Since Dan only had a couple hours of sleep and got up without complaining, Ace, Chet, and Nick tried following his example.
Becky sent Bonnie over to him with another flower. The child wasn’t scared of him any longer. It wasn’t clear why, but it’s well known that Karens are wishy-washy.
A full person would’ve easily been able to tell Dan wanted to exercise alone and be left alone, and that’s why Leena accompanied him, blabbing her stupid mouth off the whole time. I don’t think I ever saw her break a sweat. Her cardio was fantastic. Maybe her Trait had something to do with it. By the wording, it shouldn’t.
[What’s her Trait?]
Ageless.
[I’ve never heard of that one.]
A lot of participants picked it. I’ve never seen it before this Game either. It isn’t on the token list for the forge. Here, I’ll show you.
Ageless: The anti-aging aspects of the Health Attribute are increased for you.
How vain does someone have to be to waste their selectable Trait on that drivel? You’d figure even the stupids would know staying alive is more important than aging a little slower.
Leena never told anyone why or how she selected Hell difficulty and Lone Wolf. I have to believe she picked Ageless on purpose, so that means she picked everything on purpose.
I find that hard to accept since she had never had any difficulty in her life. Why would she pick Hell difficulty? My best guess is that broads are just crazy regardless of species or realm.
Dan had brought both backpacks with him to exercise. I knew he was going to hide most of his frags and Orbments.
If he buried all that wealth with the shit he stashed on the first day and we somehow figured out a way to steal it all along with those nine Legendary Orbments, that would be amazing. Maybe we’d be allowed to have one of the Orbments. Maybe. Probably not, but maybe.
Leena was ruining it anyway. She wouldn’t leave him alone for a second. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. She’d get along great with Zixy.
She had given up on keeping her nails nice, so she followed Dan on his rock climb. He couldn’t lose her. She was in too good of shape to be shaken. Shaked? Shook? Whichever is correct. She was like a tick, stuck to him, but a tick yapping its stupid mouth off nonstop, far worse than any bloodsucking parasite.
I could tell Dan was getting frustrated. When he finished exercising, he angrily dropped the backpacks, sat down, and began meditating. Leena began to do yoga. She also continued to yap and yap without pause.
Do you know what yoga is?
[I do not.]
I’ve seen her do it a ton of times and I’m not sure either. All I know is that it’s weird and far more difficult than it looks. So, considering those two facts, I must conclude it’s just a difficult way to be weird.
Bob thinks it’s some sort of subhuman mating ritual. Maybe the secrets stored within Carnegie Hall explain exactly what it is.
Dan meditated as Leena did yoga and blabbed. After about half an hour, Dan screamed out, “Shut the fuck up! Holy shit, lady, just shut your fucking mouth! I’m about fixing to weld it shut with lava if you don’t close it and keep it that way.”
Leena immediately began crying. Loudly and dramatically. Her body racked with sobs so violently that I thought she had to be faking. I would’ve been certain of it if her mentals didn’t tell me otherwise.
After a minute or so, Dan got up and walked over to sit next to her. While she was still sobbing and ignoring him, he said, “I’m real sorry about what I just done. When my Class made me a little like my mana-type, it gave me a permanent Enrage effect. Most of the time it don’t do nothing. I done let it get the best of me a minute ago.”
Leena went from sobbing on the ground to wrapping her arms around Dan and sobbing all over him.
“I’m sorry I said all that,” said Dan. “I try not to cuss, especially in front of ladies, but I just lost it. I didn’t mean what I said. About putting lava in your mouth. I hope you can forgive me. It’s just that I like being alone and I got stuff to do, and you just wouldn’t take a hint. You just kept talking and talking.”
Leena pulled her head back to look at Dan. Between sobs she said, “I know I’m blowing it, and you probably think I’m hitting on you or want to hookup or something. I don’t. I just want to be friends because you seem like you have the best chance of getting out of here alive.
“I want my ex-husband back, but I blew it with him too, and he’ll probably never take me back. My kids won’t even talk to me. I ruin everything! I just can’t do anything right!”
She buried her face in Dan’s shoulder again. Dan held her for a while as she cried. He eventually said, “I’m sure he’ll take you back. You’re real pretty. Truth be told, you remind me a little of my ex, and I think that’s one reason why I couldn’t hold my temper.”
Leena pulled her head back to look at Dan again. “Would you ever take her back?”
“That’s different. Your situation ain’t the same as mine.”
“Tell me about her. What happened? Why is she your ex? Why do I remind you of her?”
“She was real pretty too. That’s all I got to say. Why don’t you tell me about your husband. How long were you married?”
