Coye 6.14

Apologize for my pacing again. I wasn't feeling better immediately after I thought I would be, and now I'm in a rush to meet the deadline. Have to submit vol 6 by the 4th at the latest. Can't push it off since I already delayed once, and now we'll see where things go... I don't want to have to publish it in an unfinished state and then update it like a week after, but if it comes to it then that might be one avenue.

Chapter 15 and 16 are done right now, just need to edit them. Will try and do one tomorrow.

---------

Chapter 14 - Rigged from the Start

Though Coye smiled and appeared playful, Dorothy could feel a measure of severity in his words that took her by surprise. "A bet...?" She wondered. "Haven't we had enough of those as of late?"

"Maybe so, but what's one more?" He shrugged.

"...You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Dorothy's nerves started to get the best of her. The last bet she'd made went in her favor, but that only made her think her luck was on the verge of giving out. She didn't want Coye to lose interest and stop playing with her, so Dorothy decided she would hear him out to keep him happy.

"I'm not against the idea, but did you, um... did you have anything specific in mind you wanted to bet?"

"I've got a pretty good idea, yeah. We'll have a two out of three match, and the winner can command the loser to do anything they want." Coye told her as casually as he could.

'Stealing Byng's tactics, are we? I wonder what she would think if I told her about this...'

'Just be quiet. I'll be counting on you soon.'

'Yeah? Interesting. Okay, baby, do your thing.'

Dorothy's anxiety spiked, her mind immediately traveling to all the strange places Coye could take this if he was the winner. She knew she was probably overthinking this. There was no way he would do anything too bold with his prize, yet... Coye's terms were so forward- even for him. Dorothy wanted to assume the best of him, but... was the worst-case scenario really that bad? Even if he did have impure intentions, well...

"Um... that's a little... just to clarify, when you say 'anything'-"

"I mean anything, and the loser can't back out of it."

"Oh. Oh, dear. That's... that's certainly something, ahaha..."

Coye looked off to the side, feigning boredom. "Sorry. If it's too much for you, we don't have to. Just thought it would make things a bit more interesting."

"Hold on a second, I didn't say I was uninterested-" Dorothy leaned forward in her seat, suddenly expressing more interest than she even realized she had. "I'm only curious about what I should expect if I were to lose."

"But you won't lose," Coye reminded her. "Roaring Dragons is a stronger deck, isn't it?"

"Yes, but..." Dorothy wavered. His confidence had to come from somewhere, didn't it? The tension was difficult for her to handle. She shifted around in her seat, biting down on her lower lip.

"You could always lose on purpose if you're so curious to find out what I'll ask from you?"

That... was an option, wasn't it? Dorothy's mind continued spinning, her breathing growing more labored. Wait. She wasn't actually considering that, was she? Did Dorothy want to lose? She opened her mouth to speak, but Coye beat her to it since she couldn't get any words out.

"Then again," Coye cupped his chin. "If you accepted the terms of the bet from the get-go, it would be kind of incriminating, don't you think?"

"In... incriminating?" Dorothy stammered. "W-What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you'd basically be telling me in no uncertain terms that you'd be okay with anything happening... wouldn't you? I could just be overthinking it, but... who's to say?"

Dorothy's eyes went wide, and her jaw fell in silent comprehension.

Shayla finally understood where Coye was going with this, and she was a little astonished at the gambit he was making. He was testing Dorothy, letting her set her own limits regarding him making moves on her while ensuring she had the power to say no. Before asking her if they could hang out sometime soon like he planned, Coye was gauging her current state of mind.

If she turned the bet down, Dorothy probably still needed time to recover. If she accepted, Coye would know he could move forward a little more and potentially proposition her. It was crafty- ingenious, even. Yet another indication of how scary this boy was getting, Shayla thought. He orchestrated a situation where Dorothy would have to be the one to admit she wanted to be teased further.

Dorothy didn't understand things to this degree and struggled for a long while, wondering what she should say. He'd spelled out the connotations clearly enough, and Dorothy couldn't deny her acceptance wouldn't imply a lot of things... despite that, she couldn't fight against her innate curiosity. She swallowed her nervousness, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to sound as casual as possible.

"Well, I... I um... I suppose there's no harm in a fun little bet like that... ahaha..." Dorothy announced, failing to come off the way she wanted to whatsoever. "I'll take you on, Coye."

