fly.”
The house was huge—the kind of place Danny and Eva had often talked about renting together after college, where friends could come and go as they pleased, crashing in empty rooms, and gaming 24/7 if they wanted to. Karl was, in fact, currently camped out in the living room with his other two housemates, Tara and Becky, amid piles of medieval-style clothing and weaponry.
Karl jumped up the moment they entered the house and ran up to Danny to give him a hug and a rather familiar kiss on the mouth—with tongue. “I’m so glad you could make it, sweetheart!” he said, when he finally broke the kiss. He stepped back and got a good look at Jake. “Oh my God! You’ve brought me a present!”
“He’s straight, Karl,” Serena admonished him. She patted Jake’s arm comfortingly, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Jake did, in fact, look as if he could use some protection. The poor guy had probably never been exposed to a flamboyantly gay man in his life, Danny guessed. He might not be afraid of Karl turning him gay, necessarily, but he’d put so much effort into appearing straight, someone like Karl was still a little intimidating. But Jake smiled, if a little uncertainly, and extended a hand. “Hey. I’m Danny’s roommate, Jake.”
“Sweetheart, we don’t shake hands in this house.” Karl opened his arms. “Come along. I won’t bite you.”
Jake hesitated but submitted to the hug. Then Danny introduced Eva and Paul. To be fair to Jake, Paul looked even more uncomfortable with the idea of everyone hugging him, but Danny was reasonably certain it wasn’t discomfort with Karl being gay—Paul seemed uncomfortable with anybody touching him. Serena then introduced them to Tara and Becky and bustled off to the kitchen to scrounge up something for everyone to snack on.
“Can any of you sew?” Becky asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Eva answered immediately. “I skipped Home Ec.”
To Danny’s surprise, the only person who raised his hand was Jake. When he noticed Paul giving him a curious look, he said defensively, “Boy Scouts. You have to sew your merit badges on your uniform.”
Danny tried not to look amused, but Karl put a fluttering hand to his chest. “He’s even a former boy scout. How could destiny be so cruel to me?”
Tara rolled her eyes. “It’s not all about you, Karl.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course it is.”
“Jake,” Becky said, patting the carpet beside her, “come be my new best friend. I have a ton of garb here that needs to be repaired before tomorrow, and Karl and I are the only ones who can sew.”
“I have to repair these swords!” Tara protested.
“I understand. I’m just saying, unless Jake and his friends brought their own garb, they’ll probably have to borrow some of these.”
“We didn’t bring anything,” Eva confessed. “Is there anything else I can do to be helpful?”
“I have to pee,” Paul said petulantly.
While Karl showed him to the bathroom, Serena returned from the kitchen with a large tray of herbal teas and cookies for everyone. Jake took his place beside Becky, and Eva and Danny settled down beside Tara to help with the weapon repair. The “weapons” turned out to be constructed largely of PVC pipe covered in insulating foam and then wrapped in colored duct tape and electrical tape. The pommels of the “boffer swords,” as Becky called them, were wrapped in cloth grip tape—the kind used for tennis rackets. Most of the repairs had to do with taping up tears in the duct tape or rewrapping the grip tape.
When Paul returned from the bathroom, Serena drafted him to help her in the kitchen, where she was baking shortbread and other food for tomorrow’s event.
The rest of the day was largely spent preparing for the LARP—referred to as The Shires by everyone in the house. Not that Karl and his friends weren’t good hosts. There was plenty of food and conversation, and everyone was welcoming to the newcomers. But the
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