The Game of Love and War 2 by FrozenNova

Sorry for the wait, shit happens when you spill sweet tea on your laptop and don’t have enough money to replace it. Also, there’s still no sex, yet. But I plan on working into the night to add on to this. Next chapter may, and if not, the one after it will.

The names Aaron and Shadow are used interchangeably, as well as Hannah and Sorceress.

Constructive criticism is welcomed, as are suggestions. I didn’t use spell check or anything, so I apologize in advanced for any typos. Thank you for the comments, and I’m really sorry.

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Aaron awoke the next morning feeling somewhat refreshed, maybe relieved? He went through the usual morning routine that signified a school day; a shower, changing clothes, brushing teeth, obligatory yell to the parents that he was leaving, and off he went. The bike ride to school was more or less uneventful, stopping to avoid pedestrians and so on. Already he could feel the barrage of questions from his fellow classmates, it was unheard of for him to fail a mission, and even more so to be so close and not even try. One reason why he hadn’t touched his computer that morning, despite it being part of his usual routine. Aaron rubbed his blue eyes as he stopped for traffic, his long legs balancing the bike as he waited, his elbows sticking out like he was imitating a chicken as he did so. He could only imagine the onslaught of his friends as they threw hundreds of questions at him, jokingly taunting him, and even questions about who it had been.

Aaron rode slowly to slide into school just before classes began, it was the easiest way to avoid the main body of people, since before school, during lunch, and after school, were the real times to avoid. Hallways weren’t an issue, since people wouldn’t hold him up from class. Would they? Class went through with a few passed notes that he ignored by feigning to take notes of a boring math class. It wasn’t as easy after class, when several of his friends approached him, asking him question after question.

“What happened? You haven’t failed a task since you started this game, it isn’t the time to start. It’s not like you couldn’t handle number 15 on your own, is it?” One of his friends asked a semi-reasonable question, at last. He loathingly answered.

“I just didn’t feel like it this time, y’know?” Aaron shook his head and gave a nonchalant shrug of his narrow shoulders, “I easily could’ve hit ‘em after that first shot another three times, but it just wasn’t worth it.” He hadn’t lied, but he hadn’t given the whole truth either. He didn’t want his friends knowing he’d given up because of Hannah, especially since just about everyone knew he would’ve been then one that had done it. Aaron figured he’d rather save face to her than his friends, even if it meant a couple of days of ridicule.

The rest of the day had gone rather uneventfully after that, after news spread around, and eventually exploded to the point that the person he had hunted down was in fact the number one player in the game, who had another three players in his party. Aaron ignored the rumors that made him out to just be lucky to be alive and settled on laying back during the rest of his classes and replaying the time he’d spent with Hannah, even if she had been unconscious, in his head. It’s pretty difficult to get a girl out of your head if you like her, let alone her being completely defenseless within your within arm’s reach.

School ended with the expected wave of questions that he answered with short responses, until, lo and behold, Hannah arrived. To Aaron, it seemed like the crowd had parted for her, but in reality, she’d more or less shoved her way through the press of bodies until she was in front of him. She mouthed a thank you to him before vanishing back into the crowd, again it seemed to part for her. The trip home was brightened a little, even thought the sun was already bright.

—-

Shadow walked through the streets of some off-the-map town in the center of the United States, his sniper rifle was resting on his left shoulder, with his .44 Magnum in his right hand. Better safe than sorry. His target this time was someone that had chosen to use a light machine gun, Shadow would be able to fire off all six rounds from his Magnum before the other would be able to hip-fire whatever gun he was toting around. Shadow figured the water tower would be the best place to set up in the town, since it was the highest object in the town, and provided a clear view of the main, and only, street in the town.

Within moments, his target was in sight, and from the looks of things, he was expecting him. The light machine gunner walked slowly down the road with a bulky gun in his hands, awkwardly bent over the stock of the gun as he looked into the sights.

Bang.

The man didn’t even have time to react as the bullet roared through the barrel of Shadow’s sniper at speeds beyond that of sound, by the time the sounds had reached the man’s ears, the high caliber bullet had already ripped into his body, effectively killing him on contact with his chest. In the back of his mind, he could hear the ping of a message that had just come in, “Good job, Scout. Head on over to Paris for a task worth your while.”