"Nice," Coye maintained his innocent grin while shuffling his deck. "I wonder what it is that you'd want to make me do bad enough that you'd accept?"

"...W-What? No! You have it all wrong, I... I just..." Dorothy hadn't even considered that aspect. This little scheme of his had so many layers, and now intrusive thoughts about what she might order Coye to do upon her victory wouldn't stop badgering her.

"No? Well, if it's not that, you must want me to win so I can tell you what to do even more, right?"

Dorothy was now a sweaty mess who couldn't sit straight in her chair for a few seconds. "It's not that, either! I'm just curious about where you're going with this, and I... I don't know, okay? Look, I'm really, really bad at... at whatever it is we're doing right now..."

"Flirting?" Coye tilted his head, placing his well-shuffled deck on the field.

Dorothy started to blink rapidly, then her heart dropped. "Is... is that what this is? Are you flirting with me, Coye? Like... openly and without any subtlety?"

'You're going to break her if you push her too far, baby,' Shayla interrupted long enough to suggest. Watching Dorothy squirm was fun, but Coye seemed like he might take his teasing too far and ruin his careful setup.

Coye was thankful for her advice and agreed to tone it down slightly. He made his smile appear less teasing and more genuine. "Maybe I'm flirting with you. Maybe I'm not. If you want to know the truth, you'll just have to beat me and ask. Anyway, are we playing, or-"

"Y-Yes," Dorothy quickly reassured him, picking her deck up and shuffling it. "I'm not backing down, I'm just... this is all so much to take in..." the thought of Coye flirting with her was more exciting than playing the card game, but she didn't dare let him in on that fact.

Coye surprised Shayla with a sudden request, his eyes focused on Dorothy's cards. 'Do me a favor and jinx her deck bad luck for me, Shayla. As hard as you can.'

'Whoa, really? I just told you to ease up on her! I'm always down for a spot of trickery and mischief, but where the heck is this coming from?'

'Dorothy just admitted by accepting the bet that she's okay with anything happening, and now, this is what's happening.'

She had to give him credit for his initiative but wanted assurance of his intentions. 'I'm cool with helping you out on this, but you promise you won't push her too far when you win?' To quell her concerns, Coye shared what he planned to ask Dorothy, instantly winning Shayla's support. 'Oh, okay... that's not too bad, yeah. Good thinking. I'll help you cheat, big guy, same as ever.'

Shayla snapped her fingers, infecting Dorothy's deck of cards with as much bad luck as she could cram in there. Her spell was imperceptible, nowhere near as flashy as when she helped Coye break Auguris's armor. That, and despite her knowledge on the subject, Dorothy had no talent for magic whatsoever and couldn't sense these things to save her life.

Dorothy placed her unknowingly-cursed deck down on the field, and when they both drew their five cards, she couldn't believe her rotten luck. Not only did her starting hand lack any of her all-important dragon egg cards, it didn't even have any of the spells she used to search for them. It was a hand entirely of high-level dragons.

Coye could tell from the get-go that his plan worked like a charm- Dorothy's game face was poor. Just like how she got carried away while having fun, she couldn't stop her expression from revealing how bad her hand was. Dorothy looked deeply disappointed but forced herself to smile, knowing it would be hypocritical to feel down since Coye had also been having bad luck.

Coye summoned one of his low-level fairies, ended his first turn, and when it was Dorothy's turn to draw, she didn't pull anything useful. She passed immediately, which meant on Coye's second turn, he could start attacking her directly. Bit by bit, that was how he won the round. He flooded the field with unimpressive sprites and other random fae, attacked, and repeated the cycle as Dorothy continued drawing nothing but lead.

"That certainly didn't go as planned, ahaha..." Dorothy tried to keep her disappointment in check, but it was plain on her face. Coye almost felt guilty about cheating- almost- but he was too determined to see his plan through to the end.

"It's just the first round. You could still pull through if you happen to get lucky."

"One way to find out, I guess..."

And find out they did as soon as both players shuffled their decks and drew their hands. Waiting for her was yet another batch of monsters that cost so much mana she wouldn't be able to play them until it was too late. Her hand trembled as she studied what she had.

"No way... you've gotta be kidding me. Again?" Dorothy exclaimed. Shayla's previous jinx was still active, leading to another round of duds.

"Bad hand?"

