Tim Clark was sitting in his office but he wasn't really in his office. Today was another two-out-of-ten Thursday and it was lunchtime, which meant that he was having some fun to break up his monotonous week of dynamically resolving whatever dynamic problems dynamically appeared at his incredibly dynamic company.

Soft lips kissed his neck as a hand teasingly inched down his pants and he groaned. "Miss me?" he asked.

Nendra Dyrr pressed herself against him and taunted him with a near-kiss. "Maybe," she said in that same, sexy half-whisper that drove him wild.

Tim pushed her back onto the bed and she let out a delighted shriek, dragging him with her by the hand she'd kept inside the waistband of his pants.

"Sorry, I've been busier than usual," he said as he fumbled with the annoying button-things on his pants until the game's programming figured out that he was trying to take them off. The button clicked open and he yanked the annoying garment down his partially scaled legs.

Nendra's hand continued to work, just as her tongue continued to tease his lips, remaining out of reach except to dart in for quick caresses. Likely as she noticed he'd finally finagled the fastener on his pants, she rolled the both of them over, now straddling him while wearing nothing but the ten-out-of-ten white lingerie he'd sent her earlier that week. The contrast of it against her dark purple, nearly midnight skin in the dim, magical light she'd conjured…

"You still suck at taking clothes off," she said, running a finger down his light red, scaled chest with a smirk on her face.

"It's not my fault the programming for buttons is bad," he grumbled.

The dark elf giggled and leaned down for a quick kiss. "There's no buttons on anything you sent me," she whispered as she began to slowly undulate her hips against him.

"I planned ahead," he said, reaching up to tap the spot on her back that returned the bra she wore to a small, but incredibly expensive-looking diamond necklace.

"How far ahead?" she whispered.

He slapped her butt lightly, and the thong she wore became a matching diamond stud affixed to her navel. "Far enough that I'm taking a double lunch today to start making up for lost time."

Nendra stared down at him from inches away, trailing her teeth over her lower lip as her hips squirmed against his. "You really missed me?" she asked in a small voice.

"You know I did, Nen," he said. He reached up and stroked her pretty face. "I'd come see you more often, but work…"

Her hand moved slightly, and she sank down on him, her eyes fluttering until she was sitting on top of him once more. "I missed you too," she whispered with a mischievous smile. "No more work talk. Make up time now." She leaned down and latched her lips to his.

Tim was a busy man. If he were less capable he'd probably have said that he was too busy, but that wasn't quite the case. In fact, it wasn't even remotely close to being true.

Unlike his brother, he was very good at being busy and he enjoyed the challenge of it.

He could be a bit ruthless in his scheduling, such as how he'd had to cancel his Monday night meet-up with Nendra after getting back late from the office and needing to help Colleen figure out how to set up and configure the new camera she'd bought for her knitting tutorial videos, but he always made up for it. He didn't believe in giving up on anything just because he was busy.

It was this same tenacity that had led him to his current status and position in New Era. His hobby of gaming had stuck with him over the years even as he'd had to cut his time again and again to make space in his schedule for other things. He'd kept going across any number of games, both single and multiplayer and always on the hardest difficulty available, and he'd continued despite his friends dropping out of their nightly online meet-ups one after another, beginning with his best friend Carl however long ago that had been.

Tim might not have the same amount of time that he once did, but that didn't mean he lacked the drive to be the best. When he was forced to reduce in his New Era time allotment past a certain point, he compensated by contracting a company to maintain and level his character up whenever he wasn't using it and supplementing his game knowledge by reading and watching everything he could. Surely this was the reason why the game had the ability to use separate logins for communications and gameplay, complete with separate passwords, wasn't it?

Whether it was or not, he didn't really care.

Life was for those who made the best of the opportunities they found.

He could, so he did.

