It’s date night again.

It’s date night again!

After six and a bit days of being cruelly, unjustly parted from my dearest Sophia, our scheduled weekly not-a-date hangout has arrived once more. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been completely separated from her, but I haven’t had any quality time. I need my fix!

Tonight, I get what I’ve been craving. Tonight, at long last, Rachel Emily and Sophia Lane will play Magic: the Gathering together.

“Okay, then I’ll tap like this and cast Show and Tell. Does it resolve?”

None of Delver’s permanents should matter to my deck, even after sideboarding. This game rests entirely on how Sophia responds to my play. Once Omniscience comes down, I have the card advantage and the counterspells to defend it from a bounce spell or a Pyroblast. She has to counter me here. If it’s just one counter, I can fight it with Force of Will. If she’s got two, we’re in for much more of a fight. What do you have, Sophie?

“Um, yeah, sure,” Sophia says, voice distant and weary. She rubs her forehead, staring down at her cards.

“Oh. Uh, okay. We’ll each place the card we chose face down, then flip them at the same time. Artifact, creature, enchantment, or land.”

We pick our cards. I reveal Omniscience, which makes all my spells free to cast. Sophia reveals a basic land.

“So… that’s probably game,” I say with a wince.

Sophia reads Omniscience, then groans and shows me the cards she was holding… including two counterspells she could have cast. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight. I know I’m new at the game, but I’m not that new. I just couldn’t… I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

She looks tired. It’s in the bags under her eyes and the slump of her shoulders, and it’s in the ragged edge to a voice normally so precise and controlled. Everything about her screams exhaustion. It has the last few times I’ve gotten to see her, but up close it’s so much worse.

Sophia. What are you doing to yourself? “Hey,” I ask gently, “are you okay? No, let me answer that: you’re not okay, so stop acting like it, yeah? You were missing triggers last game, missing whole cards this game, you’re not in a state to focus on this, obviously, and that’s fine. You don’t need to hold yourself together around me, you know.”

Misery bleeds through her cracked mask. “I promised,” she says, and her voice almost breaks. “I promised I’d play this game with you, so many times, and I always—something always comes up. I just wanted to give you this without it going wrong or disappointing you. I’m—I’m sorry.” She bites off something worse. I can only imagine what kind of insult she was about to throw at herself, but I won’t stand for it.

“Stop beating yourself up,” I order her. “I get to decide if I’m disappointed, alright? And I’m not. It’s just a game, Sophie. All I really want is to spend time with you, and what we spend that time doing is secondary. We can try again some other day—and if we don’t? That’s fine, too. What would actually upset me is if you pushed yourself too hard, which I can tell you’re doing. So let’s ignore the cards and do something easier instead, okay? Let’s watch a movie.”

Sophia smiles softly. “I’d like that. Thank you, Rachel. You’re wonderful.”

I grin. “Hey, maybe this time I’ll make it to the end of Return of the King. Think I remember enough of the first two.”

Sophia giggles. “You better. Then I can start telling you all about The Silmarillion.”

“I feel like you’re saying that as a threat, but you know I’d listen to you talk about anything. Wait, isn’t that the one with the spider girlboss?”

“Is that how Mordacity described Ungoliant? The mother of spiders is not a ‘girlboss,’ she’s the dark spirit from beyond Arda that allied with Melkor to destroy the Two Trees of Valinor—and nearly devoured Melkor!”

“I don’t know what most of those words mean, but Mord told me Ungoliant had ‘real Vriska energy.’ Then she laughed so hard she started coughing.”

“I swear, some day I’m going to kill that woman.”

“Heh. I’ll help.”

I make popcorn, grab some chips, and pour drinks while Sophia gets the movie set up and secures blankets for cuddling under. Once we’re snug and our snacks are piled on the table, Sophie hits play.

To her credit, she makes it ten minutes in before bringing up the books.