"No, a terrible one," she admitted, though she felt wrong over it since it could've been seen as an excuse.

"That's pretty unlucky..." Coye clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Want to shuffle and draw again? Feel free."

'You're the worst,' Shayla rolled her eyes, amused.

"No, that wouldn't be fair... I'll just hope for the best, I suppose..." Dorothy's pride wouldn't allow her to accept his offer, but she gulped when she remembered what that hubris might cost her. The anticipation of defeat loomed on the horizon, drawing closer by the second. It distracted her, clouding her thoughts. Dorothy couldn't stop herself from wondering what would happen to her.

The same events played out a second time with identical results. Dorothy still couldn't play cards while Coye chipped away at her health turn after turn. She was so shocked at the impossibility of what had just happened that she dropped her hand on her desk. This taught her a critical lesson about RealMonster- you could have all the big, powerful dragons you wanted, but that didn't mean shit if they couldn't take the field.

"I... I can't believe it..." Dorothy mumbled, forcing herself to look into Coye's eyes. Anxiety carried her away, alongside a hint of interest and perplexing curiosity. She lost the bet- the bet where she said she'd do absolutely anything Coye asked of her should she fail.

Was it finally time, then? Dorothy briefly recalled what she knew about Coye and his apparent endless sexual appetite. That had to of been where this was heading, didn't it? Was Coye going to stop casually flirting with her, holding her hand, or touching her thigh and actually go for something more daring? Dorothy didn't know, and that made the anticipation nigh unbearable.

"Guess that's that, then..." Coye said, packing up his cards back into the deck.

Reading his face was impossible for Dorothy. Coye had the same old innocent smile as he always did, without a hint of malice or ill intent. Surely she was just a victim of her overactive imagination, but even if she was, she couldn't stop thinking about the worst-case scenario.... though perhaps that was a bit of a harsh way to phrase it. Given that Dorothy didn't even know what she wanted to come of this bet, it was hard to call any outcome 'worst-case'.

She consented. She offered everything on the table- including herself. Now that it was time to pay up, Dorothy didn't know what to think.

"Having second thoughts?" Coye asked, placing his deck off to the side and looking straight at her.

"I... I don't know..." Dorothy answered with all honesty and stared down at the playing mat. "I didn't expect to lose so swiftly, but I won't back down after beating you so handily in our first games... it's just that now I don't know what will happen, and I suppose that uncertainty makes me nervous..."

'Remember- easy does it,' Shayla cautioned. She didn't need her magical senses to see that Dorothy was going through distress. Fear, excitement, and confusion radiated off of her, and if it got any worse, the girl was liable to have another fainting spell.

"There's nothing to be nervous about," Coye stood up from the desk and walked around it. Dorothy swiveled her chair in response, looking up at him as he approached, trying to gauge his intentions. He stood over her, making him feel taller than her as he loomed.

"You want me to tell you what's going to happen?"

No matter how much hesitation she was filled with, she accepted this bet for a reason. Dorothy wanted to grow closer to Coye and desired for their relationship to deepen past whatever stage they were at. If this was what it took, then so be it. Dorothy thought about the question for only a moment before nodding.

Coye stopped looming over her, taking some initiative by placing his hands on Dorothy's, which rested on her armrests. He leaned forward, getting up in her face more than he would have ever dared. Dorothy couldn't breathe. Her entire world became those sparkling blue eyes of his. She noticed they never used to be so bright, but they now captured her interest more than any monster. Coye was so close to her now, and she wondered what to do. What's this the part where she puckered her lips, closed her eyes, and hoped for the best, or what?

Reality was several degrees tamer than she envisioned.

"What's going to happen is that you're going to take two days off."

"...Huh?"

"You're going to catch up on rest and get some actual downtime to enjoy yourself before getting back to work. Take naps... read some of your books... do whatever you want, really, so long as it's something you actually want to do. Oh, and every time you start worrying about something stupid, do your best to brush it off. Is that clear?"

Dorothy was silent as she stared at the boy well within kissing distance, dumbfounded over what he'd said. Had she misheard him? That was incredibly nice of him to say, but... it didn't sit right with her, and Dorothy couldn't explain her disappointment for the life of her.

Voicing her frustrations, she managed to stumble out, "Um... yes? Is... um, is that all?"

"Why, were you hoping I would ask for something else?" Coye dared to lean just a tiny bit forward, smiling softly as he did.

