**[Present Day - Void's End Bar]**
Aria's hand was still holding mine across the table, her thumb tracing slow circles on my palm. The touch was innocent enough, but combined with the memories we'd just relived...
"You remember everything, don't you?" she asked softly.
"Every. Single. Detail." My voice came out rougher than intended.
Her eyes darkened slightly. "The miasma. What we did."
"What we did," I confirmed, very aware of how warm her hand felt. "What we said."
"What we..." She trailed off, biting her lower lip—a nervous habit that sent my brain directly into the memory of how that lip felt between my teeth in the dungeon.
I shifted in my seat, trying to think about literally anything else. Guild finances. Dungeon respawn timers. The mathematical probability of legendary drops.
It wasn't working.
"I told myself it didn't count," she continued, her voice dropping lower. "That the drug made us do things we wouldn't normally do. Made us say things we didn't mean."
"But?"
"But I remember being very... *specific* about what I wanted." Her cheeks flushed pink. "About what I asked you to do. What I begged you to do."
Oh god. The memories came flooding back unbidden.
*Her voice, breathless and desperate: "Don't stop. Please don't stop. Right there, yes, fuck—"*
*Her hands pulling me closer: "Harder. I want to feel this tomorrow."*
*Her lips against my ear: "You feel so good inside me. So perfect. Like you were made for—"*
I cleared my throat loudly, trying to derail my own brain. "Aria, we're in a public bar."
"Private voice channel," she reminded me with a dangerous smile. "No one can hear us. Which means I can say whatever I want."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Are you?" She leaned forward slightly, and I made the mistake of following the movement—the way her robes shifted, the curve of her—
Eyes up. EYES UP.
"You're staring," she observed.
"I'm not—"
"You are. And I don't mind." Her smile widened. "Do you know what I've been doing for the past three months, Ryker?"
"Dominating tournaments? Maintaining your #1 rank? Being a legend?"
"Besides that." She squeezed my hand. "I've been thinking about you. About that dungeon. About what we did."
"The drug—"
"Made us honest," she interrupted. "It didn't create feelings that weren't there. It didn't put words in our mouths. We *wanted* those things."
I couldn't argue with that. Because she was right.
"I've been thinking about it too," I admitted quietly.
"Yeah?" Her eyes lit up. "What specifically?"
"Aria—"
"Tell me." It wasn't a request. "What do you think about?"
I took a breath. In for a penny, in for a pound. "The way you looked. The sounds you made. The way you felt—" I stopped, words failing.
"Go on."
"The way you said my name," I continued, my voice rough. "Not PhantomEdge. *Ryker*. Like it was the only word that mattered."
She was quiet for a moment, her eyes locked on mine.
"I've been messaging you," she said suddenly.
I blinked. "What?"
"For three months. I've been typing out messages to you. Long ones. Short ones. Everything in between." She looked down at our joined hands. "I just... never sent them."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't know what to say. 'Hey, remember when we fucked in a dungeon? Want to do it again?' That seemed... crude."
"But accurate," I pointed out.
She laughed—a surprised, genuine sound. "God, you're terrible."
"You like it."
"I do." She met my eyes again. "That's the problem. I like everything about you. The way you fight. The way you think. The way you talk to yourself when you don't realize anyone's listening."
"You heard that in the dungeon?"
"All twelve hours. You had full conversations with yourself. Debating strategies, critiquing your own performance, giving yourself pep talks." She smiled fondly. "It was adorable."
"It's embarrassing."
"It's human. Real. Most top players put on this persona—all serious, all professional. You're just... you. No filter. No pretense." She paused. "It's one of the things I've missed most."
"Missed?"
"These past three months. Not talking to you. Not..." She hesitated. "Not being close to you."
My heart did something complicated in my chest. "Aria, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I made a mistake. Walking away after the dungeon. Telling myself it was just the drug. Pretending I didn't—" She stopped, took a breath. "That I didn't develop feelings for you."
The world narrowed to just her face. Her voice. Her hand in mine.
"Feelings," I repeated carefully.
"Yes, feelings. The inconvenient, distracting, completely inappropriate kind that make me check the rankings five times a day just to see your name. That make me watch recordings of your matches instead of sleeping. That make me wonder what you're doing, who you're talking to, if you ever think about me the way I think about you."
"I do," I said immediately. "Think about you. Constantly. It's actually a problem."
"How is it a problem?"
"Because you're #1. You're untouchable. You're—" I gestured vaguely. "You're *you*. And I'm just some assassin who got lucky enough to be trapped in a dungeon with you."
"You're not 'just' anything," she said firmly. "You're Top 47 in two years. You're a tactical genius. You're brave enough to tank a Mythic boss with daggers. You're—" She stopped, seeming to struggle with words. "You're the first person in four years who's made me want something other than the next rank. The next win."
"What do you want?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
"Honestly? I want to know if what we had in that dungeon was real. If it was just the miasma making everything intense, or if there's actually something here worth exploring."
"How do we do that?"
"We could..." She paused, seeming nervous for the first time. "We could meet. In real life. Not in-game. Just... coffee or something. Talk. See if the chemistry translates outside of VR."
My brain short-circuited. "You want to meet in person?"
"Is that crazy?"
"No! No, it's just—" I tried to collect my thoughts. "You're CelestialFlame. You probably have a million fans trying to find out who you are in real life. And you want to meet me?"
