Chapter 10: Homebody

I rubbed Lena’s shoulders. Her muscles felt tight. The air around my hands turned hot and cold as her wings beat beneath them.

I said, “That’s what you meant about your parents never being better, huh?”

She gave a slow nod.

Lena came from a college town near Kansas City. Her parents still ran their store there. Last I’d heard, their business had boomed ever since they pivoted from home video to vinyl records. People with more money than Lena and I could not get enough of that old school sound.

I’d visited once. Their store retained enough of its video store trappings that I found it cool, even if I wasn’t into vinyl.

And her parents themselves? “Cool” might be a stretch, but they’d given me one hell of a warm welcome.

“When did you say we were coming?” I figured that would land better than asking when she’d intended to find out if I wanted to go.

“End of February.” Her finger traced circles around a patch on Bernie’s back. “Technically, I only promised I would come.”

My hands froze, fiery wings or no. For a moment, I pictured an apartment without them, without Lena. It sounded impossibly cold. I didn’t mean because our landlord wouldn’t fix the furnace.

I frowned at my reaction. Even at our most emotionally distant, Lena and I had shared the same little apartment. As much as I’d miss her, if she wanted space, I needed to let her have it.

My voice didn’t hitch, much, as I asked, “Do you... want to go by yourself?”

Her eyes widened. “What? No! Of course not.”

“If you want to spend some time with your parents –”

“I want us to spend some time with my parents.” She bumped her forehead against mine. “They loved you last time.”

“I just didn’t want to impose on them. Or you! If you need some family time after all the shit we’ve been through, I’d completely understand.”

With our faces so close, I got a real good look at the way her eyebrow rose. “Really.”

I chuckled. “I can understand why you’d want to have time with your family, yeah.”

She didn’t. “One of these days, when we don’t have magical games and strange little girls and tournament arcs to contend with, we gotta sort out your family troubles.”

“I don’t have family troubles, Lena.” I locked gazes with her. “My family has written me off as never amounting to anything, and that means they don’t trouble me anymore.”

I said that, but it reminded me I had an email from my brother waiting. God, I hoped it was just some spam letter he’d gotten sucked into spreading around. I had antivirus software to deal with that. Science had yet to invent a defense against Benji.

“Don’t you see that sucks?” Lena asked.

“It’s a lot better than them harassing us.”

Lena puffed her cheeks out. “I admit, every time I’ve met your relatives, they were assholes.”

I nodded.

“Is being an asshole really enough reason to cut them out of your life?”

“I think that should be obvious,” I said.

Wrong answer, apparently. She slipped out of my arms, picked up Bernie, stood, stalked to the counter. “Whatever. We got plenty of other things on our plate, I’m not going to stress over it.”

“God, don’t.” I scrambled up from the floor. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, Lena. My brother and my cousins have nothing to do with us, and if we had to hang out with my parents for some reason, I’d be all smiles.”

“All fake smiles,” she said.

“It would be fake smiles all around, trust me.”

Lena held Bernie up and met his button eyes. We weren’t sure if the plushie version of Bernie was the same object as her childhood stuffed toy, a gift her parents had given her and then dutifully patched over the years. She’d lost the original during her rush to move in with me. Whether Third Eye had somehow given him back, or simply chosen this form for her Daimon, it had cemented her willingness to put her trust in the devs.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I tried to picture a handcrafted gift from any member of my family. Did a card printed out at home count? I was pretty sure my mom had made a few of those for my dad when I was a little kid. By the time I was old enough to get cards that didn’t just have a number and a cartoon character on them, the local Safeway had started to carry appropriately sarcastic fare.

My voice softened. “I get why you don’t get it, Lena. If your parents will welcome me over, I won’t have to fake a smile at all.”

“I already said they would,” she said.

“Then we’re all set,” I said.

“You really do want to visit? You’re not just saying that so we can stick together?”

“Why are you surprised? I had a great time when we went before.”

“I just... worried you’d think I was rushing you.” She hugged Bernie. “We only got back together a couple weeks ago and I’m dragging you to meet Mom and Dad again?”

“Emphasis on back together.” I joined her at the counter. I crossed my arms and leaned over it. “We’ve dated for years. Actually, since you brought it up, I’d better ask.”

She cocked her head. “What?”

“How much did you tell your parents about what went down with you and I? Do they know we broke up? That we got back together?”

