Chapter 5.

Expansion.

Benton paused mid-sentence as Tempest barged in, dragging a small Asian man with her. It took him a moment of searching his memory before he realized that the person she was hauling around was the doctor he'd hired at the hospital. Ash, his brain supplied the man's name.

“What's up, mom?” he asked Matty and smiled with pleasure when she beamed at the name.

“Well, my darling son, the best thing you could have done for the expansion, was hire this adorable small bean,” she said and raised Ash's trapped wrist so high that the man had to stand on his tiptoes as she waved his arm around.

“Mom! You're going to dislocate his arm!” Tomas exclaimed as he watched from the seat across from Benton, his eyes wide even as he laughed at Tempest's antics.

“Oh! Sorry, Ash.” She dropped his arm and gave him a hug in apology.

Ash chuckled and shook his head before saying, “Hello, you two. It's nice to see you again! Oh, and thank you for giving me my dream job, though it appears you might want to give me a raise for hazard pay.”

Tempest and Ash grinned at each other in humor before Tempest shrugged and told Benton, “You probably should give him that raise, hazard pay or not, because of this!” She plopped a portfolio on Benton's desk and pointed to a piece of artwork.

Benton sucked in a breath as his eyes honed in on all the beautiful details and the somber, tragic feel of the art piece. “This is...” He was at a loss of words to describe all of the emotions it pulled from him.

Tomas moved around the desk and leaned against Benton's back as he looked over the man's shoulder. The boy wrapped his arms around his husband, and Benton immediately wanted to pull Tomas into his lap.

“This is stunning!” Tomas whispered reverently, pulling Benton's attention back to the art.

“It really is,” Benton agreed.

“Now imagine that as one of the new starting places for the expansion. Can't you just see the storyline expanding in all directions? Urie, the wizard king, sends out our valiant heroes to right his wrongs.” Tempest was so animated as she talked. It was hard not to get swept along with her. “To get revenge against the Duke for killing the King's family. To bring Urie's kingdom back to its old prosperous self? We could introduce the new secondary Taverns as teleport points. Free teleports between sister Taverns. What do you think?”

Benton sat back and grabbed one of Tomas's hands with his own, threading their fingers together as he thought. Tempest had never been wrong when she brought him a new idea for the game. It was one of the reasons Fantasy Tavern Online had done so well since its release. “I think we need a meeting. Can you have that scanned so we can project it onto the board?”

“In a heartbeat!” Tempest almost squealed in her excitement, and Benton couldn't help laughing happily, seeing his dearest friend so ecstatic. If anyone deserved some joy, it was his mother-in-law.

“Okay, go take care of that, and I'll rouse the rest of the teams. Let's use the convention hall since our new meeting room isn't ready yet; they're still working on getting it painted.” Benton handed the portfolio back to Tempest and looked over at the blushing Ash. “You're getting your raise. Something tells me my hiring you on a whim might have just turned the art department from a powerhouse to godlike status. Nicely done, Ash. And welcome to SlideRuleGames.”

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This whole day was one trip down to crazyville, and Ash loved it! They were currently on the other side of the mall in a convention hall that was owned by SRG. Ash was in heaven, and he was utterly embarrassed at the same time. Tempest had scanned Ash's artwork into their system, and it was currently being projected onto the whiteboard at the front of the temporary meeting area. He'd never had his art displayed to thirty-some-odd people before, and this was one of those personal pieces. Ash had drawn it to work through his feelings about his family and their reaction to him not being perfect.

Ash found himself chewing on his lip as he watched his coworkers find seats and sit down. One person caught his attention as soon as he came into the room. It was Jacob. He was wearing a black fishnet undershirt that covered his hands to the knuckles and a blood-red and black striped sleeveless shirt. He had three chains draped around his hips that connected to his belt. The silver chains matched the jewelry in his piercings on his face and his ears. Jacob had thick kohl around his grey eyes, and blue dye streaked the tips of his hair.

What was it about this tall, slender man that had Ash's heart skipping beats like he was having palpitations? Yes, Jacob was incredibly sexy to Ash, but the man had seen plenty of hot guys and women, and Jacob was only the second person ever to cause him to feel like a little boy with a crush.

Ash watched as Jacob found a seat at the back. Jacob nodded to a few people in greeting, but he never smiled, giving him an ultra-serious look. Ash tilted his head as he thought about that and watched the man closer. Tomas walked by and said something to Jacob, and the man's mouth tilted a fraction upwards, and Ash reassessed his judgment. It wasn't that Jacob was serious, Ash thought maybe he just didn't show his emotions easily.

An arm draped across Ash's shoulders, and he jumped and turned wide eyes towards the culprit. “Holy misguided Muppets, you scared me!” Ash clutched at his heart and huffed his breath in and out.

