Chapter 7 – Moments of Recollection

Everything that Kellen rattled off, plus the way he seemed totally depressed about their roles, made Colton sigh. "Yes, I'll do that while we're out here." That cemented Colton's suspicions that he'd skipped over something important.

Kellen gave him a long look. "Be sure not to forget." He proved that he had remembered Colton's penchant for ignoring everything while working on projects. "This will turn into a matter of life or death if something doesn't work out."

Colton grimaced. Wow, that was ominous. After all, he'd intentionally avoided looking at the stuff that had the lovers and enemies tab. "Fine, I'll do that when I'm done working on this project." There was a limit to how many ways he could split his attention. "By the way, were you down in that area because of a debt, or was there an arcade I wasn't aware of being located there?"

Kellen blinked in shock. "Huh?" It took him a moment to process what Colton asked, and he shrugged. "Oh, well, that was kinda something I'd looked into as an investment."

Kellen scowled. "Then next thing I know, I'm thrown in with a bunch of whiny freaks that didn't know how to untie a simple knot." He gave Colton a long look. "I almost managed to get free when you were thrown in."

Kellen shook his head. "So, how did you wind up with that debt?"

Colton grunted. "Father." He shook his head when Kellen looked shocked. "That is an even longer story than the plot of this crazy jumbled-up situation that we're in."

Kellen nodded. "True, and I'd rather you finish what you're doing." He carefully corrected his course. "I'll focus on making sure we get to landfall sooner rather than later." Even he wanted to get onto solid ground.

Colton didn't blame him. They were in one odd situation, which wasn't favorable to them.

When he finished his current task, "Well, I'm done with the secondary sail in case something happens," Colton muttered. Just then, a notification popped up. "What's this? I have points?" Interesting, but Colton didn't know what to do with them.

Kellen glanced at him. "Hmm, so that has happened." He murmured with a smile. "Do you know what to do with them?"

"Not a clue." He had points to distribute. "There is a recommendation, though." Colton looked at the recommendation dubiously.

Kellen shrugged. "I'd recommend you take this time to read through everything to know what you're getting into." He suggested. "Then, if you have more questions, I can help you make some distributions so that it's more evenly in your favor."

Colton nodded. "Okay, I'll do that." Hmm, so he had a class and role assigned to him. He should go over the details more carefully to avoid making any mistakes. That was something that Kellen had suggested anyway.

From what he could tell, Kellen was onto something, and Colton had better catch up quickly. What bothered him was the genre they'd ended up in. BL, he could live with, but what was this Omegaverse stuff? How did it work exactly?

When the day began, Kellen was on his way to an investment opportunity in an area that was going through an overhaul. The area had been a real dump, not what one would call potential retail value. However, Kellen remembered it from his childhood and thought it was worth giving a shot.

What he had yet to learn was that it was a total scam. Kellen sighed in disgruntlement when he looked back on all the warning signs. That was the last time he'd ever trust Taltos Leo. The dude must've been in a real bind that he would trick old acquaintances into a trap like that.

If I ever find him again, I'll kill him. Kellen was furious because he hadn't realized who else would get involved. "Why'd they have to involve those nutcase zealots in this as well?"

He'd had run-ins with those crazies before. They were all about being pious, living well, and believing in a single god. Not Kellen's idea of worthwhile pursuit. They'd also been of the mind to destroy anything that was the devil's temptation.

They clearly considered arcades something of that nature. They'd just finished burning down the building he'd gone to inspect. Once Kellen informed his prospective partners about what happened, all hell broke loose.

That was when he'd been beaten to a pulp by Taltos, who'd claimed he'd instigated the crazies on purpose. Now, of course, Kellen knew it had been a complete setup.

He'd also run into Colton Malta, who should've been in a different circumstance but was debt-ridden instead? Baffled, Kellen hadn't been able to escape successfully after hearing the man yelling in fury and fighting back.

This was the weirdest thing that had happened to Kellen. However, if it meant giving him a second chance with Colton and turning their lives around, he'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

However, Kellen needed to learn how Colton would handle the roles given to the two of them. Enemies to friends and to lovers? That was a stretch, but Kellen would take it as an opportunity to make things work out. A faint smile curved his mouth.

It would be even better if it translated back to reality and worked out. For now, though, Kellen knew it would be better to focus on survival than on other matters. Besides, trivial as it may seem, the details matter to Colton since he tended to obsess over stuff like that. His smile faded when he realized obsession wasn't always a good thing.

While Kellen didn't usually care about that stuff, he had to pay attention this time. Otherwise, someone else would steal Colton away from him. Kellen grimaced at the thought. That wasn't something he'd tolerate in this world or in the one they left behind.

Kellen winced. That reminded him. Did Colton realize that if they didn't navigate through this wrecked-up reality game thoroughly and successfully? That all these creepy-ass monsters would break through whatever dimensional barrier held them at bay and invade their home planet?

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