In real life he was Tim Clark, CFO of the largest, most prestigious, ten-out-of-ten AI-based stock trading corporation that slowly but surely extracted money from "somewhere" and put it into the pockets of everyone who paid them for the service. He made unbelievable amounts of money, he had an eight-out-of-ten wife who had been a nine-point-one when they'd gotten married as well as a nine-out-of-ten, well-adjusted son, he kept himself in ten-out-of-ten shape, and almost everyone he knew envied his success. At his peak now, he was the most successful person he knew.

He'd faced every challenge in life and come out on top.

In New Era he was Drake Storm, a mostly-human dragonkin who was a long-time officer in Superior, the game's only ten-out-of-ten guild, which had been around for nearly ten years before the VRMMO was released. He didn't have the time to fully complete any of the lengthy dungeons, he didn't have the interest to grind all the way to the top of the PvP rankings, and he certainly didn't have the energy to do much of the city politicking that he knew some of the other managers at his real life company loved, but what he did have was the interest and ability to organize and run the finances of the guild, which was what had made them the most wealthy guild in the world and him one of the most wealthy players.

There were an endless number of successes remaining to be had in the game, allowing him to forget the repetitive drudgery of his daily life. If he wanted to leverage his assets and try throwing together another big inter-guild trade deal to become wealthier, there were any number of people who would jump at the opportunity. If he wanted to go exploring or run a short dungeon, the massive world still had plenty of unknown places he could try visiting. If he wanted companionship of the sort that one of New Era's expansions facilitated…

Well, he'd never paid for that before, and he never intended to. He'd had a number of in-game friends of that sort, but Nendra was the one he'd known the longest, even as other flings came and went. She was a nine-point-three in looks as far as her character was concerned, a nine in her skills and status in the game—though she was an officer in Adversity, only the number two guild, but he didn't hold that against her—and she was fun enough to spend time relaxing with. They'd hit it off in the literal sense a little over a year ago when he was hanging out at a tavern with some of his guildmates and she'd been trying to burn it to the ground with hers. Sparks had flown over the course of that Sunday afternoon, but they'd ended the encounter behind the smoldering bar in the same position they were in now, save for a pair of magical handcuffs that she'd slapped on him prior to kicking him over the top of that same bar.

Nendra snuggled her face into his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder, and he stroked his free hand down her silky smooth back, eliciting a murmur of approval. The game only reproduced the feeling of getting hotter and not actual sweat, but that was fine with him at times like these. "You smell good," he murmured after taking a deep breath near her hair to enjoy the scent of the perfume she'd equipped.

"Don't sniff me," she said, squirming a little but sounding pleased.

"Is there anything you'd like me to do to you?" Tim asked. More often than not he was the one who took charge, just as he did in most areas of his life, but he was certainly capable of letting others take the lead when necessary, especially when he was trying to make up for missed time with a lonely-seeming Nendra.

"Nothing right now," she said. "Need to recharge." She gave him a quick kiss on his neck and let out a contented sigh.

They lay on his massive bed in comfortable silence for a while.

"You know, I never thought white hair could be sexy until I met you," he mused.

She bit his shoulder, which didn't have much effect due to his scales.

"What was that for?"

"Making me feel old."

Tim rolled his eyes. "You can dye it if you want."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Too annoying. Runs out after a week."

The forty eight year-old man shrugged as best he was able. "Should've been a high elf."

"Nope. Wouldn't feel right."

There was a quiet ding, and a small notification appeared at the corner of Tim's vision. "Huh."

"Hm?" With the hand that was entwined with his, Nendra rubbed her thumb over the back of his captive hand and squeezed her fingers between his.

He tapped his fingers on her cooling back in response. Not sure it's the best time, but who knows when he'll be on again. "I'm gonna make a quick call."

Nendra pulled her face back a little and gave him an annoyed look. "Guild?"

He shook his head. "No, old friend just logged on. Thought I'd say hi to him."

The dark elf rested her elbows on his muscled, defined chest and cupped her face in her hands as she stared down at him. "Friend, huh? Can I meet him sometime? I've never met any of your friends."