Tempest grinned with mischief. “Every single person in here, except Jacob, now knows you have the hots for the boy. Look around.”

Ink, the dude with tattoos, was smirking Ash's way knowingly, as was Poe, Tomas, Benton, and every other person he'd met so far and a few people he hadn't. Ash groaned and put his hands to his face as he sank in his seat.

Tempest chuckled, “They would have been in your business about it soon enough. We're all just a bunch of nosy matchmakers. Ask Benton about that sometime.” She patted Ash on the shoulder, then stood and went back to the front of the meeting area.

“Are we all here?” Tempest called out as Benton joined her at the front.

Everyone nodded or murmured assent, and Tempest looked over at Benton expectantly. “Oh, no. This is your baby, you start it off.” Sunny held his hands up in a no touching gesture.

Tempest stuck her tongue out at Benton then turned back towards the group. “You know how we were trying to figure out what to do about the starting area of the new zone we're creating for the expansion?” she asked, then held her hand out towards Ash's artwork, glowing on the board. “This is King Urie. The wizard king, sitting on his throne in misery. He will be the first quest giver in the new area. He's the reason for the latest music Mariel, and Tomas came up with. At night, the city will be haunted; by what, I don't know. We can hash that out in groups once we figure out assignments, during the day, it will be a hopeful place, one that makes you feel like things can get better.

“Poor Urie will send our adventurers on quests throughout the land. They will also be able to visit their sister Taverns, where they'll be able to TP in between Taverns.” Tempest grinned as people started talking to each other excitedly.

Ash knew from playing games that a TP was gamer speak for teleport. Having a shortcut from the original tavern to its sister would cut travel time in half. It was a great idea, and he was surprised they hadn't implemented the option before.

Smokes stood, looking slick and professional in her pinstripe suit, “I don't know when you came up with this idea, but that artwork is sexy. I've already thought up a handful of assets that would look amazing in that castle.”

“This artwork belongs to Ash, our newest employee.” Tempest looked like she was enjoying putting him on the spot a little too much.

Ash stood, as Smokes had done, and nodded and waved. “I have a few unfinished pieces of the castle on my computer at home. I'll print them out and bring them in if you want to see them.”

It was the president of the company who put a voice to the people that were nodding, “If you don't bring them in, you'll have a quarter of the company following you home.” A bunch of them laughed, and the nodding increased.

Ash looked over his shoulder, and his eyes locked with Jacob's. The man tilted his head, and his eyebrow twitched as he looked at Ash. Ash couldn't interpret the piercing grey stare Jacob sent his way. He didn't know about having a quarter of his new coworkers following him to his house. There was one person he definitely wouldn't mind following him home, though, he thought to himself as he sat down and tried to focus on the meeting.

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Note from TL:

Hello everyone! I've been working hard to edit this story and get it ready for kindle. I want to release it for kindle unlimited on the same day its released on amazon, so I'm giving everyone a one month notice. NOVEMBER 2020 I'll be removing most of the novel from tapas so I'm eligible to release it to unlimited.

IF you know anyone who you think would like to read this story before it is removed, please give them a heads up that they have until November 4th. On November 5th it will no longer be available.

Now,  without further ado, here is an interview with Jacob as a thank you for your patience and understanding.

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TL: "Hello Jacob, how are you today?"

Jacob: Blinks and plays with his lip ring before answering. "Good."

TL: Coughs at the slow answer. "Okay. Um. Readers of the Gamers and Magic series have almost unanimously called you their favorite character. How does that make you feel?"

Jacob: Looks behind him at the small Asian man standing with the rest of the staff. The man gives Jacob two thumbs up and grins, making his eyes turn to half moons. Jacob gives the man a half smile and says, "Hot."

TL: "Hot?"

Said Asian man runs up to stand next to Jacob, "Did he say, Hot? He means he's happy they like him the best, right Hubby?"

Jacob: Pulls Ash into his lap and shakes his head, "No. I mean, you're hot, Ash."

Ash: Face turning red, "Well You're my favorite too. Just like the readers. In fact I'm your number one fan. Everyone else has to get behind me, but they can't have you, you're mine. Lock, stock, and wedding rings. So, they can only admire you from afar. But I'd be willing to draw some art of you and let them see that, just nothing kink-"

Jacob stops Ash's babbling with a kiss.

TL: Takes a picture and sends it to Moose while they're occupied. Turns to the readers, "Sorry everyone, I think that's all we're going to get out of Jacob this time. I have a feeling a few of their stories will end up in Tavern Tales some time in the future. So keep your eye out, and as always Thank you for reading!"