Talk Nerdy to Me

-DECEMBER 2007-
It's a rainy Saturday evening. J steps out of his front door and waves as I pull into the driveway. J is beaming as he gets into the car. We've been dating for a couple of months now, and things are going pretty well so far. We're headed out to dinner tonight.

We exchange greetings. I get about halfway down the block before J says, "Hey, is it alright if I talk about WoW?"

I chuckle. I've never played World of Warcraft before, but a few of my friends are enthusiasts. Occasionally, they get together and say things like "My level-70 troll shaman is exalted with Netherwing!" and I smile and nod along as if I understand. J generally avoids World of Warcraft talk around me, but I can tell he's really excited, and besides, he's cute when he's geeking out.

"Sure," I say. "Tell me all about it."

He excitedly tells me the details of the Karazahn raid he just left. They kept wiping on Curator, J says, but his warlock's DPS was 1,100+ ("What's DPS?" I ask.), so he didn't feel too bad about it. The raid was still going as he left.

I smile and nod. "I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

"Nah," J says. "My guildmates are cool with it." He pauses for a moment, then adds, "One of them said I should pat you on the bum, because 'girls like that sort of thing.'" We both laugh, and move on to other subjects.

-APRIL 2008-
I decide that I'm tired of not knowing what J and my friends (who now talk about World of Warcraft whenever they're together) are talking about, so I decide to try a free trial of the game. I tell myself it's just so I can pick up the lingo and so I can follow along in conversations. Besides, it's spring break, and the trial will be over by the time I start school again....

I create my first character, a night elf hunter. J creates a night elf priest so we can level up together. We battle Mangy Nightsabers, pick flowers, and get attacked by bears all through Ashenvale together.

-MAY 2008-
I'm really into World of Warcraft now. My hunter is shooting everything that moves in Dustwallow Marsh and capping Warsong like nobody's business. During road trips, I have lengthy conversations with my brother on whether or not Fandral Staghelm's actions are morally justifiable. Despite this, I ace my finals and get on the dean's list for the semester.

-APRIL 2009-
I've finished with undergrad. My main (a holy priest) is now ready for Ulduar. I raid on a weekly basis with the fellow who suggested that J pat me on the rear during our date (he turned out to be, in no particular order, hilarious, an amazing player, and one of the nicest people I've met in World of Warcraft). I've talked my brother into joining our guild, and we have a blast playing together.

As for J? Things are still going great. I love him dearly, and we are having a great time kicking Scourge butt in Northrend. He's the best death knight a gal could ask for.

But I still pwn him in PvP.