As Benjamin stood up out of his capsule, he quickly stretched and closed the capsule up behind him. He had told the others that it seemed like he would already be 'sleeping' for a while longer once, as he was planning on properly preparing for the arrival of Tony, Katy, Sean and Benji.
The first thing that he was going to do was go to the barber, an old family friend's place, actually. The son of Benjamin's friend had taken over at this point, but Benjamin had been getting his hair cut and beard trimmed there by him for the past few years, so he knew that the son was quite good at what he was doing.
So, Benjamin washed up and got dressed, before leaving his house and walking to his car. Excited that his children and grandchildren would finally be coming back for a while, he began driving and made his way through the small town he called his home. He basically knew everyone that lived here, so the majority of people that saw him driving began to wave at him, and he obviously waved back at all of them.
It wasn't a long drive, and after a short while, Benjamin already parked his car in front of the Barbershop. After making his way inside, he was then immediately greeted by his old friend, Alexander, sitting at the counter. His legs weren't so great anymore and his arthritis has been messing with his hands, so he couldn't work as a barber anymore due to obvious reasons, but he was still usually seated in the front to talk to his customers, that basically made up the whole town.
"Ah, Benjamin! It's been a while, how are you?" Alexander asked with a smile as he slowly tried to stand up while grabbing his walking cane.
"I'm great, thank you. No need to stand up, I know your legs aren't the best these days." Benjamin said as he quickly hurried closer to his friend, who shook his head with a frown.
"Don't make me sound like an old fart like that, Benjamin! You're only 2 years younger than me…" He protested while finally standing up and walking over to Benjamin to properly shake his hand. "I heard the kids are coming back into town for a bit! Haven't seen them around in quite a while."
"Yeah, it's been way too long. I'm glad to see them again. How are your hands? They seem less shaky than usual." As Benjamin was asking this, Alexander was already bringing him over to a chair to sit on while waiting for Andrew, Alexander's son.
"Yes, today is a good day, if I do say so myself. These are becoming quite rare, but they are still a thing every once in a while. How about you, how is your hand going?" Alexander asked as he prepared everything for Benjamin's haircut.
"Oh, my hand is alright. I'm not feeling too much pain anymore lately. I think I told you about that new game, right? It's quite incredible, it feels like I am truly inside of it, and I can use my hand like regular there. So maybe it's affecting my mindset here too? I'm not sure, but even though I'm technically lying around all day, I feel more healthy and energized than I have in years." He explained, and Alexander stood next to him curiously.
"Is that so? Hmm, maybe I should consider playing that game too, then. Sounds quite interesting. What was it called again?"
"Haha, yes, you should consider it. The capsule is quite pricey, but it is definitely worth it. It's called 'World of Magic', you should read up on it. If you-" Before Benjamin could continue talking, he was immediately interrupted.
"Huh? World of Magic? If you're going to lie about something, you should do so in a more believable way…" Kim, Alexander's granddaughter, protested. She seemed to be helping out around the barbershop and was currently re-stocking some hair- and beard-care products in the front, seemingly overhearing the conversation.
She moved her purple-dyed hair out of her eyes and walked over to stand next to the two old men. "Oh, hello Kim! Nice seeing you again!"
"Thanks, you too. But really, World of Magic hasn't even come out yet. There's like 100 people playing right now, and all of them are from huge companies. The tester phase is starting next Monday, and it's super hard to get into that!" She exclaimed, and Benjamin began chuckling lowly.
"Well, there are actually 105 people currently playing. The 100 investors you talked about, and 5 people that helped with the development of the game with their real-life knowledge. And one of those five people happens to be me."
"Wait, are you serious?" Kim asked surprised, dropping her arms to the side, leaving Benjamin to simply nod. "Yes Kim, I am serious. You may hear about me soon, my username there is 'Eisen'. A week before launch, 'Streamers' will begin playing as well, so you should have proof then."
"Huh… That… that's amazing though, isn't it? How is the game? Is it really like all those VRMMO stories on the internet describe it to be?" Kim asked curiously as she leaned in closer.
"Haha, I haven't really read any of those properly, but I can assure you, it feels like real life. At least up to the point when you're drinking tea with an ancient dragon." Benjamin asked, leaving Kim to stare at him in both awe and confusion, but Andrew interrupted the two of them.
"Well, I can see that you're having quite a bit of fun then, Benjamin. It's that thing you've been saving up for, right Kim? That capsule?" The Barber asked as he grabbed his scissors and leaned over toward Benjamin. "The regular?"
