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I STOOD IN MY KITCHEN kitchen idling gazing at a framed photo of me and my partner from a year ago, when we attended Nostalgia Con together. We’ve come a long way since then. I completed my therapy and moved to a new city, my old studio held too many bad memories I didn’t want to stay attached too.
All my friends came to help me pack, we even made a couple of days of it, including a sleepover with takeout and a movie. It was a night full of laughter that I’ll treasure forever.
The new flat was a little bigger, but had already become overrun with all my nerdy knickknacks; plushies dotted about the place in every room, and bookshelves bulging with manga. There were a few shared items, like figures we kept in the lounge and a number of pictures from our new adventures we framed.
A soft purr from my furry friend grazed my leg, ‘Hello Mochi,’ I cooed, bending down to give him a pet behind the ear. It didn’t matter that he’d been my partner’s cat first, the chubby calico always preferred me. He slept in our bed every night curled up in my arms, his little snore was far too precious not to love.
My partner and I had fought only once in our time living together, which was coming up to the six month mark, and that had been over Mochi’s diet. He was adamant to keep him on it, but I could see how unhappy it was making the little guy and refused to feed him the special vet food. In doing so, we managed to save some money, that stuff was expensive, however it was ordinary kibble only. No more fresh meat and fish, even if we had to convince our neighbour Mrs Bloom otherwise.
Just then the microwave pinged, the popcorn was ready. I opened the bag and filled a bowl, the sweetest scent was too good to ignore. I pinched a couple of pieces, hot popcorn tasted the best. I was just finishing prepping the tray of snacks when I heard a call from the lounge.
‘Hurry up, Bon. It’s just starting, hurry or you’ll miss it.’
I placed the last few bits on the tray and hurried to the next room, ‘Coming!’
Harley was sitting on the sofa, pouring out two glasses of soda as the opening credits of our new favourite game show appeared on the television. It was a nerdy quiz show where the host would ask voice actors about all kinds of things; films, anime, books, etc and we would sit there and battle it out as to who knew more. It was all a bit of fun, but it was how we liked to spend our Saturday nights.
I placed the tray on the coffee table and jumped into the spot beside him. As soon as I sat down, he placed a kiss on my cheek before his hand reached for the snacks. I slapped his hand away.
‘At least wait till it starts,’ I said.
‘Fine,’ he groaned, giving me a sly look.
The host introduced the players, only one person I recognised from a different show we enjoyed. He then asked them a question, giving a statement that’d one untrue fact in it. ‘In Eden’s Gate Online, the origin of the Draconian race is said to have come directly from dragons who shed their scales to walk amongst humans. In doing this, they must return to their dragon-forms once a year during the blood moon.’
Harley and I exchanged a glance, both of us played the Draconian race, light and dark respectively, but we couldn’t recall any kind of lore between us. We knew the Draconian needs to bathe in the moonlight to stay in their humanised form but something about it seemed off.
The clock was ticking, and at the last second my mind twigged. ‘Oh,’ I squeaked. ‘The Draconians of Dark have to bathe during a full eclipse and those of Light have to bathe during a Snow Moon.’ Just as the answer left my lips, the guest stars ran out of time and the host revealed my answer to be true. ‘I did it!’
Harley laughed, ‘You’re such a nerd,’ he said.’
I smiled, ‘But that’s why you love me.’
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