Go ahead and roll

Paper and dice are strewn across the kotatsu table. In one corner is an oval bowl with bits of leftover chicken bones next to a half empty glass of water. The pounding rain outside continued to drum against our walls.

"...with his undead dragon dead, Korgath rushes towards the prince of Auron, who is by the way still bound with the magic wire from the trap you set, and holds him hostage!"

"Coward!"

"Korgath holds the Blade of Ends close to the prince's neck and yells at you, 'Your life, or his! What's it gonna be hero!', he's hurt but still confident enough to scoff at you. Your turn."

This is bad. That dragon took too much to take down. I don't have a lot spell slots left so I can't pull many tricks. Should I resolve this through diplomacy? Intimidation wouldn't work and persuasion seems doubtful.

"...is Korgath bleeding anywhere?"

"Not heavily. Just a few scratches here and there."

A single powerful strike wouldn't be enough. It's a risky play but...

"I cast Shadow Blade, and throw it his sword-wielding hand, right into the Mark of Ends on the back of his hand."

"Okay, interesting, that's gonna be a higher DC but thanks to the cavern being barely lit up, Shadow Blade gets advantage. Go ahead and roll."

I pick up two 20-sided dice drop them with a spin. They clatter on the table. One of them is a 9. The other- I stand up and raise my balled fists as high as I can.

"Natural 20!!!"

...Realizing what I had just done and screamed, I hang my head and bury my face in the palm of my hands.

"You don't have to be so embarrassed about it."

From the gaps between my fingers I could see Gin smiling widely. He's mocking me. He's definitely mocking me.

"But man, you really get into it whenever we play anything tabletop huh? We should get Diana to join us for a game when she comes visit this Sunday."

"Absolutely not!"

"Why not? You know most of these games are better with a group of friends instead of just the two of us."

"No."

"Ooh! We could do it during one of the holidays. Our place isn't big enough for a lot of people so maybe Dahlia will let us borrow the bar when it's closed."

He's not listening. I take the bowl and half-empty glass to the sink and start washing them along with the other utensils he used to cook.

"So like, is there any reason in particular you like tabletop games? I've never seen you get excited about anything else."

"...Games allow bold, creative, and often foolish actions without having to experience any dangerous consequences from failure. A luxury we don't have in our day-to-day. Analog games in particular are... stimulating to me, because I am overly used to everything being some for of digital. It's refreshing."

"Huh... So why were you so mad the last time we played Dario Party?"

"Because those dice are rigged!"

"Or maybe you're just bad at it."

"....."

With neither moon nor star, the night passes with a rumbling sky. The tumultuous waves and roaring winds drown out the verbal frustrations born from yet another round of Dario Party.