//------------------------------// // 21 Game Night // Story: The Line Between Fire and Light // by Stolenalicorn //------------------------------// James was surprised to find a message in Starlight's message box, they got along alright but she never really talked to him. When they did talk seemed to prefer showing up in person. Not that he minded, as he watched the show with his daughters Starlight had become his favorite of the group. And her personality made her readily welcomed by everyone in the castle. “Hey James, You should come by Twilight's castle today. Twilight has some friendship lessons I should finish up and yours is playing Minecraft. So bring that along and we'll all have fun today.” Her message read. … She has no idea what Minecraft is. Also, how would Twilight know to have her ask about playing that seeing as she's never played it. Come to think of it, none of them have. Rainbow Dash has seen it, but I doubt she'll like it that much … maybe the combat aspect. James considered what he would be doing soon as he polymorphed into his alternate form. He couldn't exactly bring a holosuite with him but his Omnitool had a version of it, though it really was a poor replacement for the version he ran in the holosuites. He had an idea about what was going to happen, but this would not be the first time Starlight had a freak-out that sounded like the episode he had in mind. He chuckled as he was well aware that Rarity at least had noticed his more frequent use of his circlet. She didn't know yet that it was enchanted to prevent mind manipulation magic, she just felt he was accessorizing. Then again, the best defense would to simply not be there. Since she was specifically bringing up friendship lessons this was most likely it. As he walked through the door to Twilight's castle he considered ways to politely excuse himself. He really didn't want to hurt Starlight's feelings but he could be very dangerous if placed under mind control. He smiled at everyone gathered as he entered the foyer, Rarity grinning as she noticed the golden circled around his head. Starlight smiled as he approached, with everyone there she could begin her plan to combine all her friendship lessons. “Now James, since yours is a game you should join Applejack and Rarity in the Library where we can all take a break.” Starlight said as she walked past him. James only nodded and waited patiently as Starlight handed out instructions before the chaos of everyone's necessities and changes got to her and she ran away. “So what was the game?” Rarity asked James once Starlight had run off. She adjusted his circlet to show it off better and smiled as she backed off and admired her work. “It's called Minecraft, and I couldn't really bring it with me. I just figured we could talk before I had to go handle some work anyway.” James calmly lied. “You're working late.” Rainbow Dash commented. “Yeah, I think I'll just get to that work and come back later. She's going to be pretty busy it seems.” James smiled and waved at the group warmly wishing him well as he walked off just moments before Starlight's spell came shooting through the halls. Dodged that bullet. That was way to powerful for her goal. Starlight was just about to give orders when she noticed that someone was missing. “Where's James?” She asked as she began to panic again. There was no variation in tone or cadence as the five ponies answered her simultaneously. “He went home. He had work to do.” “Oh.” Starlight was actually feeling a bit down about the news, she had been looking forward to the game. But it would still be impressive to combine all of these friendship lessons into one glorious success. “Alright, well then …” Starlight gave out their orders and went to do her assignments in the order she felt worked best. It was night in New Guardia when James returned, not that he was staying long. Once in his study he polymorphed back to his normal form and changed his clothes, though he kept the circlet. He did think briefly about going to sleep, but decided that he really wanted to watch the chaos instead. With a grin he cast an invisibility spell and sneaked back into Twilight's castle. Spending the next few hours enjoying a some guilty entertainment. Unfortunately he had forgotten about the rain. Caught in the sudden downpour he had no reason to remain invisible anymore. He began walking down the stairs as Twilight came in, staying quiet as Starlight explained herself only to speak up as Twilight called him out. “And what were you doing this whole time?” She asked, more curious than angry. “I was working. I just got back to apologize for running off like that. Almost wish I didn't, I kind of want to see what led up to this.” Jim lied with a grin. Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Starlight, you go wait in the library while I break the spell. I want to talk to you after. I'm sorry James, I guess now isn't a good time.” With a shrug James stepped forward. “I'll stick around and help out. Mind altering spells aren't the most pleasant things to deal with.” He said as he tapped his circlet. Twilight nodded as Starlight walked off, head hung low. “You break the spell, I'll get them home. I'm afraid I'm not well enough versed in your magic to attempt breaking a spell like that yet.” James said as he approached Twilight. He watched as Twilight worked, her face contorting as she adjusted her magic. He had a lot of trouble keeping a strait face at several of the looks she made as she broke down the spell. Twilight's eyes crossed and her mouth pulled into a half frown and half smile as she bit the tip of her tongue. With a flash, Applejack's mind was her own again. Her head throbbed, the light was far too bright, and she was certain that at any moment she may throw up. She nearly collapsed as she tried to take a step. James couldn’t help but feel sympathetic as he watched Applejack try to overcome the aftereffects of the spell. “Never mind just home.” He gently said. “I'm getting these girls strait to bed.” With that he stepped forward and gently lifted Applejack in his arms. “Hey. I can walk.” She weakly protested. “I know … but do you really want to?” James quietly asked as he took a couple steps and cast his invisibility spell over them both. It wasn't much of an option for her, Applejack couldn't even shake her head without getting dizzy and resisting the urge to vomit. She didn't protest any more as they left the castle. The cool breeze felt good and helped keep her stomach settled as James flew along towards her home, if she weren't so nauseated she'd have fallen asleep in his arms. Not that she'd ever admit it. James carefully made his way through the home, floating just above the floor to not make any noise as he looked for Applejack's bedroom. He used his tail to lift the edge of the comforter as he lowered her into bed, carefully tucking her in before he left. His trip back to the castle was much faster and certainly less cautious as he came to a skidding stop. Rarity had just been finished when he arrived so without pause he carefully picked her up and brought her to her home. “You really are a gentlepony.” She whispered as James did the same for her as he had Applejack. This went on in much the same fashion for the three remaining Ponies, Fluttershy being the most difficult since she had come with animals. Twilight and he decided to leave the animals at the castle for the time once James suggested that he had a friend who could help. The last trip was taking Rainbow Dash home. As with the others he gently carried her to her home and tucked her in bed. She groaned as placing her in bed had woken her up. James carefully placed his hand on the side of her head and brushed her forehead with his thumb. “Go back to sleep.” He whispered. “I’ll see you soon and help you feel much better.” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes slightly and grinned before mumbling something that James couldn’t hear. James gently brushed her forehead one more time as she leaned her head into his hand. “Good night.” He whispered before returning to Twilight’s castle. “Let's go see what Starlight was thinking.” Twilight said as she shook her head. James already knew what was coming and figured she'd be under enough pressure. Besides, there were still the animals to deal with. “You go ahead, I'll go get that friend of mine so he can deal with the animals.” “Wait, I thought you were talking about Lilith.” She said as she stopped on the stairs. James wasn't far behind her as he went for his doorway back to new Guardia. “No, he's better with animals than she is. He's also a drow, so the fact that it's night here will actually be easier on his eyes.” James stopped just low enough that he could look her in the eyes as he spoke. “I'm going to have to meet more of your friends.” She said as she started back up the stairs again. “I guess not tonight though.” James followed as his door wasn't far off from the Library. “Well you're free to attend New Guardia's events. Most of my friends attend at least some of them, so you'll meet a lot of them that way.” On his way through his own castle James collected a can of wing balm, he had a feeling that Twilight would be asking him for some help after her talk. After a quick use of the enertron and a quick meal, James went about the business he came for. He and Drizz't would be fairly busy with the animals for a while, but after he was going to show Drizz't around a little bit. It was late in the morning for Equestria when James finally noticed the group at the cafe. He already knew Fluttershy was up because she was feeding the animals when he and Drizz't brought the rest of her animals back to her. Despite Drizz't's curiosity to meet her, further enhanced when he found out she was a pegasus, her obvious pain had him simply wish her well before they left. James was once again an alicorn as he walked over to the group. He smiled by way of greeting as he didn't want to bother them much. “I'm going to start some healing spells.” He whispered. “They won't fix the problem, but they should help with the symptoms.” James got a groan of approval before he got to work on them. He'd just finished Pinkie Pie and Rarity when he saw Starlight approaching. With a grin he began casting on Rainbow Dash as Starlight apologized. “… Don't cast spells on your friends!