As Stacy approached, Kara gave Robynne a triumphant smirk. Yes, Stacy had indeed bought a shirt for the occasion—a cute babydoll print t-shirt with the Battle Cosmic logo emblazoned across the chest. It was about as normie nerd as it got but, well, Stacy was a normal person… and it was really cute to see how hard she was trying to blend in.

Robynne knew that no amount of protesting or holding giant boxes of cupcakes could stop Stacy from giving her a hug, so the grumbling cheerleader didn’t bother. Stacy hadn’t seen her for a few hours; an embrace would be required by law as far as the brunette was concerned. There was no point in yellin’ at ducks for swimmin’.

Another Uncle Taylor-ism. Kara was right. Robynne really did need to deal with her real issues. But not tonight. Tonight was for dealing with different problems. Big problems. Like actually having to be social.

“Oh em gee! Robby! I love your shirt! I mean, like, I don’t get it, but it’s totes cute! The blue really brings out your eyes.”

Robynne glanced down at her Mega Mash Family logo shirt. She had ordered it online a few days ago while practicing for the tournament with Cory, Eli, and, unfortunately, Dale. “Oh, it’s the logo for Mega Mash Family. It’s the game at the center of the tournament we’re, like, playing tonight.”

“Oh okay! That, like, makes sense! Wish I had thought of that! Do you two, like, need a hand?”
Kara laughed and handed a box to Stacy. “I won’t say no to help.” Stacy took the offered box, then removed the top box from Robynne’s stack as well.

Robynne nodded with a smile. Now it was time to put Kara’s “girl training” to use. She had the compliment. Now to deflect back. “Thanks. Seems I’m not the only one dressed for the occasion. Didn’t know you were a fan of Battle Cosmic. I like the taste regardless. I prefer the simple logo shirts without all the noisy images on ’em.”

“Oh, thanks!” Stacy giggled. The girl always seemed to have an excuse to giggle at something. Robynne supposed that was why she liked her; it was hard to hate someone who was always so genuinely happy about everything, after all. “I just picked it up today, though. Like, when in Rome and such, right? But, I mean, who doesn’t like Battle Cosmic? Those old movies are so, like, fun and stuff!”

Kara nodded. “Oh yeah. Very good films. Just be aware that you might draw some attention from die-hard Battle Cosmic fans.”

“Oh, like the ones who dress up at those conventions?”

Robynne smirked and made her way into the building. “And read the comics. Watched the cartoons. Read the books. Collected the toys. Built the models. It all gets pretty intense.”

Stacy gasped. “Wait… I knew about there being, like, toys and stuff. I played with my brother’s laser sword as a kid. There was a cartoon?”

“Three different cartoons. Each got multiple seasons.”

“How did I not know this?”

Kara shrugged. “I mean, I didn’t know about all them either, Stace.”

“Well yeah but… Battle Cosmic is, like, a big deal outside of just geek stuff.” Stacy winced and nervously looked around. “Was that rude? Is geek a bad word?”

Robynne laughed. “Just depends on how you say it. We say nerdom or geek culture all the time. Though really, it’s kind of a misnomer. Everyone is a nerd about something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bein’ a nerd just means bein’ super obsessive around a niche topic. Could be Battle Cosmic or video games, sure. But there are sports nerds, train nerds, lawn nerds, fashion nerds,” she pointed at Stacy, “and even bakin’ nerds,” she finished, pointing at Kara.

“Wait.” Stacy squinted down, examining the boxes of cupcakes she now held. “Kara. You baked all these? By yourself?”

“Well she certainly didn’t get my help,” Robynne scoffed. “I’m about as useful in a kitchen as a two-legged cat.” Another Uncle Taylor-ism… she really did need to work out her issues.

Stacy giggled again. “Oh Robby! You always have such a way with words.”

“Yeah…”

Kara nodded in Robynne’s direction. “Don’t be so modest! You helped me with the frosting.”
Robynne could tell from the tone that Kara had noticed Robynne’s unpleasant reverie. Was that Kara’s natural empathy, or was empathokinetics involved? Either way, Robynne welcomed the distraction. “Kara, I frosted, like, maybe six of ’em.”

“Oh sure, it was almost nothing,” Kara teased with a wink, “but it wasn’t actually nothing.”

