Games and Gadgets: Elisa & Kai
Kai was looking forward to it. Not that that was exactly new, or anything, or particularly unique, but he liked it still. He liked the way his lips wanted to curve into a grin as he thought about things, about the day ahead or those behind - he liked how he felt around his friends, or even when he just thought about them.
Sure, he’d only actually gotten together with Elisa three times, and one of those times had been the time they met, but that could still definitely count. Not that it really mattered for much - regardless of the status or label of their relationship, Kai liked them.
He’d pulled out a few board game options - some longer, some shorter, some more complex and some less. A few of the classics, a few newer ones. Snacks, as well - some baked vegetable chips, a couple of types of crackers with cheese, sliced veggies and dip, along with whatever else was in the fridge and the cabinets.
Halfway through gathering the ingredients for it, Kai had realized that this probably didn’t really warrant punch. There were drinks in the fridge, that was plenty - it wasn’t like a bunch of people were going to be coming over, just one.
The other part of the get-together - a trio of crystals set in copper fixtures, scribed with runes and symbols - sat off to the side on the workbench. Somewhat buried amongst everything else on the workbench, including a new spring-powered linear propulsion device that Kai was working on.
In his excitement to prepare for things, he’d become a little bit carried away, it seemed, as he glanced at the clock - Elisa wasn’t due for a fair while yet. Laughing gently to himself, Kai wandered over and grabbed a book, plopping down on the couch to wait. They’d show up whenever they did - and, if they didn’t things could be rescheduled. Kai could eat the veggies, refrigerate the cheese. He didn’t even have any punch to store.
Low pressure, that was what he was aiming for - in general, yes, but also particularly here. From the sounds of things, from the stories they’d told, Elisa had had their fair share of problems with people getting overly attached, or being overly pressing. Kai wanted to do his best to prevent his name from ending up on that list - with anyone, and particularly with those who were already on edge about it.
As he read - Kiln People, by David Brin - he munched idly on some vegetables from the octagonal coffee/games table nearby, and let himself just sort of soak into the story.