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she cut off the apology. “She said as I cast a spell on her.” James quietly joked as she came down. “Not helping, James.” Rainbow Dash growled. “I'll try a different spell then.” Despite his smile and clear desire to continue being irritating he hoped Starlight picked her apology back up soon as he started on Applejack. He waited for Pinkie Pie to announce that she would come help before he spoke up. “Sorry but I've been up for forty hours, I'm going to bed. See you ladies later.” With a nod he violently melted out of the scene and into his bedroom where after a quick polymorph he climbed into bed and enjoyed being lazy. The day hadn't begun yet as James climbed out of bed to get a morning shower, whether he liked it or not he was awake now. Looking back to Lucca still laying in bed he reminded himself that there was plenty to be happy about being awake. He gently kissed her cheek before he went to shower. He looked over his schedule for the next month as he showered, deciding what he could delegate to others and what he had to attend to himself. Smiling as he realized there wasn't much he needed to do. He loved these slow times, he could spend time with his family and relax. He still had to be available for emergencies, but that was always the case busy or not. It wasn't until he was toweling off that he remembered he was going to plan a game night with the ponies. “Right … Well I just got my schedule cleared, I guess it's time to start filling it up.” He quietly mumbled to himself. “Now she's completed the lesson.” Rainbow Dash happily said as they walked towards the front door of the castle that evening. Everyone laughing as they followed along, ready to head their separate ways. Starlight giggled as she had forgotten there even was a lesson. “So it looks like there's just one left.” As she spoke they clearly heard another door in the castle close, apparently that lesson was about to happen. “Looks like I got here about the right time.” James said as he walked towards the group. He hadn't bothered polymorph into a pony for this excursion as he was just staying in the castle long enough to arrange a game night. “Wait, did you hear us all the way from there?” Twilight asked. James grinned as he walked down the stairs. “I'm guessing my timing was convenient for a few reasons then. But I was talking about you all being here. Since Starlight's lesson was to play a game with me, I figured we all could have a game night. To complete your lesson as wrote the first night is Minecraft as Twilight specified, but beyond that we can play other games if you like.” “Alright, when were you thinking?” Starlight asked. “I've got an easy month so far, so whatever works out for all of you.” James said with a shrug as he leaned against a wall. “And getting anything done in that game can take a long time, so some time where you've got hours available.” It was over a week later when they all gathered in New Guardia castle for game night. Lucca Tali and James meeting them as Rainbow Dash led them to the game room. “Good thing we caught you.” Tali said as they approached. “Since the suggestion was Minecraft we're not going to the game room.” “Oh, where are we going then?” Starlight asked, she had assumed it was a board game of some kind. “We're going to the holosuites. … Right, only Rainbow Dash knows about them.” Realizing that most of the technical details would be lost on the ponies, Lucca simplified the explanation of the holosuite and the game for them. “So this game doesn't end?” Starlight asked confused. “No not really.” Lucca said. “That's part of why James plays it to relax, there's no goal, he can do things how he wants and at his pace.” “Sounds boring.” Rainbow Dash complained. Lucca couldn't exactly disagree as they walked towards a teleportation station. “Depends on what you're interested in doing in the game. James likes making things and exploring. At night monsters come out and you either have to be inside a well lit building or fight to the break of day. Or if you explore underground you'll be fighting pretty much all of the time. And that's just the basics.” “Okay, that sounds better.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked along. Rainbow Dash had experienced the transport hub before, but the others were all caught off guard. She readily recognized the corridor of Holosuites as Jim would bring her here for some of the games they already played. “Each door leads to the same place.” James said as he touched a panel on the side of a door. “Because of the scale of the game it's easier if we use separate doors. Now this is all a game and illusion so don't worry too much about what happens. We're going to be the only living and intelligent things there. One last thing.” James pulled several devices out of his bag. He'd modeled them after Freeza's scouters for their simplicity, but these were designed to work for a select number of games where menus were necessary but impractical in the environment. “Put the padded portion over your ear and look through the glass, this acts as your storage in the game and you can select what you want to use from it. It also let's you see your statistics. Just think about what you want it to do and if it can, it will.” After James gave them a brief tutorial, they each walked into a separate door and looked over a rotating view of the last world James had loaded. It was a creative world and much of what he had done was the center of the focus. The ponies stared in wonder at the sights and structures as James seemed to be tapping at something. James had his focus on the generation menu as the ponies looked around wondering how this was all here. They knew James said it was illusion, but it looked so much more real, just more blocky. “We're going to start a new world, so