Robynne rolled her eyes. Maybe she should take Kara up on her cooking offer. It certainly couldn’t be a bad idea to learn how to cook as well as—
An aura that felt like crushed velvet pulsed in front of her. Robynne snapped to attention and saw the tall, frustratingly muscled Fretribution at the event sign-up table, talking to a club officer she now knew as SaltStorm.

This is why you’re here Robbyne mentally encouraged herself, to get a sense of his aura. In that strange, unexplainable way of empathokinetics, Robynne let her defenses down and let herself soak in the aura more. She could feel a bit more purpose to her steps. She was going to succeed today. Not just in figuring out this aura thing, but also in helping Angela get a new circle of friends, getting Stacy to enjoy this nerdy outing, helping Kara spread the word about her baking side-hustle, getting Dale to pursue Lilly, and—

Robynne slammed her empathokinetic shields back into place. Suddenly she had a much better idea of how SFEERS had grown so much under Fretribution’s leadership. This entire club of shy nerds had a perfect leader pushing them past their own shyness and introversion. Where Cammy had an aura that made her the center of attention, Fretribution’s aura was pushing everyone in his club to accomplish their own goals. Small wonder everyone loved coming to these socials so much. Having Fretribution around would be like… well, like alcohol, she supposed—lowering their inhibitions and getting them to talk to one another. Did he have any idea he was doing it, though?

Fretribution glanced up and flashed a smile. Stupid pretty eyes.
“Oh hey!” he called. “There are our big heroes!”

“Oh stoooop,” Stacy giggled. It was a different giggle than the one she used when talking to Robynne; this one was reserved for boys. Not that it was surprising. Robynne knew from personal experience that any female with a pulse would be a bit taken in by Fretribution. She had to admit, even if her wounded sense of masculinity protested it, that he was quite handsome.

“I’m serious! We got fifty percent more people here than last year! SaltStorm and I had to requisition more TVs for the event.”

SaltStorm, for his part, was sweating profusely. “Yeah.”

Robynne chuckled. “Seems like it was easy work then?”

SaltStorm coughed and looked away from Robynne, nervously avoiding eye contact.”Y… yeah.” Right. She was an attractive woman. Busting a guy’s balls had a different effect now. She needed to quit thinking she was with Cory and Eli… Gummi, but she hated how much had changed with her gender.

“Where, uh, where did you even get more TVs so quickly?”

SaltStorm glanced up at her, unsure. Was he used to pretty girls making fun of him because he was chubby? She needed to be more mindful around him. But she did notice him glance at Fretribution for some reason. If Fretribution noticed, though, he didn’t show it; Stacy had him trapped in a mile-a-minute series of questions. “Well, uh…” SaltStorm started, “we just sort of have to… well, we’re supposed to go through the Student Association, but they always deny our requests, so we sort of just… send out a call for help and the club makes it happen. Eddie is great with stuff like that.”

“Eddie?”

“Sorry, Fretribution. We’re roommates, so I sometimes… well, you get it.”

“Yeah, I get it. I have the benefit of my roommate using her real name as her screen name, so I don’t have that problem.” She gave him a smile and a shrug, which seemed to put him at ease.

“Lucky you.”

“Still feels like she’s getting away with something.”

Kara sighed. “I’m standing right next to you, you know. I can hear you.”

“See? She’s shameless. Doesn’t even have the common decency to admit she did somethin’ wrong.”

“’Kara’ is my name. Why shouldn’t it be my screen name?”

SaltStorm shook his head. “It just feels wrong.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “You all are so weird about your nerd rules sometimes. Where should we put my cupcakes, SaltStorm?”

SaltStorm chuckled. “I suppose any culture’s traditions look weird from the outside. As for your cupcakes… wow, you put a lot more effort into your treats than anyone else… the main table is already full.” SaltStorm pulled what looked like a handmade map of the event from his pocket. Robynne appreciated the proper use of graphing paper. “Let’s see…. you know what, your cupcakes look fancy; let’s put them closer to the tourney area. Are you both signing up?”

Kara laughed. “Absolutely not.”

“Definitely,” Robynne affirmed. “Didn’t put all that practice in to not try.”

SaltStorm smirked. “Should I be surprised if you do win?”

“Oh yeah. Big surprise if I make any noise here.”