“Okay, but I’ve told you all of this, like, three times already.”
And tell Dan again she did. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. I could tell Dan was only pretending to pay attention. Only full people can tell interesting stories. Oh, it was torture for Dan, so I loved every second of it and hoped she’d never stop.
[What happened to Dan and his ex-wife?]
That part’s coming up really soon.
[I don’t think we define ‘soon’ the same.]
It really is, Boss. Keep in mind this is only the fifth day.
[Understood. What’s Leena’s story then?]
It’s just stupid nonsense. She had one of the cleanest trauma profiles I’ve ever seen. She lived a charmed life until she ruined it herself. And ruin is far too strong of a word. She was still loaded with wealth and lived a life free of struggle or real problems. As I’ve said numerous times, she’s not a full person.
Stolen story; please report.
[I’d like to know her story.]
Really? Okay. It’s stupid though, but Ace Blacky hears and obeys.
Her family immigrated to the US from India some years before she was born. Both her parents had great jobs and worked their asses off. Neither of her parents were attractive, nor were her siblings. Leena hit the genetic-lottery jackpot.
She was always treated very specially by everyone. She was very popular in high school and completely assimilated into US culture. Her family purposefully wasn’t fully assimilating. Her parents wanted their kids to be more Indian than American.
Some Indians in the US do this thing called an arranged marriage where the parents find a suitable spouse for their child. Prior to her turning 18, her parents went on the hunt trying to find a husband for her she’d find acceptable.
Leena’s oldest sister was in medical school, but her parents trusted her and weren’t looking for a husband for her yet. They knew the clock was ticking on Leena and she couldn’t be trusted. Any minute she could shack up with a non-Indian boyfriend, get pregnant, something.
According to Leena, she was still a virgin. Her parents weren’t so sure about that, and if she was, she wouldn’t be for long if she left home for university.
Her parents found the perfect guy. He was the same type of Indian from the same state and caste in India. He was religious, respectful, had a great job, was very handsome, and was only 27. The only problem the parents had with him was that he was a little too Americanized. He flew in and came over to eat dinner with the family. He fell for Leena and Leena fell for him. Love at first sight.
Leena married him the week following her high school graduation. She had two kids over the next two years and focused on taking care of her house, husband, and family. She was happy. Extremely happy.
She loved her kids, but she preferred being a wife to being a mother. She loved how much her husband loved her and was so attracted to her. How proud he was to show her off. His beautiful wife. And she loved him and was proud of him. Her kind, caring, and successful husband.
She knew her bread and butter were her looks. Every day she put in the work. Her husband bought her everything she needed to stay young and beautiful, but she put in the hours running, exercising, doing yoga, starving herself, all that.
She blames her friends. All her friends were getting divorced and sleeping around and telling lurid stories of their hot flings with young studs. They constantly spoke about how freeing it was, how much they loved it, and how happy they now were.
Leena had always liked flirting. She liked the effect she had on men. She liked it when they ignored everyone else and looked at her.
She had never cheated on her husband. She had just flirted. When her children were in their mid-teens, she started taking it further. Flirting led to first base, then second, then third. It was all very exciting.
Leena’s husband was a good-looking guy. She thought he was very attractive. But he wasn’t nearly as attractive as the young studs her divorced friends were sleeping with.
The night her second child left for college, Leena bagged her first 10. The second man she had ever slept with in her life was as good looking as she was. She filed for divorce the next day.
Her husband was devastated. He couldn’t understand why. He loved her so much and did everything to make her happy. Anything she wanted, he got for her. He had always treated her like a queen.
She told him that there was more out there. She deserved more than him.
And she got more than him. It was like she was living in a real-life episode of ‘Sex and the City.’ She now had her own lurid stories to tell her friends. Her alimony kept her living the lifestyle she was accustomed to. She deserved it. She deserved everything and more.
One day, after a very attractive man she slept with texted her for a booty call, she realized she didn’t want to. Last time, that man took off the second they had finished. She was being used. It was all meaningless. Empty. Sex with her ex-husband wasn’t.
Her friends told her casual sex with young studs wasn’t meaningless. They told her she was wrong. They told her not to be sad and to use the men. Text them for a booty call on her terms.
But she didn’t want a booty call. She didn’t want cheap, empty thrills. She wanted what she had with her ex. Love. Passion. Meaning.
She wanted a true partner in life that treated her special and like a queen all the time, not just to get in her pants. Someone that truly loved her. Someone that held her in his loving arms all night and was there the next night to do the same, forever.
