It actually all started with
Amy Valencia
Amy is a character I am playing in a table top RPG, the game being called Obsidian. Obsidian is this great mix of a post-apocalyptic world with future technology. Demons have taken over everything except this one tiny spot in America, which is a literal pillar of humanity. There are good mystics who fight demons and then there are "bad" kultists who worship them. Amy is the latter, a worshiper of the Kult of the Chemical. When I was thinking of motivations for her, I suddenly had this scene in my head.
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Amy wasn't entirely sure what she was smoking. Why should she care. It was at that magical part of the evening where only a couple people had lasted to the end. The ones where sleep was something that could be postponed, and good company was better than caffeine.
She took another hit of the hookah, and carefully blew the smoke toward Alik, a short, smart man with a muscle tone that was just enough. Amy hadn't decided if she would sleep with him tonight. It could go either way.
Alik's eyes had a longing, but not lustful. He sighed, barely parting his lips. "This is all pointless, isn't it?"
Amy pouted. "Oh, poor dear, I knew this moment would happen. She lay her head on his lap and looked up to him. Her long dark hair blanketed his legs. "You thinkers can get in a funk. Tell me about it."
"We're all in a funk, Amy. Humanity's locked up inside this tiny tube, and the whole world is taken over by everything evil! Why bother living? Why bother surviving? Haven't we already lost?"
"Well, yes, but why focus on that?"
Alik sat up straight. "I thought you a more hopeful type."
Amy giggled. "Why? Because I'm not as smart as you? Oh, you sweet thing, just because I'm not book smart doesn't mean I can't see the truth."
"And what is the truth?"
"The long run game is already won. We got to appreciate the now, any way we can." Amy took another draw of the hookah.
"You're giving up?"
"No, my dear," she exhaled, "I've found a new way."
"To win?"
"To enjoy."
Amy had ensnared his attention. She sat up but kept her face close, keeping their gaze. Alik couldn't look away. She continued.
"So you've figured out the truth: we're screwed. We can't expect to keep this up forever. So what do we do with ourselves? Lay down and die?" She paused. "That was your answer, wasn't it? Just end it all?"
"What else is there to do when life is pointless?"
"We still have things to live for. Appetites to sate, thirsts to quench. Ones you've probably never thought of before. Imagine not eating for a week and then finding a full meal with real meat and everything. Imagine how good it feels. Close your eyes and think about how that would taste."
Alik closed his eyes, leaning toward her, an inch between their noses. "Nothing could taste better."
"I can get you something that would make you feel twenty times better than that meal."
He opened his eyes. "You can?"
"Yes. I have many ways to make you feel better than that. And you'll forget this 'meaningless' stuff and really start living. For the things that make you feel the best."
She wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands on her hips. "How?"
"I've made friends with great power and connections, mystical you could say. I can introduce you to them, see how much you like us."
"Are they all like you?"
"Like what?"
"Beautiful?"
"Oh no, you got lucky on that one."
She knew by the end of the night, the demonic affiliations would no longer bother Alik. She had shown him the only rational path for his rut.
There was no longer a question of whether they would sleep together.
I think I dated Amy when I lived in vegas. :P
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