'I hate this game, I always have to play the Warrior,' said Sam.

'You just hate losing, and you lose because you never grab the right weapon.' said Rachel.

Sam huffed.

'Fine, I'll umm, I'll attack the Archer with my battle axe. Hope you are ready to lose Anna.'

'Oh bring it girl.'

Sam took the two red die and rolled. A six and a three, a great roll. Damn. Sam grinned mischievously.

'Alright, alright. Nice roll. Here goes.'

Anna took the blue die in hand, she got to use three, but she needed at least one six, or she'd lose, regardless of her total. Each weapon had a special ability in Demon's Den. She closed her hands and kissed her curled fingers. Then she tossed... five, five, two.

'Ha! Gotcha! Gimme' your gold!' chortled Sam. She took her warrior figurine and slammed its open left fist against Kal's chest. He toppled sideways, supported by his draw arm, bow now horizontal to the ground. He slid towards the side of the board, then lay there, motionless. That... probably stung, thought Anna. She returned him to a standing position, back at her home base. He would respawn next round. She handed Sam two pieces of gold for her victory, small laminated cardboard chips from a red bowl, her team color.

'Don't worry Anna, I'll avenge you!' said Rachel, 'My turn. I'm taking out the basilisk and then I'm coming for you Sam.'

Rachel moved her piece into position, just behind the basilisk figure. It was a lizard-like monster, low to the board, with a short wide tail. Rachel's hero token was an Assassin, hunched over and carrying two punching katar. She rolled her three die, plus an extra yellow one for her special ability. She tossed.

'C'mon six, c'mon six, c'mon six! Yes!' yelled Rachel, watching the yellow die come up with a perfect roll. When that happened, she was given an instant kill, and an extra turn.

'Told ya Anna, get ready Ivy, you're next.'

Rachel took her treasure from slaying the beast. It was a card with a ruby on the front. It counted towards her treasure total, one of the possible win conditions for this round. The goal was to delve towards the far edge of the dungeon, in direct competition with the other team, and slay the tough creature there. One could do this in a number of ways, but most involved killing your opponents hero and sending it back to the beginning, ensuring a safe distance between yourself and the trailing enemies. Alternative paths existed, such as special teleports, abilities, shortcuts and the like. The girls tended towards the all-out brawl though. Except for Ivy.

'I'm moving to here,' said Rachel, hopping her character several spaces, around a rock wall and into a narrow hallway, 'and attacking Ivy's Wizard.'

Ivy watched closely, then flipped up a card from her character board. It contained that characters items, potions, treasure, and special abilities.

'I'll use Banish. That makes it our turn then.'

Ivy showed them the card. Rachel would be locked into position this round and lose her next. She wouldn't be vulnerable to attack, but with Anna back at home, it meant they would get far ahead with relatively low resistance. Anna worked her fingers around Kal's green shirt and chest strap, absentmindedly rubbing him in a twisting motion, rotating his legs back and forth on the game board as she did. Her eyes were focused on Ivy's move.

'Then I'll be taking the key for the special passage,' said Ivy, moving her Wizard several paces down the hall and retrieving a Key card, 'and passing my turn back to Anna.'

Ivy's wizard wasn't the classic fantasy description. Instead of an old man, doubled over with the trials of age and spinal stenosis, armed with his orb and staff, her version was far less destitute. A tall figurine, with jet black hair and a groomed beard, armed with a longsword, drawn from a flowing cloak that hid several pouches portrayed her battle mage. All the figurines were of custom design, part of the game involved choosing a character set to play with, ordering small figurines online, and then using a small paint set to design your ideal character. Kal had loved the fantasy elements, heroes and demons. The girls favored the artsy side, painting the finest of details on their favorite hero, and enjoying the detailed fantasy setting. Either way it was nerdy, but it was also incredibly entertaining. Rachel tended towards frustration and nonsense plays, devoted entirely to revenge killing and crushing victories. Sam's strategy almost never made sense, it seemed like she didn't know what she wanted to do, it made her hard to predict. Ivy played strategically, an in depth dance of tricky moves and sneaking maneuvers that led to her team usually winning. Anna liked to think she had a balance of pure fun and strategy, but most importantly, she liked to kill Ivy. She always squirmed when her well laid plans fell wayside. It was silly, but incredibly entertaining.

Anna began her turn by flipping a card.

'I'll use Assist, and move to Rachel.'

Anna watched Ivy's expression. She was already wiggling in her chair, as if she couldn't quite find a comfortable spot. Her leg began shaking restlessly. Rachel's eyes lit up as she understood the intended play. Anna winked at her.