She tried getting her ex-husband back. He had a new girlfriend, a kind woman as beautiful as Leena had been at that age.
Leena was devastated. She cried and pleaded. She begged and apologized. No matter what she did or said, he wouldn’t take her back.
The next few years were miserable for her. Then the Game snatched her up.
See, I told you she wasn’t a full person. Oh, so sad living in luxury. Oh, my heart breaks for her. She’s an old that men still find attractive. She somehow managed to beat science. She should just take the win and stop being such a whiner.
[I believe Leena’s still alive. That’s why I was interested in hearing her story.]
No problem and she is. If she keeps going like she has been, I’ll have no choice but to consider her a full person soon. I hope I never have to. I hope I can kill her. Who could’ve ever predicted this pathetic old would remain this long?
At least now she knows what suffering is. And not just plain old suffering. The real deal.
Oh, by the way, that’s not the story she told Dan. She left out most of the lurid stuff. She previously told Becky her full story with all these details.
Now Becky, she never whined or complained. She took everything thrown at her like a champ. She always had kind words and a smile for everyone. She even somehow managed to always be kind to her punk-ass bitch daughter. I almost feel bad for what I did to her. Almost.
Who am I kidding? I loved every second of it. I’m still laughing about it, but silently, on the inside, so I can still talk as I laugh.
After Leena finished telling Dan the PG-version of her story, she said, “I wish I could go back and do it all over. I didn’t know what I had until I lost it. I ruined my life. I ruined it. I have to get back to him. I have to get him back. My kids and family won’t even talk to me now.
“I do hope we can be friends, and…and you’ll help me survive this place out of friendship, but if…if…I’ll do anything. I’m desperate. I promised myself I’d stay true to my ex, but if you’ll only help me if I sleep with you, I will. Anything.”
Anger flashed on Dan’s face before he said, “You got to stop with that. Your looks don’t mean nothing here. If you want to remain, you need to get strong, and your looks ain’t going to help a damn lick with that. You got to dig deep.”
They talked for a little more. Dan told her they were friends but the best way to be his friend was to leave him alone and not talk to him.
Everyone else had gone to train and practice at the Core Trial. Once Leena had settled down, Dan apologized for his outburst again and told her to tell Nick and Ace he’d be back later that day.
Dan buried everything but two Legendary gems, some food, and his water bottle. And his belt, just in case you thought he buried that too. I did say everything. I meant everything in the backpacks. He didn’t bury the backpacks either. Nor his armor. He had already given the camera back to Chet.
Right before he exited into the Boneyard, he said, “Shit,” and ran to the Core Trial to get Ashen Ruin. I think, since he was there, he felt obligated and waved Nick over.
After Dan gave Nick his empty backpack back, Nick said, “My leg’s doing better. I can put more weight on it now. I’m fixing to start doing all the exercises and training I need to for the Speed Trial. Hey, just so it don’t slip my mind again, this Trial’s instructions is only in English so Carlos is learning what it says from Luke, but Luke can’t really speak too good no more. Not until his face heals up some.”
“That’s fine,” said Dan. “Once Chet’s done reading that book, he’ll have a better way of explaining it anyhow. I reckon Chet speaks Spanish too. He just don’t want to get stuck as translator since it’d cut into all the time he spends gazing at legs and chests.”
Nick laughed. “Oh, man, ain’t that the truth. Did you look through that notebook? I thought I was a pervert at that age.”
“Yeah. You was. So was I. My life would’ve gone a lot different if I weren’t.”
“Yeah,” said Nick. “Hell, I’m still a pervert. Wish I could say I wasn’t. I’m just better at hiding it than Chet. If Maw could ever get a glimpse inside my head, she’d switch my hide for a month. Half my brain ain’t nothing but depravity.”
“I know it,” said Dan. “I reckon you should turn that half of your brain into something that’ll help you remain. I’m starting to worry about you, Nicky.”
Nick said, “What I do is I just try to take my hat, and I turn it around, and it's like a switch that goes on. And when the switch goes on, I feel like another person. I feel, I don't know, I feel like a…like a truck. Like a machine.”
[What? What was he talking about?]
That was another quote from ‘Over the Top,’ but this time from the legend himself, Lincoln Hawk. Gaze upon me as I demurely cover my mouth with a tentacle and giggle like a naughty schoolgirl. Hehe! Isn’t this so much fun? Don’t you want to get in on this action?
[No.]
Jeez. I thought it was fun. What Nick actually said was, “No need, bro. I’m good. I’m taking it seriously. Just like I trust you, you got to trust me too. Don’t forget that just last week I was the one looking out for you.”