I disconnect and shut down the beamer, interrupting the endless stream of pictures hitting the wall.

Finally.

I don't feel like checking my notifications, too excited to delay. Crack the neck, close the laptop, tuck it in the bag. Routinely taking a boomslick from my pocket, I go past three cardboard boxes that overflow with colorful fabrics and shoot for the door.

"Wow Karin, now you look like a happy person. Something planned for tonight?"

Dake gives me a sort of clingy vibe. Not exactly like he’s trying to get into my pants, but close enough. Won’t happen. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I crack my good smile as I whip my head around.

"Yep, can't tell you about it."

"Huh, is it a rendez-vous?"

"Wait, you didn't know?” — I pause for a solid second — "Gotta spy on some very important people tonight, might have to shoot them down if they spill coffee.” — I glance behind me… — “I work for secret services."

He breaks out laughing, which gets a genuine smirk out of me. Dake has a good natural laugh. It comes out warm, honest, and easily. His brown curls shake a bit while his mouth narrolwy opens into a weird but endearing slight sneer.

“I’m kind of in a hurry, so I’ll head out straight away. Can you say bye to Kyara for me?”

We're just around the stairs and I take them two by two. I also bite hard enough on the boomslick to get the juicy acid to burst delightfully on my tongue. Raspberry.

"It's been a busy week, I thought we could catch up on the way home. You're heading to Fareham for the weekend right?"

I hear him coming down behind me.

Duh.

Truth Karin. You both deserve it. Stick and carrot.

"Sorry Dake, I’m not really in the mood for a chat now. Got a lot in my head. And, I was hoping to listen to something on my phone on the way. It's to prepare for the secret mission. Maybe we can catch up during a coffee break on Monday instead?"

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"Sure I'm up for a coffee break chat. Guess I'll listen to some music myself then.”

And hook. Future Karin will figure out a way to dodge the coffee break. I hope Kyara won’t mind we left like thieves.

"You got me very curious about your rendez-vous though." He winks. And it is quite charming.

Maybe if he was more interesting… I put on my earphones.

"Classified information." The smile feels stiff on my face.

He’s not an asshole… What am I thinking? He’s loud. And pushy. And I told Jain I’d stay out for at least 1 month. Out of anything.

Be friendly, but not too much. Such a headache. Why is it so easy when I’m not interested? Maybe I do need to talk to Cherry. I swear that girl came out of the womb with lipstick on and started flirting after 2 weeks.

And she also didn’t pay me back the 80 bucks for that window repair at the camp. I hate how it makes me not want to spend time with her. We're not best friend material, but it sucks to have a money problem dangling between us. I hate to ask for it but I do want to get the money back.

To my amusement, I've slowed down. Dake is walking next to me and nothing is coming out of my earplugs yet. I’ll get to try out Wilds tonight. That makes me grin like a 6-year-old. I take another boomslick, banana-flavored. I'm a bit torn between music and podcast. I did want to get inspired for tonight with an episode of Infinite Mind, but now I feel like sinking in the excitement with a good tune.

I press play, skip twice to the next song, and raise the volume when I recognise the intro of Once Upon a Time in the West. This is the stuff. I catch Dake glancing at me and I smile back. I take a moment to just enjoy the music.

We're on the depressingly grey sidewalk to the subway, and it's not raining, which isn't a given in March in London. But it's cold enough to make me reach for my gloves before I stop and grab my phone instead. I take in the fragile vocals rising as I text Jain. "Everything ready for tonight? Heading back 😊 I can get you a pizza if you tell me before 17:40 🍕🍕🍕"

I wonder how much interaction they included in phase one. I do hope we’ll be able to show off our creations to each other. It will be killer anyway, from the insider infos for creators. The trailer came out but I’m not sure how much I can leak. I guess I’m using that to feel better about keeping Dake in the dark.

“Create, unbound. Play god.”

I’m not even sure which phase I’m most excited about. They’ll transform the gaming industry.

Scratch that. They will keep on transforming the gaming industry. I would invest in Sinsands like Jain if I had her savings. They make bold promises and create doubters before they shut them up by delivering beyond. Please don’t break that habit now.

I remember a party a while after they released Cargarnia where we spent half the evening reading outdoorist comments getting trashed. It can get brutal sometimes, but hey, it’s therapeutic too.

Even if they deliver by the book, I would pay to be one of Wilds’ Craft Gods. Could even get paid if I’m popular. I love to design costumes, but if I can get a living playing a videogame… Maybe only part-time. I don’t know.

I was a bit annoyed that Jain’s message interrupted the music. I was mad when I read it.

“Sry I already went in 🤭 But you’ll forgive me after you try 😘 Can I have 🍕?”