“Wait, really?” SaltStorm seemed genuinely taken aback by Robynne’s comment. “But you’re… well… you’re incredible in PvP. I guess I thought… well… I guess I just assumed you were really good at all competitive gaming stuff.”

“Nah,” Robynne said, despite the fact she did feel a sense of pride at seeing her reputation precede her. She liked having people think she was just an all around badangelcake at gaming. “Fightin’ games are very different from PvP in an MMO. Completely different skillsets. Though I’ve gotten better, practicing with Quack and CannedBurrito. To be honest, I’m expecting Quack to take it.”

SaltStorm nodded. “Okay, well, uh… I got you down if you got the entrance fee.” Robynne reached into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill. She hated what a struggle it was to keep things in her pockets as a girl. She was probably going to need to relent and finally get a purse. Add another log onto the pyre that was her manly pride.

“Why are you handing him five dollars?” Stacy asked. Seeing the exchange had clearly broken her out of her conversation with Fretribution.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fretribution stepped in. “I think SaltStorm’s a pretty cool guy. I think he deserves five dollars, don’t you?”

Despite herself, Robynne, along with everyone else, laughed at the joke. Once again, it was Robynne’s new giggle that she hated but, well, if she was honest with herself, she was getting used to it… even if it did sound a lot like Evelyn’s giggle back home. “It’s the entrance fee for the tournament. They have to pay for the prizes somehow.”

“Ohhhh! Good point. Well, looks like we’re holding up the line. Talk to you later, Eddie.”

“Good to meet you again, Stacy.”

As they walked off, Kara smirked at Stacy. “Chatting him up, I see.”

Stacy laughed at that in her infectious way. “Whaaaat? Chatting up a yummy hunk like that? Why would I, like, do that?” She giggled again, and Kara giggled in response. This was the part Robynne always struggled with in girl talk scenarios. There were cues they responded to naturally, while she was just learning what the cues even were.

“I still don’t like anyone being called ‘yummy.’ Still sounds cannibalistic to me.”

That earned another Stacy giggle. “Oh Robby, you’re such a pistol!”

As the girls made their way across the sea of humanity that was the tournament, dozens of eyes followed them. For once, though, Robynne was confident the attention wasn’t directed at her or her friends, but at the contents of the boxes they were carrying. The other serving tables were piled high with… well, junk food and pizza. Even hidden by the plastic, everyone in the club seemed to sense a higher class of confection was near.

“Speaking of cannibalism,” Robynne mused, “Kara, what’s your plan for when we open these? I think there’s going to be a mad rush.”

“Yeah… I think I may need to start cutting these in half if I’m going to maximize my promotion.”

“Promotion?” Stacy perked up. “What do you mean?”

Kara smiled. “I’m going to try and turn my cooking into a side hustle. Want to help?”

“Oh yeah! That sounds totes fun! Robynne and I will be happy to help!”

Robynne sighed. Stacy did have a bad habit of assuming she and Robynne were on the same wavelength. Luckily, Kara jumped in before Robynne had to say anything. “Actually, Robynne has to meet up with the other competitors, and she’s also meeting a friend who doesn’t attend the college. Did you ever get her real name, Robynne?”

Right. In all this mess Robynne had forgotten she’d be meeting Angela here… or… well, she’d be ‘Conviction’ here, her gaming handle. What was the name they’d agreed on? “It was, um… Alicia. I think.”

“You think?” Stacy asked.

“Yeah. I’ve only interacted with her online. So I only know her by her handle.”

Robynne started scanning the area as she put down the boxes of Kara’s confections. She then rolled her eyes, remembering she had a better tool for finding Angela, and reached out with her empathokinetic sense, hoping to get a whiff of the fragrant lavender smell of Angela’s aura. Immediately she could smell the sunny, grassy aroma of Kara’s aura right next to her. She could even feel the crushed velvet aura of Fretribution further away. But no Angela.

That’s when she felt it: the tension of a metallic wire so taught that Robynne felt she could almost pluck it to make an empathokinetic note. She followed her sense up to the second floor, where she saw NightKnight in his usual hoodie looking over the event. Looming. As if he could do anything else at his new height—his demeanor and build made “loom” his default setting. Or maybe it was because he was slouching less?