'And then use my longbow to snipe the Wizard.'

'Fine,' said Ivy, flipping another card, 'I'll counter with Deflect.'

It was her last card, and Rachel knew it. She flipped her secondary ability card.

'Truestrike.'

Ivy snorted. Sam's lips were tightly bound as she focused on the board. Anna wondered if she even understood the play.

'Roll defense Ivy. Good luck.'

Ivy needed doubles, any two of the same numbers. The Wizard had low defensive stats, and only received two blue die. Her chances were one in six. And with a quick shake, she tossed. Lady luck wasn't on her side.

'Pow! Ivy down!' said Anna, plucking at Kal's strung bow. Ivy removed her character from play and returned it back to their starting area, off in the corner, before snatching her wine glass and taking a casual drink. It turned into a long, slow drink, empty glass with small drips of red pooling in the bottom coming back down against the table next to her character board.

'Nice shot Kal!' said Rachel.

'Huh?' grunted Sam, 'Where's Kal?'

Rachel slapped her hands to her mouth. She had likely had one too many. Anna shot her a nasty look.

'Umm, nothing, I umm, meant to say pal!'

Her charade was terrible. Ivy was already looking closer at Anna, and then at her game piece. With nails painted jet-black to match her hair, Ivy lifted Kal to her face. She examined the solid coating, and then moved her fingers around his legs, flipping him upside down. He landed sideways in her palm. Anna reached to stop her.

'She's right. Your new piece really does look like Kal. That's a little creepy Anna. Speaking of which, where is he? I know you said it was girls only, but usually he's hanging around somewhere.' said Ivy.

Sam was smiling as Ivy replaced Kal back on the board, next to the Assassin. Rachel let out a long sigh, and Anna revoked her dark scowl, retreating her hand as Ivy replaced the piece.

Anna contemplated lying. Ivy and Sam already looked suspiciously at her. It wasn't going to work, she was terrible at deception. Thanks, Rachel.

'I, umm, wow. This is kind of a long story, but, this is Kal,' said Anna, pointing at the Archer sitting on the board. Everyone looked surprised, even Rachel. Why should Anna be embarrassed? Sure, having a miniaturized boyfriend was ridiculous, and dressing him up and then turning him into a figurine was a bit, weird, but Kal was hers. She was the giantess. Of course, only Rachel knew what all that entailed.

'Kal and I decided to have him shrunk down. A store downtown named Cherry does it. Kal had always wanted to, so we agreed. I just thought to include him in the game tonight with a bit of dress-up.'

Sam burst out laughing. Ivy just held a cold look. Ivy had an intense streak, but she had been Anna's friend for a few months now. They had all met in a group project, studying rain forest ecology. Her dark hair hung down, her face in a beautiful yet eerie frame. Sam's blonde hair was in a simple ponytail as always, with several hairs half tied down, fluttering out in messy fashion. It bounced on her neck as she held her bursting ribs.

'I can't, ahahaha, believe, that, aaaah, that... woooooaaah!' said Sam, tilting past the point of no return. She landed on her back and rolled out of the chair. Lying on the ground, she continued her giggle fit.

'So let me get this straight. Kal, your boyfriend, is now three inches tall, dressed like a fantasy hero, and playing Demon's Den with us,' Ivy paused, 'So why can't he move?'

'Oh, I painted him with this stuff I bought at the shop, I figured it would be more realistic if he kept still while we played.'

'So when does he go back to full size?' queried Ivy. She was leaning forward on both elbows, caught up in the conversation.

'I... well I can't change him back. It's permanent. Forever.'

Ivy gasped. Sam finally recovered herself and was beginning to stand.

'So what do you guys do together? Can he talk? How do you guys...' she cut herself off partway. Rachel decided to add her two cents.

'Oh that's easy Ivy. Anna just shoves him up her cunt and Kal wiggles until she's done with him.'

Ivy was biting her lip. The gesture was odd, so foreign compared to her usual calm. She licked her lip, but seemed entirely unaware of the action. Anna tried to still herself. This wasn't what she had hoped for. She expected some commotion, but didn't realize how dramatic the news would come across. Sam shot her hand out and snatched Kal from the board, then held him up to her face.

'I for one, think he looks very cute and well dressed for a man of his stature. I'm kinda jealous actually.'

Ivy watched Kal closely. He wasn't moving, still frozen still under a layer of the solid polymer. All except his face; Kal had begun making moving his eyes and mouth, but unable to speak, he was still a silent observer. After an awkward pause, Ivy looked back to Anna. Her pupils were dilated wide.

'So, Anna?' Ivy asked, the words drawling and shy, 'How do I get one?'