"I want to meet Ryker. Not PhantomEdge. The real person." She squeezed my hand. "If you want to, that is. No pressure. I know it's a big step and we barely know each other outside of twelve hours in a dungeon and—"
"Yes," I interrupted.
"Yes?"
"Yes, I want to meet you. Coffee sounds great. Or dinner. Or literally anything that involves being in the same room as you without a VR headset."
Her smile was radiant. "Really?"
"Really. But fair warning—I'm probably going to be incredibly awkward. I'm much smoother in VR."
"I doubt that." She pulled out her interface, typing something. "I'm sending you my real contact info. Not my streaming accounts, my actual personal number. Text me when you're free?"
A notification appeared:
**[CONTACT RECEIVED: Aria Chen - Personal]**
Chen. Her last name was Chen too.
"Are we related?" I joked.
She laughed. "God, I hope not. That would make the dungeon thing really weird."
"Fair point."
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, both processing what had just happened.
"So," she said eventually. "While we're being honest about everything..."
"Yeah?"
"The things I said in the dungeon. The things I asked you to do." Her cheeks flushed again. "I meant all of it. The drug just made me brave enough to say it out loud."
My mouth went dry. "All of it?"
"Every word." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "And if things go well in real life? I'd very much like to revisit some of those... requests. Without the drug. Completely sober. Completely intentional."
"Aria—"
"But first," she interrupted, pulling back with a smile, "coffee. Proper dates. Getting to know each other as actual human beings. Because as much as I enjoyed the dungeon..." She bit her lip again. "I want to do this right. If we're going to do this at all."
"That's very mature and responsible of you."
"I know. I'm surprising myself." She stood up, still holding my hand, pulling me up with her. "Walk me to the portal?"
"Of course."
As we walked through the bar, I was hyper-aware of every point of contact—her hand in mine, the occasional brush of her shoulder against my arm, the way she glanced up at me when she thought I wasn't looking.
At the portal platform, she turned to face me.
"Thank you," she said softly. "For today. For watching my match. For being honest about... everything."
"Thank you for not thinking I'm a complete disaster of a human being."
"Oh, you're definitely a disaster," she teased. "But you're *my* disaster. Maybe. If you play your cards right."
"I'll do my best."
She stepped closer, rising on her toes, and kissed my cheek. The VR sensation was warm, soft, and entirely too brief.
"Text me," she whispered. "Soon. Before I lose my nerve and convince myself this was a terrible idea."
"It's not a terrible idea."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She smiled, squeezed my hand one more time, and stepped through the portal.
And I stood there like an idiot, watching the space where she'd been, replaying every word of our conversation.
My comm buzzed.
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Just so we're clear—I'm terrible at playing it cool. I'm already thinking about when we can meet. And what I'm going to wear. And whether it's too forward to kiss you hello. Help. 😅"**
I laughed, typing back quickly.
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"I'm thinking about the same things. Especially the kissing part. For the record, not too forward. Very encouraged, actually."**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Good to know. I'll add it to the list. 😏"**
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"You still have a list?"**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Oh honey. The list has gotten MUCH longer in three months. You have no idea what you're in for."**
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"I'm looking forward to finding out."**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Me too. Now go back to your guild before they send a search party. And Ryker?"**
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Yeah?"**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"I'm really glad we got stuck in that dungeon together."**
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Me too. Best worst twelve hours of my life."**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"The next twelve hours will be better. I promise. 😘"**
I stood there grinning like an idiot at my interface for a solid minute before I realized I needed to actually move.
When I finally portaled back to our guild hall, the core team was waiting.
"So?" CrimsonWitch said immediately. "How'd it go with your girlfriend?"
"She's not my—" I started, then stopped. "Actually, you know what? Maybe she is. We're meeting in real life."
IronFist dropped his beer mug. "WHAT?!"
"You're meeting THE CelestialFlame in person?" BlackViper said, looking stunned. "Bro. That's... that's huge."
"I know."
"And you're not freaking out?"
"Oh, I'm freaking out," I confirmed. "I'm just doing it internally."
SilentStorm gave me a rare smile and a thumbs up.
"Our boy's growing up," CrimsonWitch said, fake-wiping a tear. "Soon he'll be bringing her to guild events and we'll have to be on our best behavior."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I said. "It's just coffee."
"'Just coffee' he says," IronFist scoffed. "Bro, you've been hung up on her for three months. This is not 'just coffee.'"
He wasn't wrong.
"Fine," I admitted. "It's definitely not just coffee. But can we please focus on our match tomorrow? We've got Steel Covenant and I need to actually prepare instead of obsessing over—"
My comm buzzed again.
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Sorry, one more thing. I lied earlier. I do regret one thing from the dungeon."**
My stomach dropped.
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"What?"**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"That it was only twelve hours. I wish we'd had more time. But I guess that's what coffee dates are for. Making up for lost time. 😊"**
I smiled, relief flooding through me.
**[To: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Then we better make them count."**
**[From: Aria Chen - Personal]**
**"Oh, we will. Trust me. Now go prep for your match. I'll be watching. And rooting for you. Even though technically you're competition. ❤️"**
She'd sent a heart.
A actual heart emoji.
"He's smiling at his comm like a psycho," CrimsonWitch observed.
"Leave him alone," BlackViper said, grinning. "Let the man be happy."
I put my comm away, still smiling.
"Alright," I said. "Steel Covenant. Let's talk strategy."
But even as we planned and prepared, part of my mind was elsewhere.
On coffee dates and real-life meetings and the possibility that maybe—just maybe—something that started in a dungeon could become something real.