"Yes please, Andy. Also, yes, we're talking about the capsule and the game that comes with it." He explained while Andrew then immediately got to work.
"Kim's been talking about that non-stop ever since they announced it and brought out the trailers. Seems like it's the biggest thing right now."
"Yep Dad, it is for a reason!"
"Yes yes, I get it. Now get back to work, you've got that date later, right? Ah, Benjamin, please look down for a second." Andrew said as he lightly pushed at the back of this old man's head, prompting him to look down so that his hair could be cut more easily, while Kim began to fidget lightly.
"Actually, no… She… said she couldn't come…" She sighed loudly, before Andrew smiled at her encouragingly. "Don't worry Honey, you're still young, it's not the end of the world."
"I know, it's just frustrating. Whatever, I'll get back to work now… Nice talking to you again, Mister Joyce!"
"You too, Kim!" Benjamin said with a smile, waving at her in the mirror in front of him as she stepped away again, and he then looked at Andrew with a smile.
"Andy, Alexander, I meant to ask you two something. You know that my family is coming over soon, so I thought it would be fun to have a small party with some people from around town that haven't seen my kids in a while either. Although the main event would be that we're celebrating my grandson's graduation. So we're having a barbecue sometime next week, so how about you come around for that?" Benjamin asked, and Andrew didn't need to wait long before answering.
"Oh, sure! I'd love to! You too, right Dad?"
"Of course, it's been a while since I've seen those troublemakers around." Alexander replied with a smile as he walked back toward the counter, taking a seat on his chair behind it.
"Great, I'll let you know about when everything is happening. And go ahead and bring Kim and Josh, of course."
"Will do!" Andrew replied with a smile as he continued cutting Benjamin's hair.
After a while, once everything was done, Andrew stepped back satisfied and looked at Benjamin's new, or rather old, hairstyle. He hasn't really gone to the Barber in a while, so the hairstyle that he always had was basically completely gone up until now.
The way that his hair had been styled for the majority of his life, especially once his hair and beard had grown to a certain length and volume, could be described in a single word. Viking.
His beard was braided in some parts with metal rings put into it, and his hair was shaven short at the sides of his head while he wore his hair either loosely open or in a ponytail, although usually the latter, just like it was right now.
"Great job, like always. Thank you." Benjamin said with a large smile as he walked over to the counter and payed Alexander.
"Now then, as I said, I'll tell you when I know the time and day for the party. See you then." Benjamin told them with a smile as he left the Barbershop, before then walking back to his car.
Now, he would be driving to the grocery store to buy some more food, or rather ingredients, which he was currently slightly lacking on. He would be going again next week to buy fresh ingredients for the barbecue party for Benji, as he would probably be feeding quite a lot of people that day, but besides that there were still two days that Benjamin would feed four more people than usual, and after that, for a whole week, there would be 13 people in his house, including himself and Sophia's friend that would be coming along. Meaning that he would need a lot of food for the week, and he didn't want to feed his precious family anything bad now that they returned home for the first time in literally years.
So, Benjamin chose to buy a few different things that he needed over the next few days to make some nice meals.
After that, he picked up his medication at the pharmacy, because he was old and needed it, before driving back home.
From then on, for the next few hours, Benjamin simply did some chores around the house, such as cleaning, getting the different rooms ready, and even cutting the lawn while it was still bright out. He even made a tour through his workshop and cleaned up there, even though he really hasn't done that in a while, considering that he didn't need it.
And to top it off, he even fixed that one loose board at the small pier going onto the large pond in his backyard that had been bothering him for years and years, but never got around to fixing. And throughout all of this, his arm did not act up once. It still felt a little bit uncomfortable at times, sure, but he never once felt the soaring pain and cramps whenever he strained himself even a tiny bit before.
Did the capsule actually help with his recovery? It wouldn't make sense if it did, though, after all it was only a game. It seemed to simply be because his arm worked like usual in the game, so his mind simply acted like it still worked perfectly in real life, at least to a degree. Maybe a healthy mindset was really all that you needed for a healthy body after all?
Either way, Benjamin felt as good as he didn't in such a long time, that he even considered heating the forge up again. But in the end, he knew it was a bad idea, and as such just didn't do it, instead watching some TV and making some sketches for possible items to make in the game sooner or later, until it approached midnight and he heard the doorbell ring.
Immediately, Benjamin jumped up and basically sprinted over to the door, ripping it open as soon as he got there, being met with the faces of four people that he wanted to see the most right now.
With a light smile in his face, Tony gripped the handle on his suitcase tightly.
"Hey Dad."
