Knock, knock

Kaitlyn's knuckles rapped against the door. She shifted the pair of takeout containers that rested in her other arm, moving the still-warm boxes as they began to heat her hoodie sleeve and skin uncomfortably.

He's gotta be in here. I don't know where else he'd be.

After a few moments, the door creaked open. In the gap stood Ian, bleary eyed and showcasing a rather impressive example of bedhead.

"Kay?" He yawned, rubbing at his eyes. "What's up?"

She blinked at the sight. "Hey! Sorry, I texted you about dinner and you weren't responding. Did you… were you sleeping?"

"Er, yeah." He scratched his head, shifting the already wild positioning of his curls. "I stayed up pretty late last night. Ended up taking a nap."

"Geez," she grimaced. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up. I just figured you got distracted or forgot to check your phone."

"Nah, it's fine, really. I needed to wake up anyway." He stretched with a groan. "Thanks."

Kaitlyn nodded, but let out a long sigh. "No problem. Still… you gotta take better care of yourself. You're gonna run yourself into the ground like this."

"Yeah, I know. I didn't meant to! I just couldn't sleep. I had a couple more ideas for fist upgrades that just wouldn't leave me alone. Plus, I'm so close to being done…"

She raised an eyebrow. "With?"

He grinned tiredly. "The first alpha version of the game. I think I can get it done this weekend."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Already?! Geez, Ian! How much did you do while I was busy?"

"A lot. Probably too much. I even got some of those character assets you sent me hooked up and working. Wanna see?"

"Of course!" she poked him in the stomach. "After we get some food in you. Dinner, remember? I saved you a box from the Kitchen."

She opened up the top container and revealed a pile of fried chicken with a side of macaroni salad and store-bought rolls. The chicken was one of her newer experiments. She hadn't been entirely certain whether someone would object to her working with a massive pot of hot oil in the middle of the dorms, after all. Still, she'd been craving the dish enough to put those concerns aside for a day. Much to everyone's benefit.

As the scent of the still-warm chicken wafted between them, Ian's stomach let out a begrudging grumble. She chuckled. "Come on. Wanna eat in the common room?"

"Yeah, sure. I could probably use a little break."

Her eyes widened. "A break? Who are you and what have you done with Ian?"

He just chuckled. "I know, right? It's been a long week. If you want, we can play a few rounds of Bash Bros before I go full recluse again."

"Sure!" She agreed easily. "I need to brush up anyway, otherwise I'll embarrass myself at Bara Bash…"

"Somehow I doubt that," he shook his head. "Though you might be carrying me more than I thought in doubles. Give me a sec to grab my PlaySphere."

They reconvened in the small side common room to enjoy their meals. Though Kaitlyn had snacked a bit throughout the evening, she hadn't had a chance to sit down for a full meal yet. The sheer hustle and bustle of the evening's meal prep prohibited that. So it was with a long sigh of relief that she settled down at the table and ate.

Finally. A bit of peace and quiet.

As they dug in, Kaitlyn took a second to appreciate the moment. The room was surprisingly peaceful for a Friday evening. Night had long since fallen outside, and the muffled sounds of scattered conversations reached her ears through the walls.

She took a deep breath. This loop had been so packed with activity that opportunities to rest seemed all too rare.

It's not a bad thing, exactly. The stuff I've been doing is fun and great and useful, after all. Still… she glanced across the table as Ian finished off a chicken leg. This is nice. It's comforting. Homey, almost.

I wish it could stay like this.

The thought sent a fresh wave of trepidation through her. With a slight grimace, she moved another forkful of macaroni salad to her mouth.

Stop it, Kaitlyn.

As the loop chugged along, she found the thought intruding on her more often than she would have liked. Especially now that she'd gotten some comfortable around Ian. With how much time they spent together, he was practically a fixture in her life now.

At least I'm preparing for the disappointment this time. Maybe it'll be easier if I deal with it up front. She shook her head, willing it to be true. But there's no point in letting dread sour everything. Until things actually reset, I just have to… I dunno, enjoy it while it lasts. Live in the moment. Appreciate what I have before it's gone.

"Kay? You alright?"

Glancing up, she realized the guy had already finished his food and was now staring at her worriedly. A smile forced its way to her face. "Yeah. Sorry. I think I'm about done."

"You sure? Seems like you've got a lot left."

"I'm not super hungry," she said. It wasn't quite a lie. Her appetite had disappeared rather suddenly. "You want it?"

After a moment of thought, Ian nodded. "Sure, if you're sure you don't. Guess you're immune to your own food's charms, huh?"

