“You want to play sometime?” asked DJ, jolting Val out of his thoughts.

“…play?”

“Yeah!” said DJ. “It’s just the two of us so we can’t played Ranked, but we can definitely get some Casual games in. What’s your in-game name?”

Val opened and closed his mouth, trying to think back to the last time he hadn’t played solo.

Two years ago. In Los Angeles.

“Uh…it’s FluffyKitten,” said Val.

“Fluffy kitten? Two words?”

“One,” said Val, watching as DJ fiddled around on his phone. After a while, DJ looked up and smiled, giving Val a thumbs up.

“I’ll send you a friend request the next time I’m here,” said DJ.

“You don’t play at home?” Val asked.

DJ hesitated for a moment. “…nah, I don’t have the setup. But don’t worry – I’m here every day!”

With that, DJ slung a gym bag over his shoulder and jogged out of the basement, pausing before the stairs to give Val a wave goodbye. Puzzled by the encounter, Val turned back to his booth. He reached down to pick up the headset, but something made him pause.

I’m not irritated or mad. So what exactly am I feeling?

All of the sudden, the small glass booth seemed very, very small to Val. He pulled off the gloves, folded the movement pad, and placed the equipment back on the shelf they had come from. He put his binder of Avalon cards back in his backpack and headed out of the basement.

“I’m done for the day,” said Val, sliding the booth key over the counter to Elle.

Elle blinked. “What?”

“I’m done,” Val repeated.

“You’ve only been in there for thirty minutes!” said Elle. “Normally you go over your time slot by at least an hour!”

Val shrugged sheepishly.

“Are you feeling okay?” Elle asked, squinting at Val.

“Yeah,” said Val, surprising himself with his answer. “I actually feel really good right now.”

“Hmph. Whatever,” said Elle. “You only paid enough for this much time anyways.”

-

A couple of hours later, Val stood at the counter of Burger King, watching the empty restaurant in front of him.

“We’re going to lose our jobs…” moaned Bill, the lone manager/cook/co-cashier at the store.

“There’s a reason you have three titles,” said Val.

“It’s because I’m so talented!” said Bill, flexing his arms.

Val had worked with Bill for the better part of a year now. Bill looked to be in his late-forties, with a buzz cut of gray hair and skin that looked to be on the verge of wrinkling.

“This is the third day in a row we’ve had no customers,” said Val, glancing up at the clock on the opposite wall.

“Why am I even paying you?” moaned Bill, putting his face in his hands. “I could be spending that money at the casino instead.”

Val rolled his eyes. Before he could speak, a buzz in his pocket interrupted him. Val reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, where he saw a text notification from Camelot Games.

DeAngelo has sent you a friend request on Avalon!

Hey FluffyKitten – this is DJ. Let’s play soon!

Val raised his eyes to see Bill giving him a very confused look.

“What’s up?” Val asked.

“You’re smiling,” said Bill.

“And?”

“In the past year we’ve worked together, I’ve never seen you smile once. What happened to you?”

Val paused for a moment, trying to savor the moment as best as he could, because he wasn’t sure when he’d feel it again.

“I just made a friend.”