Chapter Text
"Hello my superbly social superstars!" announced Caine as he appeared dramatically from behind the curtain to his 'lair'.
It was, unfortunately, apparently time to learn about this stupid creative project Caine wanted them to partake in. Felix was practically buzzing whilst the group waited inside the main area of the Moon Tent. Not because he was excited or anything, no, Felix was just fully prepared to cause problems.
Emily, Alexis, and Ophelia were excitedly checking out the art supplies whilst the rest of them had sat down at the large table and patiently awaited their glorious ringleader.
"Finally," Felix groaned. His head was starting to clear and he could feel a light headache beginning to make itself known. He could really use another smoke. Thankfully his stomach hadn't started rumbling yet. He needed to figure out how to avoid getting the munchies and embarrassing himself in front of everyone.
"It's wonderful to see that you're excited Felix! I apologise for the wait, I just had to make sure I could answer any and all questions you may have!" Caine smiled as he took a seat at the side of the table that was mostly empty and dropped a stack of papers onto it. "Before I start, other than Anna, have any of you played a tabletop RPG before?"
"Yeah, I ran a group for my friends for a couple weeks a while back," said Alexis.
"Heh, that sounds fitting for you," accused Felix pointedly.
"I know there's an implication there, but I can't be fucked to figure it out," Alexis replied, rolling her eyes. "Anyway I was the only one who would give running it a try and I wasn't very experienced, so it kinda fell apart."
"Well that's still wonderful Alexis, it takes a lot of bravery to lead the charge with these things," said Caine.
"I've heard these games corrupt you into summoning the devil and having cult orgies," Felix deadpanned.
Someone snorted a laugh.
"I-" Caine stammered and froze, speechless.
"What is this? The nineties? You must have plenty of experience in playing it then," Alexis retorted.
Felix thought about the folder in his desk at home, full of character sheets consigned to never be used, and the sheer amount of watchtime on his computer watching actual plays. He grinned wide. "Pfft, never. I'm too cool to be caught dead near nerdy shit like this," he lied through his teeth.
"I-I was- um... I-I've always wanted to play," Emily mumbled. Felix's head snapped towards her, but she didn't seem to notice.
He remembered how it was her that first introduced him to the show that he had rewatched so many times at this point. She just went on and on about it and how much she loved the characters. Felix had made fun of her for it. She never even knew he started watching.
"I'd never heard of it at first so I didn't know what to think, but once you get into it it can be really fun!" cheered Anna.
"I play all the time," Ophelia announced with great pride.
Felix's smile dropped in surprise and he just looked at her with wide eyes. How could someone as cool as her openly enjoy something so lame? She didn't seem to notice his reaction so he recovered and forced his mask back into place.
"I go to a local game shop and they have role-playing nights, it's a a great time!" she continued.
That seemed to finally shake Caine out of his stupor. "Well if you like that then you're gonna love what I've cooked up for you!" he declared with complete confidence. "Well for those who are uninitiated, a TTRPG—or table-top role-playing game—is a game where you role-play characters around a table!" He laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world and somehow Dmitri chuckled as well. "You, the players, make fantastical characters with wondrous abilities and I, the game master, create amazing adventures full of wacky hijinks and deadly monsters for you to play through!"
"Uh... deadly monsters?" Christine asked with concern.
"Of course! I can't tell a compelling story where nothing bad happens, where's the intrigue? The stakes?"
Felix's grin widened. "Not to mention the sex appeal."
Alexis glared at him. "What are you talking about?"
Caine didn't even seem to hear him. "The game we will be playing is Digital Dungeons! It's my own creation full of everything good about TTRPGs! My magnum opus of creativity! You can play whatever you'd like! Wanna be a graceful elven archer? You can! Wanna be a demonic mage that blows up enemies in a fiery inferno? I'm not stopping you! Wanna be a boring human with two swords and a horse? Sure, why not! The choice is yours, a cosmic buffet!"
"Did you just call Geralt boring?" asked Christine.
"Who?" questioned Anna.
"Can I be an unforgiving god hell-bent on tormenting everyone else?" suggested Felix.
"No. I'm the only god this story needs," Caine dismissed.
"Laaaame."
