Of Past and Future Things

“Thanks, you have a good night.”

“You too, man.”

John smiled as he took the bag of food from the delivery driver, waving a half-hearted farewell as the other man wandered back off to his car. The Gamer closed the door behind himself as he went back in, reminding himself not to hard bolt it shut before his mother returned home for the evening. With his mind on her for a moment, he shot a text off to her, letting her know that he had their food and asking if he should start eating or if she was close.

He took note that he had an email from Ashcroft on his phone confirming that the school was shuttered for the rest of the week. Some cover story about fumes from a gas line or something was attached, though he paid it no mind. He knew the real reason anyway.

While he waited for a response from his mother, he laid their order out on the counter in the kitchen, making sure everything was right and discarding the pickle spears that always seemed to show up, no matter how clearly he said they didn’t want them.

’Seriously, how much money a year do they waste on these things?’ he thought, ditching the offending green.

A ping on his UI pulled John’s attention back. His mother had texted back that she was still probably an hour or more away, since she needed to stop at the mall for something on the way home again. He pondered that for a second, deciding that he could save at least half his sandwich for later to eat with her.

Perhaps it was just the clarity of his new stats or his widened perspective due to recent events, but it made him quite sad to think about how long it had been since he and his mother had had dinner together. She was so often late that he'd just gotten used to eating alone. He’d spent a lot of that time growing more and more insular. Maybe he could try to change that a little, for her sake.

’At least Dad will be home this weekend. With any luck, maybe I can make enough money that she can cut some of this overtime.’ He sent off a message to his mother indicating that he was going to save some so that they could eat together when she got home.

With that done, John set half of his sub on a plate before wrapping the other half back up and storing it away in the fridge with his mother’s.

As he took the rest of his portion back upstairs to his room, he thought about what he could do in the meantime. He wanted to play some games, his usual passtime, but nothing was standing out to him right now. So much of his effort over the last few months had gone into trying to reach at least diamond rank in all the competitive games he played, but the idea of queuing ranked right now almost made him nauseous.

’Something casual would be nice… maybe I can finally go back and load up my old Minecraft world or something…’ The Gamer thought, sitting back down at his desk. ’Maybe…’

He paused internally, considering his next thought. ’I wonder if Ela would want to play something…?’

They’d spent quite a long time discussing games, relative to most things they’d done together, at least. He knew that they had mostly similar libraries, and he could easily afford to buy a game or two if she wanted to play something different.

The thought of actually calling or texting to ask if she would want to hang out some more sent his stomach off a cliff. They’d gone to dinner after completing his dungeon yesterday, right? Perhaps she’d want to do something again tonight. Or maybe he just was trying to give himself a bit more hope after his earlier realization about his feelings.

He sat for a moment in contemplation, holding up his locked phone in one hand.

’Self-confidence, eh?’ He sighed. ’I dunno about that one, Gaia.’

A couple blocks away

The constant pitter-patter of water echoed all around a plain white bathroom. A blonde stood under the torrential spray, letting the near-scalding droplets run over her head, through her hair, down her back, where fresh scars bloomed. She leaned against the wall, supporting herself on one arm to allow the controlled heat to rush over her sore muscles.

Now, more than ever since she’d met him, Ela Grzmot was jealous of John Newman’s ability for his body to spring back to health.

On top of her now-healed injuries, her whole body ached with the day’s exertions. The Bookworm Knight had pushed herself far beyond her limits, and now she was paying the price. Without her suit to reinforce her muscles, the echoes of her hastily completed therapy had returned to haunt her as well.

She hissed as she turned the knob, dousing herself in cold water for a moment to shock the sensations away. With a shake of her head, she turned the temperature back up to a comfortable temperature, allowing herself to soak it in again. Leaning back from the wall, the blonde sighed, letting water land on her generous chest.

The temperature eased the pain, at least. If things didn’t get better, she lamented, she might need to sleep in her suit that night, if only so that its natural healing amplification could try and ease her pain.

