The tavern had a bar with sitting room near the entryway and was only about a quarter full of patrons. Most of them were players but there were a few villagers eating there too.
Across the room, a holographic TV screen spanned the whole wall. Playing were highlights of the ‘best players feats’ so far in the game. Currently, one guy was wrestling a boar, and bashing it in the head barehanded.
I sat down between them.
Victoria looked up, her dimples making an appearance as her eyes brushed past mine. Looking off, her attention settled on tarnished silverware awaiting a plate.
Either she was starving or something was still bothering her. After yesterday, I was surprised she had even gotten out of bed at all.
She no longer wore the ugly brown shirt and trousers, but a tight faded-green long-sleeved shirt under her leather vest. Instead of pants, she had on a blue skirt with light green leggings reaching down to the knee. Tall green socks were tucked under her pants just below the knee, with new calf-high leather boots to finish off the outfit.
“How is everyone this morning?” I looked from her to Kline.
“No more dirt pajamas!” he replied.
He had upgraded his outfit as well. He lost the newbie browns and now wore the same green as Victoria head to toe, with new boots and hard leather shin guards, or greaves, tucked in. He actually wore two leather vests, one on top of the other and some leather forearm protectors, otherwise known as bracers. The greaves and bracers weren’t even the same color leather as the vests, but it didn’t matter, he looked ready.
They were two of the best-dressed players in the tavern. Most everyone, including myself, still wore newbie brown. There were some odd armor pieces here and there, but Kline had everyone beat in that category.
When Victoria didn’t respond to Kline’s quip, instead staring down at the table, I changed the subject.
“I’m starving.”
At the same time, I commanded Wink to appear. She went to Victoria immediately, wanting to continue the tickle fight they started last night.
Not even turning her head, Victoria reached out and dug her fingers into the fur of her neck.
“That can be fixed,” Kline replied, holding up his hand to wave at a random server.
A pretty brunette with a flowered dress and a large brown apron appeared before us.
“Hey, hon. What’cha need?”
“I’m hungry.” Kline winked.
She crossed her arms and began tapping her index finger on her arm.
Holding up his hands in surrender, he asked, “What’s on the menu?”
She rambled off, “Potato soup, chicken pot pie, Shepherd's pie, and our special is pork steak served with a baked potato and greens.”
“Do you have any sandwiches?” Victoria replied, beating Kline and me in response.
Well, that snapped her out of her own head. Maybe next time I should have Wink take her some food.
The waitress gave her a blank look.
“Chicken pot pie then.”
Kline pumped his brow, grinning like a teen with a crush. “Pork steak for me!”
“Pork here too,” I said, doing all I could to keep from laughing.
“Drinks?”
“Tea,” Victoria replied.
“Water here,” Kline added.
“Tea,” I said.
“What are you guys, health nuts? Alright. Two teas and a water, then two pigs and a chicken,” she said, eyeing us for only a moment before she left in a hurry.
Kline looked at us wide-eyed.
Victoria burst out laughing. With that, whatever was distracting her took a back seat to the present.
“So when did you guys go shopping?” I asked.
“Oh, about an hour ago,” she said. With her head back and chest forward in perfect mock posture. "What do you think?"
Pulling back, her change in demeanor caught me off guard. Tilting my head to the side, I slowly combed the stubble on my chin.
Opening my mind to how good she looked was not a good idea. I was suddenly aware of how close she was. My lips parted, tasting the same sweet aroma that I remembered mixed with grass from the night before.
"Yum," I said, immediately turning bright red.
She snickered. "Why thank you for the compliment. There's nothing like being Yummy in the afternoon."
Body, you’re an idiot. Victoria wasn't even dressed sensually. Where was Destiny when I needed her? She could have blurred out the most distracting parts and augmented a big pimple on her forehead or something.
"What about being yummy in the morning?" I blurted out, then realized that all the back and forth I had with Destiny that she insisted was “training” had just backfired. Awkward.
"Eh.” She hesitated. “It's not the same..."
"Oh to be young and yummy again..." Kline replied.
"You were yummy too once?" I asked, thankful to be saved by Kline who was kind enough to divert the conversation.
"No, I was young once. I'm still yummy…"
Wink yelped as Victoria rocked back in her chair, bracing herself against the table while trying to control her amusement.
I almost kissed the table as I held my gut.
Having trouble calming down, I said, "Now I'm really hungry."
"Me too," Kline replied. "Where's that pretty waitress?"
The implication set us off again, but the implication had returned us to uncomfortable laughter.
I knew he was doing this on purpose, trying to distract us from thinking about last night. Old goblin fart.
He looked at us like we were crazy.
“Since you two are as giggly as two twelve-year-old girls, there is something we should discuss. Lucius.
We were talking and Victoria invited us to join up with their group officially. What do you think?”
It was a little formal, but there was little reason not to join. Normally I would have second-guessed the offer, but there was no evidence Victoria was buttering me up to knife me in the back. And there was no denying the skill of their group.
"Sure."
“Great!” She clapped. “The men should join us soon. We can give them the news.”
When they arrived, they were decked out in new clothing. I knew immediately Victoria had a hand in it. The collars were hemmed with extra fabric that embellished the V-neck in slightly lighter green fabric. Though they were sleeveless, darker fabric emboldened the arm holes. It was rather flattering in a masculine way.
Victoria quickly caught them up. And with that, Kline and I were part of the group.
When we were being served and the same spunky waitress took Peter and Oliver’s orders, a flash on the wall screen caught my eye. It blinked Live Broadcast.
Kline reached to the middle of the table. When his hand passed over the customarily hidden holo-dock, a holographic user terminal activated. A digital volume dial appeared. As he turned it the volume increased for everyone at the table. It was a common thing in restaurants, but normally the holo-dock really just synced everyone’s MR headset to share an audio channel.
A quick intro trailer played with a too perfect looking, bubbly girl with purple hair down to her shoulders. She was making random exaggerated faces all while VR gaming footage played in the background.
Mia’s VR Haven was a popular gamer show that was normally fully virtual-interactive through the Metaverse, but there must have been an exception made for those of us in Freedom. It played like a normal video with no queues to port in to watch it virtually.
Though she looked ridiculous most of the time with her outfits and outlandish expressions, she actually was quite knowledgeable. Her quirky mannerisms were strangely appealing.
Mia appeared looking off screen and spaced out with her mouth dropped open. Suddenly she turned her head and stared directly at us.
“Hello, players!” she said, grinning ear to ear with thumbs up on either side to her face.
“Welcome to this special edition of Mia’s VR Haven specially designed for our Codename: Freedom friends! It is my honor to be selected as one of the game’s official VRJ’s (Virtual Reality Jockeys). It has been over 24 hours since the single greatest gaming experiment that has ever taken place has begun. And boy it has already surpassed our wild expectations! You are in the right place to get the latest news as to what has progressed!