Over the next couple hours Caine taught the group about the intricacies of table-top gaming and his 'unique' system. The dice that Felix could identify at a glance. The cluttered custom character sheets filled with empty fields distinguished by familiar words that told Felix everything he needed to know. The options they had for classes and species and how checks and combat worked.
"Isn't this just D&D?" snarked Felix as Caine finished describing the fiftieth thing that was practically identical except for a few changed terms or the implementation of a home-rule that basically everybody followed anyway.
Caine gasped and looked extremely offended. "Of course not! Digital Dungeons is better in every way! D&D-" he emphasized with air quotes, "-is a terrible system with too many nuanced rules and too little room for creativity. Which my system is not."
"You literally use the same out-dated alignment system with no real use anymore," Ophelia challenged. "You just changed 'Evil' to 'Bad' and 'Neutral' to 'Normal'."
Felix laughed. "What does Chaotic Normal even mean?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Caine shot back crossing his arms and turning away. "You'll see how much better it really is when we're playing."
Caine then informed them of the setting they would be playing in. Their characters would be transported from their home realms to the Digital Circus. A dungeon run by a mysterious overlord and his loyal lackey, filled to the brim with wacky wonders and terrible twists. They'd be exploring it's many floors and completing the overlord's deadly adventures all in an effort to find the exit.
"Oh... we're doing that again?" asked Anna, trying her very best not to sound disappointed.
"Of course!" replied Caine.
"What? The same setting as last year or something?" Dmitri asked Anna.
"Yeah... It was fun though! Just feels a little weird since I already know about parts of it. We never did get to find the exit though."
"Not to worry! The setting is the same but I've come up with some great new ideas for all you wonderful new players," assured Caine.
With no more pressing questions, the room grew quiet as everyone focused on creating their characters. Emily was doodling some ideas down, looking for the right 'vibe'. Alexis was rereading the class options for the fifth time, seemingly unable to settle on any individual one. Anna was helping Chris with hers whilst Dmitri was having a very lively discussion with Caine about 'the lore' or whatever.
Ophelia nudged Felix with her elbow.
"What?" Felix asked Ophelia.
"Got any ideas?" she asked, looking down at his empty sheet.
"Nah I was just thinking of winging it. This is stupid anyway," he dismissed, leaning back in his chair and holding his arms behind his head.
"Come on, you won't know if you like it unless you try it."
"My parents said that about food but I always knew if I wouldn't like something," he chuckled.
"Or maybe you were just expecting to not like it so you convinced yourself you didn't?" she challenged.
Felix rolled his eyes but sat up and grabbed the reference sheet again.
"Ooo you should be a rogue!" Ophelia suggested.
"A rogue?"
"Yeah! You give off total roguish vibes. Rogues are always broody loners," she chuckled.
Felix lightly punched her shoulder. "Wow, that's typecasting."
"Oh piss off," she cursed, but she couldn't stop the laugh that came out anyway.
"So what's your character?" Felix asked, drawing the word out.
Ophelia placed a hand to her chest with pride. "Well since you asked, I'm going to be playing Ribbit the Croakin Ranger. She's from a realm of snow and ice where her people are slowly freezing to death whilst the evil Rabbitoid Empire hoards the Everlasting Hearth Flame to themselves."
"Pfft, you're taking this way too seriously."
"You're not taking this seriously enough! We've been abducted! We need to find the exit to this dungeon before we all go insane! Ooo, what if we teamed up? You could be from the Rabbitoid Empire, we could be enemies-to-partners-in-crime!"
Her genuine enthusiasm for all of this made Felix's chest twist uncomfortably. Didn't she see how stupid this was? They were a bunch of twenty-something year old adults being forced to play a game for nerds and losers who didn't want to live in reality. But her excitement was contagious, Felix couldn't help but be inspired by the idea.
"I'll think about it," he muttered under his breath, looking away.
"Yes!" Ophelia cried out in victory. "Oh it'll be so cool, Ribbit was taken by the overlord whilst running from a Rabbitoid ambush, so think about how your character might be involved."
"Ribbit sounds really cool!" Emily said excitedly, not looking up from her drawing. "Can, uh... can I draw her?"
Ophelia's eyes went wide. "If you draw her I will kill anyone you ask me to."
Emily winced at the intensity. "T-that's-! That's okay... I just think it'd be cool."