“A little, sorta, yeah.” Lena smiled crookedly. “When I first felt like you were losing interest in me, I talked about it with Mom and Dad. They kept saying there was no way that was true, but I thought, they would, wouldn’t they?”

I hated how close to accurate their impression would have been. Lose interest? Never. Take for granted? Far too much. “Anybody who lost interest in you would have to be a real idiot.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “I know you’re trying to be sweet, but don’t you think you’re overdoing it?”

I reached over and stroked her cheek. “Nope.”

She rolled her eyes even harder, but she leaned into my touch.

I’d have loved to end the conversation there, but I had to ask. “I should expect some long, hard looks, then? Or as close as your parents get?”

“Shit, sorry.” She chewed her lip. “They know we’re cool now, and they trust me. They probably won’t bring it up, but if you’re worried, I can talk to them.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “If they want to rake me over the coals for it, I’ll call it deserved and call it a day.”

“That’s not fair,” Lena said. “I fucked up at least as much as you, probably way more.”

“I’m not going to play the blame game with you, Lena,” I said. “Or with your parents. I just want to make sure I’m not making them uncomfortable by staying under their roof.”

“No way,” Lena said. “One uncomfortable conversation, though? I can’t rule it out.”

“I’d consider it guaranteed, whether I’d done anything or not.” I thought of our last visit and grinned.

Lena matched me. “Only if you’re weird about what makes you uncomfortable.”

“I am not the weird one,” I said.

Her eyebrow raised.

“Comparatively!” My grin wavered. “What else have you told them?”

“A lot of things? You want to be more specific?”

“Did you tell them you want them to drive us down to Tampa for the tournament?”

“Yeah!” Her head bobbed against my hand. “They like to take a vacation somewhere warm for the winter, anyway. Mom was over the moon when I asked if we could come with.”

“Did you explain why you want to go to Tampa, specifically?”

“For the tournament, obviously, yeah. They were stoked to watch me compete.”

“So,” I said, “you told them about Third Eye?”

“Oh,” Lena said. “I mean, they watch all our videos, so they know some.”

“There’s a lot we haven’t put in the videos, Lena.”

“I may have left out the part where I can do actual magic.” She kicked at the counter. “That plays better when we can do a demonstration. I don’t want them to worry I’m on hard drugs or something. There’s trust, and there’s your daughter deciding she’s got video game powers IRL.”

“You do plan to demonstrate, though,” I said.

She nodded. “We’re going to be telling everybody soon. Better I let Mom and Dad know first, and prove it. Again, the drug thing.”

“Also, if we go there, we’re obviously taking Bernie.” I slid my hand down and scratched behind his eyes. He gave a pleased meep.

“Obvs.” Lena held him up. “I know they’ll be stoked to see him again. One thing I never did tell them was that I lost him in the first place.”

“Okay,” I said, “but him flickering around their house might not be the best introduction to Third Eye.”

He grumbled.

“Sorry, little guy,” I said. “You know it’s true, though.”

He hissed a sigh.

“Sometimes I forget how freaky it is for people who aren’t used to it. As soon as they see him through Third Eye, they’re gonna love him, though. Aren’t they, little guy?” She bent forward to nuzzle him; my hand caught some wonderful splash damage.

Nonetheless, I said, “He’s not the freakiest thing we’ve seen through Third Eye.”

“Yeah.” Lena stopped moving.

“You’re going to tell them about the danger?” I asked.

“I...” she hesitated. “I’ve got to. It’s only fair.”

I nodded like I agreed. At the same time, I tried to picture telling my own parents that wizards and/or aliens had granted me magical powers by means of a mobile game. Oh, and in the process, opened my eyes to the existence of monsters that might or might not be what those powers were meant to combat.

Assume for a moment I assembled proof so compelling they had to accept it, despite how crazy it sounded. I legitimately could, between demonstrating Third Eye’s physical effects right in front of their faces and playing back some of the video Zhizhi captured of our fight with the creature. Or at least Albie’s fight; I feared Lena and I had mostly gotten in her way.

Hell. Maybe I should. My relationship with my family sucked, but not so much so they wouldn’t give a shit if I was out there risking my life.

You know one thing they definitely would not give?

A ride to a tournament where I’d be exposing myself to attacks from the best Third Eye players in the world.