Her shock finally getting the best of her, Dorothy scooted the chair back and blushed furiously while shaking her head. "No! No, not at all! It's just that... you made such a big deal about this, and I, um, I thought you might've had something else more dramatic in mind... ahaha..."

"Oh, that's right..." Coye pulled away and then cupped his chin. "There was something else, actually. A part of your vacation I forgot to mention."

Suddenly, Coye's eyes weren't the only ones who were sparkling. Dorothy leaned forward in her seat, her disappointment melting away. "Really? You, um... you better fill me in on the details, then. I want to ensure I honor the bet properly, after all..."

'Bring it home, big guy,' Shayla encouraged with a pat on his head.

"On the second day, you're going to take a nice, long bath, wash up real good, brush your hair, put on something cute, have something nice for dinner, and..."

"...And?"

"Then, you're going to come and visit me at my cabin that night at seven."

Coye's instructions led to a continuous period of deafening silence. It stretched on and on, and during every moment, Dorothy's mind was assaulted with implications upon implications. Visiting Coye's cabin... at night... after making herself look pretty for him... at night?!

Sure, he didn't confirm any illicit intentions, but what else would possibly happen if she went along with all that other than... than that? It was all right there, plain as the nose on her face. Juggling her emotions was impossible as she stared into his eyes. Dorothy's brain was like a seesaw, swinging between anxiety and excitement.

She'd been frozen for so long that Coye started to regret his forwardness, but he didn't let it show on his face as he asked, "Well? Will you do all that for me, Dorothy?"

His words snapped her out of her stupor, and Dorothy considered what was asked of her. It didn't take long at all to make up her mind. That part of her that wanted to do only as Coye commanded spoke up without her permission, making her instantly answer, "Yes, Coye. Of course I will... I'll, um... I'll come and visit you at your cabin... at night... certainly..."

Shayla smiled at what she saw. She thought to herself that Coye had just about done it. He'd finished Dorothy off. Though mixed with her typical hesitation, love radiated off the woman as she continued staring at Coye and nervously smiling. Neither knew it yet, but Dorothy was already his, and everything past this point was just a formality. There was no point telling him that, though, so it was just another amusing secret Shayla would keep to herself.

"Glad to hear it," Coye stood back upright while patting Dorothy's shoulder, satisfied with himself. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna get going for now. The sooner you start enjoying the rest of your vacation, the better. Okay?"

"Wait a moment-" Dorothy gulped. "You're leaving? So suddenly? I... I thought we might play a few more rounds, or perhaps, um... I don't know..."

Coye smiled. After two years of always wanting to spend time with Dorothy, it felt beyond gratifying to see her scrambling for an excuse to hang out with him and getting disappointed at him taking off. "I have other things I have to do today. I told everyone I'd hang out in the lounge for a while so they could all hopefully get it out of their system. You're welcome to join me, but I'm sure you don't want to be the center of attention. Right?"

"...No, not especially," Dorothy admitted. "I would rather keep to myself until I'm ready to return to work. If only I didn't live at my job, but I digress." She said, giving him a small laugh.

"That's what I thought. You'll be fine, just try and have fun alone for a while." Coye walked to her door, cracking it and smiling over his shoulder.

"It's been so long since I've had a chance to relax... I don't even know if I remember how to do so anymore..." Dorothy sighed wistfully and pouted, looking down at her desk. Already, it was much lonelier without Coye on the opposite side.

"You'll come up with something."

"I guess I'll have to..." she puffed out her lips and flicked a scrap of paper off her desk. "See you in a couple of days, then?"

"You better," Coye teased, closing the door as he left.

Now in the lounge, Coye was relieved that there wasn't a crowd waiting for him. It was empty, without even any adventurers checking the quest board. Before he could get swarmed, he went over to a vacant lounge chair and sank deep into the plush seating. After everything he'd just done, Coye needed to decompress.

'Good job back there, baby! I didn't know you had it in you to act so forward. Personally, I think you might have overdone it a little, but I didn't see Dorothy complaining. How'd you manage all that?'

'Bullshitting?' Coye surprised Shayla by letting out a gigantic sigh. Loads of suppressed emotions came out of him as he did. She felt relief as well as the anxiety he was fighting against during his entire playtime with Dorothy. Shocked, Shayla confronted him on the subject.

