New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

This sparked laughter from the two girls, who looked at Alex's bewildered face. They then sat in front of the television, watching some anime that Violette had picked.

The sofa was large enough for six people, but that didn't stop Kary from cuddling up to Alex. He was uncomfortable about it at first, but quickly stopped thinking about it, as he started feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

Around five in the afternoon, Alex got up to cook dinner. It was nothing too complicated, and any abled adult could pull off steaks, asparagus, and mashed potatoes.

Kary offered her help, but he politely declined, saying she was just as much a guest as Violette, and that it was his responsibility as host. That didn't deter her from sitting across his kitchen island and watching him cook.

They talked about the game while he diced up the potatoes before dropping them into boiling water.

"I was thinking about joining a guild soon. Or maybe start my own. The advantages of being in a guild are quite profitable for top players, you know?" Kary said, tapping her fingers on the countertop.

"Hmm. I'm not sure if I want to be in a guild for now. I feel like it would constrict me from exploring freely the rest of the game."

"That solely depends on the guild you join, and how well you negotiate your terms. I'm pretty certain guilds would be very flexible for the current number one in the level rankings, and runner-up of the first tournament."

"I don't know. They might try to force me into leading them into high-level dungeons and raids all the time too…"

"Then start your own. Appoint someone you trust to lead it logistically, while you keep exploring as you want to."

Alexander stopped chopping for a moment. What she was saying actually made a lot of sense.

But then, who could he appoint to that position that he trusted enough? There weren't many people he trusted that much to start with.

And the people he did, well, he would hate to limit them in their freedom. This was quite the conundrum.

"I'll think about it," he responded, going back to chopping the tails of the asparagus. He dumped those into another pot of boiling water to blanch them before he pulled out a pan.

He put the pan on the stove, starting it at high, and drizzling oil in it. He then waited till the pan was hot and put the steaks inside.

He seared both sides of them before lowering the heat and letting them cook for a minute. Then he set them aside.

Next, he drained the water out of the asparagus and potatoes and mashed the latter into a nice puree. He took some on his finger to taste it, but Kary was quicker than him, sticking the finger into her mouth.

His legs almost gave up under him before she winked at him and skittered away.

"They're perfect," she said, as she was leaving.

Violette had caught sight of the act and was pulling a grimace.

"Eww! Get a room!"

Kary winked at her, giggling, and then sat at the table.

Alexander regained control of his legs before serving the plates. He also pulled out two wine glasses and a normal one for Violette, bringing it all to the table.

He served the girl some grape juice before taking a wine bottle out and pouring himself and Kary glasses.

The dinner passed by quickly, as they talked and laughed while eating. For an instant, Alex almost felt like he was having dinner with his family.

It was quite refreshing and soothing, in a certain way. Even Violette seemed to have forgotten why she was here in the first place.

After dinner, Kary helped clean up, even if Alex insisted she didn't have to. He stopped arguing when the woman was already elbow deep in the sink, washing dishes.

Instead of fighting it, he decided to be a little more forward, and came up behind her. Alex leaned in against her back, reaching his hands in the sink, too.

He helped her wash the dishes in that position, occasionally pecking her neck with a kiss. The woman was loving it.

Once the cleaning was done, they all agreed now was a good time to go play New Eden. But an issue arose.

"How are you going to play? Did you bring your helmet?"

"I… Didn't think about that."

*Sigh*

"I have my helmet somewhere, but I don't have an extra computer. You would need to be plugged into mine, which is next to my bed…"

"That's not a problem," she replied, winking.

Violette fake gagged before entering her room and closing the door.

"I'll be waiting inside the game!" she shouted through the door.

The two adults were left in the corridor, laughing at their situation. Alex figured they would be inside the game, so having her lay in his bed wasn't an issue.

So he pulled his helmet out of the closet it was stored in and plugged it into the computer. Kary logged into her account before the helmet reset its configuration for her use.

She then lay down on the bed and put the helmet on.

"Don't do anything to me I wouldn't do to you, while I'm inside the game."

Then she logged in.

Alexander sighed.

'I'm pretty sure that was an invitation, more than a warning…' he thought, as he opened his pod and lay in it.

He stared at the dark inside for a few moments, taking in how his day had been.

It had started not so well, and rapidly became worse, until things calmed down, and now it was ending on a cheerful note.

'I guess karma really exists.'

He tapped the game icon.

*Launching 'New Eden'*

*Logging in*

*Welcome back player Astaroth*