Games of Their Own

**"Games of Their Own"** is an extended scene taking place off-screen during the early events of "Not Ready for This." The scene was conducted on Discord.

## Summary

After their own personal conversation, Avi and Shayne venture to the kitchen for breakfast. Shayne apologizes to Lilly for abandoning the previous night, citing Avi's condition, and Lilly informs him that Ireena accompanied her instead. Avi laces her coffee with alcohol and mentions the burial they agreed to assist with, and Shayne points out the irony of the dead body being kept in the living room; Lilly jokes that she won't survive long in the presence of such terrible puns.

Vive returns with more coffee to Shayne's delight and offers a ginger candy to Avi for her headache, then tells Lilly that he asked Ireena to accompany her during the night because he believed that Lilly could protect her from Strahd if he returned. Lilly reminds Vive that it was he who enabled the team to defeat the Unspeakable Horror under the basement of the Durst House. Draven arrives then, still disgruntled that he contributed so little to that fight; Vive reminds him that he stood on the ceiling, Shayne remarks on the display of wall-walking, and Lilly assures Draven that she saw him preparing something incredible. Draven is not appeased, comparing his ineffectiveness to "not finishing," which Vive agrees is a terrible sensation.

Avi assures Draven that he will get his chance in battle, reminding him that the entire team is alive, to which Draven deadpans: "Right. Alive." Shayne smirks at the Dhampyr, and responds: "More or less." Avi tells Draven that she has died enough already, and Vive agrees that living is the preferable choice; Avi asks Draven why he responded to the word *alive* as he did, but he gazes out the window without answering, and Shayne suggests that the party might call themselves The Brood. Avi reminds Draven that she is a follower of a death goddess, and offers her counsel on matters of life, death, and the areas in between if Draven decides that he wants to talk.

Vive asks if anyone is sensitive to any sorts of magic so that he doesn't accidentally kill them, and Shayne admits that he is either vulnerable to enchantment or just very easily distracted by attractive people; Vive admits that he has a similar weakness, and, seeing how flustered Ireena has become in the combined presence of Ira, Draven, and Vive, Shayne suggests that she does as well. Lilly asks how everyone slept, and Shayne admits that he had a dream of a tavern he'd never seen before where he was visited by "an eldritch force of the multiverse." Lilly asks what the being looked like, and Shayne describes it as "the shadows and smoke that a thing might leave behind," comparing it to the "echoey nonthings under the basement of the Durst House, but more...powerful." Vive asks if the dream concerned him, and Shayne admits that he's not as concerned as he knows he should be.

Lilly asks if Vive had any dreams, and he admits that he dreamt of home before trailing off; Lilly presses him, but he claims that he doesn't remember the rest. Ira arrives then, and Vive asks if she slept well: she admits that she didn't, having been on edge even before the party was engulfed by the mists, and that her senses are on even higher alert now that they have encountered Strahd. Shayne delivers a bowl of coffee to the Aasimar, and she suggests that the group needs to learn more about Strahd and his unhealthy obsession with Ireena, as well as figuring out who or what brought them to Barovia and why.

Shayne suggests that Strahd's confusion over their appearance in the realm he seems to rule indicates that forces greater than even him are playing games of their own with all of them. Lilly bristles at the idea of being a pawn, though Shayne counters that pawns, properly positioned, can still checkmate a king; they must, however, first determine who the king really is. Vive confesses that he prefers checkers to chess, and Shayne admits that he prefers poker; Vive explains that others no longer like making bets with him since he lost interest in betting money, and Shayne suggests that Vive would be "excellent at pokering."

At Lilly's reaction, Shayne explains: "Look at those inscrutable features. That is the face of a man who could bluff *literally* anyone." Her tea having grown cold, Lilly uses *Shape Water* to lift a few drops and flick them at Shayne.