@more-van-usual

Though he’d been part of the White Crest community for nearly nine years, Nate never counted himself among the real community. He was a citizen, sure, but he didn’t go out and about enough to be called part of the “community”. He had a few friends, but they were really more of acquaintances. People he saw with regularity, but not that he would go out for drinks with. Even his assistant who constantly begged him to go out with him, to get out and “live a little”, Nate wouldn’t call them friends. 

Not that he had anything against friends, they just...well they were dangerous. In so many ways. Not counting the plethora of scenarios that would ultimately end his in death and rebirth as a monster, but there were the emotional dangers as well. Nate had had so many friends before the incident, and now he had none. It wasn’t lonely, it was safe. Honestly, the man wasn’t sure he could take any more heart break if he were to get close to someone else, only to have them ripped away from him in some horrific accident. He knew enough about the death toll in White Crest to know it was a real possibility.

And yet he lived here. In his bubble, hiding away while he looked for a contingency plan, he still lived in the most dangerous town he could think of. But it was a place that might have answers. So Nate spent the majority of his time online or at the library, searching constantly for clues or possible cures. But all that research got monotonous over the years. Sometimes he needed to blow off steam or otherwise distract himself from the horror show that was his life. This lead to a pretty serious addiction to Elder Scrolls Online. He might live in a real life fantasy nightmare, but at least in the game he was able to control his own fate.

He even made a few friends.

One was a woman named Van, someone who also lived in Maine. Nate had wondered once what the chances were that the two shut ins lived in the same tiny, god forsaken town, but he’d long forgotten to care. Van’s company, while digital, was safe. The two had struck up a rapport, and over the years Nate called her a true friend. They’d voice chat and complain about their insane town from the safety of their own couches. But eventually, Nate felt himself longing for more. Not romantically or anything, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever truly gotten over Mari’s passing, but he knew he needed to talk to someone, really talk, or he’d start to go crazy.

It took the man about two months before he got up the courage, but he made the call. 

“Van? Hey, it’s uh...it’s me! Nate. I mean, I guess you know that…” All these years and Nate was still the most awkward human on the planet when he made phone calls. “I’m uh, swinging by the grocery store this afternoon, and I guess I wanted to know if you maybe wanted me to bring you anything? I know you don’t like goin’ out to get your stuff and I figured I could bring my laptop and maybe we could play a few rounds in the same room for once over a few bags of potato chips and bad beer...only if you want to of course, if you’re busy or don’t want me to come ‘round or whatever that’s totally cool too, up to you…”