"The coolest!" Ophelia squealed.
Felix, meanwhile, was forming a plan in his mind as he looked over the reference sheet. The Croakin were frog-people—he rolled his eyes, because of course—and obviously the Rabbitoids were rabbits, which was so dumb but he needed Ophelia's character to trust him. And then there was the class... he originally was thinking of playing a rogue, but now he wanted to pick anything else out of sheer spite. His eyes lingered on one option in particular.
Warlock. A spellcaster who has made a deal with a powerful patron.
Felix's eyes darted over to Caine, who was standing over Christine and Anna looking at their work. He stood up and stepped over. "Hey Caine, got a second?"
Caine's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course Felix! Have you decided on a character?"
Felix lead him away from the table, just far enough that noone would be able to hear them talking quietly. "Actually I did, and a cool one if I say so myself."
"Gasp!" he said.
"I was thinking of playing a warlock, but I don't wanna be just any warlock. I wanna be different. Unique. Really play into this cool setting you've made for us."
He carefully wove his words with vicious intent. He was starting to get an idea of what made Caine tick, it was something he'd seen in so many people before. An insatiable need for validation and praise. And that was a useful tool, people like that were so quick to ignore any red flags that anyone else might have noticed, as long as you fed into their egos. And Caine was devouring every word.
"So I was thinking," Felix continued. "What if the overlord is my patron?"
"The overlord?"
"Yeah like, what if I wanted to escape my terrible realm, so I made a deal with the overlord to go on his adventures in exchange for power," he explained.
"Like a playtester?" Caine asked, holding his hand to his chin. His hair shimmered underneath the lantern light.
"Sure," Felix agreed.
"Hmm, well. I don't think that would work? You'd then be aligned with the person everyone else is trying to escape from."
"Right! So maybe when we're getting too close to the exit, the overlord can call upon me and I'd have to... I don't know-"
"Convince them all to stay to playtest his next adventures!" Caine interrupted with excitement.
Felix winced. "Alright, alright, keep it down. It'll be a great plot twist if the others don't know, don't you think?"
"Gadzooks you're right!" He grabbed his cane and swung it across his chest dramatically. "That's a great idea! It's wonderful to have a forward-thinking player like you on board Felix."
Caine wandered away deep in thought, making and adjusting plans with this new information.
"Well, that was easy," Felix mumbled to himself.
Felix turned back to watch as the rest of the group excitedly wrote down notes on their character sheets and discussed their backstories, completely oblivious to his dastardly scheme. Then something churned inside of him, the lingering vestiges of calm brought by the joint were fraying into clarity.
He glanced at Ophelia. What was her deal? She hardly knew him and yet she was treating him like they were friends? She kept seeking him out, trying to include him in activities, and now without him even realising what was happening she got him to commit to this stupid game?
He told himself it was all part of the plan. That he was leading her on so his betrayal would hurt her even more. It was the only explanation that made sense.
That's when he noticed Emily stand up from her drawings and step out of the tent. His smile grew just the smallest bit wider as he followed her out.
The entryway to the tent was a small empty room that opened out into the rest of the campsite. It would have once been used to sell tickets and confections, a small extension sticking out of the main tent and held up by rusty pipes, plywood walls, and thick wooden pillars. To Felix's right was a staff door, presumably leading to some kind of utility closet or something, and to his left was a short hallway leading to retrofitted restrooms.
Emily was currently walking towards the left, but as she heard footsteps following her she looked over her shoulder and froze. "F-Fe-Felix?"
"Hey there EMT," said Felix playfully.
Her eyes went wide. "Th-that's not..."
"C'mon, you didn't think I actually forgot about you? You know that was just a joke right?" he interrupted, not giving her a chance to form a complete sentence. Just like the old days.
"I-I-I-I-" she stammered out.
"I'd never forget my good old pal EMT, who kept me entertained throughout all our years in that terrible educational prison." He took a step toward her, posture calm and open.
She took a step back.
"You remember when you got that hand-me-down school uniform from your brother? It was so big you looked like an actual child," Felix recalled with a laugh, "and then you tripped and got it all muddy and had to spend the rest of the day covered in dirt. That was so funny!"
"N-no, it-" she tried again.
"Or that time you wore that stupid halloween outfit with that silly mask? You'd put so much effort into it and then it just fell off your face and shattered? Priceless!"
