Dungeons and Dalliances

1.26 – Prowl

The exterior of the guild had been medieval, appropriately stereotypical of tanks and impressive at once, but inside … inside was, well, mundane.

Typically modern—the same as the rest of campus. Natalie had somehow expected the stoic design to have carried on to the interior. Though, she supposed, that would’ve been inconvenient. This was a functional building, however much the showmanship of the Union Plaza and five guildhalls suggested otherwise.

A banner streamed from one wall to the other, reading, ‘WELCOME FRESHMEN!’.

Too mundane. Natalie had gotten her expectations up, seeing the guild’s outward presentation.

Natalie had barely trailed into the lobby before somebody appeared next to her, slinging their arm onto her shoulder. She didn’t tense, though maybe someone like Jordan would have—Natalie didn’t have much problems with people being touchy, though she wouldn’t say she liked it.

“Good to see you, frosh,” the boy—probably a member of the guild, a recruiter of some sort—said. “You’ve made the right choice, joining the tank’s guild.”

Natalie eyed the arm draped on her shoulder, then raised an eyebrow at him. He had a sideways grin plastered on his face, and shaggy blond hair. Blunt features—handsome, rugged, straightforwardly masculine. He had wide shoulders and a powerful build, even compared to most Tenet students … one which did little to nothing for her, considering her terminal case of gayness, but which explained his easy confidence. Natalie could tell a boy who wasn’t used to rejection.

At Natalie’s raised eyebrow, he didn’t remove his arm, only grinned wider. So she removed it for him, shaking it off. He didn’t take offense, so that was some sort of credit to him.

“I made the right choice?” she repeated. “That’s hopeful. I’m just looking around.”

“Nah, I can tell a tank when I see one. You’re more refined than those rabid dogs we call neighbors.”

The fighter’s guild was to the left of tank’s guild—their ‘neighbor’.

Natalie found herself giving the boy an amused look. More refined? Her?

“Well, you’ve got a horrible read on people,” she said. “I’m more fighter than tank. Just, my class means I might be better suited here.”

The boy hummed. “Well, then the tank’s guild could always use a new perspective,” he said, pivoting easily. “Some fire in its ranks. So, I’m glad you’re leaning toward us. You won’t regret it.”

Natalie found herself entertained at how easily he had adjusted his opinion: from ‘rabid dogs’ to ‘some fire could be a good thing’. His twinkling eyes told Natalie he knew exactly what he was doing. Not a person afraid of saying whatever he needed in order to sway someone. Shameless about it, too.

“Why would you even care?” She knew the guilds did their best to recruit, but for what reason? “You get something for having more members?”

“More funding, to name one.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Which means bigger parties. But more than that …” he looked her up and down, slowly, then flashed another smile. “Well, the more the merrier, right?”

Natalie figured she ought to say it. She knew what was happening … if the wiggle of his eyebrows that had accompanied the last statement, and his not-so-polite up and down, hadn’t made it clear.

“I’m gay.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “How strictly?”

“Very?”

He swiveled, changing directions. Natalie swerved with him. Somehow, she hadn’t even realized she’d been following him further into the lobby. He’d swept her up in his wake, Natalie falling into step naturally. She wasn’t attracted to him, but he had a magnetism of a different sort. A passive leadership, that made her follow. That was a tank for you. Most tanks were their party’s leader.

“Well, then, Sammy will take great care of you,” he said. “Have fun!” He patted her on the back then was gone before she registered what had happened. A blonde girl stood next to Natalie, looking even more bewildered than Natalie herself.

“But … I’m not doing freshmen tours …” Sammy trailed off. She looked at Natalie. “Um. Why did Alden leave you with me?”

Natalie took Sammy in, though more subtly than Alden had her. She was tall and powerful-looking, as Alden was—as many tanks were. Alden’s width and defined arms were nice in abstract, aesthetic way, but on Sammy? Natalie was much more appreciative. Combining that build with soft curves and golden locks framing a round face and a blocky, prominent nose, which, despite maybe not being conventionally attractive, kind of did something for her. Natalie was a fan.

“Let’s see,” Natalie said. “He hit on me, twice, so I told him I was gay. Two seconds later, he dropped me off with you. So … I can make a few guesses.”

Sammy flushed, then glared at the blond boy’s back, who was prowling through the guild’s entry hall, looking for new prey. Natalie respected his singular focus, if nothing else. And, though it’d been rude to take interest in Natalie then dump her, he hadn’t particularly tried to come off as ‘friendly’ in a normal way. He’d accepted her rebuffs easily, too. Still kind of annoying to be treated like that, but it didn’t form a horrible image of him.

He was out for blood. Wasn’t Natalie, too, considering her class? She’d be a hypocrite to be too annoyed.

“I’ll kill him,” Sammy said, still boring holes into his back. “He’s such a lecher. We’re supposed to be introducing everyone to the guild, not finding hook-ups.”

“Well …” Natalie said slowly. “Him trying was annoying. But if you did, I might not mind.”

Sammy turned to Natalie, eyes widening at the frankness. She looked at Natalie in a new light, then down at her clipboard. She tucked it behind her back and smiled.

“Well. I suppose one tour wouldn’t be a bad thing, even if it’s not what I’m supposed to be doing. You wanna take a look around?”

Natalie grinned. Straightforward did tend to work out for her. “Sure. Sounds fun.”

She had expected checking out the guilds to not be too interesting, but after this development, things were looking up.

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