grew in levels and travel time became less of an issue for me, but for the time being, a car would have been super useful. I took a moment to compose myself and catch my breath before knocking on the big wooden doors.
They creaked open and revealed Jasmine standing there, not in the armor she had worn previously but a luxurious looking fur robe, tied loosely at the waist. Beneath it, so far as I could tell, she wore nothing. She held it up against her chest with one hand as the robe slid about halfway down the opposite arm. The glow from the streetlamps flickered and played enticingly across the green skin of her cheekbones and single exposed shoulder. When I saw her last, her hair was tied up in a warrior’s braid. Now it flowed elegantly down her back. She was an absolute vision, and I suddenly wondered what in the hell I was doing there. This was the kind of woman statues were built for. I was a keyboard jockey who peddled cardboard boxes for a living.
“Took you long enough,” she said, breaking the silence.
“Sorry about that. I took a wrong turn in Albuquerque.”
She made a confused face, not understanding the reference and likely wondering what the hell an Albuquerque was.
“So? Are you going to come in, or has your boldness finally discovered its limit?”
I smiled, having my doubts as to whether it was boldness or stupidity that brought me here, and which of them would eventually have me crossing that threshold. I knew just one thing for certain: if a woman like Jasmine invites you inside, you go inside. Every single time. And so, I did. She stepped aside to let me pass, then closed the doors behind me. The heavy doors made a loud thud as they latched shut and I knew in that instant that was the sound of an entire chapter of my life coming to an end.
She led me toward the big leatherback chair where I’d first seen her. The firelight from the oversized inglenook on the opposing wall was the only light in the room. She sat in the chair and draped her right knee overtop her left, exposing one very long and very muscular leg. It was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done to convince myself to stop staring at her thigh and reestablish eye contact. She wore a knowing grin as she pointed her toes at me.
“Care for a drink?”
She gestured toward a small table off to the side of the room, upon which were several bottles and glasses. I walked over to the table, thankful for the brief distraction. The bottles were labelled “Ethereal Berrywine”, “Brandy of Duskin Monastery”, and simply “XXX”. I filled the bottom third of a glass with Brandy and looked back at Jasmine over my shoulder.
“Would you like me to bring one for you, as well?”
“A glass of the Berrywine, thank you.”
As I poured the glass for her, a memory struck me suddenly and I quietly pulled up my UI. Sure enough, they were still there. A golden marker indicating a new questline and a red X marking an endpoint to my current quest. It made no sense to me, though. I clearly wasn’t going to fight Jasmine, and I doubted that was even what The System wanted me to do. Was there some sort of item I was supposed to obtain from her? None of it made any sense. I shook my head, and decided to try to figure it out, later.
Get your head in the game, moron, I scolded myself. There’s a lady over there who puts every Earthly supermodel to shame waiting for you to bring her a drink.
Which, of course, is exactly what I did. I walked back over to her, handed her the drink, then pulled up a nearby ottoman and sat on it in front of her. Her eyes never left me as she watched every move I made like Boots used to watch a fly she was preparing to pounce on. She took a sip of the Berrywine as I sat down.
“You are full of surprises, do you know that?”
I blinked and looked up at her.
“How do you mean?” I asked.
“First, you sneak into an orc stronghold – which is entirely too high a level for you to wander around inside of safely, mind you. Then, you not only break into my quarters but you stand in front of me with my aura completely unrestrained and rather than pissing yourself and running away, you just stay right there and tell me I’m pretty. And now, when invited back into said city – still too high a level for you, by the way – by an orc matriarch who is definitely too high a level for you, you actually show up.”
“Well, to be fair, I actually might have pissed myself a little. I don’t actually remember. And as for your invitation, it didn’t really seem like the kind of offer that would come along again.”
“Oh, it wouldn’t have,” she laughed. “But you’re missing my point. None of this should even be possible, Rocky. At your level, my unrestrained aura should have completely melted your brain and I don’t mean that metaphorically.”
Well, that was certainly new information that I never asked for and didn’t particularly want floating around in my brain. I took a long swig of the brandy, as though it might erase some of what she had just revealed, but alas – no such luck.
“I couldn’t begin to guess at why that might be. I don’t have any particularly high stats.”
“No,” she said, “you wouldn’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I also had a picnic with my god, and one of my best friends is a ghost so…” I shrugged, finishing off the brandy in my glass.