'Seriously? All of that was one big show of bravado?'

'Pretty much all of it, yeah...' Coye admitted. 'There’s no way I could've acted like that around Dorothy if I didn't force myself. Even if I liked doing it, it still felt weird to openly flirt with her and act so demanding and confident...'

'Well, you did a good job faking it. I couldn't even tell you were acting back there! Honestly, I'm a little happy to hear that side of you isn't legit. There's no telling what kind of horrors you could get up if you had the balls to pull that off all the time...'

'I'm going to pretend that was a compliment.'

'It really wasn't, but you do you.'

'It'll be fine. No matter how close we get, I can't imagine myself not being at least a little nervous around Dorothy. She was my first, um...' Coye paused before saying something that might set off his precious pixie.

'You can say it, you know,' Shayla rolled her eyes. 'I already know she's your first love, dummy. Not like that holds any meaning since I got to you first! And besides, I'm over my pettiness with her.' Shayla certainly sounded convinced, but Coye still had his doubts.

'You sure about that?'

'For the most part, yeah,' Shayla shrugged. 'Guess we'll find out when it's time to do our introductions...'

'I guess we will.' Coye was proud of her growth, but before he could say as much, the lounge door opened, and Tammy poked her head through. She saw him seated on his chair and tossed him a respectful nod.

"Everything go okay in there, Killer?"

"I'd say so, yeah. No more fainting spells, if nothing else."

"Progress is progress," Tammy insisted. "Did you hook up back there, or are we still waiting on that?"

Not expecting such an upfront inquiry, Coye blushed. Then, he scratched the back of his head and answered truthfully. "Not yet. Check back in a few days, might be some new developments."

Now it was Tammy who was caught off guard. Her familiar blank face contorted into a reasonably wide smile, then, she laughed under her breath. "Impressive. I'd tell you to keep me updated, but I'll find out for myself. I always do."

'The gossip queen strikes again,' Shayla smirked.

"Anyways, I got a bunch of people in the cafeteria waiting to hound you. Want me to send them in?"

"You're going to do it anyway, aren't you?" Coye gave her an accusatory stare.

"Normally, yes," Tammy admitted. "But I'm in a good mood. I'll tell them you're not ready if you need me to, but it'll only delay the inevitable."

"Doing me a huge service there, Tammy," Coye had a laugh at her amazing generosity. "Thanks a lot."

"It's what I'm here for." She gave him another small smile and ducked back into the entrance hall, leaving him to gather his thoughts and decompress for a few more minutes until she sent in the wave.

The rest of the afternoon was boisterous, loud, and exhausting. Word must've gotten out since he was ambushed this morning, as even more adventurers and staff alike showed up wanting a piece of him. Things got so bloated that they needed to bring chairs from the cafeteria so everyone could badger him in peace and comfort.

Everybody wanted to know everything about him. Questions were slung asking where Coye came from, how long he'd been adventuring, why he always kept to himself until now, and so on. To his credit, Coye answered just about every question he was asked. Their interest in him was exhilarating to an extent, but the kind that made him sick of it sooner than later.

Even so, Coye pushed on as some adventurers asked to party up with him some time or inquired about his relationships with Byng, Suzette, and Dorothy. A few even wondered if he had something going on with Tammy, which Tammy didn't help with her vague indifference.

As predicted, a few women were rather direct in their flirtations with him. Shayla was happy to see he wasn't just full of shit when he said his goal wasn't to just randomly sleep around. Coye clarified that he wasn't interested in anything but meaningful relationships. Some of the girls respectfully understood; others looked like they hadn't given up but would pretend to do so for now.

This little event went on for an hour and a half, and by the end of it, Coye felt as if he'd made platonic friends for the first time in his life. He'd made promises to try and get to know some of them soon while still keeping things vague and noncommittal. He still hoped this fixation on him would die down in a few days, but even if it didn't, he supposed Shayla was right about making friends.

It was a nice feeling. Not quite the same as the burning sensation of love heating his heart, but warm and comforting all the same.

Shayla watched the entire event unfold silently, letting Coye enjoy the fruits of his labor. It was all she could do to smile at her boy's progress. It'd been a month or so since she first walked into the Guild with him, so to speak, and so much had changed since then. People either looked at him as a cute piece of meat or not at all. Now, they looked at Coye with respect- admiration, even- and Shayla knew it would only get better from here.