There she goes again with that. He sighed a little inwardly. Might be time to wind things down if she keeps getting more demanding. "Maybe," he said like he usually did. "This is my friend Carl. I haven't really talked to him in probably around ten years, so we're still sort of in the catching up phase. Can you be quiet for a minute or so while you recharge?"

As far as friends went, Carl was a ten-out-of-ten one, or at least he had been before they'd fallen out of touch. Like Tim, he always cared about keeping himself in good physical condition, he was on a solid trajectory with his career even though he didn't quite have the drive to make it up to the top ranks of a company, and he had a model family. Beyond that, however, Carl was one of the few people Tim had ever felt he could trust completely, owing to a certain lack of guile in his taller friend. They'd been through all sorts of ups and downs together, including even being the best man at each others' weddings, and he'd been feeling a certain nagging in the back of his mind for the past several years at not having adequately prioritized maintaining that friendship over his own career. Carl had been the glue that held their group of friends together in more ways than one, and they'd all grown increasingly distant once he was gone.

"And what if I'm not quiet?" Nendra said in a teasing voice, punctuated with a suckling bite to his neck that he knew would leave a very realistic-looking hickey for the next few in-game days if he chose not to heal it. "Ooh," she purred as she felt his response against her, "you liked that, didn't you?" She nipped at him again.

"Maybe." Tim ran the short claws on his hand down her back. "If you're good, I'll owe you a little favor, how about that?"

Nendra slid farther up his bare chest and licked at his ear before biting it. "What kind of favor?" she whispered. She freed the hand that held his and moved it down behind herself as she sat up. "I'll be very good if it's the right kind," she said, her mischievous smile returning as she licked her lips.

She'd phrased it as an innuendo, but he knew what she meant. This was an entirely virtual relationship. Neither of them knew each other in real life, not even how they looked, nor did they know much other than the basics.

He was Drake, a man who worked a job with long hours.

She was Nendra, a woman who had a surprisingly flexible schedule.

It was purely physical and with the occasional guild-related favor traded to smooth over ripples.

"Alright," he said. He stared into her glowing golden irises, entranced until she raked her nails down his chest with just enough force not to injure him.

"You could just not call," she said, rocking her hips subtly over his stomach as her hand worked slowly behind herself. "I don't need anything from Superior right now."

"Well," he said. His hands moved to her waist. "That's good then. I'll just be a minute."

Nendra sighed, and her movements slowed. "Fine."

"Thanks," he said, stroking her belly with his thumbs.

"Fine, but make it quick," she added after a few seconds. Part of her grin returned. "A double lunch for you is still only an hour."

Tim smiled back. "You know I'll make it up to you."

She bent down and gave him another of her teasing kisses. "You are good at that," she said as she pushed herself upright. "Especially with that long dragonkin tongue."

"I plan ahead," he said, his smile changing to a slight smirk.

"Put him on speaker. I wanna listen. Does he have a sexy voice?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "You can let me know. Message: Carl. Message mode: speaker."

"Message activated," the game announced using the soothing voice he'd customized.

"Carl! Hey buddy," Tim began, "didn't expect…"

Nendra's hand began moving again, distracting him, and he gave her a look.

"One sec," he said, holding the expression.

Nendra, always impossibly adventurous in the virtual world, took the opportunity to rise up and slide down onto him once more. She held a finger to her lips, which were set into a coy smile.

Of course this counts as being good. He pushed down a sigh of mixed regret and pleasure. What was I even thinking? Too late now though. "Didn't expect to catch up with you again so soon!" he said, now determined not to give up just because he'd made what was probably a bad decision.

"Dragon magic," someone on the other side of the call said in a near whisper.

"Oh, hey, Tim," Carl said at nearly the same time. "What the heck kinda name is Drake—"

"It's a great name, Carl," Tim interrupted. "Trust me." Market research showed that single syllable names with hard consonants were viewed as strong, so he'd chosen two.

