#ussuri

You were too anxious to eat anything, so you just sat on the edge of the couch and waited. Before long, the door opened, and you expected it to be Hayate’s agent to greet you first, but it was him. In real life. Right in front of you.

You jumped to your feet and stuck out a shaking hand. “It’s so nice to meet you!” You practically shouted.

Hayate laughed. “You, too. Relax and take a seat.” He gestured to the couch you were sitting on. You sat back down and your heart jumped into your throat when he sat down next to you.

“What’s your name?” He asked, and you told him. He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s cool. Nice tattoo,” He said, touching to your arm.

You jumped and looked at your arm. “Oh,” You said, laughing. “It’s not a tattoo. My friend drew her D&D character on my arm last night during our campaign session.”

Great, now you just admitted to being a huge nerd in front of the one person you admired most in the universe. Awesome.

“Oh, you play?” He asked, perking up a bit.

You blinked. “Yeah. Do you?”

“I used to be big into D&D, but my schedule’s so busy now that I don’t really play much anymore. I’d love to get back into it, though. I miss it.”

Gathering every ounce of courage you had, you gulped and said, “Why don’t you come to our next session? We play every Thursday.”

“Really?” He said, smiling at you. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Mind? I’d be over the moon if you were there,” You said emphatically. Rein it in, you goob, you told yourself. He’s going to think you’re a creep.

“That actually sounds awesome,” He said. “Gimme your phone, I’ll put my number in it.”

Hoping you weren’t actually asleep and dreaming all this, you handed him your phone and took his, and the two of you exchanged info.

“Sweet,” Hayate said. “I can’t wait. I’ve been dying to resurrect my goblin bard.”

You suppressed a snort. “Goblin?”

“Yeah,” He said. “I get tired of being the tallest in the room all the time, so I always play the little guy.”

You did snort then. “Being the little guy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, trust me.”

“You think so?” He asked, putting an arm on the back of the couch and behind your head, so you could feel the heat off of his fur. Your spine tingled. “I happen to like little guys.”

Your eyes widened. You opened your mouth to say something, but no words came out.

“In fact,” He said, biting his lip and looking you up and down. “What do you say we turn this meet-and-greet into dinner? You down for that?”

“I… am… so down,” You replied.

He grinned at you. “Come on, let’s go out the back.” He grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the room and down a dim hallway out to the reserved parking. Getting into his car, you really did pinch yourself to check if you were awake.

He saw you and laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s real.”

“Whatever you say,” You told him, grinning.

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