that everything there is our work. Everyone ready?” James said as he finished the settings. With a nod the world James had built faded out and a new world opened up to them. They stood on an island with only a couple trees and a few patches of grass. “So what do we do first?” Starlight asked as she walked around the island. “Anything you want really.” James said as he walked into the surf. “We should each be able to see a chest near by that has a couple starting supplies we can take. Once you take the supplies I'd suggest taking the chest too, that will come in handy later. After that, I intend to find a village. We'll need to take a couple plants from them to grow our own crops to survive.” Applejack chuckled as she thought about it. “I can do that easy enough.” James smiled at her as she talked. “Yeah, but you can't plant crops without the right tools or water nearby in this game, it's not like the real thing at all. Did anyone get a bucket?” Rainbow Dash checked her inventory quickly. “Yeah, I did.” “Good, we'll need that to get a source water to grow plants. If you just want to get a bucket full from the ocean here we'll be good.” “But that's salt water.” Twilight insisted. Lucca shook her head. “Not in this game, water is all the same for the sake of simplicity. This isn't reality so things work different here.” The group swam to shore and wandered as James collected materials, advising them on what would be useful and not. Night came quickly, and James began to build a basic shelter. “I thought you said this was all illusion.” Rarity said as James worked. “I'm still wet.” “There are a few things here and there that are real for the sake of immersion, but things like animals people and monsters are all illusion. To really know what's going on I'd have to teach you all, and I'm not allowed to do that for the same reason we can't take you to other worlds.” Once the shelter was done James approached the group. “Alright, anyone not fighting goes inside and waits until day. Everyone else out here, we'll have some fun.” “About time!” Rainbow Dash said as she equipped her wood ax. “Uhm, can I give anypony this sword. I don't need it.” Fluttershy said as she stood beside the makeshift shelter. “Yeah, just drop it and someone else can pick it up.” James said. Fluttershy dropped a steel sword that Applejack quickly collected and equipped. “Alright, bring on the monsters, we can take 'em.” Applejack said as she began looking around. The inside of the shelter offered no view of what was going on but they could clearly hear the combat and the banter outdoors. “They're on the roof!” Applejack shouted. “Be careful with the green ones, they explode if they get close.” James called. “Hit them and run.” “What's that lanky thing?” Rainbow Dash shouted down. “Don't look at it's face or legs!” “Too late.” The two dirt blocks that composed the analog of a door broke down as James stood just out side. “Inside, inside, inside! The ender is too tough in open spaces!” The rest of the group crowded closer to the back as Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran in. James stood at the door and continued fighting monsters. Eventually they saw the legs of the creature that Rainbow Dash had provoked, it's unearthly shout unnerved several ponies. “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, get on my sides. We can all attack it through the door and it can't get to us.” James said as he continued to punch at the monster, his wooden sword having broken long ago. “I've only got one heart left.” Rainbow Dash said as she approached. “Then get back, we don't want to risk it right now. Worst case scenario we seal up the entrance and wait until day.” James called. Starlight was actually starting to think fighting in the game could be a bit fun, and just like James she didn't have a weapon, but she took Rainbow Dash's place at his side anyway. It didn't take long for the creature to fall and vanish, leaving only a small pearl and block of grass covered dirt in it's wake. The moon was high in the air as James went back out to continue fighting. “Applejack, did you get a skeleton?” James called in. “Yeah, got it and ran to the next monster.” She answered. “Well you left it's bow, mind if I use it?” “My sword's fine, go right ahead.” James laughed as he took the bow and began shooting arrows from the top of the shelter. Starlight had to hit a monster and run before it struck back, and her timing wasn't great at first, but she managed to get a couple monsters and even found a weapon to use. James came back wearing a glowing golden breastplate as the sun began to climb into the sky. “Okay, that was more fun than I was thinking it would be.” Starlight said with a grin. “How do I get hearts back? I don't want to sit on the sidelines the whole time.” Rainbow Dash complained. “Your food meter has to be full, and I don't know if we've got food to spare yet. I have one potato and carrot, but we need to grow those so we can keep going.” “I got a couple apples.” Applejack said looking at her inventory. “I can spare one if that will help.” “That'll work. You can't grow trees from apples in this game, but apples can fall from any tree. But you have to cut down the whole tree and wait as the leafs disappear. Apples aren't practical to rely on here.” Something about the statement offended Applejack's sensibilities as she looked to James. “What?!” “It's