Deux à Deux

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance, Contemporary Wordcount: 113,000 words. Avg. Playthrough Length: about 35,000 words. Progress Tracker: 2/8 chapters complete.

Intro / Blurb

When you catch the eyes of the fabulous and filthy-rich Lyonses, the gritty New York you’ve known for your whole life cracks open into a world of glamour, money, and power. If you want to change your life, the perfect opportunity has fallen right into your lap: all you have to do is reach out and take it. 

That is, as long as you can work around the corporation with its hand in every pocket in the city (or more accurately, the entire country), the criminal syndicate that’s operating just below the surface, and the many skeletons in the Lyonses’ closet. You could have it all if you manage that—but there’s no going back to your old, quiet, mundane life. You’ve got eyes on you now, and the attention of some less-than-savory types with big aspirations of their own.

Like it or not, your life is about to change. Perhaps you’ll greet this new phase of your life with open arms, or perhaps it’ll drag you in kicking and screaming. However you feel about it, you’re more than capable of making your way in this new world.

About the Characters

The Player Character (aka PC). hey, that’s you!

You are a bartender at La Table, a fine dining restaurant in New York City. You’ve lived in the city all your life, so you’d heard for years before working there about how much of a "NYC staple” it is. Unfortunately, you got hired just as the original owner sold it, so it’s a lot less glamorous now than in years past. When you’re (rarely) not working, you pass the time at the boxing gym. People generally consider you charismatic, independent, and clever.

T (Tom/Tess/Tory) Lyons. RO.

T Lyons is cool, composed, and very, very obviously wealthy. They are married to N Lyons, who is a lot more outgoing than they are. They have cold, appraising eyes and seem to mask their perpetual tenseness with impeccable posture. You get the feeling there’s more to T than meets the eye; there’s a certain heavy air that follows them around like a storm cloud. T Lyons is Black, with a dark-skinned complexion and very dark brown eyes.

N (Noah/Natasha/Nico) Lyons. RO.

N Lyons is friendly and charming, their smile almost bright enough to disguise their intensely perceptive gaze. N is a talented conversationalist and they delight in banter. They carry themselves with confidence and have an unmistakably magnetic personality. You get the feeling that N might be even harder to read than their spouse, T. It’s ironic, given how much easier they are to talk to, but maybe that’s how N keeps people from prying too deeply. N Lyons is Mexican-American, with a tanned complexion and dark brown eyes.

Minh Nguyen (gender-variable). RO.

Minh Nguyen is a bit of a jaded, standoffish figure. They’re younger than either Lyons spouse, maybe only a year or two older than you, but they seem much older if only because of their cynical, disillusioned attitude about…well, basically everything. Minh lives with the Lyonses, and also is…dating them? Sleeping with them? Their sugar baby? Honestly, you have no fucking idea what their relationship is. You get the impression Minh has no desire to explain it to you, either. Minh Nguyen is Vietnamese-American, with a deep tan complexion and very dark brown eyes.

Ronnie Burns (gender-variable). RO.

Ronnie Burns is your boxing coach of nearly two years now. They know how to push your buttons more than anyone you’ve ever met, but they also know exactly how to train you to be a better boxer than you ever imagined you’d be. Ronnie is always teasing you, poking fun with little taunts and impish grins, but they backpedal immediately when they think they’ve pushed you too far. Ronnie has gotten nicer to you over time, and now they’re almost sweet sometimes. Almost. Ronnie is Punjabi-American, with brown skin and dark brown eyes.

Erin Pinsky

Erin is a server at La Table who you’ve become friends with over time. She is gregarious, unbelievably self-assured, and a little bit evil. You’re not sure what exactly she does outside of La Table, but she apparently has some sort of cult following in the Manhattan indie underground DIY scene, or something.

Theo Ferreira

Theo is a server at La Table who you’ve also become friends with. He is kind of artsy, kind of moody, kind of just a chill dude. As far as you know, he only works at La Table, but he goes to a lot of neo-noir indie film showings, random performance art events, other shit like that.

Last Few Little Details

Is the main character genderlocked? Are any of the ROs genderlocked?

Nope! The PC of Deux à Deux is gender-selectable, as are the four ROs.

Is there any potentially triggering content in the game?

Yes, there will be. There is an option presented in the very beginning of the game to enable Content Warnings at the start of every chapter.

How long will the game be?

In terms of word count, I really am not sure. But I have 8 chapters outlined, and then a Prologue and Epilogue in addition to those. I have the Prologue through Chapter 2 finished now, leaving 6 more chapters and an epilogue to write.

XO, Ray <3

some specifics on this for those of us wanting some crunchy devlog details (i <3 you, and i ALSO love details):