Shadow scrunched his face at the offer, usually he just took jobs given to him by the game itself, for most private offers were either too much of a bother to him, or they just didn’t offer enough. But it was very rare to receive an offer from the number 3 player in the game, and often hailed as the richest. He’d be stupid not to at least see what the offer was. He quickly replied, sending a short message saying he’d be there tomorrow. After that, he sent another message, this time to Hannah, to meet him in Paris a couple of hours after his scheduled meeting with number 3, or Markus as he was known to go by in-game. It was basically an apology to Hannah for the whole assassination thing, and almost killing her.

—-

The next day, Wednesday, Aaron was greeted by a cheerful group of girls also on their way to school. He didn’t really understand being so happy this early, but he figured it went with them being in a group. He didn’t waste time getting ahead of them as the chatted in some unknown tongue only a female would be able to decipher. Of course, he didn’t pull ahead only until after giving the notable ones a quick once over from behind. What healthy teenage boy wouldn’t?

School was the usual boring drawl that it was, that is, until lunch time rolled around. Everything exciting happened at lunch time for some reason, and today it happened to be a brief visit from Hannah.

“I’d be glad to go to Paris today, as long as you don’t try and kill me again.” Hannah was whispering to Aaron, so she was leaned in, and he could smell her breath. It was reminiscent of strawberries, and he couldn’t help but stare at her olive skin, angelic face, and obviously down her shirt that seemed to float down just far enough to tease you when she leaned forward. His ability to listen was greatly reduced by the fact that blood was rapidly leaving one head.

“Just meet me at the top of the Eiffel Tower, I know that’s a little stereotypical, but it’ll be easier to remember there rather than some other place.” Aaron whispered back, although he was certain that people had overheard him, it wouldn’t be hard since the table he sat at was easily surrounded three dozen others. Hannah gave him a little smile that would burn itself into his mind for days to come. Or, he figured it was.

School seemed to slow down for the rest of the day, because now he had two things that he was looking forward to, and when you had something like that, time just seemed to stop, and minutes felt just as long as hours. A meeting with a renowned player, and a semi-date with a beautiful girl were both things to look forward to.

—-

“I know you know why you’re here, so lets just cut to the chase. I want you to take out Arrow, the weapons trader. He’s got a nasty habit of taking my customers, and I can’t be losing to anyone when it comes to the sales of weapons. It’s hard to be a gunsmith and number 3 in the game all at once.” Markus leaned back into a lavish chair, covered with a fake leopard patterned fur. He took a sip from the glass of whiskey he held, grimacing as the fiery liquid splashed down his throat.

“What’s in it for me?” Shadow asked, not wasting time with asking about the details, he’d have his helpers figure those things out later.

“I can tell your guns are, shall we say, road-worn. And I think your pockets aren’t as full as they should be. How does a McMillan Tac-50 sound, along with a nice upgrade to a .500 Magnum for that handgun of yours? I think a reasonable sum of money will also head your way after you take care of Arrow. I’ll go ahead and give you the guns, I’ll let you give the guns a nice go around as you take care of him, just to make sure you want them.” Markus reached behind him and set down the sleek sniper and rough and tumble .500 Magnum on the table. “I think that’s reasonable, don’t you?”

Shadow gave a nod, showing his agreement, as he grabbed the sniper rifle, tested it’s weight in his hands, looked down the scope that was easily twice as good as his own, seeing as it was only a mid-level rifle. He reached out and shook hands with Markus, signifying his agreement to the trade. No paperwork for him, besides, if he Markus wanted to cheat him, Shadow easily would’ve been able to kill him from this close up, especially with all the guns within his grasp.

“Give me a couple of days, and have a blank check waiting for me.” With that, Shadow was gone, an M21 balancing against a worn wooden chair, a .44 Magnum resting on the table, muzzle facing Markus. “These will do just fine.” Shadow said, leaving the French restaurant the was only a few minutes away from the Eiffel Tower. He wasn’t known to be late, and he wouldn’t start with his date with Hannah, even if she only thought it an apology.

And early he was, about two hours early, seeing as he cut his meeting short. Shadow figured he’d take Hannah, or Sorceress, on a little shopping spree in Paris, since he was here already. The game being based on the real world, he figured the fashion capital of the world would be good enough. And money wasn’t an issue, he rarely spent any when it came to the game, so he plenty of room for a splurge like this.

—-

Sorceress arrived just as the sky began to turn the red that signified the day was coming to its end, but that didn’t really matter, since the shops would be open long into the night. Shadow was waiting for her, both his weapons put away as she stepped next to him.

