Tabby: Day 1 (Artistry and Craft)

As you enjoy your pancakes on a sunny Tuesday morning you hear the toilet upstairs flush. Hopefully, Rebekah’s okay though she has been nauseous over the last week or two. At least she’s back to eating properly now. Her appetite had been noticeably down for a little while. A few moments later she arrives from the hallway.

“Kiss,” she says.

You don’t hesitate. You stand from your meal, walk over to her, and pull her into a passionate embrace. Your lips meet and you taste the sharp, peppermint of mouthwash on her tongue. It doesn’t faze you. This is your girl, the mother of your baby, and someone you’ve come to depend on absolutely. You stay locked together for over a minute, your arms caressing each other’s backs as you savor the early morning pleasure. Finally you break and Rebekah takes a deep breath.

“Wow! Not that I mind, of course, that was fucking amazing, but you do realize I just threw up, right?”

You stifle a slight physical reaction and chuckle. “I kind of guessed that from the mouthwash. Usually you just brush and floss.”

“True. And anyway, I wasn’t asking you to kiss me. I was telling you what challenge you’re going to use with Tabby. She’s only a 2 and that kiss challenge you just got handed is the lowest there is, so use that.”

You study her face carefully. She’s hiding something. Most wouldn’t see it, but after all you’ve done together and watching her when playing Fluorescence, you’re starting to recognize the tells. A slight curve on the left of her mouth. The slight lowering of her eyebrows. It’s focus with bite.

“Normally I’d say we need all the points we can get, and 2 points is worthless, but you’ve got a plan don’t you?”

“Maaaaybe,” she says. “But I don’t want to say anything. I wasn’t joking when I said we needed to make some Hail Mary plays to stand any chance.”

“Don’t you think I should know?”

She turns away from you and heads to the table. “I’m famished. Thanks for getting the pancakes ready. Did you add the splash of vinegar like I asked?”

“Umm… of course. Why do you like that, by the way?”

She’s already halfway through her first mouthful, chewing loudly, so you have to wait.

“I don’t know. I just tried it recently and it was great. The vinegar adds a bit of bite to the sweetness. It’s not weird. I mean my favourite Chinese food was sweet and sour pork, right?”

“Sure,” you say. “I guess.”

“Want to try some?”

“Not really.”

And you laugh as you retake your own seat for your more normal breakfast.She changed brand on the pancakes recently, something she’s been doing with a lot of the food, though in this case you have to admit the chocolate chip ones taste far better than the plain ones she used to buy. Sadly, you don’t get much time to converse together before she leaves, heading to the front room where her computer is, to work on a paper.

You finish eating then make her a second coffee and lay it beside her on the desk. She gives you a quick thank you, but it’s clear that she’s focused completely on her work. It’s good to see. She’s had a good week with streaming, apparently coming second at Nationals has gained all of Hexdrive some rep and as the leader people really seem to want to know her strategies. But it’s still good that she’s not blowing off her degree like she’d indicated previously.

Freya doesn’t come until the afternoon, and Rebekah’s deep in her stream time when she does. You explain the situation to Freya when she expresses surprise that Rebekah’s not at the interview for once. She shrugs and sets up her camera.

With a soft smile she begins. “It’s a shame your manager isn’t here. That was one hell of a play she pulled at the last gameshow section of College Spread. I wanted to ask her about it.”

You replay the event in your mind, still amazed at the fact that for just a few points you now hold a 1000 point card and challenge combo. If you’re going to survive elimination it’s going to be critical.

“I admit I had no idea what she was playing at. But that’s Rebekah for you. She’s always thinking about seven moves ahead.”

“Eight,” says your girlfriend, leaning over your shoulder to give you a hug. “Sorry, I can’t stay long, I had to tell my viewers I was taking a five minute bathroom break.”

Freya nods, seemingly understanding the world of a streamer better than you do.

“That’s fine, but tell me, how did you come up with that idea?”

Rebekah takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Know your enemy?” she says. “Look, Cassie plays it calm and refined and she’s used to keeping herself in check. She couldn’t be a successful cam girl if she showed her emotions. But I’ve been watching and she’s proud. Prick her and she might not bleed but she will try to stab you back. And Selene? She’s greedy. Well, not greedy, but definitely opportunistic. Once Cassie had retaliated against us the attempt to grab her ace was predictable.”

Freya cocks her head and frowns, considering what Rebekah had said. “Was it though? Was any of it truly predictable?”

The women lock eyes over your shoulder. You feel almost like you’re irrelevant even though you are the actual player. Worse, perhaps, it’s like being a kitten between two big dogs. You’re not sure why it feels that way, but each of those women are sharp and direct, powerful in their own ways. It’s kind of sexy, you admit to yourself.

“Predictable?” says Rebekah. “Yes. Guaranteed? No. I said I had to make a Hail Mary play or two and I meant it. We’re trailing with just two weeks to go and you’re right that I can’t control our opponents. All I can do is what I’ve always done. Control the center line, as they say in Fluorescence. Guide your opponents into making decisions based on bad information.”

“Well you certainly played the two of them. But it’s not like your hand is fixed yet. You seem to be building a heart flush, but you still need two more cards. Any thoughts on how you’ll achieve that?”

“I do,” says Rebekah, but then taps her finger to her mouth as if shushing Freya. “And I can’t tell you what it is.”

From the other room you hear music start. It’s some electronic piece. The only lyric you can pick out is the “READY TO ROLL!” cry at the end.

“I gotta go,” says Rebekah, disappearing to the computer quickly.

“That’s her restart music,” you add. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine,” says Freya. “I got what I need about that. But let me ask you something else - what does it feel like to have a girlfriend who makes plays without letting you know what she’s planning?”

You think about that for a moment. You’re still confused as to why she only wants you to play a kiss challenge on Tabby. Still, you have to admit, her tactics work. Her strategies are sound. She proved that yesterday.

“I guess I’m okay with it,” you reply, noting the look of doubt Freya gives you. “I mean, I trust her. And she’s usually right. Honestly, I’m lucky someone so smart is interested in me. I feel like she leaves me in the dust half the time.”

You laugh, but it’s an uncertain one. What you said feels true, but it also ignores just how dangerous she can be too, how **** in her pursuit of victory.

“Not everyone’s that trusting,” says Freya. “Maybe she’s the lucky one.”

She draws the interview to a close shortly after that and leaves. You see Rebekah’s still streaming so you don’t bother her. Instead you head to the bedroom to get on with one of your own papers. There always seems to be so much to do these days.