Phoenix’s lips curled into a smile as he watched his brother and sister embrace one another. He’d always loved seeing the two of them interact — it was one of the only things that ever truly felt like it bridged the gap between his two families.

Lila and Jasper had always gotten along well with each other — especially after they let Lila start gaming with them back when she was a kid. She wasn’t always able to attend every session, but she was part of many of their game nights for the past few years, right up until Phoenix had left for Brindleton Bay.

This was the first time she and Jasper had seen each other since.

“Damn, you’ve been growing like a weed!” Jasper laughed as he broke away from the hug at last. “How’s everything going?”

“Really good!” Lila replied brightly. “What about you?”

Jasper’s smile faded slightly. “I’m okay. Just really busy I guess…” He muttered uncomfortably.

Lila’s eyes widened in realization. “Ohmigod, sorry! That was a super stupid question!” She cried. “I’m really, really sorry, Jasper. About… What happened. With, um… you-know-who.”

Phoenix almost let out a groan. Way to be totally freaking awkward, twerp.

Thankfully, Jasper just laughed. “It’s not like he’s Voldemort or something. You can still say his name around me, y’know.” He assured her. “I’m seriously fine. Don’t worry.”

Based on the talk they’d had the day Phoenix arrived home, ‘fine’ was probably pushing it… But maybe Phoenix had just caught him on a bad day.

He certainly hoped so. For his brother’s sake.

As they headed into the dining room to set up, Erik and Rubi stopped by to offer them snacks, earning many groans of embarrassment from Jasper. He’d been complaining nonstop about how his parents had been babying him since the breakup. Phoenix had suggested Jasper start looking at apartments, but he kept coming up with excuses.

Phoenix wondered whether it was because he still held on to the hope of moving back in with Tam someday.

He quickly chased the thought out of his mind as he peered over the DM screen at the others. It had been a long time since he’d ran his own game… But it would be good practice. He’d already promised Niko, Addy, and Lola he’d work on getting them into D&D when he got back after the New Year.

“Alright… You all wake up to the crackling of a warm fire and the smell of dirt and dead leaves. You’re laying together on the dirt floor of what seems to be a cage of some sort. You have no weapons, and absolutely no memory of how you all got there either.” Phoenix smiled as he set the scene.

“You said we don’t remember how we got there…” Gigi was the first to speak. “Do we remember each other? Have we met before? Oh! And if we don’t have weapons, I’m assuming no armor either?”

He felt his cheeks warm with embarrassment. How had he forgotten those details? “Oh! Sorry… Yeah, you’re all wearing simple rags. No shoes. And you don’t recognize one another.”

“What is this place?” Lila dove right in, speaking on behalf of her character. “And who are you people?” She looked back and forth fearfully between Jasper and Gigi as she spoke.

Phoenix smiled. Lila always loved getting into character, even if her dialogue was sometimes a bit forced. She’ll learn.

Jasper put a finger to his lips, then turned toward Phoenix. “I’m gonna gesture for her to be silent, and head to the edge of the cage to take a look at the area.”

“Alright, give me a Perception check.”

“Just to look through the bars of a cage?” Gigi asked skeptically. “Shouldn’t that be a freebie?”

Lila nodded in agreement with her sister-in-law. “Yeah, I don’t think Tam would’ve made us roll for something like that!”

Despite what he’d said earlier, Jasper visibly flinched for a moment at the sound of Tam’s name. But he recovered quickly.

Phoenix rolled his eyes in annoyance… Mostly at Gigi. The little twerp was just piggybacking on what she’d said.

“It’s okay.” Jasper smiled, then rolled his D20. “Fourteen?”

“You seem to be in a small encampment in the middle of an empty clearing. There are high wooden walls all around, enclosing the entire area. Four guards armed with bows and arrows are patrolling the top of the wall.” Phoenix quickly got to work setting the scene. “You see a few wooden huts, and some tents too. But you don’t immediately see anyone else besides the guards and a tall figure stirring a pot over a large fire just a few yards away…” He paused for dramatic effect. “Oh. And all of them are orcs.”

The others smiled at his description of their apparent captors.

“Okay, I’m gonna call you guys over to me so we can try and make a plan.” Jasper told Lila and Gigi. “Orcs are stupid, so we should be able to outsmart them. We’ve just gotta search the cage and see if we –”

“Are there any rocks around?” Gigi asked.

“Oh. Um… sure. There are a few pebbles on the ground.”

His wife smiled. “Perfect. I’m gonna throw one at the orc by the fire.”

Phoenix shook his head. It had been such a long time since he’d played D&D with Gigi. He forgot how she liked to do such extreme and reckless things sometimes. Tam was always so good at finding subtle ways to nip it in the bud before things got too out of hand. Phoenix hoped he’d be able to figure out how to do the same.

“Alright… You throw one of the stones, and it hits his left shoulder.”

Gigi raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t have to roll for it?”