She crossed her arms, running her hands up to their opposite shoulders. ’More battles… more scars…’

Ela was no stranger to injuries and what they left behind, but she wasn’t used to returning home alone after she got them. All her life, she’d had her sister to return home to - an unwavering pillar of strength whenever she was hurt or scared or simply needed support. All her life, until she’d been ripped away, the Bookworm Knight reminded herself - until that monster had arrived.

The pipes hissed as the shower turned off, squealing as the water stopped flowing. Panting, the blonde leaned forward, bending over to drip dry while she let memory overcome her.

She’d only ever let one person as close as her sister - Alyxandra Konstantinidis.

The name sent a shudder through her body.

It had been just over a year since the last time she'd seen her. Their last conversation hadn't gone well, and they still hadn't spoken since. Her heart ached as she thought about those last few days. The Battle of Scapa Flow had left deep wounds in them both, and neither had handled them well.

“Hmm…” Ela exhaled heavily, her whole body deflating.

She pulled the shower curtain aside, stepping out onto a pale green mat. Her mind continued to wander as she slowly dried herself off. Two people dominated her thoughts, one from the past and one from the present. She smiled wistfully. If Alyx had ever gotten to see John’s dungeon, she’d have wanted to live there for a month to study all the strange monsters within.

’I wish you two could meet. You would be best friends, I am sure…’

The blonde wrapped her hair in a towel as she stood and stretched. She moved over towards the counter where she’d set some comfortable clothes, donning a plain pair of panties and an old shirt. Once she was finally dressed, Ela cracked the door, shivering slightly as the cool air of the rest of the house came rushing over her before she left the bathroom.

Making her way downstairs, the Bookworm Knight’s stomach drew her away from her melancholy with a low grumble.

She made her way to her kitchen, digging through her refrigerator for what leftovers she had around. Unfortunately, she rarely left food behind, and so she was left needing to either cook or order out. Her exhaustion won out, and she ordered Chinese takeout with her phone.

With food on the way, she walked back out to her living room, where she’d discarded the body of her suit earlier. Lethargy permeated every movement as she crossed the room to pick up the woven mass of muscle and magic. Ela hefted the thing back over to her couch, laying it next to the bag of gear she’d brought home from Brighton Manor.

The weary knight plopped down next to them, letting herself sink into the softness of the cushions.

As she relaxed, her mind wandered again. This time, her focus was much more on the man she’d only met this week - John Newman. Ela had never met a Late Bloomer before. She’d heard stories of them through history, of powerful mages appearing from nothing to alter the course of history. The kind nerd who’d showed up in the library a couple days prior didn’t fit that image in her head at all.

’Perhaps that is a good thing,’ she thought, recalling all they’d been through. ’He seems the best kind of person to have that power…’

It was strangely refreshing to find someone who was still so enamored with magic, who still found it all special. She really hoped that today hadn’t extinguished that spark of joy. The Abyss was unfortunately adept at crushing the light within individuals.

Ela groaned, forcing herself to stand and head upstairs to get dressed before her food arrived.

As her feet echoed up the stairs, her mind wandered to another question - how had John Newman so easily found his way into her thoughts over the last two evenings? He’d proven himself to be a steadfast friend, to be sure, but she’d only known him for a couple days. She’d heard older knights say that close calls with **** often made one yearn more for the high points of life; perhaps she was finally feeling that.

Not since she was a child had loneliness gnawed at her like this.

Ela sighed, now digging through one of the drawers in her closet for a pair of sweatpants to wear for the evening. As she finally pulled a selection out, a memory from earlier bubbled forth to answer her questions. When she’d woken up earlier that day, inside the bubble of ice that The Gamer had summoned to shield her and the Warden, they’d locked eyes. She’d seen so many things, then - relief, joy, pain, all so palpable that they stood out in her mind even now.

There was a refreshing earnestness to the rawness of his emotions. It was immensely warming to think about that now - to remember how much he’d seemed to care.