how the game is set up, apples help more than some other foods so they aren't common. Since they aren't common you can't rely on them. Carrots are the most reliable foodstuff. And I'm not seeing a village in the near future, let's just find a delta or even a pond and set up there. We can make do with what we have.” Much to their relief there was a river that led to a valley over the next mountain. The valley was filled with flowers and there was a forest a short walk in the distance. “This place is lovely.” Fluttershy said as she looked around. “I'll go get wood for houses.” Lucca offered. “I'll start on the garden.” James said as he dug a hole. “Rainbow Dash. Do you still have the bucket of water?” “Right here.” She said pulling it out. “Great empty it in this hole and get another bucket full from the river while I get the ground ready.” James quickly exchanged the shovel for the hoe and started tilling the ground around him. “If you've only got the one carrot and potato, why are you preparing so much ground?” Applejack said as she watched him work. “I've got some wheat seeds to plant too, and there's no harm in preparing the ground in advance. In the game it makes no difference when it's prepared, just that it's prepared.” “Got the water in the second hole.” Rainbow Dash said as she came back to James. “Thanks. One second while I remove the middle piece of dirt where the water meets will generate as much source water as we could want. Not that we couldn't just get that from the river … I guess my plan wasn't that well thought out.” “No harm in having a little more water.” Starlight said as she looked around the area. “So what do we do for now?” There were parts of this game that weren't so fun, it felt a bit too much like camping for her tastes, but there was the challenge of resource management that she liked. “Well, if you want you can stake out area to build your own home. That's why Lucca's gone off to get wood.” “I want to fight some more.” Rainbow Dash complained as she heard the plan. “Well, we'll need someone to protect the place at night, at least until we get up a fence and a lot of light. And I'll be going down into the ground, there's a good chance I'll find some caves and those are filled with monsters. You're free to join me when I go spelunking.” Lucca eventually came back with her inventory filled with blocks of wood to break down into boards and soon everyone was building. “Do I have to build on the ground?” Rainbow Dash complained as she looked over her area. “Not strictly, but you have to build up to where you want to set up. I just don't think I'll be doing my floating island right away.” “I'd hate to disturb all of these lovely flowers.” Fluttershy said as she continued to look around. “Once you collect them you can replant them wherever you like, so there's no harm in moving them around.” Tali said as she finished clearing out her area where she planned on building. James started laying out a basic floor plan for his entrance while he planned on working his way down. “Don't forget, you need light in your homes or monsters will appear in them.” “I wish there was glass so I could have some windows.” Rarity complained. Tali called back to her as she was working. “Sand in a furnace makes glass, you can make dye from the flowers if you want colored glass.” “Oh, so where do I get a furnace?” Rarity asked. She didn't care much for the game, but she was going to try while she was here. “I'm working on it.” James called as he was already digging into stone. “Give me a couple minutes and I'll have furnaces for everyone. Also, you might want to save four pieces of wood for a crafting table. It's important to have one.” “Wow, there's a lot of set up to do anything when you're already playing the game.” Rainbow Dash said, unimpressed. “It's the genre of game.” Lucca tried to explain. “It's a survival game, and that takes effort. And like in real life, it's easier and more enjoyable in groups. James's not saying anything, but he's happy we're all here, he really wants to see what you all do.” Twilight couldn't help but be excited to hear that. While James always seemed to have a smile, Twilight could never seem to find something that really motivated him in a positive way. “Really?” She said excitedly as she tried to think about what she could make. After a minute James came out of his small home and dropped a furnace for each pony. “Now you need to use wood or coal to fuel it, and you don't want it next to any wooden part of your house. It'll burn it down, I found that one out the hard way.” “James, night's coming.” Tali called. “Everyone inside if you don't want to fight. If your building isn't finished get in mine and go downstairs.” James called as he pulled a stone sword from his inventory. “Where'd you get that?” Starlight asked as she looked around James's building. “Made it. I've got several more if anyone wants one.” James dropped two swords for her as he went around the perimeter of their makeshift town. Back by his house he found that Fluttershy was the only one not fighting this night. “Glad to see we're doing this together.” James said with a grin as the first zombie moans started. Lucca was quick to dispatch the zombie near James with an arrow from her perch atop her house. Tali struck at the monster nearest her as more began to spawn in. “No heroics, anyone low on hearts should run inside and