Jasmine just looked at me for a moment before her eyes twinkled and a small grin curled her lip. She stood up and untied her robe, letting it slide down her body until it settled upon the floor at her feet. In one of my proudest moments, I was able to maintain eye contact through all of that. I pushed the ottoman back and stood with her. As I did, she bent over so that we were face to face. We were so close that our noses almost touched.
“Rockland,” she said, softly.
“Yes, Jasmine?”
“I think maybe it’s time to test your theory about those soft hands of yours.”
“Massage?”
She nudged my nose with her own, grabbed me by the hand, and led me toward her bedroom.
“Massage. Then, if you perform well, perhaps…other things, as well.”
Before I could respond, a system notice appeared. I swiped it away. It reappeared. I swiped it away again. It reappeared. No matter how many times I tried to ignore the thing, it just kept popping right back up again. Finally, I gave in and read the notification, hoping that Jasmine didn’t notice.
Confused, I opened the supply drop and almost choked.
I closed out the screen just as Jasmine led me into her bedroom. She sat down on the bed, and I gulped. Her eyes were voracious and her aura was as exposed as the rest of her. I drank the damn potion.
What ensued post-massage was part love making, part survival of the fittest. There was so much rag-dolling going on that I thought we broke physics for a moment. As for who was on the receiving end of said rag-dolling…die curious. In any event, most of it was a blur of sensual pleasure, physical pain, and existential crisis that eventually ended with us cuddling on the beast-skin rug in front of her fireplace. I caressed her arm as we both watched the dancing of the flames.
“So…that was delightful,” I said. “We should definitely make a habit of that.”
Laying behind her, I was only able to see a small portion of her face; but, I saw the tell-tale protrusion of her cheekbone and knew that she was grinning.
“Maybe. Maybe not. It may just depend on how often you tell me I’m pretty and rub my feet.”
“You got yourself a deal, gorgeous,” I said, half chuckling. “If that’s all it takes I’ll be shocked if we get much else accomplished in life. Better prepare yourself for an onslaught of compliments and soft-handed foot massages.”
“Sounds like a compromise I could probably live with.”
“You know, not to get too serious and ruin the moment…but you talk as though no one ever tells you how amazing you are. That can’t possibly be the case, can it?”
She rolled over to look at me, a tiny hint of sadness in her eyes.
“Orc culture isn’t the same as human culture, Rocky. When an orc male wants to court a female orc, generally he’ll challenge her to a fight. Or, sometimes, he’ll bring her prizes from raids or hunts he’s done. It’s all about strength and dominance. Maybe…maybe I was tainted by watching the relationship between my human parents when I was so small. I don’t know. All I know is that you showed me your strength by showing kindness in the face of someone who should have terrified you.”
I kissed her forehead and took her hand in mine.
“Jasmine, I don’t know how to tell you this…”
“What?” she asked, looking more vulnerable than I could have ever imagined her, before this moment.
“I was terrified of you. Honestly, I still am, kind of. Look at you. You’re a very intimidating woman. But…that’s not to say that any of what I told you is untrue. You’re intimidating not just because you’re so much bigger and so much more powerful than me. Even if you had none of that, I’d still be scared shitless of you, just based on how unbelievably, fantastically beautiful you are.”
She smiled.
“You’re just trying to talk your way back into the bedroom, now.”
“Is it working?”
She laughed and shook her head.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“I have ideas about that,” I said.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to discuss those ideas. No sooner had those words left my mouth than the sound of shattering glass had me scrambling to my feet and pulling both my handgun and The Blade of Seredh out of my inventory. The dagger emitted a soft pulsing blue glow in my hand. Jasmine stood next to me, holding the beast skin rug to cover herself.
“Vrk’shryk??”
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
“M-mother! I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to intrude.”
His mouth was agape, eyes wide. Then he looked at me standing there fully naked, half erect, and one quarter preparing to run for cover. His eyes narrowed as they landed on my gun. His aura flared. I could feel the rage and bloodlust immediately pouring out of him.
“YOU,” he growled.
And just like that, I understood. The System had been leading me to this moment since I fell down that manhole in Brooklyn. No – before that, even. That son of a bitch had been building toward this since I had the shouting match with the construction worker. I understood all of this in an instant and all I could think to say was:
“Mother fucker.”