Dangit, Heather. Why'd you have to make things awkward?

Kaitlyn kept her gaze studiously focused anywhere but on Ian. On one hand, she should've been happy. The interaction had gone great. It didn't seem like there was any real risk of her roommate trying to steal Ian away. On the other hand…

…I don't know if having her on my side is any better.

As the seconds ticked by, the embarrassment subsided and she cleared her throat. "So. Uh. What do you think?"

Ian studied the table as though it was his code. "It's… a lot. It's way more than I expected. Both the plan and your, er, roommate."

"Heather? Yeah, she can be a bit of a handful. She kind of steamrolled me when we first met, too." She shrugged. "You get used to it. But I really didn't want to go halfway on the plan. Especially not when you're putting in all this effort yourself."

"But that makes sense. It's my project, so of course I'd put in effort. I'm just…" He sighed. "Sorry. I guess I'm still not used to this whole 'other people caring' thing."

She chuckled. "Well, better get used to it. Because soon, it won't just be us caring. But… if you're worried about us messing things up or doing something you don't agree with, we can run all this stuff by you—"

"No, it's really ok." He shook his head firmly. "I wasn't lying when I said I'm bad at this stuff. And… I trust your judgment. You know the game better than anyone at this point, anyway."

She just stared at him, stunned. "That's… that's a lot of faith you're putting in me."

"Of course." He said it as though it were obvious. "Why wouldn't I trust you?"

Her face flushed a bit at that. Something about his sheer earnestness and faith in her felt… nice. Disarming. Like all of her worries about overstepping It was as though some barrier she hadn't even seen was suddenly rubble at her feet.

She cleared her throat, not meeting his gaze. "So. You need a name for the game, huh?"

"Oh! Yeah." He scratched his head. "I mean… I don't have an official name for it yet. But I have an idea."

"You do?"

"Yeah." He pulled his laptop towards himself. "I know I want it to be a kind of medieval setting, once I get the assets in. So I was thinking about how to make that work with the roguelike parts and different weapons. So… I figure a bunch of adventurers going on a quest would make sense. Maybe even a family line of adventurers, who knows.

"So… I just needed to figure out what they're going on a quest for. And that's when it clicked." He tapped a few keys and spun the computer around. "Sure, they could be looking for gold or some ancient city or something. But there's one thing that always pops up in legends: immortality. So what better to quest for than the Holy Grail?"

She stared at the screen. The title screen he'd implemented not too long ago flashed there, basic white text on a black background. But where there had once been placeholder text, a single word was now written across it in large letters.

"'Grail.' I think that's what I'll call it." He grinned.

Kaitlyn went quiet, conscious of Ian's expectant gaze. It sounded like a good idea. Even the very concept sent her mind reeling with possibilities for the story, aesthetic, and other ways to tie elements of the game in with the theme. But it also unsettled her.

Funny how everyone always thinks they want immortality. But actually having something close to it… I kind of get how it could be a curse, now.

Not like she could say that, of course. That would've been quite the can of worms to open up.

She chose instead to nod and fix a smile on her face. "Grail, huh? I like it."

"I'm glad." Ian pulled his laptop back toward him, seeming not to notice her moment of hesitation. "That gives me some more ideas on how to flavor the upgrades. I wonder if I can tie some of the enemy design in with it, too…"

Kaitlyn opened her mouth to speak, then stopped herself. Ian's blue eyes flicked over to her. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said, a little too quickly.

"Are you sure? Because it sounds like you had an idea."

"It's fine. Really. It's not important."

He stopped, turning to face her. "Kay… it's alright. I know you're spooked about being overbearing and all that. I get it, especially after meeting you roommate—no offense."

She cracked a half smile at that.

"...But I do want to hear your ideas. Really. Please?"

She bit her lip. "...I… If I tell you, you might feel pressured. Like you have to put them in the game. Even if they're bad."

"I won't. Promise." Ian reassured her. "Besides, your feedback's been super helpful so far, remember? You've already proven you've got good ideas."

"See, this is what I'm talking about! I don't know if they'll be good! And then you'll be stuck making something I think is cool, instead of what you think is cool."

It was exactly what she'd been trying to avoid. The very scenario she'd put in so much effort to dodging.

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Ian laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back. "Hmmm… am I really that much of a pushover?"

She winced. Even without speaking, the reaction was enough to confirm his words. He ducked his head apologetically. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I guess I can be, huh… But this is different. I mean, think about it. I haven't always taken your feedback."

"Yes you have. Pretty much always—"

"No, not always," he pointed out. "I've always paid attention when you suggested that something was too fast, slow, heavy, or whatever. But I don't always make the exact changes you suggest. Remember the spear lunge fixes? And the shield block hitbox? That's exactly what I mean."

A frown creased her brow. "Ok, sure. But you still made changes. Even if they were a little different."

"A little? The spear was a huge change! I ended up changing half of the moveset to adjust that one." Ian shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is, it's ok. I won't just take your word as gospel, not in this. If it's a good idea, I'll take it. If it's not… well, I kind of doubt you'll have any truly bad ideas. At worst, there might still be a nugget of something in there. So trust me."

They stared at each other for a long moment. The elevator dinged somewhere in the distance as muffled snippets of dorm conversation filtered through the walls.

