New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



As Alex and Kary both exited their pods, stretching their weary bodies, Alex made an observation.

"I think our bodies are getting lighter. Is it just me?"

Kary finished stretching herself before jumping out of the pod and doing a few hops in place, trying to see if she felt lighter.

"I'm not sure. It might just be you that's putting on some muscle. I still have some heft to move around. Plus, these two…" she said, pointing at her breasts.

Alexander chuckled, jumping out of his pod, before walking up behind her and grabbing them.

"I can help you carry them around if you need. I'll be like a second bra, hehehe."

Kary elbowed him gently in the ribs, eliciting an 'Oof' from him, before giggling and breaking away from his grasp.

"I'm sure you would love that, wouldn't you? What about you wanting to go slow in our relationship? Has that ship already sailed, mister perv?"

Alex rubbed the back of his head wryly.

"Hey, I blame you for that. You are the one washing off on me."

Kary winked at him, not even answering his blame, and bolted toward the shower.

"Tsk. Little Vixen. Not even going to refute my argument." He grumbled, half mockingly to himself.

He then followed her, undressing on the way to his bathroom. After a long shower, with much-appreciated fun, Alex wanted to take a hot bath as well, to help relax a bit of the stress his body had been through these past few days, be it in or out of New Eden.

Kary pursed her lips in thought before choosing to join him. The bath was large enough to fit three people loosely, so being the two of them in, there wasn't a problem at all.

The water pressure in the penthouse impressed Alex, as he had expected it would take a while to fill up such an enormous bathtub, but it only took three minutes. Once it was full and steaming hot, he let himself slide in, the heat of the water calming his muscles and nerves instantly.

He let out a satisfied sigh as Kary slipped in next to him, echoing his sigh.

"This feels amazing. I haven't had a bath in so long," Alex said, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the moment."

"Same for me. It's like we don't have time for minor pleasures like this anymore."

"We should take the time," Alex argued.

Kary simply nodded.

They stayed there for ten minutes, not saying a peep, as the hot water wrinkled their skin but soothed their soul.

"I was supposed to have a meeting with the chairwoman of EG today. But I got another email from her office, saying that it had to be rescheduled. I still don't know what this is about."

Kary tilted her head toward him.

"Maybe she recognizes your achievements and wants to make you the poster boy for the future ads of New Eden. That would be quite the lucrative offer if you want my opinion."

Alex thought about it. Of course, he wouldn't say no if they offered him.

But something deep inside him told him it wasn't in link with that at all. He almost feared going to this meeting.

He was glad Jack had offered to go with him.

Thinking about the old man, he remembered he should go have himself tested with his new form, to help himself find the limits of what he could do when melded with Morpheus on this side.

"I'll have to call Jack after this. I want to go get my new abilities tested. See what I can do on this side with it."

Kary pondered for a while, before nodding her head once.

"That's not a bad idea. I should use that time to test out a few things myself. I've been wanting to figure out how much of my fire magic I can use. Being in a controlled environment to do so wouldn't be a bad thing."

"Mhm," Alex mumbled in agreement.

"But for now, let's just enjoy the warm water."

Kary giggled, latching onto his arm and closing her eyes again. They let themselves soak in the hot bath for another fifteen minutes until the water started cooling down.

After getting out and drying themselves, they went to sleep a bit, since it was still around four in the morning. A bit of shut-eye wasn't a bad idea.

Alex set his phone alarm to seven and cuddled up to his beautiful redhead before falling asleep.

***

Meanwhile, inside New Eden, an old power couple was having a blast in the forests around Bastion City. OldGrizzly and ShadowFang were a few miles out of the outer walls, fighting off a group of wildcats, several times stronger than themselves.

OldGrizzly was already up to level thirty-five, and ShadowFang was a smidge higher, at level thirty-eight. But the monsters they were fighting had levels between forty-five and fifty.

But no matter how they pounced on the two players, they could not even land a hit on them. It was like a game of cat and mouse, only with much higher stakes, and the mice were fighting back.

When the last wildcat fell, ShadowFang brushed her hair back, readjusting the bun on the back of her head.

"I see you still have just as much skill as you used to when we first met in Bahrain. I guess age hasn't made you destitute, yet, old fool."

ShadowFang teased her husband often, calling him names that many would perceive as insults. But OldGrizzly was more than used to it and answered in kind.

"If I had been any slower in my reflexes that day, we wouldn't be here, reminiscing about it, you cunning old fox. How many times did you try to take my life after that? Five? Six?"

ShadowFang brought her hand to her mouth, letting out a soft giggle behind it.

"That you know of, my love. Your natural constitution has saved you many more times. But poison just doesn't take on you," she said, her smile charming but venomous.

"Hah! Poison. As if such a weak thing could kill me. I got bit by a rattlesnake once. And after a week of agony, it died," OldGrizzly answered, stowing his weapons.

He then walked over to his wife and embraced her tightly, smacking her ass and kissing her. He would never act so uncouthly, usually.

But here, in New Eden, away from prying eyes, he couldn't care less. And his wife loved it.

After exchanging kisses for a few minutes, ShadowFang broke away from him, reluctantly.

"We are getting closer to our target of level forty. We should keep hunting for the few hours we have left. You still have to meet that witch tomorrow."

OldGrizzly sighed in exasperation.

"I know. I have an idea why she called me for a meeting, but I can already tell she'll annoy me."

ShadowFang winked at him.

"I could make sure she never bothers you again if you wanted."

OldGrizzly laughed heartily.

"I'm sure you could. But for now, she is still useful. Maybe later down the road, if your skills haven't waned by then."

They laughed together as they went back to hunting the local wildlife.

Meanwhile, outside New Eden, Constantine Levesque sneezed.

"Is someone thinking about me?" she wondered, going back to her work.