Nendra covered her mouth and shook as she laughed. She'd always liked the first name but not the second.

Someone else spoke on the other side of the call, saying something that included his name. Not just anyone, though.

It had distinctly been a woman's voice.

Carl let out a yell, and the same woman shouted excitedly.

Tim's eyes widened. No way. Carl? He couldn't be… "That doesn't sound like Annie. Didn't you say you just played to fish, Carl? Oh, wait, you meant that kind of—"

"No, no, definitely not," Carl said firmly, just like he did when he denied something that wasn't true.

"Annie?" Nendra mouthed.

"Wife," Tim mouthed back.

Her eyebrows raised, and she began to undulate a little on top of him.

"This is my friend—just friend—Vol," Carl continued in a vaguely annoyed tone, "Vol, this is my friend Tim, who apparently goes by Drake Storm now."

"Vol," Nendra mouthed, stretching the name out.

Never heard that name before. He shrugged, moving a thumb in from her hip to flick the stud in her navel as she lazily rode him. One of the weirder calls I've ever had. Sorry, Carl. I'll make it up to you, buddy.

"Tim?" said Vol in an uncertain tone. "Drake Procella," she said soon after in the same way.

Tim frowned. Procella?

"Procella?" Nendra mouthed, looking as confused as he was.

"Drake Storm," said another woman's voice. "This is an unusual name."

"Whoa, she sounds sexy," Tim said nearly reflexively at hearing a ten-out-of-ten voice. Almost something primal about it.

Nendra squeezed herself around him and slapped his rippling abdominals, showing a look of faux outrage.

Tim held his hands up in a shrug for a moment before returning them to her hips.

"Oh, uh, that's Ir'alith," Carl said.

"Ir'alith?" Tim mouthed in amazement. That's a real mouthful of a name. With a voice like hers, I figured she'd have picked something cuter.

"This Drake Storm is your friend, Carl?" Ir'alith asked.

Nendra's eyes closed and she shivered. "Sexy," she mouthed with a nod.

"Yup, known each other a really long time," Carl said, sounding like he was working on something that was annoying him. "Probably my best friend since I was like, I don't know, maybe ten?"

Or someone? It seems impossible to think of, but I also can't imagine him logging in to hang out with a bunch of girls. Tim continued to mull in the back of his mind. "Ir'alith's a beautiful name. Regal, even," he said. I'm sure one of them will say something one way or the other. No need to rush.

Nendra's hands reached down to grab his, and she wriggled her fingers between his, squeezing in time with the slow, continued motion of her hips.

This is definitely a little weird. Maybe more than a little. A lot more.

"I thank you for this compliment, Drake Storm," Ir'alith said, drawing her words out and provoking a series of shudders from Nendra.

"Riverte," Vol said suddenly. "Amicum summum Carl es?"

"What?" Nendra mouthed with wide eyes.

Tim blinked incredulously.

The sudden, thunderous sound of a massive impact rocked through the room and Nendra let out a yelp as she flinched and fell over onto her side.

"What the fuck?" Tim murmured as he pushed himself up on his elbows to look back and forth. Was that here? Or…

"What the fuck was that?" Nendra said, already grabbing a throwing dagger out of her inventory and coming to a crouch on the bed as her gaze swept the room.

"I'm not sure," he said slowly. "Carl? You still there?"

"Message ended," the game announced.

The two of them looked around the room for a few more seconds.

"That scared the hell out of me," Nendra said after letting out a sigh of relief. She let herself fall backwards and came to sit cross-legged, twirling the dagger around a finger by the loop at the end of its handle. "Did something happen to your friend?"

"Sounded like some kind of crash or maybe an explosion," Tim said.

The dark elf flicked her dagger back into her inventory. "I guess? That was a weird call."

"Really w—"

"DRAKE STORM," a new voice resounded. "YOU ARE SUMMONED."