"-And that's the end of Arc 7," Matthew proclaimed, shutting his notebook.

Umbra swallowed the remnants of his wine, grinning. "Masterful storytelling, once again. I really liked that ending. You've got me interested in this whole Life-Death plotline."

Matthew cackled. "My favorite part was Tails. He was fun to play."

The two lapsed into silence as Matthew collected the dice and papers, pushing it back into the box.

"By the way," Matthew murmured, avoiding Umbra's gaze, "About those flashback scenes...was it real?"

Umbra rolled his eyes. "Of course, Matthew. I'm totally some magical, shapeshifting fae prince that travels to worlds populated by snake people."

"You know that's not what I meant," Matthew murmured, furrowing his brow, "About your father.

Umbra paused, letting his glass hang between his fingers. He stared solemnly at the last drops of red wine in the glass. "I..."

Matthew reached across the coffee table, touching Umbra's hand. "Hey, it's okay. I let Esper roleplay through all of his issues too. There's no shame in it."
"It just feels nice to project it all on a fictional character, and let him figure out how to deal with it when I can't. If my character can save the world despite his past, I guess I can live my life, right?"

Umbra leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes. "At least it made sense in the story. Of course Apastron hated his child, he was the last of a dying clan and couldn't even replenish the save the family. But in real life?"

Umbra felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and Matthew pulled him into a hug. "Let's go upstairs. We can talk about it there."

//i like to think along with pure fun, the team uses their rp sessions as weird therapy