That made her crack a smile. "I have to be. Otherwise I'd keep it all for myself."

She slid the container towards him and, after Ian polished it off, the pair settled in to play a few rounds of Bash Bros. It was a welcome distraction from everything else. Between his focus on Grail and Kaitlyn's own improvements this time around, she found herself actually managing to best the guy more often than not. It was a step up over where she usually found herself at this point in the loop.

He's still pretty good, though. I don't have any doubts that we'll sweep doubles. The real question is whether he'll be able to win the full tournament.

Her grin turned mischievous. Her friend might be able to take out Lelas again, given his plot armor. But now he'd have a bigger opponent to worry about: her.

This'll be a fun one.

Footsteps echoed through the stairwell moments before the door slammed open. Heather burst into the room without fanfare and strode over to them, her phone already in hand.

"I knew I'd find you two here! Omigosh, have you seen the news?!"

Kaitlyn leapt to her feet in alarm. "Heather? What's wrong? Is everything ok?"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Ok? Ok?! Girl, things are amazing!"

It was only then that she noticed her roommate's expression. A massive grin stretched across her face as she vibrated with barely-restrained enthusiasm.

"Look, look!"

The blonde thrust her phone forward, forcing Kaitlyn to lean back slightly. On the screen flashed one of the posts for Grail's social media accounts. She recognized it as the gameplay trailer they had posted just a few days ago. It wasn't the most impressive thing ever, considering that it still lacked a lot of the visual polish one might expect from a real game. But it did a pretty good job of putting the mechanics on display.

But she wasn't focused on the trailer. Instead, her attention was drawn to the numbers below it.

Those are… those seem really big. Why are they so big?

Ian sidled up next to her as she gaped, craning his neck to see. Heather struck a triumphant pose. "We didn't just get a little interest. We like, totally struck gold, here! These impressions are crazy! And have you seen our new follower count?!"

Her finger flashed across the screen, scrolling to show them. Kaitlyn's jaw dropped further and further as the blonde rattled off different stats and metrics that became increasingly surreal.

"This… what." She heard Ian mumble intelligently. "How?"

"Uh, because we're, like, awesome at this!" Heather grinned and shoved the phone back into her shorts pocket. "Obviously!"

Yeah, no kidding. I knew the game was good, but this… this response is WAY beyond what I expected. Heather can be downright scary sometimes.

As the reality of the situation processed, Kaitlyn felt excitement begin to bubble up within her. Her eyes shined as she turned to Ian, who seemed to still be processing the news. "I told you it wasn't just me. People love it, Ian!"

He shook his head, dumbfounded. "How? Why? I don't even have the assets hooked up in this trailer. It's clearly not finished yet. So why…?"

"Pssh, stop worrying so much!" Heather shrugged the question off with a wave. "Point is, they do. We've gotta jump on this. Now that we've got the momentum, we gotta keep the hype going, y'know? So! What else we got?"

"Oh!" Kaitlyn looked up. "Ian, you said you might be able to finish the alpha version this weekend, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Remember how we talked about putting it up for early access?" She gestured toward Heather's phone. "This seems like a pretty good sign that people actually want to play it. Maybe it's time to put it out there for real."

"Omigosh, that's perfect!" Heather already had her phone out again, thumb darting across its surface. "I'll schedule a post for Tuesday morning—that's been when we get the best engagement for our audience—and put up a link! Kate, you're handling the publishing stuff, right? Tell me how much we're gonna price it at and shoot me a link, m'kay?"

"Of course! No problem. I think I can get everything done by then. For price, though, that's really up to—"

She stopped mid-sentence. Ian had gone rigid beside her, his expression drawn and taut.

Shoot, she kicked herself. I got too excited. This is probably way too much for him.

Her brow furrowed with concern. "Ian? You ok?"

"I…" He swallowed. "Y-yeah. Can I, uh… talk to you? For a minute?"

"Of course!" Kaitlyn glanced toward Heather. "Sorry. You mind giving us a moment?"

"You betcha!" A knowing smile slipped across her face. "You know where to find me. Don't forget to text me, m'kay?"

The blonde swept from the room as quickly as she'd come. As her footsteps faded in the distance, she turned her attention back to Ian. "Ok. What's up?"

"I just… sorry." He let out a long breath, slumping back against the couch. "It was a lot to take in."

Kaitlyn chuckled. "Yeah. You get used to her, eventually."

"Not Heather. I mean, yes Heather, too, but not just that. I mean… the game. The idea that people actually might be interested. It's… I'm not sure how to handle it."