He took another step closer to her and she took another step back. She was shrinking into herself with every word he said, and that just fuelled his attack.
"Oh! And how could I forget when you got that dumb letter from a 'secret admirer'? You spent the whole day trying to figure out who it was before you realised it was April Fools Day! Classic!" He wiped a non-existent tear from his eye, smile stretching as wide as he could make it.
Another step forward, another step back, and Emily bumped against the shitty plywood wall. She was shaking now, her pupils dilated out of sheer terror, her lip quivered and tears welled up at the bottom of her wide eyes.
And that was a whole different level of high he hadn't felt in so long. The original high he had turned to drugs to try to replace, though they ended up filling a much different role in his life. This was the opposite of that stilling calm. It was pure, unadulterated power.
Felix planted his hand on the wall next to her head with more force than was necessary, causing her to flinch, and leaned down close to her face. She was so small now, and he felt like a giant. His heart raced, the darkness behind his eyes became a maelstrom, adrenaline spiked through his system. She was completely powerless.
And all the while the smile on his face never faltered.
Emily's eyes darted back towards the entrance to the main tent.
"What?" he asked quietly. "You think they're gonna save you? You think they care about you? Please, I'm the one saving you from them."
She looked confused and her lips moved but no words came out. Her eyes were trying to look anywhere except his face inches away from hers.
"Oh sure, these people seem nice. But do you really think it'll stay that way when they see behind that cute innocent mask you always put up. C'mon be real. You know that if they ever get to know the real you they'll never speak to you again. They'll see how much of a loser and a queer perverted freak you are."
Felix paused for a second. Emily was completely frozen in fear now. She made no attempt to respond, no attempt to run, no attempt to deny the truth he spoke. "How do you think they'd react if they knew about the figurine thing?" he teased.
That got another reaction out of her. She slumped slightly and she looked down at the ground. Tears started falling down her cheeks, but she didn't even seem to notice. There were no sobs of anguish, just a quiet trembling.
"At least you know me right? I'll make sure no one else hurts you," he whispered, completely calm. Words that threatened something darker than the tone that carried them.
Emily mumbled something barely audible.
"What was that?" Felix asked with a slight tilt to his head.
"P-please," she pleaded, slightly louder but her voice was still as tiny as she looked. "D-d-d-don't... d-do this again..." she begged.
A shiver went up his spine, but before he could even think to decipher it, someone else spoke.
"Emily?" asked Alexis from behind him. "Are you okay?"
Before the words had even finished coming out of their mouth, Felix had straightened back up and turned to look at them, toothy grin still plastered on his face like they were just having a casual chat.
He couldn't say the same for Emily. The second he retreated from her space she fell to her knees and started wiping her face, already terrified of what Alexis might say and trying so hard to put on her own mask.
"She's fine," Felix dismissed, "we were just catching up. It's been so long since we last saw each other."
But Alexis wasn't looking at him, they were looking at the trembling mess behind him who was trying to smile reassuringly despite the tears still pouring out of her eyes.
"Look at how happy she is," Felix said smugly.
"I think she can speak for herself," Alexis retorted. They did not look convinced in the slightest.
Felix shrugged and started walking back towards the main tent, arms stretched out behind his head casually. "Whatever. See you later EMT."
He didn't look back as he went back inside, still riding the high that would carry him to the end of the day.
—
"You're playing a what?" Felix questioned, raising his eyebrow at Dmitri.
They were sat in the kitchen/dining room along with Ophelia, resting after a frankly delicious curry the group cooked together. The air still smelled strongly of spices as a pot of leftovers sat on the unlit stove.
This room honestly felt like a reprieve from the rest of the campsite. It's walls were a soft yellow, the floor was linoleum tiles patterned after a dark stone. Maybe basalt? The furniture was clearly an older set, repaired over the years with pieces of wood and fabric replaced. There were three separate circular dining tables and the three of them were sat at the one closest to the bedroom hallway.
It felt calmer here. Gone were the gaudy abstract colours of the common room. Gone was the eccentric and overdecorated decor of the tents. Here it was just quiet. As quiet as something can be visually. They could still hear the rest of the group chatting in the common room, separated from the kitchen by a single wall that cut off eighty percent of the way across the room, with no door to muffle any sound.
