AUTHORS NOTE:This is just a contribution to a piece of media that I'm SUPER excited for.Also,I get to introduce some characters with this AU
"Barley,you need to get yourself together.A person can be the smartest person in the world and they meet you and feel stupid!"
"I know,I know.I'm gonna try Ian-"
"I'm sorry Barley,but being a tattoo artist isn't going to get you anywhere"
Barley frowned,"So that's it,I'm a screw up?"
"Yeah!"
■□■□■
Barley laughed softly as Rich,a green skinned troll with brunette hair,pat his back roughly.Barley budged forward with every pat.You took a drink of your beer.
"What's that tattoo supposed to mean?",Rich pointed to numbers tattooed onto Barley's lower stomach.Barkey looked down and frowned slightly.
"The date my dad died"
"Wow dude,that sucks",Rich said sympathetically.Sprouder,a pale dwarf with long pitch black hair,leaned in and hugged Barley's side."I'm sorry",Sprouder mumbled sadly.
"Oh no need!",Barley smiled at the group with a wide,goofy grin."It was when I was 3 or 4,he died because of disease"
You didn't have much to say.You had heard this tale before.His dad died of sickness but,"he was better now,it was years ago."
You secretly knew he hadn't recovered as much as he made it seem like.
You stayed silent as Annabeth,a dark skinned satyr with brunette curly hair frowned and gave her apologies to Barley about his dad's death.Barley nodded along with her words and smiled,"Aw,An,that's really sweet."
You decided to lighten the sad mood,"Knock Knock"
Barley sighed playfully and looked at you with a soft smirk,"Who is there?"
"Not your dad."
He yelled out in "hurt" before laughing,you laughing along.You shut your eyes tightly and gripped the lower half of your shirt into your fist as your chest began to hurt from the laughing.
Shrubrose,a tiefling elf mix,smiled and they let out a hearty chuckle.Barley whipped his head over to them,"Ah Shrubrose!I forgot you were here!",Barley smiled at them.
Annabeth giggled softly,not wanting to feed into dark humor.Rich,who usually didn't laugh,laughed softly with the two of you.Sprouder pouted,"Aww guys that's mean",He chuckled as he talked.It was clear he wasn't seriously offended.
Shrubrose was the quiet one,but still got a good chuckle out of it.Their arms were folded over their chest for the entirety of the night.
For the rest of the night until about two am,everyone continued their Quests Of Yore quest and talked.You all just did the usual.
For years,this was the first group of people that really accepted you.You weren't one for talking to people,and these people,they changed your life.Barley was your friend since middle school,and finally convinced you to play Quests Of Yore two years ago.It was the best decision you ever made,in your opinion.
Soon,you all had to go home.You were staying over at the Lightfoot house for the night.
You two had been dating for about a year now.You started to realize your feelings for him after the first Quests Of Yore campaign you ever attended.
Barley smiled as he kissed your cheek,"goodnight"
"Night.",You smiled and closed your eyes softly,letting him spoon you from behind."Love you"
"Love you too"
AUTHORS NOTE:Thanks for reading this!I was extremely excited to write this,it isn't my best piece but I wanted to get something out into this book because I feel like it's dying and I want something I can be genuinely excited to write.