"I told you, didn't I? Grail's a great game."

I mean, I'm surprised too, but not as much. I never doubted you'd get interest.

"It's really not." He let his head fall back. "How could it be? There's no way. It's too good to be true."

She just stared. Rather than boost his confidence,the words seemed to make Ian deflate further. It reminded her of how he'd acted at the career fair. The attitude was completely at odds with how he normally acted, especially when it came to the game.

"...I can't do it," he shook his head sadly. "I can't… It's been fun—more than fun, amazing—but I've been irresponsible for too long. I've gotta stop this before it gets too far. I've already messed up my grades too much. Maybe, maybe I can pull them back up for finals—"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Kaitlyn set a hand on his shoulder to stop the torrent of panicked words. "What are you talking about, Ian? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"I'm… I just can't do this. I've gotta be reasonable," he said weakly. "I can't let anyone down. Even if…"

He trailed off without finishing the thought. Kaitlyn felt a twinge of annoyance at the sudden change in approach.

Why is he doing this now, when things are going so well? This is when he should be jumping into it, not backing off.

"I just don't get it, Ian." A low growl of frustration escaped her. "You've just got a big break. People like the game—people who aren't me, even. So why aren't you more confident? Why can't you believe in yourself just a little bit?"

His head was already shaking before she finished speaking. "No, that's not right. They haven't even played it. They've just seen some clips and videos that are meant to show off the best parts. Who knows if it'll stand up to real gameplay? How can you tell a game is good if you haven't played it? And even then, that's not to say it could ever be successful…"

"That's unfair and you know it. You're being completely unreasonable."

He didn't respond, choosing instead to stuff his hands deeper into the pockets of his hoodie. He didn't meet her eyes. Kailtyn forced herself to relax her clenched fists.

Calm down, Kaitlyn. It's ok. He's just panicking. He's probably overwhelmed and afraid that things are spiraling out of control.

Still, that didn't mean she would let his lack of confidence slide. Especially not now, when she had data to prove it was unwarranted.

"Alright. Fine." She straightened, crossing her arms. "You don't believe the hype is real. I get that. So… let's put it to the test."

"If you want me to release it… I have to say no," Ian said, still not meeting her eyes. "I don't want to deceive people into buying it. Even the alpha version. I just—"

"Fine," she responded curtly. "We won't. I'll talk to Heather about that. But. We're going to make a deal."

He finally looked up, a glimmer of suspicion in his eyes. She continued on. "You don't think people will like the game? Then we'll let them at it. We're going to let other people playtest." She gestured to the monitor sitting on the table in front of them. CinnaBun and Corgo remained frozen on the pause screen. "Bara Bash is coming up. It's gonna have all sorts of game demo booths there. So. I want to set one up for Grail."

Ian's blue eyes widened. "Wha— seriously?! Kay, that's—"

"Hear me out," she interrupted. "You already said that it wouldn't take you more than a few days to finish up the alpha. Bara Bash is in one week—plenty of time to get everything done and more. Though, as your official playtester, I'd be pretty confident in letting other people play it right now. I can even take care of setting up the booth and all the practical stuff.

"If people don't like it, fine. You can give up, leave this all behind… whatever you want. I'll even help you study for finals if you want. We can probably get your grades up to B's or even C's." She held up a finger. "But. If they do like it… I want you to put the game up for preorder at least. Maybe even early access, if you're ok with it."

Ian gaped at her. Whether from shock or fear, she wasn't entirely sure. But she continued to meet his gaze steadily, refusing to back down.

Remember, this is still his game. His decision. But if there's a time to stand my ground… well, this is it.

"What about doubles?" Ian asked quietly. "Won't this kind of get in the way?"

The question hit her like a punch to the gut.

That's right. There's no way he'll have time for the tournament if we do this. He'll be way too busy manning the booth.

It left Kaitlyn with quite the dilemma. Bash Bros had always been the core of her and Ian's interactions, the very thing that brought them together in the first place. Abandoning it now would feel like she was turning her back on that. But…

"...This is more important," she said. "I think so, at least. Don't get me wrong, I love teaming with you. And I think we could totally smoke the competition. But… it really is just a hobby. This, though… this could really change things. For you, and for Grail."

This is a chance for you to actually start believing in yourself.

For a long moment, Ian thought. Kaitlyn held her breath, waiting for his decision. Pushing him any farther felt like it would be too much. Now, it was all up to him.

"...Alright."

"Alright?" She asked.

"Alright," Ian said, a bit more confidently this time. "I'll… I'll do it. We'll do it."