The day was rotting away, Kent hunched over his laptop and her prodding nosily at his plants. She pulled their popsicle sticks out of the dirt, squinting at their labels and replanting them crooked. She ran her fingers over each of the waxy leaves. Everything was so organised, so claustrophobic. Her attempt to feed a pitcher plant her finger was halted by a sharp bark from Kent.
"You leave that sarracenia alone!"
She giggled so hard she snorted. Blushing, she dropped her gaze back to the plants.
"There are so many different kinds. How long have you been growing them?"
"You asked me that about a month ago. Back when you had your amnesia…" Kent replied. His voice trembled a little. "They're a study of mine. I find the biology of flora and fauna to be fascinating. So much easier to understand than people, with their evolutionary rules and order, food chains and clear social hierarchies."
He shuffled some papers and stood up. She heard the sound of plastic flicking together as his hand thumbed through a desk drawer and stuffed the articles inside. He organised his desk with labels. Of course he did. His green eyes gazed at her over the rim of his glasses. He reached for a pen without watching what he was doing and knocked a tin of pencils off the desk. They hit the floor with a roaring clatter. The tin rolled under the desk, pencils fleeing in all directions. Kent stooped to pick them up and thumped his head.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he huffed. She laughed and folded her arms.
"Don't you get bored studying all day?"
"Boredom is an illusion created by lack of patience," he said, straightening his glasses. "I have discipline."
"Do you now?"
She strutted past him and disappeared behind the couch. Kent finished cleaning up the office supply explosion with furrowed brows. She didn't even bother offering to help clean up. She returned a minute later, pale eyes glued to her phone. The look of manic joy on her face only spelled trouble. He braced himself for impact.
"Feast your eyes upon the greatest RPG ever made, Phantasy Star II!" she cried. He covered his ears and glared. Her petite hand clasped his much-larger one and dragged him over to the couch, curling down beside him with her legs laid over his lap. Her head fit perfectly in the space between his collarbone and his jaw, cheek squishing into his neck. A rosy blush crept over his face.
"I don't waste my time on games."
"Oh, but you should. This was a big deal when it first came out. It pioneered the modern RPG genre with its fluid animations and excellent story."
Her words flowed in one ear and out the other. He humoured her through the main menu, insisting that she bump the volume down before they continued. Didn't she know she was going to kill her ears? She started a new game and set the name as "Kent." He groaned. They waited through the opening cutscene, watching a slideshow about some blue haired boy ranting about trivial matters compared to his term paper due on Tuesday. Then the real horror began.
Kent pulled his glasses off his nose.
"That is the most mind-numbing assault of colours I have ever been exposed to."
"Show some respect! This was the biggest game on console when it was released in 1989."
He watched her guide the blue haired chunk of pixels around the screen, shoving her away when she pressed him to play.
"I do not see the point."
"C'mon, Kent! You're such a robot."
"A robot? Me? What?"
She scuttled away from him as if slapped.
"Don't tell me you don't know what jokes are either!"
"I do jest on certain occasions."
"What occasions would those be? When you solve rubik's cubes with Ikki?"
"We do not solve rubik's cubes. We do important work at the college!"
Her eyes glimmered in the pastel light. She shoved a strand of auburn hair out of her face and gazed up at him, holding the phone out as a peace treaty.
"Please just give it a shot. It's full of numbers and math. You have to manage your health and tech points, farm Meseta for items in towns, keep your party members alive, level your characters up. Don't forget the random encounters and multi-level dungeons. Pleeeeease?" She puffed out her cheeks and pouted. Critical hit!
Kent groaned.
"Fine. But only because I… I um, love you," he scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Don't make me say it twice!" he grunted, swiping the phone out of her hand. She smiled and settled back into the crook of his neck, feeling the heat pulse from his face. Kent was gonna blow something if he didn't relax for once.
He trudged through the game. A purple haired mutant named Nei joined the party, and made him wonder who in their right mind hated their child enough to name them after an onomatopoeia. The wilderness outside the first town burned off a layer of his retinas with its blinding green grass and blazing blue water. He couldn't figure out how to bump the brightness down, but he persevered. The tunnel to the facility was blocked. Oh shame. What a pity. Some blonde guy named Rudolph joined the party, but that was an even worse name than Nei, so he changed it to Ikki on a whim. Minutes morphed into hours. Right as he was about to complete the dungeon at Shure, the phone died, leaving him in total darkness.
How long had he been playing? What time was it? Was his game saved?
He tried to stand but felt something resist his movement. Her milky arms were wrapped tight around his, head pressed into his shoulder. Had she really been asleep that whole time?
He smiled and tossed her phone onto what he hoped was the coffee table. He removed his glasses, sliding down into a comfortable position and holding her against him. Her arms were so soft, so delicate. He pressed his face into her hair. It smelled like roses, her absolute favourite flower. She had a tendency to do stupid things, and she didn't have an indoor voice, but he loved her company. The phone screen remained branded in his eyesight for a few minutes. That stupid game. Vaguely he wondered how much it cost on the app store. With a yawn, he hooked his arm around her and curled into a foetal position. Within seconds he was out cold.
She smirked under his arm. Sucker. She knew he had an affectionate side. And that he'd like Phantasy Star. She flipped around and laid against his chest, wrapping her legs around his. His warmth radiated against her.
They fell asleep with smiles on their faces.