wait out the rest of the night.” James called as he took out another monster. Calls of victory were short lived as there really was no end to the assault beyond daylight. The next alert they got was the hiss of a creeper. “Creeper!” James called a split second before the explosion. Once the cloud of dust dissipated he shouted out again. “Head count, let's make sure everyone is here.” He listened as everyone announced themselves, even as some went for the inside of the house. After a minute there was only one who was unaccounted for. “Dang it.” He grumbled. “I'm heading back to the Island to get her.” James wasn't upset that it was Rainbow Dash that died, just that it meant backtracking all the way to their starting location. “What happened to her? I thought she was in here with us.” Twilight asked as James ducked into his house to store a few things he didn't want to lose. “Rainbow Dash's heart meter ran out. When that happens you lose your inventory and are sent back to your last checkpoint. Since none of us have beds, that means where we came into the game.” He explained as he struck at and ran away from another Creeper. Will you be okay on your own?” Applejack asked, backing towards him. “I should be fine.” He said, he'd been playing defensively and was barely fazed from two nights of battling monsters. “Should be isn't will be.” Starlight said as she finished off the Creeper. “I'll come with you.” “Not going to hear me complain.” James said with a laugh as he walked towards the mountains along the edge of the valley they had started building in. “I know this game isn't that exciting.” James said as he helped Starlight over the crest of the mountain. “But I hope you're finding something fun in it.” “It's amazing. A little slow paced, but I wouldn't compare this to a board game. This is something else entirely. And it gives you freedom to create in a way you never could in the real world. … Yeah, I'm finding something fun in it.” Starlight could only guess what he liked so much about this game, but it probably had something to do with this being somewhere he could escape who he was. Just like when he visited them, yes he was still considered important but he didn't have to be someone. They talked on any subject as they went, never really sticking to one long. But there was so much to learn about him that Twilight never even hinted at. He was enigma to most of the ponies, even Rainbow Dash could only explain a few things about him and she had practically been dating him. Pinkie Pie would have to get very specific when someone asked about him because of how many contradictions were in her files on him. And it wasn't misinformation, much about him was just contradictory. But slowly picking away at them showed her what didn't change. Starlight realized that there was a unique brilliance to Twilight's plan here. She did have to wonder if the others had ever done this, as they talked she started to be able to predict the general turn of his answers. He was much easier to understand when talking to him as opposed to asking him questions. “You sure she'll be at the island?” Starlight asked as night began to approach. “I don't think she'd just wait for us, especially if she doesn't know we're coming.” “Yeah, I was hoping to see her somewhere along the way.” James said as he looked around the area. “Think we should run through the night, or bunker down and wait it out?” “Let's go for it, I mean if either of us runs out of hearts we'll just get to our destination faster.” Starlight answered with a grin. “Alrighty then.” As James spoke the first monsters began to spawn in and the two of them ran off into the distance. No sooner had they reached the edge of the ocean near where they spawned in than they heard a frustrated scream. “How am I supposed to get back when I can't even defend myself!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she respawned for the third time. She had tried flying the whole way only to find out that somehow the game managed to limit how far she could fly by that apple meter she had, and once it reached a certain point she couldn't fly (even when she really was.) And when her apple meter was out her heart meter started dropping. Everything seemed to be against her in this game. “Rainbow Dash?” Starlight called as they swam towards the island. “What are you doing here?” She called back. “We came to get you.” James added as they got closer. “This early in the game dying like you did can be pretty punishing, especially with how far we traveled to get to our little valley.” “Well, I'm glad to see you anyway. Let's get back to everypony else.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to them. She didn't want to drain her apple meter until she knew she could fill it again. “Just a second.” James said as he opened his inventory and dropped a stone sword and his golden breastplate. “It's not much and the armor is almost broken but it'll do better than nothing at all.” It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to equip the gear before they set off again. “What about you?” She asked. “I'll be alright with the group. I've got you two looking out for me.” James said with a grin. “Then why do I need it?” Rainbow Dash asked. She knew she was setting James up for a joke, but even a bad joke was welcome after dying so often. “Because you've got me looking out for you.” James answered with a laugh.