It took a couple of days to arrange a meeting between Heather and Ian. The girl hadn't been lying about her schedule. Between classes and her social life, there was a reason Kaitlyn rarely ran into her roommate at home. But it also gave their newly-acquired marketing expert time to formulate a plan of action.

While they waited for Heather to return from classes, they hung out in the common room. Kaitlyn had finally managed to beat Kingdom Spades, an accomplishment she felt rather proud of. It had taken a lot longer than she'd planned, but that wasn't the point. She'd done it, even managing to finish off the final boss fight without reducing the difficulty or relying on any of those last-chance helper mechanics that the game offered. The fact that it had offered them did sting a little, though.

It was during a rather tricky situation in Water Insignia when Heather burst into the common room. As usual, the girl was dressed in complete defiance of the weather, wearing a crop top and cut-off shorts that belied the steadily dropping temperatures outside. The sight had her marveling at her roommate's apparent superpower.

"Heya Kate!"

Ian nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden intrusion, whipping around in surprise. He'd been entirely focused on his laptop as usual, but evidently Heather's loud personality was enough to break that concentration. Heather waltzed into the room, unconcerned.

"Hey, Heather." She offered a wave of greeting. "Thanks for stopping by. Really."

"Of course! I mean, I gotta know who I'm working with, right?" She slid into the seat across from Ian, beaming at him. "You're Ian? Nice to meetcha! I'm Heather!"

"Er… hi." Ian hesitantly reached out to shake her offered hand. "Nice to meet you, too?"

"Lemme tell you, Kaitlyn's been raving about you and this game of yours. I'm like, not usually into that stuff, but I can totally see the appeal. And I tested the water with some of my, like, more techy friends and they seemed super interested! So I'm soooo excited to work on this…"

Kaitlyn paused her game to look over. The torrent of Heather's words was an almost physical force that blasted Ian back against the seat. He looked as though he wanted the vinyl cushioning to swallow him up in place.

Yeah. I know the feeling. I should probably rescue him.

She crossed the room and slid into the seat next to Ian. A gentle nudge with her foot drew his attention, his panicked gaze settling on her own as she offered a reassuring smile.

Kaitlyn cleared her throat and jumped in as Heather paused for breath. "Alright. I know you're busy, so I don't want to keep you all day. Did you want to go over the plan?"

"Of course!" Heather pulled out her phone. "I've got it all written out in here. I'm like, totally a list-maker. I can share it with you so you, too! So you can see where we're at and all that. Trust me, you're totally gonna love it."

The girl began rattling off items from her to-do list at a dizzying rate. Creating social media accounts, identifying target audiences, taking out advertisements, and on and on. Kaitlyn found the presentation more than a little familiar, since it was similar to what they'd done for Kate's Kitchen. But where her cooking was limited to on-campus customers, Ian's game wasn't. It meant that they could go even more broad with their approach.

Seriously. How is she this organized about everything? Maybe she does have superpowers…

Throughout the interaction, she kept a close eye on both of her friends. She'd seen them interact briefly in past loops, and nothing suspicious or off had come of it then. Still, she couldn't quite shake the worry that allowing Heather to meet another male lead like this could end catastrophically.

It's fine. Even if that does happen, I know how to talk to her about it. I've handled this before, and I can handle it again.

Luckily, she didn't notice any strange reactions. Heather was too excited about her business plan to flirt, nor did she seem particularly interested in Ian as a potential boyfriend. For his part, the reddish tint suffusing Ian's face seemed to be more from overwhelming embarrassment than anything else.

"...You'll wanna start getting the 'making of' content out now, so you can build a following and stuff," Heather continued. "You gotta focus on the game, yeah, but also you as a person. People aren't just buying the game, they're buying your brand. People wanna support people they know, and we can use that!"

Ian raised his hand tentatively. "Er… do we need to start doing this stuff now? I don't know how long it'll take me to really finish the game… I don't want to get people's hopes up—"

"Of course! The earlier the better!" Heather waved off the objection. "You gotta build hype, get people excited! You don't even have to say when it's coming out. They'll get pumped just seeing the process!"

"You also don't have to wait until it's completely done to let people play it," Kaitlyn jumped in. "You can always let them play early versions to give feedback and stuff. Like me."

"Yes!" Heather snapped her fingers. "You can even sell the early version or even give them some kinda special goodies for getting in early! People love that kinda stuff. Oh, and there's a few other ways we can monetize…"

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"I wouldn't want to sell something that's not finished," Ian objected. "That just feels… wrong."

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I'm not disagreeing. But it's all in how you do it. You can make it way cheaper than the final version will be, so that it's really a deal for people to get in early. Besides, you can make it clear that it's not finished so that people don't come in expecting too much. You know as well as I do that people love cosmetics and skins, though."

"I… maybe…" He seemed hesitant. "But I'm not sure it'll be worth people's money when it's done, much less before."

"Now you're just selling yourself short." Kaitlyn ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "I've told you a hundred times, I would totally pay for the game as is. It's amazingly fun, even without all the polish. Why do you keep insisting on putting yourself down like this?"

"I'm not as good as you think I am. Really!"

