𝐷𝑜𝑝𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛, 𝑂𝑥𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑛- 𝑅𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝑆𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛- 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷＆𝐷？

The dusk evening light was peaking at the corners.
Robin's doc's were still rubbing her heels and causing discomfort on her sock seams as she peddled free of helmet down Steve's road. The forest trees encased her, rustling in rhythm as she picked up pace beside and wished them farewell just as fast as they had met.
She wasn't rushing with her time, but it felt freeing to speed down the road every once in a while, hair blowing free.

The road morphed more into a rural setting as the destination grew smaller and smaller, the faintest glimpse of housing up ahead.

Steve's house was massive- bigger than Robin could even dream of living in. It only made sense that his area was the designated hang out spot for the lot of them- seen as his parents were never home and there was space by the gallon. It all added up to the perfect abode for visitors.

She steered around to the front of the building, dodging Eddie's van in the driveway and dismounting her bike in the usual place. It was becoming darker outside, the blanket of dusk slowly covering further, and Steve's car was nowhere to be seen.

Resting her ride against the flat surface of the wall, she levelled it, leaving it on its own as she made her way to the backyard gate. Even though the front door was exactly the same distance away on the opposite side, the gate was always the key decision when a bunch of guests were inside.

She stepped, reaching towards the metal of the handle and twisting, unlocking the door and letting herself inside.
Just beyond the entrance, the pool rippled and reflected with the dull-leaden blue of the sky, and further on, the golden glow of active lights shone through the wall-length windows. She had arrived.

The concrete underfoot clunked on her shoes, bashing agaisnt the earth until she reached the doorframe. The sliding doors were already fully open, so she stepped inside.

The kitchen was explicitly empty, housing nothing but a dull light and a mumble of voices travelling through from an opposing room.
Robin continued on through the house.

She walked the hallway, passed the bathroom, weaved through the living room and entered the dining room to a whole community of people. There they were all sat, buzzing and ready for the thrill of the game. The table was set out in boards of all shapes and sizes, heights and widths. Stray dice and figurines ran across the board, placed in boxes and squares and shapes that Robin couldn't even decipher. It was a chaotic mess- but not as chaotic as the people surrounding it.

Eddie was sat smugly at the end of the table, basking in the proud of his creation. Dustin was scheming next to him, serenading the newcomer with greeting. Mike was harbouring over something on the opposite end, Lucas alongside- and Nancy was sat on a chair in the corner, surveying the scene. Erica was making her way over to the Dungeon Master and his partner with a paper in her hand like she was some sort of inspector.
To be honest, it all looked too professional for Robin's liking. Everyone was doing something; everyone was busy.

"Buckley," Munson cheered, sitting up in his chair at the head of the scene, "you made it!"

She nodded.
"And Steve... didn't?"

Dustin chuckled, not pulling his eyes away from the paper which he had just taken from Erica.

"Oh, yeah he's coming- of course he is. He's just picking up Will, and then El and Max if they want to come and do something else while they're here."

"So, he's been roped up into all of this, has he?"

"When does he not?" Erica snickered, setting herself up on another brisk task.

"True."

Nancy stayed quiet in the corner, nodding a swift hello as Robin panned over to her. It was obvious by the complete lack of interest that she'd only been pulled along to play taxi service to Erica, Lucas and Mike, and simply hadn't had chance to escape yet. Robin decided to seek conversation with her, just for the only moment of peace she'd get the whole night.
There was a spare seat next to the woman, so with the hand that wasn't buried deep into her jacket pocket, Robin tugged at it, dragging it to the opposite side to sit.

"Hey," Nancy smiled, shuffling over slightly, "mad, isn't it?"

Buckley huffed as Wheeler tilted her head in gesture.
"Yeah, I certainly don't get the charm."

"- This game is full of charm, Buckley, you know it is."

She decided to ignore Eddie's tossed over comment with a chuckle, shaking her head slowly into her lap.
"As I was saying-"

Nancy huffed out a slight laugh, dropping her view down to the floor.
"Only here because of these idiots, anyway."

Robin knew the three she was talking about, but didn't say another word- up until Nancy caught her attention once more.
"So, how's your dilemma going?"

"What?"

"Y'know, your constant headaches, annoyance, boredom... or at least I can assume."

"Oh!" Robin spoke, tone high. "Yes! Um, Steve- right. Yeah... yeah, no- it's still pretty evident."

"Thought so. All magnets lose their stick at some point. Or- at least they do in this town."

Buckley nodded, biting the inside of her cheek.
"I actually, um, witnessed one of his supposed failures today."
She immediately bit her cheek harder, almost regretting telling what she had.

Nancy scrunched her eyebrows ever so slightly, rising her nose along with them.
"You...what?"

"I had a coffee date with Joyce... at the same place and time as one of Steve's actual dates."

Wheeler's expression was kind of unreadable.
"And the verdict?"

"It seemed just as shit as he keeps saying they all are."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It was weird. Spoke to Joyce about Jonathan, though. He should be back soon, shouldn't he?"

The corner of the room then felt very odd- a strange aura of emotion surrounding it.
"Yeah. Yeah, not long now."

"Well!" The cheer returned. "That's great."

"Yeah." The final reply was made before another rustle of commotion filled the household.
The sound of the front door kicked into action, and without another moment, a wheelchair appeared in the doorway, followed by a giddy teenager in front of a third confused one. Steve had returned with Max, El and Will.

The room exploded once more.

"Little Byers!" Eddie welcomed him, nodding along to the other two as they headed towards a separate room. Will stepped inwards, a faint smile showing at the greeting. However, it didn't take too long to fall again.

He panned the room with his eyes, a slightly stunned motion overwhelming his features. A step inwards, and then another. Steve entered behind him, taking eye of the two in the corner and tossing his keys onto the side. He headed over to them.

"Hey." He spoke, leaning against the wall beside the two women. They both said a variety of response as they watched the resuming scene.

Mike stepped forward, gathering a small pile of papers from the table ledge and passing them to his friend. Robin recognised the coloured lettering from the week prior; the Will the Wise character sheet. The owner of the design stayed quiet for a moment.

"You're playing D&D?"

The party desperately grinned as if they were all pieces of popping candy stored into one bag. Atmospherics were buzzing, but Will looked strange.
He didn't seem surprised, or excited... just... weird. But nonetheless, he allowed himself to be escorted into a seat with a smile on his face as Eddie started the scene.

"Do you hear that?" The leader spoke in a whisper as the group hurried to grasp their places, the three extra onlookers peering from the corner. "The tavern door has just this moment swung open..."

They all paused, hovering in their positions as quiet as could be.

"... and it seems that our final adventurer has arrived."