As NightKnight scanned the crowd, Robynne could feel the “tether” of his aura casually pass over people. Whenever he focused on a person, it seemed to tighten like a guitar string being tuned. She watched his eyes settle briefly on Cory, who stood up straighter as the aura fixed itself to him. She remembered how she felt when that aura passed over her earlier in the day, the focus it brought. Perhaps it was reminding Cory to use better posture?

Then it happened. He saw her, triggering that awkward moment when two people realized they were looking at one another, only his look was accompanied by his metallic aura tether trying to latch onto her. It bounced off her as she instinctively deflected it, and she swore she could almost feel a dissonant reverberation thrum through her. She’d have to stop that. Today was about lowering empathokinetic walls and trying to figure out what was going on with all these textured auras.

As soon as they locked eyes he looked away, shame smoldering underneath that hood. He muttered something under his breath that was likely not positive words of self-affirmation. Her own shame from manipulating him with tears earlier returned. She needed to clean up her mess.

“Kara. Stacy. Be right back.”

“Huh?” Stacy turned away from a girl that Robynne didn’t know, but recognized as a SFEERS regular. She wanted to say her name had something to do with… a blanket maybe? DryBlanket? Of course Stacy was already making new friends quicker and better than Robynne did in her own club. Robynne was convinced Stacy could make friends in an abandoned warehouse.

Kara gave Robynne a knowing nod. Maybe she could feel NightKnight too? “No worries. We know you have to figure out your matches and such.”

Stacy nodded. “Oh sure! We’ll cheer you on whenever that starts!” Robynne hoped Stacy didn’t mean that literally. But thankfully she went back to talking to the girl Robynne hoped was named DryBlanket or she’d really feel bad about forgetting her name. The last thing Robynne wanted was Stacy noticing the scarlette sneaking off to talk to NightKnight. The apparent subterfuge would be sure to ignite Stacy’s passion for matchmaking again.

Robynne made her way through the crowd to the stairs up to the next level. She kept an empathokinetic eye on NightKnight’s tether as it flit between herself and random people in the crowd. He obviously was trying to appear like he wasn’t staring. She could feel how taught and tense that tether was. He was nervous. Very nervous.

“This is stupid,” she muttered as she began climbing the stairs, breaking his line of sight for a moment. It wasn’t like she was a paragon of social skills… but here she was trying to help this guy. Granted, it was her fault he crumbled earlier today thanks to her fake tear torrent, and even if she did hate constantly thinking about her Uncle’s axioms, you had a responsibility to fix what you broke. But this wasn’t going to be easy. How was she going to fake this?

As she rounded the corner and stepped onto the landing, she could feel the empathokinetic tether between them quiver with how tight it was. He pointedly looked away from her, but it was clear, judging from his aura-tether, that she was the only thing on his mind. She thought the tether would be vision-based, but it seemed she was wrong on that account. Robynne wondered what happened if he thought someone was there but they actually weren’t. Would that… no, she was distracting herself. She needed to focus on what was in front of her: a very normal social interaction between a magical cheerleader in disguise and a maladjusted nerd who had suddenly shapeshifted. “Hey, NightKnight.”

He turned too quickly while trying to appear surprised. Acting was not his strong suit. “Oh, uh, hey, Waveform.” He was clearly trying to seem casual, but his body and aura-tether thrummed with tension. He looked like a deer ready to bolt.

She needed to ease into this. “So, uh, crazy turnout, right?” She mentally facepalmed. That was all she could manage? And here she was thinking she was the more socially adept one.

“Y… yeah.” He cleared his throat, still avoiding eye contact. “So, uh, you think you’re going to win this?”

Robynne laughed. First SaltStorm, and now NightKnight too? “Me? Win this? Not a chance.”

He squinted and finally made eye contact with her. “Really?” For the first time, he seemed to relax a little.

“I’m flattered you think so highly of my skills,” Robynne mused, “but I’m nowhere near the tops in Mega Mash Family.” She looked over the crowd and found Eli starting to help Kara with her treats. “Quack’s the favorite, if I had to guess. Dude is crazy good. His roommate CannedBurrito will beat him, like, once every four times. And I can only beat CannedBurrito once every five times. I beat Quack once in practice. Although he won’t admit it, he was kind of goofin’ around when it happened.”