“It’s just such a waste to lose the Scouring of the Shire when it’s this perfect bookend to the story that really shows how everyone has grown and how diminished Saruman has become after forsaking the path of wisdom and letting spite consume his thoughts. It’s so petty of him to defile the Shire like that and I think that pettiness is important to understanding his failings.”

“That’s nice, dear,” I say, patting her on the shoulder. She glares at me, mirth in her eyes.

“Also, he starts calling himself Sharkey and gets addicted to pipe-weed.”

“That’s hilarious, how dare they cut the Scouring of the Shire!”

Sophia nuzzles into me and gets comfortable as the movie continues, for which I thank Tolkien and all his legendarium. She’s soft and warm, and it reminds me of the night we spent together all those years ago, though a lot more clothes are involved this time. My heart aches for her closeness, and I try to distract myself from my yearning by actually paying attention to the movie we’re watching.

“Peregrin Took, you spectacular idiot,” I marvel as Pippin steals the evil orb of terrifying madness from Gandalf and stares into it.

“It’s a wonder he survives the trilogy,” Sophia says with a giggle.

We praise the ethereal beauty of the elves and the resplendent architecture of Gondor’s capital, though Sophia slips in a complaint about the lack of farmland around it. When we meet Denethor, she gets really riled up.

“He’s not an idiot—or at least, he shouldn’t be! The beacons were lit in the books, the armies were marshaled, he’s been preparing for this fight. If Denethor is already a raving lunatic, it completely removes the impact of his fall into despair at the seeping darkness of Sauron! He’s not a defender of humanity broken down by the malignance of the Enemy, he’s just some jackass who never should have had the position to begin with. The themes, Rachel!”

“The themes!” I cry dramatically, earning another giggle from my beloved.

“Okay,” she says a couple of scenes later, “I have to admit, Minas Morgul looks awesome like this.” She stops herself in the middle of a yawn and grimaces at herself.

“Sick as hell,” I agree. “Real necromancer fortress. God, why hasn’t some witch built an evil tower and decked it with spikes? None of them have any style.”

After a while, Sophia’s comments settle down. Her head dips a few times and she has to catch herself, and then she says, “Gonna… rest my head. Not sleeping. Getting comfortable.”

“Of course.”

Sophia shifts around under the blankets, stretching out until her feet hit the arm of the couch, and then she lays her head on my lap, facing the TV. Despite her words, it takes less than a minute for her breathing to change. When I stroke her hair, she doesn’t react.

“Already asleep,” I chuckle to myself, keeping my voice low to not disturb her. “Get your rest, Sophie. You need it.”

My sweet Sophie. My poor, exhausted, overworked Sophia. At least, for the moment, she looks peaceful like this, and I get to enjoy the pressure of her weight on my legs.

She’s so cute. I’d kill for you, Sophia. I will. Just to see you smile. To give you these precious moments where you don’t have to fight. I love you. I love you. I love you.

I let myself relax into those feelings for a few minutes, not really paying attention to the movie anymore. Then I pull out my phone and text Mordacity.

Alexandria: deimovore progress?

Mordacity: nah, not yet

Mordacity: tricky bastards, deimovores. affinity for nightmares gives them natural defenses against my method of contact

Mordacity: but ill get it. gimme another week and i should have an in

Alexandria: kay

Alexandria: keep me posted

Mordacity: obvs

Mordacity: so what are you up to

Mordacity: wanna game? i have so many mmos i could sell you on

Mordacity: or we could get really high and piss people off in league

Alexandria: maybe later

Alexandria: watching lord of the rings with soph. she’s sleeping on my lap right now.

Mordacity: ayyy third base

Alexandria: dont be a pig, asshole

Mordacity: idk what ur talking about, i was commentating on a Shohei Ohtani game. dude is a machine in the stadium, dodgers gonna go the distance with him on the team

Alexandria: you learned all that from femur

Alexandria: i was there for the conversation

Mordacity: yeah yeah

Mordacity: cute that your girl is gettin cuddly

Mordacity: not that you’ll do anything about it

Alexandria: yeah

Alexandria: hey, mord

Alexandria: do you think sophia and i will ever be together? like, if i asked her, do you think she’d say yes? like… can you tell?