’Maybe… ’

The sound of her phone ringing drifted upstairs, interrupting those thoughts. Shaking her head, she grabbed the sweats she had in hand and headed down to answer it. She couldn’t help but laugh a little to herself at the timing.

“Hello John,” Ela said as she answered, putting her previous thoughts behind her. “What is going on? Is everything OK?”

“Oh, um, yeah…” The Gamer stammered back, an edge of nervousness sharpening his voice. “I, uh, well... How are you feeling? Still OK after everything?”

She had to pause to hold back a giggle for a second. “I am doing alright. A little sore, but nothing serious. How are you holding up?”

“Uh, I’m… OK, I guess. Powers have taken care of everything physically, I think.” She could practically hear his shrug through the phone. “...Trying not to think about any of the rest of it.”

“If you want to talk, I am here.”

The line was silent for a moment. “Thanks. Heh. You know, I really wasn’t calling to try and put anything like that on you. I’m just stalling for time.”

“I could tell.” She smiled, imagining the exasperation on his face.

“Alright. Do… Do you maybe want to play some games or something for a bit? I have some free time for a bit right now, and I was going to try and relax. I, um, thought maybe you might want to join?”

“That does sound like it might be nice,” Ela said, leaning back a bit as she spoke. “I need a few minutes to wait for my food to arrive though. I ordered some Chinese takeout.”

“Oh, uh, that’s totally fine. No problem at all!” John answered, a little too quickly and with a little too much excitement. “I only saw the one console while I was at your house yesterday. Do you have a computer or should I dig out my old Xbox?”

“I have a computer upstairs in my room. When I do have free time to play, I split it fairly evenly.”

“Cool. Uh, PC is definitely better for me though. Do you have a Discord or something else that might be easier for us to communicate with? That’s, uh, what I normally use.”

“I do not, but we can try to set that up while I am waiting. What was it called again?”

And so The Gamer and the Bookworm Knight began their evening as all too many gaming sessions do, with lots of setup and technical issues. Neither minded though. It didn’t take all too long for John to guide his new friend through making a Discord account, after which he created a new server for the two of them to use.

Once Ela had finally gotten her food, the pair had planned to try playing some Terraria for a bit, but an offhand comment about armor sets in a souls game had sent the two spiraling into a miniature fashion show, with both showing off various outfits and builds they’d put together over the years, across many games. That led to a discussion about their favorite art styles and aesthetics in games they’d played. John was a sucker for sci-fi armor suits like from Halo or Dead Space, whereas Ela preferred high fantasy styles, with vibrant colors and magic runes.

The Gamer was sure that someone would make something in the middle ground there eventually.

Time seemed to pass in an instant, and, before either of them really knew it, John’s mother had returned home, and he was **** to bid his companion farewell for the time being.

"Sorry to cut us off so quickly. I guess I had even less time than I thought," he lamented, voice tapering off.

"It is fine," Ela tried to reassure him. It had been nice not to feel alone, at least for a little bit. "We can do this again some other day. Maybe we will even get to actually play something."

"Haha. Maybe. You've got a habit of getting me talking. Not that that's a bad thing… or anything."

She giggled. "Go on, before your mother starts eating without you. I will see you in the morning."

"Oh yeah, right. Um, see you tomorrow!"

With a distinctive baloop sound, The Gamer departed, leaving Ela alone with her thoughts again.

She sat in front of her computer in silence for a minute, thinking over the evening.

'Maybe…' The single thought continued to stick out in her mind.

She tried to dig inside her soul for answers, but found nothing but confusion. With a frustrated sigh, she shut everything down and decided just to get to sleep early. The knight was more than tired enough for that. Ela pulled herself in under an oversized comforter and curled up to get warm, trying to quiet her mind.

Tumultuous thoughts continued to plague her as she tried to drift off. Name after name floated around, her past and present at war for her fleeting attention. Eventually, though, she did find peace in sleep, her dreams filled with future possibilities.