The Tower of Passion

Consciousness returning to Fiona, she decided to sleep a bit longer. She couldn't remember going to sleep - or even making camp. But they must have, and she'd done a great job - whatever she'd found to use for a pillow was unbelievably comfortable.
She pushed snuggled into the warm, soft surface - she'd somehow found a second pillow as her face pushed into one. She could sleep here forever. Even the soft snoring of Liddy above her was comforting.

Above her?

Confused, she opened her eyes. It took her a moment to register what she was looking at. It took Liddy doing a deep, content breath for Fiona to understand she was looking directly into the sea-gnomes belly button, her abs moving with her breath. 

So. So. That meant. The soft pillows. They were... she was sleeping on Liddy?

She sat up as quietly as possible, sneaking her head out of her comfortable cushion courtesy of Liddy. Mortified, how did that happen? Liddy was fast asleep, slumped over as the early morning sun snuck through a trio of holes in the cavern roof. She'd slept the whole night in the monk's lap? 

She could have died of shame. What had even happened, last she remembered was activating [Lost in Passion] to attack the giant Shrooman. And then... Timmy? She had a vague memory of Timmy. Taking in her surroundings they were still in the large cave. It didn't seem like Liddy had set up camp at all, and the Fungi creatures they had been fighting were still dissolving, disappearing into dust like she'd learn dungeon creatures did nearby.

What had happened? Had a Liddy saved her? She'd owed that girl so much, for all her help and kindness in teaching her about the dungeon. Never mind her own specific set of issues, which was for a change notably absent this morning. So she wouldn't wank over Liddy today... not that she was disappointed about that. Not at all.

With Liddy still asleep - and she seemed like she deserved it - Fiona set about making an actual camp. She wasn't sure what they could eat, she certainly did not want to try any of the Fungi people. That felt wrong. Even if they were monsters, there was just something off about eating them. She shuddered at the thought.

So she made a fire, fetched some water, and started boiling for some morning coffee at the very least. She was sitting there, watching the kettle boil, the soft sounds of her new friend sleeping next to her when Fiona suddenly burst into tears.

Ugly, hiccupy, terrible tears. Everything just hit her at once. She wasn't sure how time worked but, it would be Monday? Maybe. Gary would be making some stupid joke during standup. It would be terrible, and everyone would hate him, and she missed it so much. Jesus, what about Annabelle? Her friend must have been freaked out so much. They were just having fun, like they always did, and Fiona just disappeared? 

She must be wrought with worry.

The weight of what had happened to her bore down like an avalanche, crashing into her all at once. Everything she could think about brought back a new tear, her houseplants needed watering. Her neighbour that she always awkwardly said "alright?" to in the stairs. All of it.

And she was here in this weird world, climbing this weird tower with... well Liddy wasn't weird. She was wonderful, and Fiona was glad she'd met her friend. And she had to make it to the top? That seemed impossible. Even the last few days were so hard - climbing to the top would take her years? Decades? How did it even work?

That goddess said she could go home if she made it to the top, but would there even be a home to get home to?

She poured herself a coffee - and that was weird, this was a fantasy world, but her inventory had what was essentially instant coffee. And all the classes were so familiar, at least in principle.

She sat, coffee in hand, leaning over as she tried to calm herself down. It was all too much. She just wanted to write code, make stupid software, roleplay with her friends, and maybe eventually meet a nice girl who also liked oversized toys. Maybe.

Not have to fight her way up an infinite tower through who knew what kind of monsters. Mushrooms? And that was floor one? Something about her class made her not scared in the moment, but looking back at it she should have been terrified.

And... She wasn't.

So she sat there, staring into the brown liquid that definitely should not exist in the tower pondering her existence until she was unexpectedly and unceremoniously tackled to the ground.

"YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE OKAY!" Liddy screamed into Fiona's cleavage, having landed on top of her after tackling the larger woman at full speed. They were both sticky, covered in now-cold coffee, but the sea-gnome didn't seem to care, crying tears of - Fiona hoped - joy into the berserker's generous bosom.

"I'm... Yes, I'm ok Liddy." She awkwardly patted her friend's head. "What happened?"
"I thought I'd killed you" Liddy sobbed. Fiona's eyebrows rose, she clearly had missed something important.
"Well, I'm fine." She took a breath, getting a bit flustered by the woman's face being buried into her for so long "And I don't even remember, so it's probably fine."
"But I told you to use that skill" Liddy looked up, their eyes meeting. "And you nearly died." Fiona was surprised. Her skill did it? Was it that dangerous to her?
"Liddy, can I sit up?" Liddy realized their position suddenly, and quickly sat up, wiping her tears.
"Oh... Sure sorry."
"Ok." Fiona rested a hand on her friends, squeezing gently. When had she last held anyone's hand? "Tell me what happened."
"Right. Right." Liddy took a breath."First, what do you remember?"
"I saw the big Shrooman, and then activated [Lost to Passion] intending to attack. I guess that was my 'Initiated Action'" She looked into space for a moment, trying to remember. "And then... All I could think was 'Attack, attack, attack'" She mimicked punching with her fists. "And my vision was all pink."
"That makes sense. That's basically all you did - you were amazing, terrifying, beautiful." Fiona flushed a bit "You were SO strong. But you only attacked, literally. No defense." 
"Oh.,. So I got hurt?."
"Yeah. Very. You took some really bad hits and kept going - I tried to deflect but... You killed the Shrooman." Liddy looked sad remembering. "And then you collapsed." Big silver eyes looked up at Fiona "I thought you died."

"I'm sorry." Fiona said after thinking for a minute. "I didn't... I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's not your fault. It was awful though. Timmy saved you."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it."
"I shouldn't have suggested you use it."
"We needed to know how it works." Fiona squeezed Liddy's hands again.
"Right, well we know now" Liddy put her other hand on Fiona's. "We're gonna pick a tank for the next floor." She seemed determined, a serious look on her face, brow furrowed.

Fiona was surprised.
"We can pick? I thought the system chose" That would be useful, so far the system just chucked things at her with no input.
"Well..." Liddy looked a bit uncertain. "Kind of? The system has set compositions it deems acceptable." She was concentrating, clearly trying to recall instructions from long ago.
"I'm Support & Damage, you are Tank & Damage - technically. So" She was counting on her fingers. "It should decide that Ranged Damage, Full Support, Full Healer or Full Tank are suitable. We can ask for any of those."
Fiona was again struck by how familiar it all was. How gamified it was - who set this up? This couldn't happen naturally.
"But we are only going for Tank."
"Wouldn't healer be ok? If they keep me up?"
"I... I don't ever want to see you like that again." The little woman seemed very upset at the thought. "A healer would work but.. you'd be just as hurt, even more over time." She shook her head.
"Tank. Please. I can't bear to see you like that."
"That's... Thank you. Okay, we'll get a tank." Fiona was touched, it felt nice. Liddy seemed to really, really care. It was... She wasn't sure she'd had anyone care about her like that before.

"Your.. Ehm, Little guy? Girl? Not making an appearance this morning?" Liddy clearly wanted to change the subject, but why would she go THERE?
Also was it a girl or a guy? 
"Girl.. I guess. And no. I was probably too worn out. At least we don't have to deal with that" She laughed, smiling at Liddy sure she would be happy to not have to manage that this morning. Liddy looked... Disappointed? Just for a second, before she laughed as well.
"Yeah, that will make the morning easier."
"So. We got the boss today."
"No. Raging."
"Right."

The two women looked at each other, before laughing again. Hands still touching, neither looking to pull back.

"Let's finish this dungeon." Fiona said, finally. "Find us a tank"