Mythran's Master Of All

Gloria had logged out and figured she needed to wait for 45 minutes, just in case there was a problem with the game update, then looked at the time on the wall and sighed. It was way too late to call or text anyone, since they would all be in bed. That reminded her to check her phone, and she did so for the first time since yesterday.

It was then that she noticed that both her ringer and the vibrate function were turned off, and kicked herself mentally for doing it. She turned both back on, then checked to see how many calls and texts she had missed. When she saw the deluge of them she had received from both Stella and Elise, she sighed again.

“Damn, I messed up again. I completely forgot I was supposed to work with Stella today.” Gloria said and waited for the game's update to finish, then logged back in to send a message to Ren. She dismissed the popup for the World Event: Water Works without reading it and waited for Ren's response. When it didn't come, she wondered if he had logged back in at all. She logged out again and opened up her hacking tools, and pinged his Player ID.

“Dammit, he's not back in yet.” Gloria said when there was no response to her query. “He usually stays in overnight, so something must be going on.” She picked up her phone and checked all the messages again. No details were given, only that she should call or text as soon as she could. It was against her better judgment, since she knew everyone was in bed; but, she hit reply and sent off a short text to Stella.

She wasn't going to get a response.

Gloria had been right about Stella, and she was unconscious at the moment. Lisa on the other hand had heard the beep from Stella's phone on the nightstand beside the bed. She was currently locked in a tight embrace with the other woman, and not only couldn't she move, she didn't want to. Not in the least. The only other time she had been held so lovingly was by Ren, and she wasn't going to interrupt that just to see who was being an ass by texting so late at night.

*

Ren, Elise, and Barbara had talked for the entire time and discussed different things, and Elise mentioned seeing Stella and Lisa talking. Ren knew what had happened, so he gave them a condensed version of the events that Lisa had been through.

“That poor girl.” Barbara said. “I hope she's okay.”

“If Stella's looking after her, she's going to be fine.” Ren said. “Stella kind of has a knack for these things.”

“I assume you know this from personal experience?” Elise asked, and Ren nodded.

“She helped me a lot after... well, my Lucy phase.”

“A phase? I believe that's what's called a 'dumpster fire'.” Barbara said.

“Yeah, it was a complete disaster that no one wanted to deal with.” Ren chuckled. “Me least of all.”

“You're okay now, though.” Elise said, and Ren sighed. “Ren?”

“It's always going to be a sore spot for me.”

“That doesn't mean you're not okay.” Elise said. “You've got us here to help you whenever you need us.”

“Thanks...” Ren pat her arm. “...and thank you for staying awake with us this whole time.”

Elise smiled. “Did you expect me to sleep right here in your bed and ignore you?”

“Kind of. I just assumed you were exhausted after being up all day, and I wouldn't have held it against you if you dozed off.”

Elise leaned over and gave him a kiss. “I'll pay for it tomorrow, but I wouldn't have missed this time with you for anything.”

“Well, since I'm technically your boss, I hereby grant you a short reprieve.” Ren said and preened a little. “You can show up for work half an hour late, and I won't report you for slacking off.”

“A whole 30 minutes!” Elise exclaimed and started to tickle him. “Why, thank you sir!”

Ren laughed and squirmed around.

“I'll be sure to use the extra time off wisely.” Elise said and her tickles became caresses, then she snuggled in and gave him a hug.

“Okay, you can have 45 minutes.” Ren said, and Elise laughed.

“Always so generous.” Elise said and let him go, then helped him put on his VR headset. “Have fun.”

“You know I'm joking, right?” Ren asked. “You can sleep in for the whole day if you want to.”

“I would, if I could spend it with you.” Elise said and kissed his cheek.

“I believe that can be arranged.” Ren said with a smile. “Flow Login Start.”

Elise looked at his inert form and then at Barbara. “I was kind of joking. I've got too much to take care of to take the whole day off.”

“I'm sure he knows that; but, you should be more careful what you ask for.” Barbara smiled, and Elise nodded. Now she had to figure out if she could shuffle a few things around in case Ren took her up on her offer.

********

Ren appeared in the white loading area for the game and received a popup.