…He has a point. I guess he has been pretty good about that… but what if it's just because I've been so careful? Who's to say I wouldn't roll over him by actually giving ideas like he wants me to?

There was really no telling, and she wasn't eager to test the theory. Especially not at this point. But his pleading expression didn't seem like it would take no for an answer.

He trusted me. He IS trusting me with the whole advertising thing. Maybe I should return the favor.

"...Alright," with a final sigh, she relented. "I… trust you."

Ian beamed. "Awesome. Thanks, Kay."

Her chest tightened at the warmth in his expression. Before she could say more, he continued. "Hope you didn't forget your idea during all that?"

"Oh! N-no. It was…" She cast her thoughts backward in time for a moment. "You wanted to tie stuff into immortality, right? What if we make adventurers who 'beat the game' come back and fight you in future runs? Or something?"

His eyes flashed. "Kay, that's awesome! Oh, we are so doing that. Then we can give it even more replay value, encourage different builds… that'll scale difficulty, too, if we do it right! It'll take some work to implement, though… Hmm… I'll add it to the list."

Kaitlyn smiled hesitantly as Ian tapped away at his to-do list. A peek over his shoulder revealed a rather intimidating wall of text that listed everything from adding a soundtrack to fixing terrain bugs to making the game less ugly. But despite its length, it was definitely shorter than it had been. Shorter, and filled with fewer core features than before.

It's really coming along, isn't it? Her smile turned bitter. I wonder how far he'll get by the time we reset.

***

"Long time no see."

Kaitlyn stuffed her backpack into one of the white cubbies near the lab door. "Hey, Elliot. I know, sorry about that. I got kind of busy."

As much as Heather was handling the advertising parts of things, Kaitlyn had found plenty of ways to assist in her own right. Between answering the girl's questions, putting together gameplay footage, and negotiating the monetization stuff, she had plenty on her plate. But that wasn't even the main reason she'd gotten busy.

I can't believe he's actually letting me help out this much.

When he'd first suggested that she work on finding assets and art for the game, she'd pushed back at first. How could she not? That kind of thing was as good as defining its whole appearance. That, on top of working on the publishing parts, meant he was practically handing her the keys to the kingdom. It was a ton of pressure.

But thankfully, she wasn't left completely on her own. Ian proved more than willing to provide feedback and direction in both areas. He just didn't want to do all of the nitty-gritty of making the assets or finding artists or dealing with bureaucracy. It still felt a little uncomfortable to her, but both things were also ones that he clearly had no desire to handle himself.

Kaitlyn shook her head with a rueful smile. He's the one who brought it up in the first place, so I guess I can't complain. Still… it feel absolutely surreal. Between the three of us—four, if you count the artist guy I'm bribing with food—we're starting to look like a real team.

"I can imagine," Elliot continued, oblivious to her thoughts. "Classes don't pull punches, especially after Midterms. I'm just surprised is all."

"Why?"

"Dunno. Just seemed like you came in pretty gung-ho. Guess I thought you'd be spending more time here."

She didn't reply. It might have been a subtle dig at her recent absences. If so, she deserved it. She'd been making pretty significant cutbacks at both the lab and Chella's, even more so with the end of the loop looming.

Only five weeks left… It feels way too short for everything we need to do.

A quick trip to the growth chamber had her setting down a tray of plants on her desk. The closely-packed model organisms were still in good shape, likely due to Christa's care and watering. But some of them were already beginning to shoot long bolts upward. If she didn't take samples now, they'd be completely useless for the assay she had in mind.

Even if I don't get anything out of this one, it's ok. I can afford to lose a loop on this. The tradeoff is completely worth it.

Grabbing a pair of scissors, she began clipping leaves off of each plant. One by one, they got stuffed into tubes and dropped into a canister of liquid nitrogen. There was no time to do extractions right now. Not when Heather needed the footage of the Grail weapons showcase by tonight. Storing the leaves like this would mean she could come back at any point, though.

She spared a glance over toward Elliot as she worked. They guy had already turned his attention back to his own work, preparing what appeared to be some sort of PCR. His hands moved quickly as he pipetted green liquid into a stip of tiny tubes.

"How are things on your end?"

He shrugged. "Eh. Same old same old. Nothing much worth talking about."

Right. Your concert last week definitely isn't noteworthy. "Classes treating you ok?"

"They're fine. Just waiting for finals."

They fell into silence once again, lapsing back into their own worlds. Elliot and her weren't nearly as familiar this time around as they had been in previous loops. Her schedule meant that she hadn't seen him around nearly as much, nor had she gone to lunch with him and Esme.

I feel like I should be kind of hurt at the distance. But… I don't. Maybe it's because I'm not worrying about Elliot right now? I mean, it would feel kind of weird to be cozying up to him when I'm pretty clearly focusing on Ian. But maybe I'm overthinking things.

The last tube plopped into the nitrogen with a loud hissing sound. Satisfied, Kaitlyn fished the frozen tubes out and stored them in a freezer box. A quick tidying of her area had it cleaned up as though she'd never been there.

"Alright. I've gotta head out." Her lab coat returned to a hanger against the wall. "See you, Elliot."

"Mmm. See you."

Hefting her backpack over one shoulder, Kaitlyn headed out. Her pace was brisk as she made a beeline for the stairwell.

So much to do. Tonight might be a late night.