Role Play - Alison Hendricks Page 0,22

against his noise-dampening headphones. Moving around the curb, I crouched down in front of him, careful not to invade his personal space.

"You ready to go home, bud?"

He kept repeating the words, then suddenly looked up at me, nodded sharply, and was on his feet in an instant. He went right to my car, climbing into the backseat like he always did despite me telling him repeatedly he could ride up front.

"God, this is such a disaster," Ruth said, dragging a hand over her face. "I thought he'd enjoy it."

"He just needs to find people that are sticklers for the rules like him," said the employee.

"Any idea where we can find people like that?" I asked.

"There's local gaming forums. Lot of open threads on Reddit for virtual games. I heard there are some games run at the Horizon, but not sure what kind."

I nodded, filing away that information for later. The most important thing right now was to get David someplace familiar where he felt safe.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate you being so cool about this," I said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"I'll come back with you," Ruth said, and I could see the guilt clear in her eyes.

I nodded, climbing into the driver's seat of my car. David was staring straight ahead, looking at nothing. In a spark of inspiration, I said, "Why don't I put Critical Role on the TV back there?"

"Okay."

I'd bought this van because it was the easiest way to haul around equipment -- and football players -- when I needed to. It'd come with the whole Wi-Fi hookup and the TV in the back, though I rarely used either. Navigating to YouTube, I found the channel and put it on one of the episodes I knew he'd watched the most.

We drove in silence, outside of the sound of the TV. My mind drifted in so many directions. Not just to what could have happened if the other kids at Mega Comics had decided to get handsy or had been especially shitty, but also about my encounter with DorianGay that seemed so far away now.

I wasn't ever going to see him again. I'd blown any hope of that when I'd rushed out of there without any sort of explanation. That was a shame, because while I wasn't interested in dating anybody, damned if there wasn't something there in the fucking department.

It was for the best, though. Between David and my boys on the team, I had my hands full. I didn't have time for anything more than a random, one-night hookup.

When we got home, Ruth made the soup David liked -- a nice matzo ball one our mom made -- while David retreated to his room. I checked on him a couple times, just listening through the door. I heard the sounds of the voice actors who played in Critical Role and knew he was likely just sitting up in bed, eyes glued to the screen. Ruth confirmed as much when she went to bring him his soup.

By the time she came back out to the living room, I had my laptop balanced on my thighs and I was searching for "how to run a D&D game." The information I found was comprehensive, to say the least. Articles, videos, whole sites dedicated to the art of running a game.

Ruth sat down beside me, and we watched several of the videos. My brain felt like it was seeping out of my skull somehow, and my frustration grew at not understanding... any of it, practically.

"Are you getting any of this?" I asked, trying not to whine.

She shook her head. "Nope. But I don't get the game, either. Just that you roll dice sometimes."

I at least knew more than that. I actually knew a decent bit about D&D thanks to listening to David, but I didn't want to make her feel bad. Letting out a groan, I thumped my head against the back of the couch.

"I don't know what to do. I'm afraid if we bring him to another group, it's going to be the same thing. But, he really wants to play, and I think it would be good for him."

My sister was silent for a long moment, letting me wallow in my misery before she said, "What about Horizon? The guy at the comics store said they have games there, right?"

"Yeah, but isn't that like an after-school literacy center or something?"

She shrugged, so I looked up the organization on my laptop. Apparently, there were four of them throughout central