Shima and I watched from the side as Em was explaining to Ria what was in her computer while also, simultaneously, setting it all up. There was a lot of technical mumbo jumbo that I didn’t really understand, but Ria was listening very attentively regardless. She was even asking some questions about what the difference was between different graphics cards, but again, I really didn’t understand what Em said back. Something something about more Ram and cores and stuff like that.

“Rora, aren’t you going to set up your computer too?” Ria took a moment to look back at Shima and I. Shima had already gotten in the big box where Ria’s monitor came out of.

“Oh, do you want to play together today?”

Ria looked at Em for an answer.

“Well, we can’t play big games, it would take too long to download and install those this evening before we head to bed, but we might be able to play some smaller games together, that shouldn’t be an issue. I actually know the perfect one to get you two introduced to using a keyboard and mouse.”

Ria looked back at me. “So the answer to your question is yes.” She grinned.

“Alright, alright. It’s mostly plugging stuff in, right? We don’t really need to do any other setup.”

“Hmmm, yeah, but it might be best if you keep yourself busy with assembling the desk chairs. I will do the technical side of things.” Em nodded to the three biggest boxes nearby. “Less ducking behind desks and less cable management.”

“Okay, I do like that job description a bit better.” I clapped my hands and got to the first big box. When I opened it, I had clearly opened Ria’s desk chair. Pinkness galore. “Alright, let’s get this started.”

It was good practice for installing other furniture later down the line, as these desk chairs had a relatively clear user manual and not that many parts. Then again, this kind of stuff does really suit me pretty well.

I managed to put the last chair together just as Em and Ria finished installing the last computer.

“There we go, now we can all take a seat.” I joked.

Both Em and Ria chuckled. “Good job, Auro.”

I walked over to Ria’s chair and turned it around. “Milady, would you care to check out your seating?”

“I would very much like so.” She smiled and took a seat.

“You can raise and lower it by using these handles, and with this one you can dictate how much it leans back.” I pointed at the different kinds of handles and levers around the seat.

Ria wasted no time to touch literally everything on the seat.

“Comfy?”

“Yes!”

“And I take it you like the looks as well?”

“Also yes!”

“Good.” I smiled and got seated in my own desk chair as well. They definitely weren’t cheap. But if you are going to use a seat for a prolonged period of time, it really is worth it to spend quite a bit of money on it too. The same goes for mattresses, by the way.

Em smiled and sat down on her desk chair as well, and then rolled it closer to her new computer. “Do you need instructions on turning on the computer as well?” She grinned.

“Shush, you. I know how to do that much.” I rolled closer to my pc and turned it on without a hitch, swiftly sticking my tongue out to my girlfriend.

Ria also did the same and soon we were all ready to listen to Em’s further instructions.

Em handed us a piece of paper and told us to go to a website to download a program. “Wait, I know this game!” Ria suddenly called out. “One of the vtubers I watch plays this!”

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“It’s a pretty popular game, yes. It’s easy enough to learn and pretty fun when you play together, so I thought why not.”

“QuarryTrade…” I read the name on the paper. “I think I heard some people at school talk about this once. But I never really bothered to look into it.”

Em chuckled. “I find it funny that you are more accustomed to Turn of Destiny than to QuarryTrade to be honest.”

“And who do you think is the cause of that?” I stuck out my tongue once more. “I get all my knowledge from you, you know?”

Em smiled and stuck out her tongue as well.

“Em, do I need to purchase it?”

“No, I have a four-pack bought, I’ll give you the codes later. And I already have an account for myself.”

“A four-pack?”

“Yeah. Before you say anything, it was still cheaper than buying two separate accounts.”

“Really?”

Em nodded. “It’s just the way discounts work. I’ll give the other codes away anyway. Maybe I’ll give them to Claire and Anya, or maybe Pres if she’s interested.”

“Pres looks like the person who would already play this game.” Ria commented.

“Oh, do you think so?” Em turned her attention to her.

“Mhmm.” Ria nodded. “When she wants some quiet time by herself, she can just sit down and build something. Don’t you think that fits Pres?”

“Well… if you put it like that… I can imagine her playing it, yes.”

“See.” Ria smiled and clicked the download button.

I did the same.

“Maybe if she actually does, we can invite her over to the server too, that way we can all play together. And any others too, of course.”

“Let’s get Aileen into playing this game.” I joked.

“I’m pretty sure she would not enjoy this game at all, to me, she sounds way more like a Prism Five: Blockade player.”

“I have absolutely no clue what that is supposed to be.”

“It’s a tactical shooter.”

“Ah…. that does make more sense, yeah.”

We managed to install the game and get accounts ready, so we could finally play for the bit of time we still had left in the evening.

With Em managing most of the server stuff, we were soon all spawned in and ready to go. And the first thing I did in the game… was punching a tree with my bare fist.

A very weird experience if I had to admit. I had asked Em what we should do, if we needed to find tools of sorts to harvest some wood, but nope, she said to just start punching trees, and that’s what I did.

The blocky graphics style of the game was rather charming however and it didn’t take the game long to get both Ria and I drawn in completely. But then… the night came…

“Eeeeek!” Ria cried out and then an explosion was heard in the distance with the message popping up on screen ‘Ria-chan has met an explosive end at the hands of the hisser’ which promptly made Em laugh.

I ran my character over and saw a hole in the ground where Ria had begun to construct her tiny wooden hut.

“And that’s why it’s best to not be out at night.” Em chuckled.

“And where are you?” I asked.

“I’m mining iron to get you and Ria some better gear.

“Wait, you can mine?”

“Duh, it’s called QuarryTrade for a reason.”

“Oh yeah… that makes sense.”

Ria was still recovering from her little heart attack. “I didn’t know those could spawn from the start.” She took off her headset, spun her chair around and pouted in my general direction.

“And now you do.” I chuckled. “What does that thing look like that killed you anyway?”

Ria pressed her lips together and pointed at my screen. “Like that.”

I turned back around just to see a read slinky guy stand in front of me, scaring the bejeezus out of me, before blowing me up, one meter away from where Ria had met her end. ‘AuroraTheVampiress stood a bit too close to the blastzone’ appeared in screen.

I pouted and finally turned myself to Em. “Em, I think this game is too hard for us.”

“Nah, it’s not.” She said, not even looking up from her screen. “You just experienced what it’s like to play QuarryTrade for the first time. Believe me, everyone has had that experience. And if they say they don’t, they are lying.” At that time, Em turned around her screen and looked down upon the visage of the same fucker who killed me. At that moment I thought I was witnessing the last seconds of Em’s characters, yet she faced the danger unfazed. With a click of her mouse, she held her shield in front of the blast and blocked all of the blasting damage from the explosive monster, which left a small crater in the gray stone. “See, easy peasy.” Em grinned.

“I need to get one of those shields… those look useful.”

“They are, I really don’t leave base without one.” Em then blocked herself into a two by one space and walked over to my computer. “Come over, Ria. I’ll show you how to make one of those. There should be a chest with some iron over there...” When Em leaned over to point at my screen I got a whiff of her warm herby scent together with her usual sweet-smelling hair conditioner, it made me totally blank out for a moment. -Damn… I really need to hold myself back right now to not just boop my nose into her bosom…-

“Auro…. are you sure you can pay attention like that?” Em giggled, poking the top of my head.

“Oh no.” I mumbled from against her shirt. My gay thoughts had won out before I could even react. What a calamity. Such an unparalleled disaster!