“Huh… surprises me, is all.”

“It surprises you that I’m not amazing at every video game?”

NightKnight looked down at the crowd. He sighed, and she could hear a little bit of frustration in his voice. “Maybe a little.”

Robynne took a deep breath and, deciding to meet him where he was, leaned against the railing and looked over the crowd. The entire design of the metallic railing looked like it hadn’t been updated since… well, probably since before her parents attended here. She thought about apologizing for the fake tears earlier, but something else came out of her mouth instead. “Hey… I’m… sorry. I didn’t really mean to take over your PvP group. It just sorta… happened. I had a different schedule from you, some of the guildies started playin’ with me. I didn’t realize they’d stop attending your PvP nights you put together.”

NightKnight’s grip tightened on the railing. Good thing the old bronze was thick. With his stronger new build, she worried he would’ve bent a lesser metal out of shape. His eyes somehow squeezed tighter than that, though. His aura-tether latched onto her like it was a chameleon catching a meal. She almost felt the need to push it away, but it fell limp, like it had in the campus commons after he retreated from her crying stunt. “It was bound to happen, really.”

That… was not what Robynne expected. Then again, she hadn’t expected to bring up the PvP thing. It had just felt right at the time. She couldn’t think of anything wise to say, so she decided to take a page out of Kara’s book and just listen. “What do you mean?”

“I… don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but… I have a… temper… sometimes.” His aura quivered and tightened on someone. It took Robynne a second to realize he was looking right at ergoAwesome, who was talking excitedly with TurtleSmuggler. Both of them had originally belonged to NightKnight’s PvP group, but had jumped ship to Robynne’s. The pair seemed to pick up a bit in their conversation and listen more intently to one another. Fascinating. Wait, no, she couldn’t focus on that. He was still talking to her.

“–and I just… it just bubbles up, you know? I hate that I do it but I always end up… I don’t know. I’m talking too much and you probably don’t care about it.”

“What?” Robynne had to scramble. How much of that conversation did she zone out of while focusing on his aura? “You really shouldn’t put yourself down like that, dude. It’s not healthy.” When NightKnight didn’t say anything, she sighed. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you and say I super care about you. I… don’t really know you that well.” Robynne worried that might have been too honest of her, but she had been spending so much time the past few weeks lying that she just… honesty felt like the best approach. Maybe she didn’t have to fake her way through something for once. “But I at least care enough that I can honestly say I don’t want you to feel like that. You stood up for me today because someone was being a total ange… a total tool to me. You didn’t put up with someone disrespecting me. Given what’s happened with the PvP group, I can’t be your favorite person in the world. So, if you won’t put up with some jerk disrespecting someone you don’t care for, why on earth are you going to put up with you disrespecting you like that?”

NinjaKnight’s fist unclenched and his aura-tether fully tied to her. He turned and looked into her face with those frustratingly intense ice-blue eyes he now had. And his squarer jaw than before. Stupid new body’s hormones. But donut if he couldn’t just focus with those eyes. “You know… I never thought of it like that.”

Robynne looked away from him and his intense gaze and back over the crowd. So many nerds talking excitedly. Who knew anything like this could exist? “Most people don’t. We’re our own worst critics.”

He turned from her, though his aura didn’t detach from her, oddly enough. “You’re not wrong.”

“Odd way of sayin’, ‘you’re right’,” Robynne teased. She worried that would come across as too pointed, but he gave an amused grunt sound that Robynne took as a good sign. “You really should start PvPing with us. I know it’s not on your old night, but I think it’d be good for you. Plus, we could use a good meat shield.”

NinjaKnight sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to pander to me. I’m not that good.”

“It’s not panderin’,” Robynne countered. “It’s accurate. I didn’t say you were the best or anything hyperbolic like that. I said a good PvP tank. And you are good—very good, in fact. I’ve looked over your build and your results.You’re in the top twenty percent for sure. Now, is it top tier? Are you in the top one percent like me? No. But you are better than most, and definitely better than anyone else in the guild.”

He glanced over at her, his eyes barely visible past his hood. Even without her empathokinetic sense, she could tell he was skeptical. This was not a man used to praise. Or maybe he had a hard time taking a compliment. She had seen it before in great players before; unlike bad players, who had no clue how terrible they were, the good ones knew how big the gap was between themselves and the tops. With that knowledge came a certain over-humility that caused them to be a lot harder on themselves than they should be. In NightKnight’s case, though, Robynne guessed it went deeper than an MMO.