Ugh. Why the hell is she nit-picking every freaking thing I do?! “Hey, you wanted a freebie, right? Well there you go.” Phoenix failed to mask his annoyance. “Anyway, the orc turns around as soon as it hits, and takes a few steps toward the cage. ‘Hey,’ he grunts at you. ‘What do you want?'”

To his dismay, his little sister pouted at his words. “Aww… You’ve gotta do a voice!” She cried.

He chuckled softly, half in annoyance and half in amusement. Apparently I can’t do ANYTHING right tonight… “Sorry, twerp. I dunno how to do any.”

“Tam always does the best voices though! You should try it!” Lila insisted. “It’s way more fun that way… Remember his creepy old witch voice? That one’s TOTALLY the best!”

Across the table, Jasper bit his lip uncomfortably. Phoenix was grateful when Gigi placed her hand against the young girl’s shoulder.

“Hey, let’s not worry about Tam right now. Everybody’s got their own style, right? Including Phoenix.” She explained gently.

The red haired girl sighed softly. “I know. I just miss the way Tam used to do it. He’s so funny and he has all these awesome ideas and cool voices… He’s like, the best DM ever! I just wish he was here too, I guess…” She confessed.

“Yeah, well he’s not!” Jasper suddenly snapped. “So can we please stop talking about him?”

No one said anything for a moment or two before Lila finally broke the silence. “I’m really sorry Jasper.” She said seriously. “That was so dumb. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Jasper let out a soft sigh. “And I shouldn’t have yelled.” He replied guiltily. “Sorry.”

Phoenix rose from the table then. This whole thing was going downhill fast. “Alright… I don’t think any of us are really feeling it tonight. So why don’t we just call it good here and go find a movie or something instead?” He suggested.

His brother nodded gratefully, but Lila’s earlier pout had returned. “We just got started though! And I promise I won’t talk about Tam again!”

Phoenix shook his head. Lila may have looked much more grown up than when he last saw her. But she was still such a kid. It was easy to forget sometimes.

“Come on… We can go check out what’s on Netflix.” Gigi offered, rising to her feet and beckoning for Lila to join her.

She reluctantly got up from the table as well, and followed her sister-in-law back out to the living room.

“Thanks, Phoenix.” Jasper spoke as soon as the girls were out of earshot. “I’m sorry… this was the shittiest idea. I just figured since you were home we could try playing again like we used to, but…” He paused for a moment. “It’s never gonna be like it used to anymore. Is it?”

“Maybe not.” Phoenix agreed sadly as he sat back at the table. Probably not, he’d wanted to say. “Too bad I’m such a sucky DM.” He smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood.

“You’re not!”

“Ha! Don’t tell Lila and Gigi that…”

Jasper’s brow furrowed in concern at his sister-in-law’s name. His eyes flicked toward the doorway for a moment before he spoke. “Speaking of Gigi… Is everything okay with you guys?” He asked softly.

“Of course it is.” Phoenix’s tone was a bit more defensive than he’d intended. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

His brother shrugged. “Things just seemed a little… tense tonight? Plus, I know how you are, Phoenix. And I know how she can be too. And… I also know how much things can change when one of you starts going back to school…” Jasper’s face fell as he spoke. “So I’m sure that doesn’t help either.”

Phoenix did not immediately reply. He took a few moments to consider his answer. “It’s… hard sometimes.” He confessed at last. “Going to Brindleton Bay together kinda changed things more than I thought it would. We both get stressed really easily. Like, all the time. She gets all snippy and nit-picky with me over the stupidest shit. And I get so fucking annoyed with her. We’re fine most of the time. But some days it just feels like… ‘How did we get here?’ or something… Do you know what I mean?” It felt like he’d barely scratched the surface, but Phoenix found it strangely relieving to finally voice some of these thoughts out loud.

Jasper nodded sympathetically. “I get it. Well… maybe not all of it. Me and Tam had a whole different set of problems. But the ‘wondering how you got here’ part… It’s scary how fast things can change, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Phoenix agreed softly. “But hey, don’t worry about us. I think it’s mostly just stress starting to get to us.” His smile found its way back onto his face as he spoke. “We’re still adjusting. But once we get used to things, we’ll be okay.”

Jasper just shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what me and Tam used to say too.”

Phoenix rose to his feet once more, doing his best to chase their conversation from his mind. It wasn’t doing either of them any good. “Hey, we’d better go check on the girls… Don’t want them picking some lame chick flick or stupid teen movie without us, right?” He forced a laugh as he spoke.

His brother hesitated before rising from the table as well. “Sure. But… I wish you’d told me sooner that you and Gigi are having a rough time.”

“We’re fine. It’s really not a big deal, Jasper.” Phoenix assured him. “It wasn’t worth worrying you about it.”

“I get it… But you know you can always talk to me about this kinda stuff, right? Like if things are getting hard or something, you can tell me.” Jasper’s lips stretched into a soft smile. “Even if I’m busy dealing with my own shit, I’m always here for you.”

Phoenix smiled warmly at his little brother. “I know.” He replied. “I’m always here for you too.”