"A gnome clown," Dmitri repeated with a proud smile. "I thought it'd be funny to play someone the physical opposite of myself," he chuckled whilst slapping his own belly with both hands.
"I didn't see a clown class on the reference sheet," joked Felix.
"Pfft, nah, I'm a wizard-"
"Sorcerer," corrected Ophelia.
Dmitri tilted his head at her. "What's the difference?"
Ophelia wheezed out a laugh—slamming her fist lightly against the table—and Felix couldn't help but chuckle as well.
"You spent the longest out of any of us making your character and you don't know the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer?" Ophelia struggled out between wheezes.
Dmitri snorted. "Look I didn't really care about that stuff, I just wanted to make sure Kaufmo's vibes were right."
That made Felix lose it as well. He laughed so hard that he broke into a coughing fit. "That is the most clownish clown name that has ever clowned."
"Thank you," Dmitri nodded as if it was a compliment.
Ophelia finally recovered enough to speak clearly. "What is it with you and clowns?"
"What, is it a crime to like clowns?" Dmitri asked with a roll of his eyes.
"Spiritually yes."
That got a deep belly laugh out of Dmitri. Felix just shook his head in disbelief at the antics unfolding before him. These were certainly some of the weirdest people he'd ever met if nothing else.
"Well I-" Felix began, waving his hand through the air like he was about to regale an important tale, "-will be playing Jax, the cool and mysterious Rabbitoid Warlock."
Ophelia's face lit up instantly and that was almost enough to make Felix regret his choices. "For real?! I didn't think you'd go for it, that's so cool! The rabbit and the frog, partners in crime!"
"Don't make me change my mind," Felix chuckled. Internally he felt sick. These kinds of reactions were what he usually tried to avoid. But he had to keep the end goal in mind, despite every instinct telling him to push them away.
"Okay, okay!" Ophelia laughed, shaking her hands defensively. "So what's Jax's story?"
Felix sighed. "Well he was a low-ranking member of the Rabbitoid Empire's military. He hated it there. He hated the constant heat and the conformity the upper class forced upon their subjects. So when he was sent out on an ambush he took the chance to run before anyone noticed. He felt so free out in the snow, until he ran head-first into a certain Croakin and was sent tumbling into the Digital Circus."
It wasn't exactly the entire truth. But that was between him and Caine.
Felix could almost see the stars in Ophelia's eyes as she listened to the story. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth, muffling a squeal as he mentioned her character.
"This is gonna be so awesome!" she cheered. Then after a second, "Wait so when did he become a Warlock? Who did he make a deal with?"
Felix cursed internally. This damned frog and her knowledge of the game. He decided to play it off casually. "Hey I can't tell you all my secrets, I'll have none left to reveal in the game."
Ophelia pouted and made a sad noise but seemed to accept the answer. "Fine, keep your secrets."
Felix heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Anna standing nervously in the entryway.
"Hey, does anyone know where Caine is?" she asked.
"He said something about helping Bobby with a project," Dmitri answered. "He should be back soon. Is everything okay?"
She nodded a little too quickly. "Yep! All fine. Just wanted to ask him something." She looked a little restless, her eyes were darting around the room and her hands were fidgeting with the belt wrapped around her dress.
"Alright, well, you could always try asking Grant?" he suggested.
Anna nodded, but she didn't seem entirely satisfied. "Yeah, thanks I'll try that."
And then she was gone.
Felix rested his chin on his hand. "Has anyone even seen Bobby yet? I'm not convinced he's real."
Ophelia gasped. "Oh my gods."
"What you think those groceries just came out of nowhere?" Dmitri questioned.
"No, no, he's got a point! Maybe Bobby's a ghost."
Felix snorted. "A ghost?"
"Yeah! Like he said he was his son, but what if he's actually his son who died!" Ophelia suggested far too seriously.
"Or maybe, Caine's just as crazy as Grant and he's been hallucinating him the whole time," Felix suggested.
"No," Ophelia whispered in disbelief.
"That still doesn't explain the groceries," Dmitri interjected.
Ophelia glared at him. "Screw the groceries! This is a real mystery!"
They all broke out into laughter and, for just a moment, Felix forgot that he was supposed to not like these people.