“I… thanks.” He sighed and finally pulled his hood off, letting his new, almost copper-like hair shine in the artificial glow of halogen lights. Thanks to the hoodie, it had a messy look that someone like Dale probably spent a lot of time trying to artificially perfect. Gummi donut, but why did NightKnight of all people have to become distractingly handsome? “But… I’ve kind of been thinking about quitting PvP anyway.”

Robynne squinted. “Really? But why? I just got done saying you’re good at it.”

“Yeah, but… Waveform… I really wish I could control my temper. I try, I really do, but… it just… competition just spits it out of me. Er… well… that’s awkward but… I mean–”

“I get your point,” Robynne interjected, not wanting to spend too much time searching for the correct metaphor. “But don’t you think it could help practicing better, uh, I don’t know… emotional habits with people who want to help?” “Emotional habits”? Maybe he wasn’t the only person who needed help coming up with the right words.

“Perhaps,” he admitted, “but I don’t know. Maybe it’s like… you know how most people can drink on the weekends and it’s not a problem, but if an alcoholic drinks, they spiral downwards? I think I might be like that. Normal people can handle the competition. Me… I tend to turn into a monster. I think it might be wise to… you know, avoid situations like that instead.”

“‘Monster’ might be a bit extreme,” Robynne offered. “You just have an overdeveloped sense of righteous fury. I saw that earlier today when you tried to get that meathead off my back.”

He shook his head, his aura tightening again. “It’s not righteous fury.”

“Uh, dude, I was there. Your fury was pretty righteous.”

NinjaKnight sighed and Robynne felt pretty proud of herself as she saw a smile curl at the edge of his lips. “Okay… maybe that was righteous fury. But what I’m talking about, PvPing, isn’t normally righteous fury. That’s me getting too worked up and just… losing my patience. I… I really do appreciate the gesture but… but until I get myself in order, I think it’s for the best if I step back from PvP.”

Robynne nodded, pushing aside some loose strands of scarlette hair that had fallen into her face. “Well, I guess there is something to be said for not puttin’ yourself in bad situations. I… have to respect that, I guess.”

He nodded, making sure to look like he was observing the party instead of focusing on her. But she knew that was a lie as his tether stayed on her. “I think I might do more with the dungeon crew. Something more cooperative than PvP.”

“Might not be a bad idea,” Robynne mused. “I’d been considering something similar.”

“Yeah? Why? I mean, I get me stepping away from PvP, but you’re, well…” He trailed off, scratching his copper-hair awkwardly. Clearly NightKnight didn’t want to sound too fawning in his praise.

“I’d still be PvPing, but I have this new friend I’ve been playing with who’s starting to get into the game. I think she’d like the dungeon stuff.”

“Riiiiiight.” NightKnight squinted. “The Lightwarder paladin you’ve been playing with. What was her name?”

“Real or handle?”

NightKnight snorted. “In this club? Handle. I know maybe two people’s real names.”

Robynne squinted, remembering their conversation earlier today when Stacy was introducing herself. So that meant she and Stacy were the two most likely. “Three people’s names.”

“What?”

“You know maybe three people’s names. Me, Stacy, and Kara.” She pointed to her roommate, who was furiously cutting into her cupcakes. It looked like she was cutting them into quarters, rather than the halves she proposed earlier. Seemed she knew how popular they would be. “Her gamer handle is her real name. So you know three.”

He blinked and nodded. “Y-yeah. Okay. That makes sense.”

“Anyway, my friend whose coming is Conviction. She doesn’t attend the college but she…” Robynne caught a whiff of lavender on the empathokinetic wind, followed soon after by a fragrant rainforest scent.

Robynne turned and saw Vivian immediately. Despite her lack of height, she stood out in the crowd with her loud pink t-shirt and her skip-like walk. Robynne couldn’t help but smile at who she saw next to Vivz, though.

“Speak of the devil. There she is. C’mon, let’s go say ‘hi.'”

Thank you very much to this chapter’s producers Amanda Dragonfly, Darkangel562, and Short Fuse! This wouldn’t get done without you!