Shadow watched as Sorceress approached, he noticed she wore more casual clothing, as opposed to her battle gear. War allowed for freedom, not everyone was battle oriented, and even if you were, you were still able to wear normal clothes. She wore a blue sundress the stopped just short of her knees, it was accented with white trim. Her dark hair fell down a little ways past her shoulders and framed a face that Shadow figured only an angel would have. His eyes wandered down to her breasts that were being pushed up by a bra, even though he figured they were perky already. Her small feet stood upon a pair of white sandals, and she smiled up at the taller Shadow.

“You look… pretty,” Shadow said, trying to keep his “cool,” what little he actually had, “Feel free to get what you want, this spree is for you, as an apology.” Shadow offered his arm for Sorceress, and she wrapped an arm around it, essentially pulling herself close to Shadow. He felt the softness of her breasts as the pushed slightly into his arm. It was going to be a good night.

—-

An hour or so later, after visiting a couple of stores, Shadow found himself waiting for Sorceress to return from a changing room, she’d brought in, among other things, a dress that he figured she’d wear to a bar to pick up men if she were old enough. The thought was more than enough to excite him, and the sight didn’t hurt either when she came out to give him a little showing of the dress, to see if he liked it.

“Look good?” She asked, looking down at herself, examining the dark green, form-fitting dress that accented her best features. Shadow had trouble responding, because he was truthfully at a loss for words. He felt as though his jaw had hit the floor the moment she walked out.

Shadow stood up, approaching Sorceress slowly, as though any rash movement would ruin it.

“Hannah,” He said softly, taking her by surprise by using her actual name, “you look magnificent.” He wrapped both arms around her waist, pulling her into him, until she had to look straight up so she could she his face. He could see her eyes glisten, the dark irises seeming to sparkle in the light of the store. “I know it’s the wrong place,” he began, his voice shaking slightly, “but would you be my girlfriend?” Aaron was talking now, Shadow wouldn’t be asking for a girlfriend.

Hannah looked up at Aaron for a few moments, then looked around her, at the shopkeeper and a few other shoppers. After several excruciating moments, she looked back up at Aaron, nodding ever so slightly, a quiet yes escaping her lips that only he could hear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she whispered, before vanishing from his arms, he followed suit and signed off. Tonight, he would dream of his beautiful girlfriend, and hopefully soon, he’d be able to feel her skin against his. Aaron really didn’t care if it was just simple cuddling, or if they were rutting like dogs in heat, frankly, he’d much prefer the cuddling. He liked the calm. And cuddling was calm.

—-

The next day, school couldn’t come fast enough, and that was usually something he didn’t look forward to. The bike ride felt as though he was riding uphill the entire way, and the wait until lunch was worse. That would most likely be the only time he would see Hannah, and that would be a time he’d look forward to on a daily basis.

Lunchtime came with the usual questions for help on War, and his usual denials to each and every one of them.

“What about me, I need help.” Aaron looked up to see who gave the strange request, and immediately a smile broke across his face. He slid over to make room for her. Hannah sat down next to him, leaning against him as he looked at her.

“I think I can help,” Aaron said, it seemed early to be all lovey-dovey with her, but at the same time, he’d liked her for two years, and for all he knew, she felt the same. He figured it just felt right. “Although, its really hard to help with all these people around.” Hannah seemed to agree, because she pulled Aaron up and away from his table, tugging him along until the crowd of people was behind them and they stood at the lockers.

“I’m not very good with the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing,” She said softly, stepping back from him just so she didn’t have to move her head to look at his face. Nearly a foot of height separated the two as it was. “And you may think it’s early to be all touchy, but it feels right.” She said, quieter this time.

“I think so, too,” Aaron spoke softly, “I know it’s been less than a day since we’ve started going out, but I guess liking you for, well, two years makes it feel like we’ve been going out for longer.” Aaron could feel his face heat up, it was hard for him to say this, especially if she thought he’d be a stalker because of it.

“Wow, two years?” She inquired, honestly surprised she hadn’t noticed. “I only noticed you last year, and I kept asking my friends about you since.” Hannah gave Aaron a small smile.

“I haven’t even mentioned you to my friends,” Aaron said with a little laugh, “they’d probably give me a hard time every time a girl was mentioned, even worse if you walked by. But I think I could handle it now.” Aaron hugged Hannah just as the bell for class rang, “I’ll give you my number tonight,” he whispered into her ear before walking off to class. Hannah followed suit and walked her own way.

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