Right Out of a Fairytale

This was exciting. Terrifying, but exciting. Rei had study sessions with Amber at her house, but he never had an actual sleepover. He only saw that happen on TV. He probably overpacked from anticipation, but everything he had had to be necessary in some way. A lot of water bottles, two sets of clothing (just in case), a blanket, a pillow, his phone, a book, and snacks. The snacks were not really for him, but it just felt proper to bring something over for Iolite to have too.

What terrified Rei was, other than this being an entirely new experience, was the stuff he heard about faes and the bits and pieces he heard about Iolite's house. Shoe gnomes were the only thing he remembered a conversation about, but there was also something about ground bears too? In preparation for the former, Rei wore a pair of worn-out shoes he would not be sad to lose.

Now was the fun, or scary, part: exploring. Everything Iolite explained, tripled with what Rei has seen so far and the weird energy radiating from the house, only made the situation feel more unreal. The rooms Iolite described seem normal for the most part though, and the moment the game room was mentioned, Rei knew exactly where he wanted to go. Infected by Iolite's excitement, Rei could not help but smile widely and almost shout, "The game room! What games do you have?"

Rei was already taking back his thoughts Iolite's house being mostly normal by the time they arrived upstairs. He could understand houses being designed to accommodate different physiologies—just like his own house—but all of this was... He had trouble finding the words to explain it. The massive television was the first thing to catch his attention, but his eyes were then drawn to the windows behind it. Was that a forest? Rei stared at it incredulously for a few moments before pulling his eyes away and towards Iolite. The feeling of being watched tugged at the back of his hoodie, but that must have been his childish paranoia from having his first sleepover getting to him.

It took Rei a few moments to replace his anxiety with the excitement he had earlier. By then, he was mostly able to ignore the off-putting feeling the house was giving him. Iolite did not seem bothered, so why should he? No one liked a scaredy-cat to ruin everyone's fun.

"Uh, I don't know. This is my first sleepover too, so we can make our own rules." He nodded at his wise advice.

"I like video games more. I can teach you how to play some games, and we can be part—Wait, do fae and dragons have their own video games?" Rei was certain that humans were not the only ones who made video games. Dragons and fae must have had their own video games, or at least, Iolite may have had some Manta Carlos exclusive games Rei had not gotten yet.

Rei gave a light, relieved sigh when Iolite closed the blinds. Iolite must have sensed something watching them too. Maybe he was not as paranoid as he thought, yet Iolite still did not seem to be worried. Best to pretend no one was ever watching them in the first place.

Rei raised a slight eyebrow at the Grand Theft Auto thing. Not that he would have suggested the game in the first place. The game Iolite mentioned interested Rei more.

"Dragon Cop? Can we play that? I don't care about old games. Uh... how old a game is." That was a bit of a fib. Truthfully, he preferred newer games for their better graphics, but if an old game was fun to play, it was not something he would not complain.

While he waited for Iolite's response, he moved on to admire how organized the games were. Each game was inspected carefully, with Rei taking a few seconds to skim the back to see if it would be any interest to him. Well, not each. He rushed his skimming with horror (and anything he found too scary) and skipped anything with too much romance entirely. Funny how Grand Theft Auto was too violent, but horror was still an option.

The one genre Rei cared the most for was FPS, which he took longer to look through. Most of the games he did not recognize, but there were a few he had at home and played frequently. Rei wanted to try something new for once. He had already played all the games he had back home, and this was Iolite's sleepover. They should get a say in picking out a game too.

The rules sounded simple enough, and the style of the game was easy on his eyes. Rei preferred Dragon Rookie based solely on his blueness. He thought that if Iolite picked Dragon Cop and Rei picked Dragon Rookie they would match in a way. Iolite already picked Richard though, and with them noting the cool combos they had, Rei gave in and picked Dragon Cop. Why lower himself to just being a rookie anyway?

Never made it past the second level? Rei opened his mouth to give a cocky response about how that now that he was here, they would definitely get past it. Second-guessing himself, he instead responded with something a little humbler, "That'll just make it our victory even better."

Rei kept adjusting and readjusting himself in anticipation. Games that were really hard frustrated him into wanting to quit, but he could never resist a challenge and the chance to show someone how good he was at his hobbies.

"Okay, I think I'm ready." Another shift in position. "Let's do this. I want to know what the third level looks like."

Iolite's passionate dance for their win sent Rei jumping up too. Following their lead, Rei attempted to mimic their dance, then quickly found himself embarrassed by how slow and sloppy he was. He almost tripped once. "You make this look easy. Is this," he squinted as his face turned grim, "fae magic?" He watched Iolite with exaggerated judgemental eyes, then broke the facade with giggles before sitting back down.

"I'm ready for the next one! I can't wait to see the third level."

Based on their experience with the first level, Rei had a feeling that it would take the entire day to finish the second level. Luckily, Iolite made the experience way more fun, and he was able to crack a few good jokes whenever they lost.

"Thooough... if we lose a few more times, can we get a snack break? I want to explore other parts of the house too."