She could only sigh. "Well, either way, we're not at that point yet. We can still start with the other stuff though and see how much interest we generate."

"Exactly!" Heather snapped her fingers. "That's the spirit. Speaking of, we should talk about timelines…"

They continued on for a while longer, going through the entirety of Heather's rather in-depth plan. Kaitlyn found herself asking questions and offering clarifications pretty often. For his part, Ian remained mostly silent, only raising a few objections or concerns.

"Last thing—we need a name. That's super important." Heather looked between them. "What's this game called?"

"I…" Ian frowned. "I hadn't decided yet."

"Hmmm…" the blonde tapped her lips. "Well, we'll need one before we put everything together. I've gotta name the socials and all that, y'know? Better for brand recognition and all that."

"Right. I'll get on that." Ian let out a long sigh. Based on his stiff posture, he was evidently still recovering from the shock of both Heather's personality and the detailed plan. "This… this is a lot. I mean… thank you. You didn't have to do all this. It's a bit overwhelming, so I don't know if I'll be able to do everything right, but…"

"Pssssh, don't worry about it!" Heather shrugged, satisfaction plain on her face. "That's what we're here for, right?"

Ian frowned. "I know but… you've already helped so much. You and Kay both. I can't ask you to do even more. This is something I've gotta do, even if I'm not good at it."

Yeah, right. His sour and almost defeated expression betrayed his real thoughts. No shot he actually wants to do this himself. I've seen what happens when he tries to force himself to do something. It isn't pretty.

"That's the whole point, Ian." Kaitlyn elbowed him in the side. "You don't have to do all this. We're going to help."

"Uh, obviously. What, did you think I was just gonna slap you with the plan then leave?" Heather giggled at the idea.

Ian's ears went even redder. "You don't have to do that. This is already more than enough. I can't—"

"Ian," Kaitlyn stopped him before he objected yet again. "We're happy to help. Really. If you really want to do this on your own, you can. I won't stop you. But the whole reason I brought Heather in was so that we could take this off your shoulders. So that there's one less thing for you to think about."

"But—" He stopped himself as though searching for the words. "It's too much. I can't ask you to do all that."

"Well it's a good thing I already offered then." She smiled. "I want to do this, Ian. I want to help. And this is the best way I can think of."

Ian hesitated, then looked over at Heather. "Are you really ok with this, too?"

Heather grinned at them across the table. "Ok with it? This is, like what I live for! Plus, Kate made it worth my while, y'know?"

Ian's frown deepened with confusion. "You did? How?"

Kaitlyn bit her lip, shooting Heather a pleading look. She'd been kind of hoping to avoid the topic, if only to keep him from feeling indebted to her or anything. Especially when it didn't really cost her anything.

"I made a deal with her. It's nothing, really. Call it an investment from a really devoted fan." She gave him a guilty smile. "And besides, if we're gonna advertise, I couldn't think of anyone better for the job."

Heather beamed at the praise. Emotions warred on Ian's face as he struggled with the idea.

I get it. I might be overstepping, here. It's kind of a lot to throw at him, especially when the game's not even done. Still… I honestly believe that it'll help.

Her goal wasn't just to build an audience or make money like Heather had focused on. No, Kaitlyn had other motives for pushing this. Ian obviously didn't believe her when she said how awesome the game was. But maybe he'd believe other people.

Maybe all he needs is to see that people are interested. That it's not just me. Maybe it can help build him some confidence finally.

Eventually, he nodded. "Ok. Then… I'll trust you. Thank you."

"Awesome!" The blonde stood. "Then I'll get right on it. How should I get in touch if I need something from you? Phone? Knock on your door? Cappie Appie?"

"Yeah, I'm on Cappie Appie. But…" Ian looked down at the tabletop sheepishly. "...I'm pretty bad at responding sometimes. Sorry."

"If you want, we can have her just text me?" Kaitlyn suggested. "I mean, we're usually in the same room anyway, so I can let you know if it's something that really needs an answer. Unless that feels weird."

Ian perked up. "No! No, that's great. I'd feel a lot better if we did it that way. Less chance I hold everything up like that. Thanks, Kay."

Her cheeks colored slightly. Maybe he'd made the offer due to low confidence or something. But at the same time, it did reveal a lot of trust in her.

It's one thing to ask me to work on advertising. But he's pretty much letting me be his secretary? Even after seeing this whole plan? It feels like he's trusting me with even more, now…

"Alright, it's settled then!" Heather clapped her hands together. "I gotta head out. Kate, I'll text you, cuz I'm gonna have a ton of questions." She turned to Ian. "Great meeting you, really looking forward to this. I'll see you two later! Have fun, but not too much fun, you hear?"

"Wha—?"

Heather's eyes darted between the pair as she hefted her backpack. A mischievous smile curled the corners of her mouth.

"If you need me for anything, you just text me, mmmkay?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Oh! And I won't be back till pretty late tonight, so you can totally use the room, if you need it."

Kaitlyn gaped at her roommate. Before she could muster a response, the blonde winked and swept out of the room, leaving the pair of blushing teenagers in her wake. The sound of her quick footsteps echoed through the silence, culminating in the loud clunk of a stairwell door opening below.