Mordacity: are you asking me to spy on her feelings? i mean, she’s asleep right now. do you want me to crawl into her head and ask her dreaming mind if she loves you back?

Alexandria: NO

Alexandria: i mean

Alexandria: yes. but please don’t. god, that would be fucked up. fuck, why did i even ask that? what’s wrong with me?

Mordacity: you’re lovesick

Mordacity: but i wouldnt do it, anyway. hard as hell, with her defenses. more importantly, id be pissed the hell off if you got together with her on my word and agonized the whole time about ethics n shit. no heart peeks. do it the hard way.

Alexandria: ha. thanks, i guess

Alexandria: i just… i dont know

Alexandria: i want her so bad, but i dont know if i should. i dont know if im right for her. i love her, but is that good enough? am i good enough?

Alexandria: what i asked before… not the spying part. the first question. do you think sophia and i will ever be together?

Mordacity: Yes. Absolutely. Of course you’ll be together.

Mordacity: In every world, in every timeline, the two of you are inevitable. I can’t imagine a world where the two of you don’t fall in love. You have a connection that I don’t think is possible for most people to have. Certainly not someone like me. You’re made for each other.

Alexandria: wow, thats uh. not what i expected from you. is that like… mystic insight?

Mordacity: No. Just experience.

Alexandria: …not that i mind you taking this seriously, but it’s pretty weird coming from you, M. full capitals and everything.

Mordacity: yeah, well, it’s a weird time. end of the world and all that.

Alexandria: nah. we’re gonna stop it. im gonna stop it

Mordacity: good luck

I put down my phone in time to see Denethor absolutely demolish a tomato, seeds and juices spraying everywhere. Sophia turns fitfully, twitching in her sleep.

Damn savior. Probably stressing out over the Catastrophe, and Venus, and whatever else you’ve piled on your plate without sparing a thought for what it’d do to your health. Always doing too much, and you won’t even complain.

If Sophie won’t offload her burdens, I’ll take them from her. Even if it’s risky. Even if it might make things worse before they get better. I have to do something. I have to save her.

The ritual in the World of Glass, it worked. I earned a claim to usurp Venus. We’re connected, now, in some intangible sense. If I keep pressing, if I do something to take that seat from her, it’ll make a difference. Maybe I won’t be the one who actually kills Venus, but I can at least weaken her for the others. Every ounce of power I can steal from the goddess is an ounce of power she won’t have when Striga tears out her throat.

This is something I can do. This is something I should have been doing, much earlier, but I got complacent. I’ve been playing it too safe. I’ve been letting myself enjoy being a streamer, being popular, while Sophia is suffering.

My audience is a weapon. It’s time to use that weapon. It’s time to up the ante.

Date night’s over. Time to go to war.

[commentary]

A nice break week, and then the endgame begins. Patrons are stepping into the final arc of the book now, to give you an idea of how close we are.

A special thank you to my Grandmaster-tier patrons, whose support has kept food on my table: Adrian CC, Ashlyn, CaosSorge, Crows Danger, Demi, Lirian, M, Mgbm, Mhai Wind, Morrigan, October, Paige Harvey, PR4v1 Samaratunga, and Selacanis. Wow that’s a lot of you! Thank you so much!

If you like this story and want to see more of it, please go to the RR page and leave a rating or review! Web serials live and die on audience support, and this one is no exception. The better the story does on RR, the more people click through and read, the more motivation I have (both on a mental health level and on an “able to pay rent” level) to keep writing and to write faster.

The next scheduled break week starts on the 8th of February. NEXT WEEK! NO MORE CHAPTERS!

[/commentary]